Hour 25
Encyclopedia
Hour 25 was a radio
program focusing on science fiction
, fantasy
, and science
. It was broadcast on Pacifica
radio station KPFK
in Southern California
from 1972 to 2000, and is now distributed over the Internet. It has featured numerous interviews with famous authors of science fiction and fantasy, in addition to luminaries of the scientific community. The program was originally hosted by Mike Hodel. Harlan Ellison
was a regular host for a time in the mid-1980s, as well as J. Michael Straczynski
. The show is now hosted by Warren James.
On the website, in addition to new programs, there is an extensive archive of older shows featuring interviews with popular authors, including Terry Pratchett
, Larry Niven
, Laurie R. King
, Frank Kelly Freas
, and Neil Gaiman
.
. It was also one of the earliest programs to be taken seriously by both the authors and the publishers. The show was originally hosted by Mike Hodel and Mitchell Harding, whose appreciation for the genre and differing tastes brought a unique quality to the program. The show was an eclectic mixture of science fiction news, reviews, readings, filk music
, occasional on-air listener phone calls, interviews, and playing of science fiction radio shows such as "X Minus One
" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
". In its first years, Hour 25 functioned almost as a science fiction "web page" for the Los Angeles area fan base, before computer technology made keeping up-to-date on news and events in the relatively small world of science-fiction fandom simple.
Originally, the three-hour show aired Friday nights from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM, but when the management at KPFK threatened to cancel the show, the producers were able to negotiate a schedule change, so that Hour 25 aired Fridays for two hours from 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM (the last hour, which was largely devoted to playing old-time radio shows, was eliminated). Most of the program was engineered by "crack engineer" Burt Handelsman, who was also a character in the story "The Hour That Stretches" by Harlan Ellison. Terry Hodel, Mike Hodel's wife, maintained and read on the air each week a calendar of science fiction related events in the Los Angeles area, which before electronic media and the internet was the only way many science fiction fans learned of conventions and book signings.
Hour 25 was also the first US radio program to introduce the audience to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
" before NPR gained rights and aired it. It was broadcast as two series of six shows with a "bridge" episode, and was replayed until NPR gained the rights. Hour 25 later featured Douglas Adams
as an in-studio guest.
After Harding's departure from Hour 25, Hodel co-hosted with science fiction and television writer Mel Gilden, who was just beginning his career. For several years, Bill Warren
was a once-a-month "media" host.
One frequently-discussed concept in the show was the "Group Mind", which consisted of all the listeners. Hodel often said there was no topic that some "cell" of the Group Mind wouldn't have information about. Many times members of the "Group Mind" would call in with answers as the show aired (presaging live shows today which have chat rooms for the same function).
Hour 25's "lost tape" incident involved a recorded interview with author Philip K. Dick
. In this interview, Hodel talked with Dick about his new book, "A Scanner Darkly
", and Dick read some passages which he said were inspired by his own use of drugs. The original recording was over three hours long, but the broadcast version was edited to be much shorter. Some time after being aired, Hodel realized that neither version of the interview could be found in the station archives.
A 75 minute version of the Dick interview is now available and a transcript is held on the Internet Archive.
Hour 25 adopted a fan-friendly method of operation in Southern California. The outer door of the station was deliberately propped open during the program, allowing fans to come and go as they pleased. Fans would often drop by the station to meet the evening's guests, or to deliver refreshments the way that "mainstream" media did at the time.
was a frequent and favorite guest on the program. On August 14, 1976, he was the guest and after explaining what would happen that night he started work on a story. He began with the audience suggesting words and phrases he could use. He picked three and began typing, describing what he was doing and occasionally asking the hosts and audience for help. This continued so long that the host of the following show gave him more air time. The show lasted over 3 and 1/2 hours, but he was unable to finish the story that night. Ellison came back on August 28th and continued writing. He returned once more on September 4, 1976 and read the completed story, "Hitler Painted Roses."
Ellison later "immortalized" Hour 25 in the story, "The Hour That Stretches", which featured the radio show as a central element.
When Mike Hodel became gravely ill, Ellison took over hosting the show. After Mike Hodel died on May 6, 1986, Harlan became the new host on May 9, the Memorial program for Mike Hodel. Ellison opened each program by reading vignettes of his own composition while music from the opening credits of Dark of the Sun
played in the background. Ellison renamed the program, "Mike Hodel's Hour 25", and began closing each show by saying "Goodnight, Mike". As the sole host of Hour 25, Ellison began to find it challenging to create two hours of original content every week, he left in June of 1987.
and asked him to take over the show as its weekly host. Since Mike had left custody of Hour 25 to Harlan, Harlan in turn felt it was his legacy to pass on, and wanted to ensure the quality of the program.
