The Superman Rocky Jones Experiment

February, 1954, debuts a new show: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. This new show is more of a proper Sci-Fi series (but still meant for kids) as it involves rockets traveling between planets, artificial gravity, alien races (that look human), etc. It aired during the final week of February and takes over after The Adventures of Superman ends its second season the following month. But more of that tomorrow (assuming I don't lose power from Hurricane Irene).

The Golden Vulture- A crazy sea captain of the S.S. Golden Vulture, a salvage ship, is running a racket. Stolen gold is brought on board at night, disguised as crates of food. A special smelting room is run by a jeweler with a criminal record. His job is to melt down the gold and make doubloons, necklaces and cutlery that would look like treasure dredged out of the Caribbean. It is then sold to museums as authentic because they pay better than the black market. One of the crewman has a problem with this, and puts a message in a bottle asking for help. Jimmy Olsen finds it while fishing and gets Lois and Clark involved. The note was ruined but Clark could read the ship's name. Lois scoops Clark and takes Jimmy to the ship where the captain becomes paranoid and captures them. Jimmy stupidly lets it out that a crewman tipped them off, so he's captured and put in irons. Clark uncovers the conspiracy and heads over, first as Clark and then Superman, beating everyone up. The most interesting part of the episode happens when Clark takes his glasses of to fight and gets mixed up with Lois and Jimmy. They don't seem to notice in the dark, but he's supposed to be "mild mannered" so he stops fighting. They make him walk the plank, which gives him the perfect opportunity to change underwater. All is saved, but I wonder if Jimmy kept the fake doubloon he was handed. It's still made out of real gold.

Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor- Perry White is having a bad dream that Jimmy Olsen is the editor of The Daily Planet. When he gets to work, it turns out that Metropolis is having a youth day for 24 hours where young people take the big responsible positions to learn them. It's a really dumb idea (that Superman oversees) but the episode plays out well enough with Jimmy in charge of the paper. It is also mentioned that the Mayor and Chief of Police are replaced as well. Jimmy knows that almost seven years ago a group of thugs robbed a bank, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict. In 24 hours the statute of limitations is up and they can't be prosecuted. Jimmy runs a false story to bait them, which works; all three barge into the his office at gun point. These are some dumb frakking criminals. Clark does some creative stuff and gets a live audio feed to the office where he and Perry listen to the standoff. The criminals think if they just wait until midnight they're free, but Jimmy reminds them they're up to gun charges now, and there is no way they're getting away. Superman secretly uses a gas in the vent system to knock them all out and Jimmy gets all the credit for catching them. Bank Robbery is 20 - 30 years, but Gun Possession is 1 year. It turns out The Daily Planet had a list of all the serial numbers of the $2,000,000 they stole and the thugs were dumb enough to bring the money with them. A dumb idea that's fun to watch. I think Clark left Jimmy and Lois as hostages just to see what Jimmy was made of. I wish this had been a dream episode.

Lady in Black- This is something else that seemed like a dream. Jimmy is back living with his mom. She goes on vacation with a friend of hers and Jimmy offers to watch the friend's apartment. At night he reads a mystery novel, The Lady in Black, and it spooks him. Also, thumping in the basement and a weird eyeball painting is also freaking him out. He gets the superintendent, goes to the basement to investigate and gets knocked out for his troubles. He wakes up on the couch and calls Clark, who shows up immediately. The superintendent explains Jimmy whacked his head on a beam and heard a cat, named Timmy, hunting for mice. Clark doesn't believe Jimmy's version of events and leaves. The next morning Jimmy heads to work and has a strange run in with several people; a man with a scar on his face, a black-veiled woman with an accent, and a man with a package. The lady hands Jimmy the package filled with money and someone throws a dagger at him. Jimmy loses his mind, but when he calls Clark the line goes dead. He then checks with the superintendent who lies dead on the floor. Superman shows up but finds nothing wrong and claims Jimmy is crying wolf. That night, terrified, he calls Clark one last time to listen to the noises over the phone. Since Clark has super-hearing he finally learns what the sounds really are. Superman shows up to stop a counterfeit painting ring that was operating out of the basement with the blessing of the superintendent. Not the best episode by plot, but Jack Larson nails the Jimmy Olsen role. The more ridiculous the characters become the better Jimmy reacts to them. He is the entertainment of the episode.

