CBS Radio Workshop
Various
Entire set of episodes for the old-time radio series "CBS Radio Workshop".
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
Chapters
Reviews
Twilight Zone?
Lars951
X Minus One (an excellent series) is often cited as the most direct predecessor of "The Twilight Zone", but this series seems to be closer to the mark. Many of the same music cues and personnel give at least the first two installments (A Brave New World) a very TZ quality. But what other eps could fall into this "Twilight Zone" category (mostly speculative fiction like horror, sci-fi, and fantasy)? I found a list at old-time.com that lists the genres, so the following list seems appropriate, but I may be missing one or two candidates. Can anyone help? 1.) Brave New World, Pt. I (27-Jan-56) 2.) Brave New World, Pt. II (3-Feb-56) 3.) Seasons Of Disbelief / Hail & Farewell (17-Feb-56) 4.) The Enormous Radio (11-May-56) 5.) The Little Prince (25-May-56) 6.) A Matter Of Logic (1-Jun-56) 7.) Star Boy (27-Jul-56) 8.) Figger Fallup's Billion Dollar Failure (24-Aug-56) 9.) A Pride Of Carrots (14-Sep-56) 10.) Report on The We'uns (11-Nov-56) 11.) The King Of The Cats (25-Nov-56) 12.) The Big Event (16-Dec-56) 13.) The Space Merchants, Pt. I (17-Feb-57) 14.) The Space Merchants, Pt. II (24-Feb-57) 15.) The Endless Road (17-Mar-57) 16.) A Dog's Life (31-Mar-57) 17.) Lightship (28-Apr-57) 18.) Nightmare (5-May-57) 19.) The Long Way Home (12-May-57) 20.) Housing Problem (16-Jun-57) 21.) The Green Hills Of Earth (21-Jul-57) 22.) Never Bet The Devil Your Head (28-Jul-57) 23.) The Celestial Omnibus (18-Aug-57) 24.) People Are No Good (8-Sep-57) 25.) Time Found Again (15-Sep-57) Remembering that sometimes the TZ wasn't science fiction, fantasy or horror (think "Time Enough at Last" or "One More Pallbearer") there may be more episodes that could fit under this aegis. If you are familiar with both series, would you tell me what I'm missing on my list?
Twilight Zone was more than sci-fi
XMinusOne
IanKoro wrote: "A previous reviewer claimed this was a forerunner to the Twilight Zone, but that doesn't make much sense. While there are a few sci-fi episodes, this show does all kinds of things. Some are educational shows, some are kind of experimental theatre, some are drama, some are more documentary/non fiction. It's all over the map." It's the same thing with The Twilight Zone. Fed up with the difficulties of writing about serious issues on the conservative networks, Rod Serling turned to science fiction and fantasy. Through an ingenious mixture of morality fable and fantasy writing, he was able to circumvent the timidity and conservatism of the television networks and sponsors. Self-producing a series of vignettes that placed average people in extraordinary situations, Serling could investigate the moral and political questions of his time. He found that he could address controversial subjects if they were cloaked in a veil of fantasy, saying "I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say." Comparing CBS Radio Workshop to The Twilight Zone isn't that far a stretch. Jeff
Last (great) blast of radio's Golden Age
SaraBellePalsy
CBS Radio offered this platform to many of classic radio's best writers & producers, allowing them to use their imaginations and creativity freely. By now television has reduced radio drama budgets to practically nothing, as advertisers are putting their money into TV ads. Many writers, producers & directors have shifted to the new medium as well, so this radio series is quite significant. There's many different themes here, a lot are quite unique, and some are groundbreaking . . For example: "I was the Duke" an uncensored interview with a street punk (one can only imagine folks at home hearing this sentence: "So I kicked the guy in the nuts" or the words "assholes" and "bullshit" for the first time ever on the radio!) Other unique stories (also really good) "The endless road" or the story of Denmark Vesey in "Sweet cherries" plus of course, the SciFi stories. Not every episode is outstanding, but many are. Everyone should take the time to soak em all in, and pass these on to everyone & anyone.
Not Twilight Zone
IanKoro
A previous reviewer claimed this was a forerunner to the Twilight Zone, but that doesn't make much sense. While there are a few sci-fi episodes, this show does all kinds of things. Some are educational shows, some are kind of experimental theatre, some are drama, some are more documentary/non fiction. It's all over the map. There are some really great and innovative shows in here, and its certainly worth checking out. Despite a few misses, I'm giving this five stars for being innovative, ahead of its time, and generally awesome.
"Theater of the Mind"
mixiearmadillo
These are really great--some experimental stuff, some fun stories, some mysteries and suspense, some mockumentaries, some music... all kinds of things. A good number of true gems and a few to pass over. Lots of bright moments with Bill Conrad, Parley Baer, John Dehner, Virgina Gregg, and more. Highly recommended.
One of my favorite series
Kevin VandeWettering
The first episode of this series I ever listened to was "Report on the Weuns" where archaeologists from the distant future determined that Elvis was a god and ruled by Rock n' Roll. I was hooked :)
First Timer
flbarrios
Listening to The Green Hills of Earth for a college assignment and loving the format. Almost like watching a movie. Guess they didn't miss out on much back in the 50's as far as technology like YouTube, Netflix, etc.
This is a great series
midnightzr
Yes Twilight zone works for radio but so would outer limits which was tv. that said this series would not need to be tv it works as radio period .