Planet of the Apes tv series.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I liked the show a lot. It reminds me of my favorite show, The Fugitive, as it draws on the same archetype, the persecuted savior. Virdon and Burke and Galen are hunted each week but they enter a community and somehow heal it; yet they remain hunted.

I liked the pilot. I also liked that Urko is always telling the other apes to kill the humans and nobody listens to him.

The series was re-packaged and aired as a series of movies, for which McDowell recorded some new introductions that included the final fate of Burke and Virdon!

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

The ONLY episode i really liked was the one where Urko fell into the BART station with one of the astronauts. Even as a kid i thought it was only OK, and not great TV. I had just seen Conquest of the Planet of the Apes that week. They had aired all the movies leading up to the new show. Well, as you might remember from Conquest, dogs and cats all died, thats why man domesticated apes. So, what do they do in the very first scene, in the very first episode...show a dog. The show messed with the timeline that the movies only half ass laid out as well. Hard for me to accept as cannon. I own it, but i sure would love to own Fantastic Journey more.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

There is a timeline online somewhere that actually incorporates all the different incarnations of "Apes" into a single "canon". It takes a lot of liberties to make everything fit. As far as I'm concerned the first 5 movies are one "canon" and the live-action series, the animated series and the remake are all self-contained.

People assume that the live-action series takes place between "Battle" and the original film but they never explicitly mention the events of the film series and it's pretty much standard for television adaptations of films to present something of an alternate reality of the movie they're based upon rather than sequelizing it.

But yeah, the show is formulaic (every episode is a variation on the "fugitive" concept) and what specific settings for that formula that were used were cliche (is there any show that HASN'T done the "hero and villain get stuck in an enclosed space and have to work together to get out" story?) but hey, it's 14 hours of television with Roddy McDowall in ape makeup. That's more than you can say about the animated series, which really has no redeeming qualities.

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This is one of those sets I bought (a blind buy)... and haven't watched yet. I may have to pull it out after I finish my Charmed marathon.

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I thought the animated apes series, which I recently watched on DVD, was actually quite well done with intelligent writing, if not sophisticated animation.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Felt it was like Bonanza or Little House on the Prairie. Even a little Star Trek in feel. Pretty good show.

They took a few episodes, strung them together and gave them names. The list of those is in the episode guide at imdb.com. Anyway, I caught several (taped them) one afternoon on local TV and remembered seeing the show version as a child. I wanted all those films but they never aired them again. I watched that tape several times since they were so enjoyable and didn't feel awkward when watched after some of the theatrical films in the series. Very nostalgic too.

When it finally hit DVD I bought it right away and was very impressed with it overall. It's actually well acted. I would have preferred more episodes taking place around the ruined cities. Those might be my favorites. Although the one with Beverly Garland (who looked hot even in the ape makeup ) is probably my most favorite. She gives a good performance. Also maybe the one about the horse race. It's been years since I've watched these.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Oh, I completely disagree. The animated series - which will never win any awards for fluid, lively animation - was very well-written and had a continuing storyline. Each episodes leads into the next, which makes for cliffhangers in some cases and a strong sense of continuity -- things usually missing from Saturday morning fare. Like the animated Star Trek (a contemporary of POTA), it was much more mature than a cartoon had any right to be.

The live-action show was a lot of fun, and the astronauts were good additions to the POTA series. Mark Lenard was a lot of fun as Urko, and as noted, McDowell was great as Galen.

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I've got to get that animated series. I'm been in no hurry since the reviews aren't terribly good.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I also have the animated series... which is also in my unwatched pile. So I take it most you think I should watch the Live-action series first... then the animated series?

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I have the Movies and Both Series. (I liked the Animated Series better than the Live-Action Ones,) I only wish they made a Movie that explained what started the Nuclear War that changed the World as we knew it in the series.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Gees! Thanks a lot everyone. Now you guys are gonna make me add this to my already overloaded wish list!

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I have all of the movies and both TV series as well and I like each and every incarnation (except the remake movie) to a degree.

I think that the live action TV series was pretty good, but it could have been better. Instead of every week being a remake of a Fugitive episode, they should have used a more continuing story concept like the animated series did. They could still have kept the Fugitive aspect to the series but it may not have been so formulaic.

