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Planet Of The Apes - The Television Series [1974]

RRP: £24.99
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Amazon.co.uk Review

Set around a dozen years after the 1967 Charlton Heston-starring Oscar winner of the same name, this Planet of the Apes is a 1974 TV spin-off that attempts to recapture the appeal of the original apes films. A second spaceship arrives on the planet, the basic plot being the same as in 67, as two surviving humans go on the run with a renegade chimpanzee, Galen (Roddy McDowell essentially reprising his Cornelius character under another name). The actor provides the strongest lead, while Booth Colman as Zaius (replacing Maurice Evans from the original film), offers fine support. The humans Ron Harper and James Naughton are relatively bland, a buddy duo very much anticipating Starsky and Hutch, while the stories, in which our heroes have a new adventure each week and then move on, fall very much into the formula that dominated earlier shows such as The Fugitive, Star Trek and Alias Smith and Jones.

This is a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has perfect hair and make-up. But if the action and effects are limited, at least that gives the stories room to concentrate on some moral debates about the nature of human violence. A show finally hamstrung by the tight limitations of its formula, Planet of the Apes: The Television Series lasted only 14 episodes and was cancelled so abruptly it lacks any resolution. Nevertheless its reappearance offers a welcome chance to reassess it in context with the classic movies it apes.

On the DVD: Planet of the Apes: The Television Series is presented on four discs, including all 14 episodes. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 colour picture is excellent considering the show's age. Print damage is minor though occasionally quite noticeable, and there is some fading in a few shots. Otherwise this is the best these shows have ever looked. The only extras are trailers for the movie box set and for Tim Burton's 2001 cinema "reimagining". --Gary S Dalkin

"Kill the humans! Kill all humans!"
Review date: 2008-05-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

I absolutely loved this series as a child! I was about twelve years old and had a huge crush on James Naughton who plays Pete Burke, one of the astronauts! So when I discovered this boxed set, I just had to have it!

Now sometimes things we loved as a child simply do not have the same appeal when we are older. I remember enjoying Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as a child, yet thinking it a load of codwallop as an adult! So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I sat down to view the first episode of Planet of the Apes. Would it stand the test of time? Were all my childhood memories about to be broken?

I needn't have worried! Planet of the Apes is every bit as good as I remembered it to be! Okay, so maybe some of the episodes are a bit repetitive and the acting wooden, but the series still manages to entertain. I think Planet of the Apes' saving grace is the fact that, set in the future and with the humans all wearing what appears to be old woolly cast offs, the fashions of the day do not date the series like, for instance, The Incredible Hulk TV series. Dig those flares!

The actors all take their parts seriously, with Roddy McDowell stealing the show with a creditable stand out performance as Galen. Mark Lenard, as Urko, is suitably militaristic and James Naughton and Ron Harper as the two astronauts - the wise-cracking Pete Burke and the homesick Alan Virdon - tie everything together nicely. And yes, I still have a thing for James Naughton!

The series is based on the Planet of the Apes movie starring Charlton Heston, but differs in one major aspect - the humans can talk. Mute and almost savage humans worked extremely well for the movie, but would have proved boring and repetitive for the series. So the humans are intelligent, own farms and act as servants to the apes, thereby allowing the astronauts to interact with and be aided - or foiled! - by them! The episodes themselves follow a predictable formula, with our heroes confronted with some sort of problem caused by either their own actions or by someone that they happen to have met up with that week. By the end of the episode, the problem has been sorted and our heroes jog off into the sunset, ready for the next adventure! This formula was very popular at the time and followed the pattern used by many other TV shows. It didn't allow for character development or for an effective plot, which some would find off-putting today. However, sometimes I am quite happy to sit back and watch something less demanding so Planet of the Apes is the perfect choice on these occasions!

In conclusion, if you remember Planet of the Apes fondly, as I do, then don't hesitate to buy this boxed set. You won't be disappointed. Especially if you're a fan of James Naughton!!

Reviews

from chimpanA to chimpanZ
Review date: 2008-03-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

What a great programme. How lovely it is to see it in it's entirety out on DVD now.

I can't wait much longer.....and couldn't!
Review date: 2008-02-21 Rating: 8 out of 10

Oh dear. I definitely think i'm going to be sucked into buying this cult seventies series. Recently had the opportunity to see an episode, round at a friend's place, after absolutely donkeys years. (Hadn't seen it since the original UK airing.) And it was every bit as good as i remembered it to be. I was looking forward to watching the following episodes as quickly as posssible. Not so the friend, who was in no such hurry. He simply could not understand what this series could possibly mean to me.

