Science Fiction Theatre (1955–1957) User Reviews (26)

Being Both Entertaining & Informative;Excellent Anthology of Well Written, Hignly Intentioned Stories of Tomorrow, Today! (well back in the 1950's, anywho!)

[redryan64 · 7/10 · 22 October 2007]

Saturday night, at 11:00P.M. was a special time in our house. In the years of 1955-57, we had "SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE". It was one of the more successful of the early Syndicated Series*.

In our market, Chicago, it was available for viewing over the local NBC TV Affiliate, WNBQ TV, Channel 5. (The station is still going strong today, albeit with a minor surgical alteration to WMAQ TV**.

And we can well remember just who was the sponsor for "SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE" in our town was. It was that outstanding scientific marvel, Bromo Selzer. The commercials were done with the host, Mr. Truman Bradley.

As to Truman Bradley, he was the host who gave us the premise with which we would be working, during the following half-hour. Hisir carefully set-up demonstrations and equally contrived explanations, all meant to cover no more than 2 minutes of screen time. Of course then, we would sit amazed at the skills demonstrated by this Scientific Wonder, even greater than Don Herbert, aka 'Mr. Wizard'! So it was that every Episode would open up with the sounding of a very distinctive and appropriate theme. This was a trademark of Ziv Television Productions, as well as their use of Syndication, which seemed to be a method of getting the stories out which just about every one of the Ziv Series used.

As the Theme (by Hollywood Veteran Screen Composer, Jack Shaindlin) continued, we a given a downward moving, panoramic view of just about the neatest collection of cool science stuff that you would ever see! Of course, we didn't know what one from the other, as to their uses, but, SO WHAT! After this introductory sequence, it was off to the story! Being science fiction gave it a real wide selection of topics and the creative team did pursue the widest of parameters imaginable. Approximately 22 minutes and two Acts later, it was back to Truman's neat Science Lab, the moral of the story and the final closing.

With the closing, we got this admonition: "Well good-bye for now, until next week, from the World of Fiction and Science!" And then we would hear that Jack Shaindalin Theme once more, and have an upward moving Panaramic View, just bass-ackwards of the opening. While this was happening, we observe our Scientific Wizard, Mr. Truman Bradley, sitting at his huge desk, studiously reading some unknown periodical, a highly esoteric Scientific Journal, no doubt.

The series had quite a few episodes over its two full seasons' run in spectacular Syndication, and we are hard pressed to remember their repeating stories or themes, even. And in addition to the Science Fiction aspects, their stories held up a great hope for the future dignity and tolerance of all of man's ideas.

And just imagine the shock when we found our own personal Scientist of Scientists, Truman Bradley, helping out Spencer Tracy(as Major Robert Rogers) in waging the French and Indian Wars in NORTHWEST PASSAGE (MGM, 1940)! Truman, how could you!

NOTE: * Some of the most successful Syndicated TV Series of the Era were: "SEA HUNT"(1958-61), "HIGHWAY PATROL"(1955-59), "I LED 3 LIVES"(1953-56) and "RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE"(1955-57). Of the 4 series all but Arrow Productions' "RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE" were Ziv/United Artists Television Productions.

NOTE ** Several years later, WNBQ changed its call letters to WMAQ, which were the call letters of the now defunct NBC Radio Station-a Flagship Station of the NBC Radio Network

A wonderful predecessor to the Twight Zone.

[georgeeeds · 8/10 · 10 May 2006]

Long before the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits there was Science Fiction Theater. I haven't seen this wonderful TV show in 40-45 years but it still fires my imagination and possibly my nightmares. Every Friday night my 8-10 year-old's heart would begin to race as the show opened with its dramatic theme music and the camera's eye scanning the working apparatus in a "real" scientist's lab: microscope, oscilloscope, bubbling titration beakers,test tubes, and something like a radar unit. Finally the camera would settle on Truman Bradley who would introduce the episode with his resonating voice. Oh the heroes of my spent boyhood, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Clayton Moore, Fess Parker, and Truman Bradley! I would love to see some of the old episodes—or maybe not. Would it be a disillusioning experience? Probably. By today's special-effect standards, the episodes would no doubt have a cheesy aspect to them. But I'd sure love to find out. I hope the show is still out there, somewhere. Anyway, a 2-disk DVD set of the best episodes would be about right.

