Solar Guards - Futuristic space cadets on
the children's sci-fi series TOM CORBETT, SPACE
CADET/CBS/ABC/NBC/1950-52.
Set in the year A.D. 2350-55, Tom Corbett
(Frankie Thomas), a curly-headed teenager
attended Space Academy, where he hoped to become
a Rocketeer in the Solar Guards.
Other members of the Space Academy included:
Carter Blake
as Commander Arkwright
Michael Harvey as Captain Larry
Strong, the leader (1950)
Edward Bryce
as Captain Steve Strong, the leader
(1951-52)
Cadet Roger Manning, the Radar Man
onboard the rocket cruiser
Polaris.
Cadet Manning was the creator of some
unique phrases like: "You Venusian Swamp Rat!"
and "Blow It Out Your Jets!"
Al Markim as
Cadet Astro, the Venusian Navigator (a
prototype to the Vulcan Mr. Spock of STAR
TREK)
Margaret Garland as Dr. Joan Dale,
Tom Corbett's girlfriend.
John Fiedler as
Cadet Alfie
Higgins
Frank Sutton as
Cadet Rattison
Jack Grimes as
Cadet T. J. Thistle
The Space Cadet insignia was an upright
cigar shaped rocket with two landing fins
resting on a bolt of lighting.
When Tom Corbett enrolled into
the academy he said "As a boy I dreamed of
piloting spaceships. When I was old enough, I
took all the exams and was admitted to the best
school in the universe-Space Academy.
[Voices of announcer Jackson Beck and
Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett]
Narrator:
"TOM CORBETT...SPACE CADET!
Tom Corbett:
"Standby to
raise ship! Blastoff minus
five...four...three...two...one...ZERO!!!!"
Narrator:
"As roaring rockets blastoff to distant
planets and far-flung stars, we take you
to the age of the conquest of space with
TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET!"
[Alternate opening]
Narrator:
"Space Academy, USA in the World Beyond
Tomorrow. Here the Space Cadets train for
duty on distant planets. In roaring
rockets they blast through the millions of
miles from Earth to far-flung stars and
brave the dangers of cosmic frontiers,
protecting the liberties of the planets,
safe guarding the cause of universal peace
in the age of the conquest space.
[Program closing]
Tom Corbett:
"So long for now, and spaceman's luck to
all of you."
[Alternate
closing spoken in earlier episodes]
Narrator:
"Don't miss the next action-packed
episode, when the space cadets are faced
with new, mysterious dangers in their
exploration of the planet never before
seen by Earth mortals."
Unlike most of the space adventures of the 1950s
which featured evil monsters, and crazed
criminals/scientists, the Space Cadet plots were
generally men against nature such as struggles
with weightlessness, spaceships drifting in
space, and visits to strange planets like the
jungles and swamps of Venus. Very rarely did the
Space Cadets reach for a gun, but when they did
it was a Freezer ray to stop/not damage a
person.
On the final episode of the series the script
read: "Where are we going, Tom? Out Boy, Further
than we've ever gone before!"
Official Space
Cadet Ring
More than a decade later, the sci-fi
series STAR TREK/NBC/1966-69 opened with the
narration "Space, the final frontier. These are
the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five
year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to
seek out new life and new civilization, to
boldly go where no man has gone before!"
Based on the Robert Heinlein novel "Space
Cadet", the series
was produced as a fifteen-minute (seen three
times a week) show on CBS and ABC; the NBC and
DuMont versions (1950-55) were extended to
half-hour shows and aired on Saturday mornings.
See also -
OATHS & PLEDGES: "I solemnly swear to safeguard..."
