Rod Brown
of the Rocket
Rangers
Ranger Rod Brown................................Cliff Robertson
Ranger Frank Boyle......................................Bruce Hall
Ranger Wilbur Wormser............................Jack Weston
Commander Swift.......................................John Boruff
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.
Presented on CBS-TV from April 18, 1953 thru May
29th, 1954
Saturday Mornings in a 30 minute time slot.
Rocketship: The Beta
Time period: 22nd Century A.D.
Local: Omega Base
#1 OPERATION DECOY by Don
Moore April 18, 1953
Rod Brown is assigned to trap a space pirate preying on
commercial space ships.
Guest starring Shirley Standlee
Director: George Gould; Scenic Designer: Kim Swados;
Executive Producer: William Dozier; Producer: John
Haggott.
#2 THE CASE OF THE INVISIBLE SABOTEURS April 25,
1953
Rod is sent to another planet to investigate the
disappearance of secret files.
#3 THE PLANET OF ICE May 2, 1953
A mail pilot is shipwrecked on the surface of Jupiter in
sub zero temperatures.
#4 WHISPERS IN THE MIND
May 9, 1953
A Mechanical devise puts inaccurate information into the
minds of two rangers trying to establish a navigation
guide.
#5 THE CRATER OF PERIL May 16, 1953
Rod and his crew take off on an expedition to look for
radio active materials in the craters of the back side of
the moon.
#6 THE GLOBE MEN OF OMA May 23, 1953
Rod and Frank Boyd are captured by the mysterious glove
men of Oma while searching for a missing space ship.
#7 THE ADVENTURES OF THE VENUSIAN SEA May 30,
1953
Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers have an underwater
struggle with a giant octopus.
#8 THE LITTLE MEN OF MERCURY June 6, 1953
Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers venture to a new planet and meet
with a strange new race of little people.
#9 WORLD OF THE DOOMED June 13, 1953
Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers break up a smuggling
ring on a prison asteroid.
#10 THE STRANGLER TREES OF TRITON June 20,
1953
Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers rescue a captain from
the forest of the planet Triton while searching for a
spaceship, and encounter a strange new enemy.
#11 *Stranger From Outer Space June 27, 1953
Rod Brown is kidnapped by a strange robot from outer
space.
#12 THE PHANTOM BIRDS OF BELORO July 4, 1953
Ranger Brown and Captain Boyd rescue three old
prospectors on the planet Beloro from the clutches of an
invisible bird.
#13 THE BLACK CLOUD OF CALISTRO July 11, 1953
The colony of the planet Calistro has been threatened by
a strange cloud, and the Rangers have to evacuate the
populace.
#14 'THE SUITS OF PERIL July 18, 1953
Rod Brown volunteers to test some new space suits which
lead him face to face with death.
#15 APPLES OF EDEN July 25, 1953
An epidemic of radiation fever which endangers the lives
of the population of the solar system is abated by Rod
Brown.
#16 SPACE BUGS August 1, 1953
Space Bugs, who inhabit the planet Uranus, attempt to
disrupt a therma-dynamo by rangers Rod Brown and Frank
Boyd.
#17 THE MARTIAN QUEEN August 8, 1953
Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers follow a trail of peanut
shells leading to a gang of saboteurs.
#18 THE FIRE DEAMONS OF DEIMOS August 15, 1953
A fireball loosed from a comet zooms toward the Beta as
Rod single-handedly tries to divert his ships course.
#19 THE BIG HAMMER August 22, 1953
Rod Brown and Ranger Boyd are in danger through the
vengeful acts of a spiteful Space Ranger while on a mission
in inter-planetary space.
#20 THE VOLCANOES OF VENUS August 29, 1953
Rod is assigned to guard a payroll destined for the
planet Venus and runs into hijackers.
#21 THE DEATH BALL September 5, 1953
The Ranger's ship plunges helplessly through outer space
as the crew is being suffocated by poisonous fumes of a
mysterious seed picked up in the jungles of the planet
Titan.