However, Dennis is quite right with his assessment. The plotlines did become extremely formulaic. But do you really think they would have bumped into the "M*A*S*H" crew, the other side of those hills? I'd have thought that Kwai Chang Caine would have been a more likely possibility!

PS. Interesting stuff. Rather seventies US televisual in style, inevitably, but some of the storylines are very good. Decent music, thanks to good old Lalo Schifrin. (In part.) However, some of the humans look as if they've just been surfing at Malibu. How did Virdon and Burke manage to remain so well-shaven, from week to week? And note the "Ape" flag of an ape's head on an all-red background. Was the tyrannical ape society supposed to be some sort of quasi-communist society?

A Childhood Nostalgia Feast.
Review date: 2007-07-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

Being born in the mid 1960's the following decade's TV output is the golden period of the small screen's offerings for me. I look upon most of the 1970's shows with fondness and nostalgia and the Planet of the Apes television series is no exception.

This series was my first introduction to Planet of the Apes as at that point I had not yet seen the brilliant Charlton Heston first film and was unaware of all the back story that had built up with the films, as such the series was new, fresh, full of excitement and funny. Even now after all these years of analysing various things that were not apparent to me on transmission, such as the fact that it is very formulaic in the classic capture-escape scenario, I still find my mind wandering back to those childhood days of mine when stuff like this was one super experience after another.

This series sort of disregards the continuity of the films in a way and goes it alone and it's all the better for it, by having the series do it's own thing but anchored into what has gone before without overly refering to the films it provides enough new material to appeal to non fans of the movies, while at the same time there is enough to keep the fans of the big screen versions happy, it's the best of both worlds.

I'm not going to go into the plots as that has been done, but the major selling point of this boxset is the inclusion of an episode that was never transmittered on both sides of the Atlantic. The episode is called The Liberator and the reason for it's non show it's unknown, I have attempted to uncover this but have had no luck, I can only speculate that it is probably because it is the only episode that shows a group of humans that are actually worse than the Apes in their treatment of other humans. This could have been considered a bit strong for the audiences of that time. The reason of the non transmission in Britain could stem from the fact that the copy was just not sent over by the Americans, I would love to know and if anyone does have an answer please do a review and fill me in.

The Planet of the Apes series just sort of fizzled out after 14 episodes, well 13 actually without The Liberator and was due to run for 26 weeks from what I understand, Keith Snowdon's very good review has implied that it was low ratings that caused it's cancellation, well that's not the whole story. The American ratings were quite acceptable and no problems at all, the real reason was that a new executive producer or whatever took over the studio and cancelled it with immediate effect because he hated it, this small-minded person spoiled the viewing pleasure of millions and should be punished.

All in all Planet of the Apes is a wonderful delve into childhood nostalgia and brings back happy memories of those Saturday mornings and school summer holidays and for the inclusion of The Liberator is an essential purchase, if it wasn't already that is. The only downside is the complete lack of bonus material which is a pity, saying that of course I suppose The Liberator itself could be classed as bonus material. A top-notch release.

The Simian Earth
Review date: 2007-05-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

This above average 1974 TV spin off from the enormously popular Planet of the Apes Films only ran for 14 episodes.
But as a "Simian Saga" fan I'm very glad it's finally got released.
Three Astronauts travel through a time warp in their ship,and end up going from 1981 to crashland on 3085 Earth.One Astronaut doesn't survive the landing, these episodes concern the adventures of the two survivors.
As they try to understand what's happened to them and get back to their own time.
You'll have to buy it to find out if they do as I don't do spoilers.
Some of the actors are the same as in the Films,but one crucial difference from the Films are the Humans on this Earth can talk.
It was good to see Roddy McDowall reprise his role.(This time called Galen)
Mark Lenard (Spocks Dad Sarek from Star Trek)plays the military commander Urko.
~~~~
List of episodes:~
Escape from Tomorrow.
The Gladiators.
The Trap.
The Good Seeds.
The Legacy.
Tomorrows Tide.
The Surgeon.
The Deception.
The Horse Race.
The Interrogation.
The Tyrant.
The Cure.
The Liberator.(This episode never aired during original Run.)
Up above the World so High.
~~~~
The show was eventually cancelled because it didn't score enough ratings in the US.
But it was very popular with viewers and TV critics in the UK.
A shame.

Product Details/Specifications

Artist(s):
The Planet of the Apes

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036012126
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2003-08-18
Number of discs: 4
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 700 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1974-09-13
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

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Planet Of The Apes - The Television Series [1974]

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