Excellent comedic episode. I had predicted the third affair but had incorrectly guessed that it had going on as long as the other two. I would have loved this episode as a kid if I had heard it at that time. Comedy, ghost story.

Involves two middle aged women who are regularly visited by the ghost of a guy who was married to one of them and had an affair with the other. Apparently he had a pretty good deal in real life where he'd do his "affair" business in the afternoon and take care of his wife at night. And that's how he "visited'" them after his death. To keep "visiting" he needs constant assurance of their love. Without it he would fade permanently to his "other" world. When the two longtime friends move in together, that's when the widow finds out about the affair. But rather than club her girlfriend in the head, she decides that together they can stop "loving" him and make him go away.

It feels Victorian, but unfortunately it’s retched Victorian. A dud of a ghost story.

This is a light-hearted program about a woman that lives alone (save the housekeeper) in a big house following the death of her husband. He's dead, but he's still around - in ghost form, and he visits every evening. Things get whacky when he suggests to his widow that she might be happier if she asked a lifelong friend to move in and share the house with her. I must confess that this is one of the rare CBSRMT programs that I grew tired of before it was over. However, as always, I had to listen to the end to see what happened.

Elderly Alice Emery enjoys quiet evenings at home in her mansion sipping hot chocolate with her husband Charles. There's only one problem: her husband is dead. When her husband's ghost suggests she have her friend Connie move into the old house to keep her company, she decides it's a wonderful idea...but the ghost may have ulterior motives. An amusing episode with great performances by the cast. Genre: Occult

A man continues his love affair with his wife and his mistress beyond the grave. The main character is so pathetic, you want to kill him again.

An elderly woman is lonely after her husband passes away but finds comfort in his nightly ghostly visits. In order to combat the loneliness further, she asks a friend to move in with her. Both women find comfort in each others' company but agree still to lead separate lives apart from their dinner together… until the find an unexpected bond.

One of the lesser episodes. No scares. No suspense. Just three old biddies chit-chatting about this and that, with a tepid ghost occasionally dropping by. So old-fashioned. It felt like it was done in the 1940s, not 1970s. I could almost see the ghost's ascot and pencil mustache.

I agree with Victoria from above--this was a dud of a ghost story. I am normally not this harsh on MT episodes, but I have but one word to describe this one: BORING! 1 star.

Charles,Charlie,or Chuck, don't want to give away the ending, continues his love affair as a ghost, with his wife Alice and mistress Connie after he is dead. Alice his wife, enjoys evenings in her mansion drinking hot chocolate with her husband Charles. At the same time Charlie, or Charles, has been continuing his love affair with Connie, his mistress. Charles suggests to Alice that she has her friend Connie move into the old mansion to keep her company. Both agree to separate lives but Connie walks into Alice's room one night and hears Alice talking to Charles. Rather than Alice hating Connie, they both decide to just quit loving him together so he will go away. Dorthia the maid, also lives in the mansion and takes care of both of them. This is not a scary ghost episode. The ending was as I expected and hoped it would end the way it did. I liked this episode. It kept me entertained to the very end. Not boring to me like some episodes I have listened to. I gave this episode 5 stars.

I agree with Andy that I had predicted the third affair, but not the correct timing of it. It was an okay episode, but I also agree with others that the ghost was not a likable character.

A scandalous and very funny episode. Although I love the mystery and darkness of all the CBSRMT, I really enjoyed the light touch for a change.

Cute love triangle story involving two elderly women and a ghost.

I rate this episode ★★★★☆ for GOOD. Elspeth Eric wrote a great romantic story involving the supernatural, part of it reminds me of THE GHOST & MRS. MUIR. Only, instead of one human talking to a ghost, there are three humans. What started out as a peculiar love triangle, but then ended with a pleasant twist. Excellent work, Elspeth Eric! And speaking of excellence, I'd give a round of applause to our cast: Beatrice Straight (as Alice Emory: the widow), Paula Trueman (as Connie Lawrence: the friend), Joan Loring (as Dorothea: the maid), and John Baragrey (as Charles Emory: the ghost). Each of these actors brought their characters to life with their chirpiness, wittiness, zaniness, and quirkiness. At the 40-minute mark when Dorothea says to the ghost, "Do you mind if I call you...'Chuck' ?", you can hear how Joan Loring's voice was so heartfelt and tender. The sound effects of the footsteps, clock dinging, birds chirping, rotary phone ringing, wine glasses clinking, bottle of wine pouring, and moving furniture were all the necessary bits for this "ghastly" tale. There were bumbling, yet comical tracks in ACT-1, amiable tunes in ACT-2, and mystique themes in ACT-3. E.G. Marshall was on point with his narrations. In his Prologue, he states that seeing isn't believing, but believing IS believing. In ACT-1, he quotes English Playwright John Dryden of 1679 by saying, "With how much ease believe we what we wish." Then he quotes Roman Emperor Julius Caesar by saying, "Men freely believe that which they desire." Both quotes: Notable. In ACT-2, he explains that this love triangle has an apex, meaning the ghost IS the apex. At the end of ACT-3, he wishes the best of luck to all of these characters, which is a fine climax, but there's no resolution. There was no Epilogue! Everything in this CBSRMT episode was terrific except for that one missing part. Other than that, this was an amusing story. If you're searching for a Fantasy-Mystery filled with affection, flirtation, and fondness, this is the one you should listen to! =0]

