Ichabod Mudd and Captain Midnight
Showing posts with label Saturday morning sci-fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saturday morning sci-fi. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Captain Midnight
"On a mountaintop high above a large city stands the headquarters of a man devoted to the cause of freedom and justice, a war hero who has never stopped fighting against his country's enemies, a private citizen who is dedicating his life to the struggle against evil men everywhere...Captain Midnight!
"On a mountaintop high above a large city stands the headquarters of a man devoted to the cause of freedom and justice, a war hero who has never stopped fighting against his country's enemies, a private citizen who is dedicating his life to the struggle against evil men everywhere...Captain Midnight!
The other day I was opening a new jar of Ovaltine and found myself carefully preserving the inner seal. This of course was the Ovaltine equivalent of a box-top: you collected intact inner seals to send in for premiums like the Secret Squadron patch or the Secret Decoder, along with your 25 cents in coin. In the 1950s, that is.
(And yes, I’m drinking Ovaltine again—after spending outrageous amounts on various protein drink mixes, I make my own now, with some soy protein powder, banana and Ovaltine. Malt or Chocolate Malt, and sometimes both. It’s cheaper and tastes better, thank you very much.)
Ovaltine was the sponsor for Captain Midnight, an admittedly borderline candidate for Saturday Morning Sci-Fi, since he wasn’t a space hero of the future but a contemporary jet pilot (his plane was the Silver Dart.) Still, there were stories involving rockets and space stations and even a new moon, and he used a lot of exotic devices (invented by his resident scientist, Tut.)
Reading up on the series, there was a lot I didn’t remember. I didn’t realize the series of adventures starring Richard Webb was on for such a short time (a year and a half of production got them enough episodes to play for several years.) I didn’t remember it was so popular that it was moved from Saturday morning to prime time for awhile. And I am embarrassed to see what the plots were like—one story after another of Captain Midnight dealing with Cold War enemies and spies.
(And yes, I’m drinking Ovaltine again—after spending outrageous amounts on various protein drink mixes, I make my own now, with some soy protein powder, banana and Ovaltine. Malt or Chocolate Malt, and sometimes both. It’s cheaper and tastes better, thank you very much.)
Ovaltine was the sponsor for Captain Midnight, an admittedly borderline candidate for Saturday Morning Sci-Fi, since he wasn’t a space hero of the future but a contemporary jet pilot (his plane was the Silver Dart.) Still, there were stories involving rockets and space stations and even a new moon, and he used a lot of exotic devices (invented by his resident scientist, Tut.)
Reading up on the series, there was a lot I didn’t remember. I didn’t realize the series of adventures starring Richard Webb was on for such a short time (a year and a half of production got them enough episodes to play for several years.) I didn’t remember it was so popular that it was moved from Saturday morning to prime time for awhile. And I am embarrassed to see what the plots were like—one story after another of Captain Midnight dealing with Cold War enemies and spies.
But some other things are very clear in my memory. I remember that the first Captain Midnight on Saturday morning TV was just a guy in a flight jacket who introduced old movies, mostly Zorro movie serials. I remember that this brief appearance (in which the Captain touted the health benefits of Ovaltine) whetted my appetite not for the drink (which was pretty foul in its original form) but for more Captain Midnight.
In 1953, the full half hour adventures began, starring Richard Webb as Captain Midnight. This show’s variation on the adventure series trio was the action hero Captain, the scientist Tut/aka Aristotle Jones (Olan Soule), and the comic relief sidekick mechanic, Ichabod Mudd (Sid Melton.) I remember the opening of the show, the dome of the Secret Squadron Headquarters, and especially the little radios/communicators they used to keep in touch, using the Secret Squadron code names: “SQ1 to SQ2, SQ1 to SQ2…”
Captain Video and Captain Midnight had a lot of similarities, and I’m not enough of a scholar of them to know which first had that secret mountain hq, or counted on the kids in the audience to be part of the Secret Squadron or the Video Rangers (though Captain Video was on TV first, Captain Midnight had been on the radio since 1938.)
