11/21/56 ****I enjoy humorous science fiction stories and this is one of the best.
The head of security in an atomic lab gets a complaint about a mousetrap...from a mouse.
"I don't mind it myself," the mouse says. "But my wife, well she's kind of getting on me about it. Says it could hurt the kids. So could you mind moving it? Thanks."
Very amusing story by Steven Arr.
11/23/55 **1/2What a nice little house! Everything you need is available at the flick of a switch or a simple request. But then, gosh darn it, a nuclear disaster destroys every living person, but leaves the computer in the house taking care of an empty household.
Very sad story by Ray Bradbury.
12/12/56 ****A very imaginative story by Isaac Asimov about a vegetarian alien who breathes cyanide staying with an Earth family while searching for the cause of a new disease on his own planet.
Definitely not your formula story.
By Asimov
12/19/56 ***Chapman is finishing his three-year stint on the moon and is ready to return to Earth. But his experience is needed and he is asked to be a hero and stay longer.
Good acting by Mandel Kramer as Chapman and a good story by Frank M. Robinson.
12/26/56 **In the future (the late 1960's), a crisis has hit the earth. Very few boys are being born. An American cybernetics operator and a Soviet scientist are teamed to see if they can conceive a male child on the moon. Reminds me of the Jerry Lewis, Anita Ekberg movie "Way Way Out", but we don't get much interaction between the two main characters of this story. And not to sound sexist, but it seems like a lack of child-bearing women would be more important a loss than the lack-of-men crisis depicted here?
1/2/57 ***The 1950's was the cold war, so there's lots of stories like this. Setting: After the next atomic war in the U.S. A lead shield keeps people secure from the radiation, and they can't see the moon.
The conflict: A couple argue. The obstinant man says they must stay inside. The weepy woman wants to go and see the "outsiders". While her husband is gone to a meeting, the woman opens the shield. The man, Patrick, describes how wonderful it is outside. Or is it? The outside children have 7 fingers and 8 toes...
1/9/57 ****A woman has heard, and understood, messages from a flying saucer. But she refuses to say what the message was. She's imprisoned, rejected, and ridiculed, but she still refuses to say what the alien space ship told her.
This is a very emotional story by Theordore Sturgeon.
Elaine Ross is very touching as the girl who hears the message from the flying saucer and Nat Polen is also convincing as the only person who understands her plight.
1/16/57 *If Phil Silvers (the original Sgt. Bilko) was on Mars running a scam to bring women from Earth, it would sound something like this. I guess you had to be there, but this episode must have seemed old not long after it was broadcast.
1/23/57 ***Saul is the perfect golfer. He collects some tremendous scores, but is this golfer human? I mean, this guy could have Tiger Woods as a caddy.
1/30/57 ***Holman has been stranded on a planet of slimy worm-like creatures for over 20 years. He is finally rescued by other Earthlings, but first Holman has to tell them of how he's adapted to the creatures and he has to show them his wife. His beautiful, loving, wonderful wife. On a planet of slimy worm-like creatures? Holman may have not have all his circuits connected, but the painting of his wife shows she is attractive. For a similar story told slightly better, try "Hallucination Orbit."
2/6/57 ***This has to be one of the first women's lib satires. The population of men on Earth has been reduced because of war. Now females make all the rules on Earth and males are subservient to women. Who makes this stuff up? William Tenn did in this funny, imaginative story.
2/13/57 **1/2This is a story for the guys (after all, remember it's 1950's sci-fi). Drunk hunters find a trap left by an alien. The trap is really a transmitter, and the alien has sent his wife down to be hunted. This is good fun, but there are better X-1 stories.
2/20/57 ***Frank (Terry Keane) goes to investigate a strange doctor named Tranchor (Santos Ortega), who has miraculously cured several people of different diseases. Of course he's strange. He's from a different race. Different species actually. Okay, you finally find out he's an alien, out to research some primitive human life forms. This is a faily good mystery for the first half and a good presentation in the second half. Good story by Peter Phillips and Ortega is a pretty slick alien doctor.
2/27/57 ***A radio disk jockey produces amazing miniature statuary. What makes this episode fun is that it was from the idea of real-life disk jockey Al "Jazzbo" Collins, who also appears as the disk jockey. The whole performance is full of great voices and great sounds. This is a good example of quality radio.
X minus One
NOTE: All the episodes are now here... enjoy!
X Minus One was a science fiction radio series on NBC from April 1955 through January 1958. The show feature stories written by some of the big names in 1950s science fiction, like Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Issac Asimov.
The X Minus One series followed in the footsteps of another great sci-fi series called Dimension X which appeared on the airwaves in 1950-51. Some of the X-1 shows were later rebroadcast on X Minus One. X Minus One truly was one of the forefathers of the science fiction television/radio age.
Each X Minus One starts with this intro, to the sound effects of a rocket lifting off:
Countdown for blast-off. X Minus 5, 4, 3, 2, X Minus 1, Fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future. Adventures in which you will live in a million could-be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Corporation in cooperation with (Galaxy Magazine, then Astounding Science Fiction) presents . . . . X Minus One
Comment:
It's amazing how relevant many of the 1950s science fiction stories still are... take away the chrome rocket fins and aliens, and suddenly you've got the evening news.
Pete Comely
X Minus One theatre plays...
Other stuff out there
MindWebs. More free Old Time Radio Sci-fi.
More X-Minus One
Botar. MoreX minus One Radio Sci-fi.
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Episodes
- 000 And The Moon Be Still As Bright
- 001 No Contact
- 002 The Parade
- 003 Mars is Heaven
- 004 Universe
- 005 Knock
- 006 The Man in The Moon
- 007 Perigi’s Wonderful Dolls
- 008 The Green Hills Of Earth
- 009 Dr. Grimshaw’s Sanitorium
- 010 Nightmare
- 011 The Embassy
- 012 The Veldt
- 013 Almost Human
- 014 Courtesy
- 015 The Cold Equation
- 016 Shanghaied
- 017 The Martian Death March
- 018 The Castaways
- 019 And the Moon be still as bright
- 020 First Contact
- 021 Child’s play
- 022 Requiem
- 023 Hello Tomorrow
- 024 Dwellers in silence
- 025 The Outer Limit
- 026 Zero Hour
- 027 Vital Factor
- 028 Nightfall
- 029 To the Future
- 030 Marionettes, Inc.
- 031 A Logic Named Joe
- 032 The Roads Must Roll
- 033 Time And Time Again
- 034 Perigi’s Wonderful Dolls (Rebroadcast)
- 035 The Parade (Rebroadcast)
- 036 Cave Of Night
- 037 C-Chute
- 038 Skulking Permit
- 039 Junkyard
- 040 Hello, Tomorrow
- 041 A Gun For Dinosaur
- 042 Tunnel Under The World
- 043 $1000 A Plate
- 044 A Pail Of Air
- 045 How-To
- 046 Star Bright
- 047 Jaywalker
- 048 The Sense Of Wonder
- 049 Sea Legs
- 051 Hallucination Orbit
- 050 The Seventh Order
- 052 The Defenders
- 053 Lulunganeena
- 054 Project Mastadon
- 055 If You Was A Mocklin
- 056 Project Trojan
- 057 Wherever You May Be
- 058 Mr. Costello, Hero
- 059 Bad Medicine
- 060 The Old Die Rich
- 061 Stars Are The Styx
- 063 The Last Martian
- 062 Student Body
- 064 The Snowball Effect
- 065 Surface Tension
- 066 Tunnel Under The World
- 067 The Lifeboat Mutiny
- 067 The Map Makers
- 069 Protective Mimicry
- 070 Colony
- 071 Soldier Boy
- 072 Pictures Don’t Lie
- 073 Sam, This Is You
- 074 Appointment In Tomorrow
- 075 (Repeat of episode 17)
- 076 Chain Of Command
- 078 There Will Come Soft Rains
- 079 Hostess
- 080 The Reluctant Heroes
- 081 Honeymoon In Hell
- 082 The Moon Is Green
- 083 Saucer Of Loneliness
- 084 The Girls From Earth
- 085 Open Warfare
- 086 Caretaker
- 087 Venus Is A Man’s World
- 088 The Trap
- 089 Field Study
- 090 Real Gone
- 091 The Seventh Victim
- 092 The Lights On Precipice Peak
- 093 Protection
- 094 At The Post
- 095 Martian Sam
- 096 Something For Nothing
- 097 Discovery Of Morniel Mathaway
- 098 Man’s Best Friend
- 099 Inside Story
- 100 The Category Inventor
- 101 Skulking Permit
- 102 Early Model
- 103 The Merchants Of Venus
- 104 The Haunted Corpse
- 105 End As A World
- 106 The Scapegoat
- 107 At The Post
- 108_Drop Dead
- 109 Volpla
- 110 Saucer Of Loneliness
- 111 The Old Die Rich
- 112 Tsylana
- 113 The Native Problem
- 114 The Wind Is Rising
- 115 Death Wish
- 116 Point Of Departure
- 117 The Light
- 118 Lulu
- 119 The Coffin Cure
- 120 Shocktroop
- 121 The Haunted Corpse
- 122 Double Dare
- 123 Target One
- 124 Prime Difference
- 125 Gray Flannel Armor
- 126 The Iron Chancellor
Donate for Bandwidth?
I have preset the 'donate' amount at $2... I don't think anyone should donate more than that... I would rather people download and enjoy the stories.
Myself, I just need to find the space for the MP3 files. :-)