Vancouver Star Wars Radio Dramas Broadcast in Vancouver?

After a recent discussion with Alex regarding the Star Wars radio dramas, it occurred to me that there are probably many here who haven't heard them for a very long time, if at all. So, I thought, wouldn't it be great if they would be broadcast on the radio for everyone to hear. I know of a local radio station, Rock 101 CFMI, that does broadcast old radio dramas weekly on Sunday nights from 10 to midnight, and I sent them an email requesting that one or more of the original trilogy be broadcast over the coming weeks. I got a reply back from Owen Coppin stating that he may be able to get one of the three series broadcast if there was enough interest to justify scheduling them.

So, if you would like to have the radio dramas broadcast, send an email to Owen Coppin at ocoppin@rock101.com with the series that you would prefer to hear.

- Star Wars (A New Hope) runs for 13 episodes.
- The Empire Strikes Back runs for 10 episodes.
- Return of the Jedi runs for 6 episodes.

Each episode is a little under 30 minutes long, and were originally broadcast in the U.S. by National Public Radio (NPR). My opinion is that the first series is the best as it covers a good deal more of the story than the film does. You get a lot of the backstory of what happened before the first scene of the movie.

 

that's cool. i know owen. he is a really nice guy.

 

Hey that's cool. Maybe you can butter him up for us.

 

It would be nice to hear these on the radio for once...

 

I do remember hearing the first series on the radio not that long ago (ie. 4-5 years ago), and I believe it was on this same station. They've also played the original "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" BBC radio series as well. The ones on which the books were based.

 

that sounds so cool, i've heard it some of them, and if my email was working i'd email them and say "YAH DO IT!" but if it does happen, it'll be wicked.

 

These broadcasts are great. I have listened to the ANH and Empire episides but have never heard ROTJ.

 

how different are they? i have never even heard of them.

 

Well, there are a few extra things that didn't make it to the movies in the radio plays from what I heard...

 

There is quite a bit more material in the radio adaptations, especially for the first two series. ANH has 13 30 minute episodes for a total run time of approximately 6.5 hours and TESB runs about 5 hours total. Most of the cast is different as well. From what I remember Anthony Daniels plays Threepio for all 3, Mark Hammill plays Luke for the first two, and I think Billy Dee Williams is in one or two series as well. The new actors do a good job though, the only disappointment for me was that James Earl Jones didn't do Vader, that was a bit of a let down.

I had heard that Lucas sold the radio rights to NPR (a sorta radio version of PBS) for $1 so they could use their resources for the actual production of the series. And it really shows with full sound effects and musical score, it's a lot of fun to hear.

Remember if you want to hear a series broadcast then send an email to ocoppin@rock101.com and be sure to mention the series you most want to hear. They're only going to schedule it if we show enough interest and they need to know very soon.

 

Ok folks, I've got some good news and some bad news.

First the bad news: as there wasn't enough interest, CFMI won't be broadcasting the full Star Wars radio dramas in the near future.

The good news: they will, however, be broadcasting two one-hour Star Wars shows; one on Sunday May 8, and the other on the following Sunday to lead into Episode III. According to the schedule here they are audio versions of ANH and TESB respectively. To be honest, I don't think I've heard these before so I don't know if they take the audio from the films, the radio dramas, or something else. Either way, I'm sure they'll be worth listening to.

The "Lights Out" segment runs from 10pm to midnight on Sundays, so the Star Wars shows will be somewhere within that timeframe. CFMI does broadcast on the Internet, so anyone outside of Vancouver could listen to the shows that way as well.

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May 8 - STAR WARS Episode 4
(Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Roscoe Lee Browne) 1977

May 15 - STAR WARS Episode 5 - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
(Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, James Earl Jones, Frank Oz, Matachi Throne) 1980