SF Theater a milestone on television

[bill-790 · 8/10 · 15 June 2007]

Science Fiction Theater (1955-1957) stands out as perhaps the most intriguing and intelligent of all TV science fiction shows. I remember watching the series as a 13 or 14 year old when it first aired. Only recently have I obtained a DVD of the entire series, and I am happy to say that I have not had to change my original opinion of SF Theater.

The stories are solid, the actors, easily identifiable from duty in many feature films, are excellent. And, as an added bonus, it turns out that the series was filmed in color! SF Theater was not the only 50s series to be filmed in color, but it was nevertheless among a very small minority in that respect.

As someone else pointed out, the intelligent introductions by Truman Bradley are a real plus and add an air of authenticity to the stories. (Compare that aspect of SF Theater with the idiotic stories and tone of "Lost in Space" a decade later!) Finally, I would submit that these excellent shows are a good example of what can be done to tell a complete story in just 25 minutes. Too bad so many of today's movie makers need 120+ minutes to make their points.

Eye opener for this 10 year old.

[lousvr · 10/10 · 15 May 1999]

In the mind of this 10 year old during the fifties, sci-fi was as much or perhaps more, science fantasy. Back then the possibility of 'Martians' could still not be discounted.!! True. What space travel and science that lay in store for the future was open to one's imagination. Truman Bradley, who opened the show from his laboratory somewhere alone and high in the western desert, would discuss a particular science fact and its possible ramifications and speculations. From this seed a teleplay would ensue. I loved the show. Real science and fantasy all in the same 1/2 hour program. Wish I could see them again.. Alas and alack..

Literate and mind-provoking

[tsmiljan · 30 November 2000]

In the mid-50's, even prior to the launching of Sputnik, America's interest in science was increasing. This anthology came along in syndication for two years in 1955-56, and to a young 10 year old it was a revelation that few things were as endlessly fascinating as science. Even though the plots often spun off into the realm of the fantastic, they all revolved around some basic scientific principle, demonstrated at the beginning of the show by the host Truman Bradley. You couldn't watch him, surrounded by all that neat looking electronic equipment, and not want to be a scientist. Many of the shows were quite literate, and the acting usually top notch. Of course, now the show looks dated almost a half century later, but it's still better than the ridiculous shows that abound today about channeling the dead, bleeding statues, and other pseudoscientific bunk. Come back, Mr. Bradley.

This show is still a great watch.

[Jimbeau4 · 10/10 · 20 November 2006]

Not much to add to all these glowing reports, other than to say that I agree with them. Like many other shows that I hadn't seen for forty five years, I had bits and pieces of memories from this one, all of them pleasant. Now that I'm watching them again, I'm really enjoying them. Because this series was targeted at adults, it hasn't lost any charisma, even though the quality of the prints is erratic and some of them are downright poor. The show holds up better than any other from the distant past. All a viewer has to do is be able to immerse themselves into the world of the fifties. Science was just starting to take off and we were all filled with wonderment. At the time this show was filmed, man hadn't yet launched a satellite, transistors were so new that there were no radios available yet, polio had just been cured, the cold war and fear of the bomb was front & center, etc. In the stories presented, the betterment of mankind is the theme. They are haunting, but good wins over evil. I'm grateful that they were saved for viewing. Truman Bradley is the perfect host and the music rings in my ears.

Please excuse my dim memories of this series

[etsuo · 10/10 · 30 May 2006]

Hawai'i didn't have TV of any kind until the early 1960's, but when this series arrived, I remember being enthralled by it's "Science stretched into possibility" stories. I remember a few snippets: An easily shaped and cut material that could flatten any bullet fired at it! (In spite of appearing opaque on one side, the wearer could see through the material!!); An enzyme that could separate compounds in a solution by density! (Derived from jungle ants/termites?); An apparatus that allowed a blind boy to see colored lights via emotions, "that's a sad color"; A spacecraft caught in Earth's gravitational field tried to communicate with servicemen in a remote Arctic base, "YORD." Before Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone," this series suggested what might be just around the corner in the world of Science. I'd love to see it again, if only to confirm/relive these foggy memories.

