Science Fiction Theatre
April 1955 thru February 9, 1957
78 Episodes
Your Host: Truman Bradley
Though
called "Science Fiction" Theater, the program really dealt
more in science fact than fiction. For the most part the
series was always disappointing to a fellow who had first
been raised on Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, then
Captain Video, Space Patrol and Tom Corbett and had been
reading stories and books by Ray Bradbury, Theodore
Sturgeon, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein. I like my
S.F. full of aliens, robots, spaceships and distant planets.
This program was broadcast in Chicago at 10:30 on Saturday
evenings. The play dates described below are taken from
various listings in Chicago and their order may differ from
listings in other areas. Produced by Ziv Television, there
were two seasons of 39 episodes each.
FIRST SEASON
April 2, 1955
BEYOND First
in a series of 30 minute dramas featuring Hollywood
personalities in stories of the world of the future.
Tonight: "Beyond" starring William Lundigan and Ellen
Drew. Traveling at three times the speed of sound, a
test pilot bails out. His report: another craft was about to
collide with his. Truman Bradley narrates.
April 9, 1955
(LISTED--unknown episode)
April 16, 1955
TIME IS JUST A PLACE Stars
Don DeFore and Marie Windsor as the Browns, a
couple whose new neighbors seem to be up to something
strange. The Browns find that the Hellers possess a "sonic
broom" and several other gadgets of enormously advanced
design. Warren Stevens.
April 23, 1955
OUT OF NOWHERE When
bats collide with an 82 story skyscraper, the Continental
Air Defense Command is alerted. They fear that the "radar"
that protects bats from collision has been cut off.
Richard Arlen, Jess Barker.
April 30, 1955
Y.O.R.D. The Magnetic Pole Weather Station receives a
strange distress message and launches one of the greatest
rescue missions of all time. Walter
Kingsford.
May 7, 1955
STRANGER IN THE DESERT During their search for uranium, two prospectors
meet a stranger from another land who is searching for
oxygen-producing plants with which to revitalize his barren
country.
May 14, 1955
NO FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A biologist and his staff make themselves
human guinea pigs for synthetic foods that have proved fatal to
animals. and/or
A
scientist and his staff have made themselves guinea pigs for
experiments in synthetic foods. They now face almost certain
death. John Howard. Otto Krueger
May 21, 1955
THE BRAIN OF JOHN EMERSON
A police sergeant
miraculously escapes death from a bullet in his brain but
finds that he has also undergone a complete change of
personality, interest and technical knowledge as well. John Howard, Ellen Drew.
May 28, 1955
SPIDER, INCORPORATED A young geologist discovers
one of nature's secrets in a piece of transparent rock.
There's a giant spider enclosed in it.
Gene
Barry, Audry Totter.
June 4, 1955
DEADLINE AT 2 A.M.
June 11, 1955
CONVERSATION WITH AN APE
Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Hale.
June 18, 1955
MARKED DANGER
Nancy Gates, Otto Krueger.
June 25, 1955
HOUR OF NIGHTMARE Two
top freelance photographers go to Mexico to photograph
mysterious flying objects reportedly moving over Mt.
Yapachi. While in Mexico they encounter the weirdest
assignment ever undertaken by reporters. William Bishop, Lynn Barri,
Charles Evans.
July 2, 1955
STRANGE DR. LORENZ is the story of a
bookkeeper whose bees manufacture a wonder drug instead of
honey.
Edmund
Gwenn as Dr. Lorenz. Donald Curtis, Kristine Miller.
July 9, 1955
100 YEARS YOUNG
A retired man confindes to a fellow
research chemist that he is over two centuries old.
Ruth Hussey, John Archer, John
Abbott.
July 16, 1955
(unknown rerun)
July 23, 1955
TIME IS JUST
A PLACE rerun
July 30, 1955
THE FROZEN SOUND Voices from 2000 years ago
and wire taps without wires confront research scientists.
and/or Enemy
espionage obtains a record of a physicist's top-secret
conversation with the Secretary of Defense in a
completely sealed room. The secret of the leak lies in a
bottle of ant poison containing a mysterious crystal -- a
crystal with the power to record entire conversations!
Marshall Thompson, Marilyn
Erskin, Ray Collins, Michael Fox.
August 6, 1955
THE STONES BEGAN TO MOVE Two
gems which are believed to hold the secret of the building
of the Egyptian Pyramids cause murder and intrigue.
and/or A famous archeologist is murdered but he leaves
two clues for his associate.
Basil
Rathbone
August 13, 1955
THE LOST HEARTBEAT A
scientist with only a few months to live needs time to
finish his experiments. Zachary Scott.
August 20, 1955
Y.O.R.D. rerun
August 27, 1955
THE WORLD BELOW
Gene Barry, Marguerite Chapman.
September 3, 1955
BARRIER OF SILENCE
The attempt of foreign agents to lock the mind of an
atomic scientist leads Dr. Harcourt on a strange trail of
clues. The trail ends in a scientifically produced silence.
and/or A U. S. scientist working on
top-secret atomic projects mysteriously disappears.
and/or Adolph
Menjou portrays a doctor who discovers the use of
absolute silence to fight physical and mental ills.
Warren
Stevens, Phyllis Coates, Charles Maxwell, John Doucette.
September 10, 1955
NEGATIVE MAN An accidental discharge of
electrical power traps a young electrician and gives him
superhuman keenness of senses. Dane Clark.
September 17, 1955
DEAD RECKONING A pilot lost in a magnetic
storm is forced to navigate by a thermometer, a coffee pot
and a compass as big as the earth.
September 24, 1955
A VISIT FROM DR. PLINY
A scientist from tomorrow
brings a great secret to mankind. Edmund Gwen,
William Schallert.
October 1, 1955
THE STRANGE PEOPLE OF PECOS
A radar expert suspects his
next-door neighbors are spies from another planet. Arther Franz,
Doris Dowling.
October 8, 1955
DEAD STORAGE A
baby mammoth, 500,000 years old, comes to life after being
frozen in the Arctic. Virginia Bruce.
October 15, 1955
THE HUMAN EQUATION Strange things happen
because of a microscopic growth on a grain of wheat. MacDonald Carey.
October 22, 1955
TARGET HURRICANE A
meteorologist orders planes and submarines into the eye of a
mysterious hurricane.
October 30, 1955
THE WATER MAKER A
telegram from a dead man sends a scientist to a barren
desert. Craig Stevens.
November 5, 1955
THE UNEXPLORED A professor's belief in
clairvoyance is challenged by his college. Kent Smith, Osa Massen.
November 12, 1955
THE HASTINGS SECRET A scientist discovers a species of termites
that consume minerals instead of wood. Bill Williams, Barbara Hale, Morris Ankrum.
November 19, 1955
POSTCARD FROM BARCELONA
A beautiful girl attempts
to block scientific efforts to reach for the stars. and/or A series of mysterious
postcards reveals a strange bargain made with beings from
another world.
Keefe
Brasselle, Walter Kingsford, Christine Larsen.
November 27, 1955
FRIEND OF A RAVEN Tells of a strange little
boy who can communicate with animals by an extraordinary
seventh sense and who can "feel" impending danger. Richard Eyer, Virginia Bruce.
December 3, 1955
BEYOND RETURN A doctor saves a dying girl
with a "miracle" serum and finds she's become a human
chameleon. Zachary Scott,
Joan Vohs.
December 10, 1955
BEFORE THE BEGINNING A man tries to create
artificial life, even as his wife is dying of a disease he
indirectly caused and must try to cure. Dane Clark.
December 17, 1955
THE LONG DAY A man's plans are thwarted
when the sun refuses to set. George
Brent, Sam Gilmore, Robert Barton.
