The War of the Worlds (radio 1968)
| Genre | Radio drama, Horror |
|---|---|
| Running time | 78 minutes (1968) (11:00 pm–12:18 am) |
| Country | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | WKBW 1520 AM |
| Hosted by |
Danny Neaverth (1968) Jefferson Kaye (1971 and 1973) |
| Starring |
Jefferson Kaye Irv Weinstein Joe Downey Henry Brock John Irving Jim Faigan Don Lancer Sandy Beach (1968) Jackson Armstrong (1971) Ron Baskin (1973 and 1975) Shane Brother Shane (1973) Jim Quinn (1975) |
| Announcer |
Danny Neaverth (1968) Jefferson Kaye (subsequent versions) |
| Created by |
Orson Welles (original radio drama) Jefferson Kaye (1968) |
| Directed by | Danny Kriegler |
| Air dates | since October 31, 1968 (original and subsequent versions rebroadcast every Halloween) |
| No. of series | 4 renditions (1968, 1971, 1973, 1975) |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Opening theme | None (voiced over by Neaverth in 1968, Kaye in later versions) |
| Ending theme | None |
| Sponsored by | AM&A's (1968) |
| Website | http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_wkbw_buffalo.htm |
The War of the Worlds was a radio drama, originally aired by Buffalo, New York radio station WKBW 1520 on October 31, 1968. It was a modernized version of the original radio drama aired by CBS in 1938.
Danny Kriegler served as the director of the radio drama while Jefferson Kaye served as its producer.
WKBW program director Jefferson Kaye, a big fan of the original Orson Welles version from three decades earlier, wondered what The War of the Worlds would sound like if it was made using up-to-date (for 1968) radio news equipment, covering the "story" of a Martian invasion. Until this point, most radio renditions of the 1938 broadcast were simply script re-readings with different actors or had minor variations to account for significantly different geographical locations. Kaye decided to disregard the original script entirely, move the action to Grand Island, New York, and use actual WKBW disc jockeys and news reporters as actors. Other changes reflected the changing state of the industry: instead of the old-time radio programming fare of the 1930s, WKBW's War of the Worlds broadcast was interwoven into the station's top 40 programming.
Initially, a script was written for the news reporters to act out; however, upon hearing the rehearsals, it was evident that the news reporters were not adept at scripted radio acting. So instead, Kaye wrote an outline based on the events that were to occur, and the news reporters were then asked to describe the events as they would covering an actual news story. The results were much more realistic for its time, and this was the process used for the actual broadcast.
The play began a few minutes before 11:00 pm ET with a somber introduction by Danny Neaverth tackling the comparison of radio broadcast technology during the original broadcast and the upcoming production. Neaverth later restated the forewarning of the broadcast's fictitious nature.
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Wikipedia