Captain Midnight

Like the previous commentator, I vividly remember Captain Midnight's mountaintop base, and his scientist assistant "Tut", as well as the great Sid Melton as his mechanic, Ikky (for Ichabod)Mudd "with two Ds". I never understood the reason for the name change to Jet Jackson before I read the trivia note above. It says the Jet Jackson name was used in Australia, but I know it was also used here in the US as well, so I'm still a bit puzzled. Anyway, I am glad of the opportunity to reminisce about one of my favorite childhood TV shows. I believe Sid Melton is still alive, and was still working as of 1999. Some may remember him as "Alf Monroe" on Green Acres.

One of my favorite shows from my youth, in the 1980s I was bought some tapes of it, watching them took me back 30 years. I note the plane was the Doulgas Skyrocket, not the Bell X-1, even as a 5-7 year old I recognized it. I have an older brother who built a model of it, and we had a neighbor who was a pilot and knew the various aircraft. No, I never did get my decoder ring, the show premiered in September, 1954, I had just turned 5, that was a little above my head. And yes I was puzzled when I few years later I saw an episode of "Jet Jackson" and was puzzled as to why the program I knew as "Captain Midnight" was being aired under another name. Richard Webb said that was the strangest syndication deal in TV. The programs hold up, like most quality children's entertainment, it tries to introduce its young viewers to adult (in the older sense of that word) concepts, in my favorite episode "The Secret Room" the Captain plays along with a phony medium, telling Ikky "He's a crook. And a very clever one. I want to find out what he's really up to."

Captain Midnight was a crime fighter, a jet pilot, a scientist and a super role model for kids. He gave me an early desire to become a jet pilot when I grew up. I never did though, become a jet pilot I mean. I was a fan from the beginning of the TV series and never missed an episode when we lived in Los Angeles. I had a secret squadron decoder ring too. If I remember it right, I sent in the paper seal on the inside of the cap of a bottle of Ovaltine plus 25 cents and I got the ring in the mail. Pretty cheesy little gadget that fell apart quickly but it was a symbol of the show and I liked having it. I believe he had a slick special car too to go along with the streamlined theme of the base and the jet. Yeah, really good entertainment for kids of the day IMHO.

-bm

We in Australia knew Richard Webb's series as 'Jet Jackson - Flying Commando' and wondered why the characters' lips moved strangely when 'Jet Jackson' was uttered! It would be years later before we realised that the character name had been changed (and thus dubbed) in syndication and obviously also for overseas sale. Maybe my favourite 'character' was the Bell 'Silver Dart' but this, along with 'Rocky Jones, Space Ranger' was my favourite after-school entertainment in the early 1960s.

I've picked up a few episodes of 'Captain Midnight' but it's just not the same as hearing.....'JET JACKSON.....FLY - ING COMMANDO' echo out from the TV speaker. For that I have to resort to a 40 year-old reel to reel tape. Ah, nostalgia.

Addendum: Four and a half years after my original comment, I'm still waiting for this series to appear on DVD. Here's hoping it happens before I pass on!

Further addendum: I've now acquired the 3 DVD set which includes about 30 episodes, a mixture of original 'Captain Midnight' and 'Jet Jackson' prints. The quality is variable although the soundtracks have been pretty much 'cleaned up'. Even the poorer prints are entertaining because, surprisingly, the stories are, for the time, entertaining and soundly constructed. Jim Albright, CM/JJ's alter-ego, never talks down to children which is probably why fans remember the show with affection. Our hero treated us with respect. Here's hoping that better quality prints, plus copies of the missing episodes, come to light in the future.

Does anybody remember what kind of plane Captain Midnight flew in the 50's show? They used to identify it in the closing credits--as I recall it was a Douglas aircraft. I barely remember the show from it's run as "Captain Midnight". I watched it quite a bit when it was syndicated as "Jet Jackson".

Looking back, the convenient appearances of Secret Squadron members whenever and wherever Captain Midnight got into trouble was pretty contrived. I remember an episode where the Captain and Icky were locked in a basement. A sweet little old lady was toddling by, saw them through the window, reached into her little bag, and pulled out her Squadron communicator to call SQ 3. From the perspective of the paranoid 21sr century it seems sort of creepy. Loved it at the time, though.