When they are buried alive, underground, in an ancient San Francisco subway station during an earthquake, Burke and General Urko are forced to work together. Above ground, Galen and Virdon try to ...
When Galen hurts his leg and can't travel, Virdon and Burke seek refuge in a farm till their friend recovers. The farm is operated by a gruff but decent ape named Polar, his wife Zantes, and their ...
Two astronauts survive a crash-landing on a planet where intelligent apes rule over humans. The men find that their own intelligence challenges the apes' superiority and puts their lives in danger.
While on a mission, three astronauts in their spaceship get caught in a time vortex. They return to Earth in the year 3979 A.D. and discover that intelligent apes are now the highest form of life.
Stars:
Austin Stoker,
Philippa Harris,
Henry Corden
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.
Director:
J. Lee Thompson
Stars:
Roddy McDowall,
Don Murray,
Ricardo Montalban
Ten years after a worldwide series of ape revolutions and a brutal nuclear war among humans, Caesar must protect survivors of both species from an insidious human cult and a militant ape faction alike.
Director:
J. Lee Thompson
Stars:
Roddy McDowall,
Claude Akins,
Natalie Trundy
The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
Director:
Don Taylor
Stars:
Roddy McDowall,
Kim Hunter,
Bradford Dillman
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
Director:
Ted Post
Stars:
James Franciscus,
Kim Hunter,
Maurice Evans
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.
Director:
Franklin J. Schaffner
Stars:
Charlton Heston,
Roddy McDowall,
Kim Hunter
Television series about a group of astronauts who travel in time and become marooned on a planet. Unbeknownst to them, they are actually on future Earth. The astronauts encounter an advanced civilization run by apes, but supported by enslaved human workers.Written by
Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
The two human leads graced the show with an Ivy League pedigree. Ron Harper (who played Alan) was a Princeton graduate and won a fellowship to Harvard, while James Naughton (Pete) was a graduate of Brown and Yale. See more »
Goofs
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. See more »
Quotes
Urko:
These humans are dangerous, don't you understand that? They think that they're as good as we are!
See more »
Alternate Versions
In 1981, selected episodes were re-edited into five made for TV movies: Back to the Planet of the Apes (1981) Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes (1981) Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes (1981) Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the Planet of the Apes (1981) Farewell to the Planet of the Apes (1981). One episode, "The Liberator," was not aired during the original network run, but was aired in the UK and made its US debut in the 1990s. See more »
The Planet of the Apes TV series is often unfairly criticised (as are the four film sequels) for falling far short of the epoch-making original movie.
However, there is much to be enjoyed for PotA devotees and the less committed alike. The three leading characters of Galen, Virdon and Burke are all instantly likeable and well acted, Mark Lenard is superb as their pursuer Urko, who is second as a Gorilla commander only to James Gregory's peerless performance as Ursus in "Beneath") and Booth Colman evokes Maurice Evans as Zauis (although this Zauis cannot be the same ape as played by Evans in the first two films). Many fine and memorable guest roles throughout and interesting - if slightly repetitive - storylines add up to a satisfying series.
The only downside is the somewhat corny dialogue - especially certain lines spoken by Burke - which rob a number of scenes of their effectiveness.
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The Planet of the Apes TV series is often unfairly criticised (as are the four film sequels) for falling far short of the epoch-making original movie.
However, there is much to be enjoyed for PotA devotees and the less committed alike. The three leading characters of Galen, Virdon and Burke are all instantly likeable and well acted, Mark Lenard is superb as their pursuer Urko, who is second as a Gorilla commander only to James Gregory's peerless performance as Ursus in "Beneath") and Booth Colman evokes Maurice Evans as Zauis (although this Zauis cannot be the same ape as played by Evans in the first two films). Many fine and memorable guest roles throughout and interesting - if slightly repetitive - storylines add up to a satisfying series.
The only downside is the somewhat corny dialogue - especially certain lines spoken by Burke - which rob a number of scenes of their effectiveness.