Available on DVD

[joe_97478 · 8/10 · 13 February 2008]

I've noticed lately that Science Fiction Theater is available on DVD for the entire run of the show. But it does look as if it's made from available sources. That usually means it could have a lot of poor quality images by being made from old VHS recordings. Just wondered if anyone has purchased the set, and if so, is it worth the money? I've seen it advertised at $49.99 from the source, which doesn't seem to be a mainstream distributor, and also on e-bay for prices about $29.99 stating that it is for new un-opened sets. But I guess at that price it would be worth it even if it isn't great quality.

It was always a treat to watch it back in 1956 and 1957. I think it was the first show of it's type that I had encountered. Watched it once and I was hooked. Had to see it every chance I got after that. Being only 8 years old in 1956, I still have fond memories of it. And as someone else mentioned the parabolic disc antenna, yeah, it caught my eye too. There was one almost exactly like it atop the Southern California Edison building in Pomona, California. I gazed at it every time my parents would drive past that building. Wondered what secrets it held!

Still entertaining after 50 years

[graduatedan · 7/10 · 26 July 2008]

It wasn't until I watched both seasons of Science Fiction Theatre recently, that I realized I had seen many of these episodes as a kid in the 60s. That I'd forgotten the series is not surprising, given the vintage of the original production.(1955-57)and the sense that this series hasn't been seen widely for the last twenty years. Nevertheless, memories of watching the series came flooding back. Although the science in the programs is outdated, the stories themselves are for the most part, quite compelling. The episodes that are more fiction than science hold up the best. Among them, the first rate "Time is just a place" and the still creepy after all these years "Hour of nightmare". The affable Truman Bradley hosts the series; He's just right for the part,I think. Many familiar faces from the golden age of TV, such as Hugh Beaumont, Paul Birch, Barbara Hale and Bill Williams, people the episodes. The dialogue and situations in the stories seem a tad stilted to me, but that, I suspect is simply because these stories reflect a moment in time now long gone. A wonderful retro treat, especially the colour episodes, Science Fiction Theatre deserves to find a new audience.

More kudos for this great show *2 spoilers*

[SquirePM · 10/10 · 24 September 2006]

This was the one TV show I always raced home to see. You never knew what was coming, but it was sure to be fascinating, an extension of known science, and not always with a happy ending. The boy who really could talk (think) to the animals, or maybe just the birds. But the adults thought this wasn't normal, so they did something to normalize him (medicine?) and he lost his abilities, and all his best friends.

The mysterious weapon, somewhere out in the desert. It killed at long range without bullets. The scientists finally figured out that it was light! Just a narrow beam of light? How could that be? So they rigged up a set of automatic mirrors which turned the light back on its source and indicated the direction it had come from. When they got there all they found was the smoking wreckage. No clue to how such a light had been generated, or by whom.

But when lasers came along, I was ready for them.

P.S. I'm adding this two years later, having read some of the other comments about the air time. When I was a kid I knew nothing about syndication of TV shows; what was on and when it was on seemed set in stone to me. In the Philadelphia, PA viewing area it was on just before supper, soon after school was out, which is why I remarked about running home to see it. I remember Mom calling us to the table, and me staying glued to the set until the story was over! If it had been on late at night, or at random times after various movies, I'd have missed one of the very best shows of early TV.

