Another Year under our belt! Time flies when you’re writing-recording-producing-editing-marketing an audio drama. But this is my favorite part. To share what went into Year Three and link you to the original episodes so you can get a glimpse into the before and after of adapting a show for Madison.
EPISODE 28 “The Wizard of Oz” – The Lux Radio Theatre (original script HERE) In looking for a fun show to do for our anniversary, when I saw the script for “The Wizard of Oz” there was no hesitation. Of course I’d grown up watching it, holding great anticipation for the one day a year it would be played on Network TV (what is a VCR??) It often fell on or around my birthday in March, so a major event at my birthday slumber parties. The script for the Lux Radio Theatre had cut down the film to fit their one hour format. But as it were, I already owned a copy of the film, so I smoothed over some of the Lux script to more closely resemble the film. Naturally we couldn’t do the music. You can play with parody and satire all you like, but don’t you dare step on music copyright! I had a blast working in different ways to get around the songs and what little girl doesn’t dream of being Dorothy?
EPISODE 29 “X Minus One” – The Embassy (original episode HERE) This episode was specifically recommended by Brian of “Irish Science Fiction.” I listen extensively to various anthology series for an episode to use for Madison, but they’re hard to find an “in.” Since these are all short stories, often the main characters are murdered or are the murderers! But Brian picked a great one with Madison getting her first shot at being a detective. And Martians? Again?? I loved playing her getting drugged and going insane. My favorite part? Making the beatnik/hipster jokes. Not part of the original, but boy did I go down some rabbit holes studying about beatniks. I truly do get a kick out of how everything new is old.
EPISODE 30 “Dangerous Assignment” – Madison’s Birthday or Operation Fishhook (original series HERE) What drew me to this show was all of the exotic locations. Let’s mix it up and send Madison somewhere new! And the vodou was an amazing undercurrent running through the episode. I decided to make it Madison’s birthday after reading a social media post lamenting “how come no shows ever take place on someone’s birthday?” That gave a great extra layer to the adventure. When I first listened to the original episode, they did surprised me with the twist at the act break. So I knew I had to do it.
EPISODE 31 “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” – Double Zero (original series HERE) Our third installment of the great detective. With such wonderful response for our Sherlock episodes, they are definitely now a yearly feature. We do them in May in honor of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday month. Another exotic location, the French Riviera. I had to hunt down an actual French speaker for the Coupier in the casino! And what fun to continue the torture of the sponsor by having him lose at strip poker. I also put out a compilation of our 3 Sherlock episodes together. To date, our YT numbers on it are 4 times that of a normal episode! We may have to give this all up and do nothing but Sherlock from now on!
EPISODE 32 “The Lone Ranger” – Help Wanted (original series HERE) I’d been wanting to do “The Lone Ranger” since the beginning. How do I address the trope of Tonto in a unique way? First thing that struck me was there is very little Lone Ranger in “The Lone Ranger.” I’d listened to so many episodes where the masked man didn’t show up till the second act! I already knew I didn’t want to have Madison replace Tonto anyway, and when I heard this episode, I got the idea to have her trying to rescue Tonto out of his stereotype while being dragged into a plot to where she was actually an outlaw. And I think I hit on a message that gives the Tonto portrayal some real depth. Was it the best way to portray a Native American? No. And we definitely have learned from that and should avoid that in the future. But then how can fans of the series justify listening today knowing that? Because the show was about friendship. And that’s why the series and the two characters endure.
EPISODE 33 “Boston Blackie” – Madison’s First Murder or Cover Up for Mary (original series HERE) Well, we hadn’t had a good ol’ noir for a while, and I’d always enjoyed “Boston Blackie.” Again, though, how do we do it differently? Blackie has the Girl Friday, Mary, but she is really a liability/hanger-on in most episodes. Then I found the episode where Mary is suspected of murdering a former suitor who won’t leave her alone. A great time having Madison as the potential murderer. And bonus the dentist in the episode had the last name of Madison!
EPISODE 34 “Chandu, the Magician” – The Dressmaker (original series HERE) You may be surprised at just how popular magicians solving crimes were in these old time shows. Another sort of “The Shadow” rip off, this series was more aimed at young boys. Chandu was joined by his sister (to avoid romance because, yuck!) and in many episodes he worked with her teenage children in a Scooby Doo sort of capacity. I picked this episode specifically because of just how misogynistic the entire thing is. A bit of a window into those old men who hated the Barbie movie because it goes against all of the entertainment they were raised on (and the world they were promised)
EPISODE 35 “Jeff Regan, Investigator” – The Lady with the Golden Hair (original series HERE) Crossover with “Sinclair Wants to Help!” Sean, Sinclair’s creator, had reached out to me months before about finding a way to crossover into a Madison episode. His strange Demi-God character was a fun challenge that landed me on “Jeff Regan.” I’d always remembered how Jeff did all the work while The Lion stayed back at the office reaping the rewards. And when I found the episode featuring a Hollywood makeup artist, well, it was too perfect for Madison!
EPISODE 36 “Frankenstein” My Favorite Story (original script HERE) I had stumbled across this script in Year One when I also found our “Dracula” script. I had intended to do it for our Halloween episode in Year Two, but I’d had so many requests for “War of the Worlds” that it got bumped. But I was very happy to bring it to life in Year Three. Naturally the original series had condensed the story for the half an hour show, and it was fun calling them out for turning a story of the human condition into a simple monster movie, as the Universal films certainly had done just prior to this (and presumably what most audiences would’ve expected). I really loved playing with Madison moving in and out of the story as Elizabeth under Victor’s confused psychotic mind and poor Clerval being dragged along with her.
EPISODE 37 “The Damon Runyon Theatre” Madame La Gimp (original episode HERE) Our Madame La Gimp, herself, Julie Hoverson, recommended this episode to me. I’d never heard the series. It wasn’t fully a comedy, but it was a more whimsical series with definite heart. I delved into the original episodes. It really is a charming show that I’d highly recommend. I was especially tickled to have “Madison” taking over for “Broadway” as they both are named after the New York City streets!
EPISODE 38 “Miracle on 34th Street” – Lux Radio Theatre (original script HERE) Just like Halloween, I think to have a fun seasonal story and found another Lux Radio Theatre adapted film. But how to fit Madison in? Well, she’s talked about being a babysitter in the past, so in she stepped for Susan’s mother. And what fun making Susan the “adult” in the room. Ah… but the ending! How to make the payoff with the house? I’m pretty darn proud of my excuse as to why Doris was gone. That she was dealing with her mother’s illness and death and prepping the house for sale. And having Fred being her love interest before the story began, kept him in the picture to help with Susan and make the ending work. Boom! Sometimes the stories work out like a miracle.
EPISODE 39 “Rogue’s Gallery” – Little Drops of Rain (original series HERE) Another fan recommendation, I started re-listening to the series and WHOA was Rogue sexist. That’s when I thought it would be fun to do the gender swap but Madison couldn’t quite break free of Rogue’s dialogue. Which then got her to have an internal battle with herself over not being PC! And whether he was hitting on nurses, manipulating the piece of a** he was trying to get with, or coming on to his married client, let’s face it, the dude is a douche. And how great is it to have the blubbering husband, a tough female cop, and a petty and jealous boyfriend?
Thank you all so much for listening to Year Three. There are already some fun ideas lining up for Year Four. So strap in for more Madison!
