Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Thoughts and memories of this short lived, live action, television series from 1974?
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Review The Planet of the Apes TV Series (1974)
- Thread starter Doctor Omega
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Thoughts and memories of this short lived, live action, television series from 1974?
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Watched an episode of this this morning: Episode 2: The Gladiators.
A young Marc Singer, later of V and Beastmaster fame, turns up as one of the gladiators, with one of the astronauts having a punch up with someone.
It was a typical episode of this show actually. They make some friends at a new location, make some enemies and Urko the Gorilla turns up at some point to cause trouble.
It was a potentially great show with a great premise, but it is such a shame that it never aspired to be greater than it was, imo.
A young Marc Singer, later of V and Beastmaster fame, turns up as one of the gladiators, with one of the astronauts having a punch up with someone.
It was a typical episode of this show actually. They make some friends at a new location, make some enemies and Urko the Gorilla turns up at some point to cause trouble.
It was a potentially great show with a great premise, but it is such a shame that it never aspired to be greater than it was, imo.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
I own it on DVD and for what it was, I enjoyed it.
I have also managed to work it into the continuity - and I use that word in its broadest possible meaning - of the film series. I believe the pilots took off after Taylor and Brent, but arrived first in the future.
That might help to explain part of the reason as to why Doctor Zaius did not quite seem to be as surprised by Taylor's abilities as perhaps he should have been. As a high ranking official within Ape society, he had been able to gain access to the various state records and official secrets on file about certain earlier incidents.
It was also nice to see Cornelius' ancestor in it.
Just a theory...
I have also managed to work it into the continuity - and I use that word in its broadest possible meaning - of the film series. I believe the pilots took off after Taylor and Brent, but arrived first in the future.
That might help to explain part of the reason as to why Doctor Zaius did not quite seem to be as surprised by Taylor's abilities as perhaps he should have been. As a high ranking official within Ape society, he had been able to gain access to the various state records and official secrets on file about certain earlier incidents.
It was also nice to see Cornelius' ancestor in it.
Just a theory...
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
A nice theory - and it works for me! 
alpha128
Member: Rank 3
But how do you explain that the apes were so shocked when Taylor spoke, while the humans of the TV series talked all the time?
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
Perhaps the knowledge was supressed by the authorities to avoid panic in the general population. In any case, talking Humans had only ever been encountered by a very small fraction of the population, so it would have been fairly easy to hush up any news about such events. There might or might not have been the odd rumour that was the focus of idle speculation in private, but it's not as if it was constantly debated on the front page of a newspaper in in the local market in Ape City.
Besides, you are forgetting basic bias and bigotry. Why would an average member of Ape society even consider for a moment that such a dirty and inferior animal like a Human could possibly be capable of speech? Also, it's not like they had the internet or whistle-blowers left, right and centre. It would take a very brave or suicidal individual to defy the orang-utan or gorilla authorities.
Just a few brief thoughts on the matter.
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
I loved the TV series and still do but I think the later episodes were not as good and the two astronauts, Virdon and Burke took care of the brutish gorillas much too easily and yet had difficulty fighting off other humans!! The show was set in the future year of 3085 according to the flight computer while the films were set in the year 3978AD in Planet and changed to 3955AD for Beneath and Escape! Why? No idea to be honest!
The best episodes of the series were the gladiators, The Legacy, The Trap and The interrogation I always thought! Funny that in real life James Naughton (Burke) and Virdon (Ron Harper) didn't hit it off yet Naughton made good friends with Roddy McDowell who played the chimpanzee, Galen!
JB
The best episodes of the series were the gladiators, The Legacy, The Trap and The interrogation I always thought! Funny that in real life James Naughton (Burke) and Virdon (Ron Harper) didn't hit it off yet Naughton made good friends with Roddy McDowell who played the chimpanzee, Galen!
JB
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
"When the Planet of the Apes telefilms entered syndication, ABC's owned and operated stations, who picked them up for their afternoon movie programs (under titles such as The 4:30 Movie), called upon Roddy McDowall to re-create his role of Galen in a series of new openings and closings specifically for these stations, billed as "The New Planet of the Apes." The introductions originally created by 20th Century Fox to open each film were replaced by a now-aged Galen (McDowall) looking back on the events of the telefilms. The openings and closings revealed Virdon and Burke's final fates: "They found their computer in another city and disappeared into space as suddenly as they'd arrived." According to "TV Zone Special" (1995 issue) McDowall filmed these "wraparounds" in 1980. The ABC openings and closings of these telefilms were neither aired on other stations nor included on any home media release." -
The full playlist of the tv wraps can be found here....
