Captain Z-Ro
| Captain Z-Ro | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction Children Educational |
| Created by | Roy Steffens |
| Written by | Roy Steffens |
| Directed by | Dave Butler |
| Starring | Roy Steffens Bob Turnbull Bruce Haynes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 77 (including 51 live episodes and 26 half-hour filmed episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Kathleen K. Rawlings |
| Production location | San Francisco |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 15 mins. (1951–1953) 24 mins. (1955–1956) |
| Production companies | W.A. Palmer Films Captain Z-Ro Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | KRON-TV/ KTTV Syndication |
| Release | November 1951 – June 10, 1956 |
Captain Z-Ro (pronounced "zero"
Premise
Scientist Captain Z-Ro, working in his remote laboratory, safeguarded mankind and history from impending harm. He had a
Like early episodes of
Each week after the last commercial, the announcer would intone: "Be sure to be standing by when we again transmit you to the remote location on planet Earth where Captain Z-Ro and his associates will conduct another experiment in time and space."
Format and effects
The special effect to represent time travel was a simple dissolve shot, set among flashing lights, blinking oscilloscopes and numerous levers and knobs.
Early episodes (1951-1953) were kinescope recordings (film shot off a TV monitor). Later shows for syndication (1955-1956) were shot directly to 16mm film at W.A. Palmer Film, as the show moved from a 15-minute kinescoped format on local stations KRON-TV in San Francisco & KTTV in Los Angeles to a 30-minute nationally syndicated film format distributed by the Atlas Television Corporation.
The kinescoped shows ended sometime in 1953. The 26 filmed episodes were aired from December 18, 1955, through June 10, 1956. There was a 2-year hiatus between the end of the 51-episode kinescope series and the 26 episodes later recorded on film and distributed by Atlas.
References
- ^ "Classic Sci-Fi TV - 150 Episodes : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
- ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
External links
- A film clip of CaptainZ-Ro is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- Captain Z-Ro at IMDb
- Captain Z-Ro at Science Fiction on Television in the 1950s
- The ZX-99 time machine at TVacres.com
