Space Patrol (1950–1955) User Reviews (13)

On the very threshold

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 29 April 2016]

LITTLEV DID WE know when we tuned in to all of these various images of "futuristic" space shows, that we were rapidly approaching the day when "Outer Space" would mean much more than just a bit of science fiction or fantasy. The year was 1950 and Sputnik (Soviet un-manned satellite), Muttnik (Soviet satellite with bowser inside) and Yuri Gargaran (man) weren't far off.

THOSE Russian SUCCESSES sure shook up the nation and the United States soon followed with Alan Sheppard, John Glenn and the ultimate and eventual Lunar landing in 1969. It is our belief that the great sci-fi in our print and electronic media played a great part in accomplishing what we did in such a short period. (Of course it didn't hurt in having the likes of Dr. Werner von Braun and Willie Ley in our camp from the former Third Reich of Germany).

ONE'S PREFDERENCE IN space shows revolved largely around the central character/hero and his appearance and personality. Hence, we had our choice of CAPTAIN VIDEO (father figure), TOM CORBETT (our brother) and SPACE PATROL's Buzz Corey (middle of the ground). Our fiction/fantasy made us believe as a people and we succeeded.

OUR MEMORY OF this series is that each story was usually contained within its weekly episode. The characters, headed up by Buzz (Ed Kemmerer-a radio veteran actor and Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborn) were better equipped as a well tuned and meshed team. The roles of the two were as well defined as the others; but with two differences. First, their ages were close and secondly, Cadet Happy also provided some much needed comic relief.

Thrills! Action! Adventure!

[skoyles · 1 February 2005]

"....Buzz Corey, Commander-in-Chief of the SPACE PATROL!" I was eight years old when my Mother bought our first television set. Space Patrol was already halfway through its run on Detroit television, Channel 7, WXYZ, the ABC station if I remember correctly. Saturday morning was time for Space Patrol, my first favourite television programme. Buzz Corey was the perfect hero: stalwart, honest, dignified, mature, courageous: the apotheosis of all virtues. I even named my dog after him.

All things must end and little boys grow up; yet Space Patrol (at least as remembered) remains the standard by which all adventure entertainment is judged. The lifelong interest in science fiction which many of us have may be traced to this primitive space opera.

Boys need heroes and far more than Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Buzz Corey provided an example and a needed role model. If all little boys could grow up to be Buzz Corey our planet would be a better place.

I at least owe Space Patrol a great debt.

I Loved This Show When It Was First Run on TV

[rusher-3 · 10/10 · 7 December 2007]

And yes -- I actually saw it "live" on TV. Sponsored by Ralston. I vividly remember Commander Corey and Cadet Happy happily plugging "Wheat Chex", "Rice Chex", and "Instant Ralston" when they weren't pursuing or being pursued by the bad guys. How many of us remember the name of the man who heralded "Travel into the future with BUZZ CORY, Commander-in-Chief of the SPAAAAACE PATROL!"? That was Jack Narz, who later went on to fame as the host of the scandal-ridden game show "Dotto"!! The live sets, the music, and the miniatures (quite imaginative for the time) were all done with such care. I would like to thank the other contributors to this thread who remember and love this show as much as I do, especially "IsleManage" (such an interesting story about your father (mother too) -- thanks for sharing), "mmore98" who gave us insight to the conception of the series, and the unfortunate demise of "Tonga" -- my first recollection of, shall we say, a "hottie". How sad. But most of all, I would like to thank the late Ed Kemmer and the late Lyn Osborn for providing me with role models worthy of remembering and looking up to. I love you and I miss you both!!

Space Patrol Started a long Sci-Fi addiction

[TimesPrince · 10/10 · 10 July 2008]

Space Patrol really started a long tradition of the love of science fiction and space adventure that continues to this day. As a youth in San Francisco I watched it every chance. From this experience, when I started reading in earnest it was science fiction that I turned to, and haven't turned back since.

One of my most precious possessions from childhood came from a visit of the Space Patrol cast to San Francisco. There is a page in my autograph book that I treasure signed by each of the members of the cast in their screen name. My name is Robbie, and Robbie's signature on the cast page was made with a drawing of a rocket ship that formed my impression of what a true rocket ship should be like.

Space Patrol was so much a part of my life that for Christmas my brothers constructed and gave me a "spaceship control panel" with view screen, lights, and microphone (all this before any modern electronics) and my friends and I played "Space Patrol" adventures. Looking back this show was one of my best childhood memories that influenced a love of reading, sci-fi, and eventually my career in the computer industry, as well as influencing me in what real teamwork was like.

This show was awesome!

I still have the Life Magazine that featured Space Patrol

[mmoore98 · 5/10 · 8 October 2006]

The headline of that month was of Ernest Hemingway and a short version of The Old Man and the Sea.

It explained that a WWII fighter pilot had thought the whole thing up while flying raids in the Pacific during the War. He and two other writers were cranking out 85,000 words a week to keep the show running. It had a lot of the behind the scenes stories of the actors, etc. Some of the actors in this series died from Cancer at relatively early ages, and some were destitute. Nina Bara, from Argentina, was one of them. She had been married to Dwight Eisenhower's golf pro (also a relatively obscure actor himself) from Austraila for about five years...until Ike was out of power, then his popularity as an actor waned quickly. I understand he's still alive. She died in poverty.

