Radio Recap: 2000 Plus

2000 Plus was one of the first science fiction radio programs developed for an older audience. It debuted over Mutual on March 15, 1950, almost a month before the better-known Dimension X premiered on NBC. That these two shows launched within a month of each other shows how science fiction's reputation was growing by leaps and bounds at the dawn of the 1950s.

And yet, 2000 Plus has remained under-the-radar in old-time radio fan circles. Growing up, my local radio station only played one episode of 2000 Plus in their lineup - a drama called "Worlds Apart." As I gained more knowledge of old-time radio I went looking for more information on the series, but found it lacking. Circa 1998, the internet had only a couple of episodes of 2000 Plus and it didn't appear in any of the radio logs I used for research. My assumption was that 2000 Plus was a very short-lived program that lasted perhaps 3 months or so.

As it happens, more information about 2000 Plus has come to light and the series actually ran from March 1950 until August 1953! And yet, although it's believed about 92 episodes were produced we only have 16 currently circulating - and of them, some are a bit chopped-up, missing intros or outros (although the dramas are complete). The show's obscurity is no doubt due to originating on Mutual as that network's programming - particularly in the 1950s - is elusive compared to the bigger networks (note that we have every single episode of Dimension X and in great sound quality).

2000 Plus originated under the guidance of producer Sherman H. Dreyer. Dreyer's earlier credits for Mutual included the 1944-1945 series the Human Adventure and the 1946-1947 series Exploring the Unknown. Although both of these show titles sound like they belong to a science fiction anthology show, they were actually concerned with real science - about explaining advances in science to the layman (which dovetails neatly with some science fiction magazines of the day). And even then, there were exceptions - for Christmas, Exploring the Unknown ran a science fiction comedy-drama called "Chuckle Charlie and the Christmas Cloud" starring Morey Amsterdam. Clearly even then, Dreyer had an interest in bringing such programming to the airwaves.

It's impossible to talk about 2000 Plus without comparing it to Dimension X, especially since old-time radio fans are much more familiar with the latter series. Dimension X had the benefit of adapting works by big name science fiction authors such as Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. 2000 Plus had... a lot of uncredited authors thanks to the clipped nature of surviving episodes mixed with some wholly unremembered authors. Then too, Mutual didn't draw from the same talent pool as NBC (although they had some decent players such as Luis Van Rooten and Joseph Julian) nor did they have sound effects as accomplished as what the major networks could achieve.

The writing on 2000 Plus was frequently very juvenile; the episode I noted above, "Worlds Apart," is pretty much a kid-friendly science fiction adventure tale where the whole drama is just a big misunderstanding. Stories on the surviving episodes tend to involve mad scientists and malevolent alien invaders. Other episodes, such as "Brooklyn Brain" (the story of a Brooklyn man who becomes very smart thanks to an experiment) are played for laughs. Every episode is set beyond the year 2000, so there are frequently casual references to people piloting their jet cars. It may not have had any talent from Amazing Stories magazine but it certainly feels akin to that magazine.

And yet, there are episodes of 2000 Plus that strike me as being something unique, something special. The episode "A Veteran Comes Home" tells the tale of a veteran who has been fighting on Mars returning to Earth and struggling with adjusting to everyday life after his hellish experiences. It's essentially a PTSD story using a science fiction backdrop to set up a story that was familiar to post-World War II audiences. "A Veteran Comes Home" is a quiet, human drama that just happens to have a science fiction setting. For that episode alone, I think the fan who seeks out the series won't be disappointed.

You can hear the 16 circulating 2000 Plus episodes on YouTube through this playlist created by the Old-Time Radio Researchers Group.

Post-script: Because it seems every other post I write about old-time radio leads me to Suspense, I have to bring up that series, too; in 1962, Suspense's final year, the show used a lot of scripts from older shows including at least one instance where they recreated a lost 2000 Plus story called "the Doom Machine." You can listen to the episode right here as another example of what 2000 Plus was like.

My Favorite TV List

I've composed an unusual list at the Internet Movie Database; this is my list of the best of TV. It begins with 1949 (the earliest original TV broadcast date of anything I've seen) and continues to the present with my picks of my favourite TV broadcast from each year. I considered TV episodes, TV movies, TV specials and TV mini-series to be equally eligible and consequently, there are some unusual picks. You'll notice in recent years my favourite programs seem to be primarily documentaries.

Anyway, check out the list, hopefully it serves as a good series of recommendations!

