''Lazer Tag Academy'' is an

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

inspired by Worlds of Wonder's

Lazer Tag Lazer Tag is a brand name for the pursuit game using infrared toy guns, generically known as " laser tag". It was developed by Worlds of Wonder and launched in 1986. As one of America's top hit toys of 1986-1987, Lazer Tag was aggressively leve ...

(their branded version of the pursuit game referred to generically as "

laser tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated wit ...

") that was created by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. Spec ...

. Original episodes aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 13 to December 6, 1986 with reruns lasting until August 22, 1987. It was later shown in reruns under the new title ''Lazer Patrol'' on the Sci Fi Channel as part of Sci Fi Cartoon Quest. Another laser tag related series,

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

's live-action ''

Photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...

'' series aired the same year in syndication. The show contains numerous

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

references, from the

Man in the Iron Mask The Man in the Iron Mask (; died 19 November 1703) was an unidentified prisoner of state during the reign of Louis XIV of France (1643–1715). The strict measures taken to keep his imprisonment secret resulted in a long-lasting legend about ...

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film, science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott Taylor, Elliott, a boy w ...

Synopsis

Jamie Jaren, the Lazer Tag Champion of 3010, travels back in time to the year 1987 to help her ancestors, teenagers Tom and Beth and toddler Nicky. Jamie protects the kids from Draxon Drear, a master criminal from the year 2061 who was unwittingly revived from

suspended animation Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. States of suspended animation are common in micro-organisms and some plant tissue, such as seeds. Many animals, including l ...

by Jamie's teacher Professor Olanga after he ended up in that state following a spaceship hijacking accident. Draxon's spaceship crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and was kept in suspended animation until he was revived. Professor Olanga's analysis reveals that Draxon is a relative of Jamie. Draxon has traveled back in time to destroy Beth because she would eventually create the Starlyte gun and Starsensor (two real-life Lazer Tag products) worn by Jamie. These machines enabled Jamie to compete in the Lazer Tag tournaments of her time period. In the hands of certain individuals, a Starlyte is capable of producing effects that enable the wielder to manipulate matter and energy on a molecular scale and with the aid of the Starsensor, travel through time. Draxon leads a group of genetically-enhanced humanoids called Skuggs who were originally created to serve humanity before they ended up in Draxon's thrall. One of the Skuggs accidentally sets off the suspended animation gas on Draxon's spaceship, which reawakens Draxon and the Skuggs several centuries in the future. Beth and Tom's parents Andrew and Genna Jaren were mostly ignorant to the battles with Draxon Drear and the Skuggs and believed Jamie was a

foreign exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, bu ...

. In addition, Tom and Beth's schoolmate Charles Ferguson is suspicious of Jamie, and repeatedly tries to learn her secret.

Episodes

Cast

* Booker Bradshaw - Draxon Drear *

Pat Fraley Pat Fraley is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated television series and voiced Falcon in ...

- Charlie Ferguson, Skuggs * Noelle Harling - Jamie Jaren *

Billy Jayne William Jayne (born April 10, 1969), known professionally as Billy Jayne and previously Billy Jacoby, is an American actor, known for his roles in the teen comedy film ''Just One of the Guys'' (1985) and in the teen sitcom ''Parker Lewis Can't L ...

- Tom Jaren *

Don LaFontaine Donald LeRoy LaFontaine (August 26, 1940 – September 1, 2008) was an American voice actor who recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers over fou ...

- Opening Narration * Christina MacGregor - Beth Jaren *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

- Genna Jaren * Sid McCoy - Professor Olanga *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

- Andrew Jaren, Skuggs, Ralphie * R.J. Williams - Nicky Jaren

Additional voices

Susan Blu Susan Blu, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and Seasons 3 and 4 of '' Th ...

* Phillip Clark * Michael Horton * Harvey Jason * Rodney Kageyama *

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

* Mel Wells

Crew

* Michael Hack - Voice Director * Dan DiStefano - Story Editor * Ted Field - Assistant Story Editor * John Kimball and Rudy Larriva - Series Directors

UK VHS release

Home video and syndication

Three VHS tapes were released by

Celebrity Home Entertainment Celebrity Home Entertainment (also known as simply Celebrity Video), founded by Noel C. Bloom in 1987, was a home video distributor specializing in mostly obscure material from around the world, as well as B-grade action films and softcore adul ...

: # ''Lazer Tag Academy: The Movie'' was released in 1989 (95 minutes) # ''Lazer Tag Academy: Champion's Biggest Challenge'' was released March 21, 1989 (110 minutes) # The third tape was released on June 19, 1991, with a single episode, ''The Battle Hymn of the Jarens''. ''Lazer Tag Academy'' was later rerun in syndication under the name ''Laser Patrol''. This version was also shown briefly on the Sci-Fi Channel.

References

External links

* * {{Children's programming on NBC in the 1980s 1986 American animated television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1980s American children's television series 1980s American time travel television series Television series set in 1987 American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American time travel television series NBC television dramas Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series by Claster Television Laser tag Television series by Saban Entertainment Television series set in the 31st century NBC animated television series