by G. Jack Urso
For millions of years, Earth was fertile and rich. Then pollution and
waste began to take their toll. Civilization fell into ruin. This is the world
of the 25th century. Only a handful of scientists remain, men who have vowed to
re-build what has been destroyed. This is their achievement:
Ark II, a mobile
storehouse of scientific knowledge manned by a highly trained crew of young
people.
Their mission — to bring the hope of a new future to mankind.
— Opening narration to Ark II
Ark II is a short-lived CBS sci-fi series that aired at 11 A.M.
Saturday mornings from September to December 1976. The show was created by
Martin Roth, who wrote for many of the most popular TV shows from the 1960s
through the 1990s, and the executive producers were Norm Prescott and Lou
Scheimer, who also produced Space Academy,
Jason of Star
Command, and Star Trek:
The Animated Series, with which Ark
II shares its sound effects library for computer and sensor sound effects.
The series details the adventures of three young people traveling around in an
RV equipped with advanced technology, and a talking chimp, seeking to help
those who survived the unchecked pollution and toxic waste which devastated the
planet and reduced civilization to scattered isolated tribes and villages. The
complete series is available below from a dedicated YouTube channel. Aeolus 13 Umbra has reviewed
several 1970s Saturday morning sci-fi TV shows, including Land of the Lost,
Space Academy,
and Jason of Star
Command, but if I had to choose just one quintessential 70s
Saturday morning sci-fi show it would be Ark
II. The costumes, vehicles, props, and eco-friendly storylines, definitely
have a sense of the zeitgeist of the era. When researching the series, I didn’t
think I would find much, but was surprised to see that it maintains a small
core of dedicated, if middle-aged, fans who carry on the show’s legacy with
videos, prop replicas, and models. Articles and blog entries are numerous,
including one by author, director, and film critic John Kenneth Muir who
reviews each episode of the series.
The program stars Terry Lester as
Jonah, Jean Marie Hon as Ruth, José Flores as Samuel, and Moochie the chimp as
Adam. The crew is ethnically diverse with Northern European, Asian, and
Hispanic heritages being represented. A biblical theme is apparent, not just in
the names of the RV and the crew, but also the idea of searching a devastated
land in search of survivors. The resolution to each episode is usually a recap
of the moral or lesson of the day, and usually involving some environmental
theme.
In addition to the expositions,
there is a certain amount of conflict and action and adventure, but at a fairly
tame level and real physical violence is shown. Ark II is, after all, a children’s show. In the years following the
creation of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence
(NCCPV) in 1968, Saturday morning programs that showed any level of physical
violence were targeted for criticism, such as Space Ghost, The Herculoids,
and Birdman, all of which were
cancelled in 1968 and 1969, respectively. Shows that were educational in nature
generally won the networks’ recognition for their efforts, if not always
ratings.
Synopsis
The series, set 500 years in the
future, takes place in the year 2476. Ark II, a reference to both Noah's Ark
and the Earth being a sort of "ark" as well, is an advanced mobile
laboratory that also houses the four-wheel Ark Roamer all-terrain vehicle and
the Jet Jumper rocket pack. The crew of three young scientists includes
intrepid commander Jonah (Terry Lester) and his assistants Ruth (Jean Marie
Hon), Samuel (José Flores), and a talking chimpanzee named Adam (played by
Moochie and voiced by executive producer Lou Scheimer). I’m not a big fan of
talking chimps, but the concept is not overplayed and most of the action
revolves around the human actors.
The use of sign language among
the chimpanzee received widespread publicity in the early 1970s, so it was not
a stretch to believe that in 500 years rudimentary simian voice abilities will
develop. Shades of Planet of the Apes,
which also features an Earth devastated by human civilization? Sharped-eye
viewers will notice the reuse of left-over sets from Planet of the Apes in such episodes as “The Mind Group” and “Orkus.”
Ark II shares similarities with the Logan’s Run TV series, also about three people from a highly
technological society traveling a wasteland in an advanced vehicle and
encountering new communities of survivors every week. All three series could
conceivably fit into one continuity, albeit at different times (Logan’s Run
is set 300 years in the future and Planet
of the Apes, 2,000 years).
The log number in the first
episode is 1,444. Assuming one log per day, this means the Ark II crew is
nearly four years into their mission; however, the log numbers in later episodes
are much lower. Episode 2’s log is 406, episode 6’s log is 75, and so forth.
The numbering is inconsistent and as episode 1 has the highest log entry number
the events in that show must come after the last episode, whose log entry
number is 42. Nevertheless, the intention seems that the episodes are presented
in chronological order, so these inconsistencies can be chalked up to sloppy
continuity.
The Jet Jumper in flight.
As noted, the recurring device is
that Ark II travels the wasteland looking to spread civilization to devastated
areas. This enables the show to bring the protagonists to the conflict rather than then
the conflict to the protagonists. The Logan’s Run
TV series and Star Trek: The
Original Series share this concept, itself based upon the TV series Wagon Train, which traveled the harsh
environment meeting new communities along the way. Gene Roddenberry, in fact,
pitched Star Trek as a “Wagon Train
to the Stars.” Ark II, however, doesn’t vary from the concept. At least Star Trek had the occasional foray into
the main characters’ background, visits to Star Bases and encounters with other
Star Fleet vessels; however, Ark II
has none of that. Every week, there was another village, another environmental
theme, but we learn little about the world the Ark II crew comes from. We never
visit their city nor meet others like them. Do Jonah, Ruth, and Samuel have
families? We never learn.
While "Ark II" is a reference to Noah's Ark (being the first one), are there other Arks? Even for the notoriously cheap Filmation,
creating logos and signage for an “Ark III” or “Ark IV” could not have cost
much and seems like a lost opportunity to expand the Ark II mythos and break up the repetitive story lines with little
added extra expense. Perhaps if the series lasted longer we may have seen
that, but the lack of an expanded universe locked the show into a repetitive cycle of village after village and may be one of the reasons why the audience
failed to connect with the series enough to see a full season.
All Aboard!
Terry Lester (Jonah) had just
two credits to his name before being cast as Jonah, a small uncredited role in Airport 1975 and a guest starring role
on the William Shatner-helmed Barbary
Coast. With his blond hair and beard, and empathetic nature, Lester strikes
an unconventional appearance for the traditional hero, but entirely in keeping
with the spirit of the times — the laid-back 1970s. Indeed, Lester in Ark II reminds me of any number of
Christian Youth Group leaders I knew at the time. A talented singer and piano
player, later in his career Lester became better known for his work in the soap
operas As the World Turns, Santa Barbara, and The Young and the Restless. He also managed to squeeze in a few
prime-time roles, including the infamous TV movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978) and as a Kazon in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Maneuvers”
(1995). He passed away in 2003 at 53 following health complications due to
AIDS.
Ark II marks Jean Marie Hon’s (Ruth) first television credit, but
she gives a strong, authentic performance for her initial foray into acting,
despite the sometimes banal dialog the actors have to deal with. Hon's work is not too surprising given that she was trained as an NBC contract player for about a year or so before Ark II. Her career
spanned just nine years, but includes a recurring role in another classic
short-lived 70s sci-fi series, Man from
Atlantis, and ended in a reunion with Lester in the 1985 TV movie, Blade in Hong Kong. After leaving acting, Hon earned a doctorate in pharmacy and owned her own pharmacy in Ventura County, Calif., until her retirement in 2019.
José Flores’ (Samuel)
first credit is a 1976 appearance in an episode of Barney Miller before he was cast in Ark II, the highest profile role in his ten-year career
which essentially ended in 1986 (except for one further credit in a
small part in the 2011 Mexican film La
hija del capo mayor). As a minor, his parents were always on set, and as both he and Moochie the chimp, and sometimes Ark II itself, could only work a few hours a day, production had to move as quickly as possible. Despite his youth, Flores gives a sincere
and often impassioned, if not always polished, performance as Samuel.
