n the late 1930s and early 1940s, space-opera buffs had to venture to their local movie theaters if they wanted to catch the continuing exploits of heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. However, as television became increasingly popular, folks no longer had to trek to the cinema for their speculative serials. They could simply turn on a TV--if their family was lucky enough to own one--and tune in to shows such as Space Patrol, Captain Video and, arguably the most popular of all, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.
Produced on a shoestring budget of $3,000 per 15-minute episode, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet followed the exploits of Space Academy student Tom Corbett (Thomas) and his companions Roger Manning (Merlin) and Astro (Markim). Englewood Entertainment has recently released the premiere story arc of Tom Corbett, titled "The Mercurian Invasion," on video.
The story opens as a Solar Guard cruiser mysteriously crashes shortly after transmitting an ominous message. Soon thereafter, all communication is lost from a Venusian spaceport, and the trio of neophyte rocketeers are assigned to the spaceship Polaris. They hastily leave for Venus, and although they briefly get caught in the tail of a comet en route, they ultimately arrive at their destination and uncover a diabolical plot by creatures from Mercury to overrun Earth.
The video includes black-and-white kinescopes of the six episodes that make up "The Mercurian Invasion," and each segment comes complete with the original commercials. A brief retrospective by Thomas is printed on the tape's sleeve, along with colorized photos of the major characters. There's also an obligatory nod to Robert A. Heinlein, whose book Space Cadet was the inspiration for Tom Corbett.
Remarkably entertaining
Long-time speculative television enthusiasts often seem to forget that prior to The Twilight Zone there were a number of enjoyable science fiction shows. Watching the exploits of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet nearly five decades after it first aired (in October 1950) serves as a reminder that, although certainly not cutting-edge by today's high-tech standards, the earliest days of TV presented some remarkably entertaining outer-space shows.
Though originally crafted for kids, the Corbett series offered a sense of gung-ho fun that is undeniably infectious. Hearing the characters cry out zany phrases like "By the craters of Luna!" or "Spaceman's Luck!" is utterly endearing, and one not-so-silly expression has even proven to be enduring: the now-common term "blast off" was introduced on this program.
Since the show was initially a live production, not every episode was saved on film. As a result, this video, which spotlights the debut adventure of Corbett and his fellow cadets, consists of only half of the dozen chapters that comprise the overall story line. The action can therefore at times seem a bit choppy. Some of the kinescopes--which are essentially movies of a video monitor--are also over- or underexposed, so the images periodically appear unnaturally bright or dark. Nevertheless, as an example of both early SF TV and unbridled youthful enthusiasm, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet remains an invaluable, and in some respects historically important, example of how the nascent television medium strove to envision the future.
