Comments on: Episode 200: The Hitchhiker

By: Johnny Joestar

Johnny Joestar — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:46:35 +0000

this sounds like it would be in the 1900’s if it is based off of it, it kind of reminds me of the hispanic show “Chavo Del Ocho”

By: Smuggins

Smuggins — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 02:02:59 +0000

Eric nailed it in one. The Hitchiker is the classic death figure from so much folklore. He doesn’t come interrupt the phone call, because the guy is finally going to learn the truth, which is his whole purpose.

While I think it would have been a better ending to cut off at the end of the phone call, this is truly a classic episode.

By: Dawn Schwarzer

Dawn Schwarzer — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 08:33:51 +0000

In reply to Dawn Schwarzer.

*Ron Adams.
And the thought that that brief three minute call was worth more than $70 really speaks to his desperation to hear the voice of someone he loves…which is ultimately denied to him.
All the money in the world won’t buy you one more minute with someone you love…….

By: Dawn Schwarzer

Dawn Schwarzer — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 05:55:35 +0000

Hubby loves this episode, but absolutely hates my interpretation of it. Spoiler: it’s not spine-tingling in the slightest. The hitchhiker never does or says anything remotely threatening, even the train incident in context wasn’t menacing. Hitchhiker couldn’t be beckoning the driver to his death since he was already dead, rather beckoning him to the realization of his prior demise. I always see the hitchhiker as an angel, or entity, there to accompany and ease John Adams journey into the afterlife. What’s so scary about that? …and with those few sentences I destroyed one of his favourite radio plays. Still a great one to listen to while falling asleep.

By: Doug Shaw

Doug Shaw — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 19:29:12 +0000

In reply to Bob. I think there was also a Twilight Zone with that theme.

By: Joshua English Scrimshaw

Joshua English Scrimshaw — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 04:25:21 +0000

In reply to Bob.

I have no idea if this is the story Eric was trying to remember, but it certainly has a lot in common with “The Hitchhiker”. To answer the reviewer’s question, I think Fletcher wins. “Summer, Goodbye” is a solid Cooper script with some beautiful narration, but the end is a little too pat for my taste. And I say that as an ardent admirer of Mr. Cooper’s work.

Thanks for sharing it. I’ll pass it on to Eric and find out if this is the one!

By: Joshua English Scrimshaw

Joshua English Scrimshaw — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 04:11:53 +0000

In reply to Jessica. I was so enthralled by the sound of the coins, I didn't stop to think of their value. Thanks for the insight. And, yes, I second your Gah. Fletcher is fantastic.

By: Joshua English Scrimshaw

Joshua English Scrimshaw — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 04:08:43 +0000

In reply to Mark Forrester. Well played, sir. Well played.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 02:56:17 +0000

This might be the “spooky recurring hitchhiker episode from another series” mentioned during the commentary at 35:48:

Quiet, Please
Summer, Goodbye
by Wyllis Cooper
Interesting to compare this to Lucille Fletcher’s “The Hitch-Hiker,” one of radio’s most famous horror plays, since both use the “mysteriously reappearing hitch-hiker” device. Cooper’s play takes place in a matter of hours, Fletcher’s in six days; Cooper’s protagonist drives for his life from the cops (which ratchets up the suspense immediately), Fletcher’s travels leisurely for obscure reasons; Cooper’s protagonist has another fully-realized character to talk to for the entire trip, Fletcher’s meets a number of minor characters of no great depth; Cooper relates the trip’s details right down to street names and his “local color” is overwhelming, Fletcher is a lot less generous; and Cooper’s ending, whatever one thinks of it, is probably more of a surprise than Fletcher’s. But which is the better play? Hmmm. — Anonymous

Source: http://www.otrplotspot.com/quietPlease.html

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 23:28:20 +0000

According to the inflation calculator, that $3.85 call, in 1940, would be the equivalent of $71.56 in 2020, which blows my mind on a number of levels. I feel like it adds to his desperation, to know this after the fact, to blow THAT MUCH MONEY on a long-distance phone call, and I realize that real-time Suspense listeners would get it. I mean, since filling up his gas tank was only a dollar-something, I knew the call cost a lot, but it’s just one of those details that says so much about his state of mind. Gah, I love Lucille Fletcher so much!

(But also, as lovely as it was to hear the coins dropping for $3.85, I would definitely lose interest if it was $71.56 quarter by quarter)

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 23:20:56 +0000

In reply to Mark Forrester. I see what you did there :)

By: Mark Forrester

Mark Forrester — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:13:36 +0000

I could have sworn you had done “The Hitchhiker” before! I thought I remembered hearing it when I was in New York. And then again driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And again in New Mexico . . .