"Space Cadets" (1997) TV series

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Hamish Hamilton

Writers:

Rab Christie (writer)
Iain Davidson (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

15 July 1997 (UK)

Plot:

Insane comedy quiz show, played purely for laughs, with the winners irrelevant. Comedian Greg Proops...

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Greg Proops	...	Himself - High Commander (10 episodes, 1997)
Bill Bailey	...	Himself - Space Captain (10 episodes, 1997)
Craig Charles	...	Himself - Space Captain (10 episodes, 1997)

Runtime:

30 min (10 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Wark Clements

Quotes:

Greg Proops: [Photon Photos] Kim, I'm going to you again. What was this from?
Kim Newman: Oh, it's "Killers from Outer Space"!
Greg Proops: How do you know these things?

" Open The Gates "

I`ve got to disagree with my fellow reviewer Mark because I didn`t think much of SPACE CADETS . I think the problem is that it was presented by Greg Proops who`s painfully unfunny while Craig Charles and Bill Bailey are just plain unfunny . It`s one of those comedy quiz shows where the regulars and guests have a great time while the viewers don`t

There was one redeeming thing about the format and that was when we had a " What happened next " section similar to A QUESTION OF SPORT except it revolved around these old cliff hanger serials from the 1930s . For example we`re shown an ending from KING OF THE ROCKET MEN where the hero is knocked unconcious and spirals to the ground to a certain death and the contestants have to guess how the opening of the recap plays out . Due to some editing ( ie cheating ) the hero escapes death when he regains conciousness just before he hits the ground and turns on his rocket back pack . Like I said it`s cheating

And SPACE CADETS shows the worst example of this type of cheating with a cliff hanger ending from UNDERSEA KINGDOM where the good guy is captured by the baddies outside a fort . He is tied to the front of a tank and the defenders of the fort are told if they don`t surrender the hero will die . The defenders don`t comply so the episode finishes with the tank smashing through the gates of the fort obviously killing the hero . The contestants scratched their heads and rubbed their chins wondering how the good guy could have possibly survived . They gave up and the recap showed the heavily re-filmed action of the next episode where the chief defender shouts " Open the gates " and instead of smashing through the gates the tank drives through an open gateway thereby saving the hero . This totally bemused the contestants who started moaning that the ending and the recap were totally different , an identical reaction I had after seeing UNDERSEA KINGDOM in the early 1980s