There comes a time on a Saturday morning when parents announce that cartoon time is over. They have plans for the day. While other kids sit around in their pajamas, you’re being dragged to shopping malls, lumber yards or the house of a great aunt. Or the worst fate of all: raking leaves. For many kids growing up in the mid-’70s, the three titles on Filmation’s Sci-Fi Box Set were only seen on the ratty black and white TV in the barbershop. Ark II, Space Academy and Jason of Star Command were mysterious shows that some swore they’d watch when they were old enough to stop doing yard work and waste an entire Saturday on the sofa.
Thankfully that time is now. Older views will slip back to that glorious time when Filmation went from limited animation to live action on Saturday mornings. They became the rival to the Kroffts except without so many large puppets and dinosaurs on the set. Filmation did remain true to its limited roots by figuring out unique ways to reuse the special effects footage to keep the budgets low. There’s no mistaking these productions for 2001 or Star Wars. This trio represents pure Saturday morning fun.
Ark II has quickly become my favorite series to run when freaking out pals. It’s weirdly addictive like futuristic cheesepuffs. The premise is that pollution and waste has destroyed civilization across the globe in the 25th Century. Luckily there was a handful of scientists that survived. They have created Ark II, a giant mega-van to bring civilization back to the patches of humanity roaming the wasteland. It’s like a sci-fi bookmobile. The folks in charge of driving it are Jonah (Terry Lester), Ruth (Jean Marie Hon), Samuel (Jose Flores) and a talking chimp named Adam. In their colorful polyester outfits and classic ‘70s hair, they could be a cast from a sci-fi adult film. Jonah has a blonde beard that makes him look like a fancy viking. Jonah zipped around the skies in his jetpack to beef up the thrills. Ruth could bring civilization to me any time she wants. Any show with a talking ape has my attention.
They only made 15 episodes of this high weirdness. Unlike the Krofft series, there are plenty of famous faces as guest stars. “The Robot” revives Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet fame. Samuel makes him out of spare parts, but doesn’t quite give him enough smarts in his central processing unit. A teenage Helen Hunt arrives for “Omega.” She’s part of a creepy town where the young rule the old people. We call it MTV. “The Cryogenic Man” has two great guest stars in Jim Backus (Mr. Howell from Gilligan’s Island) and John Fiedler (Mr. Peterson on The Bob Newhart Show). They’re defrosted businessmen who realize what their toxic products have done to the earth. “Orkus” stars Geoffrey Lewis, an actor best known for constantly being confused with Robert Pine (CHiPs). He leads a strange little cult on the abandoned forum set from Planet of the Apes. The big guest star of Ark II is Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith from Lost in Space) as a post apocalyptic scavenger in two episodes. Harris always brings the best to freaky sci-fi. By the time you’re finished watching an episode, you’ll believe the world can be healed by a monster SUV.
Space Academy tries to bring education to the stars. They build a school into an asteroid and stock it with the universe’s brightest and cutest kids. Who do they hire to run the place? Jonathan Harris is the headmaster. Did anyone check references? Did they not see what he did around the kids on Lost in Space? Harris is completely devoid of Dr. Smith-isms when around the students. He’s finally a responsible grown-up. The star of the youngsters is Pamelyn Ferdin. She was a busy child actor on TV during the early ‘70s. The normal episode involves the kids getting into trouble and learning a lesson. They tried not to make it too mindless. Robby the Robot gets more work on “My Favorite Marcia.” He must hold the record for the most shows by the same robot prop. You don’t see R2-D2 getting this much guest starring action. Robby had faced off with Harris in a couple Lost In Space episodes.
Jason of Star Command reuses props and effects from Space Academy. The introduction claims they work in “a secret section of Space Academy.” This of course means they have an excuse for never bumping into the cast of the other series while continuing to use the sets. For the first season, they cast James Dohaan (Scotty from Star Trek) as the leader. His organization is out to stop Dragos (Sid Haig) from conquering the galaxy. It is remarkable to think of a generation of kids who remember Sid Haig without being abandoned at the Drive-in theater. Haig recently played Captain Spaulding in The Devil’s Rejects. The title role belongs to Craig Littler (currently the Gorton Fisherman). He’s the muscle that keeps Dragos from succeeding. His main help is a tiny robot called Wiki that can fly and has a killer laser beam. The show brings the excitement of a Buck Rogers serial to Saturday morning. There’s almost as much action here as an episode of Star Trek. What really got me hooked on the show was the arrival of Julie Newmar (Batman‘s Catwoman) as the Queen Vanessa. How can Jason resist? The second season features a green tinted face guy taking over for Dohaan. Can he stop Haig?
