Born in 1963, Carl Amari has been a fan of the golden age of radio since he was 12 years old. He spent much of his 20s and 30s licensing the rights to tens of thousands of radio broadcasts from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, including: The Shadow, Jack Benny, Our Miss Brooks, Sherlock Holmes, Suspense, Inner Sanctum, Gunsmoke, X Minus One, Burns & Allen and hundreds more.
In 1990, Amari created the nationally-syndicated radio series “When Radio Was” (which still airs on 100-plus radio stations today) as a showcase for these classic radio shows. Art Fleming (of “Jeopardy” fame) was the show’s first host. When Art Fleming passed away in 1995, Stan Freberg became host of “When Radio Was."
In 2002, Amari licensed the rights to turn the “Twilight Zone” TV series into a modernized radio drama series from CBS and The Rod Serling Estate. Prolific actor, Stacy Keach, is the show’s host and top celebrities take the lead roles, including: Lou Gossett Jr., Jane Seymour, Michael York, Blair Underwood, Jason Alexander, Sean Astin, Luke Perry, Jim Caviezel, Don Johnson, Lou Diamond Phillips and many others.
In 2009, Amari, along with co-host Lisa Wolf, began producing/hosting “Hollywood 360” a 5-hour showcase for classic radio shows on Chicago affiliate AM 560 WIND-The Answer. Movie critic Sarah Adamson is also heard each week to bring you the latest movie reviews.
In 2012, “Hollywood 360” branched out into national syndication and today, “Hollywood 360” can be heard on 150+ affiliates all across the country. It’s also heard each week in 168 countries on American Forces Radio. To receive podcasts of “Hollywood 360” click here. Amari has more than 100,000 classic radio shows under license. He and his business partner Vince Lombardi develop classic radio collections via digital download each month, which are offered for sale in his store.
On April 12th, 2015, Amari began producing/hosting “The WGN Radio Theatre” on legendary Chicago radio station WGN AM 720, Saturday nights from 10 pm until 3 am. In each hour, Amari and Lisa Wolf, presented the best in classic radio and offered listeners the chance to win great prizes with call-in contests. Both “Hollywood 360” and “The WGN Radio Theatre” were executive-produced by Michael Gastala. Carl’s ‘crabby’ brother Vince Amari was the show’s jack-of-all-trades. "The WGN Radio Theatre” ended in 2020 but Amari continued to host specials for WGN for Halloween and Christmas. Then on December 12, 2021, "The WGN Radio Theatre" returned to WGN’s airwaves, hosted by Amari and heard in its new time slot of Sunday nights at 7pm until 9pm.
THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE
SUSPENSE
MY FAVORITE HUSBAND
LIGHTS OUT!
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
FORT LARAMIE
No Show
BOSTON BLACKIE
GUNSMOKE
X MINUS ONE
THE ADV. OF PHILIP MARLOWE
OUR MISS BROOKS
MR. CHAMELEON
No Show
THE CISCO KID
SUSPENSE
LIFE WITH LUIGI
YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR
RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE
ESCAPE
BOLD VENTURE
I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI
HOPALONG CASSIDY
BROADWAY IS MY BEAT
BILL STERN, SPORTS NEWSREEL
DIMENSION X
SUSPENSE
FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY
BARRIE CRAIG, CONFIDENTIAL INVESTIGATOR
THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE
THE WHISTLER
THE DAMON RUNYON THEATER
THE SEALED BOOK
THE LIFE OF RILEY
SUSPENSE
HAVE GUN-WILL TRAVEL
MURDER AT MIDNIGHT
DUFFY’S TAVERN
NIGHT BEAT
THE ALDRICH FAMILY
INNER SANCTUM MYSTERY
THE BURNS & ALLEN SHOW
GUNSMOKE
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
SUSPENSE
FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY
THE BLACK MUSEUM
OUR MISS BROOKS
FORT LARAMIE
