Tv scifi classics of yesteryear

[bearfax]

Listen you turkeys. Sure the modern SciFis have the big money and big effects but there were some pretty decent TV and serial SciFis back in those Days of Yore. Many of you young bucks and belles have probably never heard of some of these shows and yeh they are real hokey today, but hey they are fun to watch if you have a lazy afternoon with the popcorn at the ready. Thought I'd get you thinking with the first, a series that was one of the most expensive of its time...well they didnt have much to spend back then did they.

No 1: ROCKY JONES

Never heard of it eh. Not surprising. Most of you chipmunks werent born when this one came out. The producers tried all sorts of innovative effects to cover costs but some of their science was a bit wonky. Basically one for the kids with Rocky Jones a do-gooder Space Ranger, a kind of space cop, who in his Orbit Jet XV-2 and Silver Moon XV-3 (Xs an Vs always sounded good back then for space shows) ranged through the Solar System (though many of the World I didnt recognise and they had lots of aliens all who spoke English and looked human) to dispense justice against Ne'er Do Wells and their nefarious misdeeds

Interesting fact about this show was that though they blew up spaceships no doubt with people inside, they never seemed to kill anyone with their ray guns, preferring fist fights to subdue their quarry

You can get the DVDs on the series which was a 2 season blockbuster, of 39 half hour shows. Rocky was acted by Richard Crane a veteran 'B' actor who appeared in many early TV episodes and was at one stage Commando Cody's sidekick (I'll get onto Commando Cody later). His crew were typical of kids shows of the time. The precocious little tyke who knew far too much for his age. The dopey sidekick, there for the comedy. The token woman, there to look good and be saved when needed and the professor who always knew how to address tricky situations. Yep it was a truly professional melange.

Actually quite fun to watch and has some interesting ideas. No doubt one of the inspirations for Star Trek that appeared a decade later...and was a little more adult fare and scientifically more accurate.

[ecgordon]

I was born in 1950, but we didn't get our first TV until '55 or '56, so I missed this one. I had heard of it of course, but I have no interest in watching it.

[bearfax]

Here's one your Grandparents loved boys and girls. Actually originally Theatrical serials you went and saw each Saturday night before the main feature, but later at least one was syndicated and rehashed for TV viewing.

2. COMMANDO CODY

You've seen the movie THE ROCKETEER havent you. This is where the concept and outfit originally came from. The man in the flying suit called Rocketman who appeared in four 12 part serials in the late 40s early 50s. But Rocketman was transformed over the four serials, with name changes and actor changes, but the same central Rocketman character prevailed. Each episode was usually about 15 minutes long.

In 1949, KING OF THE ROCKETMEN was released with actor Tristrane Coffin playing the character Jeff King. He was fighting the nefarious Dr Vulcan who was trying to defeat the Science Alliance and yes dominate the world...you didnt think anything less did you?

In 1952, George Wallace played the rocketman in two serials RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON and ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE. His character name was originally to be Larry Martin, but to attract the pre teens it was changed to COMMANDO CODY because it sounded like Commander Corry, the hero of a popular radio series at the time called Space Patrol. Thus Commando Cody the rocketman was born.

in 1953, Judd Holdren played Commando Cody in the last of the 12 part serials COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHALL OF THE UNIVERSE. In 1955 it was brought to TV through syndication and was buffed up with more effects, better music and 25 minutes episodes.

The series of four 12 episode serials are still available on DVD. What's interesting about it is the flying sequences. Some of the shots of the rocketman flying only metres off the ground are as good as you'll see even with CGI today. Mind you the dial on his belt that controlled the rockets were pretty simple such as 'Up', 'Down' etc. And as with most serials of that time, there was usually a punch up between the forces of good and evil in each episode, with chairs and tables flying everywhere, bodies crashing into walls and furnishings etc but unless they were shot, they got up uninjured and sprightly as if the event hadnt occurred. Even their suits remained clean pressed. And of course there was the ubiquitous cliff hanger scene at the end of each episode and the 'what will happen...' words flashing across the screen. Next episode you had at least a minute of recap before you saw how our hero escaped...yet again.

Great fun and even today worth watching with the pop corn. Hokey for sure and tends to be quite repetitive with the fight scenes but fun just the same. Special effects are very low tech but enjoy the ride anyway.

[bearfax]

I was born in 1950, but we didn't get our first TV until '55 or '56, so I missed this one. I had heard of it of course, but I have no interest in watching it.

