Jason of Star Command

I remember watching "Space Academy" as a kid, and not being overly impressed, but still interested enough to watch a few episodes. But I eventually gave up on it. It was a bit too sugary for this young sci-fi fans taste.

Then "Space Academy" gets yanked. And suddenly, in its place, comes a new iteration of the franchise, but with some tweaks. The "effeminate" John Harris is replaced with the more masculine Jimmy Doohan from "Star Trek" in the Commander role. The perky, knowledgeable and tough female characters played by Pamela Perdin and Maggie Cooper are replaced with Susan O'Hanlon, who played a less proactive sidekick. And instead of various imagined mysteries and wonders that might be found in space, the production ripped a page out of "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" serials (more likely reminded by way of Star Wars' Darth Vader, who played a version of "Ming" the merciless in the Star Wars films) and stuck in Dragos, an archfiend. The icing on the retool cake was of course Jason himself, sporting a Han Solo look and attitude. Other minor tweaks to props and set design smooth out the reworked Space Academy show to make "Jason of Star Command".

Well, Star Wars it ain't, but it served as a passable kiddy sci-fi entertainment back in the 70s. Looking at the series today through adult eyes I can still grin at it. The violence in the show is more abstract and non-threatening. Where ships exchange LASER fire, and where circuits are fried and ships are knocked about, no one actually gets hurt. And unlike Space Academy this show has no real apparent social message, but nor is it preachy. It is, in essence, just a show.

The DVD set is out, and should offer some good nostalgia for those who remember both Space Academy and Jason of Star Command. The "Making of..." documentary shown when the shows first aired is not on the DVD set, but it's not that much of a loss as the featurettes included cover most of the basics on the shows' productions.

Enjoy :-)

I remember this show as a throwback to the days of the serial. This did the cliff hanger bit at the end and while this isn't Shakespeare, I would rather watch it than any of today's Saturday morning kids fare or any of the things on Disney channel. As for it trying to capitalize on the Star Wars phenomena, things on television tend to go in cycles. During most of the 1950's, Westerns were hot just like during the 1970's,detective shows were the thing. It was great seeing James Doohan again. Sid Haig always was a great villain. It was fun seeing Julie Newmar on a kids show. It was supposed to be a fun Sci-Fi show and it delivered. Charlie Dell was a great choice to play the scientist, he character was unique.

Perhaps the biggest budget 1970s Saturday morning series. And set in space.

Without Youtube, it is hard to find this series today, what was it like? Despite Star Trek's James Doohan being present in the first season, it is actually the second season (when he is gone) that the show really comes together.

The whole series is partly damaged by a constantly laughing villain - Sid Haig as "Dragos" - who acts like he is in a High School play. Thankfully, he seems to get less screen time in season two and we have newly introduced characters in the second year to focus on (blue faced John Russell as The Commander and "Samantha").

The second season also has the episodes expanded to 25 minutes but still in the serial format. You can totally follow year two without seeing year one, so if you don't wish to invest time into watching the whole series - I would just jump right into the second year.

I remember watching this Saturday morning kids show and being impressed with the special effects. Being a science fiction fan, any show about space, & stuff like, that I'd watch. This show had quite a large budget for being a Saturday morning "kids" show. I loved the asteroid that was "Star Command" and all the space ships. I was in my late 20's when this show aired, not really a kid, but I was when I watched. Wish I could find it again!!

I love cartoons. There, I admit it. Except for one thing. JOSC wasn't a cartoon. It was a spinoff of SA. According to the opening voice

over, Jason, last name unknown, worked out of a secret section of Space Academy. His superiors were Professor E.J. Parsafoot, and Space Academy's last two commanders. His enemy was

Dragos, a brutal dictator, who was the emperor of some unnamed empire. Jason of Star Command aired two years after Star Wars and was in the same vein. It was set some time in the far, distant future, when, exactly, we don't know. Watch both this, and Space Academy, they both do justice to each other.