Production
Space Patrol was the first West Coast morning network program broadcast to the East Coast via a massive network of cable and electronic interchanges. The program was televised from the original soundstage where the Lon Chaney motion picture, Phantom of the Opera had been filmed. As such, the "Phantom Stage" was one of the largest TV stages in Hollywood and made a great home for Space Patrol. While other televised science fiction programs such as Captain Video and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet had continually dwindling sets, Space Patrol sets grew larger and larger. The Studio had catwalks high above the stage that were utilized for many of the scenes, especially those requiring large castle-like sets. Likewise, cast members could be suspended in "space" outside their spacecraft without the problems of studio cramping.
Space Patrol's creator was William "Mike" Moser, a United States Naval Aviator World War II veteran. In frequent interviews such as one given to Time Magazine in March 1952, Moser stated that he developed the series idea while flying across the Pacific. He was determined to create a children's television program that was as exciting to them as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon had been to him during his youth. Moser took his idea to KECA-TV, a local Los Angeles ABC station. They bought the concept and Space Patrol began airing in March 1950.
Glen Denning was originally cast in the lead as Commander-in-Chief Kit Corry and comedian Lyn Osborn as the youthful sidekick Cadet Happy. Denning had continual problems remembering lines and delivering them and was replaced. War hero Ed Kemmer, a graduate of the Pasadena Playhouse, soon replaced him. Osborn, like Kemmer, studied at the Playhouse and had introduced Kemmer to Mike Moser. Kemmer's seriousness and military bearing brought a maturity to the role that helped to increase the popularity of the series.
Both the 30-minute and 15-minute programs were performed and broadcast live. If a line was flubbed or an accident happened, the actors recovered as quickly as possible and soldiered on. The pressure of memorizing lines for a new live 15-minute show every day was onerous enough, but became even more burdensome when the 30-minute weekly show was added. The actors' tasks were increasingly difficult because they faced the complexity of coordinating their on-camera movements with intricate special effects, which also had to be created live and in real-time. For example, pistols that shot invisible rays necessitated pre-positioning small electrically wired explosive charges on the surface they were supposed to strike. An actor would aim the prop ray gun at that location and squeeze the trigger, whereupon a special effects worker off-scene would throw the detonation switch.
A practical videotape system was not available until after Space Patrol's run, so for distribution to distant stations the image on a small, bright TV monitor was filmed using a motion picture camera with a specially modified and synchronized shutter mechanism, creating kinescope recordings on 16 mm or 35 mm film. Most of the Saturday half-hour TV broadcasts survived in this form and so are still available today. The 15-minutes-every-weekday version of the program was at first seen mainly in the Los Angeles broadcast area, but was later also seen nationwide by syndication via kinescope films.
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