Its dorky for sure ECGORDON, but quite fun and gives you a sense of values of the time. The kid irritates no end and you wonder how the co-pilot got his wings (?). It really fits in with those older Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials. I think they often used the same rocketships with the smoke behind rising up

[McClance]

I have the complete series of Rocky Jones. It is rather enjoyable, even if it is laughable at times in terms of acting and other stuff--like Rocky blowing up a bad guy with the touch of a button. Watch the end of the first 3-parter and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I also have a collection of episodes from Space Patrol (1951-1955), which I've also enjoyed. I especially have to respect them turning out a new episode nearly every single week from January 1951 to February 1955.

I respect these old shows and the Buster Crabbe serials of the '30s, digging the roots for the science fiction shows and movies we enjoy today.

Oh, and by the way, I'm just under 30 years old.

[bearfax]

McCance. Obviously a true SciFi fan if you are only 30 and watch these little treasures. There are lots of them back there. Hokey but fun and top imagination if a little as I said scientifically wayward. Days of Scott McCloud, Space Angel

[bearfax]

Before the superheroes of the Avengers franchise, Smallville, Arrow, Flash etc way back in the early years of British television, the ITV group, responsible for such shows as The Saint, The Baron, Jason King, Thunderbirds and that super soap Coronation Street, produced a one season contemporary SciFi that remains a cult classic

3. THE CHAMPIONS (1968-69)

This little pearl was probably the first adult fare superhero TV series, set during the Cold War where USSR and China were on the outer and the rest of the World needed special security services to protect the good guys(?)

Here we have in Switzerland (a nice safe non political little country) on the shores of Lake Geneva, the Head Quarters of an International security organisation called NEMESIS. Its top dog Tremayne sends out his agents to stop the bad guys and cut short naughty plans that might do us all no good. One trio of agents, Sharon McReady, Richard Barrett and Craig Stirling, are secreted into Chinese occupied Tibet to snatch samples of some dangerous grubs genetically modified to do our agricultural products no good. They get the samples and fly off but their plane is hit by a stray bullet (of course) and they crash in the Himalayas. Near death they are saved by a community living in a Shangri La like settlement and their broken bodies are repaired. They are also given extra goodies such as telepathy, super strength, hearing and sight, increased intellect and a whole bunch of other helpful bits and pieces.

Thus begins the series. The three agents keep their abilities secret even from Tremayne, but achieve their goals with remarkable precision much to Tremayne's confusion. Their abilities are not over the top, so they remain vulnerable to keep up the suspense

It was an interesting little premise that for the most part offered a good show. Some eps weren't great, others worthy, but it seems ITV were only prepared to give it 30 episodes before shutting up shop. But its on DVD and worth a peek. There have been moves to make a movie version, but nothing yet has reached production level.

[bearfax]

One for the time trippers. This Scifi is one peculiar but watchable time travel series that was first screened on ITV in Britain in 1979-1982. Its only got 34 episodes and each is only 25 minutes long but its one of those off centre type shows that wont appeal to everyone but is surprising well done

No 4. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL

Imagine some unknown alien time guardian agency that travels time to search out 'weak spots' where there are apparent anachronisms, out of time elements, that suggest a corruption of the time fabric. Imagine there are malevolent entities searching out these 'spots' to cause mayhem or just pinch things that alter time. The agency's business from our point of view is Earth bound, and these time guardian aliens, take human form to seek out the anomaly and correct it. These entities have different characteristics and purpose and their names give some idea of what their personality, abilities and nature is about.

Sapphire is played by Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous and New Avengers roles. Steel is played by David McCallum of Man from UNCLE and NCIS roles. There are others we meet such as Lead and Silver. Some can change time a little, some can freeze things, some can melt things, depending on the need. And there are other specialists sneaking around keeping our time in order. All along they are mixing with people in different situations trying not to reveal too much of their mission.

Its a weird little piece, great cult quality, not high tech but some clever concepts. Little known but well worth a look. Available on DVD.

[bearfax]

Irwin Allen was the rising SciFi adventure producer of the 60s who moved into SciFi in 1960 with the , for its time, well made The Lost World. In 1961 he followed this up with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which was so successful that he gained the finances to produce the first of his successful SciFi series

No 5. VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

This series was something of a ground breaker in SciFi and was probably Allen's most successful venture into TV SciFi, which later included The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space and Land of the Giants.

The series lasted four seasons starting in monotone and moving into colour in the second season. It stared Richard Basehart as Admiral Nelson, the developer of the futuristic submarine SEAVIEW, which addressed the dual role of undersea exploration and protector of the seas from nefarious political elements. His second in command Captain Crane was played by David Hedison, who had been in his The Lost World, and as with many of Allen's TV shows, scenes from that movie and many others were used to avoid expensive over runs.

'Voyage...' started well but the money people wanted less political intrigue and more bizarre SciFi and the show virtually became a 'sea monster of the week', interspersed with ghosts, ghouls, aliens etc. But it did improve some elements as it developed including its two man sub and its flying sub, that became quite an attraction in the later seasons. The music support also added to the adventurous feeling of the show. In the 90s SeaQuest DSV sought to create something of an update version with some success.

