Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television [Hardcover]

Jean-Noel Bassior (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0786419113 | ISBN-13: 978-0786419111

The classic television series Space Patrol was a stellar success for ABC from 1950 to 1955. As a pioneer in the hair-raising world of live television, the show had a huge fan base of both children and adults. The magic hinged on the cast: Commander Buzz Corry, Cadet Happy, Carol, Major Robertson and Tonga—five 30th-century personalities whose lives entwined with soap opera strength as they undertook "missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice." A personal appearance by the cast at a Los Angeles department store drew 30,000 fans. But TV viewers had no idea that the actors and crew faced dramatic as well as galactic peril. In the course of producing an action-packed show live before the nation, with special effects in their infancy, what could go wrong usually did. Ed Kemmer, a real-life World War II fighter pilot shot down and captured by Nazis, who later starred as Commander Corry, learned to improvise for nervous, tongue-tied guest actors and to lean casually against scenery about to fall.

This book recounts stories of early television and the risk-taking ABC crew who invented equipment and ingenious special effects that laid the groundwork for TV today. It tells of the personal heroics of Kemmer and other cast members, both on- and off-screen. Included are interviews with Kemmer, as well as TV writer Norman Jolley (who penned many classic series, including Wagon Train); director Dick Darley; radio writer Lou Huston; and veteran announcers Jack Narz and Dick Tufeld. (Tufeld once announced the Grammy Awards from a men’s restroom—the tile walls and floor provided a great reverberating acoustic venue). The book also profiles William "Mike" Moser, the show’s creator, and provides details about how the early shows came together and the events in the first year that took Space Patrol from a local station to the network. Many details are given about the adventure that was putting on a live television show along with live commercials. Stories from fans demonstrate how Space Patrol gave them ideals and values they still hold today. The book explores changes in television that led to the demise of action-adventure shows that featured strong role models and tells how Kemmer, who portrayed the heroic Buzz Corry, came to terms with his impact on countless young lives. (Fifty years later, he was still receiving letters from grateful fans.) Included are episode guides covering the 210 half-hour network TV shows, as well as the radio shows, and memorabilia collectors can feast on the galaxy’s most complete guide to Space Patrol premiums.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bassior managed to track down every surviving cast member and production staffer who worked on the early science-fiction television series Space Patrol. With a combination of interviews and wry commentary, she tells their stories and, in the process, brings new life to a magical and long-vanished era of televised sf. When the show originally aired, the medium was still in its infancy. There was no videorecording, and most regular programs were presented live, with actors often having to learn scripts just hours before broadcast time. Thanks to Space Patrol's inventive storytelling, its production cohesiveness, and a remarkable camaraderie among the cast, the program became a classic of its kind, inspiring a generation of kids who grew up to become leading scientists and creative artists. By immersing the reader in the dynamics of early television production, Bassior extends the range of what might have been an extremely narrow topic. This is a valuable analysis of a nearly lost part of our cultural heritage. Elliott Swanson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A beautiful and inspirational glimpse into a world that cannot be recaptured. . . a major accomplishment." -- James J.J. Wilson, Managing Editor, Filmfax magazine

"A loving look back" -- Communication Booknotes Quarterly

"Involving in-depth coverage" -- Midwest Book Review

"It’s finally here! The book we’ve all been waiting for! And was it ever with the wait!...fascinating" -- SwapSale.com

"It’s finally here! The book we’ve all been waiting for! And was it ever worth the wait!...fascinating" -- SwapSale.com

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786419113
• ISBN-13: 978-0786419111
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TV: The Way It Was (and the way it should be), January 25, 2005

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R. Lee "TV Executive" (Tucson, Arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television (Hardcover)

This "labor of love" for Bassior is a must read for those interested not only in "kid vid" but in how "television" was born. The reader quickly realizes that the producers of "Space Patrol" were true pioneers...inventing special effects, developing camera techniques and working up stage settings that defined "live" TV in it's first decade. While operating at the lowest end of the budget scale, "Space Patrol" was live sci-fi drama as good as ABC's "other" futuristic adult-themed drama of the same era: "Tales of Tomorrow." There were no digital special effects, no computer-generated images, and the line between good and evil was always crystal clear. The actors and the story were central, NOT the special effects. Plus there were only three commercials in each half-hour episode! How sweet it was! This book is more than a nostalgic look at a childhood memory, it's a well-documented historical review of how television programs were created and produced at a time when there was no "instruction manual" to follow. You will find it fascinating. Wonderful pictures are included, too.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Wild, Vast Reaches of Space..., December 28, 2004

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Rory Coker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television (Hardcover)

One of the ironies of the Golden Age of Television is that some of its most ambitious programming coincided with the primitive infancy of the medium, 1949 -- 1955. Given that all programming was being broadcast "live" as it happened, in "real time," TV directors and producers nevertheless dared to present, in CAPTAIN VIDEO (1949-55), TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET (1950-55) and SPACE PATROL (1950-55), often action-packed science-fictional adventures with complex practical and special effects... and anywhere from 30 minutes once a week to 30 minutes every weekday!