I'm surprised with all of the remakes of TV shows that seem to have sprung up in the past few years that someone at Fox hasn't thought about remaking the live action show. The show had really great potential but like I said it got bogged down in its 'formula' and just couldn't seem to rise above it. I still think the show is a prime candidate for a remake.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Thanks Bryan

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I actually thought the writing in the animated show was much better. Unofrtunately the "primitive" animation delivers a huge blow to the overall effect. But if you can "get used" to the animation, the series is excellent.

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I agree. The ground work is already there. I've even thought about what the pilot would be like. If you combine the scripts for Escape From Tomorrow and The Legacy, add a prologue set in the present day showing the astronaughts blasting off and their entrace into the time warp and their subsequent crash landing you have a two hour pilot episode that sets everything up for the rest of the series. Of course the old scripts would need a bit of tweaking to bring them more in line with today's history but that's a minor adjustment.

Teh series could have stand alone episodes with an overall story arc that would lead to the eventual conclusion of Virdon and Burke finding a way back to their own time. In fact, they could even discover in one of those ancient scientific vaults a recording from their older selves informing them that they will eventually make it home.

A new series could have some really great possibilities if someone would give it a chance. It's just sitting there waiting to be revisited.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Ron Harper, in his commentary tack on season three of LAND OF THE LOST, says he thought the plotlines to the TV live-action Apes were "the same every week." Believe it or not, he praised the scripts for LAND OF THE LOST as superior in that they had "imagination."

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I think Harper was correct in saying LAND OF THE LOST was a lot more open to imagination on the part of the writers. Apes had a formula and used it week after week.

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The 3rd season of Land of the Lost sucks. That was the only season Harper was in. PotA was much better than the 3rd season of Land of the Lost. Now, the 1st season of LotL had much better sci-fi scripts than the Apes series. The acting in LotL was always below par, and the budget was next to nothing. I assume the budget of Apes was equally as low, thats why it was a Fugitive retread, but the acting was fantastic. Anything with Roddy McDowell and Mark Leonard cant be that bad.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

Been a POTA fan forever, and I've come to really enjoy the TV series today even though I didn't like it when it first premiered (I was 12 and wanted it to be exactly like the movies).

There is a great thread on the Classic Horror Boards about PLANET OF THE APES, the Sequels, and the TV Series. There are a lot of memories, good ideas, and timeline theories. I'd say it's definitely worth your time to check this link and join the discussion if you're a big APES freak like me...

Planet of The Apes Sequels - '60s and '70s Sci-Fi and Horror - The Silver Age of Horror - Classic Horror Film Board - Message Board - Yuku

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I think this may be what you are referring to.

Detailed Timeline

It works for me at least. I think it is really interesting and neat how they tie everything together. POTA is definitely one of my top science fiction franchises and I enjoyed the live action TV series at least as much as I enjoyed the movies.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

That's a timeline from the old Marvel PLANET OF THE APES magazine, and I never agreed with it. Access the link to the thread above, but here's my idea ...

The writers of the series and the films never really cared much about being consistent, and there are many plotholes and errors. I don't believe the TV series was ever intended to fit in along with the movies, but it CAN be done. Read what I propose, and let me know what you think.

There seem to be three main problems in the TV Series which get in the way:

1.) There is a dog in the first episode.

2.) Zaius says there were other astronauts who arrived "10 years ago".

3.) The book in Episode 1 shows a picture of New York in the year 2503.

Other than these inconsistincies, things flow pretty nicely for the TV show occuring around 900 years before the original PLANET OF THE APES movie, and the subsequent sequels. Here is how I explain away the 3 stumbling blocks above:

1.) The dog in the first episode is a tough error to explain away. But if you consider in ESCAPE that Cornelius says "hundreds and thousands of dogs and cats died and had to be destroyed to prevent the spread of infection", we can stretch (and I do mean strrrreeettchhh) the idea that a few dogs or cats may have survived, though they're now quite rare and perhaps on the verge of total extinction.

2.) The "other astronauts" Zaius referred to are unknown. They're not Taylor and Brent, as they came LATER in the history. And we are to assume that "Zaius" of the TV Series is NOT the same "Dr. Zaius" as in the films. We can presume Zaius was a distant relative, and perhaps he was the orangutan who passed down the evil history of man from generation through generation, eventually to the point where DR. ZAIUS (in PLANET OF THE APES) is the only one who knows the truth. So in the first TV series episode, we are to assume that there was yet another Earth ship which landed 10 years previously, though the details are as yet unrevealed.

