The Adventures of Spin and Marty

Every day when I got out of school, I would race home as fast as possible to get my homework done so that I could sit down watch The Mickey Mouse Club and the serial that ran every day: Spin and Marty.

I loved the show. It was about a summer camp for boys that was a ranch. They had horses and swimming and mysteries and Marty, my first real crush. I don't think I would ever want to see any episodes again. Like Nancy Drew books and Hostess Twinkies, some things belong to the magic of the past.

This was one of the best products from the Disney studio back when I was a kid. I'm sure I was one of millions of kids who would love to have spent the summer at the Triple R ranch learning to be a cowboy. That was the life.

Spin and Marty were two kids from the opposite side of the tracks so to speak. Spin Evans (I don't recall his real first name) was a kid who saved his money from working just to go to the Triple R and get out of the big city. He'd been going there a few years when Marty arrived.

Marty Markham was a rich kid being raised by a grandmother and a butler, I kid you not. Grandma who was Verna Felton thought he was in serious danger of becoming spoiled and she was probably right. Still and all she sent him to the Triple R with her butler Perkins played by J. Pat O'Malley in a very funny role, borrowed liberally from Charles Laughton in Ruggles of Red Gap.

When Marty arrives at the Triple R, he proclaims to one and all that it's only a 'dirty old farm'. That of course doesn't near and endear him to the rest of the kids, especially Spin to whom it means so much to go. Still Tim Considine as Spin and David Stollery as Marty eventually arrived at something resembling a truce though the rivalry continued for the few seasons that Disney broadcast the episodes on his Mickey Mouse Club.

Lending a real western feel to the show were sagebrush regulars Harry Carey, Jr. as Bill Burnett the counselor at the camp and the owner of the Triple R, Mr. Logan played by Roy Barcroft.

Barcroft appeared in a dozens of B westerns mostly as a villain which I got to see later. But to me he was always the gruff, but kindly Mr. Logan who ran this wonderful place for boys.

Also in the cast was stuntman Lenny Geer who played ranch hand Ollie and really the first one on the Triple R to befriend Marty and see through his act.

Shows like this are a treasure from my childhood. How I wish I could have spent a summer on the Triple R.

With only the fondest of memories do I recall the days of The Mickey Mouse Club. It was a quieter, gentler time which I dearly miss. And what better way to celebrate such a time than with the youthful innocence and vigor of young boys at a summer camp known as The Triple R. Before the DVD's came out I could only vaguely remember bits and pieces of this series. However, now that the DVD's came out last year I have once again been enraptured by the memories of such a wonderful time in my life.

In this modern, fast paced, tech-no life that has been thrust upon us all, it's comforting to know that the "Good Old Days" of youth and innocence have not been forgotten, thanks to The Spin and Marty DVD's.

I have more than 1,200 movies, television series, documentaries, etc. in my personal collection and Spin and Marty is on my top shelf because it is a Top Rated series. I only hope that they release the other two series that came about because of spin and Marty; The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty, and, The New Adventures of Spin and Marty. If and when they do, I will be amongst the first in line to buy them.

One of my favorite characters was "Al" played by Brand Stirling. Does anyone know what became of him or where he is nowadays? It was because of him and other characters that I learned how to ride a horse and to break them and teach them their gaits. Thanks guys! Thanks for the memories and let me know if the other two series come out. "Way out there at the Triple R...Yippie ya, yippee yo!"

I just recently purchased the DVD set and have watched the first DVD. Like all the others on this post, I, too, would race home to watch this show. Yeah a little corny by today's standards, I guess, but the innocence and clean cut type stories are refreshing.

My grandsons (4 & 5 1/2) sat and watched part of the DVD with me. I think it was hard to get them interested because it was in black and white....I kept telling them, "look at the horsies" -- and they thought it was a bit boring....a sign of the times, I guess. But, I will not give up!

I had a crush on Spin....he was a cutie. And then when "Annette" came into the picture, I was really glued to the TV set! I hope they bring that series to us on DVD....does anyone know if it is available?

"The Adventures of Spin and Marty" title refers to the first season (1955-56) of the show; the second and third seasons were given a modified title. When originally broadcast the total running time of 275 minutes was broken into 25 episodes and shown as part of the first year "Mickey Mouse Club". The show was broadcast Monday-Friday from 5Pm-6PM. The serials were structured in a mild cliffhanger format with a teaser at the end enticing viewers to watch the next episode for a resolution. When they were shown a few years ago on "Vault Disney" the episodes were paired up to provide a 22-23 minute running time.

If you grew up with the original MMC you already know that serials like this were the most anticipated part of the show and that "Spin and Marty" was by far the most popular. The reason for their popularity was no mystery, they were the only kid's shows in those days that featured kids instead of puppets or animation.

If you were not around for the "Spin and Marty" phenomenon, think of it as a 1950's version of "The Saddle Club", both featured kids getting to spend all their time with horses. But instead of girls hanging out at the Pine Hollow stables, here it's boys living in bunk houses at "The Triple R", a dude ranch summer camp. And who wouldn't like spending an entire summer at a ranch, riding horses far away from parental supervision?

The first season's story was adapted from the novel "Marty Markham" by Lawrence Watkin. The show went rapidly downhill after the first season so it is no great tragedy that only season one is out on DVD. Mostly this was because the writers were never able to duplicate the charm of the first season's premise. But the show also fell victim to the Kevin Corcoran curse. Corcoran was a terminally precocious little actor that Disney tried to make a star by inserting him into this popular show at the start of the second season. Corcoran was an unbearably bad actor and the damage was compounded by Disney's insistence on manipulative showcasing of his terminal cuteness; an especially bad fit for a show whose first season appeal had been its naturalness and the understated performances of the cast.

Like "Saddle Club's" first season, it revolves around a new kid who has difficulty fitting in at the ranch. Marty Markham (David Stollery) is an overprotected orphaned rich kid who arrives in his grandmother's chauffeured limousine with his own butler (Perkins-J. Pat O'Malley-who is detailed to help the ranch's cook) and immediately manages to offend all the boys by calling the Triple-R Ranch "a smelly old farm".

A rivalry soon develops with Spin Evans (Tim Considine), a popular boy who has to work all year to pay the attendance costs. Marty is afraid of horses but lies about being a polo player. Considine and Stollery are both convincing although Stollery has the more difficult part. The supporting cast of boys have appropriate nicknames; the lazy "Ambitious", the freckled "Speckle" and the chunky "Russell the Muscle".

Special effects are a bit weak (like the woodchuck chase scene where you have to accept that a ball of fur pulled though the field on a string is a woodchuck) and the campfire scenes are obvious day for night shooting.

Harry Carey Jr. and Roy Barcroft provide sympathetic and concerned authority figures but my favorite is insightful horse trainer Ollie (Leonard Geer) who always seemed to have about nine days worth of stubble and repeatedly said: "Well I'll be a blue-nosed gopher".

Predictably Marty learns to love horses and to get along with the other boys. He breaks his arm but Perkins is able to keep the news from his grandmother so that he is not sent home early. There are all the great summer camp elements from bears to ghost stories.

The two-disc DVD set has a photo gallery, interviews, and a little feature called "The Return to the Triple-R"; which includes the adult Considine and Stollery visiting the ranch where most of the show was filmed.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.