Hour 25

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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.

1 History
- 1.1 Harlan Ellison
2 Trivia
3 External links

[edit] History

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Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (March 2007)

Hour 25 was one of the longest running science fiction radio programs that was not any sort of "continuing story", beaten out only by Hour of the Wolf and Shockwave Radio Theater. It was also one of the earliest to be held seriously by both the authors and the publishers although at points some authors wanted "... Science Fiction to get out of the classroom and back into the gutter where it belonged..". Mike Hodel and Mitchell Harding were the original main interviewers (presenters) for many years. One of the things that helped the program was that both Hodel and Harding were also fans of the genre and had different tastes and so hearing a verse & obverse view was novel.

The show was on Friday nights and was originally three hours long beginning at 1AM (or the 25th hour if you had a scifi effect on your clock). When offered the chance to get on an hour earlier, that was taken at the cost of the third hour. This hour was when scifi programs from the "Golden Age" of radio were broadcast, so was not usually "live". The program was engineered by Burt Handelsman for most of the time that it was on the air. He is also a character in the story "The Hour That Stretches" by Harlan Ellison.

Hour 25 also managed a coup that has never otherwise been acknowledged: it was the first US radio program to introduce the audience to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". This was before NPR gained rights and aired it. It was broadcast as two series of six shows with a "bridge" episode and was replayed until the US rights existed. This made it even sweeter when Douglas Adams was the in-studio guest.

After Harding left, Hodel co-hosted with science fiction and television writer Mel Gilden, who was at the time just beginning his career.

One concept that came in to the show was the "Group Mind" made up of all the members of the audience, somewhat in "Wikipedia" fashion. Hodel often said that he thought that there wasn't a question or topic that you could wonder about that some "cell" of the Group Mind wouldn't call in with information about.

There is even a "lost tape" incident that is part of the history of Hour 25. It involved an interview with author Philip K. Dick that was taped when he was living in Orange County, California. Mike Hodel went to see Dick who was recovering from a heart attack, but still wanting to talk about his passions. Dick had a new book out "A Scanner Darkly" and during the interview he read some passages of this book. Overall a terrific interview. As occurs, there was more original material (over three hours) than would end up being broadcast. Hodel edited the tape and a broadcast version created. This was aired. Some time after that, it became apparent that the edited tape was no longer in the radio station archives. If the tape was "recycled" (reused, without regard as to content, which was something that regularly happened due to budgets and the high cost of decent tape at the time) or not was a mystery. It may also have gone into someone's "private" collection. Mike didn't know, just that it was gone. There are references to this interview on some Dick sites.

Hour 25 also took on a life of its own in Southern California as well. There was a period when some fans volunteered to come in and bring refreshments the way that "mainstream" media did at the time. Others came by with the hope of meeting that evening's guest(s).

[edit] Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison was a frequent and favorite guest on the program. One night, circa 1977, he came in with the idea of writing a story "live" on the air, and Hodel agreed. Ellison brought in his manual typewriter, which was set up in a corner of the studio with a microphone suitably placed so that the keystrokes could be heard. Hodel and Harding interviewed Ellison for a while and then began interviewing another author that Ellison had brought in with him. As Ellison proceeded with his writing, the radio audience was called upon to contribute suggestions for the story, in the way that standup comedians will improvise and ask for nouns, verbs, etc. Proving that writing is not like making sausages, Ellison had not finished the story, now titled "Hitler Painted Roses", in two hours... or even three. By that time, the host of the next show had arrived — but he had also been listening, and decided to give up some air-time to allow the "event" to continue. Ellison did finally complete the story, but had to return the following week to read it to the audience.

Ellison later "immortalized" Hour 25 by writing the story, "The Hour That Stretches", which features the radio show as a central element. The story even drew on that prior show when Ellison actually did write the story "live on radio".

When Mike Hodel became gravely ill, Ellison agreed to take over hosting Hour 25. He opened each program by reading vignettes of his own composition while eerie music from the opening credits to the 1968 Rod Taylor film, Dark of the Sun, played in the background. Ellison modified the name of the program to "Mike Hodel's Hour 25"; he also began the tradition of closing each show saying, "Goodnight, Mike". Unfortunately, it was a drain on his limited energy, as well as a daunting task, to have to create almost two hours of original material each week which would have his name attached to it. After serving as host for two years, Ellison bade farewell to Hour 25.

[edit] Trivia

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The show's opening theme was, for much of its run, "Needles and Bones" from Vangelis'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).