Beyond the Curtain of Space, part I- For a pilot episode there is no real character introduction, except Vena. The episode is also all over the place with lots of technobabble and alien names. Space stations and rocket ships all have alphanumeric codes, to make it all sound futuristic. Rocky Jones is a Space Ranger, which means he has the XV2 (a rocket) and a sidekick, Winky (the worst character name ever). He is of course the best Space Ranger in the fleet, run by the Office of Space Affairs. The two just finished a big mission and are being given two months leave, but a top Earth scientist, Professor Newton (and his ward, Bobby), defects to the Ophiuchus system. Rocky thinks he's being coerced and wants to mount a rescue mission. Vena Ray is an alien liaison (or something) who agrees with Rocky. She is an accomplished navigator and speaks 27 alien languages. Rocky doesn't want a girl in space with him and proceeds the rest of the episode to be as chauvinistic as humanly possible. Vena bites back every time and eventually gets put on the crew. They launch to the Ophiuchus system but must fuel up on the way. Someone back at headquarters is feeding the bad guys in space intel on Rocky, who intercept the Orbit Jet. But Vena is the only one with a RADAR and warns Rocky who, disables the other rocket ship. They then continue to fueling station RV5. But they took a hit and the engine room is venting air. Vena tries to help but gets sealed in the engine room. Rocky and Winky put on space helmets (not suits, just helmets) and have to blow-torch their way back in to the engine room. (I'm guessing because the ship's computer wouldn't voluntarily open a door into vacuum.) They save her and make it to RV5. This is my favorite episode of the day. TO BE CONTINUED.

Star of Fate- I don't know where to begin. Ahmed, an Egyptian (who doesn't look like it), holds an auction for a mysterious lead wrapped box. Lois and Clark are present to witness and the two bidders are Whitlock, a curio shop owner, and Barnak, who has his own plans. Barnak eventually wins the bid with $10,000. Clark thinks something's up and goes back to The Daily Planet. As Barnak leaves, Whitlock warns him there's a curse on the box and not to open it. Barnak agrees but his secretary opens it later and collapses. Whitlock steals the box, but an employee of his opens it and collapses. Both of them fight back and forth over it until Superman gets involved and takes the box to The Daily Planet. Lois doesn't believe in curses and opens it. She collapses, too. Clark opens it and catches a poison needle that he gives to a hospital to analyze. Inside the box is a huge gem and a clue to an antidote. There is a plant at the base of the Egyptian Pyramids that needs collecting. Superman goes to Egypt and actually lifts part of a Pyramid to get at the plant. Meanwhile Jimmy isn't satisfied with the outcome, so he threatens Barnak with calling the police. He pulls a gun on Jimmy, who gets stuffed in a sarcophagus. Superman saves him, gets Barnak, and everyone is saved at the hospital. There was also something about a dead Professor of archeology, but that was dropped, too. A so-so episode.

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger is an interesting show to watch today. Incredibly primitive and aimed at kids, but it takes itself just seriously enough I can enjoy it. The pre-Sputnik era is in full effect. The most successful rocket designs of the time were the German V-1 and V-2 from World War II. This was the template for the rocket program, which NASA will eventually inherit, and also the template for Sci-Fi. Either you have a flying saucer or a rocket ship, that's it for classic Sci-Fi. It was also assumed that rockets are reusable and would just land on their tails to be refueled. If you can get over this, Rocky Jones is watchable. The XV2 was also the precursor to a lot of tech that will show up in future TV series, like Star Trek. They have a front-facing view screen, automatic doors, artificial gravity, real time space communication, and I think the rocket is supposed to be atomic powered. One of the most interesting ideas in the pilot episode was the hull breach in the engine room. Rocky couldn't see it at first so he hit a button, a balloon popped out and was pulled right to the hole in the hull. (I think Mission to Mars did the same thing with Dr. Pepper.) They didn't have anything to repair it with so Rocky sealed the door, but a great idea. I guess duct tape hadn't been invented yet. For poor ship design I have no idea why the RADAR is not on the bridge. The whole navigation suite (with paper charts) are in a room between the bridge and main engineering. Vena has to keep running back and forth to get any work done; really inefficient, and almost got them killed.