''X Minus One'' is an American half-hour science fiction

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, ''X Minus One'' has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium.

Overview

Initially a revival of NBC's '' Dimension X'' (1950–51), the first 15 episodes of ''X Minus One'' were new versions of ''Dimension X'' episodes, but the remainder were adaptations by NBC staff writers, including

Ernest Kinoy Ernest Kinoy (April 1, 1925 – November 10, 2014) was an American writer, screenwriter and playwright. Early life Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his parents, Albert and Sarah Kinoy (formerly Forstadt), were both high-school ...

and

George Lefferts George Lefferts (born George Leffertz; June 18, 1921 – April 18, 2018) was an American writer, producer, playwright, poet, and director of television dramas, motion pictures, radio dramas, and socially conscious documentaries. His original plays ...

, of newly published science fiction stories by leading writers in the field, including

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

, Philip K. Dick,

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

and

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...

, along with some original scripts by Kinoy and Lefferts. Included in the series were adaptations of

Robert Sheckley Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, Absurdist fiction, absurdist, and ...

's "Skulking Permit", Bradbury's " Mars Is Heaven", Heinlein's "

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

" and "

The Green Hills of Earth "The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History (novel), Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (February 8, 1947 ...

", Pohl's " The Tunnel under the World", J. T. McIntosh’s "Hallucination Orbit",

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Along with Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber is one of the fathers of sword and sorcery. Life ...

’s "

A Pail of Air "A Pail of Air" is a science fiction short story by American writer Fritz Leiber. It originally appeared in the December 1951 issue of ''Galaxy Magazine'' and was dramatized on the radio show ''X Minus One'' in March 1956. Plot The story is nar ...

", and George Lefferts' "The Parade".OTR Plotspot: ''X Minus One''
/ref> The program opened with announcer Fred Collins delivering the countdown, leading into the following introduction (although later shows beginning with Episode 37, were partnered with ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'' rather than ''

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

''): The series was canceled after the 126th broadcast on January 9, 1958. However, the early 1970s brought a wave of nostalgia for

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

; a new experimental episode, "The Iron Chancellor" by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...

, was produced in 1973, but it failed to revive the series. NBC also tried broadcasting the old recordings, but their irregular once-monthly scheduling kept even devoted listeners from following the broadcasts. The series was re-released in

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

form beginning on June 22, 2007. In November 2008, Counter-Productions Theatre Company became the first theater company to stage three episodes, "The Parade", "A Logic Named Joe", and "Hallucination Orbit".

Episodes based on stories by famous writers

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson ( ; November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times an ...

– "The Light" *

– " Nightfall", "

C-Chute "C-Chute" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the October 1951 issue of ''Galaxy Magazine'' and later appeared in Asimov's collections ''Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969) and ''The Best ...

", " Hostess" *

James Blish James Benjamin “Jimmy” Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his ''Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel ''A Case ...

– "Surface Tension" *

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime fiction, crime, psychological horror fiction, horror and Fantasy Fiction, fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and ...

– "Almost Human" *

– "And The Moon Be Still As Bright", "

Mars is Heaven! "Mars Is Heaven!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, originally published in 1948 in ''Planet Stories''. "Mars Is Heaven!" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of ...

", " The Veldt", "Dwellers in Silence", "Zero Hour", "To the Future", "

Marionettes, Inc. "Marionettes, Inc." is a short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, originally published in ''Startling Stories'' (March 1949) and later reprinted in his collection of short stories '' The Illustrated Man''. In the story, Bradbury conjures a ...

", "

There Will Come Soft Rains There Will Come Soft Rains may refer to: * "There Will Come Soft Rains" (poem), by Sara Teasdale * "There Will Come Soft Rains" (short story), by Ray Bradbury {{disambiguation ...

" *

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

– "

A Gun for Dinosaur "A Gun for Dinosaur" is a classic time travel science fiction storyMiller, P. Schuyler. "The Reference Library", in ''Analog Science Fact - Science Fiction'', v. 71, no. 5, July 1963, p. 90.D'Ammassa, Don. "de CAMP, L. Sprague", in '' Twentieth- ...

" *

Mark Clifton Mark Clifton (1906–1963) was an American science fiction writer, the co-winner of the second Hugo Award for best novel. He began publishing in May 1952 with the widely anthologized story "What Have I Done?". Series About half of his work fa ...

– "Star, Bright" * Philip K. Dick – " The Defenders", "

Colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

" * Thomas Godwin – "

The Cold Equations "The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin (1915–1980), first published in '' Astounding Magazine'' in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best scienc ...

" *

– "Universe", "

", "Requiem", "

The Roads Must Roll "The Roads Must Roll" is a 1940 science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was selected for ''The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964'' anthology in 1970. The story is set in the near future, when "ro ...

" *

– "

", "Appointment in Tomorrow", "The Moon is Green" *

– "The Haunted Corpse", " Tunnel under the World", "Target One", "The Map Makers" *

– "Skulking Permit", "The Lifeboat Mutiney", "Protection", "Early Model", "

The Seventh Victim ''The Seventh Victim'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Mark Robson and starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, and Kim Hunter. Written by Charles O'Neal and DeWitt Bodeen, and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictu ...

", "Something for Nothing", "The Native Problem", "Bad Medicine" *

– "Double Dare", "The Iron Chancellor" * Clifford D. Simak – "Courtesy", "Junkyard", "How-2", "Project Mastodon", "Drop Dead", "Lulu" *

– "Mr. Costello, Hero", " Saucer of Loneliness", "The Stars are the Styx" *

William Tenn William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010), a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements. Biography Born to a Jewish family in London, Phillip Klass mo ...

– "Venus is for Men"

Episodes

References

External links

* *
OTR Plot Spot: ''X Minus One''
– plot summaries and reviews
''X Minus One'' the official fansite!
at xminusone.com * *
X Minus One at oldclassicradio.com
{{Authority control 1955 radio programme debuts 1958 radio programme endings American radio dramas Anthology radio series American science fiction radio programs Science fiction podcasts 1950s American radio programs NBC radio programs

Overview

Episodes based on stories by famous writers

Episodes

See also

References

External links