Monday, November 16, 2009

The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas - Collection 1

The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas - Collection 1
based on stories by Rod Serling for the original Twilight Zone television series

I've been a lifelong fan of The Twilight Zone, the old B&W anthology TV series produced by Rod Serling in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the stories from that series are among the most iconic tales of "What If" in fiction. In the early 2000s, Dennis Etchison adapted many of Rod Serling's original scripts for the radio, as a regular syndicated radio broadcast. Those radio plays have been gathered into 13 CD collections (of which the library has only the first). Each episode features a well-known actor as the lead voice, with a cast of recurring voices as the supporting cast. Collection #1 features 10 episodes, the highlights of which include Lou Diamond Phillips in "A Kind of Stopwatch", Ed Begley Jr. in "The Man in the Bottle", Tim Kazurinsky as "Mr Dingle the Strong" and Chris MacDonald in "The Night of the Meek". Production values are all top-notch, with the voice casts, special and sound effects all very good. I would highly recommend this set for TZ fans and for fans who remember the days of live radio dramas. My only complaint would be that with a few small exceptions, the stories were not updated from their early 1960s-era settings for a more modern audience. But that's a minor quibble. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library


Have you listened to these? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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