History Radio / TheWarOfTheWorlds

* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: If you missed the start of the show (most did), the only sign that the show was fictional was a message 40 minutes in.

* ViolenceDiscretionShot: When the first of the Martian fighting-machines rises from the cylinder, the radio feed from the National Guard stationed at Grover's Mill is conveniently cut short ''right before'' the soldiers open fire on the machine, and we are instead treated with a report on the aftermath of what turned out to be a CurbStompBattle (that the ''Martian'' won) from the CBS studio.

* AdaptationalBadass: The Martians, despite going up against more contemporary military technology (U.S. National Guardsmen equipped with [[GasMaskMooks gas masks]] and [[GatlingGood machine-guns]], military airplanes, etc.), manage to prove much more durable and threatening than in the original novel, and ''without'' having the force-fields they are depicted with in later film adaptations.\\\
For example, only ''one'' fighting-machine is brought down in combat, and it took an artillery barrage ''and'' a bomber plane crashing into it to eliminate it. Also, the Black Smoke is deployed ''before'' said machine is destroyed, and it's shown to render gas masks ''useless''. And the real kicker is that the very first fighting-machine deployed by the Martians was pitted ''alone'' against an army of 7,000 National Guardsmen that were all using rifles and machine-guns, and left only ''120'' known survivors.

* ViolenceDiscretionShot: When the first of the Martian fighting-machines rises from the cylinder, the radio feed from the National Guard stationed at Grover's Mill is conveniently cut short ''right before'' the soldiers open fire on the machine, and we are instead treated with a report on the aftermath of what turned out to be a CurbStompBattle from the CBS studio.

* ViolenceDiscretionShot: When the first of the Martian fighting-machines rises from the cylinder, the radio feed from the National Guard stationed at Grover's Mill is conveniently cut short ''right before'' the soldiers open fire on the machine, and we are instead treated with a report of the aftermath from the CBS studio.

* AdaptationalBadass: The Martians, despite going up against more contemporary military technology (soldiers using [[GasMaskMooks gas masks]] and [[GatlingGood machine-guns]], military airplanes, etc.), manage to prove much more durable and threatening than in the original novel, and ''without'' having the force-fields they are depicted with in later film adaptations.\\\

* AdaptationalBadass: The Martians, despite going up against more contemporary military technology ([[GatlingGood machine-guns]], [[GasMaskMooks soldiers wearing gas masks]], and airplanes), manage to prove much more durable and threatening than in the original novel, and ''without'' having the force-fields they are depicted with in later film adaptations.\\\

* AdaptationalBadass: The Martians, despite going up against more contemporary military technology (machine-guns, gas masks, and airplanes), manage to prove much more durable and threatening than in the original novel, and ''without'' having the force-fields they are depicted with in later films.\\\
For example, only ''one'' fighting-machine is brought down in combat, and it took an artillery barrage ''and'' a bomber plane crashing into it to eliminate it. Also, the black smoke is deployed ''before'' said machine is destroyed, and it's shown to render gas masks ''useless''. And the real kicker is that the very first fighting-machine deployed by the Martians was pitted ''alone'' against an army of 7,000 National Guardsmen that were all using rifles and machine-guns, and left only ''120'' known survivors.

* AdaptationalBadass: The Martians, despite going up against more contemporary military technology (machines guns, gas masks, and airplanes), manage to prove much more durable and threatening than in the original novel. For example, only ''one'' fighting-machine is brought down in combat, and it took an artillery barrage and a bomber plane crashing into it to eliminate it. Also, the black smoke is deployed ''before'' said machine is destroyed, and it's shown to render gas masks ''useless''. And the real kicker is that the very first fighting-machine deployed by the Martians was pitted ''alone'' against an army of 7,000 National Guardsmen that were all using rifles and machine-guns, and left only ''120'' known survivors.

