Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series [1974] (4 discs)
Pick a Random Episode

Composer:

Earle Hagen
Lalo Schifrin

Length:	658 minutes (10 hours 58 minutes)
MPAA Rating:	UR
Suggested Event Use:	Friday 13
Sorting Category:	SciFi
Sorting Tub:	India

IMDB Rating:	7.1/10
Amazon Rating:	4.5/5 stars
User rating sites like above are subject to change
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Classifications:

Drama
Sci-Fi
Action
Family

Available Formats:

VHS	DVD
HD DVD	Blu-ray
3D Blu-ray	Digital

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Series

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Synopsis: Two astronauts and a sympathetic chimp friend are fugitives in a future Earth dominated by a civilization of humanoid apes.

Reaction: The storytelling is very The-Fugitive-on-the-Planet-of-the-Apes, and that can make it feel a bit disjoint, but overall there are some good tales told.

Personal Rating: 7/10

Select Guest Cast

Anne Seymour

Ann ^{(The Interrogation)}

Beverly Garland

Wanda ^{(The Interrogation)}

Norman Burton

Yalu (as Normann Burton) ^{(The Interrogation)}

Wayne Foster

Lieutenant Gorilla ^{(The Interrogation)}

Ben Andrews

Miro ^{(The Liberator)}

Jennifer Ashley

Talia ^{(The Liberator)}

John Ireland

Brun ^{(The Liberator)}

Tom McDonough

Second Gorilla Guard ^{(The Liberator)}

Biff Elliot

Ullman ^{(Escape from Tomorrow)}

Bobby Porter

Arno ^{(Escape from Tomorrow)}

Royal Dano

Farrow ^{(Escape from Tomorrow)}

Woodrow Parfrey

Veska ^{(Escape from Tomorrow)}

Biff Elliot

Orangutan ^{(The Cure)}

David Sheiner

Zoran ^{(The Cure)}

George Wallace

Talbert ^{(The Cure)}

Sondra Locke

Amy ^{(The Cure)}

Bobby Porter

Remus ^{(The Good Seeds)}

Geoffrey Deuel

Anto ^{(The Good Seeds)}

Jacqueline Scott

Zantes ^{(The Good Seeds)}

Lonny Chapman

Polar ^{(The Good Seeds)}

David Naughton

Dr. Stole ^{(The Surgeon)}

Jacqueline Scott

Kira ^{(The Surgeon)}

Martin E. Brooks

Leander (as Martin Brooks) ^{(The Surgeon)}

Michael Strong

Travin ^{(The Surgeon)}

Gail Bonney

Old Woman ^{(The Trap)}

John Milford

Miller ^{(The Trap)}

Norman Alden

Zako (as Norm Alden) ^{(The Trap)}

Jackie Earle Haley

Kraik ^{(The Legacy)}

Jon Lormer

Scientist ^{(The Legacy)}

Robert Phillips

Gorilla Captain ^{(The Legacy)}

Wayne Foster

Gorilla Sergeant ^{(The Legacy)}

Zina Bethune

Arn ^{(The Legacy)}

Jane Actman

Fauna ^{(The Deception)}

John Milford

Sestus ^{(The Deception)}

Pat Renella

Zon ^{(The Deception)}

Jay Robinson

Bandor ^{(Tomorrow's Tide)}

John McLiam

Gahto ^{(Tomorrow's Tide)}

Roscoe Lee Browne

Hurton ^{(Tomorrow's Tide)}

Joanna Barnes

Carsia ^{(Up Above the World So High)}

Martin E. Brooks

Konag (as Martin Brooks) ^{(Up Above the World So High)}

William Beckley

Council Orang ^{(Up Above the World So High)}

Joseph Ruskin

Daku ^{(The Tyrant)}

Michael Conrad

Janor ^{(The Tyrant)}

Percy Rodrigues

Aboro ^{(The Tyrant)}

Marc Singer

Dalton ^{(The Gladiators)}

Nick Dimitri

A Gorilla ^{(The Gladiators)}

Pat Renella

Jason ^{(The Gladiators)}

William Smith

Tolar ^{(The Gladiators)}

Morgan Woodward

Martin ^{(The Horse Race)}

Select Cast and Crew

Alf Kjellin

Director

Arnold Laven

Director

Bernard McEveety

Director

Don McDougall

Director

Don Weis

Director

Jack Starrett

Director

John Meredyth Lucas

Director

Ralph Senensky

Director

Anthony Lawrence

Writer

Art Wallace

Writer

Arthur Browne Jr.

Writer

Barry Oringer

Writer

Booker Bradshaw

Writer

David P. Lewis

Writer

Edward J. Lakso

Writer

Howard Dimsdale

Writer

Joe Ruby

Writer

Ken Spears

Writer

Richard Collins

Writer

Robert Hamner

Writer

Robert W. Lenski

Writer

Shimon Wincelberg

Writer

Walter Black

Writer

Earle Hagen

Composer

Lalo Schifrin

Composer

Booth Colman

Zaius

Eldon Burke

Chilot

James Naughton

Pete Burke

John Hoyt

Barlow

Mark Lenard

Urko

Roddy McDowall

Galen

Ron Harper

Alan Virdon

Ron Stein

Gorilla Guard

Random Trivia For This Title:

The 24-foot plywood spaceship from the first movie appears for the last time, in the pilot episode.
While the movie originally set primarily in what used to be New York City, the television show is set in a futuristic California after a nuclear war.
Though uncredited, Rod Serling wrote the original treatment and two proposed scripts for this series, essentially creating the basic format followed by the program, two astronauts and one chimpanzee pursued by the Apes civilization.
The two human leads graced the show with an Ivy League pedigree. Ron Harper (who played Alan) was a Princeton graduate and won a fellowship to Harvard, while James Naughton (Pete) was a graduate of Brown and Yale.
This was Roddy McDowall's first starring role in a television series. He later played the regular character Dr. Jonathan Willoway in [The Fantastic Journey], another short-lived science fiction series.
Although the series was cancelled after 15 weeks because of low ratings and was considered a bomb in the US, it was a huge success in the UK.

