Hot on the heels of last week’s episode of The Shadow, we’re listening to another episode of The Shadow! This time we’ve drawn an episode from our Listener Library, “Out of this World,” written by Alfred Bester and recommended to us by David. Thanks David! This particular production was recorded in Australia and the story features Lamont and Margot investigating a string of murders that may have been perpetrated by extraterrestrials! How vast is the conspiracy behind these deaths? How did the police get their hands on such advanced technology? Once you face an alien invasion, is it time to retire from crime fighting? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
Thanks so much for doing this one, guys! I never considered that Bester’s previous work in the comics industry may have contributed to the unusual structure of this story. I also had no idea that this script was originally used in the US version of the series (I’ll look for it and hope it’s still around online). Alas, my work as a letter carrier had no bearing in choosing this episode. I mentioned in my original message that I had this episode on a collection called The Lost Shadow (or some permutation of that) as a kid and, as you… Read more »
I’m glad I got a chance to listen to this, David. It was a lot of fun!
Glad you liked it, Mark.
I loved this. Even though I’m normally of the opinion that Orson Welles is the only true Shadow on the radio, and this guy may have been the least “Shadowy” Shadow ever, I really enjoyed this story. I liked it so much that not only did Eric’s rant not turn me against it, if anything it may have made me love it even more, as a backlash against his criticism. I might have opted for “There may be some antiquated moments…,” but now it’s “Timeless Classic” for me. By the way, when Lamont says “he died like a man,” I… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more, Dave. “Human” would have been a more effective choice for the reasons you mentioned.
Thanks for your interpretation of the “died like a man” line. It seems obvious now that you say it, but at the time all I could think of was, as you say, masculine courage and virility. I still think it’s unintentionally hilarious.
This reminded me of when the Dick Tracy strip introduced Moon Maiden and Moon Clay and her father the Moon King or something like that, and then the new writer said, “To hell with this” and killed Moon Maid and her Moon Baby and the Moon King said words to the effect of, “There will be no longer any contact between this comic strip and the Moon. This was a bad idea.” Had The Shadow gone on another 10 years, the opening would be, “The Shadow, Lamont Cranston, a man of wealth, on a trip to India obtained the power… Read more »
I’m absolutely certain this is the first ever piece of Shadow/Far Out Space Nuts fan fiction. I doff my hat to you, sir.
Wanted to like it but couldn’t here a word of dialogue.
I listen to a lot of old radio and realize that some are really bad and not much left to hear.
I mostly listen to this podcast for the discussion afterwards.
Keep it up .
Totally agree with Eric on this. This episode wasn’t a Shadow episode, it was a super hero episode that Bester just re-skinned for The Shadow to make a buck. Not a good super hero story, not a good Shadow story.
Aliens are a tough sell in the Shadow universe, because of the implications to the wider world. Just killing this one leader doesn’t wrap stuff up, and it it introduces a new question. The usual question is supernatural based, but now it is going to science fiction. No suspense, just bad writing.