The incident was dramatized in the 1975 TV movie, ''The Night That Panicked America'' co-starring JohnRitter and touched upon in feature films like ''RadioDays'' by WoodyAllen. It was analyzed in a hysterically funny episode of NPR's ''RadioLab'' in 2008, talking about the power of mass media and humanity's need for storytelling.

* KilledMidSentence: The at-the-scene radio reporter, Carl Phillips. Or, at least, the on-site radio equipment is destroyed while he's in mid sentence.
** Phillips' charred remains are later identified.

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'') famous internationally overnight. For instance, the Campbell Soup Company jumped at the chance of becoming the sponsorless show's underwriter to become ''The Campbell Playhouse''. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate. The broadcast was actually [[http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_quito.htm recreated in 1949 in Quito, Ecuador]], ''definitely'' as an intentional prank, although not on the diabolical level that's been attributed to them. A huge riot erupted when listeners were finally told it was a gag. An angry mob with TorchesAndPitchforks set fire to the station, with 100 workers trapped inside. Seven people died.

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'') famous internationally overnight. For instance, the Campbell's Soup company jumped at the chance of becoming the sponsorless show's underwriter to become ''The Campbell Playhouse''. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate. The broadcast was actually [[http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_quito.htm recreated in 1949 in Quito, Ecuador]], ''definitely'' as an intentional prank, although not on the diabolical level that's been attributed to them. A huge riot erupted when listeners were finally told it was a gag. An angry mob with TorchesAndPitchforks set fire to the station, with 100 workers trapped inside. Seven people died.

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre of the Air'') famous internationally overnight. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate. The broadcast was actually [[http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_quito.htm recreated in 1949 in Quito, Ecuador]], ''definitely'' as an intentional prank, although not on the diabolical level that's been attributed to them. A huge riot erupted when listeners were finally told it was a gag. An angry mob with TorchesAndPitchforks set fire to the station, with 100 workers trapped inside. Seven people died.

* EmergencyPresidentialAddress: Averted by ExecutiveMeddling. It was originally intended for the unnamed Secretary of the Interior to be President FranklinDRoosevelt, but CBS objected to this detail. That didn't stop Welles from having the actor imitate Roosevelt's voice.)

* KilledMidSentence: The at-the-scene radio reporter. Or, at least, the on-site radio equipment is destroyed while he's in mid sentence.

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre of the Air'') famous internationally overnight. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate. The broadcast was actually [[http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_quito.htm recreated in 1949 in Quito, Ecuador]], ''definitely'' as an intentional prank, resulting in a huge riot and seven deaths including the producer's fiancee and nephew.

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre of the Air'') famous internationally overnight. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate.[[note]] The [[1949 re-creation of the event in Quito, Ecuador]] was ''definitely'' an intentional prank, resulting in a huge riot and seven deaths including the producer's fiancee and nephew. [[/note]]

The show made Welles and the show broadcasting it (''The Mercury Theatre of the Air'') famous internationally overnight. Whether or not he used the format to [[ForTheEvulz intentionally troll radio listeners]] is still up for debate.

The incident was dramatized in the 1975 TV movie, ''The Night That Panicked America'' co-starring JohnRitter and touched upon in feature films like ''RadioDays'' by WoodyAllen.

When Orson Welles began adapting various famous works for CBS Radio in 1938, he decided to adapt ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' to a contemporary American setting, and, rather than a regular radio play, aired what seemed like a regular night of music, until reports of strange phenomena on the surface of Mars and what seem to be meteorites landing in locations across America...

* SwitchingPOVs: The first part is comprised of various reports and interviews from different people. The last part follows a lone professor.

When Orson Welles began adapting various famous works for CBS Radio in 1938, he decided to adapt TheWarOfTheWorlds to a contemporary American setting, and, rather than a regular radio play, aired what seemed like a regular night of music, until reports of strange phenomena on the surface of Mars and what seem to be meteorites landing in locations across America...

* WeInturruptThisProgram: The first ten minutes of the show involves "Ramon Raquello and His Orchestra" playing Thirties dance music, with the plot occasionally interrupting to provide breaking news.