Well, I just got a rough edit in today of "Third From the Sun" starring Fred Willard and it's very good. I've started writing my notes on it and will send them over to Cerny American for tweaking. Fred Willard does an awesome job in the lead role of William Sturka, played in the TV version by Fritz Weaver. Zoner Tom McElroy plays Sturka's friend Jerry Riden and Doug James (who is also our TZ announcer) plays the ominously gregarious Mr. Carling. "Third From the Sun" was from the Twilight Zone's first TV season and is a remarkable episode. It was written by Rod Serling based on a short story by the great Richard Matheson. It's the story of two men and their families who discover the world is going to be annihilated by nuclear war within 48 hours. One of the men is an experimental aircraft pilot who can fly their families to safety in a rocket ship to a distant world similar to their own. But their escape is almost foiled by a man who learns of their plan to rocket off to another world. This one will air in August so I hope you'll be able to tune it in.

I received two terrific TZ scripts in this week ­ both of which are brand new story ideas, not based on original TZ episodes. One is by writer Chris Canniff. It's based on the John Collier story "Back For Christmas." I'm hoping to produce this one later this year. The other is by Dennis Etchison; it's called "The 25th Hour." It's the story of a busy man for whom there are not enough hours in the day. He meets a mysterious stranger, an older, retired fellow who has more time on his hands than he knows what to do with. Soon, as you might imagine, they strike a deal and therein lies the tale.

Well, that's all for this week, see you next week for more NEWS FROM THE ZONE!

This week we completed the final mix of the TZ episode “The Prime Mover” starring David Eigenberg in the Dane Clark role of “Ace Larsen” the pushy but ingratiating owner of a roadside diner. David is fabulous in the role. One of my top Zoners, Kurt Naebig, gives a stellar performance in the Buddy Ebsen role of “Jimbo Cobb” Ace’s cook and right-hand man – who has a talent he’s kept hidden all these years: the ability to move objects with his mind. Once Ace discovers what Jimbo can do, it’s off to Vegas to try their luck at the tables. This TZ radio drama came together a little easier than most – probably because the star of the show (David Eigenberg) was here in Chicago with the rest of the cast when we recorded it. When we have the star record their performance in LA, NY, etc. it takes longer - and more tender loving care - to fuse it together properly. The geniuses at Cerny American Creative are true masters at this technique though and if I didn’t know it myself, I’d think the star was with the supporting cast on them all.

Today I have the supporting casts for MIKE HAMMER episode 2 “Oil & Water” coming in as well as the TZ episode “Who Am I?” It will be a long day of rehearsing and then recording both shows. We’ll do a table read of the TZ show first, and then record it, then break for lunch and do a table read of the HAMMER show and then record it. During the table reads the actors take direction from me; we all take notes; make tweaks; all get on the same page with name pronunciation, etc. I’ll have a great crew in here today including Franette Liebow, Ric Peeples, D.J. Howard, Meg Thalken, Oksana Fedunyszyn, Norm Woodel, Ilyssa Fraden, Nick Sandys, Tom McElroy, Kurt Naebig, Ric Vargas, Heidi Klefstad, Jamie Baron, Sara Court, Tracy Hernandez, Brandon Beard Reed and Maestro Harrell. I’m looking forward to a productive day – then when it’s all over – collapse from exhaustion : )

Next week, I should be hearing the first rough mix of MIKE HAMMER episode 1 “Dangerous Days” so I’m excited about that. Well, that’s it for now, join me next week for more NEWS FROM THE ZONE!

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of directing Sean Astin in two TZs ­ "Who Am I?" and "The Amazing Dr. Kyle Powers." Sean was a blast to work with and a real pro. He wanted to voice the lines over and over to give me different shades of color. Sean is also narrating the Youth Bible I'm producing and portraying the role of "Joshua" in my Old Testament. Our New Testament is available now in stores or at www.thewordofpromise.com. I'm excited about mixing these shows that will star Sean Astin, which will run later this year.

Last Friday we recorded the first episode of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE HAMMER titled "Dangerous Days" at Cerny American Creative. I had 18 actors in to record the supporting characters to Stacy Keach's Mike Hammer. It was a lot of fun but A LOT of work. It took much longer than I expected as the HAMMER shows are a full hour in length where the TZs are only 40 minutes. That additional 20 minutes added hours of prep and recording time. I had all the actors do a table read ­ which just means all the actors sit around a table and perform the script in a leisurely setting. Then we took a break and went into the sound booth and recorded all the dialog ­ often times I had the actors perform their lines multiple times to have a safety. It took us about 5 hours just to record the dialog. Afterward, all of the sound files were separated and the sound design began being built. All of the music is composed and performed by Stacy Keach. M. J. Elliott who is writing the MIKE HAMMER scripts recently sent me episode two "Oil & Water" and Stacy Keach is recording that today in Hollywood. His wife Malgosia Tomossi, who played the role of "Maya" on the TV series is reprising her role for the radio series, so she's recording today too. I'm really stoked about this HAMMER series and I can't wait to hear it mixed by the geniuses at Cerny, headed up by JoBe Cerny who also portrays a regular character on HAMMER by the name of "Ozzie the Answer." Ric Vargas, one of my Zoners is stepping up as my assistant director.

Yesterday I received a rough mix in on the TZ episode "The Prime Mover" starring David Eigenberg. It's a lot of fun but it needs some tender loving care. I listened to it 5 or 6 times and took copious notes and faxed them over to Bob Benson at Cerny. He'll make these changes and then send me another copy. Then it will go into finer and finer tweaks until it's complete. Well, that's all for this week, see you next time for more NEWS FROM THE ZONE!