Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

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.

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.

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 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 viewed Rocky Jones, Space Ranger as a child 50 years ago. By today's standards the SPFX are inferior but the stories were great: good against evil. It was entertaining and exciting. I'm sure that science fiction films and TV series made in the 60's and 70's, such as "Star Trek", have to thank Rocky Jones for many story lines. There was one episode where Rocky's ship becomes invisible due to a scientific breakthrough; a similar plot was used in "Star Trek" as well as in "Star Wars". We owe a lot to shows like Rocky Jones. It brought pleasure to many youngsters who could only dream about space travel. I still remember the plots and titles of many of those episodes; yet I cannot recall plots of shows I've viewed within recent years!