I would agree wholeheartedly that we need to limit this exercise to those
series of approximately 100 episodes or less, since it seems that shows with
episodes extending beyond 100 episodes tend to end up with at least one or
two episodes missing at some point during the run.   Many of these shows
were on the air during some of the most tumultuous years of History, and as
such several of the shows playing through the war years were interrupted
with alarming uniformity.

I may be wildly optimistic, but with an inventory approaching 4000
series/shows and 100,000 episodes, my gut tells me there are as many as 500
such shows or series among those widely available, or at least attainable.
I want to offer both novice and seasoned collectors a sensible sanity check
of those series or runs that are unquestionably as complete as they'll ever
be -- without exception.

As with any 'rule' we'll undoubtedly be making a few widely accepted
compromises as we compile this list, since certain onesy and twosy episodes
have a well established, historical provenance defining the rationale why
they're unavailable.  I'd be the first to agree that some of these 'tales'
supporting key missing episodes are apocryphal or anecdotal in nature, and
it would be my aim to establish a proven, provenance-supported rationale for
those shows/series we include in this exercise:  hard facts, ephemera,
actual engineer log excerpts, etc, which can demonstrably support the
absence of the missing episode or abandonment as an either rehearsed or
produced episode.

My immediate goal would be to nail down the U.S. shows/series.  Canadian
shows tend to be a bit more recent during the era, and BBC shows were more
carefully preserved than U.S. shows.  Australian shows and South African
shows as well, tended to be more completely archived and preserved than
their northern hemisphere counterparts.

I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but with all the misfires in other
attempts to lasso the entire realm of Golden Age Radio series and shows,
most such efforts have failed out of simple misplaced optimism in scope.
Whenever I attack a large problem or project, I tend to have more success
assembling and dispensing with those issues that are easiest to compile,
complete, and set aside, thus leaving more time to focus more on the
thornier aspects of the project.

Thus it's my belief that if a concentrated effort can be made to identify
the microcosm of series' that are unquestionably as complete as history will
ever permit them to be, collectors, as a community, can move on to those
shows or series that are -- for lack of a better immediate strategy -- 5%
incomplete, then 10% incomplete.

What will remain are a finite list of shows or series of varying levels of
completion, and which can be more accurately and strategically dealt with by
the collecting community at large.

Does this make sense?

Please comment.

Best Regards,
Dennis