Irwin Allen of course became known in the 70s as the MASTER OF DISASTER with his successful films Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno.

Full series available on DVD.

[bearfax]

WHO IS NUMBER 6

Intelligent psychological thriller series are few and far between with action being the calling of so many SciFis today. But back in 1967-68, Britain produced a 17 part surreal spy series with SciFi elements that has rarely been equaled.

No 6. THE PRISONER

Patrick McGoohan had been the main character John Drake in a long and successful series called DANGERMAN (aka SECRET AGENT) between 1960-68. The series had developed from a Saint like character aiding the defenseless over 30 minutes to a 60 minute spy series with increasingly bizarre and surreal elements. The producers wanted to continue the show but McGoohan successfully persuaded them to finance The Prisoner which is somewhat of an extension of Dangerman.

The premise has our hero angrily resigning from a spy organisation for reasons unknown and intending a quiet retirement. But he's sedated and taken to an isolated self sustained picture perfect little village, where the inhabitants are all identified as numbers rather than names. He is designated No 6.

It becomes apparent that the residents are either kidnapped ex agents or plants. And there is no apparent escape, the boundaries protected by strange huge balloon like mechanisms.

The purpose of the village seems to be the extraction of information, but we're never sure for what side. The series focuses on No 6 and a succession of chess like psychological games aimed at extracting information about his reasons for leaving the spy agency and what he knows. He responds rebelliously firstly by shouting 'I'm not a number...' but also uses his skill to counter the strategies of each new interrogator.

This is a cerebral series not so much an action series. It gets you thinking about the psychological moves, blind alleys, clever strategies No 6 and the operators use against each other, usually with other members of the Village caught up in the game. Very much a Cold War creation.

Great tightly produced series, far better than the 2009 remake, that leaves you satisfied that you've enjoyed the game at the end of each episode.

If you are into thinking SciFis then this is the one to get. Its available on DVD

[bearfax]

The Western Societies suffered a period of extreme paranoia during the post war years up until the 1970s. Fear of the Atom Bomb, fear of the USSR and its Iron Curtain, fear of Communist China and its Bamboo Curtain, Korea, Vietnam, The Cuba Missile Crisis, terrorism and of course the fear started during the 30s of infiltrators, initially Nazis and later Communists aimed at subverting our World with their nefarious naughtiness. The McCarthy paranoia really didnt die until the late 60s and even then a different version lingers on. SciFi films by the dozens were produced to feed into this fear, the most notable being INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. The mood was ready for one of the best cold war paranoia laden TV series of that period;

NO. 7. THE INVADERS (1967-68)

David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) architect, is en route home after a meeting and ends up on a deserted road late at night. He settles back in his car to sleep until dawn but is awakened by the landing of a flying saucer. His report to the police is ignored but then two attempts are made on his life. For David Vincent has inadvertently been made aware of a secret. Aliens are infiltrating and want to take over the World.

Look. Best to think Communists when you think alien in this series and you'll see the parallels. Men in dark suits, strange experiments in isolated communities, mind control experiments, weather control, sabotage, controling companies, elimination of those who threaten their cause. Yep its them bad Communists guys out to infiltrate America and make it THEIR WORLD. The old communist under the bed theme worked well in this series to scare the socks off its viewers.

So much of this series worked well for a while. Great haunting, threatening music, the lone investigator trying hard to get evidence that the aliens are here, but never seeming to get hold of that one object that would prove his case. Aliens who look just like anyone else but for a mutated 'pinky'. Aliens infiltrating high office throughout the land. Who are the bad guys? Who can you trust?

The second season saw Vincent finally get a small group of prominent supporters and time and again they beat those nasty aliens at their own game. But they kept coming. They kept infiltrating. Them nasty aliens were everywhere. How can we save the World?

Well they didnt save the World. After 43 episodes and two seasons the show was dropped so we never saw who won. A movie version followed with Star Trek Enterprise's Scott Bakula but honestly it was all a bit silly. There's talk of a further movie, maybe series, but that talk is a decade old now. For its time it was one of the best SciFis around with flying saucers, ray guns, killer discs causing death. And of course when the aliens died they just disintegrated so no evidence.

If it is remade, the time is probably ripe with a new phase of paranoia arising with them nasty terrorists. We cant get enough of being spooked. And the Invaders was one of the best at spooking us. Available on DVD

[bearfax]

Hey there chipmunks. We're beginning to heat up with scifis on TV from yesteryear. The next morsel to munch was for its time a high tech little number, the concept of which would do quite well in today's TV world.

