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 61: The Stars Are The Styx

​At a way station for star-bound colonists, a coordinator whose responsibility is to match suitable couples for the long journey, falls in love with one of the prospects himself.

​First broadcast: 24 July 1956.
Original Story by Theodore Sturgeon.
​Cast: Craig McDonnell, Patsy O'Shea, Richard Hamilton, Charlotte Manson, Bob Hastings, Wendell Holmes.
Episode 62: Student Body

​A colony world has problems with alien 'mice', which seem to have the ability to eat virtually anything and use it as raw material to rapidly evolve beyond any measure employed against them.

First broadcast: 31 July 1956.
Original Story by F. L. Wallace.
​Cast: Bob Hastings, Charles Carruth, James Dukas, James Stevens, John Radee, Kate Wilkinson, Merrill E. Joels.
Episode 63: The Last Martian

A reporter for a big city newspaper overhears a very confused young man in a bar confess that he is not who he appears to be, but is in fact the last of the race of Mars, somehow transported to Earth into a human body. Utter nonsense, of course...

First broadcast: 7 August 1956.
Original Story by Fredric Brown.
​Cast: Santos Ortega, Elliott Reid, John McGovern, Mandel Kramer, Patricia Weil, Ralph Bell.
Episode 64: The Snowball Effect

A sociologist seeking to prove his equations of exponential growth dynamics tests his methods out on a ladies sewing club, with more than spectacular results.
​
​First broadcast: 14 August 1956.
Original Story by Katherine MacLean.
​Cast: Ted Osborne, Wendell Holmes, Warren Parker, Audrey Blum, Mary Patton, Patsy O'Shea, Peggy Allenby.
Episode 65: Surface Tension

The world is headed for unavoidable destruction, so a brilliant scientist conceives a microscopic civilization in a drop of water. One day, however, his 'children' begin to wonder what lies beyond the surface of their cosmos.

​First broadcast: 28 August 1956.
Original Story by James Blish.
​Cast: Bob Hastings, Dan Ocko, James Stevens, Larry Haines, Lawson Zerbe, Luis Van Rooten, Mason Adams.
Episode 66: Tunnel Under The World

Every day seems to be a repeat of June 15, but only one man in the entire city is aware of the anomaly. Repeat of episode 42, but with different cast.

​First broadcast: 4 September 1956.
Original Story by Frederik Pohl.
​Cast: Dean Olmquist, Amy Sidell, Elaine Rost, Bob Hastings, Ken Rafitte, Larry Haines, Norman Rose.
Episode 67: The Lifeboat Mutiny

Two men planning an expedition across the sea of an alien planet buy a lifeboat from a junk dealer, unaware that said boat is a relic of an ancient alien war. The boat's computer is programmed to protect its occupants at all costs, which is fine if you happen to be a Drome instead of a human being.

​First broadcast: 11 September 1956.
Original Story by Robert Sheckley.
​Cast: Leon Janney, William Redfield, John McGovern, Mandel Kramer.
Episode 68: The Map Makers

A deep-space survey ship collides with a meteor during a jump through hyperspace, becoming hopelessly lost. Their navigation system destroyed, the crew have no way of even determining their own location. Then a crewman blinded in the accident begins to undergo a strange transformation...

​First broadcast: 26 September 1956.
Original Story by Frederik Pohl.
​Cast: John Larkin, Ed Prentiss, Bob Hastings, Tom Collins, Richard Hamilton, Burford Hampden, Rolly Bester, Carl Frank.
Episode 69: Protective Mimicry

A galactic treasury agent must trace the origin of counterfeit credits which are good enough to fool the government's most sophisticated detectors. His search leads him to a world of swamps and primitive natives, a place which could not possibly possess the necessary technology...

​First broadcast: 3 October 1956.
Original Story by Algis Budrys.
​Cast: Mandel Kramer, Teri Keane, Charles Penman, Richard Hamilton, Wendell Holmes.
Episode 70: Colony

A survey expedition on a distant planet must determine whether the world is safe for colonization. It seems ideal, in fact, until one scientist reports that his microscope tried to strangle him...

