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Space Academy (1977 - 1979)
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:34 pm    Post subject: Space Academy (1977 - 1979) Reply with quote



"Welcome to the most magnificent achievement in space, the man-made planetoid...Space Academy!...founded in star year 3732.

Here we have gathered young people from the farthest reaches of the known worlds. They have been chosen for their unique abilities, and are being trained to cope with the mysterious, the unknown, the unpredictable dangers lurking in the vast darkness of space."



Space Academy is a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. (Repeats ran on and off until September 1, 1979.) A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.



Established in 3732, the Space Academy, located on an asteroid, brought together the best of young minds, including several with special skills and abilities, to explore the mysteries of space.



About the history of the Space Academy Universe: According to the episode Countdown," there were at least three "Star Wars" in the distant past, some of which pitted Earth against the humanoid Vegans. A significant battle in "the Vegan Wars" occurred near "Proxima Centauri."



The Cadets of the Academy's Blue Team (you can tell them by their blue shirts; as opposed to Yellow Squad ["Life Begins at 300"]) travels about space in fantastic-looking shuttlecraft called Seekers.



The Seekers can achieve the equivalent of light speed, here called star speed ("Castaways in Time and Space") and are armed with photon-torpedo-like devices called spinners, and can also fire gravity rays and presser rays ("Johnny Sunseed").



The Seeker's nose was a re-used prop from the earlier Filmation series Ark II.

The incredible Seekers were created by SPFX expert Chuck Comiskey and are highly-detailed miniatures. Often, they are depicted in the series launching and landing in a very impressive-looking docking bay.





The Cadet teams often visit inhospitable planets by donning personal forcefield generators rather than traditional spacesuits. These generators are known as life-support badges.



CHARACTERS;
Commander Isaac Gampu (Harris) was the head of the academy. His many years of space exploration exposed him to conditions that immensely slowed his aging process; though appearing to be in his sixties or seventies, his true age was well over 300 years old, giving him a unique perspective on history and some ideal qualifications as a teacher. He oversaw the activities of three student exploratory teams, the Red, Blue and Gold Teams (although the main characters were all members of the Blue Team).

Chris Gentry (Carrott) and Laura Gentry (Ferdin) were the captain and co-captain, respectively, of the academy's Blue Team. The siblings (Chris was the elder) had highly developed telekinetic and other psychic powers. Laura was attracted to Matt Prentiss (John Berwick), the occasionally-seen leader of the Red Team.

Adrian Pryce-Jones (Cooper) was number three in the Blue Team's chain of command and Chris's love interest.

Paul Jerome (Henderson), a highly intelligent transferee from the Red Team, was raised on an Earth colony. He was number four in the Blue Team's chain of command. Although Paul is introduced as an established academy member in the first episode, he is reintroduced in the second episode as if he were a new character; conversely Loki, introduced in the first episode as a new admission, is reintroduced in the second episode as a long-established member. This continuity error was acknowledged in the information booklet accompanying the series' DVD release.

Tee Gar Soom (Tochi), number five in Blue Team's chain of command, had superhuman physical strength and continued the martial arts traditions of his Asian ancestors. He augmented these abilities with newer disciplines, some of which originated on other planets.

Loki (Greene) was a young orphan discovered in the first episode on the dying world of Zalon. A playful prankster, Loki could teleport and could see well beyond the visible spectrum normally accessible by Earth humans. His frequent catchphrase was "Camelopardus!"

PEEPO (Himself) A robot based on the" Omnibot" toy robot available at the time.

As with much of children's television in the 1970s, lessons and morals were taught in each episode. These included wide-ranging concepts, such as that the superpowers possessed by some academy students were not a cure-all for problems, and that even the old and wise could make mistakes. As the students encountered members of extraterrestrial races, even mutated descendants of Earth colonists in space, they came to further develop their wisdom and understanding of diversity throughout the universe.

One term of jargon unique to the program was "ORACO" ("Orders Received And Carried Out"), used when orders were acknowledged by academy personnel.

In 1978, a spin-off of Space Academy, Jason of Star Command, debuted. Initially a serialized segment of Tarzan and the Super 7, it starred Craig Littler and James Doohan, with Sid Haig as the villain. Star Command was described as a special section of the Space Academy; the show used the same sets, costumes and special effects as the parent program.

