Episode 156: Planet of the Apes on TV

2025-04-22

We're back with another ape-tacular show! Sadly, this may be our last visit to the Planet of the Apes for a while, as we have now reviewed every single Planet of the Apes film! But the POTA universe being as vast as it is, we still have another area to cover, and that is the realm of TV! And the Apes appeared not only in a live-action show, but in a Saturday morning cartoon as well. With our special guest Lord Blood-Rah, who has been with us for every single POTA show (!), we'll discuss what we loved, liked, and maybe didn't enjoy about these two 70s...

The TV show premiered in September 1974, and only lasted 13 episodes. Starring Roddy McDowall as Galen, a young chimpanzee (of course), and Ron Harper and James Naughton as two luckless astronauts, the show was highly formulaic. The trio would wander from village to village, solving a problem each week and then heading on, with seemingly no goals or objectives. We all felt so much more could have been done with the show.

The animated series, Return to the Planet of the Apes, arrived the following year. It was set in a version of the original film, with Zira, Cornelius, Dr. Zaius all present. A new trio of astronauts - Jeff, Bill, and Judy - crash on the planet and do their best to survive. But unlike their live-action counterparts, these astronauts have goals: they help the mute "humanoids" move to a new refuge and build a fort for them. They work with Cornelius and Zira to hide an ancient book. There are storylines that are carried on in later episodes. But like its predecessor, it only lasted 13 episodes.

Although these shows had their issues, we enjoyed revisiting them. There was a lot of 'what if' in this discussion! We hope you enjoy it.

For our Sensor Sweep, our friend Lord Blood-Rah is busy! He's hosting a movie serial right now, called The Fighting Devil Dogs, which features a villain called The Lightning, who supposedly is the inspiration for Darth Vader! You can find this, and so much more, at his site, Lordbloodrah.com.

Engineer Bob is busy working on Godzillafest! Guests are being lined up and things are getting exciting! Tickets are now available -go to Godzillafest.com for more info!

Karen shares the latest news about her new BookTube channel on YouTube, Echoes from the Satellite. She's only got about four episodes up but if you're into sci fi and fantasy books (those things you read), please check it out.

And finally, our fearless Mission Commander Larry share his newest acquisition: the Godzilla Tower from X-Plus! You really need to go to our YouTube channel to see this crazy thing!

Thanks once again for listening to the episode. Please share your thoughts on the TV versions of Planet of the Apes. Did you love them? Did you hate them? Did you even care? Let us know!