Radio Recap: Mr. Moto

Mr. Moto was a fictional character created by author John P. Marquand and first appeared in fiction in 1935. Marquand presented Moto as an agent of the empire of Japan. It was certainly a background that set Moto apart from other detective heroes of the time, but Marquand's timing left a little to be wanted. Mr. Moto was very quickly snapped up by Fox to become the protagonist of a series of films starring the not-at-all-Japanese performer Peter Lorre (who fortunately was good in anything) and that added to the character's fame; then, of course, Japan declared war on the United States and that was that.

Marquand did just fine - his Mr. Moto novels were just a few among his many successful publications. In fact, after 1941 he didn't touch the character again until 1957 when he published his final Mr. Moto novel; Marquand died in 1960 (a few years later his earlier books were reissued in new paperback editions). The character made one last attempt at motion pictures in 1965 with the also-not-at-all-Japanese actor Henry Silva in the Return of Mr. Moto, which has been dismissed by historians as an attempt to cash-in on the James Bond craze.

I haven't read any of Marquand's novels, but Mr. Moto was written up in various encyclopedias of detective heroes (that I have read) as one of the better characters. Obviously, the war with Japan forced the character out of bookshops and cinemas for a time; in fact, in some wartime popular culture you can hear "Mr. Moto" used as a perjorative term for Japanese people.

But before the attempted film revival - before even Marquand's attempted revival - Mr. Moto's big return to popular culture occurred in the 1951 Mr. Moto radio series on NBC. Some refer to this program as Mr. I. A. Moto, which is how he always introduces himself on the program; but then, what's in a name? The series was broadcast from May 20th to October 20th of 1951 with the additionally-not-at-all-Japanese actor James Monks as Mr. Moto. The series did not have a sponsor and, as NBC was much less generous about allowing programs to find their footing than CBS, it didn't last very long.

The war was 6 years in the past by 1951 and the NBC series seemed content to leave the past in the past. Moto was emphasized to be an Interpol agent cooperating with American authorities and thus, less inclined to be a figurehead of the Japanese government. Episodes of Mr. Moto would almost exclusively pit him against communist agents operating in the US, emphasizing Moto's keen mind (yet deemphasizing his physical prowess which had been a major part of his previous depictions). The radio version of Moto is depicted as quiet and wise... frankly, he comes off as an imitation of Charlie Chan.

I find Mr. Moto to be okay as a post-war radio espionage series. The identities of the villains are often supplied to we listeners prior to Moto learning who they are, leaving us to wonder how Moto will put the pieces together, rather than what the big picture is. Episodes were written by Robert Tallman (Suspense, Intrigue, Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, Adventures of Sam Spade) and by Harry W. Junkin (Radio City Playhouse, Top Secret, the Chase), both of whom were clearly able hands.

The Internet Archive has a collection of Mr. Moto episodes. You'll notice there's an episode titled "the Kuriloff Papers" and another called "the Bazaloff Papers" that are basically the same script. The best explanation I've seen is that the former episode was a rehearsal program and the latter the broadcast version. Episodes of Mr. Moto do appear a bit clipped - I get the sensation that other surviving episodes might not be the broadcast versions but are instead rehearsals.

Brief essay: Reasonable Jesus

I was inspired to write this by a recent sermon I heard in which the pastor suggested that Jesus' miracles were not "reasonable." I started thinking about what it would mean to have a "reasonable" version of Jesus.

One of the definitions of "reasonable" is to be "moderate, fair." So how would a "reasonable" Jesus appear (assuming that he was still the son of God and therefore a supernatural being capable of miracles)?

I see "Reasonable Jesus" as being one who would uphold the law and expectations, not one to court controversy. If Reasonable Jesus were asked to comment on divorce he'd ask them what Moses commanded them (as in Mark 10:1-10) but simply tell his audience to obey that law. He'd agree that taxes should be paid even though no one really liked paying taxes (Matthew 22:15-22). If a woman who committed adultery were brought before him (John 8:1-11) he'd consider stoning to be the acceptable form of punishment. This would be a version of Jesus who would read from Isaiah but choose not to claim he had fulfilled his words before his audience (Luke 4:14-30).

Still, this version of Jesus would have supernatural power. If 5 thousand hungry people were before him, he wouldn't hesitate to use this power to feed them. But I think instead of multiplying a single meal into sufficient food for the entire assembly, he'd perhaps magically supply sufficient money for everyone to go buy their own food. And once word got out that he had a bottomless supply of money he'd be certain to win followers!

