Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe

Radio comedy adventure series by the ZBS Foundation

Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe is a science fiction radio drama series by the ZBS Foundation, written by Thomas Lopez. The first series, Ruby: Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe, was created in 1982. In each story, the title character Ruby is hired to solve a metaphysical problem. New series have been released every few years, reaching Ruby 11 in 2023. Ruby is played by actress Laura Esterman.

Ruby is a comic science fiction treatment of the hardboiled detective genre; the original series took place on the planet of Summa Nulla ("the high point of nothing") although later series took Ruby to other planets and solar systems. Laura Esterman starred as Ruby in the first series and Karen Young starred in the second series as "Ruby Too", another version of the protagonist, while Esterman, as Ruby, had a cameo part in this series. Esterman returned to the lead role from Ruby 3 onwards, credited as Blanche Blackwell. The series was originally syndicated to air on the radio in episodes of approximately three to four minutes long, but later released as half hour episodes to radio stations. To date, thirteen Ruby adventures have been released, the most recent in 2019. Ruby has been broadcast in 23 countries, including Canada (on CBC), England (on BBC), Australia (on ABC) and the US (originally on PBS, more recently on Sirius XM Satellite Radio). Ruby entered Science Fiction's Audio Hall of Fame for Best Science Fiction of 1982.

Kapoor sets himself up as a detective, and is hired to locate the Black Star of Summa Nulla – a magical stone that can tell the future. Once Kapoor's found the stone and disappeared with it, Ruby's hired to track him down.

Ruby is hired to find a little girl who has disappeared into Siddhi Infini, an ancient oasis city in the Great Summa Nulla desert. The girl is a Fritzoid, she can stop her growth and appear to be a child, though she may be decades older. When Ruby gathers her group together And/Or, Rodant Kapoor, and T. J. Teru she discovers T. J. has retired, he has sold his excavation business to Seymour Sneel, a fellow archaeologist who was tossed out of Siddhi Infini for wanting to activate the Wonder Game. The Wonder Game is an ancient Nullian game that no one knows to how to play and those who try, may find the game is playing them.

In 2006, ZBS released a collection of nine stories about Rodant Kapoor, Ol’ Cactus Kapoor and Other Prickly Tales. The collection included "Ol' Cactus Kapoor", "The Colossal Kapoor", "The Seven Sacred Sapphires of Kapoor", "Judge Rodant and The Rest of The Rats", "Extract of Little Fooie", "The Purple Purse", "The 12 Famous Land Sharks School", "Trader Kapoor and The Woolie Boolies", and "How Real Is Real Anyway?"

Ruby, a galactic gumshoe hired in each series to investigate a usually existential mystery. She has the ability to slow time and her favorite weapon is the powerful and extremely noisy Smith Hitachi Godzilla Blaster (later replaced by the Smith Hitachi Godzilla Blunderbuss Blaster). (Played by Laura Esterman, credited as "Blanche Blackwell" from Ruby 3 on)
T. J. Teru, a human archaeologist whose life work is uncovering artifacts left by the ancient Nullian people who once inhabited the planet where the series takes place. Often helps Ruby with his investigations; has a fetish for plastic, especially when it is part of female androids. He was bedeviled by the And/Or Sisters in their guises of "Dr. Lazar" and "Dr. Duck" in Ruby 3, but by the story's end actually ended up by enjoying it. In Ruby 4, he becomes friends with Francois the Robot Waiter. His first non android relationship takes place in Ruby 6, only to come to a tragic end. (Played by Bill Raymond)
Rodant Kapoor, in some series described as a Kapoorian; his physical description includes a pointed nose, beady little eyes, protruding front teeth and a tail; a running joke throughout the series is his constantly being called "Rodent" by everyone instead of "Rodant" and being referred to as "a sneaky little rat". He hired Ruby in the original series and has since been an often maligned companion of hers, and he spends a great deal of time trying to escape/hide from his mother. (Played by Tom Stewart, credited as "Art Fairbain" from Ruby 3 on)
Mustapha, Ruby's aircar; in appearance, he resembles a 1949 Mercury and speaks with an electronic Arabian accent. He is completely loyal to Ruby. (Played by Willy B)
Mother Kapoor, Rodant's mother, who tracks him down wherever he goes to escape her and drags him home (occasionally hiring Ruby to find him). (Played by Tom Stewart, credited as "Art Fairbain" from Ruby 3 on)
And/Or, a techie for the Digital Circus, a group of hackers who put on technological performances and revere Nikola Tesla. He creates many of the esoteric gadgets and devices Ruby uses in her cases and in Ruby 3 created a pair of sisters for himself, the And/Or Sisters, who for a time replaced the Android Sisters at the Digital Circus. (Played by Tom Stewart, credited as "Art Fairbain" from Ruby 3 on)
Onoffon and Offonoff, two "techno witches", also from the Digital Circus. (Played by Honora Ferguson and Valeria Vasilevski)
The Tookah, a creature with four tentacles, three eyes, a thin blue mustache and a red fez. The original Tookah was blown up (inflated to a point where he exploded) in the original Ruby series. He often acts as an information source for Ruby's investigations, and he returns/survives by cloning himself; by the time of Ruby 7, he is in his 22nd incarnation. (Played by Fred Neuman)
Angel Lips, an android and former companion of Teru who has been programmed to be self programming, thus giving her a will of her own. She made a short appearance and came to a final end in Ruby 3. A similar female android, "Angel Eyes", was offered to Teru as a payment/bribe in Ruby 5 but eventually left him too, returning in Ruby 6 only to be destroyed in an act of sabotage. Molière, chief of the Mole People who dig the same archeological sites as Teru (only from underneath); he first appeared in the original Ruby series and returned in Ruby 7. His brother Molay appears in Ruby 3 and his cousin Mole ecule appears in Ruby 5. (Played by Fred Neuman)
Francois, a robot and head waiter at the Cafe Garçon. (Played by Jim Cantell)
Toots Mutant, part human and part reptoid; originally Toots Malacca before she changed her name, an archaeologist and once the leader of the Zoot Mutants, a gang of techno punks who are sometime allies of Ruby. (Played by Kara Duff McCormick in Ruby 1, Ruth Maleczech in Ruby 4)
The Android Sisters, who perform satirical speak songs. Three albums of their speak songs were released by ZBS Foundation and are currently available through ZBS and on Amazon. com: The Android Sisters' Greatest Hits, The Android Sisters – Pull No Punches and The Best of the Android Sisters. (Played by Ruth Breuer and Valaria Vasilevski)
The Slimies, bio engineered assassins who are often after Ruby and the gang. Slimies hunt by weaving "mind webs" to freeze and catch you in their thoughts. They also explode when they're killed. Nikola Tesla, the famous electrical engineer and inventor, resurrected as an electronic ghost and revered by the Digital Circus as a "guardian spirit". (Played by Jim Cantell in Ruby 4)