One night in 1938, Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre On the Air changed broadcast history forever with their infamous War of the Worlds broadcast. This is the story of how that night almost never happened. For the past fourteen weeks, Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air have been tirelessly working for the Columbia Broadcasting System by putting out weekly radio dramas to tantalize audiences from coast to coast. When Davidson Taylor, CBS executive programming director, approaches Orson and his team for a Halloween program, they accept without knowing just what they're getting into. New and unforeseen difficulties pop up every day as corporate sponsorship, careers, and artistic integrity dance through the radio waves and into their sound booth.