History Hour 25

1 history

1.1 mike hodel era (1972-1986)
1.2 harlan ellison era (1986-1987)
1.3 j. michael straczynski/larry ditillio era (1987-1989)
1.4 rotating hosts era (1989-1992)
1.5 warren james era (1992-present)

history

hour 25 1 of longest-running science fiction radio programs, surpassed hour of wolf, , surpassing shockwave radio theater s 28 year run. in first years, hour 25 functioned science fiction web page los angeles area fan base, before computer technology made simpler keep up-to-date on news , events in relatively small world of science-fiction fandom. 1 of earliest programs taken both authors , publishers.

hour 25 hosted katherine calkin , mitchell harding, joined mike hodel after first few months. trio s appreciation genre , differing tastes brought unique quality program, eclectic mixture of science fiction news, reviews, readings, filk music, occasional on-air listener phone calls, interviews, , playing of science fiction radio shows such x minus 1 , hitchhiker s guide galaxy .

the show has gone through number of hosts, , can usefully subdivided different eras host tenure:

mike hodel era (1972-1986)

co-hosts
katherine calkin (1972-1976)
mitchell harding (1972-1981)
mel gilden (1981-1986)

hour 25 first took air in january 1972, , created mitchell harding, katherine calkin, mike hodel , terry hodel. though mike hodel involved in show s creation beginning, unable host due other commitments, , hour 25 hosted katherine calkin, engineer mitchell harding serving de facto co-host, identifying himself on-air john henry thong . ( mitchell harding pseudonym—his real name eugene loring ware.) mike hodel join on-air cast within first few months, , permanent trio of co-hosts in place, hour 25 began take on well-remembered form.

the show took amount of pride in fostering la science fiction community. terry hodel, mike hodel s wife, maintained , read on air each week calendar of science fiction related events in los angeles area, before electronic media , internet way many science fiction fans learned of conventions , book signings. hour 25 adopted fan-friendly method of operation in southern california; outer door of station deliberately propped open during program, allowing fans come , go pleased. fans drop station meet evening s guests, or deliver refreshments.

originally, three-hour show aired friday nights 10:00 pm 1:00 am, when management @ kpfk threatened cancel show, producers able negotiate schedule change. last hour of program, largely devoted playing old-time radio shows, eliminated, , beginning in may 1975, hour 25 aired on saturday morning midnight 2:00 am. in october, 1976, show moved original starting time, fridays @ 10:00 pm, , ended @ midnight. continue airing in timeslot next 2 decades.

as show became more of fixture in la science-fiction community, noted authors began make appearances on show. theodore sturgeon first author interviewed show, in 1973; in years following, hour 25 interviewed virtually every major writer in field. 1 well-known recorded interview author philip k. dick in 1976, in mike hodel talked dick new book, scanner darkly , , dick read passages said inspired own use of drugs. original recording on 3 hours long, broadcast version edited shorter. time after being aired, hodel realized neither version of interview found in station archives, 75-minute version of dick interview available , transcript held on internet archive.

hour 25 1 of first radio programs introduce american audience hitchhiker s guide galaxy before npr gained rights , aired it. broadcast 2 series of 6 shows bridge episode, , replayed until npr gained rights. hour 25 later featured douglas adams in-studio guest.

calkin, 1 of show s original creators , co-hosts, departed in 1976 position @ kusc, , not replaced. after co-host/engineer mitchell harding departed hour 25 in 1981 take position @ kcrw-fm, hodel co-hosted show science fiction , television writer mel gilden, beginning career. @ same time, harding s engineering duties taken on joe adams, co-host shows featured discussions of various comics. later, burt handlesman, affectionately identified on-air burt handlesman, crack engineer , become program s engineer , announcer. well, several years in 1980s, bill warren once-a-month media co-host.

one discussed concept in show group mind , consisted of listeners. hodel said there no topic cell of group mind wouldn t have information about. many times members of group mind call in answers show aired, presaging live shows today have chat rooms same function.

harlan ellison frequent , favorite guest on program. on august 14, 1976, guest , after explaining happen night started work on story. began audience suggesting words , phrases use. picked 3 , began typing, describing doing , asking hosts , audience help. continued long host of following show gave him more air time. show lasted on 3 , 1/2 hours, unable finish story night. ellison came on august 28 , continued writing. returned once more on september 4, 1976 , read completed story, hitler painted roses.

