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

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was also attorney general of Pen ...

. 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" (with a young hero named Tom Ranger), and 1947, titled "Space Academy". When Greene began work with Rockhill Studios on developing his idea into a television show in 1949, the title ''Tom Ranger, Space Cadet'' was floated for a time.Tolle, Geoffrey (1998)
Brief Outline of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
''Solar Guard''. Retrieved 7 February 2023. In 1950, Rockhill Studios licensed the “Space Cadet” name from

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 acc ...

's 1948 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 ...

'' for the series then in development. 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: A Venusian cadet * Roger Manning – Jan Merlin: 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 Donald Fiedler (February 3, 1925 – June 25, 2005) was an American actor. Recognizable for his high, flutey voice, Fiedler's career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio. Fiedler was typecast beginning ear ...

* 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 – USMC''. Early life Born in Clarksville, Tenness ...

* 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 Otto Oskar Ley (October 2, 1906 – June 24, 1969) was a German and American science writer and proponent of space exploration and cryptozoology. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor. Early life and Berlin y ...

* 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 screenwriter, magazine Editing, editor and scriptwriter for comics. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including ''Th ...

& 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 that ran from July 1950 until September 1960. The show was hosted by dancers Arthur and Kathryn Murray, the show featured various acts and celebrity guests and acted as adverti ...

'', '' Down You Go'', ''

The Ernie Kovacs Show ''The Ernie Kovacs Show'' is 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-nigh ...

'', ''

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 1947–59, it was one of the few television series – along with ...

'', 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 ...

'': *

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

from October 2 to December 1950 *

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

from January 1951 to September 1952 *

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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. Contemporary merchandise for the series included toys, costumes,

lunch box A lunch box (or lunchbox) is a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United States In the Unit ...

es, and a

newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

written by

Paul S. Newman Paul S. Newman (April 29, 1924 – May 30, 1999) was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. Credited in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the most prolific comic-book writ ...

and drawn by Ray Bailey.

Radio

On January 1, 1952, one year after the ABC television network began airing the show, a short-lived radio version began on ABC radio. This radio version employed the same actors as the TV show. The series ran twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 5:30 p.m. (the TV show aired on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule). The radio version ran from January 1 to July 3, 1952.

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 American 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 CBS television dramas NBC television dramas American Broadcasting Company television dramas DuMont Television Network original programming American children's science fiction television series Television shows based on American comics