Dork Note: I loved watching Captain Cosmic and even tried to become a card carrying member of his fan club. I still remember the day I sent away for my membership and the day I got a...rejection letter!A rejection letter from a kid's TV club...truly priceless! Apparently you could only be a member if you lived in the Bay Area and since I lived in Santa Cruz I was outside the membership area. I wish I still had the rejection letter, but sadly I don't. Maybe I will get around to getting a membership card on Ebay.
Anyway, I still loved the show and all the awesome reruns and Japaneses imports like...Star Blazers, Spectreman, Ultraman, Godzilla, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, and The Space Giants, as well as the original Flash Gordon Serial
Clipped from Captain Cosmic and Wonder Robot 2T2 :
One of my favorite shows as a Child growing up in California was that of Captain Cosmic. Captain Cosmic was one of the last (and sort of nostalgic at the time it was on too) hosted shows for kiddies. Captain Cosmic was on every weekday at 4pm on KTVU Oakland (Channel 2) and he would introduce various science fiction related television shows. Captain Scarlet, Star Trek (the animated series), Spectraman, Ultraman and others paraded before my cathode ray tube every afternoon. Along with his robotic host, Wonder Robot 2T2, Captain Cosmic kept people up to date with interviews of science fiction professional and fans. He would also announce conventions and other special events.
There was a Captain Cosmic club to join. All you had to do was send a self addressed stamped envelope and you would get a numbered membership card back. On the back of the card was the Captain Cosmic Secret Crypto Code. Every Friday the Captain, who wore this awful red lame outfit, would read a secret message that the viewers at home could decode. Usually the messages were long but conveyed a simple though like "Have a great weekend", or "Have a happy Thanksgiving".
The opening segment (which I must have viewed well over 600 times) always stuck in my mind as being a bit unusual. It sort of has a superman like feel to it. It has some narration by KTVU's announcer voice saying how powerful the captain was.. "Faster than a speeding BART train (a clip of the Captain running along side of a BART train as it departs from a station (BART trains only travel quickly when away form the stations) ,Stronger than the entire Oakland Raider Football team! (a picture of the Captain lifting a obviously chromakeyed Volkswagen over his head), Able to leap over tall buildings with a single bound (a picture of a chromakeyed Captain flying a little too close to the top of the Transamerica pyramid building and a sound effect of ripping pants).Fun Fact: Atlantis Fantasyworld, in Santa Cruz CA, celebrates it's 35th anniversary with the return of Wonder Robot 2T2. Saturday, June 4th, 2011. Watch the CommercialThe set itself (which was expanded to two rooms in the later years of the show to make room for more guests and large items on display) was that of the control room of his space ship (did it have a name?) and form there he could look out onto a blue chromakey screen which usually just displayed and animated star loop from some television show. Occasionally they would slip in a clip from Buck Rogers or some other show with space fighters flying around. There was also a table he could put things on. Often model builders or authors would stop by to show off or promote something. Occasionally there were contests. I still have (someplace) a Reading Club certificate with drawing of Captain Cosmic and Wonder Robot 2T2.
2 comments:
Wow, that brings back a flood of memories, man. I grew up in San Francisco, and I LOVED Captain Cosmic and 2T2, to say nothing of all those great shows! Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
I still have (someplace) a Reading Club certificate with drawing of Captain Cosmic and Wonder Robot 2T2.
I have to ask: how did you manage to score a Reading Club certificate? Was this something a teacher at your school was giving away to students?
A rejection letter from a kid's TV club...truly priceless! Apparently you could only be a member if you lived in the Bay Area and since I lived in Santa Cruz I was outside the membership area.
To be fair to KTVU, I can sort-of understand the rationale they gave. However, I do think it was rather stingy of them not to come through for you.
The membership cards only cost a few cents (I mean, if they cost as much as a dime, you can colour me surprised). And as you point out, KTVU wouldn't even have been out the postage to get the it to you; anyone who wanted to join the club had to mail in an SASE to get their card.
(And hey: this was a children's show and little things like a CC Space Patrol card can mean a lot to kids. I know I thought highly of mine.)
Anyway, yes, they should have just given you the card.. It cost them next to nothing, and it wasn't like you were mailing them from Iceland or anything.
Maybe I will get around to getting a membership card on Ebay.
I confess that I do look from time to time myself and have yet to come across one. My guess is that not many people hung onto their cards over the years, and the few that have would only part with them at gunpoint.
However, I don't look that often, so your luck might be better than mine.
If it's any help, I notice someone is currently flogging CC t-shirts on eBay. Perhaps you could console yourself with one of those? I am sort-of tempted to get one myself, but am hesitant because, let's face it: nothing is more dorkier than an, er, "older person" wearing a Captain Cosmic t-shirt.
I still have (someplace) a Reading Club certificate with drawing of Captain Cosmic and Wonder Robot 2T2.
Is it wrong of me to say how jealous I am that you have a Reading Club certificate? To my mind, a Reading Club certificate is far superior to a membership card.
To be honest, I had no idea the Reading Club even existed until a few minutes ago when I saw your picture of the certificate. However, it is probably just as well I didn't because, had I known at the time, I would have pestered my parents, teachers, and anyone within earshot incessantly until they threw up their hands and gave me one just to shut me up.
(Yes, I was that kind of kid.)
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