Wednesday, February 21, 2018

PLANET OF THE APES TV SERIES 1974 (FOX)

A very short lived TV show that lasted just 14 episodes.

Ron Harper ans James Naughton are two astronauts who crash on a planet inhabited and ruled by apes. They are befriended by a chimpanzee named Galen (Roddy McDowell).

Virdon and Burke, the two earthlings are immediately declared enemies of the state by Urko, the gorilla leader of the military forces (Mark Leonard). During all 14 episodes the three come upon new adventures while trying to avoid capture and death at the hands of Urko and his troops.

When this show debuted, "Ape Mania" was sweeping the nation and as a child I was sure this show would be a hit. I find all of the episodes very well done and there are a few that are excellent.

One of the episodes in this set entitled "The Liberators" wasn't even run during it's initial run for reasons I cannot figure out. There were a lot of guest stars, some you couldn't recognize under the makeup, but they included John Ireland, John Hoyt, Marc Singer, William Smith, Roscoe Lee Brown, Jacqueline Scott, Michael Conrad and Joseph Ruskin to name just a few.

It had been a lot of years since I had first seen these shows and I found I enjoyed them just as much as the first time. If you get a chance check em out. Recommended!!

2 comments:

  1. Yeah, I got this and the animated set collecting dust on the shelf. I definitely need to dust this off and watch it.

    ReplyDelete