But that sense of participation was real, not just as a marketing device, but as a way to identify with that world, and with Captain Midnight, his heroism and the ideals of the Secret Squadron (“Justice Through Strength and Courage.”—the motto the Captain often repeated, which was also on our ID cards.)
That identification extended to the actor playing Captain Midnight—a phenomenon that was strikingly common. “I believe in Captain Midnight,” Richard Webb would say years later, and he indicated that the Captain’s qualities of efficiency, bravery and patriotism would guide his own life during troubled times. It’s worth mentioning that Webb had been a real Captain in World War II.
He pointed out that Captain Midnight was a role model for young viewers in changing times, and he’s right, especially in combination with all the other Saturday Morning sci-fi heroes mentioned here.
After the episodes filmed in that 1.5 years had been used up, Ovaltine dropped Captain Midnight, but the series went into syndication with a different title: Jet Jackson. It just wasn’t the same.
In 1953, the full half hour adventures began, starring Richard Webb as Captain Midnight. This show’s variation on the adventure series trio was the action hero Captain, the scientist Tut/aka Aristotle Jones (Olan Soule), and the comic relief sidekick mechanic, Ichabod Mudd (Sid Melton.) I remember the opening of the show, the dome of the Secret Squadron Headquarters, and especially the little radios/communicators they used to keep in touch, using the Secret Squadron code names: “SQ1 to SQ2, SQ1 to SQ2…”
Captain Video and Captain Midnight had a lot of similarities, and I’m not enough of a scholar of them to know which first had that secret mountain hq, or counted on the kids in the audience to be part of the Secret Squadron or the Video Rangers (though Captain Video was on TV first, Captain Midnight had been on the radio since 1938.)
But that sense of participation was real, not just as a marketing device, but as a way to identify with that world, and with Captain Midnight, his heroism and the ideals of the Secret Squadron (“Justice Through Strength and Courage.”—the motto the Captain often repeated, which was also on our ID cards.)
That identification extended to the actor playing Captain Midnight—a phenomenon that was strikingly common. “I believe in Captain Midnight,” Richard Webb would say years later, and he indicated that the Captain’s qualities of efficiency, bravery and patriotism would guide his own life during troubled times. It’s worth mentioning that Webb had been a real Captain in World War II.
He pointed out that Captain Midnight was a role model for young viewers in changing times, and he’s right, especially in combination with all the other Saturday Morning sci-fi heroes mentioned here.
After the episodes filmed in that 1.5 years had been used up, Ovaltine dropped Captain Midnight, but the series went into syndication with a different title: Jet Jackson. It just wasn’t the same.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Saturday Morning Sci-Fi
Captain Video (Al Hodge) and the Video
Ranger (Don Hastings.) The TV show
inspired comic magazines, like this one.
Captain Video
To the stirring strains of Wagner's Overture to "The Flying Dutchman," the announcer intoned: "POST--the cereals you like the most...take you to the secret mountain retreat of Captain Video! Master of Space! Hero of Science! Captain of the Video Rangers! Operating from his secret mountain headquarters on the planet Earth, Captain Video rallies men of good will and leads them against the forces of evil everywhere! As he rockets from planet to planet, let us follow the champion of justice, truth and freedom throughout the universe! Stand by for...Captain Video...and his Video Rangers!
But these words weren't first heard on Saturday morning. Most of Captain Video's best adventures were seen on weekday evenings, years before the height of Saturday morning sci-fi. In fact, Captain Video was one of the first television heroes, and the first that--true to his name--started in television.
And I was one of the first kids in America to see him. Captain Video went on the air in 1949, on the Dumont network, which never had more than a half dozen stations. But its flagship station was WDTV, Channel 3 in Pittsburgh ---for years, the only commercial station in the city capable of reaching much beyond it. So every night, Monday through Friday (and sometimes on Saturday) at 7 pm, I watched Captain Video. And so did just about everyone else.
