Tales of Tomorrow | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Directed by | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 85 |
Production | |
Running time | 25 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | August 3, 1951 – June 12, 1953 |
Tales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein starring Lon Chaney Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others.
Besides Chaney and Mitchell, the show featured such performers as Boris Karloff, James Dean, Brian Keith, Lee J. Cobb, Eva Gabor, Veronica Lake, Rod Steiger, Bruce Cabot, Franchot Tone, Louis Hector, Gene Lockhart, Walter Abel, Cloris Leachman, Leslie Nielsen, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. The series had many similarities to the later Twilight Zone which also covered one of the same stories, "What You Need". In total it ran for eighty-five 30-minute episodes. It was called “the best science-fiction fare on TV today” by Paul Fairman, editor of If. [1]
The idea for this science fiction television series was developed by Theodore Sturgeon and Mort Abrahams, and presented under the auspices of the Science Fiction League of America. This entity, not to be confused with the Science Fiction League, may have been a creation of the producers; author Robert Heinlein was contacted in 1951 by Sturgeon and Abrahams about their plan to "put together a league of s-f authors to write television screenplays for a new proposed TV series, Tomorrow is Yours (the original title of the show)." [2] A deal was struck with Richard Gordon and George Foley, giving the producers of the show first choice of any of the 2,000 short stories and 13 novels by the various members of the League.
Tales of Tomorrow was the first dramatized showcase for several authors, including Arthur C. Clarke. [3] Other early science fiction writers whose work was reflected in the series included Fredric Brown ("The Last Man on Earth" and "Age of Peril"), Philip Wylie ("Blunder"), C. M. Kornbluth ("The Little Black Bag") and Stanley G. Weinbaum ("The Miraculous Serum"). The show was intended for adults; at the time, most science fiction productions were targeted to children. [4] The producers wanted to blend mystery and science fiction, and to emphasize fast pacing and suspense. [5]
As an anthology show, each episode had a self-contained plot. Every episode started with a brief bit of narration that mentioned the show's sponsor(s).
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | Episode status | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Verdict from Space" | Theodore Sturgeon | August 3, 1951 | Exists | |
A man is on trial for killing a scientist, but no one will believe that he didn't do it -- or what he and the scientist discovered. | ||||||
2 | 2 | "Blunder" | Teleplay by : Charles O'Neill From an original play by : Philip Wylie | August 10, 1951 | Exists | |
A nuclear engineer in a remote area is about to begin operation of an experimental nuclear reactor involving bismuth which he has learned from a scientific journal that new research shows is fissile under certain conditions. Because of heavy censorship in such information he is not aware of the full article in the journal which warns against using the type of reactor he is about to put up and running as it will literally destroy the Earth. He stubbornly refuses to speak to who he assumes are small minded people who are trying to plead him not to put his reactor online, and now they are in a desperate race to get to him in his remote location and stop him before he blows up the Earth. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "A Child Is Crying" | Story by : John MacDonald Teleplay by : Alvin Sapinsley | August 17, 1951 | Exists | |
A young girl with extraordinary, almost inhuman intelligence, is recruited by the military -- who discover she can see the future. | ||||||
4 | 4 | "The Woman at Land's End" | Unknown | August 24, 1951 | Missing | |
5 | 5 | "The Last Man on Earth" | Fredric Brown | August 31, 1951 | Missing | |
6 | 6 | "Errand Boy" | William Tenn | September 7, 1951 | Missing | |
7 | 7 | "The Monsters" | Robert Sheckley | September 14, 1951 | Missing | |
8 | 8 | "The Dark Angel" | Story by : Lewis Padgett Teleplay by : Alvin Sapinsley | September 28, 1951 | Exists | |
9 | 9 | "The Crystal Egg" | Story by : H.G. Wells Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | October 12, 1951 | Exists | |
10 | 10 | "Test Flight" | Story by : Nelson Bond Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | October 26, 1951 | Exists | |
11 | 11 | "The Search for the Flying Saucer" | Mel Goldberg | November 9, 1951 | Exists | |
12 | 12 | "Enemy Unknown" | Theodore Sturgeon | November 23, 1951 | Missing | |