ACTORS ;
The program starred veteran actor Jonathan Harris, best known as Dr. Zachary Smith of Lost in Space; co-starring were Pamelyn Ferdin, Ric Carrott, Maggie Cooper, Brian Tochi, Ty Henderson, and Eric Greene.

The program featured a pint-sized robot called "Peepo", a radio-controlled machine voiced by Erika Scheimer talking through a pitch-shifter with regenerative delay.
Guest stars included Lawrence "Larry" Dobkin; Dena Dietrich ("Mother Nature" in the Chiffon margarine TV commercials of the 1960s and 70s); George DiCenzo; Dallas McKennon; and Howard Morris ; AND Robby the Robot.



The complete series, all 15 episodes, is available on Youtube. You can begin your first semester here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi4PrLjXFt4



A documentary on the series including interviews with a few of the actors and technical crew can be found here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVbTAgy397I&t=98s



Information from Wikipedia and others.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Two interesting things about both Space Academy and Jason of Star Command is the fact that we get to hear James Doohan not talking like Scotty, and Jonathan Harris not acting nervous, frightened, and hyperactive like Dr. Smith.

It's fun watch Mr. Harris play a wise and dignified scientist, instead of his famous comic relief character in Lost in Space.

And I'm sure the voice of the narrator in the Space Academy trailer below is Mr. Harris himself. It took me a moment to realize who it was, because he isn't doing the "Smith" voice. It's pitched just a tab higher, and it doesn't have the comic cadence. Very Happy



____________ 'Space Academy' TV Intro (1977)


__________

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:33 am; edited 2 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sci~fi writer David Gerrold thought it was criminal that an academy for students would actually send them out on such critical and dangerous missions.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always thought that the design for the Seeker spacecraft used by the SA was sharp looking.

Liked it better than the shuttlecraft from ST: TOS.

The interior set was also well done with comfortable looking seats for long sessions during assignments.

The uniform designs weren't bad either.

The visual effects were quite well done given the budgetary restraints of Saturday morning TV shows. As well as the grinding schedule of creating them weekly.

Some stories were entertaining,some corny. But one must remember it was a kid oriented weekend series so we weren't going to encounter the profound & complex scripting seen on The Twilight Zone,The Outer Limits,or ST: TOS.

Cast interviews reveal that filming the show was a joyous experience for them all with terrific memories for them to this day. That doesn't always happen on every TV show no matter the genre.

David Gerrold's totally legitimate criticism of the premise of the absurdity of any academy with "students" & sending them out on dangerous missions that should only be performed by highly trained crews makes irrefutable sense.

However, in an era where we only had 3 major networks supplying scant sci~fi productions, we looked forward to SA flaws and all.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Sci~fi writer David Gerrold thought it was criminal that an academy for students would actually send them out on such critical and dangerous missions.

He must hate the Juvenal SF novels of the 50s and 60s. Laughing

The life-support badges came about, because they didn't have the budget for space suit costumes.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
David Gerrold's totally legitimate criticism of the premise of the absurdity of any academy with "students" & sending them out on dangerous missions that should only be performed by highly trained crews makes irrefutable sense.

Gentlemen, let's be fair about this. All stories are geared towards a specific audience. For example:

~ Cocoon was aimed at old people who didn't want to die.

~ American Graffiti was geared toward teenagers who didn't want to grow up.

~ Mother Goose stories are absurd when read by adults. No surprise in view of the fact that they weren't written for adults.

~ And Space Academy was geared toward kids who wanted to have fabulous adventures in outer space and help the adults defeat the bad guys!

So, please don't think that Space Academy is flawed because "David Gerrold thought it was criminal that an academy for students would actually send them out on such critical and dangerous missions."

My reply to Mr. Gerrold is this
: Kids need to believe they can be the heroes who save the universe . . . without having to wait until they're stogy old adults like their parents! Shocked

Every story has it's target audience. All other audiences think it's ridiculous.

Fortunately, they're all wrong. Rolling Eyes

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:35 am; edited 2 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, this still doesn't mean that other writers, perhaps DG himself, could have solved the flaw in the premise and yet still have the cadets remain the focus of the show.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Bud, this still doesn't mean that other writers, perhaps DG himself, could have solved the flaw in the premise and yet still have the cadets remain the focus of the show.

Ummm . . . What flaw?

