Editing Dimension X (radio program)

{{Short description|1950s NBC series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name     = Dimension X| image         = Dimenx.jpg
| imagesize     = 200px
| caption       = This advertisement for ''Dimension X'' promotes an adaptation of a [[Frank M. Robinson]] story from ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'' (September 1951) about a politician who purchases an elixir of life and then hires a detective to investigate the seller. The drawing is signed "J.M."
| format        = [[Science fiction]]
| runtime       = 
| country       = [[United States|US]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| home_station  = [[NBC Radio Network]]
| syndicates    = 
| presenter     = 
| starring      = 
| announcer     = [[Norman Rose]]
| creator       = 
| writer        = 
| director      = Edward King, Fred Weihe
| senior_editor = 
| editor        = 
| producer      = Van Woodward, William Welch
| exec_producer = 
| narrated      = 
| rec_location  = 
| rem_location  = 
| oth_location  = 
| first_aired   = {{Start date|df=yes|1950|4|8}}
| last_aired    = {{Start date|df=yes|1951|9|29}}
| num_series    = 
| num_episodes  = 50
| audio_format  = 
| opentheme     = 
| othertheme    = 
| endtheme      = 
| sponsor       = 
| website       = 
| podcast       = 
}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Dimension X''''' was an [[NBC Radio Network|NBC]] radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Dimension+X,+science+fiction%22+Wheaties&pg=PA199 |last=Dunning |first=John |authorlink=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=199 |edition=Revised |accessdate=2019-09-14}}</ref> The first 13 episodes were broadcast live, and the remainder were prerecorded. Fred Wiehe and Edward King were the directors, and [[Norman Rose]] was heard as both announcer and narrator, opening the show with: "Adventures in time and space... told [or transcribed] in future tense..." For two months, beginning on July 7, 1950, the series was sponsored by [[Wheaties]].<ref name="Dunning" />

==Overview==
Preceded by Mutual's ''[[2000 Plus]]'' (1950–52), ''Dimension X'' was not the first adult [[science fiction]] series on radio,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/dimension-x-radio-show-the-1950s-scifi-radio-show.html|title=Dimension X|publisher=Open Culture|language=English|date=9 June 2014|accessdate=11 November 2019}}</ref> but the acquisition of previously published stories immediately gave it a strong standing with the science fiction community, as did the choice of established writers within the genre: [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Robert Bloch]], [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Fredric Brown]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Murray Leinster]], [[H. Beam Piper]], [[Frank M. Robinson]], [[Clifford D. Simak]], [[William Tenn]], [[Jack Vance]], [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Jack Williamson]] and [[Donald A. Wollheim]]. [[Ernest Kinoy]] and [[George Lefferts]] adapted most of the stories and also provided original scripts.

In ''Science Fiction Television'' (2004), M. Keith Booker wrote:
:It was not until the 1950s that science fiction radio really hit its stride, even as science fiction was beginning to appear on television as well. Radio programs such as Mutual's ''2000 Plus'' and NBC's ''Dimension X'' were anthology series that offered a variety of exciting tales of future technology, with a special focus on space exploration (including alien invasion), though both series also often reflected contemporary anxieties about the dangers of technology.<ref>Booker, M. Keith. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WyJf3m1G0ksC&dq=science+fiction+%222000+Plus%22&pg=RA1-PA4 Science Fiction Television].'' Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2004.</ref>

The series opened with "The Outer Limit," Ernest Kinoy's adaptation of Graham Doar's short story from ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'' (December 24, 1949) about alien contact. A week later (April 15, 1950), the program presented Jack Williamson's most famous story, "[[With Folded Hands]]," first published in the July 1947 issue of ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]].''

With a five-month hiatus from January 1951 to June 1951, the series spanned 17 months. All 50 episodes of the series survived and can be heard today. Later, NBC's ''[[X Minus One]]'' (1955–58) utilized many of the same actors and scripts.

==See also==
*[[List of Dimension X episodes|List of ''Dimension X'' episodes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Ben Ohmart's It's That Time Again, publisher BearManor Media 2002, {{ISBN|0-9714570-2-6}}

==Listen to==
*[http://otrr.org/ OTRRG] certified Dimension X complete series ([https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Dimension_X_Singles singles]/[https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Dimension_X zipped sets])
*{{InternetArchiveOTR|id=OTRR_Dimension_X_Singles|title=Dimension X}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100512140913/http://www.spacemensluck.com/Blog/category/old-time-radio/dimension-x/ Listen to Space Travel related episodes of ''Dimension X'' at Spacemens Luck]}}

==External links==
*[http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logd1013.htm Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: ''Dimension X'']
*[http://www.oldtimeradioreview.com/dimension-x Old Time Radio Review: ''Dimension X''] – episode reviews
*[http://www.otrplotspot.com/dimensionX.html OTR Plot Spot: ''Dimension X''] – plot summaries and reviews
*[https://www.otroutlaws.com/dimension-x.html Dimension X on Old Time Radio Outlaws]

{{Fantasy and science fiction radio programs}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1950 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1951 radio programme endings]]
[[Category:1950s American radio programs]]
[[Category:American radio dramas]]
[[Category:Anthology radio series]]
[[Category:American science fiction radio programs]]
[[Category:NBC radio programs]]