13 | 13 | "Sneak Attack" | Story by : Russell V. Ritchey Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | December 7, 1951 | Exists | |
14 | 14 | "The Invader" | Robert Foshko & Mort Zarcoff | December 21, 1951 | Exists | |
15 | 15 | "The Dune Roller" | Story by : Julian C. May Teleplay by : Charles O'Neill | January 4, 1952 | Exists | |
16 | 16 | "Frankenstein" | Mary Shelley | January 18, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
17 | 17 | "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: The Chase" | Jules Verne | January 25, 1952 | Missing | |
18 | 18 | "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: The Escape" | Jules Verne | February 1, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
19 | 19 | "What You Need" | Henry Kuttner | February 8, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
20 | 20 | "Age of Peril" | Story by : Fredric Brown Teleplay by : A.J. Russell | February 15, 1952 | Exists | |
21 | 21 | "Memento" | Unknown | February 22, 1952 | Missing | |
22 | 22 | "The Children's Room" | Story by : Raymond F. Jones Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | February 29, 1952 | Exists | |
23 | 23 | "Bound Together" | Mel Goldberg | March 7, 1952 | Missing | |
24 | 24 | "Diamond Lens" | Unknown | March 14, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
25 | 25 | "The Fisherman's Wife" | Unknown | March 21, 1952 | Missing | |
26 | 26 | "Flight Overdue" | David Davidson From an original idea by : Jim Lister | March 28, 1952 | Exists | |
27 | 27 | "And a Little Child" | Unknown | April 4, 1952 | Missing | |
28 | 28 | "Sleep No More" | Mann Rubin | April 11, 1952 | Missing | |
29 | 29 | "Time to Go" | Mann Rubin | April 18, 1952 | Exists | |
30 | 30 | "Plague from Space" | Mann Rubin | April 25, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
31 | 31 | "Red Dust" | Teleplay by : Irving Elman Adapted from a play by : Theodore Cogswell | May 2, 1952 | Exists | |
32 | 32 | "The Golden Ingot" | Unknown | May 9, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
33 | 33 | "The Black Planet" | Mann Rubin | May 16, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
34 | 34 | "World of Water" | Story by : M.J. Gorley & James V. McGlinchey Teleplay by : Mann Rubin | May 23, 1952 | Exists | |
35 | 35 | "The Little Black Bag" | C.M. Kornbluth Additional dialogue : Mann Rubin | May 30, 1952 | Exists | |
36 | 36 | "The Exile" | Unknown | June 6, 1952 | Missing | |
37 | 37 | "All the Time in the World" | Arthur C Clarke | June 13, 1952 | Exists, no closing credits | |
An unscrupulous P.I. is given an assignment to rob an art gallery, using a device that will stop time. With Don Hanmer, Esther Ralston, and Jack Warden. | ||||||
38 | 38 | "The Miraculous Serum" | Story by : Stanley G. Weinbaum Teleplay by : Theodore Sturgeon | June 20, 1952 | Exists | |
A serum which can cure animals of any disease is tried on a human subject. With Lola Albright. | ||||||
39 | 39 | "Appointment on Mars" | S.A. Lombino | June 27, 1952 | Exists | |
A mission to Mars finds valuable minerals, but one of the astronauts becomes increasingly paranoid. With Leslie Nielsen. | ||||||
40 | 40 | "The Duplicates" | Richard M. Simon Additional dialogue : Mann Rubin | July 4, 1952 | Exists | |
A parallel world populated by duplicates of humanity is discovered, and one man is tasked with killing his duplicate to save both worlds. With Darren McGavin. | ||||||
41 | 41 | "Ahead of His Time" | Paul Tripp | July 18, 1952 | Exists | |
In the year 2052, a scientist tries to send a message 100 years into the past to prevent the eventual destruction of mankind. Paul Tripp, who wrote the episode, also stars. | ||||||
42 | 42 | "Sudden Darkness" | Unknown | August 1, 1952 | Missing | |
43 | 43 | "Ice from Space" | E.H. Frank | August 8, 1952 | Exists | |
A block of ice retrieved from outer space seems to freeze everything it contacts. With Paul Newman in a supporting role. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
44 | 1 | "A Bird in Hand" | Unknown | August 22, 1952 | |
45 | 2 | "Thanks" | Unknown | August 29, 1952 | |
46 | 3 | "Seeing-Eye Surgeon" | Michael Blair | September 5, 1952 | |
A surgeon is given a very special pair of glasses. With Bruce Cabot. | |||||
47 | 4 | "The Cocoon" | Unknown | September 12, 1952 | |
48 | 5 | "The Chase" | Unknown | September 19, 1952 | |
49 | 6 | "Youth on Tap" | Lona Kenney Additional dialogue by : Mann Rubin | September 26, 1952 | |
A young man in financial difficulty is offered $1000 for a pint of his blood -- but there's a catch. With Robert Alda and Harry Townes. | |||||
50 | 7 | "Substance X" | Frank De Felitta | October 3, 1952 | |
