Four Feather Falls was the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for Granada Television. It was based on an idea by Barry Gray, who also wrote the show's music. The series was the first to use an early version of Anderson's Supermarionation puppetry. Thirty-nine 13-minute episodes were produced, broadcast by Granada from February until November 1960. The setting is the late 19th-century fictional Kansas town of Four Feather Falls, where the hero of the series, Tex Tucker, is sheriff. The four feathers of the title refers to four magical feathers given to Tex by the Indian chief Kalamakooya as a reward for saving his grandson: two allowed Tex's guns to swivel and fire without being touched whenever he was in danger, and two conferred the power of speech on Tex's horse and dog.
Tex's speaking voice was provided by Nicholas Parsons, and his singing voice by Michael Holliday. The series has never been repeated on British television, but it was released on DVD in 2005.
Torchy the Battery Boy was the second television series produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1960 to 1961. It was another collaboration with author Roberta Leigh and was directed by Anderson, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by Derek Meddings. The second series of 26 episodes was produced by Associated British-Pathé without the involvement of Anderson and AP Films. Both series have been released on DVD.
The series followed adventures of the eponymous boy doll with a battery inside him and a lamp in his head, and his master Mr Bumbledrop, voiced by Kenneth Connor, who also voiced a number of other characters.
This syndicated anthology series staged a different play every week covering all genres, dramas, comedies, musicals, fantasies, mysteries, et al, utilizing some of the best talent appearing on Broadway.
A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.
Men Into Space is an American science-fiction television series broadcast from September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960 by CBS which depicted future efforts by the United States Air Force to explore and develop outer space. The black-and-white filmed show starred William Lundigan as Col. Edward McCauley.
Peabody. who happens to be a dog, is the smartest being in existence. He has accomplished many things in his life as a business magnate, inventor, scientist, Nobel laureate, gourmand, and two-time Olympic medalist. Peabody becomes sad and lonely and decides to adopt his own human son. In an alley, he meets Sherman, a bespectacled, red-haired boy. After saving Sherman from a group of bullies, Peabody discovers that Sherman is an orphan and decides to adopt him.
After a court appearance and a talk with the President and the government, Peabody becomes Sherman's new guardian. Mr. Peabody tells Sherman not to call him "Daddy" and to call him by his name, "Mr. Peabody", or, when speaking informally, "Peabody".
Believing that boys need running room, Peabody invents the WABAC time machine as a birthday gift for Sherman. He and Sherman go back in time to see a Roman speaking in Latin; Peabody adds a translator circuit to the machine so that everyone seems to speak English. They see the Roman again and learn that he is a
The Man and the Challenge is a 36-segment half-hour television adventure/science fiction series which ran new episodes on NBC from September 12, 1959, to June 11, 1960. It starred George Nader as Dr. Glenn Barton, a research scientist for the Institute of Human Factors, an agency that conducted experiments designed to measure human endurance for the United States government. The series was produced by Ivan Tors.
Nader's costars included Jack Ging as Dan Wright, Michael Masters as Bill Locke, the Canadian-born Joyce Meadows as Lynn Allen, and Michael Keith as Matt Adams. The episodes focused on various individuals setting world records of strength, endurance, and mastery of various difficult skills.
The program also featured appearances by Bethel Leslie as Eleanor Beck in "The Early Warning", Ted Knight, as Dr. Herter in the episode "Daredevils", and Raymond Bailey, in the role of Dr. Kramer on the series opener "The Sphere of No Return". Joining Knight in that segment was Paul Burke.
Noggin the Nog is a popular British children's character. Noggin himself is a simple, kind and unassuming King of the Northmen in a roughly Viking-age setting, with various fantastic elements such as dragons, flying machines and talking birds.
Seven Color Mask (七色仮面, Nanairo Kamen) is the name and title character of a tokusatsu TV series, later called New Seven Color Mask (新七色仮面, Shin Nanairo Kamen). It was created by Kōhan Kawauchi, who also created Moonlight Mask. This B&W TV show was the first superhero TV series by Toei Company Ltd. It was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) from June 3, 1959 to June 30, 1960, with a total of 57 episodes divided into 7 segments. Aside from being Toei's first TV superhero show, this series was also the debut of actor Sonny Chiba, who was 19 at the time, who took over the title role from Susumu Namijima after Episode 32.
Mighty Atom (鉄腕アトム Testuwan Atomu?) is a Japanese Tokusatsu TV show that was created by MBS Productions and had aired on MBS. It was the first adaptation of Mighty Atom (a.k.a. Astro Boy), which pre-dates the 1963 Mighty Atom anime television show.
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.
Felix the Cat follows the offbeat adventures of that curious feline, Felix. Although he was quickly overshadowed by Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, America's favorite cat still remains a classic.
British scientist Peter Brady, while working on an invisibility formula, suffers a tragic accident which turns himself invisible. Unfortunately, there is no antidote, so, while working on a method to regain his visibility, he undertakes missions for his government stopping bad guys.
Moonlight Mask (aka Gekko Kamen), is a black and white tokusatsu TV drama series, produced by the advertising agency Senkosha and was aired on KRTV (now TBS) from February 24, 1958 to July 5, 1959, with a total of 130 (or 131) episodes, divided into 5 segments.
Since the original show, Gekko Kamen has gained the popularity of being the first Japanese live action television superhero, appearing in films and TV shows well past the length of the original series.
Shirley Temple's Storybook is an American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by actress Shirley Temple. The series features adaptations of fairy tales like Mother Goose and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors, although one episode, an adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables, was meant for older youngsters.
Temple's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season, "Mother Goose".
The Adventures of Twizzle is the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series. In addition to his production duties, Anderson also directed the action whilst photography was directed by Arthur Provis, Anderson's founding partner at AP Films. The music for the songs were written by Leslie Clair, the music was scored by Barry Gray, art direction came from Reg Hill and special effects were by Derek Meddings, all of whom would become long-time collaborators with Anderson. Twizzle and all the puppets for the 52 films were made by Joy Laurey, and there were two Twizzle puppets made for filming, one Twizzle puppet for conventional shots and another Twizzle puppet for the stunt shots when Twizzle's arms and legs became longer. The trick of extending Twizzle's arms and legs were based on a system of curtain rings and puppet strings pulled internally inside the puppet
The adventures of a woman who grew up in the jungle as she protects the beasts and the natives while encountering white hunters, native Africans, wild animals and slave traders.
Masked scientific government agent is pitted against a rogue army, led by a mystery man known only as "The Ruler", which is attempting to conquer the solar system by first decimating earth's climate through various futuristic devices which Cody must meet with earth's own futuristic technology.
[Intended to be a limited-run television series, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal Of The Universe was first released theatrically in 1953 as a twelve-chapter movie serial; it was not shown on television until 1955.
The Commando Cody character was first introduced in Republic's earlier movie serial Radar Men from the Moon; however, "Sky Marshal" is actually a prequel, with the first chapter dealing with Cody's origins and the acquisiton of his staff as seen in "Radar Men".]
Science Fiction Theatre is an American science fiction anthology series that aired in syndication from April 1955 to April 1957. It was produced by Ivan Tors and Maurice Ziv.