Countdown for blastoff... X minus five, minus four, minus three, minus two, X minus one... Fire! [Rocket launch SFX] From the far horizons of the unknown come tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company presents... X Minus One.
—Original Title Sequence
First broadcast on 22 April 1955, X Minus One was a revival of Dimension X, airing on the NBC radio channel until 1958. This series holds the record for the longest running Science Fiction Radio Drama, a Genre Anthology of episodes that aired over a hundred different stories. The first fifteen episodes reused the Dimension X scripts with new talent behind the voices and sound effects.
This series was directed by Fred Wiehe, Daniel Sutter, and George Voutsas, lasting for one hundred twenty-six episodes. Most of the scriptwriting was by Ernest Kinoy or George Lefferts, but also bringing in new writers like Howard Rodman and William Welch. The scriptwriters would usually create adaptations, with a few scripts original to X Minus One.
Unlike most of its contemporaries, X Minus One would broadcast specifically to an adult audience* , adapting stories from Astounding Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction for broadcast, adding sound effects and background noise to deepen the world. Stories included characters with gambling and addiction problems, criminal tendencies, and even a spaceship piloted by a computer with a female personality (who was being "made love to" by its "robot boyfriend").
The Pilot Episode, an adaptation of "And The Moon Be Still As Bright" by Ray Bradbury, aired on the 22nd, but weekly episodes began the 24th of April 1955, with a Radio original story, "No Contact" by George Lefferts (both episodes were Recycled from Dimension X). The final episode, an adaptation of "Gray Flannel Armor" by Finn O Donnevan, aired on 9 January 1958. An attempt to revive X Minus One was made on 27 January 1973, with episode number 126, an adaptation of "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg.
The entire series survives today in digital form because of the Old Time Radio Researchers
, who have uploaded it to The Internet Archive. Other sources also provide a chance to listen and own DVD or CD copies.
X Minus One provides examples of:
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In episode fifteen, Marilyn Lee Cross stows away aboard the Emergency Dispatch Ship to Woden in order to reunite with her husband Gerry. In the original story, Tom Godwin's "Cold Equations", Gerry is Marilyn's older brother.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In episode eighty-three, Jason Bernaides is a journalist who investigates Janet Boyce's encounter with the Flying Saucer in 1957 and later prevents her from drowning herself on June 25, 1962. It was adapted from Theodore Sturgeon's "A Saucer Of Loneliness", where the unnamed equivalent character has no connection with the woman until he finds the copy of the saucer's message that she placed in a bottle and does not meet her until the night that he saves her.
- Alien Arts Are Appreciated: In episode seventy-two, adapted from Katherine Mac Lean's "Pictures Dont Lie", a scientist was trading TV broadcasts with Sagittarians. They really liked the "Dancing hippo" segment of Fantasia and in return, sent an episode of one of their TV shows.
- Audio Adaptation: Most of the episodes from this series are Radio Dramatizations, the later episodes all come from Galaxy magazine.
- Episode zero is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "And The Moon Be Still As Bright".
- Episode three is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven".
- Episode four is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's "Universe".
- Episode five is an adaptation of Fredric Brown's "Knock".
- Episode eight is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's "The Green Hills of Earth".
- Episode nine is an adaptation of Fletcher Pratt's "Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium".
- Episode ten is an adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Revolt Ofhe Machines".
- Episode eleven is an adaptation of Donald A Wollheim's "The Embassy".
- Episode twelve is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt".
- Episode thirteen is an adaptation of Robert Bloch's "Almost Human".
- Episode fourteen is an adaptation of Clifford Simak's "Courtesy".
- Episode fifteen is an adaptation of Tom Godwin's "Cold Equations".
- Episode twenty is an adaptation of Murray Leinster's "First Contact".
- Episode twenty-one is an adaptation of William Tenn's "Childs Play".
- Episdoe twenty-two is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's "Requiem".
- Episode twenty-four is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Dwellers In Silence".
- Episode twenty-five is an adaptation of Graham Doar's "The Outer Limit".
- Episode twenty-six is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Zero Hour".
- Episode twenty-seven is an adaptation of Nelson Bond's "The Vital Factor".
- Episode twenty-eight is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall (1941)".
- Episode twenty-nine is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Fox And The Forest".
- Episode thirty is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Marionettes Inc".
- Episode thirty-one is an adaptation of Murray Leinster's "A Logic Named Joe".
- Episode thirty-two is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's "The Roads Must Roll".
- Episode thirty-three is an adaptation of H. Beam Piper's "Time and Time Again".
