X Minus One

X Minus One was a half-hour science fiction radio drama series broadcast from April 24, 1955 to January 9, 1958 on NBC.

Initially a revival of NBC's Dimension X (1950–51), the first few episodes of X Minus One were revised versions of Dimension X episodes, but the remainder were adaptations by NBC staff writers, including Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts, of newly published science fiction stories by leading writers in the field, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl and Theodore Sturgeon. Kinoy and Lefferts also provided some original scripts. Most of the new stories were taken from SF pulp magazines Astounding and Galaxy.

An unsuccessful attempt to revive the series was made in 1973 with the broadcast of the final episode, an adaptation of The Iron Chancellor by Robert Silverberg.
Episode 21: Child's Play

​A mild-mannered lawyer accidentally receives a package in the mail containing a cloning machine from the future, with which he sets about making a duplicate capable of turning his life around.

​First broadcast: 20 October 1955.
Original Story by William Tenn.
​Cast: William Zuckert, John Gibson, Grant Richards, Peggy Lubin, Ted Osborne, Bob Hastings, Guy Repp.
Episode 22: Requiem

​Two grounded astronauts are offered one more chance by an ageing tycoon who will stop at nothing to achieve his lifetime dream of setting foot on the Moon.

First broadcast: 27 October 1955.
Original Story by Robert A. Heinlein.
​Cast: David Pfeffer, Jack Orrison, Jim Boles, Joe DeSantis, John McGovern, Rita Lloyd, Stan Early.
Episode 23: Hello, Tomorrow

To escape a world of radioactive dust and intense gamma radiation, the survivors of the 3rd Atomic War burrowed underground and, over the next 2,000 years, rebuilt civilization. But with scant resources, such a civilization has no place for the genetically inferior... or for a geneticist who falls in love with one of them.

First broadcast: 3 November 1955.
Original Story by George Lefferts.
​Cast: John Larkin, Jan Miner.
Episode 24: Dwellers In Silence

Colonists from Mars return to Earth generations after the Atomic War and discover a few survivors — a family with some very odd peculiarities about them. Part of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles series.
​
​First broadcast: 10 November 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Anne Seymour, Karl Weber, Ted Osborne, Richard Hamilton, Edwin Jerome, Stan Early.
Episode 25: The Outer Limit

A test pilot on an experimental high altitude aircraft with only ten minutes worth of fuel disappears from radar for ten hours, yet returns safely. Of course, it is impossible...

​First broadcast: 16 November 1955.
Original Story by Graham Doar.
​Cast: Fredericka Chandler, James Dukas, Joseph Julian, Wendell Holmes, Joe DeSantis, Bob Hastings.
Episode 26: Zero Hour

Suddenly, children from all over the country are playing a new game called Invasion, with Zero Hour set for 5:00 PM, today. But is it really just a game?

​First broadcast: 23 November 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Nina Rieter, David Seffer, Peggy Luman, Les Damon, Rolly Bester, Bob Hastings, John Larkin.
Episode 27: The Vital Factor

Wayne Crowder, the ruthless head of Crowder Industries, assumes the Herculean task of being the first man in history to achieve space travel. Building the ship proves easy, but to propel it at sufficient speed seems impossible, until one man shows up with an answer... and a heavy price for achieving the stars.

​First broadcast: 30 November 1955.
Original Story by Nelson Bond.
​Cast: Joe DeSantis, Guy Sorel, Grant Richards, John McGovern, Luis Van Rooten, Richard Hamilton, Florence Williams.
Episode 28: Nightfall

Classic tale of an alien civilization whose world circles a multiple star system of six suns, and faces worldwide insanity and social collapse when night descends once every several thousand years.
​
​First broadcast: 7 December 1955.
Original Story by Isaac Asimov.
​Cast: Mercer McLeod, John Larkin, Santos Ortega, Wendell Holmes, Al 'Jazzbo' Collins, Bob Hastings, Roy Fant.
Episode 29: To The Future

A couple escape the totalitarian, war-torn world of 2155 for the carefree gaiety of 20th century Acapulco. Unfortunately, however, the government of the future considers them essential for the war effort and cannot allow them to escape. Inevitably, the Seekers are sent to find them...

​First broadcast: 14 December 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Alexander Scourby, Mercer McLeod, Joe DeSantis, Guy Sorel, Al 'Jazzbo' Collins, Stan Early, Teri Keane.
Episode 30: Marionettes, Inc.

A husband looking to get away from his wife for a vacation purchases a robot duplicate of himself to take his place.

