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Rating: Country: U.S.A. Release Date: November 7, 2006 Distributor: Brentwood Home Video Cast: · Terry Lester · Jean Marie Hon · José Flores Related Sites: · IMDb: Ark II Grade: C+

Filmation's first live-action children's show was the science fiction-themed Ark II, which debuted on Saturday morning television in the fall of 1976. The relative success of this series lead the animation studio to continue to produce live-action programming for children in the form of Space Academy (in fact, the front end of the Ark II prop was later re-used as the nose portion of the Seeker spacecraft in this show), Ghost Busters, Jason of Star Command, and The Secrets of Isis. Only 15 half-hour episodes of this series were produced, though it aired in re-runs for a few years.

At the height of collective ecology consciousness, the premise for the show was a somber tale of what could happen to the earth through environmental carelessness. It was set five hundred years in the future, with the Earth a post-apocalyptic desert as the result of human wastefulness and pollution. A regressed humanity ekes out a primitive existence in isolated communities. Onto the scene arrives the Ark II, a kind of sleek, tricked-out RV loaded with high-tech gadgetry (which, in 1970's television lore, meant lots and lots of blinking lights and knobs and switches) and a crew of three highly-trained young people, and an ever-helpful talking chimpanzee.

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Opening narration: For millions of years the Earth was fertile and rich. Then pollution and waste began to take their toll. Civilization fell into ruin. This is the world of the 25th Century. Only a handful of scientists remain. Men, who have vowed to rebuild what has been destroyed... This is their achievement: Ark II, a mobile storehouse of scientific knowledge, manned by a highly-trained crew of young people. Their mission: to bring the hope of a new future to mankind.

Ark II log, entry number one: I, Jonah, Ruth, Samuel and Adam are fully aware of the dangers we face as we venture into unknown, maybe even hostile areas. But, we're determined to bring the promise of a new civilization to our people and our planet.

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Jonah (Terry Lester, who would go on to appear in the soap opera The Young and the Restless) was the commander, joined by Ruth (Jean Marie Hon), and teenager Samuel (Jose Flores), whose main purpose was to be defeated in chess by agreeable anthropoid, Adam (Moocho). They tooled around the desert terrain searching for anyone they could help out. Among their high-tech toys, the coolest two were the Jet Jumper -- a jetpack you could strap on and flying around with, and the Ark Roamer -- a smaller, 4-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.

The stories tended to all revolve around teaching the lesson to, like, not trash your planet, but the morality was generally not heavy-handed. The plots were simplistic, but as a youngster viewing these shows for the first time, I remember being sucked into the barren world it presented and being duly concerned with its revival. The first show, "The Flies" starred Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space) as the leader of a group of young scavengers (he would reprise this role in the later episode "The Drought") who find a canister of poison gas on a salvaging expedition. The Ark II crew save them from the danger and turn the offending item into laughing gas. Now there's technology you can use! Other adventures included encounters with people wasting resources ("The Lottery"), leaving their sick and elderly members to fend for themselves ("The Rule"), afflicted with a mysterious disease ("The Balloon"), hunting a wild boy for sport ("The Wild Boy"), and a community that owns slaves ("The Slaves").

In addition to Harris, the series featured some distinguished guest stars like Jeff Bakus (in "The Cryogenic Man"), Malachi Throne (in "The Mind Group") and a mighty young Helen Hunt (in "Omega"). Other than the character's Biblical names, the show was also notable for its racial mix. It's definitely dated, badly acted, and utterly a product of the '70s. Still, this is a welcome trip down memory lane and charmingly fun.

It comes on four discs in two slimline cases, enclosed in a cardboard keepcase, with appropriately retro graphics. A booklet with episode guide and trivia is included. An example of the quality trivia provided (from "The Tank"): "The 'Jet Jumper' was a modified Bell Rocket Belt, of the same style seen in the 1965 James Bond film 'Thunderball'. Its other most famous use was in the Olympic Opening Ceremony of 1984. It was propelled by five gallons of 90% pure hydrogen peroxide!"

The special features include a half-hour documentary with producer Lou Scheimer and other people involved with the production, as well as actress Jean Marie Hon-Trager, who's aged extremely well. Anecdotes included the necessity of filming around the Ark II vehicle, which apparently broke down constantly, and the reuse of a couple hours of footage of a guy flying around in a jet pack throughout the series. Two episodes ("The Flies" and "The Slaves") offer optional commentary tracks from producers Lou Scheimer and Richard M. Rosenbloom, actress Jean Marie Hon-Trager, director Harry Lange, writer David Dworski and moderator Andy Mangels. However, while I could see this option on the menu, I was not able to access it though my remote control. Hopefully, it's only me that has that problem. It's touted as "in digitally-remastered quality" but I really have to question that. The colors are faded and it has a grainy quality to it, though it's perfectly watchable.