Before Star Trek, there was Space Patrol. Science fiction television has its roots in this live, action-packed series that captured the imagination of Americans from 1950 to 1955, when space travel was just a dream. This book explores the freewheeling spirit of live TV, where anything could go wrong before millions of viewers--and often did. It spotlights (often in personal interviews) the risk-taking Space Patrol cast and crew who laid vital groundwork for television today. Included are episode logs for both television and radio shows as well as a complete guide to Space Patrol memorabilia.

Before Star Trek, there was Space Patrol. Science fiction television has its roots in this live, action-packed series that captured the imagination of Americans from 1950 to 1955, when space travel was just a dream. This book explores the freewheeling spirit of live TV, where anything could go wrong before millions of viewers--and often did. It spotlights (often in personal interviews) the risk-taking Space Patrol cast and crew who laid vital groundwork for television today. Included are episode logs for both television and radio shows as well as a complete guide to Space Patrol memorabilia.

Starting with the February, 1946 issue, every issue of the Captain Marvel Adventures comic book included a 2-page short story by "Eando Binder" (Otto O. Binder). All featured Lt. Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol. These juvenile space operas — designed to appeal to kids — featured the daring adventures of a two-fisted young member of the Space Patrol. In a solar system where seemingly every planet and moon can support life (and the asteroid belt harbors numerous space pirates and criminals), Jon Jarl always seems to save the day. If you've seen the early TV adventures of Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Space Patrol, or Tom Corbett, Space Cadet—which were clearly influenced by Binder's writing (as well as the shared universe of "space opera" that had been developed in Amazing Stories magazine under editor Ray Palmer) — you will know what you're in for...a ride into the Wild West of outer space, where physics and logic never get in the way of a good story!

This is our second (of three) collections of Space Patrol stories by "Eando Binder" (Otto O. Binder). Starting with the February, 1946 issue, every issue of Captain Marvel Adventures included a 2-page short story featuring Lt. Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol. These juvenile space operas -- designed to appeal to kids -- featured daring-do by a two-fisted young member of the Space Patrol. In a solar system where seemingly every planet and moon can support life and the asteroid belt harbors numerous space pirates and criminals, Jon Jarl always seems to save the day. If you've seen the early TV adventures of Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Space Patrol, or Tom Corbett, Space Cadet -- which were clearly influenced by Binder's writing (as well as the shared universe of "space opera" that had been developed in Amazing Stories magazine under editor Ray Palmer) -- you will know what you're in for...a ride into the Wild West of outer space, where physics and logic never get in the way of a good story! Includes 30 short stories.

A FICTION HOUSE PRESS REPRINT: JOHN BULLARD was born on Terra, in the ancient district of Ohio, in 3915, and his story is science fiction in the tradition of fine storytelling. No bugeyed monsters of the ""space operas"" here, but the adventures of a clever man, not physically outstanding in any way, who passed almost unnoticed from the Patrol Academy into the Service, there to become the almost legendary hero of the space fleet. Keeping the peace of the inner and outer planets was no easy job. It fell to Commander Bullard to put down the rebellious criminals long since banished to other planets, to fight in grim wars which encompassed not the nations of our time but the planets of the universe, and last but not least, to cut through the red tape of Terra's bureaucracy. His clever use of the extraordinary machines and weapons of a future age brought him a fame unequaled among the mariners of deep space.