#22 THE UNSEEN PLANET
September 12, 1953
Rod Brown and Captain Boyd land their ship on the sun
planet and are taken captive.
#23 THE MADNESS FROM SPACE September 19, 1953
The Rocket Rangers encounter strange cases as they seek
out an object without form or mass which came out of space
to terrorize the Earth's inhabitants.
#24 THE LOOTERS OF LEERON September 26, 1953
A bogus gang of prospectors smuggling atomic materials
from an unknown planet, shanghai Rod to work in their secret
mines.
#25 THE OCTOPUS OF VENUS October 3, 1953
Rod Brown is attacked by a giant lobster, a treacherous
octopus and a desperate criminal while on a "routine"
assignment to reclaim a rocket ship on the floor of the
Venusian Sea.
#26 COLOSSUS OF CENTAURI October 10, 1953
Rod Brown finds himself in a world of giants when he
becomes the first earthman to go beyond the outer limits of
the solar system.
#27 THE LIGHTS FROM LUNA October 17, 1953
Rod Brown takes off in a body jet to destroy the enemy
who has demolished Solar City and is now threatening the
Earth.
#28 THE TWIN PLANET October 24, 1953
Inspired by the theory proposed by an 18th
century astronomer to the effect that the earth is one of
twin planets, the Rangers blast off into space and land in
an Indian inhabited area which resembles Manhattan Island as
it was over 700 years ago.
#29 THE TREASURE OF TESORO October 31, 1953
Rod Brown and Ranger Boyd are assigned to guard the vast
money vaults of space fortress Tesoro. (We've encountered three different spellings
of this planets name in three different books: Tesare,
Tesore, and Tesoro.)
#30 THE ROBOT ROBBER OF DEIMOS November 7,
1953
An almost-human robot pilots a spaceship and robs the
First Martian Bank.
#31 THE MAGIC MAN OF MARS November 14, 1953
A carnival magician from Mars commits piracy in outer
space.
#32 THE STICKMAN OF NEPTUNE November 21, 1953
A stowaway in quest of hidden treasure steers the
spaceship Beta off its course and directs it to the planet
Neptune.
#33 MONEY-MAKERS OF JUNO November 28, 1953
Commander Swift is kidnapped by a gang of interplanetary
credit union counterfeiters.
#34 THE DEEP SLEEP December 5, 1953
The entire population of Ganymede is put to sleep by a
pair of interplanetary bank robbers using an oxygen-booster
plant. The Rocket Rangers and Rod Brown are sent to
investigate, and land their rocket in a city where everyone
is asleep.
#35 THE CYCLOPS OF THEMIS December 12, 1953
Cyclops, a one-eyed creature which inhabits Themis, a
moon of Saturn, is kidnapped by gangsters who plan to
exhibit him as a curiosity of Earth.
#36 THE ELECTRIC MEN December 19, 1953
The Rocket Rangers' arsenal is looted by two
man-creatures who throw off electric charges powerful enough
to kill an earthman.
#37 THE COPERNICUS DIAMOND December 26, 1953
A pretty girl charms the Rangers off the trail of a
stolen gem.
#38 THE STONE MEN OF VENUS January 2, 1954
A petrified figure of a prehistoric Venusian is stolen
for "ransom" from the interplanetary museum.
#39 ENERGY EATERS FROM LUNA January 9, 1954
A mysterious radioactive meteor which absorbs energy and
turns it into matter alights on the Rangers' Lunar base.
#40 no information available January 16, 1954
#41 OPERATION DINOSAUR January 23, 1954
A time machine carries Rod Brown and Frank Boyd back to
the Mesozoic age.
# 42 ESCAPE BY MAGIC January 30, 1954
Rod Brown frustrates an attempted jailbreak from prison
rock.
#43 THE INVISIBLE FORCE February 6, 1954
Rod Brown attempts to prevent the theft of the only
existing repelloscope, an instrument which works like a
magnet in reverse.
