Classic Horrors Club

Two and a half years before the peak of the television sci-fi space operas we’ve been discussing the last couple of months, writer Theodore Sturgeon and film and television producer Mort Abrahams contacted Robert Heinlein about a plan to…

…put together a league of sci-fi authors to write television screenplays for a new proposed TV series, Tomorrow is Yours.

The Heinlein Archives

This organization would be known as the Science Fiction League of America, and made a deal with producers Richard Gordon and George Foley allowing them first choice of any of the short stories and novels written by members of the League. 

With a new name, Tales of Tomorrow went into production, performed and broadcast live on ABC, beginning on August 3, 1951. It ultimately ran for two seasons, with 85 30-minute episodes through June 12, 1953. Perhaps desiring to offer an alternative to the more juvenile sci-fi series of the time (Captain Video, Space Patrol, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet), Tales of Tomorrow was aimed at adults. The producers wanted an anthology that would…

…blend mystery and science fiction, and to emphasize fast pacing and suspense.

Billboard, May, 19, 1951

Not only were stories produced by authors like Theodore Sturgeon, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Arthur C. Clarke, and Frank De Felitta, but they also featured many great actors, including Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, James Dean, Brian Keith,Lee J. Cobb, Eva Gabor, Veronica Lake, Rod Steiger, Bruce Cabot, Cloris Leachman, Leslie Nielsen, Joanne Woodward, and Paul Newman.

For most of 2025, on Fridays, we’ll have short discussions about each episode, two most weeks. Please join us as we tell tales of tomorrow… today.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and watch the opening…