"Planet of the Apes" (1974) TV series

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Writer:

Jim Byrnes (writer)

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

13 September 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Two astronauts and a sympathetic chimp friend are fugitives in a future Earth dominated by a civilization of humanoid apes.

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Ape | Future | Fugitive | Based On Film

Cast

Roddy McDowall	...	Galen (14 episodes, 1974)
Ron Harper	...	Alan Virdon (14 episodes, 1974)
James Naughton	...	Pete Burke (14 episodes, 1974)
Mark Lenard	...	Urko (11 episodes, 1974)
Ron Stein	...	First Gorilla / ... (11 episodes, 1974-1981)
Booth Colman	...	Zaius (6 episodes, 1974)
Eldon Burke	...	Chilot / ... (5 episodes, 1974)

Runtime:

UK:47 min | USA:60 min (14 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:G | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Though uncredited, Rod Serling wrote the original treatment and two proposed scripts for this series, essentially creating the basic format followed by the program, two astronauts and one chimpanzee pursued by the Apes civilization.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the pilot episode (after the astronauts have been captured by Urko), Alan abrades the ropes binding his wrists against a rock. Yet in the close-up of his wrists, the ropes are not frayed where he had been rubbing them and they don't break. They just fall off his arms.

Quotes:

Urko: These humans are dangerous, don't you understand that? They think that they're as good as we are!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Play-Mate of the Apes (2002) (V)

Wasn't Given Much Of A Chance To Shine

Planet of the Apes ran for a mere fifteen episodes. What was that about? Nowadays, fifteen episodes is seen as being half a season for most shows.

Planet of the Apes was a successful TV adaption of the successful Planet of the Apes movie and really did deserve more than fifteen episodes. The plot involved astronauts Virdon and Burke landing on Earth in the 31st century where apes ruled and held an iron grip over the humans. Virdon and Burke went on the run with good ape Galen pursued by the gorillas led by Urko. The apes feared the two astronauts because they were a living reminder of man's past domination over ape and past superiority to ape.

The show had plenty of action and some pretty decent plots;the actors played their parts very well. It would have been nice for this show to run longer and to see a conclusive ending to Burke and Virdon's adventures.