Tuesday, February 24, 2009

YouTube Tuesday: Space Patrol - "Hit by a Meteorite"

It struck me that we haven't had a 1950's sci-fi kids' show here in quite a while. So sit back and enjoy... Space Patrol!

Since there isn't a high-quality version of these files, I'm just going to use the standard-size viewer windows.

I like how the sheet of "metal"—which Carol and Tonga take pains to emphasize is so heavy—freely wobbles like the cardboard it is.

And how about those hats, huh? Reminds me of Katherine Helmond's upside-down shoe hat from Brazil.

On the serious side, I enjoy the sound backgrounds. They kind of straddle the border between sound effects and musique concrète. Reminds me of '1960s Doctor Who that way. Also, the sets are pretty lively-looking for this type of show.

And even if, like me, you weren't actually around for them, you have to miss the days when maybe four minutes of commercial announcements was enough to sustain a half-hour show.






Space Patrol ran as a live half-hour weekly show on ABC from December 30, 1950 through February 26, 1955. It started out as a 15-minute daily program in Los Angeles on March 9, 1950. The daily version continued through the run of the series, and was syndicated to some other cities on kinescope film copies. Further, a radio version ran from October 1952 through March 1955. (You have to wonder where this cast found time to eat and sleep.)

This particular episode ran on February 9, 1952.

All in all, Space Patrol produced 129 radio episodes, 210 half-hour television episodes, and almost 900 15-minute episodes.

Source: Wikipedia

No comments: