TZ Radio Dramas

If you'd like to hear new readings of familiar stories, you should check out the TZ Radio Dramas. I'm mentioning this today because there are at least two opportunities to listen to them on Saturdays/early Sundays:

1. The Internet service Yesterday USA Radio broadcasts them every Saturday 6:00-7:00 PM Eastern. Go to http://yesterdayusa.com for the home page to establish the type of streaming that works for you. The one I've chosen is

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?me...m=1088287271730

You might want to try this first, since as I've bookmarked it I go directly to streaming, but I forget whether this was dependent on an initial setup. In any case, I suggest finding a stream in advance (Yesterday USA airs continuously) and either bookmarking it or keeping a record of how you got there.

2. WGN (720 AM and wgnradio.com) in Chicago broadcasts them every Sunday morning (what is often called late Saturday/early Sunday) 1:05-2:00 AM Eastern. (That's 12:05-1:00 AM Central, the station's time zone). WGN is a clear channel with a powerful nighttime signal, but it's even clearer on the Internet. A direct link to the stream is http://wgnradio.com/listen/liveWGN.ram , although I make the same recommendation as above in trying it out first to make sure you get it working. In particular, you'll need the free version of RealPlayer, which can be downloaded easily.

There are stations all over the US that carry the series at different times. http://twilightzoneradio.com tells you all you need to know about the series, including the stations that carry them and at what times. Some of these stations provide Internet streaming, but there must be some intricacies with broadcast rights of the series. For example, the stream of KSL in Salt Lake City goes silent when TZ should air.

I'd be interested to learn how successful people are in finding a way to listen and, if you do, your opinions of the series. Also, please let us know whether you find any streams besides the two I've given.

All episodes are remakes of those from the original series. They remain faithful to the original scripts except when visual action has to be translated into dialogue. Virtually all of the musical cues come from the original series, although usually from different episodes.

I'd like to hear this series, I just have to take the time to get everything set up. Thanks for the reminder.

Does anyone have the link to where you can buy the radio episodes that have been released on CD?

It's the same link that gives the broadcast stations and times:

http://twilightzoneradio.com

It's the same link that gives the broadcast stations and times:

http://twilightzoneradio.com

Thanks.

You can also get them at amazon.com and some other e-tailers. A lot of them are included on the definitive TZ DVD sets. This is how I've gotten to listen to some of them. I'd like to have them on CD for long car rides though.

I have now found four opportunities to hear the weekly series on the Internet. Times are Eastern and include the actual days of the week; i. e., Monday 12:05 AM is five minutes after Sunday night ends:

Saturday 6:00 PM: Yesterday USA
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?me...m=1088287271730
Uses Live365 in the link here, but http://yesterdayusa.com gives other options.

Sunday 1:05 AM: WGN-720 in Chicago
http://wgnradio.com/listen/liveWGN.ram
Uses Real Player.

Sunday 7:05 PM: WABY-1460 in Albany
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?me...m=1108316554580
Uses Live365. The link has been created to provide streaming of minor league hockey games of the Albany River Rats, farm team of the New Jersey Devils, but it carries the entire WABY schedule.

Monday 12:05 AM: WWTN-99.7 in Nashville
http://www.streamaudio.com/stations/asx/WWTN_FM.asx
Uses Windows Media Player.

The first is Internet only, but the others are broadcast stations that can be heard in their localities. WGN is also a clear channel that easily reaches 600 miles and beyond from Chicago at night unless atmospheric conditions interfere, or if a nearby station is on an adjacent frequency.

I have actually heard TZ through all of these Internet links. As I mentioned in the first post of this thread, Salt Lake City's KSL blacks out TZ on the Internet, but that's not the case for the three stations above. KSL-1160 is another good clear channel station, though, reaching over 600 miles from Salt Lake City at nights. It carries TZ Sundays at 10:00 ET.

All of these links work around the clock, so I suggest trying them out in advance to see whether you're already set up for them or need to download free media software. Then, when TZ comes on, you'll be ready.

http://twilightzoneradio.com gives broadcast stations that carry TZ, but most of them are fairly weak without streaming and can be heard only within 40 miles or so of their points of origin. There's also at least one error, as it gives Sunday 8:00 PM at the WABY air time.

