Space Patrol

If you craved thrills and action with not much science fiction underpinning, and an unabashedly total lack of realism, this was the early 1950s space adventure program for you. Square-jawed, intelligent and courageous Commander Buzz Corry and his comical sidekick Cadet Happy faced certain death in nearly every once-a-week Saturday morning broadcast. Done live, with very impressive sets, and a wide variety of Hollywood character actors as villains, this was almost always worth tuning in to. Almost all the programs survived on 16 mm and 35 mm kinescopes, and are readily available today from video retail sources.

"....Buzz Corey, Commander-in-Chief of the SPACE PATROL!" I was eight years old when my Mother bought our first television set. Space Patrol was already halfway through its run on Detroit television, Channel 7, WXYZ, the ABC station if I remember correctly. Saturday morning was time for Space Patrol, my first favourite television programme. Buzz Corey was the perfect hero: stalwart, honest, dignified, mature, courageous: the apotheosis of all virtues. I even named my dog after him.

All things must end and little boys grow up; yet Space Patrol (at least as remembered) remains the standard by which all adventure entertainment is judged. The lifelong interest in science fiction which many of us have may be traced to this primitive space opera.

Boys need heroes and far more than Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Buzz Corey provided an example and a needed role model. If all little boys could grow up to be Buzz Corey our planet would be a better place.

I at least owe Space Patrol a great debt.

When Kit Cory disappeared on a secret mission to Plannet "X:", his younger brother Buzz took over the fight for right in Space. The Actor who played Kit Corey is my father Franklin Mullen. He is still alive and well in Las Vegas Nevada. He was using the Acting name "Glen Dennings" back then. I guess his agents thought that was better? I wasn't born till 1953 but I remember seeing reruns on TV. Too funny with rockets on wires with sparklers on the back against a painting of space in the background. The show I believe was the actual, first series in the Kiniscope period of Television and the old spools they kept them on were easily corruptible. The show was shot live. My father was in many old westerns and war movies too including Battle Cry and Command Decision. He was a good looking Jeffery Hunter type who my mother had dated too. But Dad won her over. BTW, My mother Rosemary was one of Jeffrey;'s last friends before his death. My father left Hollywood to do Theater at the Pheonix little Theater in Scottsdale Arizona and became a successful pool Contractor. He survived a plane crash where the Cesna wrapped around a Cable on a landing pattern. Later he was a Pioneer in the Stero Industry and moved back to Brentwood Calif. He has always been my hero and still is. As I write this he is 79 years old and I hope he'll be around a good while longer. I tried Acting myself but lost interest. I am currently developing a TV production company in Central America. I wish my dad had grabbed a bunch of the old Ray Guns. They're great collector Items.

Im shocked to find the omission of Carol, the commissioners daughter, from your full cast credits. She was the lovely, leggy blonde, inventor, and unofficial sweetie of Commander Corry. Space Patrol a must see for any 11 year old boy in 1951, especially the episodes that featured Carol. The name of the actress was Virginia Hewitt. Space Patrol was an inventive, budget saving endeavor in the black and white early days of Television. One episode had the rocket ship sinking into a soft planet surface, which was accomplished by pulling material upwards around the model ship, creating the illusion of sinking. A great series for a wide eyed 11 yr old.

I grew up in Las Vegas NV, where there was no television until 1954. I was in the 4th grade, and it changed life for us kids quite dramatically.

Having listened to the likes of Superman and The Lone Ranger on the radio, and developing a mental picture of what the characters were "sposta" look like, it was sometimes a letdown to see "impostors", even though the voices were the same.

"Space Patrol" never was televised in Vegas, as far as I can remember. I was a faithful follower of the Saturday morning radio show, however: "High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with BUZZ CORY, Commander-in-Chief of the SPAAAAACE PATROL!"