Bradbury Episodes

Bradbury wrote four scripts for the series, and a fifth script was based on one of his stories.

This episode was adapted by Bradbury from his June 1954 Maclean's magazine short story (collected as "Touched with Fire" in The October Country). The story concerns two old men who set out to prove their theory that murders and hot weather are correlated. Bradbury would dramatise the story again in The Ray Bradbury Theater.

This episode was scripted by Mel Dinelli, based on Bradbury's June 1952 The Saint magazine short story (collected in The Machineries of Joy). The story concerns a ventriloquist with an unusually close relationship with his dummy.

Mel Dinelli had previously adapted the story for the CBS radio series Suspense (13 November 1947).

This episode was scripted by Bradbury, based on his March 1949 Startling Stories tale "Marionettes, Inc." (collected in The Illustrated Man). The story concerns a man who buys a robot replica of himself to take care of his wife while he goes off on his own. Bradbury would dramatise the story again for The Ray Bradbury Theater.

This episode was scripted by Bradbury. It is notable for being the first appearance of what would later be published as "Come into my Cellar" (Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1962; collected in S is for Space), also known as "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!" (collected in The Machineries of Joy). The story concerns a boy ordering strange mushrooms, which turn out to be part of a devious alien plot to take over the earth.

Bradbury here uses a line from Shakespeare that would come back to haunt us a couple of years later: Roger recites "by the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes."