Orson Welles's radio War of the Worlds recreated by the cast of Star Trek.
October 30, 2009 3:55 PM Subscribe
Does it have the musical interludes by Ramon Raquello and his orchestra? Because otherwise I ain't buyin' it.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:41 PM on October 30, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by middleclasstool at 5:41 PM on October 30, 2009 [4 favorites]
Nifty.
One of the coolest driving moments I ever had was accidentally stumbling across the Orson Wells version on my car radio while out on a drive.
posted by Atreides at 6:53 PM on October 30, 2009
One of the coolest driving moments I ever had was accidentally stumbling across the Orson Wells version on my car radio while out on a drive.
posted by Atreides at 6:53 PM on October 30, 2009
When I first saw this thread on the Metafilter frontpgae, my heart sunk at the thought of Christopher Pine and Zachary Quinto's involvement in this. I imagined I was about to be exposed to a radically different War of the Worlds, with less social commentary, heaps more explosions and a new bit where Earth forces somehow manage to go to Mars and blow up the planet.
Then I clicked on the link and saw the cast members are all from TOS and TNG. This is my fathers War of the Worlds. This is good.
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:22 PM on October 30, 2009
Then I clicked on the link and saw the cast members are all from TOS and TNG. This is my fathers War of the Worlds. This is good.
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:22 PM on October 30, 2009
Listening...
Brent Spiner isn't doing bad work. He's doing several different period voices, and doing them pretty well. He wouldn't sound out of place spliced into the original.
Gates McFadden is a big ham. If she's trying to satirize the original, she's succeeding.
Leonard Nimoy, sadly, is Leonard Nimoy.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:09 PM on October 30, 2009
Brent Spiner isn't doing bad work. He's doing several different period voices, and doing them pretty well. He wouldn't sound out of place spliced into the original.
Gates McFadden is a big ham. If she's trying to satirize the original, she's succeeding.
Leonard Nimoy, sadly, is Leonard Nimoy.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:09 PM on October 30, 2009
This makes no sense. There were no cats on Star Trek.
posted by boo_radley at 8:27 PM on October 30, 2009
posted by boo_radley at 8:27 PM on October 30, 2009
The RadioLab episode on War of the Worlds is truly not to be missed!
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/03/07
The Welles version was not the only one to cause chaos, that is for sure!! I'm proud to be the reader on the Librox recording for the chapter where the alien cylinder first opens : ) I have loved WOTW since childhood, in Saturday afternoon Sci-Fi movie and book form....
posted by pdxjmorris at 8:27 PM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/03/07
The Welles version was not the only one to cause chaos, that is for sure!! I'm proud to be the reader on the Librox recording for the chapter where the alien cylinder first opens : )
posted by pdxjmorris at 8:27 PM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
boo_radley:This makes no sense. There were no cats on Star Trek.
Are you sure?
posted by dr_dank at 9:25 PM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
Are you sure?
posted by dr_dank at 9:25 PM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
God I hope I can download this on iTunes very soon.
This is absolutely astoundingly cool! I only wish that Patrick Stewart shows up soon (if at all).
posted by Severian at 9:40 PM on October 30, 2009
This is absolutely astoundingly cool! I only wish that Patrick Stewart shows up soon (if at all).
posted by Severian at 9:40 PM on October 30, 2009
I don't know. Listening to it, it sounds like one of those episodes that begin on the holodeck, where the crew is acting out some play in ridiculous mid-Atlantic accents.
posted by bicyclefish at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2009
posted by bicyclefish at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2009
it sounds like one of those episodes that begin on the holodeck, where the crew is acting out some play in ridiculous mid-Atlantic accents.
That's why it rules!
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:06 AM on October 31, 2009
That's why it rules!
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:06 AM on October 31, 2009
They should do a new Star Trek series in which some sort of nuclear disaster occurs on a starship, killing all the humans on board, leaving Data to drift around hopelessly outside the known galaxy, three million years in the future, accompanied only by a single crew member recovered from a stasis tube, the ship's computer, an uptight hologram (The Doctor, perhaps), and a sentient feline humanoid evolved from Spot's kittens.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:08 AM on October 31, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 11:08 AM on October 31, 2009 [3 favorites]
I have no excuse for having never heard this before, because A) It is incredibly well-known, and B) It is, apparently, totally fucking awesome.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 3:45 PM on October 31, 2009
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 3:45 PM on October 31, 2009
Ha. I'm the producer of this show. Thanks for posting! My second project to end up on the blue...
posted by mykescipark at 3:58 AM on November 1, 2009
posted by mykescipark at 3:58 AM on November 1, 2009
...And although I acknowledge that the direct download link isn't that hard to sleuth out, we always appreciate folks who actually invest in what we do as a nonprofit org. You can buy the piece on CD (with none of those pesky NPR hourly breaks) here, or get it from iTunes / eMusic / Audible / etc. Okay, I'm done now.
posted by mykescipark at 5:58 PM on November 1, 2009
posted by mykescipark at 5:58 PM on November 1, 2009
mykescipark: Quite right too. I had actually thought there was a free window then a commercial release ala the This American Life podcast which is why I posted the direct link. But you are right, it's important to offer some financial support.
While I'm here, any plans to offer some Shakespeare? Hamlet perhaps?
posted by feelinglistless at 3:10 PM on November 2, 2009
While I'm here, any plans to offer some Shakespeare? Hamlet perhaps?
posted by feelinglistless at 3:10 PM on November 2, 2009
The visible mp3 link is a bit of an unfortunate leak, actually. Its reasons for existing are more than I can go into here, but if we could find a way to stream in the precise way that we need to without having downloadable audio, we'd do it. It's a matter of royalties and copyright restrictions with our producers / actors / playwrights / etc. (and their agents!) and not just us being dicks. People will always find a way to steal the stuff they want anyway, I'm well aware.
Anyway, to answer your question, while we've done our fair share of classics and chestnuts over the years, our producing director likes to mix things up quite a bit ... hence, while you'll find adaptations of "King Henry IV" and "Julius Caesar" in the catalogue, you're more likely to see stuff by Jon Robin Baitz or Stephen Adly Guirgis or Tom Stoppard these days. On that note, I think our adaptation of Arcadia is the finest thing we've ever done. A really beautiful production, and it's amazing we got Stoppard's blessing to do it.
posted by mykescipark at 8:51 PM on November 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Anyway, to answer your question, while we've done our fair share of classics and chestnuts over the years, our producing director likes to mix things up quite a bit ... hence, while you'll find adaptations of "King Henry IV" and "Julius Caesar" in the catalogue, you're more likely to see stuff by Jon Robin Baitz or Stephen Adly Guirgis or Tom Stoppard these days. On that note, I think our adaptation of Arcadia is the finest thing we've ever done. A really beautiful production, and it's amazing we got Stoppard's blessing to do it.
posted by mykescipark at 8:51 PM on November 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Thanks Cortex.
posted by feelinglistless at 12:24 PM on November 3, 2009
posted by feelinglistless at 12:24 PM on November 3, 2009
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Sounds like a dream I had last night, but with less sexy misunderstandings.
posted by The Whelk at 5:27 PM on October 30, 2009 [2 favorites]