- Episode thirty-six is an adaptation of James E. Gunn's "The Cave Of Night".
- Episode thirty-seven is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "C-Chute".
- Episode thirty-eight is an adaptation of Robert Sheckley's "Skulking Permit".
- Episode thirty-nine is an adaptation of Clifford Simak's "Junkyard".
- Episode forty-one is an adaptation of L. Sprague de Camp's "A Gun For Dinosaur".
- Episode forty-two is an adaptation of Frederik Pohl's "Tunnel Under The World".
- Episode forty-three is an adaptation of Jack Mc Kenty's "A Thousand Dollars A Plate".
- Episode forty-four is an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's "A Pail Of Air".
- Episode forty-five is an adaptation of Clifford Simak's "How 2".
- Episode forty-six is an adaptation of Mark Clifton's "Star Bright".
- Episode forty-seven is an adaptation of Ross Rocklynne's "Jaywalker".
- Episode forty-eight is an adaptation of Milton Lesser's "The Sense Of Wonder".
- Episode forty-nine is an adaptation of Frank Quattrocchi's "Sea Legs".
- Episode fifty is an adaptation of Jerry Sohl's "The Seventh Order".
- Episode fifty-one is an adaptation of JT Mc Intosh's "Hallucination Orbit".
- Episode fifty-two is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "The Defenders".
- Episode fifty-three is an adaptation of Gordon R. Dickson's "Lulungomeena".
- Episode fifty-four is an adaptation of Clifford Simak's "Project Mastodon".
- Episode fifty-five is an adaptation of Murray Leinster's "If You Was A Moklin".
- Episode fifty-seven is an adaptation of James E. Gunn's "Wherever You May Be".
- Episode fifty-eight is an adaptation of Theodore Sturgeon's "Mr Costello Hero".
- Episode fifty-nine is an adaptation of Finn O Donnevan's "Bad Medicine".
- Episode sixty is an adaptation of HL Gold's "The Old Die Rich".
- Episode sixty-one is an adaptation of Theodore Sturgeon's "The Stars Are The Styx".
- Episode sixty-two is an adaptation of FL Wallace's "Student Body".
- Episode sixty-three is an adaptation of Fredric Brown's "The Last Martian".
- Episode sixty-four is an adaptation of Katherine Mac Lean's "The Snowball Effect".
- Episode sixty-five is an adaptation of James Blish's "Surface Tension".
- Episode sixty-seven is an adaptation of Robert Sheckley's "The Lifeboat Mutiny".
- Episode sixty-eight is an adaptation of Frederik Pohl's "The Map Makers".
- Episode sixty-nine is an adaptation of Algis Budrys's "Protective Mimicry".
- Episode seventy is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "Colony".
- Episode seventy-one is an adaptation of Michael Shaara's "Soldier Boy".
- Episode seventy-two is an adaptation of Katherine Mac Lean's "Pictures Dont Lie".
- Episode seventy-three is an adaptation of Murray Leinster's "Sam This Is You".
- Episode seventy-four is an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's "Appointment In Tomorrow".
- Episode seventy-six is an adaptation of Steven Arr's "Chain Of Command".
- Episode seventy-eight is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains".
- Episode seventy-nine is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Hostess".
- Episode eighty is an adaptation of Frank M Robinson's "The Reluctant Heroes".
- Episode eighty-one is an adaptation of Fredric Brown's "Honeymoon In Hell".
- Episode one hundred twenty-four is an adaptation of Alan E Nourse's "Prime Difference".
- Episode one hundred twenty-five is an adaptation of Finn O'Donnevan's "Gray Flannel Armor".
- Episode one hundred twenty-six is an adaptation of Robert Silverberg's "The Iron Chancellor".
- Cannot Tell a Lie: One episode featured a reptilian "lawyer" whose race is incapable of lying (although they don't have to say the entire truth either). This is put to the test when a Jerkass character tries to get under another character's skin by mocking his home planet, who the latter keeps saying is the most beautiful place in the galaxy. The Jerkass gets the reptilian to admit the other character's planet has been ravaged by an asteroid shower and is hardly the paradise he thought it was, but to his shock the reptilian wholeheartedly agrees that the planet is the best place there is because the planet is named after the reptilian's word for "home".
- Character Narrator: In "Martian Sam", Joe, one of the ball club players, acts as narrator for the story, telling the audience about what he had seen and monologuing his opinions about the characters and settings.
- Feed the Mole: In "Project Trojan", Phase Three was identifying a German mole (Gogarty) and "losing" files connected to an unworkable Death Ray. Because they were only "losing" some of the files, it would look as if the lack of information meant the Allied powers had developed a solution.