The list of guest stars features
a roster of both veteran and up-and-coming stars including, Jim Backus (Gilligan’s Island), John Fielder
(Tigger, Winnie the Pooh), Jonathan
Harris (Lost in Space), Geoffrey
Lewis (Any Which Way You Can?, Bronco Billy, Tom Horn), Malachi Throne (It
Takes a Thief, Star Trek), a
masked Del Monroe (Voyage to the Bottom
of the Sea), and the always reliable Vito Scotti (The Godfather); younger actors such as Helen Hunt (Mad About You, Castaway), and Dawn Lyn (My
Three Sons), and Mitch Vogel (Bonanza);
and little-known character actors whose long list of credits date back to
Hollywood’s Golden Era such as William “Billy” Benedict, Guy Stockwell, Harry
Townes, and even Robby the Robot from Forbidden
Planet turns up! There are many more than can be provided here, but the
expert talent helps raise the episodes to their potential.
Tech and Toys
The costumes, jet pack, and
vehicles are the iconic items from the series. The costumes look most directly
influenced by
Space: 1999
and are comprised of a silver-gray tunic with one arm and part of one pant leg
in either red (males) or blue (females). Distinctive armbands and belts
contained various technology such as communicators, trackers, and remote
vehicle controls. The jet pack (dubbed the Jet Jumper in the series) is an
actual Bell Rocket Belt and looks similar to the one used in
Lost in Space. In
Ark II, the Bell Rocket Belt seen in the series is flown by Nelson
Tyler, an engineer and inventor (though not involved in the development of the BRB).
The Bell Rocket Belt was developed for the U.S. Army in the 1960s but was
never acquired due to the short duration of the flights, approximately twenty
seconds. The Jet Jumper footage was reportedly recorded all in one day and then
reused throughout the series.
 |
| Ark
II (top); Landmaster (bottom). |
The titular Ark II vehicle is the
most
recognizable piece of technology from the series. Though often mistaken for the Landmaster from the
1977 film Damnation
Alley, it is a separate vehicle. Constructed by the Brubaker Group, Ark II
was built on a garbage truck chassis and was difficult to navigate due to the
low position of the driver’s seat. According
to the documentary The Launch of Ark II, the chassis cost $75 and the modifications
$75,000 ($338 and $338,169.60 in 2019 dollars, respectively).
As
noted in The Unofficial Ark II
Appreciation Page, someone sitting in the “fake” driver’s seat had to give
directions to the driver, which made it an unsafe vehicle to even be around.
So, those scenes of extras scrambling for their dear lives to get out of the way of Ark II
as it rambled through a village probably didn’t require much acting. The
vehicle often broke down, and with two to two and half days of production allotted for each episode a team of mechanics and welders had to be kept on stand-by in
order to keep pace with the shooting schedule. After the
series ended, the nose section of the Ark II was reused for the Seeker
spacecraft in Filmation’s Space Academy,
also produced by Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer.
The Ark Roamer.
Brubaker also constructed the
smaller 4-wheeled “Roamer” (housed in the aft part of Ark II) based on its
preexisting Brubaker Box Kit built on a Volkswagen Thing chassis. It was
refitted with an automatic transmission due to the limited driving skills of
the young José Flores and for those scenes where the Roamer was “driven” by Adam
the Chimp or operated by remote control by one of the characters, in which
case, a driver was hidden under the vehicle’s dashboard.
The Ark II vehicle itself in the
series is purportedly powered by non-polluting hydrogen, which it can create,
and has its own food replicator eliminating the need for food storage, so problems
regarding food and fuel were not an issue. Consequently, however, the lack of shortages
of either eliminated a potential point of conflict in the series and
contributed to repetitive story lines. The vehicle can also generate a
protective force field, is equipped with a forward laser, a tractor beam, a
retractable crow’s nest, and a variety of computer support gear. Oddly, the
producers thought tape storage devices would still be used 500 years in the
future. Additionally, the vehicle has no head lights, making night driving shots
impossible.
