X Minus 1

Countdown to blastoff
X Minus 6. . .5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .X Minus 1
From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions of time and space! These are stories of the future -- adventures in which you will live in a million could-be years in a million maybe worlds.
The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith -- publishers of Astounding Science Fiction presents X Minus 1!

Each week, the narrator (there were several) introduced this radio sci-fi drama from April of 1955 until January 1958. X Minus 1 was a revival of the very popular (but not successful) Dimension X radio series.

I discovered X Minus 1 after completing the complete 1399 episode run of The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. I found X Minus 1 to be worlds ahead of CBSRMT in its treatment of science fiction and the writers drew from the men (sorry, no women) who laid the bedrock for the sci-fi we all love today. Writers like Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein (who I can't stand, but must give credit), Robert Bloch and Theodore Sturgeon all have stories included in the series.

Writer George Lefferts was tasked with most of the adapting existing stories to radio. However, it is Ernest Kinoy's adaptation of Mars is Heaven that really grabbed me. I've listened to a few adaptations of Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven" and saw the 1979 television miniseries "The Martian Chronicles" that included the story, but I've never heard anything that compared to Kinoy's adaptation. Other Bradbury adaptations include "The Veldt", "Marionettes, Inc.", "To the Future", "Zero Hour", "Dwellers in Silence", and "The Moon Be Still as Bright".

Some of the bigger names in radio can be heard in this show, including Leon Janny, Norman Rose, and Mercedes McCambridge.

It's interesting to listen to these shows from the 1950s and discover the cultural obsession the world had with Mars in the 1950s. Everything evil came from Mars. When mankind needed to flee earth, he went to Mars. He watched Mars, he loved Mars, he feared Mars.

My favorite episode, however, more closely resembles horror or something out of "The Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" -- both of which owe much to X Minus 1 and Dimension X. " Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium" is radio horror at its best. Leon Janny -- with one of the most sinister voices in the history of radio drama -- stand out, even with his bit part.

Again, as with all OTR, Never buy discs. There are many of us who would be happy to provide you with all of the shows you need for free.