I can't say for sure when I started watching it, although I remember when WDTV switched to Channel 2, and that was 1952, when I was 6. I can also remember a day in school--probably when I was in second grade--that a teacher we didn't know (probably a young nun working on her teaching certificate or advanced degree research) came to our class and told us she would play some music, and even though it didn't have any words, we were to draw whatever the music made us think of. She put a record on a phonograph--and as we heard the strains of "The Flying Dutchman," a titter went through the class. She just smiled at us, and didn't understand what was going on until she got a surprising number of drawings of space ships and robots.
To the stirring strains of Wagner's Overture to "The Flying Dutchman," the announcer intoned: "POST--the cereals you like the most...take you to the secret mountain retreat of Captain Video! Master of Space! Hero of Science! Captain of the Video Rangers! Operating from his secret mountain headquarters on the planet Earth, Captain Video rallies men of good will and leads them against the forces of evil everywhere! As he rockets from planet to planet, let us follow the champion of justice, truth and freedom throughout the universe! Stand by for...Captain Video...and his Video Rangers!
But these words weren't first heard on Saturday morning. Most of Captain Video's best adventures were seen on weekday evenings, years before the height of Saturday morning sci-fi. In fact, Captain Video was one of the first television heroes, and the first that--true to his name--started in television.
And I was one of the first kids in America to see him. Captain Video went on the air in 1949, on the Dumont network, which never had more than a half dozen stations. But its flagship station was WDTV, Channel 3 in Pittsburgh ---for years, the only commercial station in the city capable of reaching much beyond it. So every night, Monday through Friday (and sometimes on Saturday) at 7 pm, I watched Captain Video. And so did just about everyone else.
I can't say for sure when I started watching it, although I remember when WDTV switched to Channel 2, and that was 1952, when I was 6. I can also remember a day in school--probably when I was in second grade--that a teacher we didn't know (probably a young nun working on her teaching certificate or advanced degree research) came to our class and told us she would play some music, and even though it didn't have any words, we were to draw whatever the music made us think of. She put a record on a phonograph--and as we heard the strains of "The Flying Dutchman," a titter went through the class. She just smiled at us, and didn't understand what was going on until she got a surprising number of drawings of space ships and robots.
Al Hodge played Captain Video for most of its run. He'd been a radio actor, giving voice to "Mr. District Attorney" and "Gangbusters," which eventually became TV shows. Many if not most TV shows and forms came directly from radio (and indirectly from theatre, Vaudeville, movies and comics.) But Captain Video started with and on TV--and its popularity there led to a couple of movie serials.
Captain Video was set in the year 2254. He piloted the sleek spaceship The Galaxy. The show was live and on a very small budget--if the Captain and Ranger slid in the grass, it was apt to wrinkle like the throw rug it was. But the filmed inserts of The Galaxy and other minatures were magical.
Captain Video's adventures were primarily fighting villains--often scientists, like himself. (Dr. Pauli was the best known, and most popular. ) Since these confrontations turn out to be one scientific invention against another, they mirrored the simultaneous admiration and suspicion of scientists in the 1950s, the age of atomic power and radiation fears. There were some real science and science fiction ideas in what was basically space adventure. Imaginative extrapolations of radio and television in particular made the show seem futuristic.
Even though he had his advanced devices--including a Cosmic Ray Vibrator that shook his enemies into submission--Captain Video was also an action hero (Hodge was also a former track star.) One reviewer called him a combination of Einstein and Flash Gordon.
Hodge also taught Sunday School, so he took to heart his moments on the program talking directly with the "Rangers at home." As the Museum of Broadcasting site comments: "While messages on other children's programs would focus on children's issues such as safely crossing the street, Ranger Messages dealt with more global issues such as freedom, the Golden Rule, and nondiscrimination." Showing the scientist and his shadow side (in the villain) also emphasized the potential for good and evil within everyone, and the importance of asserting and living up to these ideals. Hodge even told a congressional committee that Captain Video never used the word "kill."
