|
|
|
| |
RALSTON
MOVES
INTO
OUTER
SPACE
TV
With
NESTLE'S
Co-sponsorship |
Wednesday
-
December
12,
2001
By
the
Crimson
Collector |
|
|
In
the
early
1950's,
Ralston's
sponsorship
of
Tom
Mix
had
ended
and
television
had
arrived…
what
better
for
Ralston
than
to
step
into
the
thirtieth
century
than
through
a
sci-fi/space-opera
TV
show?
Thus
Space
Patrol's
association
with
Ralston
was
born.
Space
Patrol
started
as
a
fifteen
minute
show
from
ABC-TV's
Los
Angeles
local
station
KECA-TV
in
1951.
It
was
conceived
by
Mike
Moser,
a
ex-navy
veteran
who
had
been
in
charge
of
training
hurricane-hunter
squadrons
in
WW
II.
In
'SP'
he
tried
to
bring
that
same
sense
of
wonder
that
he
had
enjoyed
as
a
boy
with
Flash
Gordon
and
Buck
Rogers.
 The
show
was
cheap
in
its
beginnings
but
the
potential
was
there.
Space
Patrol's
first
Commander
Kit
Corry
was
an
actor,
better
forgotten,
who
had
the
wrong
touch
for
the
character,
forgot
lines,
and
even
fell
asleep
one
time
on-air.
Soon
his
"brother"
Buzz
Corry
was
brought
in
to
replace
Kit
and
he
proved
to
be
just
what
the
show
needed.
Ed
Kemmer
(left)
was
a
pilot
in
WW
II
who
was
shot
down
over
Germany
on
his
48th
mission.
Kemmer
was
fresh
out
of
the
Pasadena
Playhouse,
where
he
had
studied
with
Lyn
Osborn
(Cadet
Happy)
who
in
turn
recommended
him
for
the
Buzz
Corry
part.
The
stars
of
this
daily
show
received
checks
for
eight
dollars
a
show
and
had
to
supplement
their
income
elsewhere,
on
the
hope
that
the
show
would
hit
it
big
and
go
"network".
 Their
gamble
paid
off,
soon
the
show
was
on
radio
and
put
onto
the
network
with
a
half-hour
Saturday
morning
adventure
each
week
and
sponsored
by
Ralston,
who
later
took
on
Nestle
as
an
alternating
sponsor.
Now
they
were
earning
over
$45,000
a
year……big
money
in
those
days.
There
were
three
weekday
live
broadcasts
and
a
Saturday
morning
edition
at
11:00
A.M.
Eastern
time.
Due
to
the
time
difference
the
show
had
to
start
at
8:00
A.M.
in
California.
It
had
the
distinction
of
being
the
first
West
Coast
live
to
the
East
Coast
Saturday
morning
network
program
beamed
to
the
east
via
a
combination
of
cable
and
crude
relay
stations.
|
 Other
announcers
voiced
the
opening,
but
staff
announcer
Jack
Narz
did
it
best…
"Space
Patrol!
High
adventure
in
the
wild
reaches
of
space…
Mission
of
daring
in
the
name
of
Planetary
justice.
Travel
into
the
future
with
Buzz
Corry…
Commander-in-chief
of…
the
SPACE
PATROL!"
|
| Keeping
up
with
the
over
82,00
words
of
script
per
week
was
a
Herculean
task.
Cue
cards
were
pasted
all
over
the
cardboard
sets
out
of
the
sight
of
TV
cameras.
It
was
all
live
and
when
they
found
out
they
were
too
long
on
dialog
sometimes…
they
would
just
have
to
speed
up
their
reading
and
jump
on
each
other's
lines.
It
was
a
stressful
time.
Kemmer
and
Osborne
hoped
the
weekday
shows
would
go
away
and
finally
it
was
trimmed
to
the
one
big
show
on
Saturday
morning.
The
budget
jumped
to
$25,000
and
paid
for
extra
prop
men,
electricians,
carpenters,
an
additional
director
to
spell
Dik
Darley,
the
cast
jumped
from
five
to
fifteen
people,
a
full
engineering
crew
and
above
all:
the
hiring
of
a
crack
special
effects
team
of
Oscar,
Paul
and
Franz
Dallons.
The
Dallons'
had
worked
on
movies
like
The
Donovan's
Brain
and
TV's
Captain
Midnight.
 Besides
the
pressure
of
doing
the
show
live...
the
actor's
also
had
to
appear
in
many
of
the
live
commercials.
Often
they
were
expected
to
sit
down
to
a
bowl
of
Ralston
cereal
or
drink
Nestle's
Quik
right
after
the
vigorous
exercise
of
a
fight
scene,
or
up
in
the
rafters
of
the
old
Lawrence
Welk
stage
E
and
have
to
climb
down,
winded
and
dirty
and
calm
down
to
pleasantly
give
a
delivery
of
the
sponsor's
product.
Sadly,
Buzz
and
Happy
fought
their
last
battle
with
nemesis
Prince
Baccarrati,
(who
also
did
double-duty
as
the
associate
producer)
in
February
of
1955
after
Ralston
and
Nestle
both
withdrew
their
sponsorship.
 Today,
videotapes
of
Space
Patrol
are
sold
everywhere
on
Ebay.
There
are
supposedly
"authorized"
versions,
but
those
are
mostly
of
the
later
half
hour
shows.
The
early
fifteen
minute
shows
are
available
from
Swapsale.com.
They
are
transferred
directly
from
old
kinescopes
of
varying
quality
and
may
be
a
bit
rough
at
times,
but
the
early
shows
are
such
a
hoot
to
watch
that
I
recommend
them
to
everyone.
Space
Patrol
toys
and
merchandise
is
out
there
for
collectors
and
I
have
accumulated
a
bit
of
it
myself...
just
check
out
"Space
Patrol"
on
Ebay
or
Swapsale.com
and
enjoy.
Tom
Mason
aka,
The
Crimson
Collector
RETURN
TO
THE
SPACE
PATROL
'ARTICLES'
Some
pictures
courtesy
of
The
Solar
Guard.
|
| If
you
have
an
'Article'
or
'Review'
that
you
would
like
to
share
with
the
Crimson
Collector.
Then
feel
free
to
submit
it
for
use
on
the
Articles
&
Reviews
page.
SUBMIT
HERE |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
