******SIMIAN-SPOILERS AHEAD!******
In the dim time before “Star Wars” utterly changed my life at age 10 in 1977, there was another major sci-fi franchise that had me collecting its action figures, play sets, cereal bowls and other memorabilia; it was “Planet of the Apes.” I was only two years old when the first film debuted in spring of 1968, but I caught all of the films either in theatrical rerelease (as part of the “Go Ape” revival campaign in the 1970s) or on TV. I also have a distinct memory (one of my first, perhaps) of seeing the subterranean human mutants peeling off their skin-masks in “Beneath the Planet of Apes,” and of seeing “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” in first-run, around age six or seven. Yes, I was raised by wolves.
At that innocent age (before I discovered girls), “Planet of the Apes” (POTA) was the most exciting thing my nerdy little heart could imagine. There was something deeply cool about its juxtaposition of Space Age with Bronze Age technology; movies that had spaceships and time-travel but with gorillas riding on horseback. And while the ape makeups didn’t quite resemble anything I’d seen at the zoo, I could easily imagine them as futuristic mutations of modern apes; which also conveniently hand-waved away their increased height and human body-types. This weird little future world had an internal logic to it, and it fascinated me. I never even considered how nuclear war somehow wiped out humans, yet kept our simian cousins alive and thriving (something the recent reboots smartly fixed). As I got older, the deeper, sophisticated messaging of the movies retained my interest as well, and I’m still very much a fan today.
In 1974, my eight-year old head nearly exploded when I heard that CBS was coming out with a POTA TV series. I’d no longer have to ask my older brother or parents to take me to the movies for my Apes fix; it was coming to our Zenith’s cathode ray tube, and in those days, you best be home when it was broadcast, or you missed it until summer reruns. So, Friday nights after homework and dinner, I planted my little butt in front of the TV and soaked in this sadly short-lived series. The only returning cast member was the talented Roddy McDowall (1928-1998), who appeared in four of the five feature films (from 1968-1973), and was a factor in their ongoing success.
For the TV series, McDowall would play a new chimpanzee character named “Galen,” who had no relation to his Cornelius or Caesar from the films, since this series was set in the year 3085; a midpoint between our present and the first two films’ era of 3955-3978 A.D (depending whose ship’s chronometer you believe). Galen would assist two crash-landed astronauts named Alan Virdon (Ron Harper) and Peter Burke (James Naughton), whose arcs were similar to those of Charlton Heston and James Franciscus in the films, but without the angst, as this series focused on simple action-adventure stories, with only a sprinkling of the movies’ satire and social commentary. Of course, my eight-year old self didn’t really give a damn at the time; the series featured astronauts and apes, and it was just groovy.
Adopting a format similar to TV’s “The Fugitive” (1963-1967), the three characters would be on the run, since free range humans of this era–while capable of speaking (unlike the first two films)–were still considered lower creatures to the ruling ape society in an allegory of racism, and Galen would seal his fate by accidentally killing a gorilla guard while helping the two astronauts escape from the clutches of orangutan ruler Dr. Zaius (Booth Colman) and his tenacious gorilla Security Chief, Urko (Mark Lenard). While Zaius was more-or-less based on the character originally played by Maurice Evans in the films, Urko was a new character who combined traits of the human-hating gorillas Ursus (James Gregory) and Aldo (Claude Akins) from the second and fifth films, respectively.
Of course, I was deeply disappointed when the series was cancelled after only 14 episodes (one of which wasn’t broadcast at the time). As a consolation prize, there was a 1975 animated spinoff called “Return to the Planet of the Apes,” but it too, was cancelled after only 13 episodes, and by then, reruns of “Star Trek” (and its own animated spinoff) were catching more of my younger attention span. The live-action POTA TV show would later be reedited into a series of TV-movies released in 1981. Each movie combined two episodes, with bits of new footage & looped dialogue. These ‘movies’ were retitled “Back to the Planet of the Apes,” “Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes,” “Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes,” “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the Planet of the Apes,” and “Farewell to the Planet of the Apes.”
After Tim Burton’s misguided (though well-crafted) 2001 reboot film, the 1974 TV series was released on DVD in 2003, and I remember eagerly revisiting each episode again. Now it’s been over 50 years since the 1974 series’ cancellation, and there’s been a very successful (critical and commercial) series of reboot films (2011-2024) to reignite the fires of Apes fandom. With the POTA franchise once again doing well, it was time for me to revisit the TV series was held me spellbound as a kid.
