Sky King

As with many of us "of a certain age" (i.e., aged) "Sky King" was a huge part of childhood. It ignited a lifelong interest in airplanes as well as reinforcing another aspect of personality. No one else has bothered to mention that Penny was gorgeous! I recall not one plot and do remember thinking that, like several others, the early 50s series were overshadowed by the mid- to late-fifties Westerns.

I can remember watching Sky King as a kid, too. Saturday morning seemed to be filled with shows of this type... Captain Gallant & Tales of Texas Rangers come to mind. I became curious about Sky King because my daughter, now a freshman in college, is pursuing her dream to become a commercial pilot. And of course I remember Penny being Sky's niece; and yes, she must have been pretty; but I remember little else. It seems to me that Penny had her own plane... is this right? And if so, did it have a name as well? It also seems to me that her character would have been considered "ahead of her time". I don't know if shows of this simplicity would "fly well" today.

My mother told me about this show, and she told me she would watch it religiously every Saturday morning. She was starting to think she dreamed it up, because no one she talked to remembered it. So I did a search, and found some episodes on tape, and gave it to her birthday. She watched two of them that very day, and loved them!

With Kirby Grant as the Sky King, and Gloria Winters Penny, and all the rest, from what I saw, it is a great show! Yes, it is simple, as most shows from the early fifties, but it taught right from wrong, and that's what is missing from most shows today. It might be interesting to see what a remake of this show would look like.

I fondly recall watching this show during my childhood. Although I haven't seen it since I was about 7 or 8 years old, my memories of it are filled with good, warm feelings, possibly because of the simpler times (seemingly) we enjoyed then. I'm sure that seen through the eyes of today this show would appear to be lacking in some respects, but so what? I had completely forgotten about this one until I had a song request recently to perform Jimmy Buffett's "Pencil Thin Moustache" (an old song of his and one of a very few which I DIDN'T learn to play 30 years ago). I was catapulted into my past as I read and learned Jimmy's lyrics:

Oh, I remember bein' buck toothed and skinny Writin' fan letters to Sky's niece Penny Oh, I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache, then I could solve some mysteries too...

The light bulb is back on now. God Bless Gloria Winters and Kirby Grant! Thanks for the memories and a really great show....

I too grew up watching this show. Recently (April 0f 2006) I was in Central Florida and saw Sky King and Fury on a local channel. The plots are thinner than I remembered, much like the Rifleman. As I watch those shows now I realize how the writers took 3 minutes of plot and made a full 30 minute program from it. Even though it was simple and thin, it was so interesting to observe the memories it brought back.

I think this show made me want to be a pilot as a child. I never pursued flying, but as I was watching the show recently, I realized that was the beginning of my dreaming of someday being a pilot.

Thank God for the Internet and the ability to easily research anything from the comfort of your couch! It was good to see the bird flying again!