Search - :: Old Time Radio Science Fiction (Smithsonian Collection)

Steven J. (peanuts) from YOSEMITE NTPK, CA
Reviewed on 3/24/2010...

Great otr shows. What more do you need to say?

Classics from the Golden Age of Science Fiction

George R Dekle | Lake City, FL United States | 03/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My mother remembered the night Orson Welles panicked the country with "The War of the Worlds." I asked her if she was fooled by the broadcast and she said she was not. She was listening to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the other channel. Two things contributed to the hysteria caused by Welles' broadcast. Firstly, the news-report format of the show was extremely realistic, and secondly a number of listeners switched over to "The War of the Worlds" partway through the broadcast when an unpopular singer followed a commercial on the Charlie McCarthy show (I thought people didn't start channel surfing until the invention of the TV remote). One wit said that all the intelligent people were listening to the dummy and all the dummies were listening to "The War of the Worlds." But that is unfair. When I listened to the show the first time, I was struck by the realism of the radio announcer's panicked description of the Martian attack. It reminded me of the broadcast of the Hindenburg tragedy, and I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the actor who played that part had consciously tried to model his delivery after that broadcast. We'd like to think we're smarter than our countrymen from that earlier time, but you need only look to the recent Y2K panic to realize we're not as sophisticated as we think."The War of the Worlds" isn't the only gem in the collection. "Donovan's Brain," "The Martian Chronicles," "The Time Machine," and "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" are classics by anyone's definition. The other stuff isn't quite as good as these excellent episodes, tending toward sci-fi formula stories and space opera, but the high quality of the named shows would be hard to equal in any genre. The fifties were the "Golden Age" of science fiction writing, with talents like Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Alfred Bester all in their prime. Judging from the quality of the offerings in this collection, fifties radio sci-fi measured up quite well against printed science fiction."

I Think the stories, and sound effects are outstanding.

George R Dekle | 02/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like science fiction, even a little bit and you have to drive a half hour or more this collection is a must have. Just listening to the War of the Worlds from the 1938 broadcast is worth it as you can see why over 1 million people were in such a frenzy. The stories are not too long and combined with some nice sound effects are very enjoyable. They made my ride to work go by in a blink. Highly Reccomended"