3.) The book shows New York quite active in the year 2503. We may assume that the infamous plague that destroyed most of the world's dogs and cats occurred around 2300, because Zira and Cornelius tell us in ESCAPE that it took five centuries for the apes to turn the tables on the humans, so we can assume the plague hit around 2300, and by 2800 the apes had reversed domination and took over the humans. Some 285 years later, by 3085, we've come to the situation as evidenced in the TV Series.

In order for the TV Show to fit in the timeline with the Movies, when watching the 14 episodes and the 5 feature films, we have to begin the timeline with the TV SHOW. Watching the 14 episodes ahead of the movies may not be the most ideal place to begin, but it flows better. Consider this timeline and see what you think:

OUR TIMELINE:

2008 (This is us right here today, reading HTF).

2300 (The Plague arrives and kills most dogs and cats, and Man begins to train Apes as household pets and servants).

2503 (The year the picture of NYC in the book from the first episode of the TV Series is taken).


2800 (An Ape named Aldo says "NO!" and the apes overtake the humans).

3085 (THE YEAR OF THE PLANET OF THE APES "TV SERIES")

3955 (THE YEAR OF PLANET OF THE APES and BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES) -- We may presume that Virdon and Burke must have eventually been caught and killed, and that Zaius took it upon himself to save his race by hiding all evidence relating to the astronauts, and the fact that Humans ever had any civilization. Perhaps the apes began to wipe the minds from mankind as a precaution after the arrival of Virdon and Burke. Even though there are two different years given in both PLANET and BENEATH, I like to assume the date of 3978 in Taylor's ship is a few years incorrect, because 3955 seems to be the year that is more focused upon in later sequels. --- THE WORLD IS BLOWN UP ---

------------

ALTERNATE TIMELINE:

1973 (THE YEAR OF ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES) -- ZIra and Cornelius travel back to the past, but their arrival will completely alter all previous Ape History as they originally knew it! Furthermore, after their arrival, the years after 1973 will not progress for us the way we knew them, either (there will be no cell phones; Ape Management Centers spring up everywhere by 1990, etc....) We can assume that Zira and Cornelius brought the plague back with them, and this is why the plague hits Earth in 1983 next time, and why it's as quickly as 1991 when their son Caesar leading the apes in a revolt (Not "Aldo", as originally happened)!

1983 (The plague has been brought accidentally from Zira and Cornelius, so the death of dogs and cats and the acceleration of the apes Takeover moves along much faster).

1991 (Due to Caesar's birth, the entire history of the Ape Uprising accelerates much faster. The events of CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES happen here. This 1991 is, obviously, not the same one we experienced in "our" lifetimes).

2018 (Events of BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES). -- It's difficult to pinpoint precisely when BATTLE occurs, as Mandemus says the armory was his home "for 27 years", but a mutant says it's been "12 years of peace".

2670 - Where everything ends so far, at the "epilogue" of BATTLE. The Lawgiver tries to teach ape and human children to live togehter in peace and harmony, but Caesar's statue cries a tear as we'll never know how things will turn out...... the ending is deliberately ambiguous and not certain. Will the events of the TV Show occur again? Will the future that Taylor and Brent encountered come to be again? We do not know.

Fans have made all sorts of changes and ideas, but basically it works best IMO when the order goes: TV SERIES, PLANET, BENEATH, ESCAPE, CONQUEST and BATTLE. A lot of people say things don't stay very consistent because they tend to view CONQUEST and BATTLE as coming directly before PLANET and BENEATH. They work much better as coming AFTER, and leading up to an unknown future - not necessarily the same as Taylor encountered in the original film. The point of the later sequels is trying to change that future.

Re: Planet of the Apes tv series.

I'm kind of like that too. Hard to pin down just one episode. As a whole the show is pretty good. If you're like me you also like the 1st movie sequel "Beneath" better than most people do. Thanks for the promo link. I'll check that out at home.

LotL is awesome. Of course, I haven't revisited Season 3 yet. I'm on DVD 2 of Season 2 right now and I'm loving it. I think it is much more creative than the PotA live action series so far. The better stories don't quite approach something like Twilight Zone, but for Saturday morning kid's fare, they are more than acceptable. In fact, Saturday morning is the only time I'll watch LotL. It's just better than way. I thnk stuff like PotA TV, live and animated, would work better than way too. A jolt of nostalgia...

I'm looking forward to seeing Harper in LotL. I felt he was pretty good in PotA. I can't imagine him being better than the actor who plays their dad in the 1st two seasons. He was great.