MovieChat Forums > Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954) Discussion > The'Final episodes'?

The'Final episodes'?

posted 18 years ago by notalt
14 replies | jump to latest

As I recall there were a series of three programs ending the series where Rocky & the whole crew were marooned in a heated valley on an ice world at the "far edges of the solar system", in this episode they discovered the remains of ancient star ship "flying saucer naturally" which they "repaired" to make their escape. I wonder if the fact they discovered a downed saucer might have been the reason for the series demise! MIB where are you????
As I was a young lad at the time I have no recall as to the names of these final episodes. My reason for joining this posting is to enquire if its possible to acquire a DVD or even a VHS of the finale. I have never been able to shake the haunting music of the recorder used in that final ep!!
If anyone has the slightest clue as to being able to help please RSVP this post or email me at my posted addie.

[–] greenlight-chanticleer 17 years ago

That adventure you are thinking about is titled "Blast Off". RJ,SR was on two seasons. Blast Off marked the end of the first season. The last adventure of the series, and the final one, was titled "The Trial of Rocky Jones" in which Rocky is framed for space piracy.

In Blast Off the Orbit Jet is crippled by a meteor. Rocky, with only the little boy Bobby aboard, is forced to land on an uncharted planetoid to repair the ship.

The natives have had contact with space travelers before, hence the disabled flying saucer. The more civilized "Valley People" accept Rocky as a god. The more primative "Hill People" think he is an evil imposter. Moowana, the daughter of the leader of the Valley People is engaged to marry Zakar, the leader of the Hill People. Their union is expected to put an end to the constant warfare between the two groups. However Moowana cozies up to Rocky, which makes Zakar jealous. He then plans to kill Rocky. Zakar fails, of course, but does manage to destroy the Orbit Jet with an avalanche of rocks. Next the rest of Rocky's crew lands in another space ship. They are also captured and their ship destroyed. Rocky rescues his friends and he and Professor Newton repair the flying saucer in which they escape.

All 39 episodes of RJ,SR are available on DVD.

Also you can see some of the stories online in streaming video.

[–] jsalden 15 years ago

Where can I find it?
I have not seen it any place.

[–] vawlkee_2000 15 years ago

I have most of the episodes including "Trial".......It's the one with the flying saucer that sticks in my mind. I was off on Easter vacation in '58 in Lake Tahoe. It snowed unexpectedly and we could barely get out the door........Our '58 Caddy was buried under three feet of snow.
Fortunately the TV worked and I remember the episode with Jones and the Saucer. In my memory it was something like he was actually an alien and he was to return to his planet in the saucer........'Course that was 50 years ago and the specifics elude me.
I'd sure love to see that set again sometime! My source for Rocky seems to have dried up and blown away.

[–] RockyJones 10 years ago

Excellent story! :-)

[–] rstory-3 17 years ago

You can get the complete series on DVD from "vintagetvandmovies.com".
The quality varies do to the poor condition of the original film. But they are all there to be seen again. I have also seen sets for sale on Ebay. Expect to pay between $40 to $50 for a complete set.

I think the main reason the show went off the air is because the cast changed drastically. The actor who played Winky got into trouble with the law and was removed. The gentleman who played the Professor died and was replaced. And they stopped making episodes with Cleolantra. She was Rocky's arch enemy and they dropped her. These are a lot of changes to go through in such a short period of time.

The best episodes are the "Crash of Moons". They story line is one of the best in this scifi series.

Waffles Anyone
rstory-3

[–] greenlight-chanticleer 17 years ago

Patsy Parsons, who played Cleolanta, had to leave the show to start a family. She reportedly told Sally Mansfield, who played Vena Raye, that she hated to go.

Another great character they lost was Atlasan, played by Harry Lauter.

Actually the reason RJ,SR left the air is that the show was so expensive to make it couldn't make a profit. It always had good rating, but because it was sindicated and didn't have a regular sponsor it was always in the red. Roland Reed Productions, who made Rocky Jones, also made My Little Margie, another show they couldn't make a profit on. Rocky Jones left the air in 1954, Roland Reed Productions went out of business in 1956.

[–] afcagle 16 years ago

Thanks for the information. I too was a big fan of the series, though I don't remember much about them. I do recall at the end of the last episode they were all standing in a row and Rocky said they were going on "summer vacation", but they NEVER CAME BACK. Now it is explained.
Thanks again.

Al

[–] millerdsplaydzign 16 years ago

Re: DVD availability, does anyone know of another source for the 39 eps of RJ SR besides vintagetvandmovies.com ? As of this posting, when you go there all you get is "Site Unavailable. This website is currently unavailable."

[–] rstory-3 16 years ago

Hello millerdsplaydzign:

http://www.vintagetvandmore.com/index.htm
This is the new site. They changed their name.
Just to let you know the quality is not the best, but the price is not bad. Most episodes are pretty good. A few episodes have some washed out scenes, but are watchable.
You may want to try "ioffer" or "sell". They have different dealers who may have complete sets. Again the quality may vary.
All of these will most likely be taken off of VHS. No one seems to have the originals anymore. The company that produced them is gone and they are now puplic domain. So that is why there are so many off the wall companies offering them.

Good Luck:

Waffles Anyone
rstory-3
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731

[–] millerdsplaydzign 16 years ago

Thanks for the info, and a lapse in quality is easy to forgive considering the apparent scarcity of the subject matter. I figure I can always supplement any lesser quality eps with other sources like Alpha, Passport, or Digiview, provided they were taken from different prints than those at vintagetvandmore. The one and only RJ disc I own is from Digiview and I think those eps look pretty good. If they overlap with some of the ones from vintagetv which have qualitative issues, maybe can optimize my collection in that manner. Any thoughts on that?

[–] tomhuber-1 13 years ago

In regard to the episodes with the flying saucer, I didn't remember the name, but I remember the series (I was ten at the time). The copies available on Alpha and others are mostly from video tape and some are from the combined episodes used to produce a tv movie. I have virtually everything that I could get, except the vintagetv copies.

There's some valuable information in the posts in this series and I thank the contributors for filling in the background on the series, why it was canceled. I remember seeing Richard Crane in one of the first Perry Mason episodes, so he did some shows after RJSR.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jsalden 16 years ago

I hope this entire series comes out on DVD.

[–] robert-blau 12 years ago

FYI, nowadays you can get RJ,SR at deepdiscount.com and at amazon.com. HOWEVER, I would also HIGHLY recommend the DVD "150 Classic Scifi TV Episodes", available at amazon.com for about $16, including shipping. It contains 23 of the 39 RJ episodes (basically all of the "first season"), also TONS more, including "Space Angel", and pretty much all of "Flash Gordon" and "Captain Z-Ro"; also "One Step Beyond" and "Tales of Tomorrow", as well as some very interesting unsold pilots (notably the hour-long "Destination Space"), plus several entertaining complete 12-episode movie serials that saw a lot of TV airing, and even "Johnny Jupiter". All high-quality copies, too. A MUST-have if there ever was one. Over SIXTY hours of material, and what a price. When it arrived, I told my girlfriend not to call me for a few weeks. :)