Captain Video did wind up on Saturday morning in 1953 and 1954, as "The Secret Files of Captain Video," which sometimes alternated with the Dumont version of "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet." But the Saturday series only featured some actual Captain Video episodes. It was also a showcase for other science fiction stories, including one by James Blish. At some point the Saturday morning Captain was reduced to introducing other old movies and cartoons, shown on a screen in Tobor's midsection. By 1953, the week night Captain Video was down from thirty to fifteen minute episodes--I seem to recall that at least one other science fiction series shared that 7 to 7:30 slot. By 1955, the Captain was still making good stories, but the Dumont network was on its last legs. When it failed, Captain Video went off the air.
Captain Video was set in the year 2254. He piloted the sleek spaceship The Galaxy. The show was live and on a very small budget--if the Captain and Ranger slid in the grass, it was apt to wrinkle like the throw rug it was. But the filmed inserts of The Galaxy and other minatures were magical.
Captain Video's adventures were primarily fighting villains--often scientists, like himself. (Dr. Pauli was the best known, and most popular. ) Since these confrontations turn out to be one scientific invention against another, they mirrored the simultaneous admiration and suspicion of scientists in the 1950s, the age of atomic power and radiation fears. There were some real science and science fiction ideas in what was basically space adventure. Imaginative extrapolations of radio and television in particular made the show seem futuristic.
Even though he had his advanced devices--including a Cosmic Ray Vibrator that shook his enemies into submission--Captain Video was also an action hero (Hodge was also a former track star.) One reviewer called him a combination of Einstein and Flash Gordon.
Hodge also taught Sunday School, so he took to heart his moments on the program talking directly with the "Rangers at home." As the Museum of Broadcasting site comments: "While messages on other children's programs would focus on children's issues such as safely crossing the street, Ranger Messages dealt with more global issues such as freedom, the Golden Rule, and nondiscrimination." Showing the scientist and his shadow side (in the villain) also emphasized the potential for good and evil within everyone, and the importance of asserting and living up to these ideals. Hodge even told a congressional committee that Captain Video never used the word "kill."
Captain Video did wind up on Saturday morning in 1953 and 1954, as "The Secret Files of Captain Video," which sometimes alternated with the Dumont version of "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet." But the Saturday series only featured some actual Captain Video episodes. It was also a showcase for other science fiction stories, including one by James Blish. At some point the Saturday morning Captain was reduced to introducing other old movies and cartoons, shown on a screen in Tobor's midsection. By 1953, the week night Captain Video was down from thirty to fifteen minute episodes--I seem to recall that at least one other science fiction series shared that 7 to 7:30 slot. By 1955, the Captain was still making good stories, but the Dumont network was on its last legs. When it failed, Captain Video went off the air.
These are Captain Video toy robots that you either found
in boxes of Post Raisin Bran or sent for with boxtops and
cash. The most memorable figure in Captain Video history
was the robot named Tobor--robot spelled backward. His
reversed nameplate was a kind of symbol for a deranged and
dangerous machine. He was indestructible, and built for
good, but the beautiful but evil Atar stole him. I remember
that for the first several episodes he was entirely inert and
motionless--and huge, as Captain Video talked about his power.
I kept staring at him to see if I could see him "wake up."
His most conspicuous features were the lobster-like claws
he had for hands. He really was frightening. But also popular--
when he did wake up and became Captain Video's nemesis over
many episodes until a typical robot conflict of being unable to
serve two masters "destroyed"him, there was such a clamor
that the show brought him back, this time as Captain Video's ally
and a force for good.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
Then at 11:30: "CBS Television presents--- Rooodddd Brrrroooowwwn of the Rooocket Raaaangers! Surging with the power of the atom, gleaming like great silver bullets, the mighty Rocket Rangers space ships stand by for blast off! [Roar of ignition.] Up, up, rockets blazing with white-hot fury, the man-made meteors ride through the atmosphere, breaking the gravity barrier, pushing up and out, faster and faster, and then... outer space and high adventure for the Roooocket Raaaaangers!"
