MASTERS OF VENUS (1962) – A year before Doctor Who came to British television this 8-part movie serial played theaters as part of the viewing block for Saturday Morning Cinema Clubs.
Our British cousins could drop their kids off at theaters for a few hours of tame entertainment from such “clubs” while they themselves shopped or ran other errands.
The Childrens Film Foundation produced several such serials into the 1970s.
Because Balladeer’s Blog reviews items that range from mild and child-friendly to blood-soaked and transgressive, let me make it clear that Masters of Venus, directed by Ernest Morris, is just fine for family viewing.
It’s available on DVD and streaming, so you could get it to enjoy with the kids or grandkids. Some versions keep the story separated into all 8 15-minute episodes, complete with the teaser for the next week’s installment, while others jam the whole thing together. Among the jammed-up versions, some are complete at nearly 2 hours in length and others are trimmed down to 93 minutes or 72 minutes.
THE STORY – The fictional British space program is preparing an expedition to Venus. The man in charge of the project is Dr. Ballantyne (Norman Wooland), whose children Jim (Robin Stewart) and Pat (Mandy Harper) ride their bikes to visit the rocket base one day.
The base comes under attack by mysterious Men in Black (I’m serious) armed with ray guns that shoot knockout beams. Security guard after security guard falls to the Men in Black, who turn out to be Venusians who don’t want Earthlings visiting their planet.
Jim and Pat ultimately hide from the intruders in the project’s rocket the Astarte, where the black-garbed Venusians knock out the two pilots before the vessel winds up launched prematurely. The rocket seems destined to be lost in outer space until the two pilots regain consciousness and reorient the vessel for its original destination of Venus. Continue reading
NUMBER THREE TAKES A FALL – In the NAIA the CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS hosted the number 3 team in the nation, the INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS. A 7-0 1st Quarter lead for the Cardinals became 14-3 by Halftime. After a scoreless 3rd Quarter, the teams exchanged a Touchdown apiece in the 4th as Concordia University toppled the Wildcats 21-10. 
“THAT WAS NUMBER FIIIVE!” – Over in NCAA Division Two, the KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY GOLDEN BEARS took the field against the visiting 5th ranked SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY ROCK. The Golden Bears kept the forever-overrated Rock off the scoreboard until the 4th Quarter in a 31-7 Upset. 
AND ANOTHER NUMBER FIVE FALLS – Back in the NAIA, the SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (should be Sea Gulls) went up against their guests, the number 5 COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES. SOU put the Coyotes on Upset Alert by the Half, leading them 14-7, then carried through by winning the game 31-16. 
SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS Vol 1 #1 (May 1963) 
VOYAGE TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH aka Planet at the Center of the Earth aka “Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or Various Adventures of Clairancy and His Companions, to Spitsbergen, to the North Pole, and to Unknown Countries, translated from the English of Hormidas Peath by M. Jacques Saint-Albin”. 
This particular story centers around the fictional seaman Hormidas Peath and his crew who became shipwrecked in the icy Arctic Sea in 1806. They were shocked to discover that temperatures got warmer the further north they went, so they kept following the warmer air until they reached the Iron Mountains. 
HOME aka Future Soap (1968) – This science fiction drama set hundreds of years in the future first aired on January 19th, 1968 on American Public Broadcasting’s N.E.T. Playhouse. Home is a 90-minute piece about the threat of overpopulation – and the excuses that threat gives the government to impose authoritarian conditions on the populace – set among a honeycomb of claustrophobic rooms in which citizens of the future must spend their lives due to the dictates of the government. 
Food is in pill form, rituals praising the government are required and “happy drugs” must be consumed daily in order to keep the populace in line. When a couple is able to obtain permission to have a child they must wait until someone in their communal room dies. 
One of the things I love about college football is how far back its history goes. It feels odd to think that Ulysses S Grant was in the White House when that game was played. 
NUMBER THREE TAKES A FALL – In NCAA Division Two the 24th ranked MISSOURI WESTERN STATE GRIFFONS played host to the number 3 team in the nation – the PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS. This Instant Classic saw the Gorillas on top 17-10 at Halftime but the Griffons up 24-17 in the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th, Missouri Western State held on against a Pittsburg State rally to win the game 31-30. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER FIVE – Over in the NAIA, the number 23 DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS took it on the road against the 5th ranked MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS. The Defenders put the Mustangs on Upset Alert by the Half with their 21-7 advantage. MC cut that to a 21-14 score to end the 3rd, then Dordt survived the 4th Quarter with a 28-24 victory. 
WE WENT TO A FOOTBALL GAME BUT A BASKETBALL GAME BROKE OUT – Down in NCAA Division Three, the MUSKINGUM UNIVERSITY MUSKIES played the visiting WILMINGTON COLLEGE QUAKERS. Points flew like shrapnel as a 28-28 Halftime tie became 42-42 in the 3rd Quarter. The 4th saw the Muskies eke out a 64-63 triumph. 
Yes, it’s once again Guy Fawkes Day, the day Balladeer’s Blog celebrates figures who became symbols of the exact opposite things they represented in their actual lives! 
“Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood.” 
Read more of this animal’s own words and you will see what a callous, unfeeling political fanatic this hate-filled scumbag was. He never wanted to overthrow dictatorships to help “the people”, he just wanted to overthrow them to install dictatorships more to his liking.
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #64 (February 1977) 
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