However, while these chaps rocketed through space, they were not really "space men" space was just the medium of travel and little was said about it. Then came Television. The basic dramatic forms made the trek, Westerns, detective/cop shows and dramas made their way to the "small screen" and buddy; it was small. However, TV was the hi-tech toy of the late 40's and early 50's. It follows thaen that the true inhabitants of this brave new world would be the men and women who embodied the future. The spacemen, led by Captain Video (as in television) were the perfect inhabitants of this new land. What better persons to live in the future medium than the inhabitants of the futurescapes of the mind?

In the course of 4 years after Captain Video there came to be Tom Corbett; Space Cadet, Space Patrol, Rod Bronw of the Rocket Rangers, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers Space Rnager and Rocky Jones Space Ranger. All of these were eagerly gobbled up by the 6 to 14 year old boys of the time. Though each of us had our favoites, depending on what you saw first and what was available in your area, there was no real rivalry. When I was seven, most of the press went to Tom Corbett with Captain Video coming in second. The rivalry was between the spacemen and cowboys. We felt that the cowboys were the past, we were the future.

For me, it began in 1952. there was a TV newsreel show called Time Marches On. One of the newsreels they showed was the now-famouse clip of the rocket takeoff with the movie camera pointing back at the earth. I loved flying things since I was 4 and at that age, if a plane flew overhead, it was not uncommon for me to run outside to see it. This newsreel blew me away. The result was instant interest in space and rockets. Shortly thereafter I was introduced by an older cousin to Space Patrol. I would love to see me to see the way my eyes must have bugged out of my head, it was like asking me personally what I would like to see on television and then putting it there. So taken was I with this that my interest caused me to make the special effort required by the fact that my eyes were severely damaged by my mother's case of Rubella, to learn to read regular magazine print as in Colliers and Life, first using one of those cheap plastic magnifiers, then at about age eight and a half, dispensing with that. In other words, I got the Space Bug really bad.

Recently, I got the chance to watch Space Patrol again, but instaed of as a seven year old, it was as a 57 year old. This was becuase a company called Swapsale has unearthed and put into VHS format over one hundred of the TV epsiodes of Space Patrol. I found out about them through the Solar Guard Academy website.

Although Captain Video was the first, the lack of geographical coverage by the Dumont Network made the big 3 consist of Tom Corbett, Space Patrol and Rocky Jones in terms of number of fans. Rocky lasted for what amounted to a long season. While Captain Video, began in 1949, Space Patro began in 1950 and Tom Corbett: Space Cadet began in later 1950. These programs lasted until the mid 1950's.Space Patrol also had a life on radio as a 15 minute daily show and a half-hour Satruday morning radio program, while Tom Corbett also lived on the radio and in books.

Both SP and TC began as 15-minute "to be continued" TV episodic stories. After that, the resemblance ends. Tom Corbett was a Heinlein-esque Juvenile "coming of age" story, the kind that Heinlein does so well and is said to have been derived from a Heinlein story. It focuses on three Solar Guard Academy cadets in the 24^th century, Tom Corbett, played by Frankie Thomas, a Venusian colonist called Astro and Roger Manning. The edgy character played to the hilt by a young Jan Merlin who later went on to be the villainous character in so many Westerns. This last character, by rubbing everyone the wrong way, put much of the dramatic kick in the series and when Merlin left, the show suffered. Also present were the Academy command, and science personnel: Commander Arkwright, Captain Steve Strong and Dr. Joan Dale. With rare concession to adventure, the thing was pretty realistic for science fiction and consisted of nice, tidy tales.

Another difference is characters is that Tom Corbett appears to have focused more on character development, Space Patrol put more oomf into plot and gadgetry, The characters focused on TC were the three cadets who shared the same dorm room at a Solar Guard Academy with secondary focus on the adult characters. This makes sense for a Juvenile (late adolescence) "coming of age" story and was one of Heinlein's fortes; read Citizen of the Galaxy, Starship Troopers and Podkayne of Mars. Thses stories, while centering on adolescents, were not patronizing and make decent adult light reading. It demonstrates how personality and character contribute to meeting the needs and goals of the setting. Space Patrol had mostly adult characters and even the obligatory cadet was pretty much a grwon-up: more like Tonto or Little John than Tom Corbett, he was a trusted sidekick sent on many crucial missions. so character change and evolution is not an issue here; although it does happen over time. In terms of character, it was the case of a mile wide but an inch deep for Space Patrol and an inch wide and a mile deep for Tom Corbett. The characters did fit the themes and overall story lines. Ed Kemmer, who played Commander Corry said in an interview that he played Buzz as "...an idealized Ed Kemmer. ...fatherly...". I thought he was more avuncular. In fact there is a part of "A Big Wheel Nmaed Ferris" where Cadet Happy is down in the dumps over the fact that the girl he has his eye on finds tha bratty Governor Farris' son a hottie and Corry says "...C'mon, tell old Uncle Buzz".