The current schedule has the three broadcast stations carry the same episode over a two-day period, and Yesterday USA carry it the following Saturday. "What You Need" was broadcast by the three stations last weekend, so it should be heard on Yesterday USA tomorrow. The leads are played by Bruce Kirby (Pedott) and his son Bruno (Renard), interesting because Ernest Truex, the original Pedott, appeared with his real-life son Charles in "Kick the Can."

I'd very much like to see opinions of these broadcasts posted here. They're a mixed bag, but they're a rare opportunity to hear new readings of familiar scripts.

Thanks, Dan

This weekend's episode, which Yesterday USA should play this coming Saturday, is "Showdown with Rance McGrew," starring Chris McDonald. Reminder: You can hear it shortly after midnight tonight on WWTN (see link in earlier post).

This weekend's episode, which Yesterday USA should play this coming Saturday, is "A Kind of a Stopwatch," starring Lou Diamond Phillips. Reminder: You can hear it shortly after midnight tonight on WWTN (see link in earlier post).

I tried tuning in to the Reading/Pottstown station you told me about, Dan--no luck. Guess I'm too far away from it.

This weekend's episode is "The Arrival," starring Blair Underwood. Yesterday USA has apparently reverted to its former policy of airing an episode during the same weekend as the broadcast stations instead of the following weekend, as it carried "The Arrival" last night. That means that the only remaining Internet opportunity to hear it of which I'm aware is on WWTN shortly after midnight tonight.

This weekend's episode is "King Nine Will Not Return." I heard only the beginning of it last night on WGN, where a Cubs game delayed the start beyond my bedtime, so I don't even know who stars in it yet. It should air on WABY at 7:05 EDT tonight and on WWTN shortly after midnight.

As is frequently done in this series, the opening scene is completely original and leads into what is familiar from the televised episode. For "King Nine," we hear Blake, Jimenez, et al. on their fatal mission.

Edit: I just caught the WABY broadcast. The star is Adam Baldwin as Robert Embry (instead of James Embry).

This post has been edited by Dan Hollis on June 05, 2005 07:06 pm

This weekend's episode is "Back There," starring Jim Caviezel. To my chagrin, I just discovered that the WABY link no longer works. Actually, I'm not totally surprised, because it was established for the sake of carrying the Albany River Rats, whose minor league hockey season is now over. WWTN should still carry it just after midnight EDT tonight, though.

This weekend's episode is "Mr. Bevis," starring Bruno Kirby. Upcoming Internet broadcasts will be on WGN this morning (early Sunday) at 1:05 AM EDT and on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT.

This weekend's episode is "The After Hours," starring Kim Fields (who will always be Tootie to me). An upcoming Internet broadcast will be on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT.

I was home last night, able to listen to the Yesterday USA broadcast for the first time in four weeks, and it wasn't on for reasons I don't know. In its place was an interview with some radio old timer, and I can't tell whether this was intentional or not. I did catch the WGN 1:05 AM broadcast after getting a little sleep beforehand, and I'll try again tonight in a more alert state.

It's a fairly straightforward adaptation that nevertheless makes a little effort to answer some of those questions we've been pondering in the episode thread. Also, Mr. Sloan is given a great line: "Armbruster, what are you doing in Ladies' Lingerie?" Keep in mind, of course, that this is radio, where one can't see but at most assume that those last two words are capitalized!

This weekend's episode is "The Masks," starring Stan Freberg. Upcoming Internet broadcasts will be on WGN this morning (early Sunday) at 1:05 AM EDT and on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT. Fortunately Yesterday USA's failure to carry last week's episode was fixed this week.

Freberg does an excellent job sounding like Robert Keith. With all of the recent talk about the passing of voice artists, Freberg is one whom we can still celebrate in life. He started doing cartoon voices in his teens as Junyer Bear (that's the official spelling) in "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" in 1944. You may remember that the Warner Three Bears are a pint-sized but pugnacious Papa, a repressed Mama ("Tell me more about my eyes!"), and a gigantic diapered Junyer. Freberg and Mel Blanc were the two Goofy Gophers. (Blanc: "Caaaaaaaarrots!!" Freberg: "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!")

Freberg's early animation efforts were uncredited, but he gained fame in the 1950s for some wickedly satirical recordings like "St. George and the Dragonet" (in his best Jack Webb voice: "This is the countryside ... My name is St. George ... I'm a knight"). He also was responsible for many memorable commercials of that era. He's in his late 70s now but still active.

