What is ZBS?
Incredible. Enlightening. Humorous. Far out.
Anything but something not worth at least trying.
My first experience with ZBS was The Fourth Tower of Inverness, starring Robert Lorick as Jack Flanders, first aired in 1972, the very first product of the small company located not far from Saratoga Springs, New York.
I recommend starting your journey with The Fourth Tower, because:
a) it is the first product of ZBS
b) it has more light-hearted silliness than just plain craziness
c) It’s a great way to determine if ZBS fits your preferences, and
d) Jack Flanders is a really nice guy.
The Fourth Tower of Inverness is an amazing first effort. It has fantasy, ancient wisdom, cute jokes, and a protagonist who has no idea where he is going. Just like most of the world. It also has a slow pace and a fairly comprehensible storyline. From this adventure, you can move on to Moon Over Morocco, a much longer odyssey with strains of “As Time Goes By” inbetween the desert and the Invisible World; The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders, an incredibly wild journey made by ZBS during what I expect should be called its “wild” period, with a soundtrack that rivals the theme song to The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and so on, until the latest installment, made 28 years after the first series, Return to Inverness.
On the other hand, if you want to jump in, mind first, and get a taste of the wackier style of ZBS, try a taste of Stars & Stuff, a series of sci-fi stories, some long, some short, which many ZBS fans first heard the first time it hit the air, in 1977. It’s action, insanity, astral voyages and little men concerned with placing large rocks in particular places with this collection of ideas that the author (Mr. Meatball Fulton) couldn’t find room for anywhere else.
Tired of the Green Menace? is the debut of the smart, sassy detective Ruby Tuesday, who later goes through another incarnation and starts her own series, and The Ah-Hah Phenomena is one of Mr. Flanders’ most warped escapades, involving the Unified Field Theory of Matter and Energy, a long-lost uncle who has an obsession for tea that his nephew doesn’t seem to share, magic, mythical beasts, and occasional corrections in the script to make it politically correct.
The Ruby Series is my personal favorite, but not one for beginners. You have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to the Ruby series and enjoy it. If you are younger and have a mind that can handle episodes three minutes long, frequent alterations in the narrative that not only switch tracks, but jump through time and space before landing again, and the constant re-listening to stories in order to understand them, the Ruby Series is probably right up your portable, inflatable Kismet alley.
However, if you are older, and prefer slow-paced stories that are much more spread out, I suggest either sticking to Jack Flanders or listening to Ruby 3 and/or 4. They are much slower and…well, listener-friendly. Still, the stories won’t make much sense on their own, but it’s your Universe. Create it to fit your own desires.
| The Fourth Tower of Inverness (1972, 5 cassettes/CDs) | The first story from ZBS and the first in the Jack Flanders series, this is definitely the best story to start with. |
| Moon Over Morocco (1974, 7 cassettes/CDs) | Jack's adventures continue as he travels to northwest Africa. This is also an essential story, as it introduces one or two characters that are featured in future stories. You also get to hear ambience that was recorded on location in Morocco by the author. |
| Stars & Stuff (1977, 4 cassettes/CDs) | This is basically a mixed bag of zany science fiction stories and some of Tim Clark's amazing music. Nothing terribly thought-provoking, but it's stil quite a treat. |
| The Ah-Ha Phenomena (1977, 1 CD) | This is probably the shortest Jack Flanders adventure ever made, also one of the craziest. This isn't an essential story, even though it does answer one of the burning questions from 4ToI. |
| Tired of the Green Menace? (1977, 1 CD) | This short adventure is a prelude to the Ruby series. The Ruby in this story is slightly different than the Ruby that stars in the series, but it's interesting (though not necessary) to see how that series was originally born. |
| The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders (1981, 5 cassettes/CDs) | Probably one of the most amazing Flanders stories in the series, which swerves blindly into the fantasy genre with no regard for Jack's peace of mind. This story also has some of the best music in the series. Not to be missed! |
| Ruby 1 (1982, 4 cassettes/CDs) | Since this story is the first of the Ruby series, it is essential if you want to make sense out of the series as a whole. I admit, the Android Sisters can be a little annoying for some people, but you'll learn to live with them. |
| Ruby 2 (1985, 4 cassettes/CDs) |
This was the first Ruby I listened to. It's pretty different from the first Ruby, mostly because the main character isn't Ruby, but Ruby 2 (the original voice actress wasn't available for most of the recording time)! And then there's the thing with the moons and the Android Sisters disappearing and that thing with the Boogerman where Sega ripped ZBS off...
