| Commando Cody | |
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Commando Cody in Radar Men from the Moon! |
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| Also known as | Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe |
| Genre | Science Ficton |
| Starring | Judd Holdren Aline Towne Gregory Gaye Craig Kelly |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production company(s) | Republic Pictures |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | 16 July 1955 – 8 October 1955 |
Commando Cody was the hero in a 12-episode science-fiction serial made in 1952 by Republic Pictures entitled Radar Men from the Moon, which was followed up 1953 with the 12 episode Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe.
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Another 1953 Republic serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere, was originally written as a sequel to Radar Men from the Moon but, for unexplained reasons, the lead character's name was changed from Commando Cody to Larry Martin at the start of shooting, which occurred after the first three episodes of "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe" were completed, thus interrupting production of Commando Cody. Further complicating the picture is that "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe" was originally planned for television, with each episode running 25 minutes, but was subsequently put out theatrically two years before being sold to television. Because of its origins, the length of the episodes, and the lack of the cliffhanger style of episode endings, many entrenched serial fans refuse to acknowledge it as a serial, although it clearly has a single story line and the plot progresses from chapter to chapter with no capacity to run any of them individually or in any but one order (the episodes carried chapter numbers and titles on the theatrical prints).
Commando Cody serials are sometimes confused with King of the Rocket Men (1949), because the rocket-powered flying suit worn by the title character also became a wardrobe piece worn by Cody. To add to the confusion, Larry Martin wore the same suit again in Zombies of the Stratosphere. Referring to these different Republic Pictures characters wearing this prop suit collectively as "The Rocketman" is a concept formalized on film by Walt Disney Productions in their 1991 film, The Rocketeer.
The Rocketeer is based on a comic book series by Dave Stevens, which was in turn a nod to the various Republic Rocketman characters. However, some have noted that the original Cody rocket suit design appears to have been "lifted" by Republic from a preliminary flying suit design for the 1940s Fawcett comic book character called Bulletman, whose adventures the studio had once considered adapting into a serial. The strange character name "Commando Cody" was possibly an attempt to make children think they were going to see the adventures of Commander Corry, the hero of the ABC TV and radio series Space Patrol (1950–1955). The equally strange title "Sky Marshal of the Universe," was probably the studio's imitation of Corry's title, "Commander-in-Chief of the Space Patrol," proclaimed at the beginning of every Space Patrol radio and TV broadcast. However, there is no concrete evidence that this was a consideration of anyone at Republic Pictures.
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