English novelist and historian H. G. Wells wrote this tale of a Martian invasion as a magazine serial in 1897, but Welles's eerie radio rendition of the tale in 1938 sent shock waves through the United States as listeners tuned in to what they thought was a serious report of alien invasion.
Television: from Star Trek to Nova
Some of the most successful and longest-running series on television have had themes of space exploration. Star Trek, the brainchild of the legendary Gene Roddenberry, through its various generational formats has made the careers of several actors and actresses and met with so much enthusiasm that it has spawned Star Trek conventions. The British invention, Dr. Who, also met with universal, long-term success and was assimilated as one of the "cult" shows of the twentieth century. Babylon Five also developed a very significant following, and the Jim Henson-backed series Farscape, featuring a lost astronaut thrown into the distant regions of space, is the Sci-fi channel's longest running original series.
Space themes are not confined to futuristic fictional series on television, although these are by far the best known and the greatest revenue generators.
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