By the mid 1950s, science fiction had largely fallen into a familiar pattern, regardless of medium. When fans tuned into the radio or caught the latest science fiction movie, they either encountered space opera adventures or fare aimed largely at a juvenile audience. Only in magazines such as Astounding Science Fiction and Galaxy were stories grounded firmly in science fiction being told with mature themes aimed at character development, true literature taking off to the stars. The debut of X Minus One in April 1955 changed that on radio, making this program not only the best of its type, but in many ways one of the only shows from Radio’s Golden Age to present science fiction for a well-rounded adult audience.
It is an often debated point among experts and fans as to whether or not X Minus One was simply a new season of Dimension X, a program that ran on NBC in 1950-51, or a revival of sorts of this previous show. The latter is probably more accurate since the first 15 episodes of X Minus One were new productions of Dimension X episodes. What makes X Minus One stand out, however, is the fact that the remaining programs were actually adaptations of works from two of the best science fiction magazines of the period. NBC staff writers, primarily Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts, scoured the pages of Astounding Science Fiction and then later Galaxy Magazine for tales that would thrill and chill their listeners, aiming most assuredly at the more sophisticated science fiction fans. Stories penned by noted science fiction and genre authors such as Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, Frederik Pohl, and Isaac Asimov, and many others found themselves expertly adapted for radio over the program’s nearly three-year run.
Rocket to new heights of top-notch science fiction with an adult edge in twelve episodes on X Minus One Volume 1, restored to sparkling audio quality by Radio Archives!
#1 No Contact
Sunday, April 24, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#2 The Parade
Sunday, May 1, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#3 Mars Is Heaven
Sunday, May 8, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#4 Universe
Sunday, May 15, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#5 Knock
Sunday, May 22, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#6 The Man in The Moon
Sunday, May 29, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#7 Perigi's Wonderful Dolls
Sunday, June 5, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#8 The Green Hills of Earth
Thursday, July 7, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#9 Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium
Thursday, July 14, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#10 Nightmare
Thursday, July 21, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#11 The Embassy
Thursday, July 28, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
#12 The Veldt
Thursday, August 4, 1955 - 30:00 - NBC
