Ajroach42

This is not my video. I have no rights to it. I'm posting it anyway, because of what it represents.

This is an entirely amateur video production from 1970, documenting a concert from the band Mountain, made by some folks who recognized that independent, DIY, participatory media was The Future, long before it was practical.

"During the decade that the Freex were together, this pioneer video group amassed an archive of 1,500+ raw tapes and edits."

1500+ video tapes amassed over 10 years, all before the advent of the Camcorder.

And now, the vast majority of them are locked up behind a $100+ paywall.

"Television is one of the most revolutionary tools in the entire spectrum of technoanarchy"

"[T]he new generation with its transnational interplanetary video consciousness will not tolerate the miniaturized vaudeville that is television as presently employed . We will liberate the media ."

(So here, it's liberated.)

Learn more: The Forgotten History of DIY Media

I have a copy of this episode in my collection, but mine is in pretty rough shape. This is a much better transfer, that I'm sharing here to expose to a wider audience.

Episode #133 (according to the leader of the film) of the Daily broadcast of Space Patrol. If it is actually 133, it would have originally aired in September of 1950, probably. Identification isn't certain because not very many episodes of this era survive.

Some points to help with identification:

They're wearing the original uniforms, so it's prior to June of '51. Buzz is there, so it's after May of 50.

The ship is called "Terra the fourth" here, though, as opposed to Battle Cruiser 100, which either represents a difference between the ship names used by different writers, or places these episodes sometime in Jan or Feb of 1951 (which is the first time Terra 4 was mentioned in the half hour show.)

I believe that this is from September of 50, and does predate the weekly show's debut in late December. I imagine it's one of the first episodes written by eventual series head writer Dick Darley

Here is episode 134 which would have aired the following day.

Let me know if you'd like to see these through my new telecine.

Today, I want to share an episode of, and spill a few bits about, an early Space Adventure TV show that doesn’t get talked about often, and which gave us the first screen apperance of Star Trek’s Scotty!

This is a Fun one! A made-for-tv Feature Film comprised of 3 episodes of Space Patrol from 1954. (see bellow for the full details on the episodes.) This kind of thing was pretty common in the 60s, with Rocky Jones Space Ranger receiving this treatment several times, but I've never seen it done for Space Patrol.

The end result is pretty good, when taken in context. Space Patrol was, of course, a live show. The special effects were done in camera, everything was done in one continuous take. The fact that it produced anything watchable, much less something that approximates a feature film is astounding.

I really enjoyed this. the transfer is a little soft around the edges, but that appears to be a defect in the original film, and not an artifact of our transfer process (I'm going to do some more checks, if I was mistaken on this, I'll upload an improved copy in the future), but otherwise it looks Wonderful. The special effects and model shots in this episode are Astounding, and really drive home what made Space Patrol such a beloved show.

Portions of these episodes are available in varying quality around the web, but I'm fairly certain this is the first time that the Feature Length version (which, frankly, has only the smallest of differences from the TV version) has ever been made available online.

Details on the episodes taken from The Solar Guard

#189 "THE GIANTS OF PLUTO III" October 2, 1954

Suspicious happenings on the third satelIite of the planet Pluto come under the scrutiny of Buzz Corry. Buzz and Happy soon meet with trouble at the hands of Dr. Frederic Kurt, undersize operator of a sanitarium for rundown citizens of the universe and his pack of oversize puppets. In fact, Buzz and Happy are startled to find that their fellow officer, Major Robbie Robertson is also under the doctor's influence.

#190 "THE FIERY PIT OF PLUTO III" October 9, 1954

Determined to bring the evil Doctor Frederic Kurt to justice because of his practice of converting his patients into giant, robot-like slaves, Buzz and Happy are hampered by the very zombie like creatures they are trying to save. The two Space Patrollers attempt to overcome the zombies without harming them, only to wind up as candidates for a bath in a pool of molten rock.

#191 "MANHUNT ON PLUTO III" October 16, 1954

Having reconverted all but one of Doctor Kurt's zombies into the normal humans that they were originally, Commander Buzz Corry and Cadet Happy turn their attentions to the task of corralling the evil scientist. But thanks to his one remaining giant slave, Dr. Kurt is able to escape from Buzz and Happy. The two Space Patrolmen become the hunted, rather than the hunters. Their plight appears hopeless when Kurt and his stooge, Atlas, trap them in a deep canyon that offers no means of escape.

I used my new Telecine to capture a new copy of Flash Gordon S01E23 - The Underwater Menace. I think the results are pretty good.

Flash Gordon was a TV series for the 1954-1955 season, produced in west Berlin. The series was direct to syndication throughout many parts of the US, and specifically aired on the east coast on the DuMont Television Network. The show is now in the public domain, and about half the episodes produced are available on home video. Today, I present an episode we captured that is not available on home video.

This episode aired March 25, 1955. It’s the 23rd episode of the show’s run.

It appears that most of the actors spoke little to no English, and much of the dialogue was delivered phonetically. The German accents are wide spread throughout.

Modern reviewers have been pretty rough on the show, comparing it unfavorably with the Buster Crabbe serials of the 30s and 40s, and I can understand that. This show had a much lower budget than those serials. I think that many of the episodes of this show are pretty brilliant, though, and the occasional use of scenes in and around war torn Berlin as set dressing for this far future series gives an air of menace to the show which is welcome.