But Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (or as its announcer calls it, "Rocky Jones, Spa-a-c-c-e-e R-r-r-ran - ger!") confidently offers a lived-in world of the future that even '50s sci-fi movies generally avoided, a world where space travel and contact with alien life is commonplace. The series intriguingly mixes the comic book sensibility of '30s icons Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers with a very '50s technophilia. Though its characters are straight out of a Republic serial (and sometimes are played by former serial actors like Judd Holdren and Leonard Penn), there's a greater than expected effort to explain all this futuristic technology in reasonably plausible, scientific terms.

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger was shot on film, and the other big surprise is the vast number of special effects shots in each show, which are both greater in number and more complex than what was typically seen in low-budget science fiction movies from the same period.

The characters are all cliches, though a few of the performances are pretty engaging. Rocky Jones (Richard Crane, later one of The Alligator People) is stalwart and little else, colorless in a very '50s sort of way. However, co-pilot and requisite wise-cracking sidekick Winky is played by former child star (and by now very troubled adult) Scotty Beckett. It's hard to tell whether Beckett's flip performance is a studious or contemptuous attempt at characterization, but the end result comes off as surprisingly relaxed and natural, lending the show a casual air of reality to all that unreality.

Also along for the ride is Vena (Sally Mansfield), the perky navigator in cape and short skirt, and surely one of the most outrageously male-chauvinist creations in television history. She's quite hilarious: one minute trying to assert her skills as a member of Rocky's crew, the next she's fretting over misplaced lipstick.

Maurice Cass is rather charming as diminutive Professor Newtwon, a typically eccentric scientist of the egghead variety. He almost could be the inspiration for Osamu Tezuka's Dr. Elefun in Astro Boy. Robert Lyden is ten-year-old Junior Ranger Bobby, who like many such children in these situations is smarter than most of the adults. Several shows feature what appears to be Rocky's arch-rival, Cleolanta (or Cleolantha), played by Patsy Parsons, a scheming Queen of Outer Space.

Most stories are divided into three-chapter "episodes," originally aired one week apart. This may have been a wise move production-wise, as the budgets for three shows could be combined to buy bigger sets and pay for more elaborate effects that would spread out over several shows.

Here's the line-up, a bit less than half the show's entire run of 39-half-hour episodes :

Disc 1: "Silver Needle in the Sky" (Episodes 1-3), "Bobby's Comet" (Episodes 1-3); Disc 2: "The Forbidden Moon" (Episodes 1-3); Disc 3: "Crash of the Moons" (Episodes 1-3), "Kip's Private War" (1 Episode, complete); Disc 4: "Rocky's Odyssey" (Episodes 1-3); Disc 5: Extra Features (see below).

Guest actors on these shows include Rudolph Anders, Rand Brooks, Kenneth MacDonald, Nestor Paiva, Vic Perrin, John Banner, Robert Foulk, and Harry Lauter.

Video & Audio

This Passport Video release is comprised of episodes that have fallen into the public domain and have likewise been issued by Alpha Video and others. One has to wonder if pristine elements, perhaps even the original negatives, sit in a vault somewhere gathering dust because whoever owns them now understandably sees little point in going to the trouble and expense of remastering them for a legitimate release.

In any case these shows are just barely watchable, nth generation dupes that seemed to have at one time, ages ago, originated as 16mm syndication prints. (At least one episode has signs that it was mastered off a VHS tape!) Given that it's unlikely this show will be ever be restored to its original glory, this is better than nothing. Barely.

At least the shows appear complete, running about 25 1/2 minutes apiece. No subtitles are offered, and everything is annoyingly watermarked. (This reviewer has never seen the Alpha Video versions, but assumes they're probably of similar non-quality.)

Extra Features

Supplements include a mislabeled Missile to the Moon (not "Mission to the Moon," 1959), a pretty terrible, straight-faced feature film remake of Cat-Women of the Moon (1953) that only cinematic sadists like this reviewer will enjoy. Some reviews have applauded the video quality of this extra. It should look good: it was lifted from somebody else's master, namely the Wade Williams / Image DVD released several years back.

Also included is an episode from the terrible, filmed-in-Germany TV series Flash Gordon (1954), "The Subworld Revenge." This episode features notably awful, heavily distorted sound, and this combined with the impenetrable German accents (and outrageously hammy acting) of the supporting cast make this virtually unwatchable.

Finally, an episode of the direct-to-video Passport series A Century of Science Fiction called "Sci-Fi Heroes" is included. It's a pot pourri of overworked (but still moderately entertaining) PD clips and features a rambling introduction by Christopher Lee.

Parting Thoughts

The mostly terrible source material on The Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Collection should give potential buyers pause. It might be a good idea to rent it first and sample a few shows before committing to a purchase. With its $19.95 SRP this would be a great bargain if the video were better; as it is it's really borderline for even the most hard-core sci-fi fans.

Stuart Galbraith IV talks about Invasion of Astro-Monster in an audio commentary track that's just one part of Classic Media's upcoming Godzilla Classic Collector's Edition. Visit Stuart's Cine Blogarama here.