Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Greetings, all you cadets who Travel Among Stars!

I just finished watching all the episodes of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, conveniently located on YouTube, for anyone interested.  So, since it's fresh in my mind, I thought I'd talk about it today.

Rocky Jones is a TV show that aired back in 1954.  Technically, I think it was a kids show, but it was still pretty good.  Rocky Jones is--now get this--a Space Ranger (didn't see that one coming, did you?).  The Space Rangers are sort of space cops who patrol space to uphold the laws and treaties of the United Worlds.  

He patrols the spaceways in a V-2 type rocket ship.  First in one called the Orbit Jet, which is later replaced by the Silver Moon.  He has a co-pilot named Winky (replaced later when the actor was arrested for carrying a firearm), later replaced by Biffen Cardoza, an alien from Herculon.  His crew often included space navigator, Vena Ray, and Junior Space Cadet Bobby--the token kid all these shows require.  There was often a scientist on board too.  Earlier episodes featured Professor Newton, Bobby's ward (replaced when the actor died), and later replaced by Professor Mayberry.

Other characters made regular appearances, most notably Secretary Drake, the head of the Office of Space Affairs (and the Space Rangers), and Ranger Clark who was in charge of space station O.W.9.  

The show featured episodic stories that mostly formed short 3-chapter story arcs, with a few one-episode stories thrown into the mix.  During this run, we travel to various moons and planetoids, all conveniently coated with an oxygen-rich atmosphere.  We also meet a wide array of indigenous alien peoples...who all look human and either speak or learn English.

Some of the science is kinda wonky, but makes for interesting stuff.  Like a pair of moons connected by a chain of atmosphere, their gravity pulling one another across the galaxy on an unfixed course, until one inevitably crashes into a planet that is running on a fixed orbit.  There was some silly double-talk about how the heat in the desert makes you see mirages that are not there, so super-cold light can turn something that is there invisible.  

All the cheesy tropes and clichés that you think of with 50's sci-fi are here, but they were new at the time, and setting up the tropes and clichés we all think of. It's actually more sophisticated stuff than I was expecting.  And you can clearly see where it may have influenced later stuff.

The Space Ranger uniforms, for example, look as though they may have inspired the uniforms worn by the ship's crew in Forbidden Planet, and certain Star Trek uniforms.  Vena Ray was a female bridge officer on a star ship long before Lt. Uhura.  And Professor Newton's costume and hair reminded me (a lot) of William Harnell as the first incarnation of Dr. Who.

Apparently episodes got edited together to make a bunch of movies, and a couple of these were featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.  Some of these are also available on various streaming platforms, and apparently it's also available on DVD.  But as I said earlier, you can watch the entire series on YouTube for free!

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about that (at least for now)!  So be sure to tune in next time when I talk about...uh...something else!

Until then, I wish you all...

Good Adventuring!
Timothy A. Sayell