Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
1. Operation Decoy
2. The Case of the Invisible Saboteurs
3. The Planet of Ice
4. Whispers in the Mind
5. The Crater of Peril
6. The Globe Men of Oma
7. The Adventures of the Venusian Sea
8. The Little Men of Mercury
9. World of the Doomed
10. The Strangler Trees of Triton
11. Stranger From Outer Space
12. The Phantom Birds of Beloro
13. The Black Cloud of Calistro
14. The Suits of Peril
15. Apples of Eden
16. Space Bugs
17. The Martian Queen
18. The Fire Deamons of Deimos
19. The Big Hammer
20. The Volcanoes of Venus
21. The Death Ball
22. The Unseen Planet
23. The Madness from Space
24. The Looters of Leeron
25. The Octopus of Venus
26. Colossus of Centauri
27. The Lights from Luna
28. The Twin Planet
29. The Treasure of Tesoro
30. The Robot Robber of Deimos
31. The Magic Man of Mars
32. The Stickman of Neptune
33. Moneymakers of Juno
34. The Deep Sleep
35. The Cyclops of Themis
36. The Electric Men
37. The Copernicus Diamond
38. The Stone Men of Venus
39. Energy Eaters from Luna
Overview
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers was a 30-minute, weekly CBS-TV network outer space adventure series, broadcast live Saturdays from April 18, 1953 to May 29, 1954. Set in 2153 and all-too-obviously inspired by Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, the series depicted the adventures of fearless Rocket Rangers, who operated from Omega Base, piloting their nuclear-powered space ship Beta throughout the solar system, to battle crime and the weird menace of extraterrestrial life-forms. The three Rangers were curly-haired Rod Brown, prickly Frank Boyd and obese Wilber Wormser. Their immediate superior was Commander Swift. Director George Gould had also been the director of ABC's Tom Corbett from 1950 to 1952, and he carried with him to CBS several of the writers for that pioneering series, plus its basic concepts, plus the major special effect, an amplifier producing travelling mattes. The very close similarity between Rod Brown and Tom Corbett generated at least one lawsuit, which seems to have resulted in the Rod Brown kinescopes never being rebroadcast. Rod Brown's adventures had a sponsor, Jell-O Instant Pudding. However, there are very few premiums or toys associated with the series, as compared to its rival live space adventure series such as Captain Video, Space Patrol, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. A Rocket Ranger membership card and a Rocket Ranger Squadron Charter have been observed. In addition, plaid flannel shirts for young boys, featuring a solid-color flannel placket silkscreened with the Rocket Ranger title, space ship, and spaceman, were also available.
