The fourteen essays featured here focus on series such as Space Patrol, Tom Corbett, and Captain Z-Ro, exploring their roles in the day-to-day lives of their fans through topics such as mentoring, promotion of the real-world space program, merchandising, gender issues, and ranger clubs - all the while promoting the fledgling medium of television.

"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

Autorentext
Jean-Noel Bassoir - writer Mick Broderick - Murdoch University Gary Coville - media historian Wheeler Winston Dixon - University of Nebraska, Lincoln Amy Foster - University of Central Florida Gary A. Hughes - filmmaker Robert Jacobs - Hiroshima City University Henry Jenkins - University of Southern California Roy Kinnard - writer Patrick Lucanio - writer Howard McCurdy - American University Lawrence R. Samuel - Founder of Culture Planning LLC J. P. Telotte - Georgia Tech John C. Tibbetts - University of Kansas S. Mark Young - University of Southern California

Inhalt
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