Metal Foil from a Flying Saucer

[Rotwanger · 10/10 · 14 April 2008]

I was only about 4 years old but I recall almost as if it were yesterday something I saw on the show. I remember Adolphe Menjou being associated with the show in some way as host or actor. In this memorable episode, a man was demonstrating a piece of metal foil produced by extraterrestrial technology. This "foil" could not be cut with scissors but even more amazingly, it could not be penetrated when a bullet was fired at it from point blank range. A third feature was that when it was balled up and tossed upon a table it would flatten itself out perfectly. ALL of these features were described by the rancher who took home pieces of the Roswell UFO crash site. In my thirties I read these details and remembered that I had seen this before on TV in the 1950's. To my mind, it seems that "someone" was releasing information about ET technology many many years before nearly any facts at all were released to the public. This TV episode took my thinking about UFO's far beyond the "mysterious lights of swamp gas". In addition to that, this alien foil would have served as a bit of physical evidence that skeptics would have to accept as irrefutable proof of the existence of UFO's. DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER THIS EPISODE ????????? Please respond .......................

See Tales of Tomorrow instead

[Angel_Peter · 3/10 · 23 April 2016]

In my honest opinion this series have not aged well. Maybe it is because I do not have any fond childhood memories of the series that I do not think it is so lovely.

There of course is some good episodes in the series but most of them seems in my opinion half baked and not really worked through. They presented an idea and then nothing more interesting happened.

I know it is an old series but Tales of Tomorrow that is some year older had much better stories in most of the episodes.

The series for me also had a problem it could not decide if it wanted to be realistic or pure sci-fi, and most episodes really only had story for about 10 minutes but lasted 25.

So I suggest if seeing old sci-fi television watch TOT. There are good episodes in SFT but most is not worth the time for me at least.

Impossible to forget

[donsimo · 6 September 2003]

A 225 mph super-hurricane--a stone that froze ancient, terrified voices from Pompeii--the odd new neighbors from next door who vanished one night during an electrical storm!---What an impact these stories had on a 9 yr. old kid! I never forgot them. What a blast to be able to see these shows again. Thank you, Mr. Bradley for making them resonate for all these years!

And what thought-provoking titles, too! And then of course, there was that theme music---!!

An old friend back from the dead

[bobodude · 10/10 · 8 January 2012]

This series has to be one of the best science fiction program ever to air on TV. My dad always watched this program when I was a kid and I got caught up in the stories just as my dad. We would sit down after dinner, all huddled around the old black and white TV waiting for that familiar theme song. It was at least one thing the whole family participated in. After 50 yrs of total obscurity, it has resurfaced on DVD and I bought all 76 episodes off Ebay. The science behind the stories,for the most part, still hold up to this day. Some of the stories were pretty far fetched and hard to believe. Even though most of the predictions of things to come have not materialized, it's a kick to see how they thought about the future and what it would bring. His demonstrations were very well done and I felt like we were in a physics class. It is a delight to revisit those days even though the copies vary wildly in quality, they are still very watchable. I wish they would have made all the episodes in color but that didn't happen in the second season due to budget restraints.

Great growing up with this show

[ncsu-879-326961 · 10/10 · 31 May 2023]

This was a weekly science treat for me growing up in Chicago in the 50s. It was on WGN each Saturday at 6 PM so I guess it was already in reruns by then.

It sparked my interest in science and electronics that later served me well in my career. Each episode starts with a science experiment that is related to that week's episode. The story lines varied but all were quite interesting. 70 years later, many are sort of laughable but still fun to watch.

It is great to see the occasional episode on one of the nostalgic channels. I was able to buy the entire series on DVD a while back but the quality is not the best.

Once this was Science fiction now science

[Bernie4444 · 10/10 · 23 January 2024]

Each story or episode is approximately 26 minutes they pose a problem and a solution. The solution may not be related to the science fiction project presented by the host, Truman Bradley. Truman Bradley played Capt. Kane Dead Men Tell (1941).

The cast of characters repeats to the point that I think Science Fiction Theater has a standard Reparatory and peppers the cast with some known actors from the time.

The spooky thing is all of the technical (not the psychic) presentations have mostly come true. So, we are looking at speculation that has come and gone or been revised today. Such things as self-driving cars, IBM's Watson, etc.

I had a previous set of this collection; I just wanted to replace mu existing collection with the highest quality from the original archival elements.

I also purchased the book as a supplement that tells much more than you read in this review.

"Science Fiction Theatre a History of the Television Program, 1955-57" by Martin Grams Jr ISBN-10 - 1593936575 ISBN-13 - 978-1593936570.