Episode List:
Episode Name	Disc	Disc Order	Directors	Writers	Synopsis	Reaction	IMDB	Personal Rating
Escape from Tomorrow	1	1	Don Weis	Art Wallace	After passing through a time warp, astronauts Virdon and Burke crash land back on Earth in the year 3085 and find apes are now the dominant species	A fair beginning to the series that sets up the premise nicely	7.1	7
The Gladiators	1	2	Don McDougall	Art Wallace	Burke and Virdon find themselves fighting to the death when they're captured by an ape Prefect who holds gladiator-style fights between humans.	It's interesting to see Marc Singer so young, but the story itself gets a little heavy handed at times.	6.9	6
The Trap	1	3	Arnold Laven	Edward J. Lakso	Burke and General Urko are forced to work together when they are buried alive underground in an ancient San Francisco subway during an earthquake.	The name isn't particularly apt, and this one is a whole lot of talking.	7.3	6
The Good Seeds	1	4	Don Weis	Robert W. Lenski	When Galen is injured, the three friends take refuge with a peasant ape family whose son believes the humans have put a curse on their most precious possession - a cow.	It's satisfying to see our heroes able to show their knowledge and win over even enemies.	6.8	8
The Legacy	2	1	Bernard McEveety	Robert Hamner	While exploring a ruined city, Virdon and Burke find a filmed message from scientists of their own time which may help them discover what happened to their civilization.	A fair episode that is strong on character drama.	6.9	7
Tomorrow's Tide	2	2	Don McDougall	Robert W. Lenski	When Burke and Virdon are captured in a fishing village that employs human slave labor, they must prove their worth as fishermen or be sacrificed to the gods of the sea - sharks.	An okay episode. Nothing particularly stands out for me though.	6.2	6
The Surgeon	2	3	Arnold Laven	Barry Oringer	When Virdon is gravely wounded, Galen risks contacting his old sweetheart Kira, who is now a surgeon, and sharing a forbidden book on human anatomy with her.	It's nice when we can find apes willing to help, even if they don't fully understand why our heroes band together in the first place.	6.7	7
The Deception	2	4	Don McDougall	Anthony Lawrence Joe Ruby Ken Spears	While Galen and Virdon hunt down a band of murderous ape dragoons, the ape daughter of a recently killed ape falls in love with Burke - unaware that he is human.	The story gets a little heavy handed, and I'm sure it was a bit more pointed at the time the episode came out, but it's still well done.	6.6	8
The Horse Race	3	1	Jack Starrett	Booker Bradshaw David P. Lewis	In exchange for a condemned human's freedom, Virdon agrees to race a chimpanzee Prefect's horse against Urko - who has never lost a race.	Yet again, we find that our beloved Virdon just happens to be the best in the world at another feat.	6.2	8
The Interrogation	3	2	Alf Kjellin	Richard Collins	Burke faces two equally horrifying options when he is captured by Urko's soldiers: either be killed by Urko or be used in a brainwashing experiment by a prominent ape doctor.	I have to question how effective these brainwashing techniques would actually be, but so be it.	7.0	7
Episode Name	Disc	Disc Order	Directors	Writers	Synopsis	Reaction	IMDB	Personal Rating
The Tyrant	3	3	Ralph Senensky	Walter Black	The three fugitives risk an encounter with Urko when they attempt to foil the plans of a tyrannical ape who is using bribery to gain total control over a district of human farmers.	This one has a bit of a "Burn Notice" feel to it.	6.4	7
The Cure	3	4	Bernard McEveety	Edward J. Lakso	Working with an ape doctor to save villagers stricken with malaria, Buke and Virdon race to concoct a cure before Urko uses his own cure - burning down the entire village.	Wow! Our two astronauts have exactly the right esoteric knowledge to fix the world yet again.	6.7	8
The Liberator	4	1	Arnold Laven	Howard Dimsdale	When Virdon and Burke are captured by a tribe of humans who turn fellow humans over to apes as slaves, their only hope is to convince their captors to rebel against the apes.	20th century knowledge wins again!	7.1	8
Up Above the World So High	4	2	John Meredyth Lucas	Arthur Browne Jr. Shimon Wincelberg	Burke and Virdon help an imprisoned man build a hang glider for the chimp scientist who spared his life, unaware she plans to use the flying machine for her own deadly purpose.	A bit of an odd episode to end on. Granted, it's not like they had intended for this to be the end, but still ...	7.1	7

Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series [1974] (4 discs)Pick a Random Episode

Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series [1974] (4 discs)
Pick a Random Episode