​First broadcast: 21 December 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Arthur Kohl, Bob Hastings, Fredericka Chandler, Ginger Jones, Karl Swenson, Les Damon, Richard Hamilton, Theo Goetz.
Episode 31: A Logic Named Joe

An enterprising computer company releases a machine capable of answering any question put to it. Unfortunately, some of the questions people want answers to are not ones that members of a civilized society should be asking...

​First broadcast: 28 December 1955.
Original Story by Murray Leinster.
​Cast: Wendell Holmes, Guy Repp, William Zuckert, Walter Kinsella, Bob Hastings, Joseph Julian, Joey Fallon, Marylou Forster, Pam Thomas, Mary Patton, Mandel Kramer.
Episode 32: The Roads Must Roll

In the future the country depends on an electro-hydraulic road system which acts as a conveyor belt to transport people and cargo. The system works well, until the engineers' union which maintains the roads stages a strike as a bid to gain power.

First broadcast: 4 January 1956.
Original Story by Robert A. Heinlein.
​Cast: Santos Ortega, John Larkin, Joe DeSantis, Mercer McLeod, Bob Hastings, Al 'Jazzbo' Collins, Jack Orrison, Richard Hamilton, Sidney Paul, Rosemary Murphy, Audrey Blum.
Episode 33: Time And Time Again

A soldier dying on a battlefield of the future suddenly finds himself transported back to his own childhood.

​First broadcast: 11 January 1956.
Original Story by H. Beam Piper.
​Cast: Clarke Gordon, Herm Dinken, Jack Grimes, James Dukas, Joe DeSantis, Joseph Bell, Peter Fernandez, Richard Hamilton.
Episode 34: Perigi's Wonderful Dolls

A dollmaker sells a mother an unusual doll which seems capable of responding to people, presumably by recording voices and replaying them in its own voice. Is it just a bit of technical wizardry, or is there something more to this doll than meets the eye? Repeat of episode 7.

​First broadcast: 18 January 1956.
Original Story by George Lefferts.
​Cast: Denise Alexander, Joe DeSantis, Leon Janney, Les Damon, Joan Alexander.
Episode 35: The Parade

An ad agency is hired by a man insisting he is from Mars to promote an upcoming parade marking the arrival of Martians on Earth. Of course, he must be lying, or simply crazy...
​Repeat of episode 2.

​First broadcast: 25 January 1956.
Original Story by George Lefferts.
​Cast: Joseph Curtin, Berry Kroeger, Alexander Scourby, John McGovern, Agnes Young.
Episode 36: The Cave of Night

An astronaut trapped in orbit inspires a worldwide rescue effort — but does he need it?

​First broadcast: 1 February 1956.
Original Story by James E. Gunn.
​Cast: Alexander Scourby, Joe DeSantis, Grant Richards, Luis Van Rooten, Charles Carroll, John Moore, Bob Hastings.
Episode 37: C-Chute

​Six human passengers are taken captive at the beginning of the 2nd Interstellar War when their merchant spaceship Starfire is boarded and hijacked by enemy aliens.

​First broadcast: 8 February 1956.
Original Story by Isaac Asimov.
​Cast: Bob Hastings, Dan Ocko, John Gibson, Lyle Sudrow, Mercer McLeod, Stan Early.
Episode 38: Skulking Permit

A small colony, cut off from Earth for generations, must prove they are a model of Earth culture when a ship arrives to effect their 'reclamation'. They strive to provide archetypes of Earth society, including a town criminal...

​First broadcast: 15 February 1956.
Original Story by Robert Sheckley.
​Cast: Joseph Boland, Joe DeSantis, Mandel Kramer, Richard Hamilton, Ruby Dee, Wendell Holmes, Alan Hewitt, William Quinn.
Episode 39: Junkyard

On a remote planet littered with alien junk, a survey team find themselves trapped when their engineers suddenly can't remember how to lift the ship.

​First broadcast: 22 February 1956.
Original Story by Clifford D. Simak.
​Cast: John Larkin, Bob Hastings, Mercer McLeod, Stan Early, Jack Orrison.
Episode 40: Hello, Tomorrow

To escape a world of radioactive dust and intense gamma radiation, the survivors of the 3rd Atomic War burrowed underground and, over the next 2,000 years, rebuilt civilization. But with scant resources, such a civilization has no place for the genetically inferior... or for a geneticist who falls in love with one of them. Repeat of episode 23.

​First broadcast: 29 February 1956.
Original Story by George Lefferts.
​Cast: John Larkin, Jan Miner.