Though a hand laser is occasionally
shown, it was really more of a tool than a weapon. A blinding hand-held light
device was often used in defense, so the emphasis was on non-lethal responses to
defusing conflict, though its effectiveness varied.
There was no merchandise produced
during the Ark II series run, which
is a bit odd since even the equally short-lived single season of Sealab 2020
managed a board game and slides for the 1972 Kenner Give-A-Show Projector. Since
Sealab 2020
didn’t last beyond the Fall 1972 season, merchandise development was concurrent
with the series' development, even if a full season of episodes had not, nor would be, approved. The same goes for the short-lived live-action Korg 70,000 B.C., which only managed 19 episodes
for the 1974-75 season. Despite its nearly equal short length, Korg produced a board game, lunch box,
and comic book tie-ins. Nothing seems to have been planned for Ark II and this was another missed
opportunity for Filmation. Nevertheless,
interest in the show, while a small and niche market, remains and several model kits of the Ark II vehicle are currently
available nearly five decades later after the show first ran.
Concluding Thoughts
Ark II’s main competition at 11 A.M. Saturday mornings was Land of the Lost, in its third and
final season, and the second half hour of the 90-minute Kroft Supershow whose segments included the popular "Electra
Woman and Dyna Girl," making stiff competition for the environmentally-minded
series. With the hugely successful Land of the Lost
winding down, and the fast-action and variety of the The Kroft Supershow, the slower-paced Ark II must have paled by comparison. CBS moved Ark II to 12:30 P.M. Saturdays in
February 1977; however, by noon network affiliates were allowed to cut away for
local programming, and even if they did not, by that time most kids were
summarily being licked out of the house after spending the entire morning in
front of the television. Reruns were scheduled for Sundays in 1977, an
unconventional time for a program meant to run on Saturday mornings, but even
if ratings suddenly exploded, the demise of the show was already decided. By
the Spring of 1977, production had begun on Space Academy
and the Ark II vehicle was already being parted out to build the space-going Seeker
for the new series.
 |
| Jonah
gets ready for flight with help from Ruth. |
As a child of the 1970s, I can
attest that interest in the environment, and particularly among the youth, was
at all-time high. In addition to being woven into the storylines of Saturday
morning children’s shows, it was also integrated into our curriculum and taught
by young ex-hippie teachers turned-on to “thinking green.” Environmental warnings were even included in
commercials and prime time TV shows, and sometimes to great effect. The 1971 Keep America Beautiful “Crying Indian”
public service announcement (PSA) was responsible for raising awareness
and decreasing visible street litter. In the 1974 All in the Family episode, "Gloria's Shock," Mike warns Gloria
of the hole in the ozone caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), found in everything
from hairspray to deodorant to refrigerators. In the months following when the
episode aired, there was an immediate drop in sales of household products
containing CFCs, reported an Apr. 10, 2019, Sierra Club report. CFCs were finally
banned in the United States in 1978. In the 1970s, from compact cars to
trash compactors, environmental awareness was considered part of being civic-minded.
If someone were to have asked me in
1976 where we would be today as a society regarding pollution, I would have expressed
faith in our advanced technology and my fellow Americans that we will have
solved our environmental problems by 2019, but that is not so. Disappointingly, while our knowledge has
increased, and the threat of Climate Change worsens, politicians seeking to
maintain their power exploit the fear and ignorance of their supporters by
casting doubt on proven scientific research. Long-standing pollution regulations and environmental laws are being rolled back. In the summer of 2019, the Arctic
Ocean was devoid of all ice for the first time in recorded history. Polar
bears and other arctic animals are seeing their ecosystems literally melt away right in
front of their eyes. Meanwhile in the Amazon, man-made forest fires to
clear off land for cattle consume vast acreage of important belts of oxygen-generating
jungle canopy, not to mention the displacement and death of indigenous animals
and human tribes. Instead of progressing, we seem to have taken a giant step
back and the future warned of by Ark II
seems one step closer.