But although this silly version of Jesus I'm describing could still find followers by his very nature he wouldn't attract controversy. This is not someone who would unnerve the religious establishment by speaking into the heart of the law in a way they didn't anticipate - Reasonable Jesus wouldn't say anything out of line from the establishment. This is not someone whose movement would be considered a potential threat to the authority of the Roman occupation. He would never inspire a movement to have him crucified.

And of course, you know all of this. We know that the things Jesus said did upset the leaders and the establishment. We know he even upset the man in the street by the number of times people tried to have him killed. He cautioned his disciples, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." (Luke 12:51)

But I think given enough passage of time and familiarity, what once seemed unreasonable can become reasonable. Those of us with many years in the church aren't shocked when we hear Jesus say things that were outrageous in their original context. We don't dwell in the same time and place as his original audience - we are all-too-aware that we are outside of the original context in which those words were spoken. Heck, even outside of the church, Jesus' principle of "the Golden Rule" (Matthew 7:12) is a widely-admired belief that people of other faiths or of no faith background consider a sound - reasonable - teaching.

I think our danger is that we can read Jesus' words and simply nod along thinking, "yes, that's reasonable." We only become flummoxed when Jesus suggests following him brings on challenges such as:

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)

Well, that sounds very hard and we're not accustomed to being challenged by anything said by Jesus in scripture, so we will ourselves to sidestep or minimize it. We know the Jesus of the Bible is not the "Reasonable Jesus" I invented; but I think sometimes we'd rather have a Reasonable Jesus who doesn't make great demands on us and whose supernatural power is held back. I'm sure I've made that mistake many times. So for me, as I attempt to make sense of the world and to recognize how Jesus is working today - the challenge to me is to not expect everything to be reasonable.

Radio Recap: Agatha Christie's Poirot

Prior to World War II, the conventional wisdom on radio seemed to be that audiences liked mystery programs but they adored comedy programs. Although mystery programs were part of radio very early on, it was only really in the post-war era that radio was flooded with mystery shows as detective programs brought in big ratings.

In an earlier Radio Recap I looked at the Mutual 1942-1943 anthology series Murder Clinic, whose ranks included various famous sleuths by world-famous authors - such as Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. Mutual weren't the leader in radio (far from it) but, while lacking in comedy stars, they put a lot of effort into their mystery programs. In 1945, during the start of the detective boom, Mutual returned to Poirot, this time in his own series!

Agatha Christie's Poirot aired on Mutual from February 22, 1945 to February 17, 1946. Harold Huber starred as Poirot (he also produced the show). After the Mutual run ended, Huber brought the series to CBS as a daily 15-minute program and it ran in that format 'til the end of 1947 - but I'm concerned with the Mutual run here.

The fussy little Belgian detective and his "little grey cells" is now known to have been something of a love/hate figure to his creator, Agatha Christie. In fact, by the time this radio program began in 1945 she was getting tired of writing about him, even though he was her most popular creation. She'd already written what would 30 years later be published as the final Poirot novel (Curtain) but certainly sponsoring Poirot for a US radio program could have only served to make him more famous. And indeed, Agatha Christie did sponsor the program, in fact she appears in the premiere episode!

The first episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot features Poirot relocating to the USA, where he'd spend his run on Mutual (meaning Mutual could cast local actors without worrying about passable British accents). He took on a new secretary, Abbie Thresher (who had a bit of Miss Marple's personality) and Inspector Stevens to be the reliably confounded police official. At the close of the broadcast Mutual made an attempt to link up to England so that Agatha Christie could appear over the airwaves and give her blessing to the new show. Unfortunately, the link up didn't pan out but Mutual instead played a recording they'd wisely made in advance, in which Agatha Christie wishes Poirot well in the USA (probably not good riddance).

Agatha Christie's Poirot only really stands apart from other post-war detective heroes because of the stature of Christie's stories. Huber definitely sounds appropriately accented and fussy in the lead role but the mysteries themselves are not too different from what other radio shows of the time provided. Huber's performance and lingering affection for Christie's work are the best reasons for revisiting this series - otherwise it's about as good as other Mutual detective shows of the era (ie, Charlie Chan, Crime Club, Nick Carter, Murder Is My Hobby).

You can hear episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot at the Internet Archive.

Escape Episode Guide Follow-Up

Having recently completed my episode guide to the old-time radio series Escape I think it would be beneficial to look at the series as a whole, having already examined it episode-by-episode.

