In the 1950s, there was an earlier "Captain Midnight" weekly TV series. As in the later series, starring Richard Webb in the title role, this program was also sponsored "Ovaltine". It aired Saturdays on CBS TV, with an (uncredited) "Captain Midnight",as the show's host. This version presented several Republic theatrical serials , with one episode, aired each week. One serial that was featured, "The Crimson Ghost" (1946), is still one of the rarest and scariest, with the arch enemy Ash, played by an "unmasked "Clayton Moore.
The series' title was changed to "Jet Jackson, Flying Commando" because the program went into syndication after its initial two-year run but the ex-sponsor (Ovaltine) still owned the rights to the "Captain Midnight" title. Soundtrack references to "Captain Midnight" were overdubbed.
The first program to include audience participation through the use of the famous "Secret Decoder Ring" which allowed the afterschool TV viewer to decode Jet Jackson's secret orders.
Captain Midnight's plane was the Douglas "Skyrocket," a dual-powered experimental aircraft having both a jet engine and a four-barrel rocket engine.
Captain Midnight was called 'Jet Jackson' in Australia, because Captain Midnight was the name of an infamous bushranger (outlaw).