Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Set during the middle of the 24th Century at the Space Academy (a training school for the Solar Guards) and aboard the 'Polaris', a Solar Guard training ship, this hugely-popular science-fiction series was one of the very few programs to air on all four major networks, including a brief period in 1951 when it ran on two networks simultaneously (NBC and ABC). It was seen three times weekly over CBS and ABC in fifteen-minute format, and in half-hour episodes on Saturdays over DuMont and NBC.
- 1950-1955
- 4 seasons
- CBS
- Action & Adventure, Family, Science Fiction, Suspense
Set during the middle of the 24th Century at the Space Academy (a training school for the Solar Guards) and aboard the 'Polaris', a Solar Guard training ship, this hugely-popular science-fiction series was one of the very few programs to air on all four major networks, including a brief period in 1951 when it ran on two networks simultaneously (NBC and ABC). It was seen three times weekly over CBS and ABC in fifteen-minute format, and in half-hour episodes on Saturdays over DuMont and NBC.
Season 4 Episode Guide
27 Episodes 1954 - 1955
Episode 1
The Atomic Curtain
Sat, Dec 11, 1954
Tom and his pals attempt to rescue a pair of cadets trapped by a deadly beam.
Episode 2
Astro's Trial
Sat, Dec 18, 1954
Astro is charged with negligence when his commands seem to have caused a spaceship to wreck.
Episode 3
The Runaway Asteroid
Sat, Jan 1, 1955
Commander Arkwright stakes his career on the Space Patrol's ability to alter the course of an asteroid so it can be converted for use as a space station.
Episode 4
Suit Up for Death
Sat, Jan 8, 1955
Tom clashes with the Space Patrol quartermaster over the safety of the cadets' spacesuits.
Episode 5
Mystery of the Mothball Fleet
Sat, Jan 15, 1955
Tom and the crew of the Polaris are assigned the tedious job of guarding the Solar Guard's fleet of mothballed spaceships. The task soon changes from boring to terrifying when one of the crew members is found mysteriously murdered.
Episode 6
The Life Ray
Sat, Jan 22, 1955
Tom and his men are assigned to repair the life ray.
Episode 7
A Mighty Mite
Sat, Jan 29, 1955
T.J. is constantly teased about his diminutive stature - that is until the Polaris springs a deadly fuel link and only a man T.J.'s size can affect the repairs to save the ship and its crew.
Episode 8
Ace of the Space Lanes
Sat, Feb 5, 1955
Glory hound Roy Cowan is assigned to the Polaris to attempt a new speed record for the Titan run. After his recklessness endangers the ship Cowan flees the vessel, leaving Tom and his shipmates trapped in a deadly debris field within the rings of Saturn.
Episode 9
The Asteroid Station
Sat, Feb 12, 1955
A reporter working for a newspaper opposed to building space stations arrives at an asteroid looking to smear the Solar Guards reputation.
Episode 10
The Grapes of Ganymede
Sat, Feb 19, 1955
Tom, Astro and T.J. are assigned to find the source of the grapes that are poisoning the solar system's colonies.
Episode 11
Assignment: Mercury
Sat, Feb 26, 1955
A mistake by T.J. causes the Polaris to veer into Mercury's atmosphere - and it's deadly temperature.
Episode 12
Smugglers of Death
Sat, Mar 5, 1955
The crew of the Polaris is assigned to capture smugglers of a deadly crystal.
Episode 13
The Mystery of the Missing Mail Ship
Sat, Mar 12, 1955
A blackballed Solar Guard links up with a weapons specialist recently dismissed from the Space Academy to wreak havoc on the solar system's merchant shipping. Tom and his men are assigned to serve as bait to lure the renegades into a trap.
Episode 14
The Gremlin of Space
Sat, Mar 19, 1955 30 mins
As punishment for a series of demerits, the Polaris crew is assigned a month-long tour of duty on cargo detail. Their first shipment is a rambunctious chimpanzee who causes the cadets all sorts of headaches.
Episode 15
Terror in Space
Sat, Mar 26, 1955
Astro suffers psychological trauma after an accident in space and the Space Academy staff fears that the young cadet will never be able to serve as a spaceship officer again. When the Polaris is confronted by a deadly peril, Astro must confront his darkest fears or allow his fellow cadets to perish.
Episode 16
Spaceship of Danger
Sat, Apr 2, 1955
A spaceship captain's plan to scuttle his craft for the insurance money places his passengers, including Tom Corbett and friends, in dire peril.
Episode 17
The Magnetic Asteroid
Sat, Apr 9, 1955 30 mins
The Polaris and the Sirius spaceships are ordered to locate a heavily magnetic asteroid that is disrupting Solar Guard communications and navigation. Their mission is imperiled by T.J.'s feud with the rival crew.
Episode 18
Danger in the Asteroid Belt
Sat, Apr 16, 1955
A routine training flight turns potentially deadly when Tom's vessel becomes trapped in an asteroid belt.
Episode 19
False Alert
Sat, Apr 23, 1955
The Polaris responds to a mayday signal only to discover that the SOS is only a fake designed to lure unwary ships to their doom.
Episode 20
The Space Projectile
Sat, Feb 13, 1954 30 mins
Captain Strong leads the Polaris crew to a robot ship to retrieve some valuable data. When a mechanical function occurs and Captain Strong and T.J. are knocked towards a deadly rendezvous with the white star Sirius, Tom and Astro must work with an obnoxious cadet to rescue to friends.
Episode 21
The Outpost of Terror
Sat, May 7, 1955
The Polaris crew visit a remote station on one of the moons of Neptune and immediately discover a crewman who apparently died of radiation poisoning.
Episode 22
Exercise for Death
Sat, May 14, 1955
The leader of the Solar Guard is less than impressed with the Polaris' crew until Tom and his friends volunteer to destroy a target rocket ship that is out of control and endangering Space Patrol vessels.
Episode 24
The Stowaway
Sat, May 28, 1955
The Polaris' mission to field test a new ship engine is endangered when a young stowaway is discovered on board.
Episode 25
Fight for Survival
Sat, Jun 4, 1955
Tom, Astro and T.J. are delivering a battered spaceship to a Venusian shipyard to be junked when the engines malfunction and the cadets are forced to abandoned ship. The three men land in a remote swamp and, after reuniting manage to find their way to a rescue station. Their relief is short-lived when nearby volcanoes suddenly become active and threatens to kill the cadets with their heat and deadly gas before they can be rescued.
Episode 26
Space Blindess
Sat, Jun 11, 1955
Commander Arkwright agrees to take an astronomy professor on a flight into deep space to get a better view of a supernova, but when the professor ignores the Commander's orders and takes down the ship's ultraviolet protection, he blinds himself and the Commander - the only crew members aboard their ship. Tom and the Polaris' crew are called upon to perform a dangerous rescue.
Episode 27
Comet of Danger
Sat, Jun 18, 1955
A photographer traveling with Tom, Astro and T.J. on a routine mission requests to take close-up pictures of a nearby comet with disastrous results.
Episode 28
The Final Test
Sat, Jun 25, 1955
The cadets are taking their final exams and must pass in order to graduate from the Space Academy. Astro, a genius with a toolbox, freezes taking his nucleonics test and it looks like he may flunk out of the Space Academy. While awaiting his fate, he joins Tom, T.J. and Eric on a flight into deep space and must repair their spaceship's engines when Captain Strong unknowingly fires space torpedoes at their vessel.