But in spite of its excess silliness, it's worth listening to (though not vital to understanding future adventures). |
| Dreams of Rio (1987, 5 cassettes/CDs) | After the off-the-walls Incredible Adventures his story drops us back into reality. The ambience is recorded on location in the Amazon jungle, and is (as usual) a beautiful tale. |
| Ruby 3: Part One (The Underworld) (1990, 4 cassettes/CDs) | Some people say that this is the best Ruby yet. It's quite different from its predecessors, though. Gone are the three-minute episodes, leaving us with a much slower, deeper Ruby. And thanks to it, I still think that malls are evil. |
| Ruby 3: Part Two (The Invisible World) (1991, 4 cassettes/CDs) | As you might guess, this story won't make any sense unless you've listened to Ruby 3: Part 1.. This story starts out a bit slow, but it certainly picks up at the end. |
| Dreams of the Amazon (1992, 2 cassettes/CDs) | This is the first story in the Travels with Jack series, but unfortunately, it is one of the weaker stories. It more or less picks up where Dreams of Rio left off. |
| Dreams of India (1992, 2 cassettes/CDs) | This story is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Once again, the sounds of India are recorded by the author, and the spirit of the land is carried by the voices of the actors. |
| Dreams of Bali (1992, 2 cassettes/CDs) | Another short but sweet adventure in which Jack Flanders is once again headed into a foreign land, and as usual, trouble seems to find him. |
| Dreams of Sumatra (1993, 2 cassettes/CDs) | The final story in the Travels with Jack series. For some reason, I think Jesse might be a "fangirl"...pretty scary for Jack. |
| Ruby 4 (1994-1995, 8 cassettes/CDs) |
I personally think that this is the best Ruby of all. Action, humor, suspense and flat-out great sound...don't pass this one up! It ties up the elements of the three previous Rubys so well, you don't even need to listen to Ruby 5...
...Unless you really want to. |
| Mystery of the Jaguar Reef (1996, 2 cassettes/CDs) | This story tries to capture some of the "classic Jack", and does a fairly good job at it, but it still pales in comparison to the older adventures. |
| The Land of Enchantment (1998, 2 cassettes/CDs) | A well-done spinoff of the Jack Flanders series starring Mojo. This was to be the first of the Moving with Mojo series, but circumstances eventually made it the only story in the series. |
| Midnight at the Casa Luna (1998, 2 cassettes/CDs) | In many ways, this story is "Inverness Revisited". Though it might not be an adventure that really stands out, the next Flanders adventure definitely is... |
| Ruby 5: The Land of Zoots (1998, 3 cassettes/CDs) | Not nearly as long or as deep as Ruby 3 or 4, but still a fun little ride. They also brought back the three-minute episodes for this adventure. |
| Return to Inverness (2000, 4 cassettes/CDs) | The long-awaited return to that mansion we all know and love. It tries very hard to live up to the original, and I must say, it does a very good job. It's great to see almost every member of the original cast back together after so long. |
| Ruby 6: The Illusionati (2001, 3 cassettes/CDs) | Ruby and Co.'s first off-planet adventure is certainly an interesting one. Ruby seems to be a little more cynical than she was in her first story, and looking at the world of today, I can't say that I blame her. |
| Dreams of the Blue Morpho (2002, 2 cassettes/CDs) | The first story in the Travelling Jack series (not to be confused with the Travels with Jack series). Unfortunately, stories this short don't really have the time to reach the depth that most Jack Flanders stories do, though the good people at ZBS still try valiantly, in spite of a great dearth of funds. |
| Somewhere Next Door to Reality (2002, 2 cassettes/CDs) | This is the first Jack Flanders story to take place in Canada. Even though Montreal is fairly close to the States, it's as foreign to Jack as a different continent. It's still sadly short, though. |