#44 RETURN OF THE STICKMEN February 13, 1954
Two men from Mars capture a Neptunian Stickman, a
creature resembling a bundle of sticks.
#45 THE FISHMAN OF THE VENUSIAN SEA February 20,
1954
Rod Brown investigates sabotage in a tunnel being dug
under the Venusian Sea.
#46 THE STRONG MAN OF MAYRON February 27, 1954
A man from Mayron, one of the giant planets of Alpha
Centauri, rescues a Rocket Ranger from a cracked-up
spaceship.
#47 THE EEL OF IAPETUS March 6, 1954
The Rocket Rangers happen upon a strange race of men when
they track down a series of hijackings in outer space.
#48 THE STRANGE MEN OF LEEFRI March 13, 1954
Man-like creatures from the Arcturan star system are
encountered and found to have strange new abilities.
#49 THE MONKEY THAT COULDN'T STOP GROWING March
20, 1954
The Planet Clavo makes its single passage into our solar
system.
#50 THE PLAN OF PLANET H March 27, 1954
The Rocket Rangers learn of a plan of the people of
Planet H, who live in water, to flood the Earth.
#51 INVASION FROM DIMENSION X April 3, 1954
An invasion of shadowy figures from a fifth dimension
confronts the Rocket Rangers.
#52 THE MATER-TRANSFER MACHINE April 10, 1954
Contraband isotopes are smuggled off the Earth by means
of an electric machine that sends objects into outer
space.
#53 TERROR IN THE SPACE LIGHTHOUSE April 17,
1954
Two desperadoes perform a supposedly impossible feat --
escape from the prison rock on Hermes asteroid.
#54 ASSIGNMENT DANGER April 24, 1954
After a seemingly uneventful trip to the planet Venus on
a rocket passenger liner, Adjutant Wilbur Wormser runs into
trouble and has to be rescued by a "kindly" old lady.
#55 BIRD GIRL OF VENUS May 1, 1954
An archaeologist's exploration on the planet Venus leads
to the discovery of a winged humanoid creature that flies
like a bird.
#56 THE EXPLODING MAN May 8, 1954
Uranium is discovered on Ganymede. As people rush to dig
the ore the Rocket Rangers discover attempted looting.
#57 THE METAL EATERS May 15, 1954
An evil scientist discovers an insect that can eat
through metal. He uses the insects to aid him in hijacking a
payroll.
#58 THE MAN WHO WAS RADIOACTIVE May 22, 1954
A man who had hidden in a radioactive cave succeeds in
escaping from his guards, creating a grave health
danger.
#59 THE COBALT BOMB May 29, 1954
Rod Brown is assigned to guard the atomic scientist who
is trying to find out the reason for mysterious cobalt-bomb
explosions.
Note: We could find no information on
episode 40, and it is possible that no program aired on this
date. There are no films or kinescopes that exist for Rod
Brown of the Rocket Rangers. It is quite possible that they
were ordered to destroy all episodes after the Tom Corbett
people won an infringement lawsuit against the Rod Brown
creators.
* There is no episode title for this
program, and the title shown is just a guess on our
part.
The Code of the Rocket
Rangers:
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.
The following review is reprinted from the
April 11, 1953 issue of VARIETY.
ROD BROWN
OF THE ROCKET RANGERS (Operation Decoy)
with Cliff Robertson, Bruce Hall, John Boruff, Jack
Weston
Executive Producer: John Haggott; Writer:
Don Moore
30 Mins.: Sat. 11:30 a.m. Sustaining,
CBS-TV, from New York
This new space opera is in the w.k. interplanetary rut,
with clean and courageous Rod Brown (Cliff Robertson) licking pirates
and other evil doers of the cosmos almost single-handedly in a
gadget-filled future that has the cruder, plot-and-character elements
of a grade-B movie.
