Established 1975 Number 231 December 1995

Established 1975 Number 231 December 1995 Ylie .!I«ustrated"~rBss .!Information !i:age Publication of the Old Time Radio Club Membership Information Club Officers and Librarians New member processing, $5.00 plus club President membership of $15.00 per year from Jan 1 to Dec 31. Jerry Collins (716) 683-6199 Members receive a tape library 56 Christen Ct. listing, reference library listing, Lancaster, N.Y. 14086 and a monthly newsletter. Memberships are as follows: Vice President & Canadian Branch If you join Jan-Mar, $15.00; Richard Simpson Apr-Jun, $12.00; Jul-Sep, 96016 Road R.R. 3 $8.00; OCt-Dec, $5.00. All Fenwick, Ontario renewals should be sent in as Canada, LOS 1CO soon as possible to avoid missing issues. Please be sure to notify us if you have a Treasurer, Back Issues, Video & change of address. The Old Time Radio Club meets Records the first Monday of every month at 7:30 P.M. during the Dominic Parisi (716) 884-2004 months of September to June at 393 George Urban 38 Ardmore PI. Blvd. Cheektowaga, N.Y. 14225. The club meets Buffalo N.Y. 14213 informally during the months of July and August at the same address. Anyone interested in the Golden Age Editor of IP, Renewals, Change of of Radio is welcome. The Old Time Radio Club is Address affiliated with The Old Time Radio Network. Peter Bellanca (716) 773-2485 1620 Ferry Road Club Mailing Address Grand Island, N.Y. 14072 Old Time Radio Club Membership Inquires, and OTR P.O. Box 426 Network Related Items Lancaster, N. Y. 14086 Richard Olday (716) 684·1604 100 Harvey Dr. Back issues of The ///usttrded Press ore $1.50 Lancaster, N.Y. 14086 postpaid. Publications out off print may be borrowed from our Reference Library. Tape Libraries Cassettes Deadline for The Illustrated Press is 'the Don Friedrich (716) 626-9164 1st of each month prior to publication. 21 Southcrest Cheektowaga, NY 14225 ",8 II/ustrated Press is a monthly newsletter of The Old Time Radio Club, headquartered in Western New Reel to Reel and Reference Library York State. Contents except where noted, are Ed Wanat Sr. (716) 895-9690 copyright 1994 by the OTRC. 393 George Urban Blvd. Cheektowaga NY 14225 Send all articles, letters, exchange newsletters, etc. to: The Illustrated Press Tape Library Rates: All reels and video cassettes clo Peter Bellanca, editor are $1.85 per month; audio cassettes and records are 1620 Ferry Road $0.85 per month. Rates include postage and handling. Grand Island NY 14072 Canadian rates are the same as above, but in Canadian funds. .!llie!I((ustrateafEress ~ecefT)5er 1995 Publication of the Old Time Radio Club by Dom Parisi Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary defines SCIence you all set? Then lets blast om! fiction as follows: Science Fiction (n) abbr. S.F. A literary or cin Dimension X (later to become X-Minus One) started ematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on kind of late on radio. It was heard first on NBC on speculative science discoveries and developments, April 8, 1950 and ran for about one-and-one-half forms an element ofthe plot or background; especially years with the final broadcast heard on September of future scientific discoveries, environmental 29, 1951. Until the first introduction and airing of changes, space travel, and life on other planets. Dimension X, some twenty years after the establish ment of the networks on radio, there were no science Yeah! Like Martians from Mars or extraterrestrial fiction shows that captured and held the attention of aliens from far away planets with tentacles growing the adult listener. out of their heads! Young and talented writers like Ray Bradbury, Rob When I think of science fiction (please, not sci-fi) ert Bloch, Robert Heinlein, along with others all con what comes to mind are death ray instruments, tributed scrips and helped to draw in the adult audi green gruesome creatures with three eyes and slimy ence. bodies. I think of dramatic somewhat unbelievable but delicious, spine chilling and mouth watering inci Dimension X demonstrated distinctly what could dents. Like a two headed monster that is about to happen with science fiction on the air. Some tales, insert a six inch stainless steel probe deep into your then and now, stand out as classics. Ray Bradbury's brain to learn what makes you tick! I think about a "Mars is Heaven" is as gripping today as when first chicken heart growing out of control and is slowly heard on July 7, 1950. An expedition from earth taking over the earth! I visualize sleek, smooth fly lands on the planet Mars only to discover that the ing saucers, time machines, space ships and space houses there look a lot like the houses on earth as stations with all of the highly advanced equipment to they appeared in the 1920's! Hello! Is anyone home? seek and to monitor everything that's "out therel" Who? Sort of like today's Star Trek and Star Wars movies. I think of weird stuff and of events that happen but Dimension X was originally titled Out ofThis World. can't be explained. I think of Gort, the police robot But -- The New York~ of March 22, 1950, page who kept things on his planet on the up and up in the 52, reported as follows: "NBC has been unable to movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. clear title rights to its new science fiction series, for merly Out of This World and renamed it Dimension What Ldon't think about is humor blended in with X. The program which begins Saturday April 8, at 8 science fiction. Sure, the Star Trek movies and TV P.M., will have a fifteen minute prologue at 7:45 en shows and Star Wars have their share of humor. A titled "Preview to the Future." little humor is fine. X-Minus One, a really good show by the way, leans a little too much toward a Damon Some of the many fine actors who appeared regularly Runyon style of humor. Not to say that silliness is on the program were Joe DiSantis, Santos Ortega, bad, it's good. Ijust don't appreciate too much of it in Mason Adams, Ralph Bell, Les Damon and Roger a science fiction type of story. Enough of that .... DeKoven. Norman Rose was the narrator. This time around we will explore some of the shows X-Minus One: Countdown for blast-off, x-minus five with a science fiction theme; the shows that were -- four -- three -- two •• x-minus one -- fire! The Na popular during radio's heyday. I'll also try to recall tional Broadcasting Company presented this pro other famous radio shows that aired broadcasts with gram beginning on April 24, 1955, four years after a science fiction plot. One that comes to mind imme Dimension X got blown away into the blank abyss of diatly is the famous and great Mercury Theatre on space. The stories on X-Minus One, many of them the Air production of "The War of the Worlds." Ok, anyway, were the same tales previously heard on !I((ustrateafEress 3 Siie !I((ustratetfIEress ~eCefDDer 1995 Publication of the Old Time Radio Club Dimension X. Later, new adaptations and original stories were heard. The writers that wrote for Di S~MElIM£ mension X now wrote for X-Minus One; the actors that acted in Dimension X now acted in X-Minus One. S~ME S1~1I0" X·Minus One did more comedy then its predecessor. by Jim Cox The stories ranged from the amusing "Lifeboat Mu tiny" to the unusual "Tunnel under the World" a In 1970 Ron Lackmann admonished that radio's story so imaginary that it could only be performed longest continuous career belonged to Arthur God with justice on the radio. X-Minus One blasted off frey. Then 67, Godfrey was still broadcasting his into space forever on January 9, 1958. daily radio show, a CBS staple that began April 30, 1945. The redheaded ukulele player would continue However --- in the 1970's, with the science fiction a distinctive brand of engaging banter interspersed nostalgia craze at its pinnacle, NBC wanted to use with live vocalists and orchestra numbers until April the X-Minus One transcriptions in a test (run it up 30, 1972, when he quit -- 27 years from the day he the flag pole and see if anyone salutes it) to find out began. if radio drama could once again be supported. NBC goofed! The shows were heard not weekly, but once !!. Godfrey had stumbled into show business by acci month! A stupid bit of scheduling to say the least. dent. Born in New York City, he joined the Navy at Radio listeners were confused. Who the heck could 18, left it at 21 and became highly successful selling remember if the show was on the first, second, third cemetery lots. When an opportunity to invest his or fourth weekend of the month. This fiasco first savings in a traveling vaudeville act, he did so, but it took place on June 24, 1973 and died once again, this soon went belly-up. Godfrey then became a Chicago time forever, in 1975. cab driver, joined the Coast Guard and in 1929 got into radio at Baltimore's WFBR, billed as "Red God Two Thousand Plus (2000 Plus) was a half hearted frey, the Warbling Banjoist:' A year later he moved attempt by the Mutual Broadcasting System to ride to Washington, D.C. as an NBC staff announcer.

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