Radio Recap: Presenting Charles Boyer

"That is Michel: Adventurer, bon vivant, connoisseur of words, wine and women! Our Michel is a familiar sight on the boulevards of Paris and the rumor is that he was born wearing a top hat, white tie, and tail! Michel, in the person of Mr. Charles Boyer, is perhaps the most fascinating barnacle ever to fasten on the ship of Parisian society. There he sits, in the Tour de Jean; impeccable and impecunious, telling his story to his author friend, Bart Conway."

Presenting Charles Boyer was a summer show on NBC from July 4-September 12, 1950. It was a summer replacement for Fibber McGee and Molly and starred, of course, Charles Boyer, the famous romantic lead. Boyer's career was in a bit of a slump, but his name was so well-known that it's no wonder the show was named for him.

As outlined in the intro, above, Boyer portrayed Michel, a penniless Frenchman whose life was full of romance and adventure. To make a buck, he'd tell his stories to Bart Conway (Hanley Stafford).

For a 1950s NBC dramatic program, it thankfully has its own unique musical score (primarily using the accordion).

Presenting Charles Boyer is fine for what it is - Michel is basically the same as Harry Lime in the Lives of Harry Lime, so fans of one show will almost certainly like the other.

There are 18 episodes of Presenting Charles Boyer (2 of them are auditions) in the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

New vlog: CEML Succession

On August 7, my Uncle Steve stepped down as director of medical seevices at CEML in favour of Dr. Sam Fabiano. I was there with my wife and we recorded most of the 2-hour service. I've made this video of highlights; it's all in Portuguese.

Lubango Vlog v:4:2: Canadians Try Junk Food in Angola

Since 2021, I've been making videos about junk food in Angola. I'm not done yet!

Radio Recap: Unit 99

"The job of a police officer is your protection; the cases you hear on this radio program are real cases; the police are real, the victims and the criminals are real; we are glad to provide Unit 99 and Sergeant Meredith so that you will hear how the police of a great city work night and day for your protection! Make no mistake about it, there are no actors on these tapes they are real from beginning to end; now to Unit 99 and Sergeant Meredith:"

Unit 99 was a latter-day old-time radio show, heard over ABC from June 2, 1956 to October 3, 1957. It doesn't seem to have been well-researched - at some stages it was a half-hour show, at others 15 minutes.

Unit 99 appears to be ABC's attempt to follow CBS' series Night Watch; like that series, it follows a policeman in his patrol car as he responds to various incidents. However, while Night Watch was mediated by reporter Donn Reed, Unit 99 used just policeman Sgt. Don Meredith to address the audience - so sometimes he's being followed by a microphone, at other times he speaking something very rehearsed.

It lacks the visceral impact Night Watch had at it's best because people sound a little too polished - my guess is that they were told to repeat something they'd said before when the microphone was brought up (Night Watch would censor profanity; it's not clear to me that anyone on Unit 99 even used profanity). There are also instances where the police are way too patronizing to the people they encounter, such as when they meet a man who was attacked but doesn't want to press charges, causing them to pressure him into reconsidering. It's inferior to Night Watch but okay if listening to a police ride-along is your idea of entertainment.

There are 177 episodes of Unit 99 in the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

New Essay: West Wing in a Kitty Suit: Politics in Christopher Priest’s Black Panther

My latest essay on Christopher Priest's Black Panther is up at Sequart: "West Wing in a Kitty Suit"! In this essay I discuss how Priest used politics in his stories.

Radio Recap: The Grantland Rice Story

The Grantland Rice Story was a 15-minute syndicated program released from September 17, 1955 to September 8, 1956. It was based on the writings of Grantland Rice, a famous sports reporter who had died just before the series was made. In the show, Jimmy Powers would read from Rice's autobiography The Tumult and the Shouting (1945), giving the series a feel similar to that of a book-on-tape. Some episodes feature interviews between Powers and other sports writers who knew Rice, and with some of the sports figures whom Rice wrote about.

I found this a surprisingly interesting program; Rice met a lot of famous athletes in his time and there are lively anecdotes about some; it's also a look into a bygone age, something Powers remarked at the opening of the series as sports journalism in newspapers had already been greatly transformed due to television broadcasting. It also looks at sports which were not widely-known at the time, such as Rice's writing on the golf craze (I noted this phenomenon when I reviewed Judge magazine).

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of The Grantland Rice Story through the playlist below:

2026 Hugo Awards

I've never previously voted in the Hugo Awards, but at the urging from my friend Olav at An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, I decided to try this year.

Now, I read a lot of contemporary comic books and non-fiction, but not much contemporary fiction -- and I've never been an authority on science fiction. I like what I like, but I don't have an expert's view on the genre.

In preparing to vote, I read a lot of material I would have never otherwise sampled. My first surprise was to find a lot of what's nominated in the Hugo Awards isn't for science fiction works - there's an awful lot of fantasy literature - stories of elves, magic schools and what have you. I'm even less qualified to judge the fantasy genre.

The second surprise was how much of the material that is science fiction isn't concerned so much with plot as it is character - not, "here's a science fiction concept," as it is, "here's how the protagonist feels about living amidst science fiction."

I won't discuss all my picks, but for Best Novel I chose Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian science fiction author. The book's about a Nigerian science fiction author (write what you know) whose life changes when new technology helps her get out of her wheelchair.

For Best Novella, I chose Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, a story about robots who exploit bureaucratic loopholes so they can run their own noodle shop. It was charming.

For Best Novelette, I chose The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed, which covers transgenderism, cloning and wallcrawling in a very tight package.

For Best Short Story, I chose Laser Eyes Ain't Everything by Effie Seiberg, about a super-hero union and a villain who has a legitimate complaint about accessibility.

For Best Series, I broke my rule on picking science fiction titles and chose The Chronicles of Osreth by Katherine Addison. I read her book The Goblin Emperor years ago and didn't realize she'd added several more books to the series - I like the series a lot, so I was very happy to discover there was more.

For Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, I chose Andor, which was a very hard call - I'd really enjoyed Sinners (if it were horror awards, I'd have picked it) and Superman; I watched Mickey 17 before sending my vote and found it very strong too. Andor, though, had a 2nd season that excelled beyond what I already had considered to be a very strong first season; it's the best Star Wars of this century.

And, of course, I chose An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog for Best Fanzine.

This was fun - I don't know whether I'll vote in the Hugos again, but I've added a number of books to my reading list, so it was worth doing at least once.