Let’s go back in time to the ‘future’ of…
“Planet of the Apes” (1974)
For this column, I’m using the synopses (in quotations) from the 2003 DVD Collection along with my own notes for these mini-reviews.
“Escape from Tomorrow” (airdate 9/13/74)
“After passing through a time warp, astronauts Virdon and Burke crash land back on Earth in the year 3085 and find apes are now the dominant species.”
Note: Directed by Don Weis, and written by Art Wallace, the pilot episode is essentially a soft reboot of the original film, with two surviving 20th century astronauts (and one dead) surviving a crash landing on a future dystopian Earth of 3085. Encountering a simple-minded, friendly (and ill-fated) human named Farrow (Royal Dano), Alan and Pete are then thrown into this upside-down world ruled by apes. Everything after that sets the pattern for the series that followed; with curious, sympathetic chimpanzee Galen breaking the two astronauts out of Zaius’ custody with militant gorilla Urko hot on their trail, in the tradition of Inspector Javert (or US Marshal Sam Gerard). The most interesting bits of the episode involve Farrow showing Alan and Pete an ancient encyclopedia from the 26th century, with various photos of futuristic architecture (which still uses black & white photos on paper in a hardcover book…).
“The Gladiators” (airdate: 9/20/74)
“Burke and Virdon find themselves fighting to the death when they’re captured by an ape prefect who holds gladiator-style fights between his humans.”
Note: The second broadcast episode furthers the rather limited parameters of the series, with Galen, Alan and Burke getting involved in a community where enslaved humans are forced into mortal combat with each other, to the delight of ape spectators, with a lone human pacifist (Marc Singer) resisting his father’s call to fight. Reuse of the outdoor Ape City arena from the feature films (on the Fox Studios Ranch) gives the episode added production value. If I had to pick a stereotypical example of the series, this would probably be it.
“The Trap” (airdate: 9/27/74)
“Burke and General Urko are forced to work together when they are buried alive underground in an ancient San Francisco subway station during an earthquake.”
Note: Directed by Arnold Laven, and written by Edward J. Lakso, this third episode is much more ambitious than most, with our heroes separated among the ruins of San Francisco. The underground BART station has some futuristic odds and ends (solar power lights, an atomic train) that are reminiscent of the failed Gene Roddenberry pilot, “Genesis II” (1973), which saw a future Earth entirely connected by a series of high-speed subway trains. The frequent earthquakes of the episode are a bit too deus ex machina at times, but they’re a necessary means for the story to happen. It’s too bad that Burke and Urko–despite working together for their mutual survival–aren’t allowed to achieve any understanding beyond the limits of their characters. Shortcomings aside, “The Trap” is one of my personal favorites.
“The Good Seeds” (airdate 10/4/74)
“When Galen is injured, the three friends take refuge with a peasant ape family whose son believes the humans have put a curse on their most precious possession-a cow.”
Note: Directed by Jack Starrett from a script by David P. Lewis and Booker Bradshaw, this is another ‘finding safe harbor’ story, with our trio seeking refuge on a chimpanzee family’s failing farm. Despite the eldest son Anto (Geoffrey Deuell) believing that humans somehow bring a curse to cows (a weird, unexplained taboo), Alan and Burke earn their keep by reintroducing tried-and-true means of human farming that save the farm’s crops and eventually help birth a pair of twin bulls from a cow in labor (one of which will be gifted to Anto to start his own farm). Other costars include Bobby Porter (who played Caesar’s son young son ‘Cornelius’ in 1973’s “Battle for the Planet of the Apes”) and Eileen Dietz (Linda Blair’s stunt double from “The Exorcist”). Nice bit of character development as we learn Alan was raised on a farm before becoming an astronaut, unlike his New Jersey-bred pal, Pete. This tidbit will come in handy during “The Horse Race.” Almost feels like an episode of “The Waltons” rather than sci-fi, but enjoyable enough, especially when Alan and Pete reinvent another lost convenience from their century; ‘the shower.’
“The Legacy” (air date: 10/11/74)
“While exploring a ruined city, Virdon and Burke find a filmed message from scientists of their own time which may help them discover what happened to their civilization.”
