Pat Novak For Hire: Pain Gets Expensive (Old Time Radio)
If you got the idea that Pat Novak was a rather single-minded fellow, you'd be wrong. He appreciated liquor every bit as much as he appreciated women. He could be found most nights popping shots and wisecracks with his saloon-owner pal Jocko Madigan (Tudor Owen). But, most of all, he appreciated the crisp greenness of a new fifty-dollar bill.  Operating out of the grim San Francisco waterfront, Novak didn't have much use for anyone, and didn't much care who knew it. He had no respect for criminals, and even less for the police, especially as personified by his nemesis Inspector Hellman (Raymond Burr). Novak, as played by Jack Webb, was every cliché of a Hard Boiled Detective ever written, and that was exactly what made the series' inimitable combination of gritty drama and straight-faced satire work so well.  Includes 10 digitally restored and remastered episodes, and a Program Guide by radio historian Elizabeth McLeod. Episodes Include: Don't Tell Hilda (a.k.a. Marcia Halpern) 02-27-49; Father Lahey and Joe Feldman 04-02-49; Sam Tolliver 04-09-49; Go Away Dixie Gillian 04-16-49; Rita Malloy 04-23-49; Wendy Morris 04-30-49; Geranium Plant 05-14-49; Give Envelope to John St. John 05-21-49; Agnes Bolton 06-04-49; The Only Way to Make Friends Is to Die 06-18-49