"Men Into Space" (1959) TV series 1959-1960

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

30 September 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

The more-or-less realistic adventures of Colonel Ed McCauley, head of the American space program. He battles saboteurs...

Plot Keywords:

Exploration | Astronaut | Space Travel | NASA

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

William Lundigan

...

Col. Edward McCauley (38 episodes, 1959-1960)

Also Known As:

Space Challenge (USA) (syndication title)

Runtime:

30 min (38 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

Company:

ZIV Television Programs

Trivia:

Each episode of this series was budgeted at $50,000.

Quotes:

Narrator: No matter where he travels, one thing will always be the same: man himself. Human nature will not change in the strange outposts of space. There will always be love and hate, courage and fear, and even greed. This is the story of an expedition to a distant world that was brought to the brink of disaster by one man's greed.

Possibly the most accurate "hard" sci-fi series of all time

As with other reviewers, my impression of this never-syndicated, never-published-on-video series rests on childhood memories, in my case from age 7. However, at the time I had read a lot of popular books on the prospect of manned space flight, and "Men Into Space" resonated perfectly with the best that scientist-author Willy Ley and colleagues had to offer a 50's audience. As the episodes progressed, we witnessed man's first space flight, EVA, moon landing, and moon base operation. Space was depicted as silent (no "whooshing" spacecraft); multistage rockets were used; and full pressure suits were de rigueur.

I suppose this series stood on the broad shoulders of the Heinlein-penned film DESTINATION MOON (1950), but you have to credit the TV show's producers with a level of scientific integrity not seen in in network sci-fi before or since.