Brilliant Self-Parody

[bobc-5 · 9/10 · 2 December 2023]

One could easily be led to believe that this was an SCTV parody of a 1950's sci-fi serial. From the overblown intro to the Googie production design to the inane mugging of Space Cadet Happy, everything has been taken to ludicrous extremes. My favorite is when Happy takes the controls and executes a barrel roll. The actors lean and then stand up slightly out of their seats as they so obviously pretend that it's their spaceship and not the camera which is rotating. Even the commercials for tie-in merchandise look like they've been lifted straight off the pages of an early Mad Magazine. And yet this is somehow more entertaining and more unintentionally ridiculous than any modern parody could ever be. There's lots of fun and rarely a dull moment as Commander Corry and Cadet Happy rocket from one life-threatening situation to another, outwitting a variety of nefarious villains along the way.

Futuristic Law Enforcement Outfit

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 24 December 2015]

Although Space Patrol is set 500 years beyond the Star Trek TNG series it seems to be as primitive as the 20th century. Our concept of space travel seem to center on the rocket, all the science fiction shows of early television had that concept be it Rocky Jones, Tom Corbett, or even Space Patrol. No one could conceive of a ship like the Starship Enterprise.

Space Patrol has Ed Kemmer and his crew, Lynn Osborn, Ken Mayer, and Nina Bara working for an outfit called United Planets as opposed to Star Trek's United Federation Of Planets. This was a futuristic law enforcement outfit tracking down villains as yet not conceived 20th century standards. In that Space Patrol seems to have anticipated the Star Trek franchise.

It still amazes me though that the computer seems to have no place in science fiction programming of the time. Not on the small screen in a show like Space Patrol or on the big screen are computers even acknowledged.

Like its peers Space Patrol is a museum piece and a lot of indulgence must be given in watching it.

Missing name

[franks7 · 22 January 2008]

Im shocked to find the omission of Carol, the commissioners daughter, from your full cast credits. She was the lovely, leggy blonde, inventor, and unofficial sweetie of Commander Corry. Space Patrol a must see for any 11 year old boy in 1951, especially the episodes that featured Carol. The name of the actress was Virginia Hewitt. Space Patrol was an inventive, budget saving endeavor in the black and white early days of Television. One episode had the rocket ship sinking into a soft planet surface, which was accomplished by pulling material upwards around the model ship, creating the illusion of sinking. A great series for a wide eyed 11 yr old.

The Lively One!

[coker-2 · 1 April 2000]

If you craved thrills and action with not much science fiction underpinning, and an unabashedly total lack of realism, this was the early 1950s space adventure program for you. Square-jawed, intelligent and courageous Commander Buzz Corry and his comical sidekick Cadet Happy faced certain death in nearly every once-a-week Saturday morning broadcast. Done live, with very impressive sets, and a wide variety of Hollywood character actors as villains, this was almost always worth tuning in to. Almost all the programs survived on 16 mm and 35 mm kinescopes, and are readily available today from video retail sources.

The first Commander Cory was Kit Cory

[IsleManage · 28 January 2007]

When Kit Cory disappeared on a secret mission to Plannet "X:", his younger brother Buzz took over the fight for right in Space. The Actor who played Kit Corey is my father Franklin Mullen. He is still alive and well in Las Vegas Nevada. He was using the Acting name "Glen Dennings" back then. I guess his agents thought that was better? I wasn't born till 1953 but I remember seeing reruns on TV. Too funny with rockets on wires with sparklers on the back against a painting of space in the background. The show I believe was the actual, first series in the Kiniscope period of Television and the old spools they kept them on were easily corruptible. The show was shot live. My father was in many old westerns and war movies too including Battle Cry and Command Decision. He was a good looking Jeffery Hunter type who my mother had dated too. But Dad won her over. BTW, My mother Rosemary was one of Jeffrey;'s last friends before his death. My father left Hollywood to do Theater at the Pheonix little Theater in Scottsdale Arizona and became a successful pool Contractor. He survived a plane crash where the Cesna wrapped around a Cable on a landing pattern. Later he was a Pioneer in the Stero Industry and moved back to Brentwood Calif. He has always been my hero and still is. As I write this he is 79 years old and I hope he'll be around a good while longer. I tried Acting myself but lost interest. I am currently developing a TV production company in Central America. I wish my dad had grabbed a bunch of the old Ray Guns. They're great collector Items.

Fun and wonderfully naive

[oscar-35 · 12 June 2009]

I remembered this series on my local TV. Its TV announcer, Jack Narz, was a neighbor of mine as a kid. Mr. Narz was the brother of another famous TV announcer, Tom Kennedy. Both did game shows and announcing. This series of shows was just what a child needed to fire their imagination and their fantasy life. This show began a trend of spin-off TV outer space shows with many different stars and assistant kids. Mr. Lee van Cleef was a young actor and got needed work on this live TV show in its early days. The commercial sponsor tie-ins were an important part of these shows with Jack Narz. The sponsors were the bosses, not the networks, as it would become later in the sixties. Mr. Narz only died in 2008. He was a slice of professionalism and an era.

Space Patrol was on television?

[k7kbn-1 · 31 March 2007]

I grew up in Las Vegas NV, where there was no television until 1954. I was in the 4th grade, and it changed life for us kids quite dramatically.

Having listened to the likes of Superman and The Lone Ranger on the radio, and developing a mental picture of what the characters were "sposta" look like, it was sometimes a letdown to see "impostors", even though the voices were the same.

"Space Patrol" never was televised in Vegas, as far as I can remember. I was a faithful follower of the Saturday morning radio show, however: "High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with BUZZ CORY, Commander-in-Chief of the SPAAAAACE PATROL!"