Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

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.

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 used to love Rocky Jones as a lad, it debuted in 1954 when I was a mere 7 years old. Rocky was a chiseled hero of the space age, a space ranger working for the United Worlds. The United Nations was in its first decade and the world hoped it would help bring lasting peace to the planet. Those hopes were certainly transported into the future with the United Worlds. Note the similarity between the crowd Rocky and his crew worked for and the United Federation of Planets that employed the Enterprise a dozen years later.

I also don't think it was an accident that actor Charles Meredith played the future Secretary-General of the United Worlds. His resemblance to the current president named Eisenhower residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, could not be missed.

Rocky's crew consisted of co-pilot Winky, navigator Vena, scientist Professor Newton and a young kid named Bobby who Professor Newton took quite an interest in. Vena was always in short skirts and heels, not exactly regulation for space travel, but I guess she was there for the Dads. What Bobby was on those missions for still eludes me except as a boy toy. To hear Winky tell it he had a girl on every planet, but Rocky showed no discernible interest in the opposite sex.

Of course special effects were pretty chintzy, but given that television was still in its own adolescence, understandable. The show was not terribly good in predicting scientific advancement. No computers or lasers are seen in this futuristic program. I recall one episode in which an abandoned moon was blasted with something called a tortanic missile to alter its orbit. Didn't work.

But one thing I will always remember Rocky Jones for. There was a ruler Queen on one of the planets named Officius and her name was Cleolanta. That woman was pure evil and deliciously played by an actress named Patsy Parsons. Cleolanta used to give this seven year old nightmares. But I still watched the show.

For the nay sayers out there... C'mon folks, lighten up! This was just a TV SHOW, remember? It wasn't some high-budget waste of celluloid. The shows were brief morality plays and they did exactly what they were intended to do: entertain kids, make sure the "good guys" always win, and (let's not forget) sell a product or two.

I was only five years old at the time, but the show helped ignite a spark that still hasn't faded. I eventually worked at NASA. Although I certainly wouldn't site the show as the sole reason for that decision, it was one of many such shows that helped spark the young imagination and ignited an interest in space travel and science in general. I, for one, will always consider this show a treasure.

Don't listen to the negative reviews. Rocky Jones Space Ranger is a great series. As basic juvenile oriented entertainment, it is terrific fun. There are spaceships, travels to different planets, weird science, and girls in mini-skirts. As a Science Fiction television show, it is pioneering, and arguably one of the most enduring.

There seems to always be a rift between those who want their sci-fi to be "smart" and those who are looking for action and/or special FX. This series was made before the genre was divided. It's an early 50's sci-fi adventure t.v. show aimed primarily at juveniles--take it for what it is. Despite it's "limitations" it sure seems to have a lot of elements that would later be used by Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek.

Rocky Jones Space Ranger portrays a future where interplanetary travel is routine. The show employs an ensemble cast with a family-like camaraderie. Rocky and his crew (Vena, Bobby, Biff, and Professor Newton) are sent out as emissaries of the United Worlds. The UW is portrayed as a peaceful alliance of planets, yet outside threats from rogue elements & planets require a force of Space Rangers. Diplomacy is always the first resort, but Rocky is definitely able to go fist-city with any bad-guy. Also of note is the fact that this series routinely cast women in important roles as both rulers, villains, and sidekicks--fairly unusual for 1954.

Rocky Jones is a truly enjoyable sci-fi adventure t.v. shows for those young at heart. It's well written, filmed (as opposed to shot on video) and the special effects are actually pretty good for something produced in 1954. If you're not a sci-fi snob, you'll definitely enjoy this great, pioneering show.