Tales of Tomorrow | |
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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 release date | Episode status | |
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1 | 1 | "Verdict from Space" | Theodore Sturgeon | August 3, 1951 | Exists | |
An inventor is on trial for killing a professor for five-thousand dollars. In his defence, the inventor claims that the professor paid him the five-thousand dollars use his invention to help the professor open a metal door in a remote mountain, behind which sits a machine that has been recording every tremour on Earth for a million years. The inventor notices something that the professor didn’t: that a part of the machine is broadcasting the data into space. The inventor surmises that an alien intelligence has been monitoring Earth so that, if Earthlings were to even invent a hydrogen bomb, they would know we’re a threat and would attack. The jury does not believe the inventor’s tale, but almost immediately after they announce their guilty verdict, Earth is attacked by the alien intelligence. | ||||||
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. They fail to reach him in time. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "A Child Is Crying" | Story by : John MacDonald Teleplay by : Alvin Sapinsley | August 17, 1951 | Exists | |
A young girl whose intelligence is beyond measure is recruited by the U. S. military to aid in the development of a bomb whose destructive force dwarfs that of the hydrogen bomb—which she does. It is soon revealed that her mental acuity is so pronounced that she can control other people’s actions through telepathic “suggestion” and see patterns in apparently-random phenomena sufficient to determine the future. The military wants to harness this ability to foretell attacks against the U. S., and while she confirms that an attack is imminent, she refuses to say who will attack because she knows that the U. S.’s response would be to engage in a preëmptive attack, which would merely result in a responsive attack and escalation. The girl reveals that there are only twenty people worldwide with her degree of intelligence, and that, after the coming world war, only 150 million will survive, including all twenty of the savants, who will then go about rebuilding the world. Because the military is unable to get her to reveal the date of the attack if the identity of the attacker, they resort to injecting her with a truth serum. The one scientist in the party refuses to apply the injection, not only because he respects her autonomy, but because it could have deleterious effects on her intelligence. The military proceeds with the injection despite his objections. Under the influence, she reveals a small range of dates on which the attack might occur, and that she was the only person in the room who would survive, but nothing more.&nbdp; After a couple of minutes, who intelligence rapidly declines to the level of an average girl her age; she no longer has the knowledge the military seeks, and won’t regain it in time for the military to be able to exploit her. For now, she is a normal, scared child; she cries and begs for her mom. | ||||||
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 | |
Tim Hathaway is explaining to a man why he shot his wife. It all started five years earlier. Joanne Hathaway broke her rib, as confirmed by her X-ray scan. Two days later, her new X-ray scan confirmed that her ribs were fully healed with no sign of fracture. Alarmed, her doctor compares her then-current X-ray scans to those from two years prior, and discovered that her heart had grown smaller and that her appendix had disappeared—despite the last of an appendectomy; he confided his findings in her husband. When Tim approached his wife regarding the findings, she explained that she was changing, becoming much more intelligent, and had even gained telekinetic abilities. She explained that she would soon outgrow him, and that it would be best if she left him before things changed more. He did not see his wife again for a year, when he discovered that she was working at a lab in Berkley, where she had developed a new scientific process. At first, she tells him she will not return to him, but later relents and says she will get her coat. She enters a closet; a minute later, Tim looks in the closet but Joanne is not there. He does not see her again until this night at a bar. She says she does not love him and that she will soon be a ruler. The bartender overhears her, so she kills him with her mind. Tim realizes that she is no longer human and no longer has any compassion for humans, which is why—as he explains to the man—he had to shoot her. The man then reveals that she is not dead, that she cannot die, that he is the man for whom she was waiting in the bar, that he is like her, and that they will rule together; he then kills Tim with his mind. | ||||||
9 | 9 | "The Crystal Egg" | Story by : H.G. Wells Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | October 12, 1951 | Exists | |
A man enters a shop and asks to purchase a crystal egg. Charles Cave, the shopkeeper, sees how desperately the man wishes to buy the egg and tells him it will be £5.00. The man doesn’t have that much on him and says he will return with the remainder. Cave, wondering why someone would pay so much for a crystal egg, takes it to Professor Frederick Vaneck to find out whether there is anything special about it. The egg really catches Vaneck’s attention when it starts blowing. Vaneck studies it all night, discovering that it contains the landscape of Mars within it, and even a Martian lifeform. Cave returns and takes the egg before Vaneck can appeal to him otherwise. Before Vaneck sees Cave again, Cave is murdered in an alleyway; there is no mention by the police of the egg being found with the body. No one believes Vaneck about the egg, yet he remains convinced that Martians use it to vigilantly watch Earth. As he records on vinyl a plea for people to find the crystal egg before it is too late, he is shot, and someone (or something) breaks the vinyl record into pieces. | ||||||
10 | 10 | "Test Flight" | Story by : Nelson Bond Teleplay by : Mel Goldberg | October 26, 1951 | Exists | |
A rich tycoon sinks millions of dollars into a project to build a manned interplanetary spaceship. He wants to be the first man in space! One problem: an engine has never been designed powerful enough to get a ship into space. So, he offers a handsome reward to anyone who can design such an engine. One man does; his engine works by means of magnetism. He isn’t all too interested in the money, however; his primary interest is that he be on the flight; the tycoon agrees. Months go by, and the tycoon—and his company’s shareholders—grow restless. On the day the spaceship is to take off, a representative of the shareholders—believing the ship will not work—demands that the tycoon stop the project; the tycoon refuses, and boards the ship with the engineer. After the ship makes it into space, the tycoon tells the engineer to return to Earth; they had proved that the ship works, and would be sure to visit Mars in the near future. The engineer says that they are going to Mars now, and that there is no way for the tycoon to stop the trip. The engineer didn’t care that they would both be rich and famous-his only concern was getting home to Mars. | ||||||
11 | 11 | "The Search for the Flying Saucer" | Mel Goldberg | November 9, 1951 | Exists | |
Vic is a Lieutenant in the Air Corps who has been grounded for reporting sightings of flying saucers. Posing as a reporter, he’s come to an American town called Las Palmas, from whence many reports of flying saucers have come. Everyone refuses to talk to him about them, though—everyone save for “Crazy John,” who says he knows where the saucers land and the cave in which they are hidden; he says that the people who know about the saucers are, one by one, being mysteriously killed. Ginny, who’s running the inn at which Vic and “Crazy John” are both staying, says that all of the stories of flying saucers coming out of Las Palmas have the same source (“Crazy John”). Ginny and Vic quickly fall in love with one another, despite having known each other for an extremely short time. Ginny tries unsuccessfully to convince Vic not to go to the caves with “Crazy John.” After Vic leaves, Ginny talks with a man about how they should never have come to this planet, that people like Vic would keep coming, keep searching relentlessly for the truth; she says that they can’t kill Vic like the others because, then, the military would come to investigate. The man tells her that they have to leave in a half hour. Privately, Ginny cries, saying to herself that she didn’t come to this planet to fall in love, and now she has to leave her love behind. | ||||||
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 release date | Episode status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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]