Straczynski hosted Hour 25 for five years, during which time he interviewed such guests as Ray Bradbury
, Norman Corwin
, John Carpenter
, Dean Koontz
, Walter Koenig
, Neil Gaiman
and scores of other writers, directors and actors. During his tenure, he was assisted by occasional co-hosts Larry DiTillio
and Arthur Byron Cover
. Straczynski and DiTillio finally left Hour 25 over creative difference with station personnel over the direction of the program. After their departure, the show struggled on for another few years before finally going off the air.
's 1975 album Heaven and Hell
. "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets
was also used, as well as "Tubular Bells" and other mixed material. The original opening was created by Joe Adams. Later versions (under Mike Hodel and then Warren James) were created by Burt Handelsman (BHCE).
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
program focusing on science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. It was broadcast on Pacifica
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
radio station KPFK
KPFK
KPFK is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves the Greater Los Angeles Area, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet...
in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
from 1972 to 2000, and is now distributed over the Internet. It has featured numerous interviews with famous authors of science fiction and fantasy, in addition to luminaries of the scientific community. The program was originally hosted by Mike Hodel. Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
was a regular host for a time in the mid-1980s, as well as J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
. The show is now hosted by Warren James.
On the website, in addition to new programs, there is an extensive archive of older shows featuring interviews with popular authors, including Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
, Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King is an American author best known for her detective fiction. Among her books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring Sherlock Holmes as her mentor and later partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a fictional lesbian San Francisco, California, police...
, Frank Kelly Freas
Frank Kelly Freas
Frank Kelly Freas , called the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists", was a science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years.-Early life, education, and personal life:...
, and Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
.
History
Hour 25 was one of the longest-running noncontinuous science fiction radio programs, surpassed by only Hour of the Wolf and Shockwave Radio TheaterShockwave Radio Theater
Shockwave Radio Theater was broadcast for 28 years on Fresh Air Radio, the community radio station KFAI-FM, 90.3FM Minneapolis, 106.7FM St. Paul. Much of Shockwave Radio is archived on archive.org or on the audio page of Dave Romm's portal. Podcasts of some shows are available as Baron Dave...
. It was also one of the earliest programs to be taken seriously by both the authors and the publishers. The show was originally hosted by Mike Hodel and Mitchell Harding, whose appreciation for the genre and differing tastes brought a unique quality to the program. The show was an eclectic mixture of science fiction news, reviews, readings, filk music
Filk music
Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has been active since the early 1950s, and played primarily since the mid-1970s. The term predates 1955.-Definitions:As the Interfilk What Is Filk page demonstrates, there is...
, occasional on-air listener phone calls, interviews, and playing of science fiction radio shows such as "X Minus One
X Minus One
X Minus One was a half-hour science fiction radio drama series broadcast from April 24, 1955 to January 9, 1958 in various timeslots on NBC.-Overview:...
" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
". In its first years, Hour 25 functioned almost as a science fiction "web page" for the Los Angeles area fan base, before computer technology made keeping up-to-date on news and events in the relatively small world of science-fiction fandom simple.
Originally, the three-hour show aired Friday nights from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM, but when the management at KPFK threatened to cancel the show, the producers were able to negotiate a schedule change, so that Hour 25 aired Fridays for two hours from 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM (the last hour, which was largely devoted to playing old-time radio shows, was eliminated). Most of the program was engineered by "crack engineer" Burt Handelsman, who was also a character in the story "The Hour That Stretches" by Harlan Ellison. Terry Hodel, Mike Hodel's wife, maintained and read on the air each week a calendar of science fiction related events in the Los Angeles area, which before electronic media and the internet was the only way many science fiction fans learned of conventions and book signings.
Hour 25 was also the first US radio program to introduce the audience to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
" before NPR gained rights and aired it. It was broadcast as two series of six shows with a "bridge" episode, and was replayed until NPR gained the rights. Hour 25 later featured Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
as an in-studio guest.