I was just thinking about this old show this evening so I decided to see if anyone else remembered it.

[probinson4150 · 8 February 2005]

I think I first saw "Science Fiction Theater" in about 1961 or 1962 (so I was 11 or 12)sitting around my family's den on an early Saturday morning or perhaps Saturday afternoon. I think the show was already considered "re-run filler" at that point and only on local stations, but I really enjoyed the stories...they were as good as anything else being shown at the time...the acting was pretty good and the stories interesting and thought-provoking...I recall the Space colonists test episode a little and bits and pieces of others...there was one where a scientist was trying to enhance human physical strength and endurance by using animal hormones...I specifically recall the main character in it was trying (and succeeding) in running a mile in under 3-minutes. But the hormones did a number on him in other ways and he died as a result. Anyway, I'm glad it's around on DVD, the other thing I recall about the show was that the music to the opening sound-track was ALWAYS warped and distorted when I saw the show...I even remember the first few distorted notes and how they sounded...I wonder if the DVD versions have cleaned that up...I might not recognize them if they did...

Terrific Sci-Fi Anthology Series!

[bjhsurfers · 6 August 2001]

This terrific, imaginative sci-fi anthology TV series was the first intelligent, dramatic sci-fi anthology series made for television, and lasted two seasons, 1955-1957. It was produced by legendary sci-fi and nature film producer Ivan Tors, for Bernard Ziv, of ZIV-TV Productions, and featured well-written half-hour episodes, many based on sci-fi short stories from sci-fi pulp magazines of the 1940s and 1950s; what it lacked in visual effects was often made up for by fine writing, acting, production values and direction. Host Truman Bradley was perfect to announce each eerie story of the week, as well as add a few words at the end of each program on how science could solve a mystery. Underrated by today's standards, this was one of TV's finest dramatic series of the 1950s, featuring many famous B-movie stars in fascinating roles. Highly recommended!

Excellent series of the 1950's!

[scavenger13 · 9 April 2006]

I was only about 6 or 7 years old when I first watched Science Fiction Theater. Even my folks watched it. It is a fantastic series, and found where I might purchase it, but I don't know if I want to put out $80.00 or not for the two seasons! I sat on the edge of my seat every time it showed, totally enthralled with every episode. True, it wasn't always fiction, but even when the episodes didn't exactly fit with the Science Fiction Theater genre, it still provided an engaging show. For even then, much of the science fiction was still based on some simple fact. I would recommend anyone interested in the old SF series programs, Science Fiction Theater is one. Don't forget Commando Cody.

I loved the intros as much as the shows themselves

[camackenzie · 28 August 2005]

Science Fiction Theater was one of my favorites when I was a kid. (Sea Hunt, also from Ivan Tors and Ziv, with Lloyd Bridges, was another) I, born in 1950, remember hurrying home from school to see the show. I'm not sure what year this was--late '50s probably--it must already have been in reruns, being on in the afternoon. My mom wasn't thrilled that my brother and I watched it--science fiction was inherently not to be trusted--but it was good enough that she tolerated it in preference to things like the forbidden "Wednesdayville"--on, not surprisingly, only on Wednesday afternoon, showing Three Stooges shorts--and frankly, I preferred it myself. Much more better to a kid interested in sciences. I remember the intros with Truman Bradley--I can almost conjure up his face, but not quite--and, though I remember most of the shows mentioned by other writers, the one I remember especially was about a young mammoth found in the permafrost, thawed and revived, and what this led to for the animal and the people involved with it. I remember Truman Bradley's intro to that show, taking a fish frozen in ice, dropping it in water, and, when the ice melted--just a few seconds--the fish swimming away. That was the sort of thing that fascinated me.

Wishing they bring this show back

[Coffymix · 4 February 2003]

When this show came out I was in the 3rd grade and we would make sure to watch it.The reason being is that our teacher would ask us questions about it the following day.This show was so ahead of it's time that everybody in our school room wanted to be a scientist.the show itself did not last long,but it left a big impression on all of us.Even the theme song was nice to listen to,it made you feel that it was written especially for it.I wish they'll bring back that show like they,ve done with so many other shows as reruns.I miss those shows very much.

