Hedda Hopper

It's "Stop the Presses!" week on "Those Were the Days."

Six vintage programs celebrating the grit and glory of the newspaper racket will air on this weekend's edition of the old-time radio showcase. Included is a 1944 Abbott & Costello broadcast featuring famed Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Steve Darnall hosts "Those Were the Days" from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays on College of DuPage's WDCB-FM (90.9) and online at wdcb.org.

Here is the lineup:

• BIG TOWN (Oct. 19, 1937) Edward G. Robinson stars as Steve Wilson, managing editor of the Illustrated Press, with Claire Trevor as Lorelei Kilbourne in the first show of the series. Steve decides to reveal that a noted socialite has a criminal past.
• ROGERS OF THE GAZETTE (Aug. 26, 1953) Will Rogers Jr. stars as a newspaper editor in the small town of Illyria, with Georgia Ellis as Maggie, Parley Baer as Doc, and Edgar Barrier as John.
• CASEY, CRIME PHOTOGRAPHER (April 24, 1947) “The Gentle Strangler” starring Staats Cotsworth as Casey with Jan Miner as Anne. Casey and Anne join the police as they investigate a series of murders committed by a mysterious strangler.
• ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW (March 2, 1944) Guest Hedda Hopper offers to cover the Hollywood beat for Bud and Lou’s newspaper.
• NIGHT BEAT (July 3, 1950) “Marty” stars Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, night beat reporter for the Chicago Star. Randy encounters a six-year-old boy who's clutching a $100 bill and looking for his mother.
• THE BIG STORY (July 21, 1948) The story of Keeler McCartney, reporter for the Atlanta-Constitution, and his efforts to help break up a lottery racket. George Petrie stars as McCartney.