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War Of The Worlds: 50 years on

C

ckg279

WKBW/1520's broadcast of the H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds will be commemorated on Tuesday night, Oct. 30th at the North Park Theatre(for those not in the Buffalo/WNY area, it's on the North Side of Buffalo on Hertel Ave.)beginning at 7pm.

A documentary showcasing the impact that the updated version still has even today will be shown, plus a panel discussion will follow(among those scheduled: Dan Neaverth, Sandy Beach, Bob Koshinski).
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
What, you couldn't work out a rights deal with your ex-employer to run the WKBW version?
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"War of the Worlds", IIRC, was a CBS network show run against the huge Chase & Sanborn Hour on NBC. CBS ran it live, just as the Chase & Sanborn Hour did, at 8 PM in the Eastern zone and 7 in Central, 6 in Mountain and 5 in the Pacific time zone.

There can't be a WKBW version; it was a network show.

I'm waiting for you to say your post was intended to be humorous.
 
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David, you need to read the previous posts and click on a link or two. There very definitely was a WKBW version written and produced by Jeff Kaye. There are in fact multiple versions as it was performed live by local talent that changed during the years that it was "recreated" on WKBW.

Buddy is saying that he's going to run the original Mercury Radio version on WECK. There's a tribute to the WKBW performances happening in a local theater.
 
i wouldn't think the local/WKBW production would pack any punch in 2018. The power of that was then then-celebrity and (apparent) credibility of the actors. At.That.Time. Who knows them today? On radio... Sure, it'd be fun to hear snippets of it... but, the whole thing?... yawn.

As a brick-n-mortar theater thing (coupled with the party-like social atmosphere... it could have some potential, no doubt.
 
The funniest part of this to me was that the Martians landed in a place called Grover's Mill, NJ. Turns out it's an actual place, and is the home of what was once RCA Labs, now called the Sarnoff Center. War of the Worlds aired on CBS, and David Sarnoff was the President of rival network NBC as well as RCA. BTW there's a monument to the Martians landing in Grover's Mill. It's located near Princeton.
 
SirRoxalot said:
David, you need to read the previous posts and click on a link or two. There very definitely was a WKBW version written and produced by Jeff Kaye. There are in fact multiple versions as it was performed live by local talent that changed during the years that it was "recreated" on WKBW.

Buddy is saying that he's going to run the original Mercury Radio version on WECK. There's a tribute to the WKBW performances happening in a local theater.
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Buddy is saying that he's going to run the original Mercury Radio version on WECK. There's a tribute to the WKBW performances happening in a local theater.[/QUOTE]

I am assuming that the WKBW version was broadcast well after the original Mercury Theater production, as that original was widely criticized right up to the highest levels of government for quite a period after the broadcast.

Amazingly, despite the information that there had been alarm and concern in the USA, the work was translated and run in several places in Latin America. In Quito, Ecuador, "Radio Quito", the station of the local newspaper "El Comercio" ran it and the alarmed public, upon learning the show was a drama and not news, proceeded to burn the station and the newspaper to the ground.

Any recreation of the show must have been much later. I can't find any reference to it in national trade publications, so it would be interesting to hear about if there are more details, particularly since the script was so widely criticized initially. Is there an actual recording of any of the recreations? Did they clarify the fact that it was a radio play more often, since that was the main failing of the Wells version?

Thanks for setting me straight. Now I am curious as to whether other local stations did the same as WKBW.[/SIZE][/FONT]
 
The "fake version" was re-written and localized by Jeff Kaye, program director of WKBW in its halcyon days. Kaye later did mornings at WBEN and went on to become the voice of NFL Films. The "fake version" incorporated a line-up of Buffalo radio and TV broadcast legends. The "fake version" electrified Western New York the first two times it ran, and had impact even on later Halloween re-runs. To many Western New York radio listeners in the demographic your station is attempting to reach, the "fake version" is the only version they know and remember. "Fake version," indeed.

Mr. Gleason,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_1968)
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
Hundreds of thousands of Western New Yorkers would completely disagree. But your comment is expected considering what you probably know about Buffalo came from Wikipedia searches.
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Actually, I know quite a bit about the market, being from Cleveland and having spent many weekends traveling to the area first with a friend who's family had a place outside Dunkirk and then to work on the National Radio Club bulletin in Buffalo itself. Later, one of the stations in the market was part of the Broadcaster's Idea Bank which my stations or ones I managed were members of for nearly two decades.

One does not have to live in a market to understand it. Example: KHJ's explosive debut was done by a guy from Georgia and another guy from Hawaii.

Memories fade. The CBS network production was impeccable. While I have no doubt that the later recreation of the program by local talent was well received, the one that stands the test of time is the original and the name that has the best recognition, even in Buffalo, is Orson Wells.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Actually, I know quite a bit about the market, being from Cleveland and having spent many weekends traveling to the area first with a friend who's family had a place outside Dunkirk and then to work on the National Radio Club bulletin in Buffalo itself. Later, one of the stations in the market was part of the Broadcaster's Idea Bank which my stations or ones I managed were members of for nearly two decades.

One does not have to live in a market to understand it. Example: KHJ's explosive debut was done by a guy from Georgia and another guy from Hawaii.

Memories fade. The CBS network production was impeccable. While I have no doubt that the later recreation of the program by local talent was well received, the one that stands the test of time is the original and the name that has the best recognition, even in Buffalo, is Orson Wells.
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The 1938 broadcast was a "Perfect Storm" of sorts......in 1938, the entire WORLD was on the brink of war; the Nazis were getting ready to prove the strength of the "pure Arian race"....
Folks already shaking in their boots over this VERY REAL earthly threat -- were now faced with an extra-terrestrial attack that could destroy our planet!!
Despite the fact that a disclaimer was aired several times during that famous broadcast....it didn't stop many from panic!!!
Wonder how that show would have done if the Nielsons were around then...!!;)
The "Mercury Theater of the Air" is the stuff of LEGENDS!!
 
DavidEduardo said:
I long ago quite believing about 80% of the Wikipedia articles about radio related items. Here is an article by one of the Golden Age of Radio's best historians: http://www.jimramsburg.com/war-of-the-worlds-audio.html Nothing done compares with the Orson Wells production.
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The link regarding the "local version" was provided solely as a reference because you had indicated that the "local version" of WOTW was unfamiliar to you. Yes, Wells' version was a superb production, known throughout the land. The WKBW version was equally artful. A testimony to good writing, adaptation, acting and production, it's known by many listeners aged 55+ throughout Western New York, the northeast US and Canada. If ever you have a chance to hear the WKBW adaptation, you might come away equally impressed. If you've not heard it, it's unfair to judge.
 
Orson Wells indeed created a classic - and a panic. For WNY listeners, however, it was largely a lost classic when Jeff Kaye created his local version. As far as recognition in Buffalo, I'd be willing to bet that more listeners heard the WKBW version than have ever heard the Wells version.

Radio as "theater of the mind" has far more impact with trusted local voices talking about local places than even the most accomplished of voices talking about far-away places. As referenced by E9, the local production was well executed and effective. It's impact in WNY was wide-spread and significant. The fact that it's still talked about today - and that there's an event built around its creation and replay - should give you some indication that it wasn't your average "local radio play." With WKBW's 50K reach and impact 50 years ago, it was very definitely an "event."
 
Interesting that new radio drama was still being done in 1968. One popular group was Firesign Theater, who took their radio theater from KPFK and KMET to Columbia Records in the 60s, and became popular with college students at the time. National Lampoon took its popular brand and created a radio theater show in the early 70s called the National Lampoon Radio Hour. (a lot of the performers went on to star in Saturday Night Live)

Not long after that, new radio theater became very popular through three radio networks: The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, produced by the legendary Hi Brown, NPR's Earplay (Firesign's David Ossman later joined NPR as a producer), and the Mutual Radio Theater. NPR continued to produce new radio theater in the 90s with its radio adaptation of Star Wars.
 
TheBigA said:
Not long after that, new radio theater became very popular through three radio networks: The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, produced by the legendary Hi Brown, NPR's Earplay (Firesign's David Ossman later joined NPR as a producer), and the Mutual Radio Theater. NPR continued to produce new radio theater in the 90s with its radio adaptation of Star Wars.
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And now, the concept of spoken workd stand-alone shows is going through another rebirth with podcasts.
 
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