ellison later immortalized hour 25 (and of staff) in story, hour stretches , featured radio show central element.

harlan ellison era (1986-1987)

when mike hodel became gravely ill in 1986, ellison took on co-hosting show mel gilden. after mike hodel died on may 6, 1986, ellison became official new co-host on may 9, memorial program mike hodel. gilden left show month later, leaving ellison sole host. terry hodel continued show executive producer, , continued maintain , read calendar listings.

ellison opened each program reading vignettes of own composition while music opening credits of dark of sun played in background. ellison renamed program mike hodel s hour 25 , , began closing each show saying goodnight, mike. sole host of hour 25, ellison began find challenging create 2 hours of original content every week; harlan ellison faq (which overseen ellison) mentions ellison felt people @ pacifica radio/kpfk being less civil , abusive him. ellison left show after broadcast of june 19, 1987.

j. michael straczynski/larry ditillio era (1987-1989)

frequent substitute host
david gerrold (1988-1989)

when harlan ellison decided leave hour 25, contacted writer j. michael straczynski , asked him take on show weekly host. straczynski brought larry ditillio on co-host; 2 hosted hour 25 little on 2 years, although david gerrold frequent substitute host during era. show continued interview such guests ray bradbury, norman corwin, john carpenter, dean koontz, walter koenig, neil gaiman , scores of other writers, directors , actors.

rotating hosts era (1989-1992)

beginning in 1989, show moved using series of rotating hosts. hosts worked solo, more in pairs or trios little week-to-week continuity. amongst regular pool of hosts , co-hosts during era straczynski, ditillio, arthur byron cover, steven barnes , warren w. james. author david gerrold hosted 1 show solo , co-hosted @ least 1 show ditillio during era, though not regular host.

in 1992, straczynski, ditillio , cover left hour 25 due creative differences kpfk station management—particularly regard language used on air, , management s request advance notice of program s content. left james , barnes hosts.

warren james era (1992-present)

regular substitute host
steven barnes (1992-1995)

as of 1992, show hosted warren james, steven barnes taking on host approximately once month. after few years, barnes left show move pacific northwest, leaving james show s sole host, although jeff laube, nick smith , sandy rymer (and individually) co-hosted show james on informal basis. special 25th anniversary show aired in january, 1997, , featured several co-hosts years past, including mitchell harding, katherine calkin, mel gilden , j. michael straczynski.

in 1998, show cut longstanding two-hour running time 1 hour. terry hodel continued executive producer of show (and presenter of calendar listings) until death in march 1999. @ time, suzanne gibson became producer, , took on compiler , presenter of calendar listings. gibson functioned unofficial co-host, participating in interview segments , story readings.

the show left kpfk in fall of 2000, , became internet-only radio show @ time. time restrictions of fitting specific radio station timeslot lifted, hour 25 episodes lasted anywhere 60 150 minutes, depending on subject matter , material available broadcast. after first few weeks internet-only show, calendar listings no longer read on air instead posted on show s website—although practice petered out in 2002.

the show kept weekly schedule through mid-2002, after frequency new episodes produced started decline. new episodes heard approximately twice month through 2004, once month in 2005. 2006-2011, hour 25 produced between 2 , 6 new episodes each year, centred around reports loscon, or readings of christmas and/or hallowe en-themed science fiction stories. after 2008, episode lengths consistently kept under hour.

the show seemed have wound down hallowe en episode broadcast in 2011, after one-year absence, hour 25 returned hallowe en episode on october 31, 2012. in show s opening segment, show host james explained hour 25 s dramatically reduced production schedule due number of factors, including medical , financial difficulties. however, stated reports hour 25 has ended in error. episode of christmas readings followed on december 25.

a 92-minute interview author david brin (following 20 minutes of hour-25-news) recorded in february 2013 , posted in march. first episode of hour 25 since 2010 not consist of hallowe en or christmas readings. 2014 had episodes non-holiday content, since 2015, hour 25 has reverted 2 episodes per year, consisting solely of hallowe en , christmas readings.