I rated every episode out of 5 stars; breaking them down by seasons here's how the averages came out:

• 1947-1948 Season: (episodes #2-54) 4.32 average
• 1949 Season: (episodes #55-76) 4.57 average
• 1959-1950 Season: (epsiodes #77-122) 4.08 average
• 1950-1951 Season: (episodes #123-148) 4.42 average
• 1952-1953 Season: (episodes #149-195) 3.76 average
• 1954 Season (episodes #196-219) 3.32 average

It isn't too surprising to see the last season's average is the lowest, but I think 3.32 is still a good ranking for an old-time radio series. There were still some very good episodes in that season. What's a bit more surprising is that the 1949 season (which lasted just half of a regular season) had the best average - probably because in that season there were a number of new versions of the best scripts from the previous season.

I also kept track of where in the world episodes were set. Here's how the settings break down by percentage:

• Asia and the Pacific: 26%
• USA and Canada: 25%
• The "high seas": 22%
• Mexico, South America and the Caribbean: 20%
• England: 12%
• Other European Settings: 11%
• Africa: 7%
• The Middle East: 1%
• Other Planets: 1%

So Asia had a significant impact on this series, being the most common part of the world to appear. Note as well that "the high seas" rank very high. When you think of Escape, I think you do tend to think of William Conrad, a boat and a snake.

Although the USA ranks high, that doesn't diminish the exotic settings of the series; even stories set in the USA could involve nightmarish department stores ("Evening Primrose"), New Orleans at Mardi Gras ("The Man Who Stole the Bible"), historical adventures ("Command") or the end of the world ("Earth Abides"). Escape promised to bring its listeners into a world of high adventure and they did so, even amidst the everyday world.

Throughout its 7 years on the air, Escape demonstrated its versatility, offering tales from the espionage genre, westerns and science fiction. There were stories of pirates and smuggling alongside wartime exploits, comedic misfortunes and surviving the wrath of nature. You never knew exactly where in the world or what kind of adventure each episode of Escape brought but you could always count on the series to deliver a steady script with able performers and sound technicians. There are only a handful of episodes I don't recommend and that's against a multitude of episodes that I believe can be called among radio's greatest ("Leiningen versus the Ants"; "Taboo"; "Bloodbath"; "A Shipment of Mute Fate"; "Red Wine"; "The Fourth Man"; "Three Skeleton Key"; "A Study in Wax"; "Earth Abides"; "S.S. San Pedro"; "Confession"; "The Young Man with the Cream Tarts"; "Present Tense"; and more).

Escape has long been considered a sibling series to Suspense because they shared so many creative talents (including swapping scripts between the shows). Suspense ran 20 years so never managed the consistency of Escape (I'm certain if I created a Suspense episode guide there would be multiple seasons with averages under 3.32). I believe Escape holds up extremely well among old-time radio series and will continue to be enjoyed for as long as there is interest in audio drama.

Radio Recap: This Is My Best

This Is My Best was a radio anthology series that ran from September 5, 1944 to May 28, 1946 on CBS. Less than half of the series' episodes are in existence now, and that's a real shame.

For This Is My Best was, for a time, produced by Orson Welles. Welles made a few appearances as a performer in the series' early months, but as of March 13, 1945 and a radio adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," Welles took control of the program. Under his guidance, the series basically became another Mercury Theater on the Air. In fact, as the first episode of the series I heard was "Heart of Darkness" I mistakenly thought it was the first episode of the series and that the program was (and had always been) Welles' program. It looks like Welles left the series at the 1945 summer break so he wasn't really involved for very long.

The series was sponsored by Cresta Blanca wines, who had an appealing commercial jingle. Post-This Is My Best they briefly teamed up with Roma Wines to sponsor Suspense, which is where I'm most familiar with their advertisements.

Looking at what remains of the series, what stands out? There's a terrific production of Norman Corwin's comedic "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas." We have most of an adaptation of James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" starring Thurber's fellow New Yorker author Robert Benchley - it's extremely funny. Welles crafted an odd adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" that doesn't really retain the easy humour of Fitzgerald's work nor is as faithful to the text as the Escape adaptations I've written about on this blog. Welles adapted Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Master of Ballentrae" but with just a half-hour the story can't really breathe. Jack Benny starred in a comedic program called "Babes in the Woods" but the style of comedy is quite different than what he perfected on his own show.

The series is, like most dramatic anthologies, inconsistent. But the best of the series ("Heart of Darkness" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") really stand out and suggest that we old-time radio fans are poorer for the absence of so many other episodes in existing collections. Here's an incomplete collection at the Internet Archive.