I don't actually remember much about this show, and according to the Space Hero files that's not unusual. It was broadcast only for about a year (April 1953 to May 1954), and for part of its run was on opposite both Tom Corbett and "The Secret Files of Captain Video" (more on Captain Video soon.) It was done live from New York, never rerun and apparently no kinescopes survived. But it was a top drawer production for this kind of program, having stolen some seasoned pros from the original Tom Corbett team, and using young talent that later went places, like director John (The Manchurian Candidate ) Frankenheimer, and most conspicuously the actor who played Rod Brown: Cliff Robertson.
Robertson was then a student at the "method" acting Actors' Studio, and was acting in the New York theatre, sometimes doing two shows after his Rod Brown live broadcast on Saturday morning. Robertson of course had a long and distinguished movie career. I suppose some of his futuristic image may have rubbed off when he played JFK in P-T 109, but today's sci-fi and superhero fans will know him as the revered uncle in Spider-Man who tells Peter Parker that " with great power comes great responsibility" (itself a kind of JFK line-- he quoted the adage, "To whom much is given, much is required.")
Rod Brown made first contact with the winged girl of Venus, battled a bank-robbing robot on Mars, and discovered earth's twin planet on the other side of the sun (a sci-fi idea used more than once before and since.) There was also a Venusian ocean octopus, the tiny inhabitants of Mercury, stickmen from Neptune, and shadow creatures from the 5th dimension (forerunners perhaps of the Lectoids from the eighth dimension Buckaroo Banzai encountered.) The globe men of Oma! The phantom birds of Beloro! The Colossus of Centauri! Pretty busy for a series that lasted 13 months!
The serious mid-50s theme of radioactivity was tackled at least three times, including one about the spread of radiation sickness called "The Apples of Eden." And they built stories around at least a couple of pretty advanced sci-fi ideas: aliens without form or mass (Star Trek's "energy beings" perhaps) and a radioactive meteor that converts energy into matter.
So by the time Rod Brown signed off, after two and a half hours of space adventures and all the cinnamon toast, peanut butter and saltines, , jelly on white bread, peanut butter on celery, etc. , we would blast off outdoors to play--using the adventures we'd just seen as our imaginative springboard. And then maybe a double feature at the movies on Saturday afternoon!
Still to come: Captain Video, Johnny Jupiter and Captain Midnight!
Then at 11:30: "CBS Television presents--- Rooodddd Brrrroooowwwn of the Rooocket Raaaangers! Surging with the power of the atom, gleaming like great silver bullets, the mighty Rocket Rangers space ships stand by for blast off! [Roar of ignition.] Up, up, rockets blazing with white-hot fury, the man-made meteors ride through the atmosphere, breaking the gravity barrier, pushing up and out, faster and faster, and then... outer space and high adventure for the Roooocket Raaaaangers!"
I don't actually remember much about this show, and according to the Space Hero files that's not unusual. It was broadcast only for about a year (April 1953 to May 1954), and for part of its run was on opposite both Tom Corbett and "The Secret Files of Captain Video" (more on Captain Video soon.) It was done live from New York, never rerun and apparently no kinescopes survived. But it was a top drawer production for this kind of program, having stolen some seasoned pros from the original Tom Corbett team, and using young talent that later went places, like director John (The Manchurian Candidate ) Frankenheimer, and most conspicuously the actor who played Rod Brown: Cliff Robertson.
Robertson was then a student at the "method" acting Actors' Studio, and was acting in the New York theatre, sometimes doing two shows after his Rod Brown live broadcast on Saturday morning. Robertson of course had a long and distinguished movie career. I suppose some of his futuristic image may have rubbed off when he played JFK in P-T 109, but today's sci-fi and superhero fans will know him as the revered uncle in Spider-Man who tells Peter Parker that " with great power comes great responsibility" (itself a kind of JFK line-- he quoted the adage, "To whom much is given, much is required.")
Rod Brown made first contact with the winged girl of Venus, battled a bank-robbing robot on Mars, and discovered earth's twin planet on the other side of the sun (a sci-fi idea used more than once before and since.) There was also a Venusian ocean octopus, the tiny inhabitants of Mercury, stickmen from Neptune, and shadow creatures from the 5th dimension (forerunners perhaps of the Lectoids from the eighth dimension Buckaroo Banzai encountered.) The globe men of Oma! The phantom birds of Beloro! The Colossus of Centauri! Pretty busy for a series that lasted 13 months!
The serious mid-50s theme of radioactivity was tackled at least three times, including one about the spread of radiation sickness called "The Apples of Eden." And they built stories around at least a couple of pretty advanced sci-fi ideas: aliens without form or mass (Star Trek's "energy beings" perhaps) and a radioactive meteor that converts energy into matter.
So by the time Rod Brown signed off, after two and a half hours of space adventures and all the cinnamon toast, peanut butter and saltines, , jelly on white bread, peanut butter on celery, etc. , we would blast off outdoors to play--using the adventures we'd just seen as our imaginative springboard. And then maybe a double feature at the movies on Saturday afternoon!
Still to come: Captain Video, Johnny Jupiter and Captain Midnight!
Back row: Ranger Wilbur "Wormsey" Wormser (Jack Weston, who also then had a long career in TV and movies and on Broadway), Commander Swift (John Boruff.) Front: Rod Brown (Cliff Robertson) and Ranger Frank Boyle (Bruce Hall.) Guest actors included Don
Knotts and Jonathan Winters, spacemen in their own right.
The Code of the Rocket Rangers:
(from the Joe Sarno Science Fiction 50s TV site)
ON MY HONOR AS A ROCKET RANGER, I PLEDGE THAT:
I shall always chart my course according to the Constitution of the United States of America.
I shall never cross orbits with the Rights and Beliefs of others.
I shall blast at full space-speed to protect the Weak and Innocent.
I shall stay out of collision orbit with the laws of my State and Community.
I shall cruise in parallel orbit with my Parents and Teachers.
I shall not roar my rockets unwisely, and shall be Courteous at all times.
I shall keep my gyros steady and reactors burning by being Industrious and Thrifty.
I shall keep my scanner tuned to Learning and remain coupled to my Studies.
I shall keep my mind out of free-fall by being mentally alert.
I shall blast the meteors from the paths of other people by being Kind and Considerate.
(from the Joe Sarno Science Fiction 50s TV site)
ON MY HONOR AS A ROCKET RANGER, I PLEDGE THAT:
I shall always chart my course according to the Constitution of the United States of America.
I shall never cross orbits with the Rights and Beliefs of others.
I shall blast at full space-speed to protect the Weak and Innocent.
I shall stay out of collision orbit with the laws of my State and Community.
I shall cruise in parallel orbit with my Parents and Teachers.
I shall not roar my rockets unwisely, and shall be Courteous at all times.
I shall keep my gyros steady and reactors burning by being Industrious and Thrifty.
I shall keep my scanner tuned to Learning and remain coupled to my Studies.
I shall keep my mind out of free-fall by being mentally alert.
I shall blast the meteors from the paths of other people by being Kind and Considerate.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Saturday Morning Sci-Fi
Commander Buzz Corey of the Space
Patrol. Of course we never saw his
Picard-red uniform on our black and
white TV.
Space Patrol
Then at 11 AM came my favorite, and perhaps the most generally popular of the Saturday morning sci-fi adventures: Space Patrol. It started out with a really neat space ship (named the Terra), and the announcer: "High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corry, Commander in Chief of the SPACE PATROL!"