Give me talking chimps any day.
Ark II Log, Entry Number One: I Jonah, Ruth, Samuel, and Adam, are
fully aware of the dangers we face as we venture into unknown, maybe even
hostile areas, but we’re determined to bring the promise of a new civilization
to our people and our planet.
— Opening narration to Ark II
Sources: Internet
Movie Database, Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV,
The Unofficial Ark II Appreciation Page, The Launch of Ark II, TVParty.
Ark II: The Complete Series
 |
Descriptions
by G. Jack Urso. Click on the links below to view the
episodes on the Aeolus 13
Umbra Ark II TV YouTube channel. |
Episode 1: The Flies |
Original Airdate: September 11, 1976
A band of orphans led by a thief,
Fagon, find a canister of poison gas they plan to use against the dreaded War
Lord Brack. The crew of Ark II must stop them before people die. Guest Stars: Jonathan Harris and Malachi
Throne.
Episode 2: The Slaves | Original
Airdate: September 18, 1976
Baron Vargas, who uses “magic” to
control his people, captures Jonah is captured by a local Baron while scouting
a village. Ruth, Samuel, and Adam must create their own “magic” to free Jonah
and free his enslaved people. Guest Star: Michael Kermoyan.
Episode 3: The Wild Boy | Original Airdate: September 25, 1976
The crew of Ark II encounters a feral
young man, a new village, and glowing crystals which produce a strange effect
on anyone near them. Guest star: Mitch Vogel.
Episode 4: The Robot | Original
Airdate October 2, 1976
Samuel builds a robot, Alpha-One
(Alphie), who proves to be a problematic member of the crew. Nevertheless,
Alphie helps save a village from the pollution of a poison gas source, but the
effort is not without a sacrifice. Guest Star: Robby the Robot (from Forbidden Planet).
Jonah,
Samuel, and Ruth welcome Alpha-One, aka, Robby the Robot.
Episode 5: Omega | Original Airdate October 9, 1976
A super-computer encased in a
black monolith controls an entire village, but Jonah’s plan to free the people
is complicated when Samuel falls under its control. Guest Stars: Helen Hunt and
Harry Townes.
Episode 6: The Tank | Original Airdate October 9, 1976
Ark II encounters a village where
machines are forbidden, but when the village leader, his daughter, Jose, and
Adam are captured by scavengers, a villager’s secret rebuilt tank comes to
their rescue. Guest Stars: Marshall Thompson and Bonnie Van Dyke.
The Ark II crew defrosts two cryogenically
frozen businessmen from the 20th Century who want to restart production of
their “miracle” fertilizer, but when it is discovered that the product is
toxic, one businessman wants to remove the crew as a threat to his plans. Guest
Stars: Jim Backus and John Fiedler.
Episode 8: The Rule | Original Airdate October 30, 1976
Ark II finds a village that
operates under “The Rule,” which, in order to guarantee the village’s survival,
commands the elderly, disabled, and sick be exiled to a cruel fate. Guest
Stars: Philip Abbott and Davis Roberts.
The
crew prepares to eat in groovy 70s’ style.
Episode 9: Robin Hood | Original
Airdate November 6, 1976
The ruler of Medieval English-like
village (only with motorcycles) starves his people by using grain to make
alcohol for fuel. The crew of the Ark II must work with their Robin Hood to
free the village from the evil lord’s grasp. Guest Stars: Richard Angarola, Johnny
Doran, Victor Rogers, and Alfie Wise.
Episode 10: The Drought | Original
Airdate November 13, 1976
Taking advantage of a widespread
drought, Fagan (from episode 1) returns with his “Flies” to capture Ark II and
steal a time capsule containing a cloud seeding device. Meanwhile, Ruth,
Samuel, and Adam are caught by a tribe who worships the time capsule as a
sacred totem. Guest Stars: Jonathan Harris and Richard Balin.
