Space Command (partially found early Canadian sci-fi series; 1953-1954)

Title card from the found pilot.

Status: Partially Found

Space Command is a Canadian sci-fi adventure series directed by Murray Chercover, and written by Alfred Harris. The series aired on CBC Television, from March 13th, 1953, to May 29th, 1954. The series was notable for featuring James Doohan, prior to him playing his breakout role as Scotty on Star Trek, as well as a cameo from William Shatner, also of Star Trek fame. Despite the fact that the series was popular at the time of airing, the series was wiped by CBC Television, in one of the only notable cases of Canadian television wiping.

Plot

The series revolved around a space crew aboard a ship called the XSW-1, as they explore the outer reaches of space, whether it be within the containment of their ship, or on another planet. The crew consisted of Captain Steve Cassel, alongside Lieutenant Frank Anderson, and Phil Mitchell (played by James Doohan, prior to Star Trek.) The series featured an educational basis to it, as each episode focused on storylines that stemmed from what was known about the reaches of space at the time. The series also may have been serialized, as the end of the only available episode mentions a plotline to be continued in the future.^[1]

Availability

The show first aired on March 13th, 1953,^[2] and was broadcasted live for its original broadcasts, before being redistributed on kinescope for air on other stations. Despite this fact, it's been rumored that in the 1970s, the kinescope masters were destroyed for their silver content,^[3] but this isn't proven to be factual. The amount of episodes produced for the show is also contested, as the show is rumored to have 150 episodes in total. This, however, is likely to be false, as the show aired once a week, meaning it would only have 104 by the end of its run, had it aired every single week without fault. As of 2024, only one surviving episode has been found. On said found episode, it features the post-1997 Canadian television rating bug, meaning the show had been rebroadcasted or redistributed in some capacity after 1997.