The Space Patrol was the service of the United (Federation of) Planets (like Star Trek later, and like Trek--Gene Roddenberry's biographer David Alexander points out--it was created by a military pilot of the U.S. Navy, as Roddenberry was, in this case by William " Mike" Moser. )
Commander Corry and the Space Patrol battled space pirates, evil scientists and other intersteller bad guys. But like all of these shows, they also warned of the dangers of radiation and promoted peaceful solutions and even disarmament. After Buzz Corey encountered a planet that had destroyed itself through hatred, he returned to earth determined to see that it didn’t happen there.
Their base of operations was an artificial planet in the solar system, also called Terra. There were real sci-fi plots like Corry traveling a thousand years in the past to find a particular blood donor, but mostly space opera adventures, traveling to a planet of Amazons, and to battle the Wild Men of Procyon, Captain Dagger, zombie robots, invisible creatures and their greatest nemesis, Prince Baccaratti.
Ed Kemmer played Corry. Kemmer had been a military pilot in World War II, was shot down and held in a prisoner of war camp. He had some theatre training but no TV acting experience. Lyn Osborn, Kemmer's pal from the Pasadena Playhouse and himself an ex-military airman, played the often comic sidekick, Cadet Happy. He did Robin for the space age with his "Smokin Rockets!" and "Blast off!" exclamations. Ken Mayer was the action assistant, Major Robertson. Norman Jolley was the wise old Secretary General of United Planets, Mr. Karlyle, and his comely blond daughter, Carol, was played by Virginia Hewitt, but there was also a sultry brunette with a "criminal past" called Miss Tonga, played by Nina Bara. Once again the future had short skirts (even before the 60s and Star Trek.)
Gene Barry (soon to star in War of the Worlds) had a guest shot, and probably the highest octane villain is one I think I remember, the evil Mr. Proteus, played by Marvin Miller, who not only starred later in The Millionaire TV series but was the voice of Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet.
I have one strong memory in connection with this show. It was starting one Saturday morning when my mother heard the announcer or someone on the show refer to it being set in the thirtieth century. (I have the vague recollection it was another time travel plot.) She asked me if I knew what century it is now. I wasn't sure. She told me the twentieth, and then said that she used to listen to Buck Rodgers on the radio--his space adventures were in the 22nd century. I remember this partly because I hadn't imagined my mother listening to space adventures, but also because I began to sense the extent of time, and of the future.
UPDATE: Ain't the Internet great? Turns out there's an entire and really great website about Space Patrol with lots of information, the audio of the show's opening, and an entire episode to watch. (The production values don't match Rocky Jones, but listen to the crisp diction of the actors.) It's by the author of the Space Patrol Book, Jean-Noel Bassior, who left a comment here. Thanks Jean-Noel!
Then at 11 AM came my favorite, and perhaps the most generally popular of the Saturday morning sci-fi adventures: Space Patrol. It started out with a really neat space ship (named the Terra), and the announcer: "High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corry, Commander in Chief of the SPACE PATROL!"
The Space Patrol was the service of the United (Federation of) Planets (like Star Trek later, and like Trek--Gene Roddenberry's biographer David Alexander points out--it was created by a military pilot of the U.S. Navy, as Roddenberry was, in this case by William " Mike" Moser. )
Commander Corry and the Space Patrol battled space pirates, evil scientists and other intersteller bad guys. But like all of these shows, they also warned of the dangers of radiation and promoted peaceful solutions and even disarmament. After Buzz Corey encountered a planet that had destroyed itself through hatred, he returned to earth determined to see that it didn’t happen there.
Their base of operations was an artificial planet in the solar system, also called Terra. There were real sci-fi plots like Corry traveling a thousand years in the past to find a particular blood donor, but mostly space opera adventures, traveling to a planet of Amazons, and to battle the Wild Men of Procyon, Captain Dagger, zombie robots, invisible creatures and their greatest nemesis, Prince Baccaratti.
