This is a great episode.

I listened to these in 1980 or so when I was 15 or 16 on KNX1070 Los Angles in Mission Viejo, Califonia 30 plus years ago...

The First Lady of Suspense. I wish she had lived, because she would have surely participated in at least a couple hundred episodes of CBSRMT over the course of its run.

CBS-RMT's premiere episode starred Agnes Moorehead as a 77-year-old woman whose border, while dying of pneumonia, confesses to her that he killed a man rather than another one who was found guilty and imprisoned. She doesn't want to hear what he's saying and doesn't call the police because she doesn't want to get involved, but of course she tries to be a detective herself and gets wound up with all sorts of nefarious characters. Moorehead's character might be as annoying as the one she portrayed in "Sorry, Wrong Number," but I give her credit. She was only a month or so from dying herself when she did the role. An added bonus was a WDAF (Kansas City) newscast before the show in which there was some Watergate stuff and a sports report about the upcoming Super Bowl between the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings. And man, was it cold in KC that night - below zero!

The coughing didn't bother me. I thought it was central to the storyline to show how sick her border was.

I agree with Davy Joe - well-put. This was a great debut episode and Agnes Moorehead was her usual superb self!

Agnes Moorehead was a true gem of a person I hear. My husband and I are going back and watching all the Bewitched episodes on DVD. We are on the 4th season. I have never seen them all in order. I remember as a kid watching them as reruns on TV and thought how nasty Endora was. Now as an adult watching them, I have totally fallen in love with her. She was an amazing actress and I see her personality shine in these episodes. Wished she would have lived longer so we could have had more great stuff from her.

Well acted although the solution to the mystery can be seen coming pretty early on. All in all a solid episode.

And so we come to the very first episode of the series. The tale is rather simple -- an old woman who lives by herself discovers a secret from a man who lived in her house before he died in his bed. At a loss of what to do, she keeps the secret she holds to herself -- until she discovers a new tenant in her house isn't what he seems. ___ The pilot program for the series starts out with a resounding bang. Very suspenseful even thou it had an obvious twist to it.

This was a great episode to kick off the series! (Unfortunately the news of the day in the ABC broadcast included a plane crash in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.) CBSRMT "feels" like a Sunday evening show so it was appropriate that the series would start on a Sunday night. This episode was easy to listen to, very believable and has you wondering how you would react if you found yourself witness to a strange deathbed confession. No moral to the story, other than in E.G.'s epilog that mentions "there is no wisdom and strength like old wisdom and strength." Great acting by Agnes Moorehead.

Elderly Aida Canby gets more than she bargained for when she decides to take on a boader! Shortly after coming to stay, the boarder comes down with a serious illness and in the last moments of life, confesses to a murder. Aida cannot leave well enough alone and decides to investigate the murder further, unaware that she is putting herself in grave danger. The episode boasts a wonderful performance by Agnes Moorehead which lifts this story out of the ordinary. Genre: Suspense

Mr Fisher, that is fine comment and sentiment. I am glad you posted it.

An old woman takes on a border who is ill. As he dies, he makes a strange deathbed confession that gets her into trouble.

Well, if I'm going to get into this, might as well start at the beginning. First episode seeme to me to typify all those that came after it. It could just have well as been written and broadcast long after the show had guaranteed its place in radio history. What happenes when you cross Robert Columbo and Angela Landsbury? You get this episode's main character. A elderly little thing who is a little naive, a little stubborn, and very persistent. Mix in an unfortunate bird-loving lodger who makes a deathbed confession to his landlady. He is replaced by a gentleman with less honorable intentions, sent to 'keep the old lady quiet'. A fun little twist at the end explains the mystery illness.

One of my favorite episodes. Big fan of Agnes Morehead. Trivia question: How many episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater did Miss Morehead perform in?

Enjoyed this episode. Agnes Moorehead one of my favorites also. I like the way it was done at the end you didnt know if Stewart or Mrs Camby went down the stairs. Agnes Moorehead did a superb job and its an amusing mystery story. However, Leon Janney's character; Stuart Winfield; coughed too much in ACT 3. Other than that, it was a splendid Pilot episode for CBSRMT. Check this episode out, everyone! Very Suspenseful.

What a great way to premiere a mystery show on CBS Radio, with the First Lady of "Suspense" herself. And she did a great job.

Only 2 episodes. Ep.0001-The Old Ones Are Hard To Kill & Ep.0021-The Ring Of Truth Now if you were talking about Suspense, that would be a different kettle of fish. The Suspense radio play that she is well known for is, "Sorry, Wrong Number."

Stuart sounded like the father from the Patty Duke show. (William Schallert) There were a few actors that had his sound. I do remember the excessive coughing too.. I really enjoyed it though.

Thanks for doing this! This was a big thing i looked forward to when I was growing up in the mid to late seventies!