December 24, 1955
PROJECT 44 A Space physician selects
eight young scientists for training which proves man can
survive in outer space. Bill
Williams.
December 31, 1955
ARE WE INVADED A flying saucer report is
scientifically accounted for -- until a strange photograph
changes the astronomer's opinion.
Pat
O'Brien, Anthony Eustral. Leslie Gaye.
January 7, 1956
SOUND OF MURDER A
brilliant scientist pits scientific fact against a false
murder charge. In an attempt to free himself from the
charges, the scientist discovers how a person's voice can be
duplicated through a machine called a sound synthesizer. Howard Duff.
January 14, 1956
OPERATION FLYPAPER A Nobel Prize-winning
scientist sets a trap for the thief who steals time right
before the alert eyes of a trained observer.
January 21, 1956
THE FROZEN
SOUND rerun
January 28, 1956
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON
Astronomer Larry Kerston,
with his revolutionary telescope-camera, takes a strange
picture of the moon -- and finds men from other worlds at
work on its dark side. and/or Test photos taken with a
new camera reveal a strange halo around the moon which
proves to be atomic radiation. Skip Homeier, Beverly Garland, Philip
Ober.
February 4, 1956
THE BRAIN OF JOHN EMERSON
rerun of May
21, 1955
February 11, 1956
NO FOOD FOR THOUGHT
rerun of May 14, 1955
February 18, 1956
HOUR OF
NIGHTMARE rerun
February 25, 1956
OUT OF
NOWHERE rerun
March 3, 1956
BARRIER OF
SILENCE rerun
March 10, 1956
STRANGERS IN
THE DESERT rerun
March 17, 1956
THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE MOON
rerun
March 24, 1956
SPIDERS,
INCORPORATED rerun
March 30, 1956
POSTCARD
FROM BARCELONA rerun
SECOND SEASON
April 7, 1956
SIGNALS FROM THE HEART
Scientists plunge into
research to an develop electronic transmitter by which they
can save a man's life by remote control.
Walter
Kingsford, Peter Hanson, Joyce Holden.
April 14, 1956
THE LONG SLEEP A research scientist is
forced to perform a strange experiment on an ailing
youngster.
Dr.
Samuel Willard: Dick Foran; John
Barton: John Doucette; Ruth
Toney: Nancy Hale.
April 21, 1956
WHO IS THIS MAN When a psychiatrist tries
to help a college student with a personality problem, he is
frightened by what the boy reveals under hypnosis. and/or A college student seeks help for a severe
personality problem that makes him shy and afraid. Bruce Bennett, Harlow Wilcox, Charles Smith.
April 28, 1956
THE GREEN BOMB A
red alert and a "green bomb" touch off a breathtaking search
for stolen atomic materials that could demolish an entire
city.
Whit
Bissell, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Griffin.
May 5, 1956
WHEN A CAMERA FAILS A brilliant geophysicist
discovers that rocks take pictures and he starts checking to
see if history really happened the way we think it did. and/or Under his ultra-microscope, a doctor
examines a piece of rock fused from atomic tests and sees a
photo image of the blast in the rock strata! Believing that
lightning, atomic radiation and even sunlight can cause
photographs in rocks, he tests other rocks.
Dr.
Richard Newitt: Gene Lockhart; Dr. Johnston: Mack Williams;
Dr. Herbert: Than Wyenn.
May 12, 1956
BULLET PROOF An escape criminal who
tries to sell some bullet-proof metal leads a young
scientist a merry chase. and/or An escaped criminal
tries to sell a professor a fantastically light and
indestructible foil metal he has found.
Jim
Connors: Marshall Thompson; R alph Parr: Christopher Dark;
Professor Rudman: John Eldridge.
May 19, 1956
THE FLICKER A police lieutenant tangles
with a murder without a motive and a killer without a
memory. He thinks the crime is due to post-hypnotic
suggestion. Victor Jory, Michael Fox.
May 26, 1956
THE UNGUIDED MISSILE A
magazine editor is troubled by strange dreams which reveal
top secret government information. Ruth Hussey, Peter Hansen, Francis McDonald.
June 2, 1956
END OF TOMORROW
June 9, 1956
MIND MACHINE An aging scientist develops
a device for picking up brain impulses and decoding them.
Fearing he cannot stand the strain of finishing the project,
he begins to explain the project to a young specialist when
a stroke paralyzes him.
June 16, 1956
THE MISSING WAVEBAND When
a doctor receives vital data on building satellites via
radio, he believes his informant is a fellow scientist in a
totalitarian country.
June 23, 1956
THE HUMAN EXPERIMENT A
beautiful scientist is held captive by the super-human
beings her own serum has created.
Marshall
Thompson, Jean Richardson, Virginia Christine.
June 30, 1956
THE MAN WHO DIDN’T KNOW
An atomic jet pilot loses
his plane and his memory in a strange crash and finds he is
an unwitting spy for a foreign power. Arthur
Franz, Susan Cummings, Peggy Kendler, Al Mitchell.
July 7, 1956
THE PHANTOM CAR A physicist tries to track
down a phantom car that ran down his wife. The car is
driverless and every time he approaches a road block it
changes course as if guided by an invisible hand. and/or A
physicist and his wife have their desert vacation
interrupted by a murderous electronic automobile with an
invisible driver. Arthur Gress: John Archer; Peggie Gress: Judith Ames; Tyler McVey:
Barney Cole.
July 14, 1956
THE LONG
SLEEP rerun
July 21, 1956
THE PHANTOM
CAR rerun
July 28, 1956
BEAM OF FIRE A scientist finds the
secret of a murder in a locked and guarded room and seeks
justice in the trail of a mysterious fireball from outer
space. Steve Conway: Wayne Morris; Dr. Davis: Frank Gerstle;
Dr. Lindstrom: Harlan Warde.
August 4, 1956
WHO IS THIS MAN rerun
August 11, 1956
THE GREEN BOMB rerun
August 18, 1956
LEGEND OF CRATER MOUNTAIN
A young rural schoolteacher
finds that her three star pupils are more than human.
Marilyn
Erskine, Brad Jackson, Jo Ann Lilliquist.
August 25, 1956
LIVING LIGHTS A biochemist turns a simple
experiment into a scientific nightmare when he synthesizes
fantastic life forms of the planet Venus. Bob Lurie: Skip
Homeier; Grace Lurie: Joan Sinclair;
Charles Irwin: Mike
Garth.
September 1, 1956
WHEN A
CAMERA VAILS rerun
September 8, 1956
BULLET PROOF
rerun
September 15, 1956
JUPITRON A
scientist and his wife find that their vacation trip
includes a terrifying visit to the planet Jupiter and an
ominous warning to earth. Bill
Williams.
September 22, 1956
THE THROWBACK Death reaches through four
centuries to grasp playboy auto-racer Joe Castle, as science
struggles against the unknown to save him.
Ed
Kemmer
September 29, 1956
THE MIRACLE OF DR. DOVE
An eminent biologist holds the key to
the strange secret of three scientist who disappear from the face of
the earth. and/or A security officer attempts to track down three
missing scientists who have one thing in common: all of them are
patients of the same doctor. Gene Lockhart, Robin
Short.
October 6, 1956
THREE THOUSAND EYES Vincent Price stars
as a police scientist who uses a new scientific principle to
eye-witness a murder which occurs in total darkness. and/or
A Police scientist receives a visit from the girl who jilted
him years before to marry a wealthy scientist. She begs for
his help, saying her husband's life is in danger. Vincent Price,
Jean Byron
October 13, 1956
BRAIN UNLIMITED While
testing the effect of a new anti-blackout serum, a flight
researcher stumbles on a frightening discovery.
Dr. Jeff Conover: Arthur Franz; Elaine Conover: Diana
Douglas; Ralph Marken: Doug
Wilson.