It was a Young Adult series that featured kids in adult positions of authority. The premise required the kids to be treated like adults who were trained to deal with dangerous situations and trusted to solve serious problems. This made the young adult audience enjoy the series and watch it because it provided the simple pleasure of "wish fulfillment".

I'm curious to know how the kids could be "the focus of the show" if they had to remain at the academy so they wouldn't be in danger. Confused

The only "fix" anybody could do would be to abandon the premise, have adults be the characters who took the risks, and make all the students stay at the academy where they would be nice and safe.

Consider this: Did the young people who watched the show think it was flawed because in real life the students would never be allowed to take risks and fight bad guys?

Of course not. So, why "fix" the very thing that appealed to it's intended audience?

Was it realistic? No, and the kids who watched it knew that. Was it exciting for its young audience. Naturally! Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:38 am; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, I fully comprehend that this was designed as a sci~fi TV show for kids and that they wouldn't care about the absurdity of the SA premise.

I realize that David Gerrold's problem is as both an adult & sci~fi author.

However, to restate the flaw in the ointment remains the absence of logic within the series outline that cadets at the academy are expected to be assigned dangerous missions in outer space. And most times without any adult supervision.

West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy train their cadets until they graduate. During the cadets time at these institutions they would never be sent off into missions of jeopardy. Absurd!

It would be logical that a SA in the future would follow such a sensible education program.

You or I may not be able to able to solve this problem for the show, but perhaps there would have been a writer such as Mr. Gerrold who did have a solution?

I get we're discussing a short-lived children's sci~fi TV show. Hardly profound or important.

Maybe I just enjoy mental gymnastics in critiquing television shows. Fun stuff.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
However, to restate the flaw in the ointment remains the absence of logic within the series outline that cadets at the academy are expected to be assigned dangerous missions in outer space. And most times without any adult supervision.

Maybe I just enjoy mental gymnastics in critiquing television shows. Fun stuff.

Amen to that, brother! You made me realize that my comments smack of a defeatist attitude! "This problem can't be solved! We're stuck with it!"

However, my point is that the show was designed perfectly for what it was supposed to be: a kid's show with it's own set of rules for a Kid's Universe.

Our differing opinions stem from the fact that you want the show to have the logic and intelligence needed for one created for adults — whereas I believe it was deliberately meant to ignore the logical objection towards endangering kids — because kids don't think they need supervision!

The kids who watched it might have thought it was unusual for the cadets to go out on missions without adult supervision . . . but they wouldn't object to that the way adult viewers would. Hell's bells, that's what they loved best about the series! Very Happy

If you "fix" that aspect of the show, you spoil the fun for the people it's supposed to be entertaining! Shocked

Consider this: the fact the TNG let Wesley Crusher be the helmsman of the Federation's flagship, the Enterprise, was completely ridiculous! But the producers thought younger viewers would like it, so they did it anyway. Confused

The difference is that TNG is supposed to be a show for intelligent adults, so the idea was a bad one.

But Space Academy made no pretense of being for adults, so it didn't have to conform to the "adult series" standards of logic. It just had to give the kids what they wanted — a "sci-fi fantasy" in which they were treated like adults, because this is the very thing kids often complain that adults don't do!

Pow, think of the difference between Saturday Night Live and Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Both are supposed to be humorous, but the target audiences are very different . . . so the shows are very different.

You can't make a sci-fi show intended for kids without designing simplified plots they'll understand, characters they'll either cheer for or boo at, and situations that conform to their undeveloped, inaccurate, and less sophisticated view of the world.

The whole point of the show was to give them heroes who were THEIR age, not grownups who they couldn't fully identify with. It's as simple as that. It's a series about an "alternate universe" in which kids get the privileges of adulthood long before they've really earned them.

As I said, Space Academy is about simple juvenile "wish fulfillment", not realism, logic, and practical concerns. Criticizing the premise for being unrealistic is a little like saying The Wizard of Oz is no good because monkeys can't really fly. Rolling Eyes

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can give you one that trumps Wesley Crushing piloting the Enterprise.

How about recent Star Fleet graduate Jim Kirk is commissioned captain of the Federation Star Ship Enterprise after one friggin' mission . . . his very first mission!!!

Thanks for ruining the ST reboot, JJ Abrams.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Sir, we have reached consensus, and you have indeed "topped me" with that one. Cool

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great discussion guys!

You actually are both right in my judgeme . . . from your individual points of view!

The STAR TREK example you give is priceless! I think the intent was to show just how awesome Kirk was, but it was totally unrealistic in ANY universe!

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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The reasoning that because Space Academy is a show aimed at kids we can jettison logic and dumb it down bothers me. Why have this mindset? Can't the bar be set higher so that the show can entertain children and still appeal to adults who enjoy solid science fiction? Those goals are not mutually exclusive to each other in the hands of savvy creators and writers.

Star Trek: The Animated TV show proved that sophisticated scripts can be terrific entertainment to both the young 'uns as well as well as adults. If it could work for Star Trek then it could have worked for SA.
I understand that there can exist TV shows for kids such as Pee Wee's Playhouse that can be fun, silly, and pay little heed to logic, deep character development, and intriguing storylines. It is what it is.

What I take exception to is the thinking that simply because a Saturday morning TV show will be viewed by children, it therefore automatically follows it can also be devoid of practicality. It can be more.

Space Academy could have created a scenario where the artificial planetoid is mysteriously hurled from its position near the earth. At the same time we have the adult teachers subjected to an unknown virus. They are placed into suspended animation until such time as a cure can be discovered. This leaves the cadets, and for unknown reasons for now, Commander Gampu who is 300 years old, healthy.

It is now up to Gampu and the cadets to find out why the planetoid was thrust out into outer space, what the illness is that has incapacitated all of the adults, and search for a way back home to earth, if there is one.

I'm making the assumption that since the academy has been constructed upon an artificial planetoid, that the planetoid itself is not a natural asteroid. At least that's what the opening narration states about the planetoid. If it is itself a human-made object, just what is its purpose? Why did the Space Academy have to be placed upon anything at all? Couldn't the SA buildings have been joined together and functioned like a large space station?

Possibly the creators of the series would have explained this had the show been renewed for a second season.

We could establish that the artificial planetoid is the engine system for the SA. It can either keep the academy motionless, keep it from drifting, do course corrections, travel from one area to another. As to why it has to look like a planetoid can be yet another puzzle to be revealed.

The show then could be about the characters attempting to return to home. Each week could present some kind of jeopardy. Gampu has no choice but to employ the cadets in a fight to solve the mysteries, return to earth, and deal with whatever they encounter. After all, the cadets are all he has if they are all to survive.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The reasoning that because Space Academy is a show aimed at kids we can jettison logic and dumb it down bothers me. Why have this mindset? Can't the bar be set higher so that the show can entertain children and still appeal to adults who enjoy solid science fiction? Those goals are not mutually exclusive to each other in the hands of savvy creators and writers.

The wealth of ideas you presented above proves that you definitely have the gift of "thinking like a writer", Mike — and a damn good one, too.

My main complaint with Star Academy is the fact that the characters work too hard to be happy, positive, and cheerful. Conflicts are brief and quickly resolved.

It's like the series is trying to teach the young audience to "play nice". Rolling Eyes

I guess there's a fine line being "dumbing down" a series and "gadging it to a young audience".

I watched the first episode on YouTube today, and I noticed that Johnathan Harris' opening narration says this.
_____________________________________________

Here we have gathered young people from the farthest reaches of all the known worlds. They have been chosen for their unique abilities, and are being trained to cope with the mysterious, the unknown, the unpredictable dangers lurking in the vast darkness of space!
_____________________________________________

And since the series takes place 710 years into the future, obviously these young people are not just a bunch of average juveniles. For example, some of then have paranormal abilities.

Concerning the "man-made planetoid", it appears to be a medium-sized asteroid which was used to "anchor" the structures along its top and bottom.






Frankly, this seems pretty smart. You couldn't ask for a more solid "foundation" for the structures. It works better than binding the structures together with a framework.

And the asteroid might have minerals which the station could mine, refine, and use to make repairs.

I Googled the question, "Are there asteroids made of metal?" and got this.
_______________________________________________

According to a study published this week, the asteroid 16 Psyche, one of the most massive objects in the main asteroid belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, could be made entirely of metal.

Even more intriguing, the asteroid's metal is worth an estimated $10,000 quadrillion (that's 15 more zeroes) — more than the entire economy of Earth!

NASA is on a mission to explore the Greek-named asteroid, which is ade completely of metal. It boasts enough gold to either make every person on Earth a billionaire — or to collapse the gold market and destabilize the entire global financial world.



______________________________________________

The Space Academy might be "sitting on a gold mine"! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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