''Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers'' was a 30-minute, weekly

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

-TV network outer space adventure series, broadcast live Saturdays from April 18, 1953 to May 29, 1954. Set in 2153 and inspired by ''

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Ast ...

'' (1950 - 1955), the series depicted the adventures of fearless Rocket Rangers, who operated from Omega Base, piloting their nuclear-powered space ship Beta throughout the solar system, to battle crime and the weird menace of extraterrestrial life-forms. The three Rangers were curly-haired Rod Brown (

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film '' PT 109'', and won the 19 ...

), his prickly partner Frank Boyd ( Bruce Hall), and chubby, bespectacled

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

Wilbur "Wormsey" Wormser (

Jack Weston Jack Weston (born Morris Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981. Career Weston, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, usually played comic roles in fi ...

). Their immediate superior was Commander Swift (John Boruff). Each episode was a self-contained story, as opposed to the other serialized space shows then appearing on TV. Director George Gould had also been the director of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''Tom Corbett'' from 1950 to 1952, and when he was hired to direct ''Rod Brown'', he carried with him to

several of the writers for that pioneering series, plus its basic concepts, as well as the major special effect, an amplifier producing travelling mattes. The very close similarity between ''Rod Brown'' and ''Tom Corbett'' generated at least one lawsuit, which was settled out of court, and at the time, did not affect the broadcasting of new weekly ''Rod Brown'' episodes in any way. The ''Rod Brown''

kinescopes Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

however were never rebroadcast. The series ran a total of 58 episodes. Rod Brown's adventures had a sponsor, Jell-O Instant Pudding. However, there are very few premiums or toys associated with the series, as compared to its rival live space adventure series such as ''

Captain Video ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...

'', '' Space Patrol'', and ''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet''. A Rocket Ranger membership card and a Rocket Ranger Squadron Charter have been observed. In addition, plaid flannel shirts for young boys, featuring a solid-color flannel placket silkscreened with the Rocket Ranger title, space ship, and spaceman, were also available. The program began each week with an introduction: "Surging with the power of the atom, gleaming like great silver bullets, the mighty Rocket Ranger space ships stand by for blast-off. Up, up, rockets blazing with white-hot fury, the man-made meteors ride through the atmosphere, breaking the gravity barrier, pushing up and out, faster and faster, and then...outer space and high adventure for the Rocket Rangers." A verse from Robert Allen's TV theme song went: "From the sands of Mars, out to the distant stars, we're the Rocket Ranger Corps..." The membership card offered as a premium displayed the "Rocket Ranger code" as follows: ON MY HONOR AS A ROCKET RANGER, I PLEDGE THAT: #I SHALL always chart my course according to the Constitution of the United States of America. #I SHALL never cross orbits with the Rights and Beliefs of others. #I SHALL blast at full space-speed to protect the Weak and Innocent. # I SHALL stay out of collision orbit with the laws of my State and Community. # I SHALL cruise in parallel orbit with my Parents and Teachers. # I SHALL not roar my rockets unwisely, and shall be Courteous at all times. # I SHALL keep my gyros steady and reactors burning by being Industrious and Thrifty. # I SHALL keep my scanner tuned to Learning and remain coupled to my Studies. # I SHALL keep my mind out of free-fall by being mentally alert. # I SHALL blast the meteors from the paths of other people by being Kind and Considerate.

References

External links

*
Space Hero Files: ''Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers''

* ttps://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/rod-brown-rocket-rangers Interview with Cliff Robertsonabout appearing on ''Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rod Brown Of The Rocket Rangers 1950s American children's television series 1950s American science fiction television series 1953 American television series debuts 1954 American television series endings American children's science fiction television series American children's adventure television series CBS original programming Space adventure television series American live television series Television series set in the future Television series set in the 22nd century Lost television shows