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| Space Soldiers; the Flash Gordon serials on TV | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 23 2008, 09:13 AM (2,235 Views) | |
| John Doe | Mar 23 2008, 09:13 AM Post #1 |
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Charter Member
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The three Flash Gordon Serials were broadcast on TV in daily or weekly episodes with the titles changed to add "Space Soldiers" to them. I looked into this a bit and it looks like these broadcasts began in late 1953. The earliest TV schedule listing for Space Soldiers I found was for Wed November 18, 1953 in Fresno CA. It was on at 5:00 on chanel 27: ![]() I checked and it was not listed as being broadcast on Monday the 16th or Tuesday the 17th. If it did begin on Monday, they never got the TV schedule in the papers updated in time. The only other 1953 listing I could find was for an Oshkosh WI station which started broadcasting it on Monday December 28, 1953. Space Soldiers was picked up by many other cities in early 1954 (Eureka CA, Jefferson City MO, Billings MT, Albuquerque NM, Centrailia WA, and Charleston WV were other early cities I found). It was usually on Monday thru Friday at 5:00, 5:30, or 6:00 in the afternoon - obviously for the after school kiddie crowd. Although the TV listings usally just said "Space Soldiers", sometimes they would say "Space Soldiers Trip to Mars", "Space Soldiers - Mars", or even "Space Soldiers C.T.U.". So all three were definitely shown as a part of the program. The first Flash Gordon TV show didn't start till October of 1954 per IMDb. Maybe the title Space Soldiers was used so they had the option of a TV show without haveing to worry about a conflict in the titles?? In the 1960's the showings are not as much as the 1950's, but it definitely continued to be shown in various cities through to the 1990's. Space Soldiers continued to be shown on TV till 1996 (on AMC). Does anyone know if there are prints out there for TV use that have been retitled on-screen to "Space Soldiers", or was that just a different name to use in the listings in the newspapers? Thanks. |
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| Laughing Gravy | Mar 23 2008, 12:40 PM Post #2 |
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Fascinating; thank you! I note that a competing station was showing the serial The Vigilantes are Coming. And what th' darn heck is ATOM SQUAD? I wanna see it! |
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| Don Daredevil | Mar 23 2008, 12:45 PM Post #3 |
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Old Fart
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I remember reading somewhere that the title was changed to avoid confusion with the Flash Gordon TV show, but that the actual credits said Flash Gordon ...
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| Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer | Mar 23 2008, 01:00 PM Post #4 |
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Sapient Balconeer
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The back of the case for the Image serial states the TV show ran from 1953 - 54. |
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| John Doe | Mar 23 2008, 02:33 PM Post #5 |
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Charter Member
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I have since found out that the Flash Gordon TV show with Steve Holland was indeed syndicated from late 1953 to late 1954 - conciding with the time frame of the broadcast of the serials retitled to Space Soldiers. Here is an article from the Long Beach, CA Independant Press-Telegram (1954-01-11), which says that it will start on 1954-1-24: ![]() See these pages also: http://www.slick-net.com/space/text/index.phtml#flash http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/t...lashGordon.html The TV show was also later carried by the DuMont network - and the "release" date given on IMDb is the DuMont network broadcast date for episode 1 with Holland. See this too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon_...54_TV_series%29 You want it, you got it. Information on Atom Squad: http://www.slick-net.com/space/text/index.phtml#atom |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Mar 24 2008, 08:24 AM Post #6 |
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Mouth Breather
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The DuMont network was where I first saw the Flash serials, but I was already hooked on serials in general (by 1949 I think). |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| John Doe | Mar 30 2008, 02:28 PM Post #7 |
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Charter Member
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Cool. They definitely were showing Flash Gordon on TV before the renaming to Space Soldiers in late 53. The earliest TV broadcast identified of the Flash Gordon serials is from Sunday December 25, 1949 in Long Beach CA. Here is a notice from the Long Beach Independant newspaper on December 20, 1949 announcing the start of the show called "The Comics", on Sunday the 25th. "The Comics" was really serial chapters from Flash Gordon, DonWinslow, and Smiling Jack: ![]() Here is a nice half page ad from a 1951 Rhode Island newspaper announcing the broadcast of Flash Gordon. It was sponsored by a bread company: http://users.erols.com/scarletfire/RI%20Ne...0broadcast).pdf |
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| riddlerider | Mar 30 2008, 05:40 PM Post #8 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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The Flash Gordons serials were initially released to TV in 1951 by Motion Pictures for Television, Inc. MPTV kept the original titles but remade each main-title card to have it read "MPTV Presents..." rather than "Universal Presents..." I once owned an odd chapter from the MPTV version of CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE, and the remade main title was physically spliced into the print. The Monograms released by MPTV were prepared in a similar manner. Just think, some poor schlub at the lab had to sit all day and splice all those remade titles! |