A woman is dispatched to figure out how a small, isolated southern town is surviving after their only sources of food are cut off. With Vicki Cummings and Will Kuluva. | |||||
51 | 8 | "The Horn" | Alan Nelson | October 10, 1952 | |
An inventor develops a musical instrument that can convey -- and dictate -- human emotions. With Franchot Tone and Stephen Elliott. | |||||
52 | 9 | "Double Trouble" | Unknown | October 17, 1952 | |
53 | 10 | "Many Happy Returns" | Story by : Raymond Z. Gallun Teleplay by : David Karp | October 24, 1952 | |
A father discovers his young son seems to be under the influence of a man from the Moon. With Gene Raymond. | |||||
54 | 11 | "The Tomb of King Tarus" | Unknown | October 31, 1952 | |
55 | 12 | "The Window (aka The Lost Planet)" | Frank De Felitta | November 7, 1952 | |
In this unusual meta-episode, a science fiction melodrama ("The Lost Planet") is interrupted by an unauthorized transmission of a peculiar drama called "The Window", and the real-life crew of Tales of Tomorrow try to figure out what's happening. With Rod Steiger. | |||||
56 | 13 | "The Camera" | Unknown | November 14, 1952 | |
57 | 14 | "The Quiet Lady" | Unknown | November 21, 1952 | |
58 | 15 | "The Invigorating Air" | Unknown | November 28, 1952 | |
59 | 16 | "The Glacier Giant" | Unknown | December 5, 1952 | |
60 | 17 | "The Fatal Flower" | Unknown | December 12, 1952 | |
61 | 18 | "The Machine" | Unknown | December 19, 1952 | |
62 | 19 | "The Bitter Storm" | Armand Aulicino | December 26, 1952 | |
A scientist invents a machine that can retrieve sounds from the past. With Arnold Moss, and -- in her first credited role -- Joanne Woodward. | |||||
63 | 20 | "The Mask of Medusa" | Unknown | January 2, 1953 | |
64 | 21 | "Conqueror's Isle" | Unknown | January 9, 1953 | |
65 | 22 | "Discovered Heart" | Unknown | January 16, 1953 | |
66 | 23 | "The Picture of Dorian Gray" | Unknown | January 23, 1953 | |
67 | 24 | "Two Faced" | Unknown | January 30, 1953 | |
68 | 25 | "The Build Box" | Unknown | February 6, 1953 | |
69 | 26 | "Another Chance" | Frank De Felitta | February 13, 1953 | |
A thief is given a chance to go back seven years and correct his mistakes, but it is harder than it seems. With Leslie Nielsen. | |||||
70 | 27 | "The Great Silence" | Frank De Felitta | February 20, 1953 | |
A disease that paralyzes people's vocal cords is spreading rapidly. With Burgess Meredith. | |||||
71 | 28 | "Lonesome Village" | Unknown | February 27, 1953 | |
72 | 29 | "The Fury of the Cocoon" | Frank De Felitta | March 6, 1953 | |
A scientific expedition discovers a giant cocoon at the remote site of a meteorite crash. With Nancy Coleman and Peter Capell. | |||||
73 | 30 | "The Squeeze Play" | Unknown | March 13, 1953 | |
74 | 31 | "Read to Me Herr Doktor" | Alvin Sapinsley | March 20, 1953 | |
A professor with failing eyesight invents a robot to read books to him, to the concern of his daughter. With Everett Sloane and Mercedes McCambridge. | |||||
75 | 32 | "Ghost Writer" | Mann Rubin | March 27, 1953 | |
A writer is hired to complete horrific tales which then seem to come true. With Leslie Nielsen and Murray Matheson. | |||||
76 | 33 | "Past Tense" | Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert Based on an idea by : Robert F. Levine | April 3, 1953 | |
A doctor uses a time machine to bring penicillin to the people of 1923, but finds it difficult to convince anyone of the drug's efficacy. With Boris Karloff and Robert F. Simon. | |||||
77 | 34 | "Homecoming" | Mann Rubin | April 10, 1953 | |
An Air Force pilot can live only in sub-zero temperatures. With Brian Keith. | |||||
78 | 35 | "The Rivals" | Unknown | April 17, 1953 | |
79 | 36 | "Please Omit Flowers" | Unknown | April 24, 1953 | |
80 | 37 | "The Evil Within" | Manya Starr | May 1, 1953 | |
A scientist's wife inadvertently drinks a serum designed to bring out evil. With Margaret Phillips, Rod Steiger, and James Dean. | |||||
81 | 38 | "The Vault" | Unknown | May 8, 1953 | |
82 | 39 | "Ink" | Unknown | May 15, 1953 | |
83 | 40 | "The Spider's Web" | Frank De Felitta | May 22, 1953 | |
Castaways find themselves on an island inhabited by strange radiation-affected creatures. | |||||
84 | 41 | "Lazarus Walks" | Unknown | May 29, 1953 | |
A dead man comes back to life with the ability to detect lies. With Olive Deering and Joseph Wiseman. | |||||
85 | 42 | "What Dreams May Come" | Unknown | June 12, 1953 |
While the television series was still being produced in 1953, ABC ran a radio show of the same name from January 1 to April 9, 1953. [6] The radio series differed from the television series in that its scripts were adapted from stories appearing in Galaxy Science Fiction . [7] Another radio series, Dimension X , had had a similar relationship with Astounding Science Fiction magazine.
The radio series was not successful. After only a few episodes, on February 26 it moved to CBS for the remainder of its 15-episode run. [8] The TV version was canceled shortly afterward (the last episode was shown on June 12, 1953). A few years after its cancellation, the radio series X Minus One (a 1955 revival of Dimension X) debuted, again adapting stories published in Galaxy. Four of the fifteen Tales of Tomorrow stories were later adapted for X Minus One. These were "The Stars Are the Styx", "The Moon Is Green", "The Girls from Earth", and "The Old Die Rich". [8] [9]
Most of the television episodes are in the United States public domain. [10] [ unreliable source? ] Additionally, five of the surviving radio series episodes are now in the public domain in the United States and available for free download at Internet Archive. It was broadcast live and so the TV episodes were captured on kinescope. Of the 85 TOT episodes produced, around 40 have been released on various DVD sets, along with another handful on VHS, which for years was the only place to find “A Child Is Crying”, one of the most memorable episodes of the series [11]
Katherine Anne MacLean was an American science fiction author best known for her short fiction of the 1950s which examined the impact of technological advances on individuals and society.
Richard Burton Matheson was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.
Theodore Sturgeon was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 short stories, 11 novels, and several scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series.
"The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, and it was collected in The Green Hills of Earth. Heinlein selected the story for inclusion in the 1949 anthology My Best Science Fiction Story. "The Green Hills of Earth" is also the title of a song mentioned in several of Heinlein's novels.
Edward Groff Conklin was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories, wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet. From 1950 to 1955, he was the book critic for Galaxy Science Fiction.
Robert Sheckley was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist, and broadly comical.
Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951. The first 13 episodes were broadcast live, and the remainder were prerecorded. Fred Wiehe and Edward King were the directors, and Norman Rose was heard as both announcer and narrator, opening the show with: "Adventures in time and space... told [or transcribed] in future tense..." For two months, beginning on July 7, 1950, the series was sponsored by Wheaties.
X Minus One is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, X Minus One has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium.
Captain Video and His Video Rangers is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company active 1948 – 1962 and primarily known for fantasy and science fiction, many later regarded as classics.
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.
The science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) was productive during a writing career that spanned the last 49 years of his life; the Robert A. Heinlein bibliography includes 32 novels, 59 short stories and 16 collections published during his life. Four films, two TV series, several episodes of a radio series, at least two songs and a board game derive more or less directly from his work. He wrote the screenplay for Destination Moon (1950). Heinlein also edited an anthology of other writers' science fiction short stories.
2000 Plus was an American old-time radio series that ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from March 15, 1950, to January 2, 1952, in various 30-minute time slots. A Dryer Weenolsen production, it was the first adult science fiction series on radio, airing one month prior to the better-known Dimension X.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two is an English language science fiction two-volume anthology edited by Ben Bova and published in the U.S. by Doubleday in 1973, distinguished as volumes "Two A" and "Two B". In the U.K. they were published by Gollancz as Volume Two (1973) and Volume Three (1974). The original U.S. subtitle was The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time.
"Colony" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Galaxy magazine, June 1953. The plot centers on an expedition to an uncharted planet, on which the dominant, predatory alien life form is capable of precise mimicry of all kinds of objects. The size and complexity of the mimicked object can vary from simple doormats to whole spaceships with the larger objects usually attempting to trap and "absorb" humans similar to carnivorous plants.
"A Saucer of Loneliness" is a short story by American writer Theodore Sturgeon that first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction n. 27. It was adapted as a radio play for X Minus One in 1957, and as the second segment of the twenty-fifth episode of the television series The Twilight Zone, starring actress Shelley Duvall.
"The Veldt" is a science fiction short story by American author Ray Bradbury. Originally appearing as "The World the Children Made" in the September 23, 1950, issue of The Saturday Evening Post, it was republished under its current name in the 1951 anthology The Illustrated Man.
"Mars Is Heaven!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, originally published in 1948 in Planet Stories. "Mars Is Heaven!" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929–1964. It also appears as the sixth chapter of The Martian Chronicles, revised as "The Third Expedition."
Out There is a science fiction television program that was broadcast on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. EST on CBS Television from October 28, 1951 through January 13, 1952. It was one of the first science fiction anthology series, and one of the first shows to mix filmed special effects with live action. It only lasted twelve half-hour episodes before being cancelled. The awkward time slot may have led to its failure. In its short run, the program featured episodes adapted from stories by authors including Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, John D. MacDonald, Murray Leinster, Frank Belknap Long and Milton Lesser. After its initial cancellation, there was at least one report that the network planned on reviving it, but this did not happen.