''Captain Satellite'' was an afternoon TV program on KTVU-2 in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. Like many kids' shows of this period, it took advantage of the interest engendered by

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and the early

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

. The Captain was played by Bob March, a local TV personality.Hollis, Tim (November 2001). ''Hi There Boys and Girls: America's Local Children's TV Programs''. University Press of Mississippi. pg. 60 His signature outfit was a helmet and a dark uniform under a light-colored, triangular vest that had a thunderbolt passing through a globe. The set was a cutaway rocket ship called the Starfinder II that blasted off each day. Guest children would co-pilot under Captain Satellite's supervision. As the ship orbited on auto-pilot, the children would participate in games to win prizes (found in the "Space Locker"), and in live promotions. Old Thirties cartoons like

Scrappy Scrappy is a cartoon character created by Dick Huemer for Charles Mintz's Screen Gems Studio (distributed by Columbia Pictures). A little round-headed boy, Scrappy often found himself involved in off-beat neighborhood adventures. Usually paired ...

and serials would be introduced between breaks, and occasionally there were special appearances, as when

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

came to visit the Starfinder II. There were changes in format, but the show ran for a decade. The last episode aired on April 25, 1969. In or about early 1966, “Captain Satellite” announced that the Starfinder-II was being mothballed and the series would get a new “flying saucer” style spaceship. The show had a naming contest and they settled on the name “Laser-II,” rather than the Jupiter-II from “''

Lost In Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

''” lore. (It is said that when the new spaceship was named, it was originally called Laser 7, so that the L would touch the top of the 7 creating a lightning bolt. Unfortunately, it seemed to refer to KGO Channel 7 in San Francisco rather than

KTVU KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose� ...

Channel 2, where the show actually originated, so it was changed to Laser II.) The latter sci-fi show on the CBS network seems to have changed the spaceship format to a flying-saucer type craft. The “Space Locker” had a new entry system – computer punch cards – instead of keys. Three of the five cards inserted into the locker would flash: “need more data” on the screen –– giving the contestant extra attempts to open up the “Space Locker.” The winning card would open the locker, while the losing card would give the answer: “does not compute!” (probably borrowed from the robot in the “Lost In Space” series). After the show folded, Captain Satellite continued to make guest appearances throughout the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

at various events like sci-fi movie openings at theaters and at amusement parks. Bob March also played cameo or bit roles in Hollywood films. One was as a reporter in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie, ''

Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner ...

''. Another was as a councilman in the second ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates ...

'' film, ''

Magnum Force ''Magnum Force'' is a 1973 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film ''Dirty Harry''. Ted Post, who had previously worked with Eastwood on '' Ra ...

'', starring Clint Eastwood. March retired in 1995, and lived in

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. Au ...

. March died on August 6, 2020 at his home near Sacramento, CA. He was 93.

References

External links

Senior Net articleKTVU recordings of last episodesObituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satellite, Captain Local children's television programming in the United States History of Oakland, California Culture of Oakland, California