Episode 332: Tom Corbett, Space Cadet - "Stop the Asteroid" (November 15, 1950)
Will Tom Corbett save the Earth? We'll never know.
What I watched: An episode of kid-oriented sci-fi serial Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. The series starred Frankie Thomas Jr. in the titular role, as well as Al Markim, Jan Merlin, Edward Bryce, Margaret Garland, and John Fiedler. “Stop the Asteroid” first aired on November 15, 1950 on CBS at 6:45 pm, and is available to view on YouTube.
What happened: We open where we left off, with Astro losing sight of the asteroid on the scanner. Tom comes up with the idea of looking for the asteroid in the orbit of Mars. They find the asteroid, which was previously eclipsed by the red planet. Now all that’s left is to track it down. Commander Steve tells Alfie to set the ship to “full space speed” to catch the asteroid, at risk of blowing up the ship.
When we come back, Astro is bemoaning the intransigence of Manning, who doesn’t seem all that sorry for burning out the tubes. Astro shares that he feels inadequate for Space Cadet detail, saying that he’s never sent out on assignment. Sentimental music plays as Tom tells him that he just needs some sleep. That’s the most mental health support you’re going to get from a man in 1950.
Dale shares the news about the runaway asteroid to her commander on Earth. He tells her that news about the imminent apocalypse has leaked on Earth, leading to panic in the streets. It’s real Don’t Look Up hours. Dale explains that they’ll never get close enough to the asteroid. Strong wants the Commander to send out a destroyer squadron, even if it’ll take the glory away from their squad.
However, the Commander says that the destroyers can’t take off due to a space storm created by the asteroid. Strong decides to head off on a personal suicide mission to ride a torpedo into the asteroid. The crew gets the warhead ready. However, Astro goes ahead to do the job himself.
What I thought: This is the third consecutive episode of Tom Corbett we’ve seen, and unfortunately it seems like the episodes on YouTube cut out after this. Still, I’m glad we got a consecutive run just to see how an overall storyline flows. In this case, the cliffhanger (the asteroid disappearing) is resolved fairly early in the episode, only to introduce the conflict that will lead into the next episode. I assume at some point they deal with the asteroid and have a moment to breathe, but for the time being Tom Corbett seems like a perpetual motion machine, as serialized stories are supposed to be.
This episode also brings the stakes of the story into much more dramatic relief. While the story has established from the beginning that the asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, this is the first episode where it seems like the characters realize that everyone might actually die. The mention of panicked mobs on Earth adds a nice touch, even if it’s not depicted on-screen.
At the same time, even in a run of three episodes we’re starting to see a kind of incoherence in Tom Corbett’s morality tales. Two episodes ago, Manning was a vainglorious fool for putting the ship on maximum speed, but here Strong does it and it merely shows a sense of urgency. Strong’s plan to sacrifice himself is noble and heroic, but when Astro takes his place he’s throwing his life away. All of these plot beats are well-executed, at least as far as daytime television goes, but one does get the impression that the writers are just looking for anything that will have emotional resonance on a particular day instead of working with any long-term themes.
Overall, however, I’ve enjoyed my brief time with Tom Corbett. 15-minute episodes (which probably work out closer to 10 minutes after taking out the Kellogg’s ads and credits) is the right amount of time for this kind of pulpy story. And while the show was obviously made on a shoestring, the writers and actors seem to have taken care to present it as seriously as possible. We’ll see it again before the end of 1950, so this isn’t farewell, just goodbye for now. Hope they save the Earth; I’m quite fond of it.
Coming up next: Okay, this time it’s “The Bohemian Girl” for real.