1950s “Rocketman” TV Series and Their Fans

Jean-Noel Bassoir - writerMick Broderick - Murdoch UniversityGary Coville - media historian Wheeler Winston Dixon - University of Nebraska, LincolnAmy Foster - University of Central FloridaGary A. Hughes - filmmakerRobert Jacobs - Hiroshima City UniversityHenry Jenkins - University of Southern CaliforniaRoy Kinnard - writerPatrick Lucanio - writerHoward McCurdy - American University Lawrence R. Samuel - Founder of Culture Planning LLC J. P. Telotte - Georgia TechJohn C. Tibbetts - University of KansasS. Mark Young - University of Southern California

• Foreword; H.Jenkins Introduction; A. Bowdoin Van Riper & C. J. Miller PROLOGUE: WHEN OUR STORY BEGINS Where It All Began: The Flash Gordon Serials; R. Kinnard PART I: LEARNING TO BE ROCKETMEN 'A Commotion in the Firmament': Tom Corbett and the Lost Boys; J. C. Tibbetts Boys Wonder: Male Teenage Assistants in 1950s Sci-Fi Movie Serials and Cold War Masculinity; R. Jacobs Girls and 'Space Fever'; A. Foster PART II: REACHING FOR TOMORROW Space Fever: From Fantasy to Reality; H. E. McCurdy Shooting for the Stars: Captain Video, the Rocket Rangers, and America's Conquest of Space; P. Luciano & G. Coville Space Opera TV: Seeing the World of Tomorrow; J. P. Telotte PART III: AS SEEN ON TV The Sky is the Limit: Advertising and Consumer Culture in Rocketman Television Shows of the 1950s; L. R. Samuel Creating a Sense of Wonder: The Glorious Legacy of Space Opera Toys of the 1950's; S. M. Young Space Patrol : Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television; J. Bassior PART IV: LOOKING AT THE EARTH Making the Universe Safe for Democracy: Rocky Jone s , Space Ranger ; W. W. Dixon "Justice through Strength and Courage": Captain Midnight and the Military-Industrial Complex; M. Broderick "To Learn from the Past. . .": Becoming Cold War Citizens with Captain Z-Ro; C. J. Miller & A. Bowdoin Van Riper EPILOGUE: THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AND BEYOND Confessions of A Commando Cody Addict (Or, How The Flying Suit Changed My Life); G. Hughes

"From nostalgic views of space adventure to the cultural importance of 1950s sf TV series, Miller and Van Riper's anthology is an informative read and a much-needed work on an often-overlooked period in television history. Understanding the cultural impact of these series - and the symbols of heroism and Americana contained within them - is an important step in learning why we care at all about sf media and the affective relationship we share with the genre.' - Science Fiction Studies "A significant contribution to our understanding of sf in the 1950s." - Foundation