Ark II

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Ark II was a live-action science fiction series aimed at children that aired on CBS beginning in 1976 as part of its Saturday morning line-up.

The show starred Terry Lester as Ark II’s commander Jonah, Jean Marie Hon as Ruth, José Flores as Samuel, and a chimpanzee playing Adam. The cast is notable for its racial mix and the Biblical inspirations for the character names. The show’s setting was in the post-apocalyptic 25th century (specifically, 2476), after Earth’s civilizations were decimated by the effects of waste and pollution, falling back to a level comparable to the Dark Ages. Surviving scientists pooled their knowledge and resources, training three young people (and the chimp, who was capable of speech) to search for remnants of humanity, reintroducing lost ideas as they traveled the barren landscape in the high-tech Ark II.

The series is best-remembered for its titular vehicle: a futuristic six-wheeled combination RV and mobile laboratory. The vehicle was built from a fiberglass body on a garbage/dump truck chassis by the Brukaber Group. It is sometimes incorrectly reported that the Ark II was built by Dean Jeffries, who constructed various fantastic vehicles for science-fiction films and television. These include the Landmaster for the film Damnation Alley, with which the Ark II is sometimes confused. The front end of the Ark II prop was later re-used as the nose portion of the Seeker spacecraft in the Filmation series Space Academy.

In addition, the series also featured futuristic inventions such as a jetpack called the Jet Jumper, and the Ark Roamer, a smaller, 4-wheeled all-terrain vehicle built by Brubaker from a modified Brubaker Box (a kit car using a Volkswagen Beetle chassis).

The series featured memorable guest stars, including Jonathan Harris and, notably, Robby the Robot (as the title character built by Samuel in the episode “The Robot”).

Only 15 half-hour episodes of the series were produced; however, these episodes were re-run by CBS for several years.

The opening credits for each episode summarized the show's backstory:

“For millions of years, Earth was fertile and rich. Then pollution and waste began to take their toll. Civilization fell into ruin. This is the world of the 25th century. Only a handful of scientists remain. Men who have vowed to rebuild what has been destroyed… This is their achievement… Ark II, a mobile storehouse of scientific knowledge, manned by a highly trained crew of young people. Their mission: to bring the hope of a new future to mankind.”

“Ark II log, entry #1: I, Jonah, Ruth, Samuel and Adam are fully aware of the dangers we face as we venture into unknown, maybe even hostile, areas. But we’re determined to bring the promise of a new civilization to our people and our planet.”

In “The Launch of Ark II”, the documentary filmed for the release of the DVD set, Lou Scheimer and others mention that the program was filmed during the summer of 1976 predominantly on location at what is now Malibu Creek State Park.

[edit] DVD Information

The DVD box-set for the series was released on November 7, 2006 [1].

Special bonus features include:

Brand new half-hour documentary: “The Launch of Ark II”
Two commentary tracks for episodes “The Flies” and “The Slaves,” featuring producers Lou Scheimer and Richard M. Rosenbloom; actress Jean Marie Hon-Trager; director Henry Lange; and writer David Dworski. Hosted by Andy Mangels
Extensive photo gallery
Art Gallery for proposed “Ark II” animated series
Booklet with episode guide and trivia
DVD-ROM features, including scripts for multiple episodes and series Bible
Spanish language audio tracks