Sci-fi Series

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

1964-1968 ABC
110 episodes

Dr. Who

1964-89 BBC

Lost in Space

1965-1968 CBS

Date: 1997

Mission: From United States to scout out Alpha Centauri with a view toward colonization.

Vehicle: Jupiter 2. A basic flying saucer, nuclear powered. Questions of gravitation and light speed are never raised. Crashes a great deal.

Robot: “The Robot”, by the same Robert Kinoshita who created “Robby” for Forbidden Planet. Too good a character to lose, the initially sinister robot stays on to the end.

The over-the-top Dr. Smith completely up-stages the rest of the cast from the start. Smith is retained, idiotically, by the crew, although he often reverts to his initial homicidal tendencies and gets them into most of their troubles.

This series suffered from confusion about its audience, and in overall plot and tone.

It started out as a rather creepy space opera with a deadly robot and an evil foreign saboteur, but lightened up by a “Swiss Family Robinson” motif. The family wandered through space, meeting danger everywhere.

By the end, Mom and Dad were no longer watching: it was just for kids; the Jupiter 2 was grounded, and the increasingly silly aliens had to come to visit. The evil doctor had his heart warmed by the young lad, and the scary robot became the lad’s funny puppy.

The Time Tunnel

1966-67

Star Trek

1966-69 Desilou
78 episodes

Date: 2266+

Raumpatrouille Orion

1966-67 Bavaria Atelier GmbH, by order of WDR

Situation: Humanity on Earth lives at the bottom of the ocean, to protect against increased solar activity. Otherwise, people have colonised many planets, moons, and planetesimals. There are no more nation-states.

Mission: to protect Earth from alien threats, as part of the Galaktischer Sicherheitsdienst (GSD).

Aliens: F.R.O.G.S. “Feindliche Raumschiffe ohne galaktische Seriennummer“ (hostile space ships without galactic serial numbers) Slender, shimmering light-beings, humanoid in shape.

Vehicles: Raumkreuzer Orion VII and VIII, basically a flying saucer, with interesting thorn-like details. Take off from an ocean whirlpool, travel faster than light (“Hyperspace”). Also “Lancets”, which are smaller saucers with a semi-spherical top covered with clear plastic bubbles, and usually used as escape vehicles.

FROGS ships are dart-like, flying in tight formation, but frequently making instantaneous shifts in position.

Weapons: “Lichtwerfer“ (light-thrower), a sort of laser gun (to which FROGS are immune). “Overkill”, a sort of super-bomb; useful for blowing up planetoids.

Very cool futuristic décor, making much use of clear plastic, with a preference to rounded forms. An object that is in fact a clothes iron is the centerpiece of one of the control panels.

Computer: “Electronic brain”, of whom one asks pressing questions.

Robots: “Alpha Android” a floating submarine-like object, not very android at all, which often makes a mess of things.

McLane is forever breaking orders so as to save the Earth. He gets no end of grief from General Wamsler and other upper-echelons, but he is clearly going to get all the girls.

Oberst Villa speculates as to the motives of the FROGS, but is later captured and brainwashed by them.

The Invaders

1967-68

Land of the Giants

1968-70

Space 1999

1975 BBC

Battlestar Galactica

1978-79

Red Dwarf

1988

Babylon 5

1993

Earth: Final Conflict

1997-99

Stargate SG-1

1997

Andromeda

2000+
100+ episodes