As the casts and crews of these series are steadily taken away from us by time, we are also losing all personal contact with this most heroic (in several senses of the word!) era of early live television broadcasting. So it is very welcome to find this 400-plus-page book by Jean-Noel Bassior, entirely devoted to SPACE PATROL. She began work on the book in the early 1980s, when almost all the cast and crew except for Lyn Osborn (Cadet Happy) were still alive and available for interview, and portions of more than 50 separate interviews are incorporated throughout the book. The book is also copiously illustrated with a large number of clearly-reproduced and often quite rare photos.

More than 20 individual chapters cover almost every aspect of the series, including cast, crew, and writers. About the only significant omission that struck me was that of Carl Macauley, designer of the very impressive and spacious sets... there's not much about him compared to other key crew members. Readers will also find appendices contributed by various experts, describing various Space Patrol-related toys and premiums, the 30-minute network TV episodes, some of the surviving 30-minute radio episodes, and the most-often-seen miniature buildings and spaceships of the series.

Mike Moser's sudden death in the spring of 1953 (struck by a car as he stepped off a dark curb) tolled the end for SPACE PATROL. When Nina Bara (Tonga) reminded Moser's widow of various unkept promises made by Moser to the cast, she was promptly fired. The daily 15-minute broadcasts vanished from the lineup, a development welcomed by the greatly overworked cast and crew. More ominously, by the fall of 1953, kids and their parents who ordered from the impressive catalog of SPACE PATROL toys and merchandise were receiving only a letter explaining that neither the items nor a refund would ever be forthcoming... from a company Moser had mainly operated out of the trunk of his own car! Moser's widow Helen didn't really know what to do with the program she inherited, and as soon as the key sponsor pulled out, that was the end, except for a syndicated series of old kinescope recordings on 35 mm film that could be seen spottily on TV in the late 1950s.

Many kinescoped episodes of SPACE PATROL are available for viewing today on video tape. Seen more than half a century after they were broadcast, and by jaded adults rather than starry-eyed children of the early Space Age, they don't usually hold up well. The weakest element by far is the scripting, while the sets are often extremely impressive. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry) is a completely convincing hero; Lyn Osborn (Happy) is as funny and charming as his often poorly written part allows, and his character's relationship with Kemmer's is always believable. Virginia Hewitt (Carol) and Nina Bara (Tonga) come across as simultaneously sexy and intelligent; Ken Mayer (Robbie) is reliable as the only other SPACE PATROL officer we usually get to see; and whatever the name of the villain he plays, Bela Kovacs is always just on the verge of a terrifying burst of hysterical ill-temper. You don't have to watch many episodes to like these people, and to wonder how this unique series came into being. And here's the book to answer almost any question you might have!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Fantastic Book!, March 7, 2006

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Terry Sunday (El Paso, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television (Hardcover)

Some might think it's a waste of time to read a book about a television show that one never saw. But, although I never saw an episode of "Space Patrol" (it had gone off the air before I was five years old), this is one of the best books I've read in years. A 20-year labor-of-love, it clearly reflects the author's interest and dedication to the subject. She managed to interview virtually all of the surviving cast and production crew members, and their anecdotes bring the story of this live-action television series from the early 1950s to life. It's packed with details about the characters, the performers, the production challenges, the sets, the special effects and the marketing of spin-off toys. Even better, it examines the positive effects that "Space Patrol" had on children of the time, some of whom, inspired by the show, grew up to be NASA engineers, "rocket scientists" and astronauts. Back in the days of clear-cut moral values and before political correctness reared its ugly head, the "Space Patrol" crew served as excellent role models for the first of the baby-boomers. Reading this book will transport anyone who grew up in that era back to a simpler time when the world was a more pleasant place to live and when there were well-defined good guys and bad guys. It's a great read about a fascinating subject--highly recommended.