This weekend's episode is "Mr. Dingle, the Strong," starring Tim Kazurinsky. Upcoming Internet broadcasts will be on WGN this morning (early Sunday) at 1:05 AM EDT and on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT.

This is the second Burgess Meredith role that I've heard Kazurinsky play. The first was Henry Bemis. Both times Kazurinsky reminded me of Truman Capote.

On the other hand, Jason Alexander played Romney Wordsworth as if he were Christ. I haven't yet heard a Radio Drama of "Printer's Devil."

This week's episode is (buckle your seatbelts for this) ...

"The Time Element"!!

I listened to it last night on Yesterday USA, and it has turned out to be the biggest treat of the series so far. It matches the dialogue of the filmed version pretty closely, but with the usual soundtrack comprised mostly of nonstop TZ cues, it has far more of a TZ feel to it, despite the presence of several TZ alumni in the original (Martin Balsam, Jesse White, Carolyn Kearney, Bartlett Robinson, Don Keefer, Paul Bryar).

I know little about the background of Bobby Slayton, the star, beyond what IMDb says about him: a standup comic with a few TV and motion picture credits. The rest of the cast is the usual gang of in-house supporting players.

If you're ever going to try out this series, this is the time to do so. It has one more Internet broadcast: tonight on WWTN at 12:05 AM (technically Monday). See the first post of this thread for details on how to listen.

This weekend's episode is "The Passersby," starring Morgan Brittany. It began on Yesterday USA at 6:00 PM Saturday and began only a few minutes before I posted this. Additional Internet broadcasts will be on WGN this morning (early Sunday) at 1:05 AM EDT and on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT.

I believe most of us are aware that Morgan Brittany appeared as a child three times on the original TZ, unbilled in "Nightmare as a Child" and credited with her original name of Suzanne Cupito in "Valley of the Shadow" and "Caesar and Me."

This adaptation comes about as close as possible to providing the same degree of enjoyment as its televised counterpart. That degree is subject to some strong variation. My own assessment of "The Passersby" is similar to Zicree's. I love the score, and the ending is touching, but it's my candidate for most boring episode of the series. The radio adaptation is likewise mostly a long conversation between Lavinia and the sergeant, and most of the score is taken from what Fred Steiner composed for the TV version.

I found that the usual restrictions of radio were actually advantageous at the conclusion. On TV, the identity of the last man on the road is immediately clear. On radio, the revelation is gradual and builds nicely. Lavinia is certain that she has seen him somewhere, but she can't remember the circumstances. Eventually she recalls that she saw his picture in the newspaper, and then that she read about him and that incident in the theater.

This weekend's episode is "The Howling Man," starring Fred Willard as David Ellington. It began on Yesterday USA at 6:00 PM EDT Saturday, only a few minutes before I posted this. An upcoming Internet broadcast will be on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT.

This adaptation draws on Beaumont's short story to supply some details absent from the televised version and also addresses some perceived flaws. In particular:

1. The location of The Hermitage is specified as Germany.

2. The howling sounds more human.

3. No real transformation occurs. Instead, Ellington helps the Howling Man over a fence, whereupon he notices that the former prisoner has a cloven hoof instead of a foot.

4. Over the years following the encounter, Ellington recognizes Hitler as the man whom he helped to escape. (This comes from the short story and conveniently ignores what I believe is more than sufficient evidence that Hitler was born and grew up like any other adult mortal.)

5. The housekeeper has a name (Mrs. Dunphy) and dialogue.

6. Brother Christophorus is now in charge of The Hermitage at the end, presumably because Brother Jerome, already an old man in the 1920s, has passed on.

Fred Willard? I wonder if the "Man" is "Howling" with laughter.

1979's Salem's Lot was his only non-comedic role I can recall.

Good one! By the way, Willard plays David Ellington, even though top billing in the televised version goes to John Carradine as Brother Jerome.

I've added some more details to my previous post. I hesitated to do so originally because the WWTN link wasn't working last weekend. I was afraid it might stay this way, but it's OK tonight.

I thought I'd point out that yoiu can also hear the TZ radio dramas if you have XM Satellite Radio. They play the episodes on Tuesday nights on station 163 at 9 pm Eastern I think. They seem to play old classic radio shows on that station the rest of the time. The other day on there I heard a Philip Marlowe story starring Howard Duff. I imagine Sirius would have a similar station. I'd reccomend XM though because they have better compact portable units.

