Child's Play

Description

A man receives a "Build-A-Man" kit from the future!

A shy lawyer wants to be more confident, so he puts together a "Build A Man" kit and makes a copy of himself. The new Sam is smooth and wins at everything, but soon the real Sam gets pushed aside and thrown away by a record keeper from tomorrow who wants to fix this mistake. The story shows what happens when people try to be God and mess with who they really are.

A meek attorney's wish for more confidence is granted when he assembles a "Build A Man" set and creates a duplicate of himself. The new Sam is charming and successful, but the original is soon overshadowed and discarded by a census keeper from the future who seeks to correct the anomaly. The story reflects on identity and the perilous allure of playing God.

X Minus One is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, X Minus One has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium.

Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Updated May 8, 2026.