Hot Dogs and French Fries in "Return to Shadow lake" make me hungry

This one was only fair, and it was very difficult to listen to Dorothea. Sheesh. It wasn't remotely scary, just boring, and the husband is and was a jerk.

A lighthearted fun MT! My favorite part was when EG said they were going to have fun in their pants suits!

I love this episode. Why do people think it was boring? The show had excellent dialog, witty lines, and vivid characters. Charlie is really funny, even though he is a jerk, and he deserves what he gets in the end, lol! The ending was also a nice twist. I like how the show focused on the friendship between the two older women. I love how they banter with each other. It's like listening in to a real conversation between two people. Also, it was quite refreshing that their friendship wasn't destroyed by the love triangle.

is no one going to mention picking up on the subtle hints of a blossoming romantic relationship between 2 women

You're reading way too much into it. There is no "budding romantic relationship" between the two women at all, unless you want to say that Lucy and Ethel were really closet lesbians.

What I mean to say is that these two women have a kind of Lucy and Ethel type friendship. It's platonic. They just want to have fun together and start living again. It wouldn't surprise me if they soon meet new men. (I just hope they won't become rivals again, lol!)

I don't think in the description of the episode that it was supposed to be scary. It wasn't an Incubus that they were having a relationship...

The Ghost at the Gate poses as a silly tale of a two-timing husband named Charles who, despite dying, continues his “relationships” with wife Alice and mistress Connie, even after the two women become close friends and move in with each other. As with many of writer Elspeth Eric’s radio plays the story is rich with overtones of modern feminism and female empowerment. Unfortunately the tale suffers from horrible lack of morality on the part of any of the characters, as well as the erroneous inference that Charles has ended up in heaven. If ‘Charlie’ has died and gone to heaven, as Eric leads us to believe, would he really choose to return to earth as much as possible to “visit” his former lovers? The reasonable conclusion is that Charlie is actually a demon incubus. The dialogue-rich story, primarily between the two women, is amusing at first but becomes repetitive and trying, akin to a bad episode of Desperate Housewives. Overall, the story suffers from modern culture’s ubiquitous and fatal habit of posing the immoral as cutely trivial in an attempt to be deemed acceptable. Superficially, Ghost earns 1 out of 5 stars for silliness but the deeper you examine this story the more dark you discover the message. Other reviewers will say ‘Lighten up’ but we’ve ‘lightened up’ to the point where we are in the current state of our world. - JUROR #4

This story wasn't written as a morality tale. Also, Charlie is not a demon, he's a ghost. A ghost is a spirit who cannot rest and is forced to wander the earth, or haunt a certain location. He can't go to either heaven or hell. One could even say he is desperately trying to cling onto his ghostly existence so that he will never have to face the final judgement. That would give him a good reason to haunt the women, and would explain why is so desperate for someone he can feed off of, so that he will never have to leave and go to be judged.

Also, I don't want to give the ending away, but there is absolutely no hint of him going to heaven at all. Where do you get that idea? He remains a ghost, right until the end.

If you want to just have fun listening to a radio broadcast, this is the one. Humorous love triangle that includes a ghost.

It IS a somewhat silly, flip sort of story but I still enjoy it. Mostly, I love that Dr. Lesh from Poltergeist is the lead. Beatrice Straight was a favorite of mine. Such a great voice. My only 'gripe' about this one is the horrid, wimpy, selfish, whining, petulant moron Charles. Not the actor -- if this was how the character was written, John Baragrey played him to perfection! I just don't hear anything in his manner or dialogue that would indicate his having been attractive to ONE woman, let alone more. From his first lines, I just felt annoyed and a little disgusted, and mostly baffled that such a man -- alive or dead! -- could have initially aroused the interest, let alone the love and desire, the devotion, of these women. Of course, that's part of the nutty humor and effectiveness (such as it has) of the story itself. It's silly, but enjoyably so. Don't expect a real mystery, or any thrills or chills, just lots of mid-depth lighthearted banter in the style of a '30s comedic stage play. It has its place, and if you're in the right mood the listen will reward you with a chuckle or three.