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

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.

The Ancient One speaks!

I was fourteen when MEN INTO SPACE aired, and missed very few episodes. In those days I had the pathetic notion that I would be involved with space engineering or sciences, a star that was already setting as I augered in at school. MEN INTO SPACE, however, kept the vicarious juices going, and it fuelled my passion for the embryonic space programme. In a way it was so good for television of the late '50s, one could almost consider an instrument of propaganda.

I recall that it a good show, which as per others, did try to be realistic. There was an episode of a runaway thruster on the space station -- a proper Ley wheel, not the contemporary lash-up of ash cans. Another episode treated the ejection of nuclear waste into orbit or the Sun. As some of my juniors have commented, the situations and projects depicted in that humble half-hour show are yet to-day only contemplated, so perhaps MEN INTO SPACE was more science fiction than future faits accompli that my young hopes embraced.

It was too early, and certainly too "technical" for television then and possibly now. Whereas TWILIGHT ZONE and ONE STEP BEYOND (both of 1959 et seq.) could count on pure fancifulness to secure loyal audiences, MEN INTO SPACE was "hard" S.F. There were just not that many people out there then to sustain a series, and it went the way of its distant cousin THE MAN AND THE CHALLENGE, also from 1959. Having no cable, and not attending science fiction conventions, I have not seen MEN INTO SPACE since the summer re-runs of 1960, which is . . . FORTY years! I am glad, however, it made an important impression on so many young kids, and their comments are actually moving.