Kids may take Brown to their bosoms, as they have
the Captain Videos and others, for Robertson starring in the title role
has a gee-whiz enthusiasm and a boyish look, with which the younger
viewers may find it easy to identify themselves. But the kids
need a better deal than this offering, the better elements of
which are George Gould's neat direction and scenic designers Kim
Swados' modern interiors.
In this story by Don Moore (he was credited with
the first and presumably others will be scripted by the other project
writers (Gould, Ted Sturgeon, Jack Weinstock and Willie
Gilbert), the world of tomorrow turns out to be extremely militaristic,
which is perhaps an omen, and nobly concerned with combating
manifestations of eon-old human evil and greed.
To nicely cut-in film clips and diagrams of outer
space, junior Ranger Rod Brown joins the force -- his duty is to be
"undercover" agent, diplomat, fighter, and peace-maker -- and proves
himself a man by subduing a space pirate in an old-fashioned fist
fight. It's interesting to note that he gets into the adventure
accidentally, through a mistake by fellow Ranger Wormser, an
ineffectual and bumbling comedy character role played with heavy comic
touch by Jack Weston.
John Boruff, as Commander Swift acts his part as
if he believes it -- sternly military, gray-haired and lean.
Bruce Hall, as another Ranger, had only a bit to establish the fact
that the hero will have later trouble with him. Shirley Standlee
was attractive and decorative in the thankless part of the girl in a
kissless action drama for kids.
The action parts had the standard hokum of a
badly faked fist fight, a "half-charge" gunshot, and such technical
jargon as "magnetic couplers" while some good attempts at unusual
effects -- such as Ranger Brown floating in space -- were unconvincing.
More technical hocus-pocus will be needed to
strengthen the show, plus a lot more of originality in the writing.
Then maybe Rod Brown, in the personable form of Robertson, can send
enough moppets rocketing to carve a sizeable audience for this
rear-guard entry in the universe sweepstakes.
Incidentally, Al Capp, more usually to be found
on NBC-TV, popped up in the middle of the show with a defense-bond plug
and a sketch of Li'l Abner.
Horn.
**********
The following is from the June 3, 1953 issue of
VARIETY, and will give a little insight regarding the claim set against
ROD BROWN by the TOM CORBETT people:
"SPACE BOYS GO TO WAR
"A hot war in the realm of space rover
boys and Martian rockets was touched off this week, but happily, since
it was just a legal battle claiming piracy of TV show gimmicks, not a
soul has been wounded yet by a blastoff (sic) gun.
"The skirmish was initiated by Rockhill Productions, packager of 'Tom
Corbett, Space Cadet', which will be sponsored by International Shoe
Co. on DuMont this August, Saturdays 11:30 a.m. The packager's
attorney, Charles Seton, has filed formal claim with the legal
department of CBS-TV, charging that the web's Saturday 11:30 a.m.
science fictioner, 'Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers', is a violation of
legal rights.
"Among other things, Stanley Wolf, proxy of Rockhill claims these 'points
of similarity' have been pirated by 'Rod Brown':
(1) The Rocket Rangers, like the Space Cadets, operated in
units of three.
(2) The senior member of the Rangers' triumvirate, as
in the three-man Space Cadet patrol, is a 'hard, snide, sarcastic and
overbearing character.'
(3) The 'blastoff' and rocket landing procedure and
terminology of the Rangers duplicate that of the Cadets.
(4) The Rangers' interplanetary force, to which the
CBS-TV space rover boys graduate, is similar to the modus operandi of
the Space Cadets' 'solar guards'.
(5) Finally, the Rangers allegedly have borrowed such
Cadet gimmicks as the 'electronic blanking device', 'free fall in
space', 'the space ship walkon' and 'making repairs to the hull of a
ship in space'.
"CBS legalities, how mulling the legal charges, point out that: 'Tom
Corbett' actually originated on CBS before it shifted to ABC over a
year ago, and to the ironic fact that the director of 'Rod Brown' was
also the original director of 'Tom Corbett'." |