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoGVBWTBbSTm-A935utQi9cGb5d97nCH4
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Nice to see those tv wraps.
And I had no idea that the actors playing Burke and Virdon did not hit it off in real life.
And I had no idea that the actors playing Burke and Virdon did not hit it off in real life.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
The television series in print.....
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
All four novelisations have recently been republished by Titan Books as an omnibus volume....
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
The fourth book was never available here in the UK but with the internet I was able to get a copy a few years back to complete the set! Shame they never carried on as there were only fourteen episodes!
JB
JB
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Yes, I read today that that fourth book was very difficult to get hold of. Had never know that it existed.
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
Me neither until I read an article about it years ago! Bad thing is the character of Prefect Barlow is changed to that of another name because Barlow had already appeared in The Horse Race which was one of the earlier stories in the books!
JB
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Planet of the Apes is an American science fiction television series that aired on CBS in 1974. The series stars Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton, Mark Lenard and Booth Colman. It is based on the 1968 Planet of the Apes film and its sequels, which were inspired by the novel Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle.
Overview
The series begins with the crash of an Earth spaceship that encountered a time warp while approaching Alpha Centauri on August 19, 1980. The spaceship is manned by three astronauts, one of whom has died in the crash. The other two astronauts, Colonel Alan Virdon and Major Peter J. Burke, are unconscious but are rescued by a human who carries them to an old bomb shelter. After the human opens a book containing historical text and pictures of Earth circa 2500, the two astronauts are convinced that they are indeed on a future Earth.
The crash is also witnessed by a young chimpanzee who tells his father, a village official who alerts the authorities. Ape counselor Zaius (an analog of the character from the original movie), notes that another such incident occurred ten years earlier. He orders the head gorilla, Security Chief Urko, to find the humans and bring them back alive. Zaius wants to find out as much as he can about the humans before they are eventually killed. Zaius doesn't trust Urko to follow his orders and bring back any surviving humans, so he sends along his newly hired chimpanzee assistant, Galen.
Both Virdon and Burke go back to their ship to check the ship's chronometer. They are more than 1000 years in the future from when they left Earth. Virdon insists on retrieving the ship's flight log in the hopes that they will be able to analyze it and be able to return to their own time period, but while they are at the ship, they are captured, and the old man is subsequently killed by a group of apes.
Galen finds the human book that the old man had been carrying. He reads parts of the book and begins to doubt the history that he has been told: apes have always been dominant, and humans have always been inferior and subservient. When Galen finds out that Urko has arranged for the two astronauts to escape and be killed in the attempt, he stops the shooter and helps the humans escape. During the escape, a guard is killed, and Galen is found standing over him with a gun in his hand.
Galen discusses the book that he found with Zaius, who then accuses him of heresy. Galen is sentenced to death for his crime. Then Virdon and Burke find out about his sentence and rescue Galen. They are all then declared enemies of the state and become fugitives. The three fugitives wander around the territory that used to be the western United States having various encounters with apes, humans, and old human civilization ruins.
Cast
Back row: James Naughtonand Roddy McDowall; front: Ron Harper (1974)
L-R: Wayne Foster, Zina Bethune and Ron Harper
Ron Harper and Roddy McDowell
- Roddy McDowall as Galen, a young chimpanzee that is sent by Zaius with Urko to ensure the safety of two humans that have survived a crash landing on Earth. McDowall previously played Cornelius and Caesar throughout the various film versions.
- Ron Harper as Colonel Alan Virdon, the captain of the crash-landed ship that left Earth in 1980.
- James Naughton as Major Peter J. Burke, an astronaut major from ANSA that also survived the crash.
- Mark Lenard as Security Chief Urko (11 episodes), a violent gorilla and the series' main antagonist.
- Booth Colman as Councillor Zaius (6 episodes), the highest-ranking member of the High Council of Central City in the year 3085.
- John Hoyt as Barlow (2 episodes), a chimpanzee prefect of Kaymak that had introduced gladiatorial fights between the humans.
- Jacqueline Scott as Kira (1 episode), a chimpanzee surgeon in the Central City hospital. Kira and Galen had previously been engaged to be married. Also portrayed Zantes in a different episode.
Doctor Omega
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Production
Discussions for a Planet of the Apes television series were made by producer Arthur P. Jacobs as early as 1971. Because of the success of the films, the idea of a television series was put on hold until after the completion of Battle for the Planet of the Apes in the first half of 1973.[1] However, shortly after the premiere of Battle, Jacobs died, and his production company APJAC Productions sold all Planet of the Apes rights and privileges to 20th Century Fox.[2] Subsequently, television rights for the first three Planet of the Apes films were sold to CBS and aired successfully in September 1973. Based largely on high viewership of "movie-of-the-week" TV broadcasts of the first few films, CBS began to focus away from other contenders for a new science-fiction series, including Gene Roddenberry's Genesis II (1973) and look solely at the prospects for an Apes TV series.[3] Fox and CBS went on to continue Jacob's plans of a series the following year.[4]
CBS ordered 14 episodes of Planet of the Apes to be produced. The series was filmed for the most part on location at what is now Malibu Creek State Park, with a budget of about $250,000 for each episode.[5] Originally slated to air during CBS's Tuesday night family hour,[6] the first regular episode of the series aired on Friday, September 13, 1974 from 8:00-9:00 PM. The remainder of the series aired in this same time slot until December 27, 1974, when its 14th and final broadcast was shown as a result of a premature cancellation of the series due to low ratings.[7]
Discussions for a Planet of the Apes television series were made by producer Arthur P. Jacobs as early as 1971. Because of the success of the films, the idea of a television series was put on hold until after the completion of Battle for the Planet of the Apes in the first half of 1973.[1] However, shortly after the premiere of Battle, Jacobs died, and his production company APJAC Productions sold all Planet of the Apes rights and privileges to 20th Century Fox.[2] Subsequently, television rights for the first three Planet of the Apes films were sold to CBS and aired successfully in September 1973. Based largely on high viewership of "movie-of-the-week" TV broadcasts of the first few films, CBS began to focus away from other contenders for a new science-fiction series, including Gene Roddenberry's Genesis II (1973) and look solely at the prospects for an Apes TV series.[3] Fox and CBS went on to continue Jacob's plans of a series the following year.[4]
CBS ordered 14 episodes of Planet of the Apes to be produced. The series was filmed for the most part on location at what is now Malibu Creek State Park, with a budget of about $250,000 for each episode.[5] Originally slated to air during CBS's Tuesday night family hour,[6] the first regular episode of the series aired on Friday, September 13, 1974 from 8:00-9:00 PM. The remainder of the series aired in this same time slot until December 27, 1974, when its 14th and final broadcast was shown as a result of a premature cancellation of the series due to low ratings.[7]
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Music
The series' main theme was composed by Lalo Schifrin; Schifrin also scored three episodes of the series - "Escape From Tomorrow," "The Gladiators" and "The Good Seeds" (the latter, though not the premiere episode, was the first to be scored). Earle Hagen composed the scores for "The Legacy" and "Tomorrow's Tide," while Richard LaSalle wrote an original score for "The Trap." In addition, three episodes received partial scores - Hagen composed one for "The Surgeon," LaSalle handled "The Deception," and music supervisor Lionel Newman composed his only music for the series with "The Interrogation" (those last three, like the other episodes, were otherwise tracked with the previously written music).
Intrada album
In 2005, Intrada released an album featuring Lalo Schifrin's opening and closing music along with all three of Schifrin's scores and Earle Hagen's "The Legacy." The album also includes the logo music for Twentieth Century-Fox Television by Alfred Newman.
The series' main theme was composed by Lalo Schifrin; Schifrin also scored three episodes of the series - "Escape From Tomorrow," "The Gladiators" and "The Good Seeds" (the latter, though not the premiere episode, was the first to be scored). Earle Hagen composed the scores for "The Legacy" and "Tomorrow's Tide," while Richard LaSalle wrote an original score for "The Trap." In addition, three episodes received partial scores - Hagen composed one for "The Surgeon," LaSalle handled "The Deception," and music supervisor Lionel Newman composed his only music for the series with "The Interrogation" (those last three, like the other episodes, were otherwise tracked with the previously written music).
Intrada album
In 2005, Intrada released an album featuring Lalo Schifrin's opening and closing music along with all three of Schifrin's scores and Earle Hagen's "The Legacy." The album also includes the logo music for Twentieth Century-Fox Television by Alfred Newman.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Unfilmed episodes
- "Episode One" (written by Rod Serling as pilot episode; radically different from what aired)
- "Episode Two" (written by Rod Serling as follow-up to his version of the pilot)
- "Hostage" (written by Stephen Kandel)
- "A Fallen God" (written by Anthony Lawrence)
- "The Trek" (written by Jim Byrnes)
- "Freedom Road" (written by Arthur Rowe)
- "The Mine" (written by Paul Savage)
- "The Trial" (written by Edward J. Lakso)
Doctor Omega
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Broadcast history
The series ran in the U.S. from September 13 to December 20, 1974. The series was canceled after half a season because of low ratings due to direct competition by NBC's Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man. Only thirteen of its fourteen episodes were broadcast; all 14 episodes were later included in the DVD box set. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel.
It was screened in Britain by 13 of the 14 ITV companies from 13 October 1974 each Sunday, until 18 January 1975. STV never screened the series in 1974/75, opting to broadcast Sale of the Century instead. The series was repeated in many regions from September 1975 until 1978, but was still not seen on STV. The series then received its first UK-wide transmissions on Channel 4 in 1994, and later on the Sci Fi Channel. The TV movie compilations have also been screened on Sky Movies, True Movies, True Entertainment (who also aired the show in original form) and Horror Channel.
Telefilms
In 1980, several episodes of the series were edited into five made-for-television movies.
The series ran in the U.S. from September 13 to December 20, 1974. The series was canceled after half a season because of low ratings due to direct competition by NBC's Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man. Only thirteen of its fourteen episodes were broadcast; all 14 episodes were later included in the DVD box set. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel.
It was screened in Britain by 13 of the 14 ITV companies from 13 October 1974 each Sunday, until 18 January 1975. STV never screened the series in 1974/75, opting to broadcast Sale of the Century instead. The series was repeated in many regions from September 1975 until 1978, but was still not seen on STV. The series then received its first UK-wide transmissions on Channel 4 in 1994, and later on the Sci Fi Channel. The TV movie compilations have also been screened on Sky Movies, True Movies, True Entertainment (who also aired the show in original form) and Horror Channel.
Telefilms
In 1980, several episodes of the series were edited into five made-for-television movies.
- Back to the Planet of the Apes ("Escape from Tomorrow" & "The Trap")[11]
- Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes ("Gladiators" & "Legacy")
- Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes ("Horse Race" & "The Tyrant")
- Life, Liberty and Pursuit on the Planet of the Apes ("The Surgeon" & "The Interrogation")
- Farewell to the Planet of the Apes ("Tomorrow's Tide" & "Up Above The World So High")
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Spinoffs
Most of the books and comics based on Planet of the Apes are based on the films, not the TV series. However, there are some titles that do involve the TV show characters:
Novelizations—Four novelizations of episodes, written by George Alec Effinger, were published by Award Books. Their titles are:
Audio Adventures—Power Records produced four audio-only adventures based on the TV show. Their titles were:
Filmstrip Story—Chad Valley, a U.K. toy company, produced 32 short film-based comic strips containing an original TV-series-era story, packaged as the Chad Valley Picture Show Planet of the Apes Sliderama Projector (very similar to the many Give-a-Show projector sets of the 1970s). These strips are extremely rare and difficult to come by.
Most of the books and comics based on Planet of the Apes are based on the films, not the TV series. However, there are some titles that do involve the TV show characters:
Novelizations—Four novelizations of episodes, written by George Alec Effinger, were published by Award Books. Their titles are:
- Planet of the Apes #1: Man the Fugitive
- Planet of the Apes #2: Escape From Tomorrow
- Planet of the Apes #3: Journey Into Terror
- Planet of the Apes #4: Lord of the Apes
Audio Adventures—Power Records produced four audio-only adventures based on the TV show. Their titles were:
- Mountain of the Delphi
- Battle of Two Worlds
- Dawn of the Tree People
- Volcano
Filmstrip Story—Chad Valley, a U.K. toy company, produced 32 short film-based comic strips containing an original TV-series-era story, packaged as the Chad Valley Picture Show Planet of the Apes Sliderama Projector (very similar to the many Give-a-Show projector sets of the 1970s). These strips are extremely rare and difficult to come by.