I guess it's a repeat because the episode they've been mentioning in the XM ads is a broadcast of "From Agnes, With Love".

I was away last weekend, but for the record I'll mention that the episode was "Four O'Clock," starring Stan Freberg. I listened to it on Chicago's WGN the old-fashioned way: with a radio. I was staying near Buffalo, but WGN's clear-channel facilities were working decently. It followed the televised version pretty well, but although I wasn't sure, I got the impression that Crangle may have ended up as parrot food.

This weekend's episode is "From Agnes -- with Love," starring Ed Begley, Jr. WWTN should carry it tonight just after midnight. The major concession for radio is giving a voice (female, of course) to Agnes. With the computerized voice synthesizers of today, this actually makes Agnes and, to a lesser extent, the story more believable.

If "Four O'Clock" was broadcast on August 7,
then it aired on Stan Freberg's 79th birthday.

How was his performance as Oliver Crangle (I assume)?

Many have heard his voice in the classic Warner Bros
cartoons of the '40's and '50's without knowing it.
He was Pete Puma, Junyer Bear (of the three bears),
Tosh (one half of the Goofy Gophers) and many others.

He contributed several commentary tracks to the DVD sets
"Looney Tunes Golden Collection" Volumes One and Two.

He was also Cecil of Beany and Cecil
and Jiminy Lummox of Ren & Stimpy.

You assume correctly. I'd call it as competent as one would expect from him, but Theodore Bikel's performance is just too strong and memorable for anyone else not to suffer at least a little in comparison. See earlier in this thread where I described his Jason Foster in "The Masks" as sounding quite a bit like Robert Keith. He used basically the same voice here, despite his ability to come up with a very different one.

I have to qualify any judgment of Freberg here, because all I heard was a nighttime broadcast from a clear channel station several hundred miles away. So the dialogue was easily decipherable, but the vocal nuances were victims to static. Maddeningly, I got home in time to catch the WWTN Webcast, only to have my PC decide to shut itself off. I think it was rebelling against the heat and humidity that had been building up inside my home for three days, and by the time the air conditioning took effect, all I could catch was about one minute at the end.

I forgot your earlier post about Mr. Freberg as Jason Foster.

This weekend's episode is "A World of Difference," starring Luke Perry. Upcoming Internet broadcasts will be on WGN this morning (early Sunday) at 1:05 AM EDT and on WWTN Sunday/early Monday at 12:05 AM EDT. The story follows the televised version fairly closely, but Perry acts simply puzzled for the most part as opposed to Howard Duff's relentless panic.

This weekend's episode is "A Most Unusual Camera," starring Mike Starr, which should be Netcast tonight on WWTN at 12:05 AM. I'll supply more details afterwards, but one noteworthy feature is that it provides a decent explanation of exactly what happens to the waiter, one that unfortunately wouldn't be quite consistent with the televised version but could have been with a minor alteration.

Let me provide a recap of the last three weekends, possibly incomplete because I didn't have Internet access for about a week.

Two weekends ago, I reported that "A World of Difference" was the episode of the week, but that was based on the Yesterday USA broadcast. As it turned out, WWTN carried "The Rip Van Winkle Caper," one that I particularly wanted to hear because, besides being one of my favorites from the original series, it's the free CD that is offered on Yesterday USA. It stars Tim Kazurinsky as Farwell, and I don't know much about him except for the wimpy characters he has played on other TZ Radio Dramas (Henry Bemis and Luther Dingle) and as a Married ... with Children guest star. I couldn't imagine that voice as making a good Farwell, and instead he plays the role as (I think) a Cockney. This answers one of my minor complaints about the televised version, that Oscar Beregi's natural Hungarian accent doesn't sound like someone named Farwell. Nevertheless, Kazurinsky's interpretation makes me think more of a Monty Python sketch than a serious drama. At the beginning, we're treated to a scene on the Fort Knox train that leads to its crash and the gold heist. We also get to hear a conversation between George and Mrs. George as they're just out for a drive in wide open spaces, before they come upon Farwell.

"A World of Difference" was on WGN the following weekend, and it's possible that Yesterday USA carried "The Rip Van Winkle Caper." If anyone knows otherwise, please say so.

