INSIDE TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET!

[Comments by Joe Sarno, from SPACE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER #7, July - December 1979:]

The portrayal of Roger Manning by Jan Merlin was powerful and important. The schoolyard conflicts between Roger and Astro, with Tom acting as mediator, were classic. Roger was... not unlike the schoolyard bully, the loudmouth, the braggart. But Merlin's interpretation was deeper, for Roger, unlike most bullies and braggarts, was loveable. He was a rogue, always quick to boast of his accomplishments and downgrade those of Tom and Astro [or even take credit for them], but he was also hiding a soft heart, and a courage that he often tried to disguise with the hard callus of bravado.

The Astro character was deep... born of Terran [colonists] on the planet Venus, Astro comes to earth... a stranger in a strange land. Quiet, sometimes brooding... the Astro character as protrayed by Al Markim is clearly that of an introvert, a person not always sure of his true worth and talents. Almost humorless, Astro [had a] quick temper [and] would often succumb to the jibes of Roger Manning. Astro was a born engineer, strong, good with his hands, and not always able to handle the [sarcasm] of Roger, except with his fists. [Left alone,] Astro would have been the easy-going frontiersman, an innocent, not aware of the bullies, tyrants, pranksters and hoodlums [around him]. Astro may have been an alien of sorts, but he, most of all, represented us [kids]. His role was the one that was easiest for us to [identify] with, and that was his strength. [In a rare interview, Al Markim remarked that black kids particularly seemed to identify with Astro, and during personal appearances of the Polaris crew, it was Astro they wanted to meet, more than Tom and Roger. Astro's "outsider" persona appealed to any kid who felt not-quite-accepted by his peers, for any reason.]

Probably the most difficult role of all was Tom Corbett, as portrayed by Frankie Thomas, and [he was] a master. [In fact,] Frankie Thomas must have had all the qualities of Tom Corbett... a leader, full of ideas, easy-going, smooth, happy, strong, cool, handsome and popular; the kid everyone looks up to. He exuded confidence and leadership. Corbett was the natural pilot of the Polaris, and when it came [either] to book work or [space maneuvers], Corbett had no peers. But occasionally even Roger could get to him, and Tom would blow his stack... er, jets.

Frankie Thomas possessed an extraordinary screen presence. He had all the poise and confidence of a Gary Cooper, Clark Gable or Clint Eastwood. He was born to be a leading man, just as it seems Basil Rathbone was born to play Sherlock Holmes. Thomas was born to play Corbett, and Corbett would be his most famous role. Frankie Thomas was never adequately used in Hollywood...

[Comments from THE GREAT TELEVISON HEROES by Don Glut and Jim Harmon, Doubleday, NY, 1975:]

Although Tom Corbett was the star of Space Academy, Roger had most of the color. Frequently he would get the Polaris or the entire world into trouble with his jokes and sarcasm. One time it appeared that he had sold out to a band of space pirates, but was actually working undercover for Captain Strong and Commander Arkwright. Script writer Stu Brynes developed Roger's character most fully, and gave him the most memorable dialogue, usually interspersed with phrases like (to Astro) "You Venusian swamp lizard," "Now you've done it, Junior," "So what happens now, space heroes?" and his never-ending "Awwwww, go blow your jets!" Before each flight, Roger Manning climbed up the ladder to the radar bridge near the nose of the Polaris, while Astro descended through the hatch in the control deck to the power deck where he tended to the rocket motors. With Tom seated next to Captain Strong the countdown proceeded from "five" to "zero". (Most viewers [first] became familiar with the word "countdown" through TOM CORBETT. But in later years, when a countdown culminated in [real] astronauts rocketing into space, someone took the liberty of changing the dynamic "blast-off" to the less romantic "lift-off.")

TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET had everything going in its favor. The portrayals of Tom, Astro and Roger were real enough to attract any adventure-loving viewers.

[Comments from Roaring Rockets (4/99):]

Several people have remarked to me that the character design in TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET smacks of genius, but like most things that seem "just right" it was not achieved without a lot of tinkering. Jan Merlin says that the characters Astro and Roger Manning were created fairly early on and of course he and Al Markim, hired for the roles, re-invented them from the inside out. But the third cadet gave the program's creators trouble. Originally he was envisioned as somewhat younger than Roger (just as Astro was somewhat older), a neophyte in all respects. Astro, of course, would take the new guy under his wing, so to speak, while Roger would alternate between trying to be helpful and protective, and giving in to the temptation of pulling cruel pranks, and initiating hazing on his innocent victim.

