| Jason of Star Command | |
|---|---|
| Format | Children's, Action, Adventure, Science fiction |
| Created by | Arthur H. Nadel |
| Directed by | Arthur H. Nadel |
| Presented by | Filmation |
| Starring | Craig Littler Charlie Dell Sid Haig Susan O'Hanlon James Doohan[1] Tamara Dobson[2] John Russell |
| Composer(s) | "Yvette Blais", "Jeff Michael" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 28 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer |
| Producer(s) | Arthur H. Nadel |
| Running time | 30 min. (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 9, 1978 – December 1, 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Space Academy |
Jason of Star Command was a live action television series by Filmation which ran between 1978 and 1979. The show revolved around the exploits of space adventurer Jason (Craig Littler) and his colleagues, including Professor E.J. Parsafoot (Charlie Dell) and the pocket robot "Wiki" (formally W1K1). The show also starred Sid Haig as the evil Dragos, and, in the first season, James Doohan of Star Trek fame.[1] Jason was a spin-off of another Filmation live action show called Space Academy, which starred another former sci-fi luminary, Jonathan Harris of Lost in Space fame.
Contents |
Its first season, which was a segment of Tarzan and the Super 7, was done in the style of the movie serials of the past, telling a single overall story with sixteen "chapters" of approximately fifteen minutes' length, each ending in a cliffhanger.[3] The second season was a stand-alone, half-hour series.[4] Filmation would later revisit the serial format with their rendition of Flash Gordon.
Jason flew a Starfire. This fast spaceship had a star pod that could separate from the ship in an emergency. Dragos commanded the vast Dragonship, similar to the Space Academy in that it was built on a large asteroid. Dragos's fightercraft were unmanned drones. (This was a choice made by the show's producers, so that the destruction of these craft would not involve killing a pilot. The show aired on Saturday mornings, and deadly violence had to be kept to a minimum.)
James Doohan left the show at the end of the first season to join the rest of the original Star Trek cast in reprising their roles in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He was replaced by John Russell, who played the blue-skinned "by the book" Commander Stone. Originally, Jonathan Harris was to have reprised his role as Commander Gampu from Space Academy, but according to the DVD booklet, he "had a falling out" with Filmation, thus the creation of Doohan's character.
The asteroid prop used for Space Academy was re-used for Jason, where Star Command was stated to be "in a secret part of the Space Academy". Other than the appearance of the robot Peepo and the appearance of a Seeker shuttle piloted by Lt. Matt Prentiss (John Berwick), no references were made to the characters or situations in Space Academy.
Season One (fifteen-minute segments from Tarzan and the Super 7):
Season Two (30 minute episodes aired as Jason of Star Command):
BCI Eclipse LLC (Under license from Entertainment Rights) released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 on May 8, 2007.[5] The three-disc set contains all 28 episodes from seasons one and two, as well as an array of special features including commentary tracks and photo & art galleries. The galleries also contain characters sheets for the proposed but never produced animated version of the show.[4]
As of 2011, this release has been discontinued and is out of print as BCI Eclipse has ceased operations.[6]