Space Rangers (TV series) explained

Genre:	Science fiction Action-Adventure
Runtime:	approx. 46 minutes
Creator:	Pen Densham
Starring:	Jeff Kaake Jack McGee Marjorie Monaghan Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Danny Quinn Clint Howard Linda Hunt Gottfried John
Country:	United States
Network:	CBS
Company:	RHI Entertainment Trilogy Entertainment Group
Num Episodes:	6

Space Rangers is an American futuristic science fiction drama. The series aired on CBS in 1993. The show was created by Pen Densham and Trilogy Entertainment Group.

Synopsis

In the year 2104, the Earth colony Fort Hope on the distant planet Avalon struggles to survive. A small force of police/marines called the "Space Rangers Corps" are the first, last and only line of defense for the colonists against crime and the perils of interstellar exploration. The series concentrates on Captain John Boon and his team of Rangers aboard Ranger Slingship #377.

Cast

See main article: Characters of Space Rangers.

• Jeff Kaake as Captain John Boon
• Jack McGee as Doc Kreuger
• Marjorie Monaghan as Jojo Thorsen
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Zylyn
• Danny Quinn as Daniel Kincaid
• Clint Howard as Dr Mimmer
• Linda Hunt as Commander Chennault
• Gottfried John as Colonel Erich Weiss

Planets

• New Venus -A former Earth colony that was overrun with Banshees. While most of the men elected to abandon the colony, the women chose to stay and fight off the invaders. As a result the colony became an Amazon-like matriarchy. Jojo Thorsen originates from this colony and harbors a deep hatred for Banshees.
• Skaraab -A desolate planet where the days are so hot that the suns burn away all surface life in a matter of one day. The planet's vegetation has to grow back overnight and is so aggressive that it will even consume animal tissue in order to survive. It is also home to an ancient Graaka burial temple.
• Earth -Home to the Space Rangers Corps & its Central Command. It is several weeks away at lightspeed from Fort Hope.
• Avalon -Home to our heroes' colony of Fort Hope. On the outside it looks much like the Painted Desert in the American southwest.
• Katraz -Penal colony. A place where the galaxy's worst are dumped off never to be heard from again. There are no guards and no ways to leave. The planet is ruled by anarchy among the inmates. One inmate named Rec heads the majority of factions on the planet. The name is no doubt derived from the former San Francisco prison of Alcatraz Island which also had the reputation for being impossible to escape.
• Blood Nebula -A favorite hiding spot for smugglers and slavers. Its red clouds jam most sensors making enforcement in this area difficult at best.
• Vee'Lon Prime -A wet, sandy, and tropical planet home to the reptilian Vee'Lons.

Production

Space Rangers was produced as a six episode miniseries by CBS.^[1] Pen Densham developed the series over several years under its working title of Planetbusters with Densham emphasizing the focus of the show wasn't on pure science-fiction like Star Trek and was instead more focused on action-adventure.^[1]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Media

The complete series was released for a short time on VHS tape. It was later released to DVD for Region 2.

On October 15, 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.^[2] Oddly, the Mill Creek release contains two DVDs but contains all six episodes highly compressed onto the first disk, while the second disk has the same six episodes combined into three mini-movies of two episodes each. Furthermore, the Mill Creek release specifies a different episode order list versus the Episodes list above. The Mill Creek release specifies the order as:

1. "Pilot"
2. "The Replacements"
3. "Banshees"
4. "Death Before Dishonor"
5. "The Trial"
6. "To Be Or Not To Be"

It is not specified on the DVD package why the episodes are in this order on the DVD.

See also

Star Rangers, a comic series from 1987–88 with similar characters and concepts.

References

External links

• • Marjorie Monaghan's (Jojo) website on Space Rangers

Notes and References

1. Altman. Mark. February 1993. Space Rangers. Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. January 29, 2024.
2. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Space-Rangers-The-Complete-Series/18948 The Short-Lived '93 Show on DVD as 'The Complete Sci-Fi Cult Classic TV Series'