''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet'' is a TV series that aired 1950–1955, depicting the fictional character

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 ...

. Episodes were 15 minutes (weekdays) and 30 minutes (Saturdays).

Origin

The initial concept for the series followed the scripts by Joseph Greene originally proposed as a comic strip in 1945, and then as a proposed radio serial in 1946, titled Space Cadets''Tom Ranger, Space Cadet,'' and 1947, titled "Space Academy".Tolle, Geoffrey (1998)
Brief Outline of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
''Solar Guard''. Retrieved 7 February 2023. Following the publication of

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

's young-adult novel

Space Cadet ''Space Cadet'' is a 1948 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about Matt Dodson, who joins the Interplanetary Patrol to help preserve peace in the Solar System. The story translates the standard military academy story into outer space: a ...

in 1948, Rockhill Studios licensed the “Space Cadet” name from Heinlein in 1950 for the series then in development.

''The Mercurian Invasion''

The initial installment of the series was edited into the 88 minute long '' The Mercurian Invasion'' which was released in 1998.

Cast

– Frankie Thomas Jr. * Astro –

Al Markim Alfred Markim (born Alfred D. Moskowitz; May 22, 1927 – November 24, 2015) was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Astro in the 1950s live, sci-fi television series, ''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet''. His lead character, ...

: A Venusian cadet * Roger Manning –

Jan Merlin Jan Merlin (born Jan Wasylewski, April 3, 1925 – September 20, 2019) was an American character actor, television writer, and author. Early years Born Jan Wasylewski and reared in New York City, Merlin was of Polish ancestry. He attended the ...

: A smug, egotistical cadet with an inordinately high opinion of his own abilities, although he occasionally proved himself to be ''nearly'' as skilled as he imagined himself to be. Roger occasionally made condescending, racist remarks about Astro but gradually came to like and respect the Venusian, although he sometimes maintained his bigoted attitude as a distancing mechanism (October 1950-May 1954). * Captain Steve Strong – Edward Bryce * Dr. Joan Dale – Margaret Garland * Commander Arkwright – Carter Blake * Cadet Alfie Higgins –

John Fiedler John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

* Cadet Eric Rattison –

Frank Sutton Frank Spencer Sutton (October 23, 1923 – June 28, 1974) was an American actor best remembered for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter on the CBS television series ''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''. Early life Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, ...

* Cadet T. J. Thistle – Jack Grimes (December 1954-June 1955) Michael Harvey played Captain Strong for the first six episodes of the CBS series;

Pat Ferris Patrick "Pat" Ferris (born October 28, 1975 in North York, Ontario) is a Canadian curler from Grimsby, Ontario. He currently skips his own team. Career Ferris had a successful junior career. In 1993, he skipped his Sutton District High Schoo ...

played Dr. Dale for two episodes of the DuMont series.

Crew

* Technical Advisor –

Willy Ley Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

* Writers: Albert Aley, Stu Byrnes, Frankie Thomas Jr., Ray Morse, Jack Weinstock, Willy Gilbert,

Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, inclu ...

& others. * Space Cadet Hats: Major Sportswear supplied tinsulated, aluminized hats with logos.

Distribution

''Tom Corbett'' is one of only six TV series to appear on all four networks of the time, along with ''

The Arthur Murray Party ''The Arthur Murray Party'' is an American television variety show which ran from July 1950 until September 1960. The show was hosted by famous dancers Arthur Murray, Arthur and Kathryn Murray, and was basically one long advertisement for their c ...

'', ''

Down You Go ''Down You Go'' is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951 to 1956 as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans. The program aired in el ...

'', ''

The Ernie Kovacs Show ''The Ernie Kovacs Show'' was an American comedy show hosted by comedian Ernie Kovacs, first shown in Philadelphia during the early 1950s, then nationally. The show appeared in many versions and formats, including daytime, prime-time, late-night, ...

'', ''

Pantomime Quiz ''Pantomime Quiz'', initially titled ''Pantomime Quiz Time'' and later ''Stump the Stars'', was an American television game show produced and hosted by Mike Stokey. Running from 1947—1959, it has the distinction of being one of the few tel ...

'', and ''

The Original Amateur Hour ''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its mas ...

'': *

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

from October 2 to December 1950 *

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from January 1951 to September 1952 *

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from July to September 1951 * DuMont from August 1953 to May 1954 * NBC again from December 1954 to June 1955, with the final broadcast on June 25, 1955. (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

)

Image gallery

File:Tom Corbett and Doctor Dale 1951.jpg, Corbett and Doctor Joan Dale File:Frankie Thomas Tom Corbett Space Cadet 1951.JPG, Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett

References

External links

* {{imdb title, id=0042156 , title=Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Solar Guard
(Tom Corbett, Space Cadet fan page). 1950 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings English-language television shows Space adventure television series Television series set on fictional planets Television series set in the future Television shows based on comic strips