Ruby: Galactic Gumshoe

December 10, 2002 6:23 PM

Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe is a funny and inventive science-fiction series that originally aired in three-minute segments on NPR back in the 1980s. I remember listening to my dad's tapes of it when I was a kid. It's a great combination of absurdist humor and classic cyberpunk, and eminently enjoyable for anyone who likes radio drama.

I was delighted recently discover that not only is it available to buy on CD, but the entire thing is online in streaming quicktime to listen to!
posted by GriffX (7 comments total)

Filled with puns and action, it's like a very whimsical William Gibson. I find it amazing that the company that produced it lets people listen to it for free online. I suppose they guess (correctly) that the people who will order it all these years after it aired will pay money for the CDs anyhow, and appreciate the online gesture.
posted by GriffX at 6:26 PM on December 10, 2002

Indirectly linked here previously. I'm a big ZBS fan and have already bought two items from them this year for Christmas presents. I've only heard one episode of Ruby (of which, like the Jack Flanders stuff, there are numerous series now, not just the original one), though...need to head over there and listen.

It may just be me, but there seems to be a problem with their site atm...but it usually works fine.
posted by rushmc at 6:31 PM on December 10, 2002

Ruby is better than the science-fiction Internet radio show I sometimes used to listen to, Dirk Galaxy -- Space Detective. But it all pales in comparison to H2G2, created by the late (and whose loss is lamented) radio master Douglas Adams.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:12 PM on December 10, 2002

The full radio series of H2G2 is available online streaming here.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:50 PM on December 10, 2002

ZBS now imports and sells the original HHG radio broadcast on CD, too.
posted by rushmc at 9:01 PM on December 10, 2002

The original Jack Flanders series is great (Fourth Tower of Inverness) but rather long.

The Adventures of Jack Flanders is also well done (originally offered via subscription on cassette as each episode was completed. They decided to change the plot mid-production which required scrapping one episode after it was sent out.)

I've been meaning to get the CD's as I have several series from them on reel to reel tape from the '70s but no longer own a reel to reel deck.

They also produced an audio version on cassette of Steven Kings "The Mist" which I don't see advertised any more.

Great stuff, I'll have to check out Ruby on-line. Thanks for the link GriffX.
posted by DBAPaul at 3:23 AM on December 11, 2002

Great link, GriffX. I listened to the segments online a while ago and they really took me back. Sitting in the living room on Sunday nights listening to Ruby, Hitchhiker's Guide, and other radio wackiness was always good times as a kid.
posted by ungratefulninja at 10:13 AM on December 11, 2002