After Harding's departure from Hour 25, Hodel co-hosted with science fiction and television writer Mel Gilden, who was just beginning his career. For several years, Bill Warren
Bill Warren
William Bond Warren , better known as Bill Warren, is an American film historian and critic generally regarded as one of the leading authorities on science fiction, horror and fantasy films....
was a once-a-month "media" host.
One frequently-discussed concept in the show was the "Group Mind", which consisted of all the listeners. Hodel often said there was no topic that some "cell" of the Group Mind wouldn't have information about. Many times members of the "Group Mind" would call in with answers as the show aired (presaging live shows today which have chat rooms for the same function).
Hour 25's "lost tape" incident involved a recorded interview with author Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. In this interview, Hodel talked with Dick about his new book, "A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly is a BSFA Award winning 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994...
", and Dick read some passages which he said were inspired by his own use of drugs. The original recording was over three hours long, but the broadcast version was edited to be much shorter. Some time after being aired, Hodel realized that neither version of the interview could be found in the station archives.
A 75 minute version of the Dick interview is now available and a transcript is held on the Internet Archive.
Hour 25 adopted a fan-friendly method of operation in Southern California. The outer door of the station was deliberately propped open during the program, allowing fans to come and go as they pleased. Fans would often drop by the station to meet the evening's guests, or to deliver refreshments the way that "mainstream" media did at the time.
Harlan Ellison
Harlan EllisonHarlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
was a frequent and favorite guest on the program. On August 14, 1976, he was the guest and after explaining what would happen that night he started work on a story. He began with the audience suggesting words and phrases he could use. He picked three and began typing, describing what he was doing and occasionally asking the hosts and audience for help. This continued so long that the host of the following show gave him more air time. The show lasted over 3 and 1/2 hours, but he was unable to finish the story that night. Ellison came back on August 28th and continued writing. He returned once more on September 4, 1976 and read the completed story, "Hitler Painted Roses."
Ellison later "immortalized" Hour 25 in the story, "The Hour That Stretches", which featured the radio show as a central element.
When Mike Hodel became gravely ill, Ellison took over hosting the show. After Mike Hodel died on May 6, 1986, Harlan became the new host on May 9, the Memorial program for Mike Hodel. Ellison opened each program by reading vignettes of his own composition while music from the opening credits of Dark of the Sun
Dark of the Sun
Dark of the Sun is a 1968 adventure-war film starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Peter Carsten...
played in the background. Ellison renamed the program, "Mike Hodel's Hour 25", and began closing each show by saying "Goodnight, Mike". As the sole host of Hour 25, Ellison began to find it challenging to create two hours of original content every week, he left in June of 1987.
J. Michael Straczynski
When Harlan Ellison decided to leave Hour 25, he contacted writer J. Michael StraczynskiJ. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
and asked him to take over the show as its weekly host. Since Mike had left custody of Hour 25 to Harlan, Harlan in turn felt it was his legacy to pass on, and wanted to ensure the quality of the program.
Straczynski hosted Hour 25 for five years, during which time he interviewed such guests as Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, Norman Corwin
Norman Corwin
Norman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
, John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
, Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable.-Early life:...
, Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and scores of other writers, directors and actors. During his tenure, he was assisted by occasional co-hosts Larry DiTillio
Larry DiTillio
Lawrence G. "Larry" DiTillio is an American film and TV series writer. He is most famous for his role as executive story editor of the science-fiction series Babylon 5, and for writing or co-writing most of the episodes in the animated series Beast Wars...
and Arthur Byron Cover
Arthur Byron Cover
Arthur Byron Cover is a science fiction author.Cover attended the Clarion Writer's SF Workshop in New Orleans in 1971, and made his first professional short-story sale to Harlan Ellison's The Last Dangerous Visions...
. Straczynski and DiTillio finally left Hour 25 over creative difference with station personnel over the direction of the program. After their departure, the show struggled on for another few years before finally going off the air.
Theme song
The show's opening theme was, for much of its run, "Needles and Bones" from VangelisVangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
's 1975 album Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell (Vangelis album)
Heaven and Hell, released in 1975, is the fifth solo album by Greek electronic composer and artist Vangelis. It got worldwide recognition through the use of "Movement 3" as the theme for the television documentary series Cosmos....
. "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets
The Planets
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
was also used, as well as "Tubular Bells" and other mixed material. The original opening was created by Joe Adams. Later versions (under Mike Hodel and then Warren James) were created by Burt Handelsman (BHCE).