ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

[Pow]

A teenager could work, it'd certainly appeal to the demographics that rule television.

A pity though. The fun and cleverness of the Joe 90 concept, besides his absorbing brain patterns from professionals, was that the enemy (whoever that was at the time) in these episodes were stunned when a nine-year old boy was discovered during a Joe 90 mission.

Naturally they did not take him seriously as the enemy agent on a mission against them. Even when Joe identified himself as such; they just laughed at him. And best of all, totally underestimated Joe, which he took full advantage of.

All of that would be missing with a teen Joe, or an adult.

[Bud Brewster]

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No problem!

We just make the young hero . . . a girl. People take teenage girls even less seriously than nine-year-old boys!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

"Trial at Sea." Episode #27, April 5, 1969.

A bomb explodes on the dockside during preparation for the maiden voyage of the hoverliner HL Friendship, the voyage continues as planned with hundreds of VIPs among the passengers. As the hoveliner reaches the mid-Atlantic, a second bomb threat is called it. WIN is able to track down the culprit and Joe receives his brain patterns in order to disable the bomb.

"See You Down There." Episode#28, February 2, 1969.

With the brain pattern of a financial expert, Joe discovers that Clayton Enterprises is manipulating share prices to engineer take-overs of small businesses. One of the companies affected by the fraud supplies specialized components to WIN.

Thoughts: Interesting plot with a complex angle for a children's SF TV series. Not the usual action-adventure Joe 90 espionage story. Still, a refreshing change of pace. Especially in light of the problem the US is having getting computer chips sent here given the majority are created overseas.

"The Birthday" Episode #29, April 20, 1969.

It is Joe's tenth birthday. As his father and WIN agents celebrate with Joe, they recall his most memorable assignments of his first year as WIN's Most Special Agent.

Thoughts: Even puppet TV shows have to resort to doing a "clip show." Those are episodes where a series only does a limited amount of new footage as they show many scenes from previous episodes. This episode only features four minutes of new material.
Clip shows were used late in a TV series season when the budgets were getting low. Reusing a lot of footage from earlier episodes, and shooting only a limited amount of new scenes, was a common cost saving measure.

"Viva Cordova" Episode# 30, March 23rd, 1969.

After a failed attempt on the life of Juan Cordova, the democratically elected President of a South American state, his wife Dorina contacts WIN to arrange security for him. Cordova refuses to accept any kind of conventional bodyguard, so Joe receives the brain pattern of a top WIN agent to masquerade as Dorin Cordova's cousin visiting from England.

Thoughts: Here's another fun example of the clever concept for Joe 90 works so well. No one, not the good guys or the bad guys, every suspects a nine-year old boy as being a major player for a mission. No boy could possibly possess the education, training, skills, and experience of an adult. So Joe never arouses any suspicions by any adults he is surrounded by.

[Pow]

Project 90 Parameters:

Joe and the BIG RAT will only be used in missions where people's lives and livelihoods are under threat.

Joe will never be used to assassinate a target, and will only be expected to retaliate in self-defense.

Recorded brain patterns will be stored securely and not be used to extract personal information that isn't vital to a mission in progress.

Professor McClaine will have the power to veto any mission he deems to be too risky or that breaks any previous conditions.

Professor McClaine and Joe have the power to end their participation in the operation as and when they see fit.

Project 90 Technical Operations Manual by writers Chris Thompson & Jack Knoll with illustrations by Chris Thompson.