| Creator: | Joseph Greene |
| Starring: | Frankie Thomas, Al Markim, Jan Merlin, Edward Bryce |
| Country: | United States |
| Channel: | CBS (October 2 to December 29, 1950); ABC (January 1, 1951 to September 26, 1952); NBC (July to September 1951, December 1954 to June 25, 1955); DuMont (August 1953 to May 1954) |
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet is an American TV series that aired 1950–1955, depicting the character Tom Corbett.[1] Episodes were 15 minutes (weekdays) and 30 minutes (Saturdays).
The initial concept for the series followed the scripts by Joseph Greene originally proposed as a comic strip in 1945, and then as a proposed radio serial in 1946, titled "Space Cadets" (with a young hero named Tom Ranger), and 1947, titled "Space Academy". When Greene began work with Rockhill Studios on developing his idea into a television show in 1949, the title Tom Ranger, Space Cadet was floated for a time.[2]
In 1950, Rockhill Studios licensed the “Space Cadet” name from Robert A. Heinlein's 1948 young-adult novel Space Cadet for the series then in development.
The initial installment of the series was edited into the 88 minute long The Mercurian Invasion, which was released in 1998.
Michael Harvey played Captain Strong for the first six episodes of the CBS series; Pat Ferris played Dr. Dale for two episodes of the DuMont series.
Tom Corbett is one of only six TV series to appear on all four networks of the time, along with The Arthur Murray Party, Down You Go, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Pantomime Quiz, and The Original Amateur Hour:
Contemporary merchandise for the series included toys, costumes, lunch boxes, and a newspaper comic strip written by Paul S. Newman and drawn by Ray Bailey.[4]
On January 1, 1952, one year after the ABC television network began airing the show, a short-lived radio version began on ABC radio.[5] This radio version employed the same actors as the TV show. The series ran twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 5:30 p.m. (the TV show aired on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule). The radio version ran from January 1st to July 3rd, 1952.[5]