Ed Kemmer played Corry. Kemmer had been a military pilot in World War II, was shot down and held in a prisoner of war camp. He had some theatre training but no TV acting experience. Lyn Osborn, Kemmer's pal from the Pasadena Playhouse and himself an ex-military airman, played the often comic sidekick, Cadet Happy. He did Robin for the space age with his "Smokin Rockets!" and "Blast off!" exclamations. Ken Mayer was the action assistant, Major Robertson. Norman Jolley was the wise old Secretary General of United Planets, Mr. Karlyle, and his comely blond daughter, Carol, was played by Virginia Hewitt, but there was also a sultry brunette with a "criminal past" called Miss Tonga, played by Nina Bara. Once again the future had short skirts (even before the 60s and Star Trek.)
Gene Barry (soon to star in War of the Worlds) had a guest shot, and probably the highest octane villain is one I think I remember, the evil Mr. Proteus, played by Marvin Miller, who not only starred later in The Millionaire TV series but was the voice of Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet.
I have one strong memory in connection with this show. It was starting one Saturday morning when my mother heard the announcer or someone on the show refer to it being set in the thirtieth century. (I have the vague recollection it was another time travel plot.) She asked me if I knew what century it is now. I wasn't sure. She told me the twentieth, and then said that she used to listen to Buck Rodgers on the radio--his space adventures were in the 22nd century. I remember this partly because I hadn't imagined my mother listening to space adventures, but also because I began to sense the extent of time, and of the future.
UPDATE: Ain't the Internet great? Turns out there's an entire and really great website about Space Patrol with lots of information, the audio of the show's opening, and an entire episode to watch. (The production values don't match Rocky Jones, but listen to the crisp diction of the actors.) It's by the author of the Space Patrol Book, Jean-Noel Bassior, who left a comment here. Thanks Jean-Noel!
Space Patrol was on ABC from 1951 to 1955, and was one of the first Saturday shows to make a bundle from merchandise sales. I don't remember having any, but these binoculars look neat.Space Patrol was sponsored by Nestles and the Ralston Purina cereals, Wheat and Rice Chex.
The actors sometimes did the commercials, and did them live. They came right from the action of the previous scene. This is probably why when we "played" Space Patrol and other TV adventures, we too would cap the action with a brief improvised testimonial for Nestle's Crunch.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Saturday Morning Sci-Fi
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger was next at 10 AM Saturday morning. This show looked a little different from the others--it was shot on film, while others were broadcast live and then rerun on kinescope, a pre-tape method. But the mix of science fiction, adventure heroics and morality plays was the same.The Space Rangers were the exploratory and police service of United Worlds. The stories unfolded over three episodes, and some were later collected into movies, like "Crash of Moons." There was some attempt to mix science in with the derring-do, and there was strong emphasis on the rule of law, and violence only as a last resort. Despite the spacegun displayed on this cover (that's Vena Ray with Rocky), there was little weapons fire--but a fair number of fistfights.
The series also bequeathed the automatically opening doors, the view screen and video phones to later sci-fi TV and movies. Some of the adventures preserved on DVD are still fun to watch. There's even a little secret humor, such as the bureaucratic dictatorship on the planet Officious. The only stuff I remember having from this show was a Rocky Jones writing tablet.
This is a model of the Orbit Jet, Rocky Jones' spaceship. My cousin Dick remembers how it would fly horizontally, and then "parallel park" to land vertically on a planet's surface.Richard Crane played Rocky Jones, Scotty Beckett was his comical sidekick, Winky. Sally Mansfield was Vena--probably only a 50s kids show could get away with that name--who was more than just a pretty face, although she was certainly that, and long legs in a short skirt as well. These shows were educational. Robby Lyden played Bobby, the pre-teen surrogate for boys watching, and Maurice Cass played Professor Newton, the old, absent-minded professor type. There were a few cast changes, as when Cass died and "Winky" was locked up for illegal weapons possession.
The aliens and planets were in the Flash Gordon serial mode--stereotypes in goofy costumes. The notable villains (both of whom are in the episodes collected into films that are available now on cheap DVDs) included "the beautiful but evil" Queen Cleolantha, and the suspiciously swarthy space rogue, Pinto Vortando.
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