Posted by : Ray Plumlee in (Space Patrol)
Posted on October 27th, 2009
and last modified on March 9th, 2010
Introduction To The Space Patrol Radio Show
Tagged Under : 1950s, 1951, Black Falcon, Carol Carlyle, Chex, Ed Kemmer, Lyn Osborn, Major Robertson, Miss Tonga, Prince Baccarratti, Radio, Robert Heinlein, Smokin Rockets, Space Cruiser, Space Patrol, Terra
Space Patrol Show Logo
Space Patrol was a science fiction juvenile adventure with shows on both television and radio. Space Patrol was created by Mike Moser, a former U.S. Navy Air Force Veteran who had been in charge of training hurricane-hunter squadrons in World War II. The TV show’s success spawned a radio version from October 1952 to March 1955 running for 129 episodes. The same cast of actors performed on both the TV and the radio shows. Similarly the writers, scripts, story lines and director were used. The TV and radio versions ran separate adventures, with some of the TV villains also appearing on the radio show.
I believe that the concept of Space Patrol came straight from the Golden Age of space era popularized by Robert Heinlein’s book “Space Cadet.” Space Cadet was a 1948 science fiction novel about Matt Dodson, who joins the Space Patrol to help preserve peace in the Solar System. The story is a military academy story translated into an outer space story of a teenage boy from Iowa who goes to the Military Academy to become an officer and sees action and adventure, assumes responsibilities far beyond his years, and becomes a man.
Get MP3 Collection of Space Patrol Episodes
Once could assume that Gene Rodenberry’s idea to have Captain Kirk be from Iowa for his Star Trek series came from this concept. Who knows.
“Space Patrol!, High adventure in the wild vast reaches of space … missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice. Travel into the future with BuzzCorey …commander in chief of …the Space Patrol.”
Listen below to an audio clip of the Space Patrol show’s Intro:
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The influence on the creation of Space Patrol may have also been influenced by another of Robert Heinleins books. His first published novel in 1947 was “Rocket Ship Galileo”, which is about a group of boys blasting off in a rocket ship headed for the moon in defiance of a court order.
However, I think it very obvious that like other early childrens science fiction adventure shows there was some influence by the 1930′s cliff hangar serials such as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. These serials are influencing film makers today. George Lucas says that they influenced him in the making of the Star Wars Saga.
Publicity Photo of the Space Patrol Show Cast in Color
With the success of the TV show a radio version was created, which ran for 129 episodes from October 1952 to March 1955. The same cast of actors performed on both shows and the writers, scripts, story lines and director were also on both shows. They each ran there own stories including, actor and associate producer, Bella Kovacs who played the role of Prince Baccarratti, the foremost nemesis to CommanderCorey and the United Planets.
Space Patrol featured a law enforcement subtext in an outer space themed show which followed the 30th-century adventures of Commander “Buzz”Corey (Ed Kemmer) of the United Planets Space Patrol and his young comic sidekick Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborn) as they faced various interplanetary villains with diabolical schemes and natural space disasters.
Space Patrol Show Cast And Some of the Crew
The show played directly to children, and each episode shamelessly merchandised various toys and mail-order premiums tied into the series during their commercial breaks. A unique feature of the radio adventures was that the premium of the month was often worked into the action of the live adventures. Cmdr.Corey and his Space Patrolmen were aided by such futuristic gadgets as “miniature space-o-phones” and “atomolights.” Even the ads for corporate sponsor Chex cereals used the show’s space opera theme in their pitches.
Below is an audio taken from a children’s record that is played with the original actors. In this recording the story is told of how then Captain Buzz Corey became the Commander and Chief of the Space Patrol. The date of this recording is unknown but was likely produced some time during the series and as a result of the series popularity.
This episode includes Prince Baccarratti played by Bela Kovacs, my favorite space villain also known as the Black Falcon.
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As Cadet Happy so aptly put it: Smokin’ Rockets!!!
Spacemen’s Luck
Ray Plumlee
Space Cadet (Senior Rating)
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