Saturday, January 07, 2006

SATURDAY MORNING CULT TV BLOGGING: Space Academy: "Space Hookey"

I want to play space hookey too! (That's not space hockey, by the way, but space hookey). No, seriously, I do. It looks fun....

Anyway, this week on the 1977 Saturday morning, live-action, Filmation production Space Academy, space orphan Loki and his diminutive robot, Peepo (actually a "self-determining type-A manu-droid," according to this episode) decide to skip out on boring Astrography Class (in classroom 5), steal a Seeker, and go on a joy ride through space.

Alas, the Seeker is shadowed by a comet, and Peepo and Loki go to visit. There, they discover two glowing amorphous life-forms who happen to be playing hookey too. One is a red glowing ball, the other a white one. These chipmunk-voiced aliens cause Loki to go schizophrenic. "It's crowded in here," they complain of his mind.

When Loki and Peepo get hauled back to the Academy, one of the non-corporeal aliens takes over Commander Gampu (Jonathan Harris) and makes him mince around the control room counting numbers like a kindergartener. "Onesie, Twosie, threesie, foursie" he says as he skips about merrily... Oh, the pain, the pain...

Though this embarrassing display should surely be enough to remove the Commander from duty, the cadets just stare at Gampu in shock. Then he orders a course for "Terazoid," which would be fine, I guess, except to get there, the Academy planetoid will have to cut through hostile Denebian Territory. And that's against a space treaty! While Chris, Laura, Tee Gar and Adrian try to figure out what to do, a really awesome (and menacing-looking) Denebian "space drone" starts taking pot shots at the approaching Academy.

Finally, in a crib from Star Trek's "Squire of Gothos," the glowing aliens get caught by their Daddy, a blue glowing light. "Your mother and I will deal with you when you get home!" he says. The aliens quickly vacate from Gampu, and also from Paul, who became possessed after Loki.

Okay, I'm not a kid anymore - I'm 36 - so I noticed something grown-up about this episode of Space Academy. The actress playing Adrian (Maggie Cooper) wears a really short skirt in this episode. A much shorter one than the skirt Laura wears, by the way. And in this installment of Space Academy, there are a few shots of Peepo, shot at the robot's eye level (which is about an adult waist). In these shots, you get a great look at Adrian's really fine legs.

Okay so sue me, I'm a dirty old man...

2 comments:

  1. Oh boy was Maggie Cooper hot or what !!?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:44 PM

    Especially in that miniskirt! If you're a dirty old man, then so was any horny teenage boy watching that one episode. In one scene of that ep, Maggie's sitting in a window,with her right leg propped up so precariously, that it easily teases you into thinking you're gonna see up her mini.Sadly, you don't get to see anything.

    ReplyDelete

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