"Captain Z-Ro" (1955) TV series 1955-

Creators:

Friedrich Schiller
Roy Steffens
(more)

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Syndicated | Laboratory | Live Broadcast | Rocket Ship | Time Travel

Cast

Roy Steffens	...	Captain Z-Ro (26 episodes, 1955-1956)
Bruce Haynes	...	Jet (25 episodes, 1955-1956)
Jack Cahill	...	Tetro / ... (17 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Directed by
David Butler		(26 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Writing credits
Roy Steffens		(26 episodes, 1955-1956)
Friedrich Schiller		(1 episode, 1956)

Series Produced by
Henry Brown	....	associate producer (26 episodes, 1955-1956)
Kathleen K. Rawlings	....	producer (26 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Cinematography by
Joseph P. Dieves		(26 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Film Editing by
Lew Smith		(12 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Production Management
Florence Dieves	....	production manager (13 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Florence Dieves	....	assistant director (12 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Art Department
Leslie Green	....	set designer (26 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Sound Department
Stewart Macondray	....	sound (26 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Other crew
John Corso	....	technical supervisor (12 episodes, 1955-1956)

Production Companies

• Captain Z-RO Productions
• W.A. Palmer Films Inc.

Distributors

• Atlas Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Satellite Media Productions (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Shout! Factory (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:15 min (1951 and 1953) | USA:30 min (1954-1955)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Captain Z-RO Productions

Trivia:

In 1954, the series was picked up for syndication. Episodes were shot on videotape and to shot to fit in a 30 minute time slot. There were 26 half-hour episodes.

Quotes:

[first lines of each episode]
Announcer:Captain Z-Ro! Research explorer in time and space! Somewhere in a remote uncharted region of a planet called Earth stands the laboratory of Captain Z-Ro. In this secret location, known only to a few in the outside world, Captain Z-Ro and his associates experiment in time and space to learn from the past - to plan for the future.
[morse code signal begins]
Announcer:Contact has been established. We now transmit you direct to the laboratory of Captain Z-Ro. Please stand by.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Quantum Leap: Mirror Image - August 8, 1953 (#5.22)" (1993)

really very good fifties sci-fi adventures

I purchased one of those box sets of 150 old science fiction TV episodes. I bought it mainly for the Steve Holland Flash Gordon episodes and Gene Autry's Phantom Empire. I basically wasn't expecting squat from the 24 installments of Captain Z-Ro that were included but I was very pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed them very much indeed. They remind me most of the 1960's series Time Tunnel.

The production values for the show were surprisingly good and the writing was also pretty tight, better than one might reasonably expect. At its core is a spaceship? that is equipped to travel through time as well as space. For various reasons they warp to major historical events that took place on good old earth. As a matter of fact Star Trek did much the same thing as they somehow managed to wind up in numerous very earth like historical adventures. The episode that centered on Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher actually kept my fifteen year old daughter glued to the set...shocking! My personal fav was the one where they explored inside one of the great pyramids in order to find out what happened to the Pharoh's missing mummy. This is actually a better show than the Steve Holland Flash Gordon although I enjoyed that one too.

I'm surprised that I had never heard of Captain Z-Ro because he was a very cool dude and his adventures were nicely done with mostly authentic looking costumes and sets despite traveling somewhere different in time for each episode. Some good acting too. Of particular note is the awesome robot Roger the Robot...he really makes hay in the Egyptian episode. The dude rocked!!! He was superbly written and looked cool too.