CBS Mystery Theater eps 41-60

CBS Mystery Theater

CBS Mystery Theater was a general radio drama series which ran for nearly 1400 episodes from 1974-1982 on the CBS network. It specialised, unsurprisingly, in the mystery genre, but did include a fair bit of fantasy, SF and the supernatural. The show was created by Hilman Brown and hosted by E. G. Marshall. Collected here are some of the SF and fantasy episodes, including those with only a slight inclination towards the genre, such as the supernatural. Some episodes are omitted due to poor audio quality.

Please note that the episode numbers given below are merely the order in which the episodes are thought to have been broadcast — they are not the actual episode numbers.

Episode 41: Fateful Reunion

A computer engineer develops a machine which can predict future events. His fiancée plans to use it as a party trick, until it foretells the death of one of their fathers.

First broadcast: 21 July 1975.
Original Story by Elizabeth Pennell.
Cast: Robert Dryden, Jennifer Harmon, Ken Harvey, William Redfield.

Episode 42: To Die Is Forever

A millionaire's plan to cryogenically freeze himself and his dead wife is hijacked by the ghost of his pirate ancestor.

First broadcast: 7 August 1975.
Original Story by Ian Martin.
Cast: Mandel Kramer, Marian Seldes, Jack Grimes, Ann Pitoniak, Leon Janney.

Episode 43: Age Cannot Wither Her

How has Eleanor Burnham been married to her seventy year old husband for forty five years, when she is only eighteen years old?

First broadcast: 11 August 1975.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Jennifer Harmon, Joe Silver, Bryna Raeburn, Ken Harvey, Earl Hammond.

Episode 44: The Master Computer

A couple returning from vacation find that a computer glitch in the afterlife means that no one can see or hear them.

First broadcast: 13 August 1975.
Original Story by Fielden Farrington.
Cast: Robert Dryden, Augusta Dabney, Joan Shea, Nat Polen, Robert Maxwell.

Episode 45: Night of The Howling Dog

A wilderness camping party are menaced by a werewolf-like creature.

First broadcast: 28 August 1975.
Original Story by Algernon Blackwood (adapted by Murray Burnett).
Cast: Mason Adams, Norman Rose, Marian Seldes, Kristoffer Tabori, Guy Sorel.

Episode 46: Assassination In Time

A pair of time travellers try to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

First broadcast: 26 September 1975.
Original Story by Ian Martin.
Cast: Ian Martin, William Redfield, Jennifer Harmon, Bryna Raeburn, Gordon Gould.

Episode 47: Who Made Me

In an authoritarian, hierarchical future society, a military officer is shocked when his son requests to be assigned to a lower caste.

First broadcast: 7 October 1975.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Larry Haines, Marian Seldes, Don Scardino, Evie Juster.

Episode 48: The Summer People

A young couple decide to spend the summer off the beaten track, in the sleepy town of Grenville. The town seems idyllic — so idyllic in fact, that no one ever seems to leave…

First broadcast: 24 October 1975.
Original Story by Bob Juhren.
Cast: Tony Roberts, Jennifer Harmon, Grace Matthews, Leon Janney, William Redfield.

Episode 49: The Frammis

In the Kingdom of Limbovania, a worthless piece of glass has a strange effect on anyone who sees it.

First broadcast: 28 November 1975.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Howard Da Silva, Bryna Raeburn, Joan Shea, Ian Martin, Robert Dryden.

Episode 50: The Eleventh Hour

Responding to a newspaper personal ad, a businessman meets a woman claiming to be from another world, who just needs a million dollars to help her return home.

First broadcast: 17 December 1975.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Arnold Moss, Carol Teitel, Don Scardino, Larry Haines, Mary Jane Higby.

Episode 51: Fireball

An arms manufacturer, working on a superweapon for the government, has an encounter with the god Vulcan.

First broadcast: 18 December 1975.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Kim Hunter, Hugh Marlowe, Joe Hammond, Guy Sorel.

Episode 52: Sagamore Cottage

A young couple hear voices coming from the walls of their rented cottage. Could voodoo magic be involved?

First broadcast: 31 December 1975.
Original Story by Bob Juhren.
Cast: Bob Kaliban, Carmen Matthews, Janet Waldo, Bryna Raeburn, Robert Maxwell.

Episode 53: A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court

A Yankee engineer from Connecticut is transported back in time to King Arthur's court.

First broadcast: 8 January 1976.
Original Story by Mark Twain (adapted by Sam Dann).
Cast: Kevin McCarthy, Robert Dryden, Russell Horton, Arnold Moss.

Episode 54: The Mysterious Stranger

A sixteenth century villager has an encounter with an angel claiming to be Satan's nephew.

First broadcast: 11 January 1976.
Original Story by Mark Twain (adapted by Sam Dann).
Cast: Tony Roberts, Joe Silver, Marian Seldes, Bryna Raeburn, Ian Martin.

Episode 55: There's No Business Like

An inmate in a mental institution claims to have travelled into the future, to a world where criminals are sentenced to 'showbiz', and a character's death means the real-world death of the actor.

First broadcast: 19 January 1976.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Howard Da Silva, Joan Lorring, Robert Dryden, Bryna Raeburn.

Episode 56: The Children of Death

In a post-apocalyptic future, the tribe of men is at war with the tribe of women.

First broadcast: 5 February 1976.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Marian Seldes, Tony Roberts, Evie Juster, Robert Dryden.

Episode 57: The Horror of Dead Lake

Is an embryologist, carrying out experiments at a lakeshore castle, responsible for reports of a monster in Dead Lake?

First broadcast: 9 February 1976.
Original Story by Roy Winsor.
Cast: William Prince, Gordon Gould, Ann Shephard, George Petrie, Gilbert Mack.

Episode 58: I Thought I Saw A Shadow

A scientist becomes separated from his own shadow following an experiment with an invisibility serum.

First broadcast: 10 March 1976.
Original Story by Bob Juhren.
Cast: Nat Polen, Joan Shea, Gordon Gould, Lloyd Battista.

Episode 59: Pandora

In a future Utopia, a woman suffering from unhappiness must be either cured or killed before the contagion can spread.

First broadcast: 11 March 1976.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Patricia Elliot, Norman Rose, Joan Lovejoy, Don Scardino.

Episode 60: The Aliens

A secret agent, working on a psychic communication project, receives a telepathic message that the Earth is under threat from aliens.

First broadcast: 15 March 1976.
Original Story by Sam Dann.
Cast: Paul Hecht, Mandel Kramer, Robert Dryden, Marie Cheatham.