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| John Doe | Mar 30 2008, 05:59 PM Post #9 |
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Charter Member
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Thanks for the info RR! Was Universal itself distributing/syndicating their serials to TV prior to 1951? They were being shown as I found in late '49 and early 1950. Ever seen any prints or videos retitled as Space Soldiers? Perhaps that was just a name used in the TV listings? |
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| igsjr | Apr 2 2008, 05:59 AM Post #10 |
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Nostalgia blogger
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There's another thread that addresses this but since I can't locate it I'll stick it here. Amazon.com has the Flash Gordon box set (from Image) on sale for $11.99: http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Gordon-Soldier...07144697&sr=1-2 |
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"Life is in color--but black-and-white is more realistic..." -- Samuel Fuller, director So many DVDs...so little time... | |
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| mort bakaprevski | Apr 2 2008, 07:57 AM Post #11 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Actually the December 25, 1949 is correct. I remember first catching The Comics on New Years day of 1950. However, SMILIN' JACK wasn't part of the package. And, FLASH GORDON wasn't in the first group of serials that KTLA presented (three serials; once a week; on Sunday afternoon). Group 1: RED BARRY, DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD, ACE DRUMMOND Group 2: TIM TYLER'S LUCK, RETURN OF CHANDU (I know it's not Universal, but it was part of this group), DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY Group 3: THE LOST CITY (another non-Universal), RADIO PATROL, FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE Group 4: A repeat of two of the above (don't remember which) & FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS Group 5: Repeat of another two & FLASH GORDON Why they ran the Gordon's & the Winslow's in opposite order, I don't know. Maybe it's because the latter were newer & in those days recent films were considered to be valuable in terms of audience appeal. Perhaps this early release was peculiar to the SoCal area. Dunno, but I do remember that these releases either had "Universal Presents" or "Sherman Krellberg Presents" or "Filmcraft Presents" on the title card. However, on FGCTU, the initial frames showing Universal Presents alone on the screen had been removed. Some of the films had "A Flamingo Film" on "The End" card. |
| "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop." | |
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| riddlerider | Apr 2 2008, 10:06 AM Post #12 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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That's very likely. Late '40s and early '50s TV seem to have been characterized by a "wild west" or "anything goes" mindset in which anybody with access to prints or negatives marketed motion pictures to local stations. The SoCal and NYC areas saw a lot of this sort of activity, mainly because so many film labs were located there. I'm not aware that the Flash Gordon serials had any "official" TV release prior to their licensing by MPTV. But that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. I'm surprised to learn that FGCTU prints were released by Flamingo Films, though. Flamingo distributed Universal's B-Westerns to TV but this is the first I've heard that they had anything to do with the Flash Gordon serials. |
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| mort bakaprevski | Apr 2 2008, 10:45 AM Post #13 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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RR, can't say for sure that it was any of the Flash Gordons. I just remember it on SOME (maybe only two) of the Universal package. Which two, quien sabe??? |
| "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop." | |
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| John Doe | Apr 2 2008, 11:58 AM Post #14 |
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Charter Member
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Amazing. All three in your group 1 were 13 chapters. All in your groups 2 and 3 were 12 chapters. Group 4 looks interesting - I would have run Trip to Mars with two 12 chapter serials and and on week 13 I'd have shown chaps 13-15 of Trip to Mars all in sequence. Perhaps I could do some more checking thru those newspaper listings to see what I find. Its not like it matters really, but it would be fun to see what I can come up with. I'm not at my main computer now where I have my info on Universal re-releases, but I believe that most or all of those other (non Flash Gordon) Universal titles were re-released theatrically in the late 40's to early 1950's by Filmcraft or one of Krellbergs other companies. Perhaps this television anthology called "The Comics" was distributed to TV by him? |
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| mort bakaprevski | Apr 3 2008, 06:36 PM Post #15 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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The program was named "The Comics" by KTLA. A live card, printed in the KTLA style at the time, preceded & followed each of the three serials accompanied by some circus music that I have never identified. Presumably, the name of the program, the grouping of the serials & order shown could have differed vastly in other areas (assuming there WERE other areas). The Krellberg connection makes a certain amount of sense when you consider that THE LOST CITY was included in the package. It also suggests that King Features had nothing to do with these releases as Don Winslow was not owned by them... but both serials had been re-released by Krellberg's Filmcraft. |
| "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop." | |
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