Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Okay, it's been almost 50 years since I blasted off with Rocky every Saturday morning. And, even then, I can tell you the special effects weren't terrific, and the stories were probably 50's simple, but, it was good entertainment, and an exciting way to start the day. We didn't have Star Wars (etc.) back then, and this was still ahead of Forbidden Planet, so, you didn't expect much, you weren't let down. AND, most kid shows even at the theater were black and white (except maybe Disney), so the black and white TV wasn't a problem. I'm sure that if I viewed this series today, I might cringe at it, but, then again, if you make the effort to try to look at something this old the way you looked at it originally (thru the eyes of a youngster), it just might still be that fine entertainment it was then. Hopefully, someone will put all 39 episodes on DVD, that would be great.

I will start by saying that I have no memories of watching the other space operas of the 1950s, such as Tom Corbett, Captain Video, Rod Brown or Space Patrol, so I have no standard of comparison. I saw Rocky Jones on NYC TV as late as the early 60s, if VCRs had been available then I would have recorded it faithfully. I recall it being sponsored by Silvercup bread-anyone from the NYC area remember that? One of the other reviewers described the stories as 1950s simple, a good description, but remember it was a kids' program, and I have seen plenty of recently made so called adult programs that were simple and unrealistic. And Sally Mansfield as Vena Ray still looks good even today. The SFX are a little crude in this CGI era but were pretty good for the day and remember they had budget limitations, and I read in a book about SF movies and TV than when you don't have a big budget you have to use your imagination. I still find these programs enjoyable today, that says it best.

I loved this show when it aired on Australian TV in the late 1950s. Even then the 'scripts' seemed pretty lousy, but it was Rocky, in his cap and t-shirt, and Vena, in her short skirt, who kept me watching. I think 'Forbidden Planet' owes a lot to their outfits. There's a definite similarity. I think we of that generation should keep the memory of such ground-breaking television alive.

I was a kid when these showed up on KING in 1954. They aired three times a week, Mon-Wed-Fri, so in one week, we saw an entire serial. I was disappointed when one Monday, it failed to show up at its regular time. I was admittedly hooked as a ten-year old.

By today's standards, RJSP can't be fairly judged. Ships that fly through an atmosphere to streak upward and land on a jet of pure rocket power? Calculating a course using nothing more than a triangle, pencil and paper? Fights in which nobody loses their hat? A magnetic grappling system to capture and seat a ship in a space station docking port? Dodging asteroids (where have we seen that before? Oh, yeah -- Galaxy Quest).

Yeah, there's a lot that is wrong with the series.

But there's a lot that is right. One of the things are the wonderful alien planet paintings that serve as backdrops to alien landscapes. The idea that a flying saucer uses some kind of magnetic drive (I remember that from when it aired -- I think it is in the final series "Trial of Rocky Jones" -- Add: It wasn't. According to another post, the series was called "Blast Off" and served as the final episode to the first season -- the show was canceled in the second season for a number of reasons -- see the discussion thread for more information). Truly good versus truly bad. Espionage. Kid mistakes.

This is seat-of-your-pants entertainment that looked real enough to be believable, back then. The stories are campy, but so are some of the scenes in George Pal's War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet. They are aimed for the kids, and for a kids show, the FX were very futuristic for the time. Watch some of the other syndicated shows of the time -- many are available on Netflix or via streaming video on the internet.

Television in the 1950s was very puritan. To have Rocky show a love interest toward Vena wasn't going to happen, not in 1954 when you seldom saw inside a married couples' bedroom and when you did, they each had their own bed. So a lot of the criticism toward this series is based upon today's television standards (Think Ozzie & Harriet, I Love Lucy, and other shows with married couples).

7 stars is being generous, but I believe a fair assessment for the show at the time it was aired. By today's standards, it would be much, much lower. But for the TV buff who is interested in vintage television, you really can't get much better. It is too bad that most of the episodes available on DVD are from video tape. It would be really nice for someone to dig up any of the vintage copies and do a job to restore the entire series to pristine shape.

While there is little about "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" to justify recommending it today, there is a certain value to considering the historical importance of what it was in 1954.

I should say, that I grew up watching this program. I and one of my friends, joyfully, wrote away to the show and were rewarded with a Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Fan Club kit, which included a large, blue, scroll-type banner with gold tassels, a selection of cheaply reproduced head shots of the actors in character, and if I recall correctly, a couple of code rings that were nice but had no relation to the show.

We both watched the show religiously and were thrilled by the adventures and the wonder of space travel. We both read science fiction and we were both precocious little intellectuals who understood just how poorly these shows approximated quality in that area. Still, it was fun, it was science fiction, it was for kids, and it was 1954-55.

If you consider the plots, such as they were, and consider the headlines of those days then it should not be hard for you to recognize how idyllic Rocky's problems seemed to us.

Yes, Rocky Jones KNEW what was right, but the '50s was a time when knowing what was right was very important. There was a certain amount of social commentary built into the show that said that doing 'the right thing' was more important than political concerns. Rocky Jones doesn't seem human to us today, because he is not paralyzed by doubts, he is serious about what he is doing, he is dedicated to fighting the bad guys who are clearly 'bad' guys. That a woman was aboard was ground breaking just as having a mixed crew was shocking when "Star Trek" hit the air waves. It was futuristic, and though it didn't go nearly far enough, it pointed the way to where our society has actually begun to go.

Rocky was a hero. He was not an ordinary guy with some extra training. He could do no wrong, by definition. Heroes are always in short supply, so it is not surprising that others went to him for advice and took what he gave. The only real difference between a hero story then and one now is that today's heroes need to fight the system to do their heroic deeds and they are tortured by the fear that they may die alone because no one understands their truths.

Certainly, there is more depth to a modern hero, but the question is, how often does that depth advance a hero story?

As far as cheap sets and cheap effects go, they weren't for that day and time. They were pretty much state of the art for weekly television in the '50s. We, today, are spoiled by our current technology which makes much better effects cost effect where they were impossible before. Compare "Star Trek" to "Enterprise", both relatively low budget for their times. Consider "Bewitched" versus "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer".

So, for a proper appreciation of "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" in the context of what it was versus what it is now, let me say that it has no depth or artistry that survives its original time. There is no great artistic merit to the shows which would justify a week long retrospective. It was an afternoon syndicated children's show, which added wonder and hope to my life as a child. I would joyfully sit through an episode or ten, to revive old memories and to ruefully remark on how sophisticated I have grown and how technology has advanced. But, then, I am currently re-reading the Shadow and Doc Challenger novels for much the same reason and with much the same recognitions.

There were great space operas in the literature that still hold up today for all their lack of modern sophistication and they reach all the way back to the '30s. There have not been many great science fiction films and fewer television shows until much more recent times. If you need examples, consider "Metropolis", "Things to Come", "Destination Moon", etc. as big budget films for their day compared to modern science fiction movies. (We'll skip movie serials completely.) As far as television goes, till the '60s, all I can remember are this one, "Captain Midnight/Jet Jackson", "Superman" and "Science Fiction Theatre" and none of these others offered adventures in space. I'm sure that others of us, can think of more, but I'm willing to bet, not many more.

So, if anyone wants to put out a bunch of episodes on DVD, they've got one purchaser ready, with cash in hand.