04-16-2013, 03:02 AM | #1 |
Hungry Polar Bear
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The Drama of Radio Dramas
I love radio dramas. I think it's a curse. Like, in a previous life I was a silent film producer who wouldn't make the transition to talkies and now I enjoy an art form that's difficult to find and poorly classified as punishment for my unwillingness to change with the times.
Anyways. So once upon a time there as a company called Mind's Eye that made a radio dramatizations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings. They aired on NPR and, at the time, people liked them. You may have seen the LOTR version for sale at a bookstore. It came in a big wooden box filled with cassette tapes. Later, it came in a slightly less big box filled with CDs. The Hobbit box was also big and made from dead trees. Treebeard would not be happy. Sorry. Anyways, I'm looking for the these on Amazon and I get to the LOTR version. And, on a lark, I look at the reviews. The most helpful reviews are both for an expensive print version. One review dispensed with a review of the book itself and launched into a discussion of the merits of the various print editions you may come across. Most of the reviews I read seemed to reviews of the book and not this specific adaptation. 'Cause that's exactly what this is, an adaptation. No one's reading the book. It's no more Tolkien's work than the movies. Yet radio dramas are continuously labeled audiobooks and categorized with them. I don't know why. It's not like someone wishing to listen to book would be happy to buy and adaptation instead. And if someone was looking for an adaptation, and got a single person reading, they'd be disappointed to. The BBC adapted the entire Sherlock Holmes cannon for radio, and it can be difficult to find them at libraries because don't always differentiate between an audiobook and a radio drama. And don't get me started about trying to find Dirk Maggs radio drama about Spider-Man. Spidey's MIA with regards to that. |
04-16-2013, 03:41 AM | #2 |
eBook Enthusiast
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Yes, it is annoying that Amazon lump reviews of all the different versions of a product together.
I'm sure you're aware of this, but if you're a lover of radio drama, the BBC have a dedicated radio station: BBC Radio 4 Extra, which plays nothing but drama (and comedy) 24h a day, and it's all available world-wide via the BBC iPlayer web site, http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer |
04-16-2013, 04:52 AM | #3 |
Witcher
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Isn't there a link on amazon where you can click and choose to show only the reviews for that particular edition?
I was sure I saw a link like that. |
04-16-2013, 07:32 AM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
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If you're also looking for older radio dramas you might try at:MysteryShows
They have over 45,000 of the real thing for listening. Most are in a members area, but they only ask for a small, one time donation (to help defray costs) in order to get access. I helped update their catalog listings a few yrs back. The List And no I don't get anything for referring someone to the site. |
04-16-2013, 07:41 AM | #5 |
Literacy = Understanding
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If you like "old-time" radio, here is a link that will take you to the Internet Archive Audio Archive. I remember listening to radio shows, including such shows as The Lone Ranger, The Jack Benny Hour, Amos 'n Andy, rather than watching TV, which was in its infancy as a widely distributed commercial tool. I still prefer to listen to the radio shows than to watch TV.
Audio books are also available through the Archive. Best of all -- everything is FREE!!!!!!! (and also legitimate/legal). |
04-16-2013, 07:50 AM | #6 | |
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04-16-2013, 08:09 AM | #7 |
A garbling groftpot
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Harry, I think you will find that to get the BBC iplayer outside UK you need a VPN. I live in France, and all I can get without the VPN is World Service.
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04-16-2013, 08:11 AM | #8 |
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Interesting. From what I've heard from other people here at MR, TV is geographically-restricted, but the vast majority of radio isn't. Many of our American friends have had no problem downloading radio programmes.
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04-16-2013, 08:34 AM | #9 | |||
monkey on the fringe
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04-16-2013, 09:03 AM | #10 |
Grand Sorcerer
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One thing I've noticed about OTR, the shows back then are far superior (IMO) to what is often on TV today. Of course OTR programs do have kinship with the old village storyteller I think.
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04-16-2013, 09:46 AM | #11 | |
Philosopher
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I think the characters on older programming are often more human than in a lot of modern programming; they seem more like people you might actually meet. It's part of what makes The Twilight Zone so good. |
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04-16-2013, 10:08 AM | #12 |
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I'm happy that the BBC is still so good when it comes to radio drama. I probably listen to more of it than I watch drama on TV.
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04-16-2013, 10:33 AM | #13 |
monkey on the fringe
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04-16-2013, 11:51 AM | #14 | |
Hungry Polar Bear
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I knew posting here was a good idea.
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Thanks for the tips about iplayer and old-time dramas. I'll definitely check them out. |
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04-16-2013, 12:30 PM | #15 | ||
monkey on the fringe
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audiobook, hobbit, lotr, radio dramas, tolkien |
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