What happens
George Fairclough, a harried businessman tired of his quarrelsome wife Marge, has a duplicate of himself, a utility prime called George Prime, made to send home in his place. Harry, a friend, had mentioned the idea earlier, and George arranges the purchase at a shabby warehouse office. Within weeks the duplicate is living at home while George spends his time elsewhere. The series X Minus One presents this 1958 episode, aired on January 2, 1958, on NBC. Lawson Zerbe and Lenore Kingston are among the featured actors, though the transcript's casting names are partly garbled.
Mid-twentieth-century America, in a near-future world where ego primes, duplicates of living humans, can be manufactured. The story moves between George's office, his house, and a dingy warehouse office near 14th Street.
Characters: George Fairclough, Marge Fairclough, George Prime, Harry, Jerry Lamont, Mr. Blickendorf
Listen for: The recall signal George uses to call his duplicate back, and the moment George learns something about his wife's new attitude.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.