As for "A Most Unusual Camera" this past weekend, it begins with a scene at the burglarized shop, where the proprietors tell the police about their losses. There's a seamless dissolve from this conversation to Paula's reading the quote from the newspaper aloud, and then we're in familiar territory. The end is an improvement over the televised version. After counting the four bodies in the photo, the waiter drops the camera out of the window. He leans out to look, says that he sees the camera, and then loses his balance. As I said, this explanation wouldn't hold in the original, where we see the camera on the floor, but this could have been easily altered.

This weekend's episode is "The Jeopardy Room," and it should be on WWTN shortly, at 12:05 AM. Unlike the others so far, there's no announced star at the beginning. At the end, Stacy Keach gives a cast that I don't recognize, except perhaps for one alumna from the original series. I'll listen again to learn whether I heard correctly.

It follows the televised version very closely, although at the beginning we get to hear Vassiloff and Boris check into their room. It's also established that Kuchenko comes from the "former Soviet Union," leading to a little extra political discussion.

Well, I did listen again this morning, and the name I thought I heard in the cast list for "The Jeopardy Room" is Terry Burnham (Markie in "Nightmare as a Child"), whose acting career seemed to come to a crashing halt around 1966 while she was still in her teens. The name was listed third, though, after two Slavic names I didn't recognize. As usual, no actors were matched with characters, but third billing should have gone to Boris. There were some women's voices (hotel personnel when Vassiloff and Boris check in, telephone operators, and PA voice at the airport), but as much as I'd like to think Markie has returned from obscurity, I probably misheard something like "Terry Burns" that referred to a man.

The Best Internet resource for Twilight Zone Radio is (currently) the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/

Programs are archived for one week and are available for listen or download.

Woody

Thanks for the info, Woody! Welcome!



Glad you found us, and hope you enjoy it here.

Hi Woody! Welcome!

Woody, that's terrific! Thanks. All of the other links I've found have to be heard live.

I notice that what's available right now is "One for the Angels" from September 11. So the BBC must maintain a different schedule from the US. I'll listen to this later and report on it, although I did hear it once in the US schedule.

I know how to listen to the archives, but is there a method for downloading and saving offline?

I know how to listen to the archives, but is there a method for downloading and saving offline?

Any download manager capable of saving an rtsp stream can download these files. If you don't have such a download manager, I would recomend Net Transport. It is also able to save Windows media streams. It is freeware. Here is the URL:

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/pa...Net%20Transport

The BBC archives are of extremely good quality, and they are in stereo. Well worth a download.

Woody

I must thank Woody again for supplying this vital information. I listened to "One for the Angels" yesterday, and this is a marked improvement over live streams. It gives the ability to move the timer anywhere in the program, allowing the listener to backtrack to anything missed, or listen to highlights again, or numerous other possibilities. Furthermore, BBC is commercial free. It takes only 35 minutes to listen to what takes almost an hour with commercials.

As for the episode, it stars Ed Begley, Jr., and should be available until sometime tomorrow. (Warning: Because of time difference, its availability might end as early as 7 PM ET tonight. I'll have to keep track of this, and I'm not going to be home tonight.) Begley doesn't sound old enough to be Lew, but his ability to formulate a mesmerizing sales pitch counters Zicree's complaint about Ed Wynn.

This version draws on the published script and another apparent derivative, the short story transformation by Anne Serling-Sutton, Rod's daughter. Lew doesn't attempt to prolong his life by wanting to ride in a helicopter or see a Zulu war dance, neither of which appears in the script. In that regard, the syndication cut makes the episode truer to the script. Not as good a scripted idea is having Lew make his final pitch with a crowd of people present, and in the radio version he actually interacts with the others, successfully selling his stock to them. In fact, it sounds as if someone in the crowd reacts to Mr. Death at one point, a contradiction to his invisibility and inaudibility to those not about to accompany him (unless, of course, the crowd person is an unknowing target). In any case, it makes no sense for people to be attracted to Lew's apparent pitch to no one (from their viewpoint), and the televised version does better with only Lew and Mr. Death in view.

Finally, the radio version makes the scripted reference to Lew's prize from the YMHA flower show, hinting that he's Jewish. (It can't be distinctly inferred; the contest might have been open to the general community.) It appears that when the televised episode was produced, someone (Rod?) might have thought it unwise in less enlightened times to include a Jewish character when it wasn't essential to the story (unlike "He's Alive," for example).