No 8. SEARCH (1971-72)

These were the days of Man from UNCLE, I Spy and Wild Wild West following on from the success of the James Bond franchise. The 2 hour pilot was called PROBE and starred Hugh O'Brien fresh from his Wyatt Earp TV series. The series though took on the title SEARCH for its one season, 23 episode tenure.

The setting was a private International security organisation called WORLD SECURITIES CORPORATION (now that's original), that set out to stop the bad guys from doing harmful things to major businesses and countries.

The head of the operation was acted by Burgess Meredith who with a large staff operating from what almost looks like a NASA mission control, were in visual and auditory contact with its agents, as they sought to right wrongs. And this is where the show was innovative. The agents all had implants in their ears, earjacks as they were called, that could not only hear mission control's advise, but allowed mission control to hear what they were hearing. Further, attached to a tie pin or ring was a miniature camera that allowed head office to also see what the agents were seeing. All very handy for immediate information, which they accessed with their early versions of computers at the centre.

The lead agents were acted by well known TV stars of the time Hugh O'Brien, Tony Franciosa and Doug McClure, who each played their parts in addressing the required tasks.

In some ways this show was probably too far ahead of its time to demand further seasons. The concept was attempted again in the 90s with the short lived series FORTUNE HUNTER with a character called Carlton Dial but bungling during the actors strike ended that show after only 13 episodes

SEARCH was recently released to DVD but FORTUNE HUNTER is yet to be offered in that format.

[knowles2]

Before the superheroes of the Avengers franchise, Smallville, Arrow, Flash etc way back in the early years of British television, the ITV group, responsible for such shows as The Saint, The Baron, Jason King, Thunderbirds and that super soap Coronation Street, produced a one season contemporary SciFi that remains a cult classic

3. THE CHAMPIONS (1968-69)

This little pearl was probably the first adult fare superhero TV series, set during the Cold War where USSR and China were on the outer and the rest of the World needed special security services to protect the good guys(?)

Here we have in Switzerland (a nice safe non political little country) on the shores of Lake Geneva, the Head Quarters of an International security organisation called NEMESIS. Its top dog Tremayne sends out his agents to stop the bad guys and cut short naughty plans that might do us all no good. One trio of agents, Sharon McReady, Richard Barrett and Craig Stirling, are secreted into Chinese occupied Tibet to snatch samples of some dangerous grubs genetically modified to do our agricultural products no good. They get the samples and fly off but their plane is hit by a stray bullet (of course) and they crash in the Himalayas. Near death they are saved by a community living in a Shangri La like settlement and their broken bodies are repaired. They are also given extra goodies such as telepathy, super strength, hearing and sight, increased intellect and a whole bunch of other helpful bits and pieces.

Thus begins the series. The three agents keep their abilities secret even from Tremayne, but achieve their goals with remarkable precision much to Tremayne's confusion. Their abilities are not over the top, so they remain vulnerable to keep up the suspense

It was an interesting little premise that for the most part offered a good show. Some eps weren't great, others worthy, but it seems ITV were only prepared to give it 30 episodes before shutting up shop. But its on DVD and worth a peek. There have been moves to make a movie version, but nothing yet has reached production level.

I watch a few of these ones when they aired as repeats, it was pretty fun. Such a shame ITV and BBC don't really do scifi any longer.

[bearfax]

There's a few about Knowles2 but they seemed to have focused on the Dr Who/Torchwood franchise. Primeval wasnt bad. Demons in 2009. I understand their Canadian offshoot is about to release Daredevil.

[bearfax]

The 80s was the beginning of the personal computer and electronics age and film makers grabbed at the opportunity with the successful TRON about a man converted to electronic data and forced into games within a programme. Glen A. Larsen used the concept in reverse bringing a computer generated man into the real world and called it;

No 9. AUTOMAN (1983-84)

Talk about pushing the envelope. We have computer nerd Walter Nebicher who works for the police as its computer programmer/analyst. But poor Walter wants to get where the action is and requests field assignments. Get real, his superiors tell him, and stay in the computer room where you'll be safe.

But Walter gets desperate and works on creating a three dimensional electronic super character, that he manages, with enough power, to bring into the real world. Automan is born to fight the good fight and protect the good guys and he has a similar appearance to the Tron characters, but can take more human form. Supporting Automan is a strange hovering light called 'Cursor' (of course), which can also create electronically generated autocars and autohelicopters, which also take a solid form in the real world (forget the physics here). To add to the fun, Walter can merge with Automan to assist in the fight against evil. Of course the down side is that Automan and cursor constantly have to be recharged, and the energy required is somewhat more than a microwave oven.

The show only lasted 13 episodes and was light fun fare staring Desi Arnez Jnr. I guess Glen A. didnt see much future for it because he shut up shop after only half a season of shows, but its entertaining if light weight...not to be taken too seriously. Available on DVD