J. Michael Straczynski and his “Jeremiah” compadre [Sara] Samm Barnes have been working at the CBC Toronto studio busy producing his anticipated supernatural/comedy/action show “The Adventures of Apocalypse Al.”

Straczynski has a list of achievements longer than my arm and is probably best known internationally by scifi fans as the creator/producer of Babylon 5.

“The Adventures of Apocalypse Al” will be aired as 20-five minute radio episodes (with a promise of more in the future) on CBC. It is expected that soon after the CBC airings the show will be showcased on BBC Radio, RTE.ie (Public-Radio Ireland) and various US radio markets, including NPR and possibly over the Sirius Satellite Broadcast System. Eventually, Straczynski hopes to have the series released for purchase on CD.

The show will be a full reproduction of the way radio dramas were performed in the by-gone days of radio’s greatness, but with the addition of all the high-tech bells and whistles such as 5.1 Surround Sound and in-your-face (ear) real-to-life sound effects. Canadian TV star Cynthia Dale is lending her voice and acting talents as the lead. Joining her are actors and behind the mic folks like Richard Binsley, Alyson Court, Greg DeClute, Matt Watts, Greg Sinclair, and of course Straczynski and Barnes.

As someone who has been around for awhile and actually remembers those old radio days, I find it amazing that with all this visual technology we currently have, the rise of popularity for audio books and podcasting dramas and now this venture proves that sometimes the limitless imagination of the mind is far more entertaining than having it plastered up on the screen for us where we are simply viewing someone else’s concept of how the story should look. I for one applaud this return to audio programming that allows the listener’s own mental pictures to become a creative part of the production process.