Exploring Tomorrow

Exploring Tomorrow was an American science fiction anthology series broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network from late 1957 to late 1958. The series was hosted by legendary editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine John W. Campbell Jr., although the magazine itself was not sponsoring the show.

Notable writers whose work appeared in the series include Randall Garrett, Gordon R. Dickson, Robert Silverberg, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Poul Anderson, John Fleming, Raymond E. Banks, George O. Smith and Tom Godwin.

Many of the details of the individual episodes are either lost or uncertain, and quite a few episodes are missing, with others spliced together from repeat broadcasts on the American Forces Network and similar syndicated networks. Consequently, the details given below should be treated with caution. Note especially that the episode numbers are merely the order in which the episodes are thought to have been broadcast — they are not the actual episode numbers.
Episode 1: The Convict

​A convict accepts permanent exile to Mars rather than a fifteen-year prison sentence on Earth. After ten years on the frigid Red Planet, he steals a spaceship to return to the warmth of Earth…

​First broadcast: 11 December 1957.
Original Story by John Fleming.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 2: The Happiness Effect

​An artist in a small town desperate for workers is framed for a robbery, leading to him being sentenced to ‘brain writing’ which eliminates undesirable traits such as his creativity.

First broadcast: 18 December 1957.
Original Story by Raymond E. Banks.
​Cast: Charles Holmes, Lawson Zerbe, Mason Adams.
Episode 3: Desert Object

A beachball-shaped alien is found in the desert following a meteor shower. Communication proves difficult, as it can only make one sound — “Nago”.

First broadcast: 25 December 1957.
Original Story by Gordon R. Dickson.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 4: Dreams

In a post-Apocalyptic world following an atomic war, a government bureaucrat has dreams of events which have not yet occurred, including his own death.

​First broadcast: 3 January 1958.
Original Story by Unknown.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 5: First Contact

Classic story of the first encounter with an alien race and the mutual distrust that would involve — neither crew wishes to be the first to depart for fear of giving away clues to their planet of origin to a potential adversary.

​First broadcast: 15 January 1958.
Original Story by Murray Leinster.
​Cast: Lon Clark, Lawson Zerbe.
Episode 6: Liar!

A robot manufacturing plant accidentally produces a robot which can read minds. But should the engineers believe anything it tells them?​

​First broadcast: 17 January 1958.
Original Story by Isaac Asimov.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 7: The Moon Is New

The first American astronaut lands on the Moon, to find the first Russian already there... and claiming the Moon as Soviet property.

​First broadcast: 22 January 1958.
Original Story by Robert Silverberg.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 8: The Mutant

Mutants created by radiation from nuclear war are kept segregated from society in a sanctuary, but one lonely mutant, with mind-control powers, decides to seek a better life in the world outside. 
​
​First broadcast: 12 February 1958.
Original Story by Unknown.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 9: The Last Doctor

With all disease conquered, the last doctor left alive on Earth gets his first patient in many years.

​First broadcast: 19 February 1958.
Original Story by Unknown.
​Cast: Unknown.
Episode 10: The Adventure of The Beauty Queen

A woman is contacted by a voice from 1000 years in the future claiming to have fallen in love with her beauty.

​First broadcast: 21 February 1958.
Original Story by John Fleming.
​Cast: Bret Morrison, Charlotte Sheffield (Miss U.S.A., 1958).