Episode 11: The Lottery | Original Airdate November 20, 1976
Ark II goes to help a “once rich
community which has squandered its resources and is now in trouble.” There, the
crew finds a despot who uses a “lottery” to sending his enemies into an
alternate dimension — the dreaded “Forbidden Zone.” Guest Stars: Zitto Kazann,
Jim Boles, and Eric Boles (father and son, respectively).
Samuel
and Adam enjoy a game of 3D chess. In the 1970s,
my family had the same 3D
chess board and I still have the pieces!
War Lord Brack (from episode 1)
has captured three powerful psychic children with the powers of telepathy and telekinesis.
Ark II goes on a rescue mission but finds the children mistrust all “speakers”
(those who are not telepathic). Guest Stars: Malachi Throne and Dawn Lyn.
Episode 13: The Balloon | Original Airdate December 4, 1976
Red balloons signal disease is
ravaging a village, but the leader, who opposes vaccines and is afraid of
outsiders, refuses the help of the crew of Ark II. Guest Stars: Guy Stockwell, John
Beal, Del Monroe, and Mel Novak.
Episode 14: Don Quixote | Original Airdate December 11, 1976
A delusional old man who fancies
himself as Don Quixote mistakes Ark II for a dragon, interfering with the
crew’s efforts to disarm old explosives that threaten a peaceful village. Guest
Stars: Robert Ridgely and Vito Scotti
Episode 15: Orkus | Original Airdate December 18, 1976
A community of 500 year-old
“immortals” maintains their longevity with a “provider” that keeps them young
and protects the community, but poisons the water outside the village and
accelerates the aging process of others — and Ruth and Adam are affected! Guest
Stars: Geoffrey Lewis, William “Billy” Benedict, and Monie Ellis.
Episode X: The Secret Sea | Unfilmed
Russell Bates, who also wrote for
Filmation’s Star Trek: The Animated
Series, sold a script for an episode in a planned second season of Ark II that never took
place. This episode has the crew exploring the restoration of sea life due to
an underground source of fresh water. However, the food source for a nearby tribe
of cave dwellers is tainted by poisonous plankton so they seek help from Ark II
in finding a solution. Jonah, Ruth, and Samuel, go on an expedition and find
the source of the freshwater, but the salty taste of the sea it pours into indicates
that a salt-water source is nearby. Going on a subterranean underwater dive,
the crew discovers a cave leading to a sea teaming with life, but also a bronze
statue that is slowly disintegrating and distributing copper into the sea and
killing the poisonous plankton that has been sickening the villagers. The new
source of food, free of the poisonous plankton, saves the villagers from
illness and gives them new hope for the future. The log entry for this episode
is numbered 116.
A behind-the-scenes look at the
1970s Saturday morning children's sci-fi series featuring interviews with cast
and crew.
Promo for Ark II that aired on
CBS.
● ● ●
In Cinefantastique’s Planet of
the Apes issue (Summer 1972) Goldsmith spoke about the soundtrack, saying, “it should not be an electronic score, not gimmicky, and [I] wanted to do it
with a normal orchestra. I did not want to do the obvious on this . . . I was
thrilled with it." Goldsmith also notes that at the time of the interview,
“the Austrian Ballet is using it in their production of 'Othello'” (37). While
Goldsmith does use orchestral elements, he departs from the epic orchestration
approach in place of what is a minimalistic and sometimes discordant soundtrack
that captures the sense of mystery and danger in the movie. According to
Goldsmith, no experimental techniques or “unusual instruments” were used,
except perhaps for stainless steel bowls used with the percussion section for the
waterfall scene (“The Clothes Snatchers”) and putting the
mouthpiece backwards on the French horns, to achieve “that swooshing sound in
the desert scenes” (37).
