Captain Cosmic Tribute

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).

The 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.

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 Commercial