ALL SCI-FI

Pow · Last edited by Pow on Tue Sep 24, 2024 9:05 am; edited 2 times in total

This was created by Irwin Allen & produced by 20th Century Fox for the ABC TV Network.

It ran from 1964~'68 for 4 seasons and was the longest running of the sf television shows produced by Allen.

The first season was done in black and white while the later 3 seasons were in color.

Richard Basehart played the role of Admiral Nelson, genius scientist of the N.I.M.R(Nelson Institute for Marine Research)and creator of the futuristic submarine the Seaview.

David Hedison is the sub's commander Captain Crane.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:30 pm Post subject:

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Hey, thanks for starting a thread for this series. I was surprised when I realized we didn't have one! Shocked

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

Pow · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:50 pm Post subject:

Your welcome, Bud. Yeah, I noticed we had 3 of the 4 sci~fi TV series created by Allen, but not VTTBOTS.

Fun Facts } The idea for VTTBOTS was suggested by Allen's girlfriend when she asked him why not do a movie about a big submarine?

Filming for the movie commenced on December 28,1960.
The budget was $860,000 for a 36-day shoot.

Military surplus equipment was for parts of the set of the Seaview.

Lake Sersen, a small body of water on the 20th Century Fox backlot was where filming of the miniature models for the feature film took place.

Disney utilized the same location for their 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea motion picture.

Irwin moved away from feature films to television. It was becoming more and more difficult to produce films.

In addition,Allen saw the up and coming medium of TV as the future.

He also enjoyed the fast pace world of television. He had always like TV.

Allen and his team felt that the smartest way to enter into the world of TV was to adapt his major motion picture of VTTBOTS to a weekly series.

By already having models, wardrobe, sets from the motion picture that could be reused for the TV show the production would save an enormous amount of $$$.

orzel-w · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 1865

The Seaview in the Sersen Tank.

Fred Sersen himself in front of his "lake" (covered).

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WayneO
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Custer · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:29 am Post subject:

The 1961 first edition of the novelization, by Theodore Sturgeon, has a suitably dramatic cover:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:26 am Post subject:

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Paul Sawtell's wonderful title theme and the opening shot of the Seaview slowly descending did a great job of starting each episode off in a flashy manner! Very Happy

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___ Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Intro / Outro

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

Krel · Guest

I believe that the movie was filmed in Sersen Lake, which was on the Fox backlot. Lake Sersen was the much larger tank and backdrop that was built for "Cleopatra" at the Fox Ranch. Sersen Lake was demolished after Lake Sersen was built. I wonder if any of Lake Sersen still exists now that the Fox Ranch is now a State Park.

VTTBOTS was a good show for the first season, and half of the second season, it was very enjoyable for the rest of the series. The show must have been hit with a budget cut. They no longer used the Seaview deck set, the Seaview dock set, the backlot towns and jungle set. I believe they might have lost those resources due to Fox selling off parts of the backlot. Fox was struggling due to the poor performance of "Cleopatra" and the money they expended. I have read that they lost the large underwater filming tank because of the selloff. The new tank was only a few feet longer than the large Seaview miniature.

Unfortunately, the budget cuts really hurt the show and made it sub bound for the most part. Del Monroe said that they used to go read the scripts in the Effects Department, because they got the scripts about nine days before the cast. By time the cast got the scripts, the accounting office made them cut down the expenses, it was a totally different script.

Irwin Allen used to complain that the Studio and Network kept asking why they didn't do more episodes off the sub, and he would tell them to quit cutting the budget. I.A. said that is why they had so many monsters. They were an inexpensive way to generate excitement. And to a kid they were.

I.A. said that the Seaview wasn't suppose to be where the story took place, the Seaview was suppose to be the vehicle to get to where the story takes place. The Flying Sub was suppose to get Nelson and Crane to the action faster.

The Seaview dock was a large set, I often wondered if it was built for a movie, and got reused for the show.

David.

Pow · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:19 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the wonderful pics of Sersen Lake, Orzel-W.

Krel, the Seaview dock was originally constructed for the movie "Hell and High Water''(1954) starring Richard Widmark.

Pow · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:51 pm Post subject:

Episode # 1: "Eleven Days to Zero", Monday, September 14,1964.

This was the pilot for VTTBOTS and was one of the most expensive ones ever shot coming in at $550,000. It was filmed in color but broadcast in black and white.

It was filmed from November 18 ~ December 04,1963.

During filming the tragic news was announced about the assassination of President JFK. All work ceased on the pilot that day and everyone was sent home.

The mysterious villain Dr. Gamma, seen in the shadows was played by the terrific actor Theodore Marcuse. Dr. Gamma was intended to be a recurring villain. The concept was dropped because it was deemed old fashioned by the ABC Network.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:40 pm Post subject:

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I've placed the first three disc of the series on my Netflix list (and nine episodes), and I'm looking forward to getting them in about a week after I return three DVDs I currently have.

I was in the Air Force during the fourth season of the series, and I don't remember watching the first three series on a regular basis. For that reason, I'm looking forward to enjoying the series when the DVDs arrive.

Ironically enough, I tried talking Bulldogtrekker in watching them during the six years we enjoyed sharing movies and shows while chatting on Facebook, but he said he'd watched all the episodes a few times each in reruns a few years earlier, so he wasn't interest. Sad

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

Krel · Guest

scotpens · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 5:06 pm Post subject:

Pow · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:42 pm Post subject:

The Moat, 60 feet in width, 120 feet in length, 11 feet deep was a water area on the back lot of the 20th Century Fox Studios where the wharf for the Nelson Institute of Marine Research took place.

The Green Tank was where special FX legend L.B. Abbott shot scenes involving the miniature models.

VTTBOTS was able to benefit enormously from the production methods for shooting miniatures as well as humans undersea, learned by Disney Studios in filming their sci~fi classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The 3 Seaview miniatures measured 4-feet, 8-feet, and 18-feet.

The largest model was only utilized for shooting scenes of the Seaview on the surface.

Pow · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:52 pm Post subject:

I agree with you David regarding it was pity that the Dr. Gamma villain was eliminated as a recurring foe for the show. Gamma was to have had a henchman named Professor X.

ABC felt he was too much like a Bond villain. Bond was highly
popular and part of the reason was his larger-than-life adversaries that he battled.

Why the television would feel that's a bad concept is odd? Shows just how out of touch the suits at the network can be at times.

Theodore Marcuse was a superb actor and would have enhanced the series on any episodes he was featured in.
Marcuse himself suggested to Allen that Gamma could have been an expert disguise artist.

That way, Marcuse could have appeared looking differently in episodes as was required.

Pow · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 12:18 pm Post subject:

Theodore Marcuse } Served with distinction during WWII as a lieutenant on board the U.S.N. Submarine Tirante.

Marcuse was awarded a Silver Star a numerous citations for his service.

He was also a graduate from Stanford College.

Quite a gentleman.