- Fictional Document: In "Project Trojan", the war program is inspired by a story in Incredible Science Fiction Tales. To "research" for the project, the characters read more Science Fiction tales from the magazine.
- Find Out Next Time: The earliest episodes would give a short summary of the next week's story. After the series got partnered with Galaxy, it would sometimes describe one of the recent stories from the magazine, even when said story wasn't the basis of next week's episode. More of a "find out right now!" advertising of their print-medium partner.
- Future Imperfect: In one episode, two hunters, upon finding an alien, mention "Edison's automobile" and "Ford's electric lightbulb". To be fair, they're both blind drunk.
- Genre Anthology: X Minus One is a Science Fiction radio anthology series.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: In episode eighty-three, adapted from Theodore Sturgeon's "A Saucer Of Loneliness", Jason Bernaides slaps Janet Boyce to prevent her from killing herself.
- Let X Be the Unknown: The "X" in the name
carries over from Dimension X, but now implies tension and excitement, the countdown for a rocket launch! Each episode warns of "a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds". - Loophole Abuse: In "Martian Sam", a Martian is hired as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite being only eighteen inches tall, the Martian's arm is 32 feet long, so most batters have a lot of trouble hitting the ball. Naturally, the Braves counter this by hiring an intelligent virus from Jupiter, so tiny that no pitch can be of the regulation height against them.
- Matter Replicator: In "Protective Mimicry", an adaptation of Algis Budrys's "Protective Mimicry", a galactic treasury agent investigates the source of some credit notes that appear to be genuine save that they all have the same serial numbers, and since the printing process is so fiendishly complicated he believes that someone invented a matter duplicator. It turns out the counterfeiter found an alien tree that made copies of whatever "attacks" it, like a paper airplane made from a 50 credit note. And during the final fight the agent runs into said tree, making it a bit difficult to get tickets back home for all of him.
- Mental Space Travel: In "The Last Martian", adapted from Fredric Brown's "The Last Martian", the titular character claims he escaped from a hospital on Mars to find the rest of his people all lying dead in the streets. Eventually he came to a copper column in the middle of a colosseum and touched it, then found himself in the body of a factory worker in New York. It turned out the others had abandoned their bodies on Mars and taken over humans to escape a plague. He was left behind because he was moronic by Martian standards - that is, as smart as an average human.
- Named by the Adaptation: In episode eighty-three, the woman who receives the telepathic message from the Flying Saucer is named Janet Boyce while the man who prevents the woman from committing suicide is named Jason Bernaides. This is adapted from Theodore Sturgeon's "A Saucer Of Loneliness", where the two characters are not named at all.
- Planet of Hats: One episode featured a reptilian alien coming to a mining planet for one of their workers (basically a milder version of a Furian). The reptile alien's hat is that they Cannot Tell a Lie (although they don't have to say the whole truth either) while the "Furian's" hat is being Hot-Blooded. Lampshaded by the "Furian": "You know how they say we're all good at bar fights?"
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The show's title would be announced as "X! MINUS! ONE!".
- Secondary Character Title: In "Martian Sam", the title is based on one of the characters on the baseball team. The story, however, is told from Joe's perspective.
- Signing-Off Catchphrase: Early episodes would end their Find Out Next Time segments by calling out the show's title; "X! MINUS! ONE!".
- Spiritual Successor: This show was an effort to revive Dimension X, an earlier Science Fiction Genre Anthology which aired on NBC radio from 1950–1951. The director Fred Weihe worked on both, as did scriptwriters Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts. Out of the first thirty or so episodes, they Recycled twenty-six of the scripts from the older Radio Drama.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Episode eighty-three, adapted from Theodore Sturgeon's "A Saucer Of Loneliness", begins on June 25, 1962 and then flashes back to 1957 to tell the story of Janet Boyce's difficulties after her refusal to divulge the contents of the message from the Flying Saucer.
- Works Set in World War II: "Project Trojan" is set during the war, and is about a team of counter-intelligence operatives trying to trick the Germans into chasing a fake scientific development.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: In "Project Mastodon", an adaptation of Clifford Simak's "Project Mastodon", the protagonist got mixed up in a time-traveling get-rich-quick scheme by going to the past and investing in stocks that would rise and property loaded with a type of mineral that the seller told him had interesting scientific qualities but was basically worthless—uranium.
- "X" Makes Anything Cool: The title comes from the countdown for a rocketship; "X minus five, minus four, minus three, minus two, X minus one...". The association is due to the emphasis on Science Fiction for this radio program.