A prompt to think....

[Eyeandear · 2 June 2003]

Saturday night were not the same unless I and my friends watched Truman Bradley with his sonorous introdyctions to thoughtful, CLEAN, decent, law-abiding stories. On Mondays in school we would all buzz likes busy bees telling each other how we would change the story...and well as look up in some ponderous encyclopedia the information we gleaned from the program; was there really a star called Alpha-Centauri A? To mimic the laboratry scenic design, I stuck an icepick into the center of a Lloyd Harris pie pan and created my own "radar" antenna- Wow!!! It looked JUST LIKE MR. BRADLEY'S! The program inspired my curiosity about things scientific and I also began to memorize the names and faces of the character actors. I finally found some of the programs on CDs and ordered them immediately. How my brain was re-stimulated and pleasurized by those episodes. Thank science that we denizens of the Theatre's fantasy-land can now enjoy Mr. Bradley and those wonderful stories.

Personal connection to series

[grmells · 25 December 2008]

I was an avid viewer of the series in the late fifties and sixties when it was being syndicated. While I was born in 1949 I was still a little young to see it during its original run though I may have seen a few episodes with my grandfather who called this type of show "educational". Anyway, the title of this post refers to the fact that during the opening of the later episodes a computer was shown. That computer was a Bendix G15 and I know this because I got to work on one when I started college in 1967. The school I attended, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, had such a machine in one of the basement labs that could be operated by students. It was vacuum tube based (of course), booted up with paper tape and programmed via an old electric typewriter. The programming was basically a machine code system with the entry of a numerical instruction code and memory location. While I never really did anything constructive with it just the novelty of being "hands on" with a computer was enough, not to mention the connection to the show.

An eyeopener for a 19-year-old

[bcolquho · 25 July 2004]

This series was an eyeopener for a 19-year-old in 1978. That's

when I first saw it. I was living in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, at

the time and I was in high school. Channel 6, the local NBC

affiliate in Portland, Maine, used to air old science fiction movies

from the '50s and '60s. Back during the dark days of the Cold War. It started running them back in 1975, when I was in the eighth

grade. Back then, there weren't any cable or sattelite companies screaming for your attentiion. The Sci-Fi Channel? It wasn't even thought of. The stories were based on the latest, (meaning '50s), scientific data. Since this was before the space race, the majority of stories were on the exploration space. There was one episode in which an Air Force test pilot was in a Bell X-2, I think it was, I

don't know. Anyway, he reported another aircraft alongside him

and it was keeping up with him. He's reporting all this to the

ground controllers at Vandenberg Air Force Base, and they're

telling him they don't see a thing. It's not on their radar. Then at the end, as he slows down and prepares to land, the other aircraft disappears. It then dawns on both him and the controllers, that

must have been a UFO. In another episode, Mars colonists are put

in isolation to see which one of them will crack first. The catch was that since they'd be away from Earth for what would be the better

part of a year, they all had to be unmarried and not have families. They also had to be all-male because in the '50s, they didn't have women on space colonies. So what happened? One of the would-be colonists freaked out. Demanding his electric razor. That would be me. I'd probably do the same. Then one of the other would-be colonists turns up dead. It appears to the audience it

was the guy who freaked out and demanded his electric razor is the killer. But is he? I don't know. It's been 26 years since I've seen

it. But anyway, it was a good show and aired right after the old

black-and-white science fiction movies.

Searching for theme from Science Fiction Theater.

[freki-2 · 22 April 2005]

I have lived in a science fiction universe (I should say multi-verse) all my life. I have very fond memories of this series which I found to be, for the most part based on real science, or at least that's how I remember it. Recently I began trying to find a down-loadable copy of the theme. The format doesn't really matter. I think my computer can handle most formats. In my searches, I have been able to find numerous other themes that I remember with great nostalgia, but not the main subject of my search. I did find it on another occasion, but didn't download it at the time. And naturally, I neglected to bookmark the site. If anyone can help I would be very appreciative. Thanks in advance.