Columbia Workshop

Columbia Workshop was a radio series that aired on CBS from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946-47. The series was conceived by radio engineer, writer and director Irving Reis as a platform for experimental radio techniques, both technical and creative. The series included episodes of drama, music and documentaries. Collected here are the SF and fantasy episodes, including those with only a slight inclination towards the genre, such as the supernatural and fairy tale. 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 21: Metzengerstein

​Gothic horror tale of two feuding families and a cursed tapestry.

​First broadcast: 16 December 1937.
Original Story by Edgar Allan Poe.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 22: Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass, Part 1

​Adaptation of Lewis Carroll's sequel to Alice In Wonderland. Part 1 takes us up to the meeting with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. 

First broadcast: 23 December 1937.
Original Story by Lewis Carroll.
​Cast: Helen Claire, Agnes Moorehead, Lurene Tuttle.

Episode 23: Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass, Part 2

Part 2 of the adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy.

First broadcast: 30 December 1937.
Original Story by Lewis Carroll.
​Cast: Helen Claire, Agnes Moorehead, Lurene Tuttle.

Episode 24: The Ghost of Benjamin Sweet

Light-hearted tale of a haunting, told from the ghost's perspective.
​
​First broadcast: 8 January 1938.
Original Story by Pauline Gibson.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 25: The Well of The Saints

A blind couple find they have been lied to by the local townsfolk when their sight is restored by a miracle.

​First broadcast: 19 February 1938.
Original Story by John Millington Synge.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 26: The Fisherman And His Soul

A fisherman banishes his soul in order to win the love of a mermaid.

​First broadcast: 7 May 1938.
Original Story by Oscar Wilde.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 27: Bury The Dead

Six dead soldiers stand up in their grave and refuse to be buried.

​First broadcast: 28 May 1938.
Original Story by Irwin Shaw.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 28: Outward Bound

The passengers on board a cruise ship discover they are on a voyage to judgement.
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​First broadcast: 15 September 1938.
Original Story by Sutton Vane.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 29: He Doubles In Pipes

Virtuoso trumpeter Joe Swing plays a mean horn, but also seems to possess cloven hoofs!

​First broadcast: 22 September 1938.
Original Story by Hilda Cole.
​Cast: Van Heflin, Edward Latimer, Barbara Weeks, Elsie May Gordon, Flora Campbell, Templeton Fox, Dwight Weist, Ray Collins, Walter Vaughn, Guy Repp, Luis Van Rooten, Karl Eastman.

Episode 30: Mr. Whipple Is Worried

Stockbroker Oliver Whipple thinks he is going crazy when statues begin talking to him and giving him stock tips.

​First broadcast: 16 January 1939.
Original Story by James Frederick.
​Cast: Chester Stratton, Teddy Bergman, Frank Reddick, Edward Latimer, Jack McBride, Ruth Yorke, Van Heflin, Cameron Andrews, George Tipley, Joan Tepsal.

Episode 31: Prophecy

Will seaman Isaiah be able to escape his death, prophesied by a “conjurin’ woman”?

​First broadcast: 23 January 1939.
Original Story by Wilbur Daniel Steele.
​Cast: Unknown.

Episode 32: Now Playing Tomorrow

Architect William Wample finds the ability to see his own future, bestowed on him by an angel, is not the blessing he thought it would be.

​First broadcast: 30 January 1939.
Original Story by Arthur Laurents.
​Cast: Arlene Francis, Karl Swenson.

Episode 33: The Half-Pint Flask

On a small island off the coast of the Carolinas, a bottle collector steals a flask from a graveyard. The local Negro slaves are not happy about it…

​First broadcast: 6 July 1939.
Original Story by DuBose Heyward.
​Cast: Ted Osborne, Cyrus Kendall, Edmond MacDonald, Lurene Tuttle.

Episode 34: The Use of Man

Mankind is threatened with destruction unless at least two animal spirits can find a use for Man.

​First broadcast: 11 September 1939.
Original Story by Lord Dunsany.
​Cast: George Coulouris, Ian Martin, Horace Braham, Junius Matthews, Eustace Wyatt, Reginald Bache, John Clarke, Eric Rolfe, Edgar Barryer, Naomi Campbell, Florence Robinson.

Episode 35: A Letter From Above

Lighthearted fantasy about a man who finds a letter of recommendation is the way to get things done… and maybe stop a war.

​First broadcast: 16 November 1939.
Original Story by Florence and Ben Vine.
​Cast: Orthe Bell (?), Edith Spencer (?).

Episode 36: The Cock-Eyed Wonder

A mild-mannered man becomes a reluctant baseball hero when he develops slow-motion vision after drinking alcohol.

​First broadcast: 7 July 1940.
Original Story by Nathaniel Curtis.
​Cast: Gardner Ashain (?), Betty Ragie (?), Richard Widmark, Howard Smith, Bill Bendix, Karl Eastman, Walter Kinsella, Frank Butler, Arthur Elmer, Zac McBride, George Tiplady, Jim Tranter.

Episode 37: Fish Story

Musical fantasy about a fisherman who is granted three wishes by a talking fish.

​First broadcast: 14 July 1940.
Original Story by Joseph Gottlieb.
​Cast: Mark Smith, Teddy Hart, Vicky Voeller, Adelaide Klein, Ed Lattimer, John Kane, Helen Lewis, Charles Leteaux.

Episode 38: Carmilla

Modern-day adaptation of the classic vampire tale.

​First broadcast: 28 July 1940.
Original Story by Sheridan Le Fanu.
​Cast: Bill Johnstone, Jeanette Nolan, Joan Tepsal, Effie Palmer, Maurice Franklin, Peter Capell, Gladys Thornton, Tom Tully, Jean Cobert, Neal O’Malley.

Episode 39: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

A boy finds himself in trouble when the king instructs him to remove his hat.

​First broadcast: 18 August 1940.
Original Story by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss).
​Cast: Jack Grimes, Howard Lyndsay, Parker Fennelly, Ken Daniel, Neal O’Malley, Micky O’Day, Eddie Ryan, Gene Leonard.

Episode 40: Alf The All American Fly

A scientist invents an 'insectoscope', which allows insect speech to be heard by the human ear. We follow Alf, the all American fly, as he attempts to save Monica the mosquito from the clutches of Schneider the spider.

​First broadcast: 1 September 1940.
Original Story by Lucille Fletcher.
​Cast: Arthur Elmer, Dwight Weist, Mandel Kramer, Dan Seymour, Howard Smith, Gaye Seabrooke, Jack Hartley.