Old timey scifi radio shows

[bryce]

Anybody else here enjoy old time scifi radio shows? I love them.

I especially love to listen to them late at night for some reason.

I especially like the shows like Dimension-X and X-1, which are audio versions of science fiction stories by classic scifi authors. Many stories were taken from magazines like Galaxy.

Anybody else here a fan> And if so, what are your faves?

https://www.otrcat.com/science-fiction-in-radio

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/sci-fi

 

[bryce]

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[RandyS]

The Adventures of Superman is a good one. There were 2,000 episodes of that back in the 1940s of which I have a little over half on CD.

Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon ran in the 1930s. I have a handfull of Buck Rogers, but none of Flash Gordon. The Shadow is another really good one. I have about 60 of those. It ran from 1937 to I believe 1952.

 

[bryce]

The Adventures of Superman is a good one. There were 2,000 episodes of that back in the 1940s of which I have a little over half on CD.

Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon ran in the 1930s. I have a handfull of Buck Rogers, but none of Flash Gordon. The Shadow is another really good one. I have about 60 of those. It ran from 1937 to I believe 1952.

I like how in the radio show, Superman took on the KKK! (A pretty progressive episode for the day. Especially considering that back hen, black men were still often *lynched* in the Deep South - and with no repercussions.)

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23157/how-superman-defeated-ku-klux-klan

 

[Christopher]

I like how in the radio show, Superman took on the KKK! (A pretty progressive episode for the day. Especially considering that back hen, black men were still often *lynched* in the Deep South - and with no repercussions.)

"Clan of the Fiery Cross" gets singled out today because of its connection to Stetson Kennedy's research into the real KKK, but it wasn't unusual for the Superman radio show in 1946. Indeed, what prompted Kennedy to contact the shows' writers with his idea was a hate-group storyline they did a couple of months earlier, "The Hate Mongers' Organization," and the praise the show was getting in the press for its strong stand against intolerance.

Here's an in-depth article I just found about the turn the Superman radio show took toward social commentary in 1946 and the cultural impact it had: http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=118

 

[The Realist]

Man, when I saw the title of this thread, I knew it was going to be like Christopher chum in the water.

 

[Mysterion]

The program X Minus 1 did a good adaptation of Heinlein's Green Hills of Earth in 1955:

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[bryce]

Oooohhhh...it's nice to see people still keeping this kind of storytelling alive:

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/exclusive-dust-horizons-podcast-dives-into-spoken-word-sci-fi

^Oh well, these are more audiobook style short stories...the last time I came across modern scifi audio drama was back on The SciFi Channel's website, before they became "SyFY".

 

[RJDiogenes]

Ah, I love OTR. I've got about a million MP3s on my backup drive (in a folder next to the one with my million Pulp PDFs). I've even done a couple of OTR homages myself. I've also got a "Vintage Radio" app on my phone that has a lot of great stuff, and I think there are other similar apps.

OTR fans may also be interested in this podcast, which features quite a few familiar voices.

 

[JD]

Oooohhhh...it's nice to see people still keeping this kind of storytelling alive:

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/exclusive-dust-horizons-podcast-dives-into-spoken-word-sci-fi

^Oh well, these are more audiobook style short stories...the last time I came across modern scifi audio drama was back on The SciFi Channel's website, before they became "SyFY".

If you're interested in this kind of stuff the Podcast site Stitcher and Marvel teamed up for a "narrative podcast", about Wolverine. Season 1 was called Wolverine: The Long Night, and Season 2 is Wolverine: The Lost Trail.
There is also a company called Big Finish over in England which specializes in "audio dramas", which are much of are still a regular thing there. The big thing they do is Doctor Who, and their stuff tends to include a ton of the actual cast members from the original and new shows. Their stuff is available in the US.

 

[Kor]

Yes, I love Dimension X and X-1.

Kor

 

[David cgc]

A thread like this on the TBBS, many years ago, pointed me towards the Decoder Ring Theatre podcasts, which have gone on semi-hiatus now, but have years and years of full-cast throwback productions. Their flagship shows were the Red Panda Adventures, an epic pre-golden-age superhero serial (domino masks and trenchcoats rather than capes and tights) tying in with real-world history from the dawn of the Great Depression through the aftermath of World War II, and Black Jack Justice, a noir detective series set nebulously in the early '50s, with episodes in the 20-30 minute range. They also had miniseries and off-season productions that included space adventure, cyberpunk (or maybe it was neo-noir, it's been a while), and such. Since the regular episodes went on hiatus a few years ago, they've continued with chapter-by-chapter audiobook releases, drawing on the same cast of actors as readers (which is especially effective for the Black Jack Justice novels, since those are told in the first person, and end up just feeling like extended bits of narration from the normal episodes).

The house style leans toward comedic and banter-y, but there are also plenty of more serious moments of action and drama throughout the runs of the different shows. I'd recommend listening from the beginning (which begins with the first, off-format take on the Red Panda as a very silly World War II action piece, which ends up being reflected in the main show in some surprising ways). Black Jack and Red Panda don't ever cross over, so feel free to alternate, or listen to one then the other, or just take them in release order).

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Ah, thanks for that tip. I never heard of those guys.

I should have thought of Big Finish. They do a lot of cool stuff, and they have their hands on a lot more franchises than just Doctor Who-- Dark Shadows and The Avengers, for example.

I also should have thought of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, who have done a bunch of fantastic OTR-style HPL adaptations. They have also done a couple of really cool retro-style movie adaptations.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I've also got a "Vintage Radio" app on my phone that has a lot of great stuff, and I think there are other similar apps.

Does that app have Adventures of Superman?

There's something so perverse about the idea of listening to old time radio shows on a smart phone....

 

[Mysterion]

Really, I believe that radio (or audio) is the perfect media for dramatization of science fiction or fantasy. Radio is very conducive for letting one's imagination run free. The presented only need supply a bit of description and/or sound effects and your mind fills in the rest with more detail or wonder than a John Dykstra or Douglas Trumball could ever achieve with a combined Spielberg/Lucas level film budget.
Or, as Stan Freburg put it:

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[JD]

I just remembered another one this morning, back in the late '90s a bunch of the Star Trek actors did a series of audio dramas based on classic novels called Alien Voices. They started out with a recreation of the War of The Worlds radio show with John DeLancie, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Armin Shimmerman, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, and a few others. After that they did The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, each one had a whole bunch of different Trek actors, with a handful of regulars. I've listened to War of the Worlds and Time Machine and I really enjoyed them both. I honestly can't remember if Time Machine was a narrated audio book or more of a radio style show.

 

[Mysterion]

A classic parody of SF radio serials from Firesign Theatre:

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[RJDiogenes]

^^ Ah, good old Firesign Theater.

Does that app have Adventures of Superman?

Yes, and Batman (although there's a lot more Superman). It's really a great app. Even the free version has tons of stuff.

There's something so perverse about the idea of listening to old time radio shows on a smart phone....

Indeed. And who would have thought that something called "podcasts" would give new life to OTR-style stories?

I just remembered another one this morning, back in the late '90s a bunch of the Star Trek actors did a series of audio dramas based on classic novels called Alien Voices.

Oh, yeah, I remember those. I think I've got a couple of those packed away somewhere.

 

[Christopher]

Yes, and Batman (although there's a lot more Superman).

There never was a Batman radio show -- just Batman & Robin's frequent guest appearances on Superman.

 

[Mysterion]

Ah, good old Firesign Theater.

Yup, love those guys. And don't forget their take on noir/detective stories (this does have some SF elements in it):

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