​First broadcast: 10 October 1956.
Original Story by Philip K. Dick.
​Cast: Alan Bergman, William Quinn, Fredericka Chandler, James Stevens, John Larkin, Larry Robinson, Norman Rose.
Episode 71: Soldier Boy

Earth's colonies are spread too thin over space, making them easy targets for attack by an unknown alien race. When a minor colony planet is threatened, the military can only spare a one-man defence force.

​First broadcast: 17 October 1956.
Original Story by Michael Shaara.
​Cast: Alan Hewitt, Bob Hastings, Floyd Mack, Kermit Murdock, Larry Haines, Ralph Bell, Wendell Holmes.
Episode 72: Pictures Don't Lie

Scientists receive a video signal from an alien spaceship on its way to Earth. Its arrival is imminent, but uninvited — what chance would humanity have if they turned out to be hostile?

First broadcast: 24 October 1956.
Original Story by Katherine MacLean.
​Cast: John Gibson, Sam Grey, Richard Hamilton, Joe DeSantis.
Episode 73: Sam, This Is You

A telephone lineman having trouble with his girlfriend receives a phone call from himself in the future, advising him how to turn his life around.

​First broadcast: 31 October 1956.
Original Story by Murray Leinster.
​Cast: Larry Haines, Pat Hosley.
Episode 74: Appointment In Tomorrow

A look into a dark future controlled by the 'Thinkers', and the computer brain they rely on to do the actual thinking.

​First broadcast: 7 November 1956.
Original Story by Fritz Leiber.
​Cast: Charles Penman, Dean Olmquist, Arthur Hughes, Bob Hastings, Pat Hosley, Ted Osborne, Floyd Mack.
Episode 75: The Martian Death March

On a Mars conquered by Earthmen, the few remaining spider-like Martians escape from their reservation and embark on a desperate trek across the deserts to their mountain homelands, lead by a human religious fanatic. Repeat of episode 17.

​First broadcast: 14 November 1956.
Original Story by Ernest Kinoy.
​Cast: David Pfeffer, Lawrence Kerr, Ralph Bell, Ralph Camargo, Richard Hamilton, Roger De Koven.
Episode 76: Chain of Command

Radioactive experiments at a top secret government research lab inadvertently produce intelligent mice, who take exception to the traps laid out for them in the hallways... such exception, in fact, that one mouse is willing to take his case to Washington.

​First broadcast: 21 November 1956.
Original Story by Stephen Arr.
​Cast: John Gibson, John McGovern, Ann Thomas, Alan Bunce, Wendell Holmes, Staats Cotsworth.
Episode 77: The Castaways

​Nuclear testing on a remote Pacific island goes awry when the natives, rather than be relocated, threaten to commit mass suicide to put a curse on the project. Repeat of episode 18.

​First broadcast: 28 November 1956.
Original Story by Ernest Kinoy.
​Cast: Bill Lipton, Bob Hastings, John Thomas, Joseph Julian, Leon Janney, Roger De Koven, Staats Cotsworth, William Keene.
Episode 78: There Will Come Soft Rains / Zero Hour

There Will Come Soft Rains: An automated house faithfully continues its daily routines after its occupants — and the rest of humanity — have long gone.
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: 5 December 1956.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Agnes Young, Butch Cavell, Denise Alexander, Norman Rose, Peter Lazer, Rita Lynn, Roger De Koven, William Griffis.
Episode 79: Hostess

A housewife offers lodging to an alien psychologist who finds humans both strange and fascinating, and wishes to observe life in an average home. Her husband, however, is convinced the alien has a more sinister purpose in mind — one which may affect the future of the human race.

​First broadcast: 12 December 1956.
Original Story by Isaac Asimov.
​Cast: Teri Keane, Les Damon, Kermit Murdock.
Episode 80: The Reluctant Heroes

Team members of a remote base on the Moon serve long tours of duty, and come into conflict over who is next in line to return to Earth.

​First broadcast: 19 December 1956.
Original Story by Frank M. Robinson.
​Cast: Jim Drummond, James Stevens, Mandel Kramer, Richard Hamilton, Bob Hastings, Dick Janaver.