Tales of Tomorrow
_____________________________________ The 1950's saw both the twilight of the Golden Age of Radio and the birth of the science fiction radio series. Science fiction was not new to radio before 1950, but it was either targeted to juvenile audiences or were shows in a broader series, for example, ESCAPE's "The Time Machine". On March 15, 1950, the first show of Mutual's 2000 PLUS aired, becoming the very first true science fiction series in the US. DIMENSION X followed shortly on April 8, 1950 over NBC stations. TALES OF TOMORROW was the third dedicated science fiction series, over the stations of the American Broadcasting Corporation, following DIMENSION X by almost 2 years. The host of the show was Raymond Edward Johnson, of INNER SANCTUM fame. Mr. Johnson handled TALES OF TOMORROW openings in a similar fashion to INNER SANCTUM openings, but with a "science fiction" flavor, instead of a "macabre" sense. The shows of this series were quite good, borrowing ideas from stories in "Galaxy" magazine. Some of the story titles may seem familiar, like "The Stars Are The Styx", "The Girls From Earth" or "The Old Die Rich". These titles would appear later in CBS's X MINUS ONE. "Watch Bird" would later be done in South Africa, in a series entitled SF68. But radio was on the decline. TALES OF TOMORROW lasted only until April of that year, airing only 15 shows. These six have survived. 53/01/15 3 Betelgeuse Bridge by William Tenn (rough sound) 53/01/22 4 The Other Now by Murray Leinster 53/02/19 8 Watch Bird by Robert Sheckley 53/03/12 11 Martians Never Die by Lucius Daniel 53/03/26 13 The Old Die Rich by H.L. Gold 53/04/02 14 Morrow On Mars _____________________________________