Yet another difference was in the associated merchandise. Tom Corbett had more exposure and more non-premium gear. I had the Tom Corbett Space Helmet (the one-way mirroed one), uniform, Plaster mold set and lunchbox. Of Space Patrol I had the compass and space helmet. When I arrived at my new second grade class, (a small mixed-grade class for persons with limited eyesight), I had my space interest well formed. The teacher, knew a good thing and I had a strong well-developed personality and intellect compared to others my age and knew how to use them to chivvy things in the direction I wanted them to go. These two combined to turn the class into a "space club". Miss Madden knew that she could use this to promote interest in things that required education. such as science and it's not like I didn't know that she was thinking about this but why fight something when it's going my way? This club was not Space Patrol but a Solar Guard club since that was what was out there in terms of usable "props" and material. But by the beginning of the 21^st century (or, if you prefer, 3^rd millenium), there is more about Space Patrol with a re-issue of the Trading Cards and a move to do a revival by Dr. Warren Chaney. A forthcoming book by media writer Jean-Noel Bassior who wrote many articles for Filmfax and a whole new line of gear designed by Mike Elmo (that also includes Solar Guard and his favorite; Rocky Jones) and others like the Crimson Collector. Another item, which is the reason for this essay, is the Swapsale re-issue on VHS tape of over a hundred episodes of Space Patrol. Another company has released all the Rocky Jones stories, We are also unearthing the Stave Holland Flash Gordon episodes (also worth having) and I hope that we can get more Tom Corbette episodes. If you look at the membership of the Solarguard website, you will find that, while most members are "spacemen" or "space cadets" with loyalty to all the early TV space shows, the number of "Cadets" exceeds the number of "Space Patrollers" by quite a bit. Space Patrol did pull off the marketing coup of the Ages: By tying the commercials to the show by putting Space Patrollers Jack Narz and Captain George Barcley, in uniform and addressing us as "Space Patrollers" and by using the gear sold as "premiums" in the shows in a fairly realistic way, even switching space helmets from the ones that came with the Destination Moon space suits to the clear bubble helmets that the kids were using. What I have seen of Tom Corbett: Space Cadet used the generic Kellogg's ads. I think SP put Ralston cereals on the map. This all worked to male the kids feel like part of the Patrol. This made you feel like somone.

Space Patrol began as suppertime fare and in fact had a better than 50% adult audience. I will not tell you the figures that knowledgeable sources have used, you would not believe me. Even I find them hard to believe but the sources are good and the numbers do make sense in a weird sort of way. The focus of Space Patrol is a 30^th Century, best described in modern terms as para-military, Hawaii Five-0 (while the stories were a bit wildly scientifically speculative, the same hi-tech, slick style and wide-ranging kinds of missions are there: crime, espionage and national security, with Buzz Corry doing a credible M^cGarrett) in a well-settled united Solar System. One could see the Space Patrol evolving from the Solar Guard and into Starfleet (save that Star Trek blew it by being set in the twenty-third centery). Being set so far in the future Space Patrol could get a bit wilder in plots with things like tractor beams ("magnetizers"), pressor beams ("repello ray"), Anti-matter (contraterrene) and other futuristic devices and plots. It was also more Art Deco in style and the spacecraft more romantic in design than Tom Corbett. Also the focus was more on adults than on college-age adolescents, with the lone cadet, Happy, being a full part of the "A-team". Of the whole business, William Schallert, a well-experianced actor said "...I don't know what they were doing over at Space Patrol...having fun" (Williamsburg Film Festival Williamsburg VA, March 2003).

Well, one thing is for sure. We definitely had a keeper. to learn more about the history of Space Patrol go The Crimson Collector's website