''Terry and the Pirates'' is an American adventure series based on

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

that was telecast from June 26 to November 21, 1953. The syndicated series ran for 18 episodes and was produced by Don Sharpe Enterprises.

Canada Dry Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though ...

Ginger Ale was the show's original sponsor. A version of ''Terry and the Pirates'' debuted on

WABD-TV WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship ...

in New York City on November 25, 1952, broadcast on alternate Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Dougfair Productions was the packager, and Official Films was the distributor. Dick Irving was the director, and John and Gwen Bagni were the writers.

Overview

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Colonel Terry Lee (John Baer) heads to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

to locate a

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: *Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith *Gold mining ...

he inherited from his grandfather. Once in the Orient, Lee becomes a pilot with Air Cathay, a cargo and passenger airline owned and operated by the cunning Chopstick Joe (Jack Reitzen), who is not always honest. His friend and co-pilot is Charles C. Charles, aka Hotshot Charlie (

William Tracy William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor. Early life and career Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...

, who had played Terry Lee in the 1940 serial ''

Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...

''), while the

romantic interest Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions. The ''Wiley Blackwell Encycl ...

is provided by the attractive blonde Burma (

Sandra Spence Nettie Jane Fowler (May 22, 1925 – February 13, 1974) was an American film and television actress. She was known for playing the role of "Janet Culver" in the first season of the American adventure and drama television series ''Whirlybirds''. ...

). Lee has several encounters in thirteen episodes with his beautiful and mysterious nemesis, Lai Choi San, aka The Dragon Lady ( Gloria Saunders). In the pilot episode, "Macao Gold", Chopstick Joe was portrayed by Jack Kruschen and Burma was played by Mari Blanchard.

Production

In 1951

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

obtained the film rights to the comic strip from

Douglas Fairbanks Jr Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), ''Gunga Din'' (1939) a ...

but no film resulted. Twenty-six episodes were filmed using the RKO-Pathe facilities.

Home media

In 2007, Alpha Home Entertainment released four DVD sets of the episodes. Packaged with four episodes per Volume there are only sixteen of the eighteen. Episode 17 ("Overseer") and 18 ("The Diamond Maker") were not included. The episodes are not compiled in any order. The sets have been available from resellers on the internet.Amazon.com

References

External links

* 1953 American television series debuts 1953 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows 1950s American drama television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television shows based on comic strips Aviation television series American adventure television series English-language television shows Terry and the Pirates Television series about pirates Inheritances in fiction {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub