Funnt File

The Funnt File was a science fiction comedy series created by Jeff Harris and Mark Wolverton. It was syndicated through a number of radio stations, mostly in the Midwest, in the late 1990s. It featured Dirwood Funnt, a former starship captain who is now the sanitation manager (janitor) at the New Flushing base of the United Cosmos corporation. The series followed his kidnapping by a group of self-styled terrorists who steal a deep space colonization vessel from the base. Although all but of one of the terrorists are killed during a botched raid, the ship is still thought to be under their control. Funnt, the other kidnapped personnel and the one remaining (but harmless) terrorist decide to take the ship out into the unknown.
The series was unique in that it was based on satirizing science fiction cliches as opposed just one-liners and farce. Funnt wasn't a failure but more of a round peg in a square hole, pushed by his family into a military career and then demeaned when he didn't fit in. When he found ways to operate on his own terms he succeeded. His sense of identity and purpose changed throughout the series.
The show was also refined through fan input. Early episodes were played at the Windycon, Balticon, and PhilCon science fiction conventions in order to solicit opinions about characters as well as identifying plot inconsistencies. The production team was well aware of the SF community's attention to detail.
The series' chief writer Mark Wolverton is now an author in the field of the history of science and technology, often stressing the human factors and personalities as much as the technical matters in his work. His most recent book is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The series' producer Mark Banash is involved in nanotechnology, specializing in the manufacture of advanced materials based on carbon nanotubes. The series' director Denise Shubin works extensively in the Philadelphia theater scene.
Some episodes of the series are available for free download here.

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