High Adventure is sometimes billed "The Mutual Network's answer to Escape!" In fact, the Mutual anthology premiered on March 1, 1947. There were audition episodes for Escape at the end of February and the middle of March, 1947, but the program did not begin regular broadcast until July. Some reviewers consider Escape to be Suspense's little brother. In that line of thinking, High Adventure could be thought of as a distant cousin.
Mutual started the show in the Saturday evening, 9:30 time slot, and bounced it around until Jan 21, 1949, when the show moved to Sunday afternoons on NBC (Mutual Network shows were notorious for developing a following and then moving to one of the more established networks). They landed Old Spice Aftershave as a sponsor.
The High Adventure scripts were based on original stories, in contrast to the many adaptations found on Escape. The shows used little subtlety in reaching towards a masculine audience. The stories were written in a realistic, remarkably believable style. High Adventure was the defining moment in the protagonist's life, and the outcome of the story would often hinge on his strength of character as much as his luck or expertise.
