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Dimension X

Radio Drama and Broadcast Landmarks

Dimension X is an American science fiction radio anthology series broadcast on NBC from 1950 to 1951, adapting stories from leading science fiction writers of the period, including Ray Bradbury and Robert A. Heinlein, into hour-long dramatized episodes. The series was produced with notably higher production values and more serious literary ambition than earlier genre radio, presenting speculative and often morally probing stories rather than simple adventure serials. Dimension X is regarded as one of the most respected science fiction radio programs ever produced and directly prefigured its successor series X Minus One, which continued adapting the same body of science fiction literature.

Facts
Release YearSourced to the subject's own account
1950 1
CountrySourced to the subject's own account
United States 1
Classification
Original LanguageSourced to the subject's own account
English 1
FAQs

Why is Dimension X treated as a turning point for science fiction on radio?

It brought science fiction to network radio as a serious adult drama about two decades after network radio began.

The Old Time Radio Researchers Group describes Dimension X as the first major network radio science fiction series of broad appeal to adults. It notes that the premiere came a full two decades after network radio was established, and that before it only some fine isolated science fiction stories had appeared on anthology shows such as Suspense and Escape. The program dramatized work by young writers such as Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut, with Ernest Kinoy as in-house script writer and Norman Rose as narrator. The claim of being first rests on that collectors' description, so it is best read as the series' reputation rather than a settled ranking.
Connections

In Medium

Radio, Media Forms
Source Dimension X (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Original Language

Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Sources
1. Dimension X (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead sentence (broadcast start), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimension_X_(radio_program)
    Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951.
  • Lead sentence (NBC network), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimension_X_(radio_program)
    Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951.
  • Dimension X, Description, original language
    Dimension X is an American science fiction radio anthology series broadcast on NBC from 1950 to 1951, adapting stories from leading science fiction writers of the period, including Ray Bradbury and Robert A. Heinlein, into hour-long dramatized episodes.
  • In Medium: Radio, Article lead sentence
    Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951.
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