Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers | |
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Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | April 18, 1953 May 29, 1954 | –
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers was a 30-minute, weekly CBS-TV network outer space adventure series, broadcast live Saturdays from April 18, 1953 to May 29, 1954.[1]
Synopsis
Set in 2153 and inspired by Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950 - 1955), the series depicted the adventures of fearless Rocket Rangers, who operated from Omega Base, piloting their nuclear-powered space ship Beta throughout the solar system, to battle crime and the weird menace of extraterrestrial life-forms. The three Rangers were curly-haired Rod Brown (Cliff Robertson), his prickly partner Frank Boyd (Bruce Hall), and chubby, bespectacled comic relief Wilbur "Wormsey" Wormser (Jack Weston).[2] Their immediate superior was Commander Swift (John Boruff). Each episode was a self-contained story, as opposed to the other serialized space shows then appearing on TV.
Director George Gould had also been the director of
Rod Brown's adventures had a sponsor,
The program began each week with an introduction: "Surging with the power of the atom, gleaming like great silver bullets, the mighty Rocket Ranger space ships stand by for blast-off. Up, up, rockets blazing with white-hot fury, the man-made meteors ride through the atmosphere, breaking the gravity barrier, pushing up and out, faster and faster, and then...outer space and high adventure for the Rocket Rangers."
A verse from Robert Allen's TV theme song went: "From the sands of Mars, out to the distant stars, we're the Rocket Ranger Corps..."
The Rocket Ranger Code
The membership card offered as a premium displayed the "Rocket Ranger Code" as follows:
ON MY HONOR AS A ROCKET RANGER, I PLEDGE THAT:
- I SHALL always chart my course according to the Constitution of the United States of America.
- I SHALL never cross orbits with the Rights and Beliefs of others.
- I SHALL blast at full space-speed to protect the Weak and Innocent.
- I SHALL stay out of collision orbit with the laws of my State and Community.
- I SHALL cruise in parallel orbit with my Parents and Teachers.
- I SHALL not roar my rockets unwisely, and shall be Courteous at all times.
- I SHALL keep my gyros steady and reactors burning by being Industrious and Thrifty.
- I SHALL keep my scanner tuned to Learning and remain coupled to my Studies.
- I SHALL keep my mind out of free-fall by being mentally alert.
- I SHALL blast the meteors from the paths of other people by being Kind and Considerate.
References
- ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ISBN 9780786484454. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
External links
- Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers at IMDb
- Space Hero Files: Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
- Space Heroes of the 1950s
- VARIETY review of first broadcast of Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
- Interview with Cliff Robertson about appearing on Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers