Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television.
In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.
In the year 2430 in a secret lab in a cave behind Niagara Falls, Buck Rogers battles intergalactic troublemakers.
Tales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others featuring such performers as Boris Karloff, Brian Keith, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Bruce Cabot, Franchot Tone, Gene Lockhart, Walter Abel, Leslie Nielsen, and Paul Newman. The series had many similarities to the later Twilight Zone which also covered one of the same stories, "What You Need". In total it ran for eighty-five 30-minute episodes.
An anthology series adapting some of the science fiction stories of the time.
Announcer: "The Adventures of Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"
Voices: "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"
Announcer: "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands; and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way."
Space Command was a Canadian children's science fiction television adventure series broadcast on CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) Television in 1953 and 1954. It was the first time the network (CBC) aired its own dramatic series.
The series presented life on the fictional space ship XSW1 operated by Space Command, an international organization working to explore and colonize space. Each episode featured the activities of Frank Anderson covering many subject areas such as sunspots, asteroids, space medicine, meteors and evolution.
Although short-lived, Space Command proved to be a hit dramatic program for CBC's earliest years. The series aired weekly from 13 March 1953 – 29 May 1954
Unfortunately, only a single episode from November 1953 is know to exist at this time.
Atom Squad was an American science-fiction series that was broadcast live by the NBC network, July 6, 1953 to January 22, 1954, Monday-Friday, 5:00 to 5:15 PM EST.
The story of the first manned flight into space, supervised by Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group. When the spaceship that carried the first successful crew returns to Earth, two of the three astronauts are missing, and the third is behaving strangely. It becomes apparent that an alien presence entered the ship during its flight, and Quatermass and his associates must prevent the alien from destroying the world.
Topper is an American fantasy sitcom based on the 1937 film of the same name. The series was broadcast on CBS from October 9, 1953 to July 15, 1955, and stars Leo G. Carroll in the title role.
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger was a syndicated science fiction television serial originally broadcast in 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. Because it was recorded on film rather than being broadcast live as were most other TV space operas of the day, it has survived in reasonably good condition. The film format also allowed more elaborate special effects and sets, exterior scenes, and much better continuity.
Captain Midnight is an American televisions series that aired on CBS from September 9, 1954 to January 21, 1956. The series stars Richard Webb as Captain Midnight.
Flash Gordon is a science fiction television series based on the characters of the Alex Raymond-created comic strip of the same name. Diverging from the storyline of the comics, the series set Flash, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov in the year 3203. As agents of the Galactic Bureau of Investigation, the team travels the galaxy in their ship the Sky Flash, battling cosmic villains under the order of Commander Paul Richards.
The series was filmed in West Berlin and Marseille as a West German, French and American co-production by Intercontinental Television Films and Telediffusion. The series aired in syndication throughout most of the U.S. but also aired on the east coast on the DuMont Television Network.
The series proved popular with American audiences and critical response, though sparse, was positive. Flash Gordon has garnered little modern critical attention. What little there is generally dismisses the series, although there has been some critical thought devoted to its presentation of Cold War and capitalist themes.
Science Fiction Theatre is an American science fiction anthology series that aired in syndication from April 1955 to April 1957. It was produced by Ivan Tors and Maurice Ziv.
Masked scientific government agent is pitted against a rogue army, led by a mystery man known only as "The Ruler", which is attempting to conquer the solar system by first decimating earth's climate through various futuristic devices which Cody must meet with earth's own futuristic technology.
[Intended to be a limited-run television series, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal Of The Universe was first released theatrically in 1953 as a twelve-chapter movie serial; it was not shown on television until 1955.
The Commando Cody character was first introduced in Republic's earlier movie serial Radar Men from the Moon; however, "Sky Marshal" is actually a prequel, with the first chapter dealing with Cody's origins and the acquisiton of his staff as seen in "Radar Men".]
Shirley Temple's Storybook is an American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by actress Shirley Temple. The series features adaptations of fairy tales like Mother Goose and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors, although one episode, an adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables, was meant for older youngsters. The first season of sixteen black-and-white and colored episodes aired on NBC between January 12, 1958 and December 21, 1958 as Shirley Temple's Storybook. Thirteen episodes of the first season re-ran on ABC beginning on January 12, 1959. The second season of twenty-five color episodes aired on NBC as The Shirley Temple Show between September 18, 1960 and July 16, 1961 in much the same format that it had under its original title.
Temple's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season, "Mother Goose". When a stagehand said 'shit' during a "Mother Goose" rehearsal, Temple had him fired, telling the stunned cast it was a children's show–although no children were present during the rehearsal. Three of the first season episodes were done live, and each of the three took ten days of preparation. Temple read each script and made suggestions for improvement if necessary.
Moonlight Mask (aka Gekko Kamen), is a black and white tokusatsu TV drama series, produced by the advertising agency Senkosha and was aired on KRTV (now TBS) from February 24, 1958 to July 5, 1959, with a total of 130 (or 131) episodes, divided into 5 segments.
Since the original show, Gekko Kamen has gained the popularity of being the first Japanese live action television superhero, appearing in films and TV shows well past the length of the original series.
British scientist Peter Brady, while working on an invisibility formula, suffers a tragic accident which turns himself invisible. Unfortunately, there is no antidote, so, while working on a method to regain his visibility, he undertakes missions for his government stopping bad guys.
Felix the Cat follows the offbeat adventures of that curious feline, Felix. Although he was quickly overshadowed by Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, America's favorite cat still remains a classic.
A team of scientists search for the origin and purpose of a mysterious capsule found on a building site.