But, according to Frankie Thomas, when he expressed interest in the part, the whole concept was changed. Jan Merlin has said, "We thought of Frankie as a big Hollywood star." Instead of being an innocent, inexperienced, naive character who continually had to have things explained to him--- a character that kids at home would identify with, as their counterpart at Space Academy--- the third cadet would be a heroic, take-charge, fast-thinking, omni-competent but totally likeable character.

This shifted around all the dynamics of the Polaris unit. Astro looked on Tom with admiration and a bit of hero worship, while Roger looked on with more than a bit of jealousy (and contempt for Tom buying so completely into the hero-myth that had killed Roger's own father). The shift was just right, and it is now difficult to imagine that it could have ever been conceived any other way.

Apart from the interpersonal dynamics, it is surely the academic environment that makes TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET unique among all space adventure series, before or since. We are never allowed to forget that the characters are students: they live in a spartan dormitory, they have a curfew, they have to study for very difficult examinations, they generally have only other students, and teachers, and Solar Guard officers assigned to Space Academy, for company. They tread a narrow line, and hardly a broadcast goes by without one or more of the cadets being chewed out by Captain Strong--- with actor Ed Bryce clearly relishing these scenes, and sometimes even ad-libbing more colorful insults and threats. Yet, just as Roger is quick to defend the Polaris unit when cadets of other units make disparaging remarks, when Commander Arkwright, the stern "principal" of Space Academy, is vocally disappointed with the Polaris unit, Strong is instantly ready to defend them as vigorously as we saw him scolding them moments before. The chief writers knew that the essential sterility of the Academy environment needed a rich overlay of complex personalities and personal relationships, something the second-string writers sometimes forgot.

In CAPTAIN VIDEO, the relationship between Captain Video and the Ranger is essentially a father-son relationship, as constrained by military formality. In SPACE PATROL, the relationship between Buzz Corry and Cadet Happy is the familiar relationship between the cowboy hero, Gene or Roy, and his comical sidekick, Frog or Gabby. Only in SPACE CADET do we have relationships among the main characters that begin to approach the complexities of real life.

[From Chuck Lassen (5/99):]

Don't forget Doctor Joan Dale!

She was a "mother figure" for the kids of the television audience, but not without a bit of sex-appeal carefully hidden beneath her surface for the "older" cadets to fanaticise about, although none of them would admit it.

The character was also a pioneering effort in breaking the female stereotype of the early '50s. Dr. Dale was educated, intelligent, charming, independent, and capable in her duties as a professor at the Academy, in comparison to the "home-bound housewife" syndrome of the time. She was depicted as teaching difficult courses, in which the stiff exams threatened to flunk out Astro in particular. She was also the top researcher of the Academy, inventing new rocket fuels, and a hyperdrive allowing the Solar Guard's rocket cruisers to reach nearby stars, whenever the writers needed a wrinkle in space flight. Her hyperdrive was much later carried over to the "Star Trek" world as their warp drive, although she never received credit for it there.

She had a human side as well, frequently showing concern and worry when Captain Strong and the Cadets were off facing the dangers of space. Very early in the program's history, Dr. Dale and Commander Arkwright were often seen crouched worriedly around a communicator, at Space Academy, following second-by-second the dangerous predicaments of Captain Strong and the cadets in some thrill-a-minute mission out in deep space. In such scenes it was clear Joan Dale served as the "mother hen" of the Academy, fated to sit at home and worry as mothers have throughout the history of the human race. But Joan had her own rocket scout, and her own risky missions, as well. And she didn't always wind up needing rescue. The implication that Joan Dale and Steve Strong had some kind of offscreen relationship was also a nod to the strong presence of teenage girls in the program's audience. Her uniform was an attractive, no-nonsense calf-length blue dress, patterned after the military style Space Cadet dress uniforms. Because of the fuzzy tv images of the 50's, we didn't realize, until recently finding some old publicity photos, that she wore highly incongruous fish-net stockings!

TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET lost an important dimension when her character was written out after the end of the ABC run of the series (Summer, 1952).

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