Filmation’s Sci-Fi Box Set is a complete Saturday morning revival treat. It’s exciting to experience these series that were originally interrupted by pesky parents. Ark II, Space Academy and Jason of Star Command will whisk you away to a vision of tomorrow where people didn’t see text messaging in the future. I only wish they’d predicted right so I could cruise around in a massive SUV with a talking monkey and my jetpack.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers are from video sources instead of the original camera negative. This is because when Hallmark owned the Filmation shows, they decided to just make PAL video transfers and trash all the film elements. What a pack of morons. These shows seem to have been pulled off an NTSC videotapes since it doesn’t have that PAL speed effect. This still looks better than the snippets I saw on the TV set in the barbershop. That TV had tinfoil on the antenna to help with reception. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels are good. There’s a Spanish dub track. Each series has two episodes with commentary tracks. Ark II combines producers Lou Scheimer & Richard M. Rosenbloom, actress Jean Marie Hon-Trager, director Henry Lange and writer David Dworski. Space Academy brings together Lou Scheimer, special effects supervisor Chuck Cominsky plus the actors Ric Carrot, Brian Tochi and Eric Greene. Jason of Star Command lets actors Craig Littler and John Berwick reminisce with Lou Scheimer, Andy Mangels hosts these roundtables.
Launch of Ark II (29:35) is a fresh documentary featuring the stars of the show. Plenty of tales about working the jet pack and driving the Ark II.
Photo Gallery of promotional and behind the scenes pictures has great views of the jetpack and chimp in action.
Ark II: The Animated Series is a gallery of proposed concept art. There’s only four drawings with body models of the characters and Ark II.
Back to School with Space Academy (34:15) reunites us with the class of cadets. Unfortunately Pamelyn Ferdin isn’t part of the new interviews. Jonathan Harris died five years ago so we know his excuse. The gang gives the inside scoop on making the short series. One of the kids faked his age to get the gig. Harris is remembered as a fatherly figure who did his most to help the kids.
Commercial Bumpers (0:33) are two ways they let the broadcasters know it’s time to push the toys.
Galleries featuring promotional and behind the scenes photos of the Academy action.
Cast Reunion (1:53) has the folks talk about getting a chance to hang out. The video is followed by a photo gallery.
Memorabilia (2:15) has the cast talking about the toys created for the series. They follow it up with detailed pics of the products.
The Adventures of Jason of Star Command (31:04) explores how an action show survived on children’s television. It’s rather comical to see Sid Haig talk about the kiddies. This is the star of The Devil’s Rejects. The little robot Wiki retired from acting to focus on creation of the wikipedia.
Special Effects Demo Reel (6:34) brings together several of the big money shots. They did spend more money on these effects that the Kroffts’ on Land of the Lost.
Image Galleries contains promotional, behind the scenes, cast, crew and spaceship photos. There’s a style guide for a proposed animated version of the series.
Series Bible and Episode Scripts is a DVD-ROM bonus to see what was on the page.
The Filmation Sci-Fi Box Set bring together three late morning thrills from the Filmation vault with plenty of bonus features. This shall excite original devoted viewers and kids who only caught glimpses between bagging leaves in the fall of 1977. Ark II is unintentionally hilarious with the talking ape calling the shots. Space Academy is educational without being overbearing in lesson plans. Jason of Star Command deserves greatness for bringing Sid Haig out of the grindhouse and into the family room’s of America. The set is perfect for the nostalgia freak who can’t stomach morning news with their bowl of Cap’n Crunch.
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BCI Eclipse presents the Filmation Sci-fi Box Set. Starring Julie Newmar, Jonathan Harris, Jim Backus and Adam the Chimp. Boxset Contents: 3 Series on 7 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 28, 2008. Available at Amazon.
