Radio
Legends:
Space Patrol, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve Jr.
“High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in
the name of interplanetary justice!”
As
the Golden Age of Radio was coming to its regretful close, many of its
successful (and even it’s unsuccessful) programs were given a reprieve in the
new medium of television - but on rare occasions, television would return the
favor by instituting radio versions of its popular shows. The best example of
this is "Have Gun, Will Travel," heard over CBS Radio from 1958 to 1960, but
other TV series like "My Little Margie" and "What’s My Line?" became fixtures
(however briefly) on radio as well.
"Space Patrol" also began its life on the tube before becoming a popular radio
attraction - even managing to outlive its television twin. The show was one of a
myriad of golly-gee-whiz kiddy adventure shows that dotted television’s
landscape back in the 1950s, along with its outer space brethren "Captain
Video," "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger," and "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" (which was
also heard briefly on radio in 1952). It debuted as a fifteen-minute local show
on KECA-TV in Los Angeles on March 9, 1950 and made its radio debut over ABC
beginning September 18th as a twice-a-week (Mondays and Fridays) offering at
5:30 pm until January 8, 1951. It then returned to radio Saturday evenings at
7:00 pm beginning on August 18th before switching to a 10:30 am morning timeslot
about a month later; this time period remained the series’ home until its final
send-off on March 19, 1955. (The television version had bowed out July 2 of the
previous year).
"Space Patrol" was created and produced by World War II Navy veteran Mike Moser
as a nod to such past futuristic programs as "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon".
It outlined the exploits of Commander Buzz Corey (Ed Kemmer), who was placed in
charge of a thirtieth-century police-keeping force operating from a man-made
planet known as Terra. The jurisdiction of the Patrol included Earth, Jupiter,
Mars, Venus and Mercury, collectively known as the United Planets. (Jim Cox in
his book "Radio Crime Fighters" observes that one wag dubbed the Space Patrol to
be “a sort of interplanetary Mod Squad.”) Assisting Corey was his protégé Cadet
Happy (Lyn Osborne), a youthful sidekick prone to uttering the exclamation
“Smokin’ rockets!”; according to Cox: “At times he appeared to have little
purpose beyond proffering a simplistic inquiry to Corey, allowing the chief to
explain some obvious notion to the listeners.”
Corey’s constant struggle to maintain law and order on the interplanetary
frontier was frequently hampered by the villainous likes of Mister Proteus
(Marvin Miller), Agent X (Norman Jolley), and Prince Baccaretti (Bela Kovacs),
who also answered to the sinister moniker “The Black Falcon.” There was also an
evildoer on the distaff side named Tonga (Nina Bara), but she proved to be so
popular with listeners/viewers that the producers rehabilitated her and made her
a member of the Space Patrol team. Corey’s other crew members included Major
“Robbie” Robertson (Ken Meyer), Dr. Van Meter (Rudolph Anders) and Carol Karlyle
(Virginia Hewett), daughter of the secretary general of the United Planets.
Carol also served as Corey’s would-be squeeze, although the romance was a bit
one-sided (her side) because, as OTR fans have learned, keeping the peace “makes
a man watchful…and a little lonely.” Also heard on the series as the show’s
announcer was Dick Tufeld, who achieved later television immortality as the
voice of the robot on TV’s "Lost in Space" (“Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!”).
"Space Patrol" was written by Lou Huston and directed by Larry Robertson and,
for most of its run (1951-54), was sponsored by Ralston Cereals, which offered a
tantalizing series of premiums tailor-made for the show’s young fan base -
goodies like the Space-O-Phone - “sounds just like a walkie-talkie…looks just
like the space-o-phone Buzz Corey himself uses!” Ralston's sponsorship of the
show resulted in what could very well be called the crème de la crème of all
premiums: a one ton, 30 foot space ship dubbed “the Ralston Rocket” that toured
America (on land, of course) before finally being awarded to a lucky fan.
This Radio Legends collection offers you ten fun-filled hours of intergalactic
action in twenty full-length ABC network broadcasts of "Space Patrol," featuring
a wide range of special offers "just for sending in those box tops from Ralston
cereals." Those premiums may no longer be available - some, in fact, collect
some pretty hefty bids on eBay these days - but, thanks to Radio Archives, the
thrills and chills of the Space Patrol are still just as close as your CD
player.
Here is the complete content of this 10-CD set:
The Hole in Empty Space
Saturday, October 25, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space-O-Phones premium offer)
The City of the Sun
Saturday, November 8, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space-O-Phone premium offer)
The Queen of Space
Saturday, November 15, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space-O-Phone premium offer)
The Giant Bubble
Saturday, November 22, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space-O-Phone premium offer)
The Electronic Burglar
Saturday, November 29, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
The Space Shark
Saturday, December 6, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
The Search for Asteroid X
Saturday, December 13, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
The Lady from Venus
Saturday, December 20, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
The Last Voyage of the Lonesome Lena
Saturday, December 27, 1952 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
The Brain Bank and the Space Binoculars
Saturday, January 3, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Sleepwalker
Saturday, January 10, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Scavenger of Space
Saturday, January 24, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Top Secret D-Ray
Saturday, January 31, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
Crash Landing
Saturday, February 7, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Mysterious Meteor
Saturday, February 14, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Moon Beetles
Saturday, February 21, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Space Binoculars premium offer)
The Strange Gift of the New Star
Saturday, February 28, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
and Ry-Krisp
The Seed Crystals of Zeldabran
Saturday, March 7, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals and
Ry-Krisp
The Magic Space Pictures
Saturday, March 14, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals
(Magic Space Pictures premium offer)
The Caverns of Venus
Saturday, March 21, 1953 - 30:00 - ABC, sponsored by Ralston Cereals (Magic
Space Pictures premium offer)
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