X Minus One

Marionettes, Inc. (Dramatized)

By: Ray Bradbury

How can you escape your wife? Just buy a robot duplicate of yourself. Great idea? Maybe not. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury, this episode of X Minus One originally aired on December 21, 1955.

X Minus One premiered in April 1955 on NBC and ran until January 1958. Like its predecessor series, Dimension X, X Minus One featured stories by the greatest names in modern science fiction: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Clifford Simak, Robert Bloch, and many more.

Hear more science fiction dramatizations.©2006 Radio Spirits Inc. (P)2006 Radio Spirits Inc.

Critic reviews

"[X Minus One] brought current SF to radio, providing adaptations of many excellent new stories and thus allowing the public to appreciate the best science fiction available at the time." (Michael Ashley, The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines)

Great story about robots taking over!

What made the experience of listening to X Minus One the most enjoyable?

This short radio play was fun and fast paced. A man wants some away time from his wife so gets a robot that looks just like him to fill in while he is gone. Trouble is the robot doesn't want to be turned off and the trouble begins.

What was one of the most memorable moments of X Minus One?

When the star finds out what happened to the $10 thousand dollars they were saving for a vacation house. Great twist!

Have you listened to any of the narrator’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love these old science fiction shows. Some of the best writers had their stories done on these formats and it's great fun to rediscover them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely! Quick short listen.

When stories awaked the imagnaion within us.

This is one of Bradburys stories that wake us smile, cringe and feel wistful. Thoughts we played wth as very young teens. those of us who THOUGHT and were dreamers. Dream along with this story. :)