Note: Directed by Bernard McEveety, and written by Robert Hamner, this one feels like a disappointing followup to “The Trap,” as Alan, Pete and Galen are separated by gorilla patrols while investigating the ruins near San Francisco once again. With Alan injured, he falls into the care of a lonely woman named Arn (Zina Bethune) and an annoying young urchin named Kraik (Jackie Earle Haley); a ruthless kid who’ll do anything for scraps of food, including selling out Alan to Urko. Family man Alan acts as a father figure to the unruly boy, while Burke helps Galen make a battery to run an old computer. The payoff (if one can call it that) sees the trio eventually viewing a holographic message from a long-dead scientist (Jon Lormer), who doesn’t offer much insight for their efforts. A decent-enough episode that wastes some of its potential.
“Tomorrow’s Tide” (airdate: 10/18/74)
“When Burke and Virdon are captured in a fishing village that employs human slave labor, they must prove their worth as fishermen or be sacrificed to the gods of the sea, the sharks.”
Note: Directed by Don McDougall and written by Robert W. Lenski, this episode uses lovely California beach locations (much as the original movie used Malibu as a post-apocalyptic New York Harbor) for an episode about fishermen offering up sacrificial humans to their ‘gods,’ aka sharks. Nice scenery, good shark stock footage, and some halfway convincing shark fins don’t quite make up for a weak script. Debuting a good six months before the blockbusting movie “JAWS” (and a few more years before the infamous “Happy Days” ‘jump-the-shark’ episode), “Planet of the Apes” got there first; even if it wasn’t exactly the best.
“The Surgeon” (air date: 10/25/74)
“When Virdon is gravely wounded, Galen risks contacting his old sweetheart Kira, who is now a surgeon, and sharing a forbidden book on human anatomy with her.”
Note: Directed by Arnold Laven, and written by Barry Oringer, we once again see an injury forcing the trio to seek a safe haven; in this case, a hospital to treat Alan’s gunshot wound. We also get a glimpse into Galen’s failed romantic past with Kira, who’s played by Jacqueline Scott (1931-2020), who also played the farmer’s wife in “The Good Seed.” One advantage of masked guest stars is that producers could reuse actors who were already familiar with the rigors of heavy prosthetic makeups. We also get more character shadings from the wounded Alan, whose feverish delirium offers glimpses into his lost family life. Guest star Martin Brooks (1925-2015), who plays chimp surgeon Leander, would later costar in “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Bionic Woman” as another sci-fi surgeon; Dr. Rudy Wells. Brooks would also play a gorilla soldier in “Up Above the World So High,” the final episode of the series.
“The Deception” (airdate: 11/1/74)
“While Galen and Virdon hunt down a band of murderous ape dragoons, the ape daughter of the dragoons’ latest victim falls in love with Burke unaware that he is human.”
Note: Directed by Don McDougall; teleplay by Anthony Lawrence and Ken Spears & Joe Ruby, from a story by Anthony Lawrence, this is a rare (and welcome) message episode that sees the trio hiding out with a blind chimpanzee girl named Fauna (Jane Actman), whose father was allegedly killed by a human. In actuality, his murder was a coverup by a Ku Klux Klan-like gang of ape-supremacists called the “dragoons,” who exist to harass local humans (and punish their allies). As an investigating Galen infiltrates the hate group, Fauna unwittingly falls in love with the voice of ladies’ man Pete, mistaking him for an ape. An allegory of real-life hate groups is served with a ‘love is blind’ message that’s surprisingly sensitive, and still relevant today. This was heady stuff for kids in late 1974, and I wish there were more stories like it in the short-lived series.
“The Horse Race” (airdate: 11/8/74)
“In exchange for a condemned human’s freedom, Virdon agrees to race a chimpanzee Prefect’s horse against Urko’s, who has never lost a race.”
Note: Directed by Jack Starrett, and written by David P. Lewis & Booker Bradshaw, this is another standard action-adventure outing, with ex-farmer Alan forced to race Urko’s prized horse (anonymously, of course; lest Urko recognize the fugitive) to win a human blacksmith’s freedom. This is more dangerous than it sounds, since lowly humans aren’t permitted to ride horses. Once again, the trio are forced into a desperate and risky situation for which they have little-to-no personal stakes. Some nice action for fans of horseback racing (with actor Ron Harper doing some of his own riding, along with a muddied stunt double), but this is just another action-for-action’s sake story.
“The Interrogation” (airdate: 11/15/74)
“Burke faces two equally horrifying options when he is captured by Urko’s soldiers: either be killed by Urko or be used in a brainwashing experiment by a prominent ape doctor.”
Note: Directed by Alf Kjellin, and written by Richard Collins, this story sees Pete Burke nearly breaking under torture, which is supervised by a sadistic ape scientist named Wanda (Beverly Garland), who uses the captured human to further her experiments with brainwashing (against Urko’s wishes); something she’d read about in an ancient, forbidden human medical textbook. The (non-graphic) psychological torture scenes offer glimpses into bachelor Pete’s romantic life before his landing on future Earth. The highlight of the episode is when we meet Galen’s politically-connected parents, Councillor Yalu (Norman Burton) and his wife Ann (Anne Seymour ); neither of whom have their son’s British accent. Actor Norman Burton also played the brutal hunt leader in the original “Planet of the Apes” (1968). An interesting idea undermined by the predictability of the series’ baked-in format.
“The Tyrant” (airdate: 11/22/74)
“The three fugitives risk an encounter with Urko when they attempt to foil the plans of a tyrannical ape who is using bribery to gain total control over a district of human farmers.”
Note: Directed by Ralph Senensky, and written by Walter Black, this story involves political corruption with an ambitious gorilla named Aboro (Percy Rodriguez) who usurps a local provincial prefect (and childhood friend of Galen) to wield even greater power over a human district. Despite an intriguing idea, the endless political machinations and failed assassination attempt are surprisingly snoozy, with Galen having to convince his enemy Urko that Aboro is trying to kill him. And once more, the ending sees the trio escaping from right under Urko’s nose. While I appreciate this foray into the politics of ape leadership, the dull and talky script lacks the potency of its premise. It’s more ‘city council drama’ than “Seven Days in May.”
“The Cure” (air date: 11/29/74)
“Working with an ape doctor to save villagers stricken with malaria, Burke and Virdon race to concoct a cure before Urko uses his own cure; burning down the entire village.”
Note: This episode, directed by Bernard McEveety and written by Edward J. Lakso, was even more timely just a few years ago during the deadly height of the COVID pandemic. A human community in the grip of a life-threatening outbreak is given a deadline, as Urko threatens to raze their village to halt the spread of malaria; a human disease for which the retrograde ape civilization is ill-equipped to handle. Quarantined in the village, the fugitive trio butt heads with ape physician Dr. Zoran (David Scheiner), who’s been sent to deal with the situation. Other drama comes from a pretty villager named Amy (Sandra Locke), who’s fallen in love with Alan, though he considers himself a married man, on the forlorn hope of returning to his own time somehow.
“The Liberator” (airdate: never aired during the series original run).
“When Virdon and Burke are captured by a tribe of humans who turn fellow humans over to the apes as slaves, their only hope is to convince their captors to rebel against the apes.”
Note: Directed by Arnold Laven and written by Howard Dimsdale, the trio of fugitives encounter a cult of superstitious humans led by a charismatic leader named Brun (John Ireland), who capture other humans for the apes in order to spare themselves. Brun promises death in a holy temple to anyone who breaks the community’s laws, as people literally drop dead in the temple under Brun’s ‘prayers.’ The deadly agent is later revealed to be an invisible, toxic gas to which Brun is immune due to his ceremonial accoutrements, which include a simple, 20th century gas mask. Some commentary on chemical warfare (made during the near-end of the bloody Vietnam war) is woven into this story of collaborators selling each other out for power adjacency; something else that rings an all-too familiar bell today in the United States. I remember this episode more as a bonus feature of the DVD set 22 years ago, since it wasn’t broadcast in my area during the series’ original late 1974 run (and most likely I would’ve remembered if it had).
“Up Above the World So High” (airdate: 12/6/74)
“Burke and Virdon help an imprisoned man build a hang glider for the chimp scientist who spared his life, unaware she plans to use the flying machine for her own deadly purpose.”
Note: Directed by John Meredyth Lucas, with a teleplay by S. Bar-David and Arthur Browne, Jr. from a story by S. Bar-David, the story sees the trio spotting a human inventor named Leuric (Frank Aletter) hang gliding along the beach in a craft of his own making. Since flight technology has fallen during the ape civilization’s ascension, the fugitive trio are worried the sight of a human soaring in the sky might lead to Leuric’s death. However, a cunning chimpanzee scientist named Carsia (Joanna Barnes) wants Leuric to continue his experiments, so that she might monopolize his technology for the ape military. Carsia also employs a charm offensive on Galen; nearly seducing the heroic chimp to her side. As the heroes repeatedly try to sabotage Leuric’s test flight, he ultimately succeeds, but with Galen as the reluctant aeronaut. Actor Roddy McDowall looks like he was having the time of his life during the hang-gliding scenes. This lighter action-adventure story deftly balances comedic moments with the ‘forgotten’ technology of ancient human culture. This final episode is another personal favorite of mine.
