Sunday, May 06, 2007

jason of the star command

Check it out Popcereal kiddies! Another classic Saturday morning live action show has been released on DVD. Grab your sugar cereal bowls and comic books and gather around the tube -- it's time for Jason of the Star Command!!

JASON OF STAR COMMAND -- The Entire Series (BCI Ecplipse)

Working from within a secretive section of Space Academy, a daring soldier of fortune named Jason (Craig Littler) joins with his friends to combat the sinister forces that conspire to dominate the stars. Jason is aided on his missions by Commanders Carnavin (Star Trek’s James Doohan) and Stone (John Russell), computer expert Nicole (Susan Pratt), strong alien Samantha (Tamara Dobson), eccentric scientist Dr. E.J. Parsafoot (Charlie Dell), and two robots, Peepo and the portable W1K1. Together they face the evil machinations of Dragos — the self-proclaimed "Master of the Cosmos" — and his alien minions aboard the Dragonship.


JASON OF STAR COMMAND was a hit when it aired on Saturday mornings, beginning in 1978 on CBS. The most expensive children's show on television, the series utilized sets and props from its predecessor, SPACE ACADEMY (also released on DVD by BCI), and featured veterans of Star Trek among its cast, plus special effects personnel who had created the visuals of Star Wars! With its action-oriented serialized plots and a memorable space-age villain in Dragos, JASON OF STAR COMMAND was a hit for two seasons, and entertained audiences worldwide in syndication thereafter.

And some interesting trivia – featured guest star Rosanne Katon did a centerfold spread in Playboy Magazine just prior to the debut of this Saturday morning program. The show’s Producer Lou Scheimer was terrified that with one of its stars doing girlie mags, his kid show would be ruined. Oddly, CBS (who ran the program) didn’t seem to mind much.

Even odder is that the new king of ghoulishness Sid Haig, from Devil's Rejects and House of 1000 Corpses fame, was the regular bad guy Dragos. Geesh, with Playboy girls and serial killers running amok, Mr. Miller wonders if his Saturday mornings were really that wholesome afterall.













Check out what else was on the Saturday morning schedule, along with Jason:

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