October 20, 1956
DEATH AT MY FINGERTIPS
A man is jailed for murder even though he was in another
city at the time of the killing because his fingerprints are
on the murder weapon. Donald Stewart: Dick Foran; Eve Patrick: June Lockhart;
Mark Davis: John Stephenson.
October 27, 1956
SOUND THAT KILLS A physicist visits a fellow
scientist and during the visit a murder is committed and he
is the primary suspect. Ludwig Stossel, Ray
Collins, Charles Victor.
November 3, 1956
SURVIVAL IN BOX CANYON
An Important scientist is lost while flying his private
plane to an H-bomb test. An Army major gambles his life on
electronic computer answers as to where the plane has
crashed.
Bruce
Bennett, Susan Cummings.
November 10, 1956
THE VOICE A successful trial attorney
finds that he must use extra-sensory perception to save his
own life and that of a condemned man.
Donald
Curtis, Kristine Miller, Anthony Eustrel.
November 17, 1956
THREE MINUTE MILE A biology professor finds a
way to speed up bodily processes electronically. Using a
promising student as a guinea pig, he finds that the boy can
lift a 1000 pound weight.
Marshall
Thompson, Martin
Milner, Gloria Marshall.
November 24, 1956
THE LAST BARRIER A moon rocket from the
Earth takes off for space. TV scanners show that the rocket
is located where a sighting of it would be impossible. Bill Ching, Bruce Wendell.
December 1, 1956
SIGNALS FROM THE MOON An important diplomat
visiting the U.S. lies dying from an assassin's bullet. The
surgeon who can save his life directs the operation by
Television. Bruce Bennett
December 8, 1956
DR. ROBOT
Peter Hanson, Whit Bissel, Doug Wilson.
December 16, 1956
THE HUMAN CIRCUIT A night-club dancer has the
power to see things beyond the range of ordinary vision.
Joyce
Jameson, Marshall Thompson, Bill Ching.
December 22, 1956
THE MIRACLE HOUR A man never gives up hope
that his fiancee's blind six-year-old son won't have to
spend the holiday in darkness.
Dick
Foran, Jean Byron, Charles Herbert.
December 29, 1956
SUN GOLD Government scientists,
working in Peru, discover unusual secrets from the Inca
Empire.
January 5, 1957
FACSIMILE When
three top scientists are mysteriously stricken in the same
laboratory by a deadly illness, the situation sets in motion
a search for an answer to a problem that has baffled
scientists. Arthur Franz, Aline Towne, Donald Curtis.
January 12, 1957
THE KILLER TREE A team of young
seismologists exploring the desert comes upon a delirious
old prospector mumbling a strange story about a tree that
brings sudden death to all who rest beneath its
branches.
Bill
Williams, Bonita Granville, Keith Richards.
January 19, 1957
GRAVITY ZERO Two
scientists about to lose their jobs at a university perform
an experiment so astounding that it amazes the entire
scientific world.
Percy
Helton, Lisa Gaye, Bill Hudson.
January 26, 1957
THE MAGIC SUITCASE A mysterious stranger
leaves his suitcase behind and its contents baffle the world
of science. Charles Winninger.
February 2, 1957
BOLT OF LIGHTNING A young scientist uncovers
a secret more deadly that the atomic bomb. Bruce Bennett, Kristine Miller, Lyle
Talbot.
February 9, 1957
THE STRANGE LODGER
Mysterious signals go out
over a TV receiver antenna.
Peter Hansen, Jan Shepard, Charles Maxwell
Check out the following website:
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/sciFiTheater.html
The composer of the theme music is listed as "Ray
Llewelyn a pseudonym of several ZIV-TV composers. The theme music
for this show was probably composed by Ray Bloch."
AUTHORS
NOTE: I have listed these shows in the order
they were originally shown in the Chicago area and as they were listed
in various television listings to give you an overview of what the
television seasons were like back in the 1950’s.
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