The End.
Summing It Up
Rewatching this staple of my childhood with 58 year-old eyes, I can see from where my former infatuation stemmed. “Planet of the Apes” the TV series had handsome production values for its day; reusing costumes, props, and even the “Ape City” complex from the feature films. The series’ makeup work continued Oscar-winner John Chambers’ original designs for the middle-class chimpanzees, the militant gorillas and the orangutan administrators. A young Stan Winston (1946-2008) also worked on the show. Composer Lalo Schiffrin (“Mission: Impossible”) created a nifty main title theme that reshaped the late Jerry Goldsmith’s memorably exotic musical score into a simpler, TV-sized motif. Other composers contributed to the series as well, including Earle Hagan and Richard LaSalle.
The late star Roddy McDowall’s presence gave the series a legitimacy it wouldn’t have had without him. To their credit, his costars Ron Harper (who sadly passed away last year at age 81), and James Naughton give McDowall able support, creating memorable-enough characters in their own right. Booth Colman’s Dr. Zaius lacked the heft of Maurice Evans, but that’s an unfair comparison, given the feature films’ superior screenplays. The late “Star Trek” actor Mark Lenard (1924-1996) is an absolute scream as the tenacious commander Urko. Lenard took his one-note character to dizzying heights of over-the-topness (“Assss-tro-nauts!!”). Other sci-fi/fantasy actors of that era made appearances in the series, including John Hoyt (“The Twilight Zone,” “Star Trek”), Morgan Woodward (“Star Trek”), Jon Lormer (“Star Trek”), Percy Rodriguez (“Star Trek,” “Genesis II”) Marc Singer (“Beastmaster,” “V”) and a very young Jackie Earle Haley (“Watchmen,” “Alita,” 2014’s “Robocop”).
Despite the production values and high-caliber actors, the series’ early cancellation makes a bit more sense to me as an adult. The “Fugitive” format (also used for TV’s “Logan’s Run” and “The Incredible Hulk” a few years later) limited the show to a series of run-capture-escape scenarios that become tiresome and predictable. The characters are always on the run, yet they never seem to stray very far from the apes’ Central City. Galen, Alan and Pete always leave a place better than they found it, but show little curiosity about finding a library or learning more about what exactly flipped-the-script with Earth’s former dominant species. With the exception of Alan’s occasional melancholy over his long-dead wife and son, the trio are often seen just wandering into others’ stories, which usually don’t help their own situation very much, before they’re forced to move on.
On the upside, the anthology format does offer a deeper look into the quasi-Bronze Age culture of the apes, though often at the cost of uncovering the deeper mysteries behind this bizarre world. Out of 14 episodes, only two (“The Legacy,” “The Trap”) examined the post-apocalypse, bombed-out dystopia of 31st century San Francisco, which is where my own interest would go if I were lost in such a world. I’m guessing the cost of recreating rubble-strewn backlots with bits of Space Age tech every week would’ve broken the show’s budget, which was already spending a sizable fortune on its ape makeups. On the downside, the utter predictability of the run-capture-escape formula gets old after awhile, once we accept that the situations and characters aren’t going to evolve much beyond a fixed point.
With the zoological satire of Pierre Boulle’s novel largely gone, and the timely social commentary of the movies simplified or nearly subliminal, the “Planet of the Apes” TV series was reduced from ambitious science fiction to a weekly western with prosthetics; as our heroes find fresh troubles in each new town they mosey into, barely keeping a step or two ahead of the bad guys. There are glimmers of the franchise’s original appeal, but this is a movie concept forced beyond its creative means into the grind of weekly television.
There are still moments of sincere enjoyment from this TV series, even if much of that is driven by 1970s nostalgia and from the late star, Roddy McDowall; who endured the cumbersome prosthetic ape makeups week-after-week to give the show his all. To newer viewers, I’d suggest you scale back your expectations a bit from the Oscar-caliber movies (old & new) and prepare (much like Alan and Pete) to lose yourself in a simpler world of action-adventure.
Where to Watch
Unfortunately, the “Planet of the Apes” TV series isn’t available for legitimate streaming in the US at the time of this writing, though I have seen it available (in entirety) on several YouTube playlists. The 2003 four-disc DVD set is still very watchable as well, with a clean 480p image that is pretty good-looking for a half-century old TV show. The only downside is the price; it varies from $30-$200, depending on the seller (Amazon, eBay). Good luck and good hunting!
