o7 Show History

He's the one with the sign

I've done some digging and discovered some interesting facts about the o7 Show that I'd like to share with you. I believe you will find them just as incredible as I have. To understand the o7 Show we must go back even further to a little schoolhouse in Iceland at the turn of the century. There a very young man who one day would become Hilmar's Father only had one thing on his mind.

He read copies of Jules Verne adventures until the pages wore out and listened to the early days of radio drama piped in from Europe and dreamed of flying to far away worlds in his own spaceship. This was the dawn of CCP and the beginnings of what would become Eve Online.

But this isn't a history lesson about CCP or Eve as much as it is the o7 Show, so let's focus on that shall we? The very early days of the o7 Radio Show are lost to time and not much still exists.

But here in this archive photo you can see "The Goon Squad" acting out a capture of Fountain with the Special Effects guys adding the Pew Pew sounds from real guns!! These were exciting times and kids all over the world would listen in to the adventures. The Eve Adventure Club was very popular.

Jita Clifford

This is a very rare photo of Jita Clifford who would take telegraphed spaceship moves from players from all over Iceland and coordinate them all on the big map. Her knowledge of New Eden was incredible but she never kept a written log, only remembering everything in her own head. When she was tragically killed in a multiple car accident one year, a lot of knowledge went with her. Even to this day you will often hear a Dev say, "The logs show nothing" which is a tribute to Jita Clifford!

The first AT Tournament

But then television came along and killed radio. The very first AT tournament was "simulated" in 1949 and broadcast to 4 people in Iceland. The effects were not that great, here is an Amarr ship crash landing on a planet. But this was just the beginning.

"The Harbinger"

And the o7 Show was born! The first episode aired in 1952 and featured dramatic skits in the vein of Buck Rodgers that would act out various Eve player battles. To us these seem simple and crude, but back then the o7 Show was groundbreaking. Eve was really starting to catch on. Mostly because of the outfits and the hats. Seriously, the hats mostly.

"Professor Eve"

1954 saw the introduction of Professor Eve a kindly gentlemen who would help explain Eve to children on the o7 Show. He became extremely popular and he dominated the rest of the 1950s. Meanwhile CCP continued to invest in new technologies, including the very first server.

The punch cards would be mailed in from all over Europe!

Sadly in 1959 an unfortunate incident on the show changed everything. The o7 Show had started losing popularity and the big wigs were considering some drastic changes. One cast member lost it on set and began beating people with his hat. From then on the mere idea of hats left a sour taste in CCP's mouth for generations.

This guy ruined hats for over sixty years!

The 07 Show lost its way for a number of years. They tried everything! For one year they tried turning it into a drama. That was so terrible that even today Eve players will tell you they don't want any drama in Eve!

For a short period they even tried it as a children's cartoon show.

And an intellectual talk show.

But then the biggest event in o7Show history happened and Ursula Wentworth suddenly became the show's most popular hostess.

From 1963-1969 Ursula was the hottest hostess on television and the o7Show finally started attracting attention across the atlantic in the United States! These were the salad days and for awhile the o7 Show was more popular than Eve. Even the Eve Board Game!

Sadly the actress playing Ursula perished in an un-solved scuba diving accident in 1969 and the show took nearly three decades to recover.

The 1969 season saw marionettes used.

And then in 1970 it moved into a Game Show format.

These were dark days for the show and ratings plummeted to record lows. In a few short years the o7 Show would finally go dark and leave the air. It wouldn't be until the advent of the World Wide Web and the realization that Eve would work better as an on-line based game, that the o7 Show would finally realize its full potential.

If you are interested in more details and more great stories from this incredible history, check out Andrew Groen's new book.

I did the maps.

o7