Space Patrol was an old-time radio science fiction serial aimed at juvenile audiences. It ran for 129 episodes from October 1952 to March 1955, though a version of the series was broadcast as early as 1950. Patterned unabashedly after Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, the show had the distinction of being one of the only radio programs to have a concurrently running television counterpart. The same actors even performed on both shows.

The stories followed the adventures of Commander Buzz Corey (Ed Kemmer) of the United Planets Space Patrol and his young sidekick Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborn) — yes, Cadet Happy — as they faced nefarious villians with diabolical schemes. Not surprisingly for the time, some of these villians had Russian- or German-sounding accents. Cmdr. Corey and his allies were aided by such nifty gadgets as "miniature space-o-phones" and "atomolights." Episodes had titles like "Revolt of the Space Rats" and "The Menace of Planet X".

The special effects that were used in these half-hour episodes had to be real. For example, pistols that shot invisible rays were presented by pre-positioning a small explosive charge on the wall. An actor would point the prop at that spot, whereupon the special effects worker would throw the detonation switch. These effects could not have been superimposed on film, for the series was done live. For distribution to distant stations, an image of the screen was filmed; these films are called kinescopes and survive.

The show played directly to kids, and each episode shamelessly merchandised various toys based on the series during their commercial breaks. Even the ads for corporate sponsor Chex Cereals used the show's space opera motif in their pitches.

Naturally, the series lacked the adult sophistication of such shows as X Minus One, which focused on adapting short fiction by notable genre names as Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. But as a throwback to the sort of "golden age" space opera popularized in the 1930s, the days of science fiction's infancy, by pioneering magazine editor Hugo Gernsback, Space Patrol is prized by OTR collectors today as one of radio's most enjoyable adventures.

Volume 1 Episode List

00.00.00 Bees 00.00.00 Kiddie Record 52-10-25 The Hole in Empty Space 52-11-08 The City of the Sun 52-11-15 Queen of Space 52-11-22 The Giant Bubble 52-11-29 The Electronic Buglar 52-12-06 The Space Shark 52-12-13 The Search for Asteroid X 52-12-20 The Lady from Venus 52-12-27 The Last Voyage of the Lonesome L 53-01-03 The Brain Bank and the Space Bino 53-01-10 The Sleep Walker 53-01-24 The Scavenger of Space 53-01-31 The Top Secret D-Ray 53-02-07 Crash Landing 53-02-14 The Mysterious Meteor 53-02-21 The Moon Beetles 53-02-28 The Strange Gift of the New Star 53-03-07 The Seed Crystals of Zeldabran 53-03-14 The Magic Space Pictures 53-03-21 The Caverns of Venus 53-03-28 The Forgotten City 53-04-25 Prisoner of Pluto 53-05-02 Venus Space Factory 53-05-09 Cosmic Ray Detector 53-05-16 Secret of Sub-Level 7 53-05-23 Treachery in Outer Space 53-05-30 The Immortal Brain 53-06-20 The Industructible Germ 53-06-26 The Treasure of Planetoid 60 53-08-01 Sleeping Demon of Saturn 53-08-08 Trouble Aboard the Super Nova 53-08-15 Peril over Jupiter 53-08-22 The Menace of Planet X 53-08-29 The Trap on Planet X 53-09-05 The Valley of Dread 53-09-12 Escape from Planet X 53-09-19 The Spys from Planet X 53-09-26 Target Jupiter 53-10-03 Return to Planet X 53-10-10 On the Ice Cap of Planet X 53-10-17 Rescue from Planet X 53-10-24 The Secret of Adargo Ruins 53-10-31 Iron Eaters of Planet X 53-11-07 Cyclone in Outer Space 53-11-14 Under the Sea of Planet X 53-11-21 The Sea Monster of Planet X 53-11-28 Revolt of the Space Rats 53-12-05 Baccarati's Secret Weapon

53-12-12 The Lost Condor 53-12-19 Venus Tulania Mystery 53-12-26 Lost Dimension 54-01-02 Wistful Wizard of Neptune's Moon 54-01-09 The Claw of Venus 54-01-23 Martian Masquerade 54-01-30 Treasure of Mount Rocob 54-02-04 The Invisib 54-02-13 Revenge of Dr Yeager 54-02-27 Serpents of Saturn 54-03-13 Test for Survival 54-03-20 Secret of Dr Borodeck 54-03-27 The Zero Ray 54-04-03 Super Brain of Balmer Castro 54-04-10 Tests of the Xk3 54-04-17 Image of Evil 54-05-08 Captain Haggart's Planetoid 54-05-22 Strange Voyager 54-05-29 The Red Demon of Venus 54-06-05 Mystery of the Masked Martians 54-06-12 The Tattooed Atom 54-06-19 Cavern of Fear 54-06-26 Race Against Time 54-07-03 Robots of Vortena 54-07-10 Trial by Terror 54-08-14 The Counterfeit Atom 54-08-21 Formula for Crime 54-09-11 Design for Disaster 54-09-18 Prisoners of Tiranna 54-09-25 Invasion from Tiranna 54-10-02 Voice from the Future 54-10-30 Realm of the Robot 54-11-06 Watchman of Wormic 54-11-13 The Frightened Robot 54-12-04 Invisible Enemy 54-12-11 City of Hidden Doom 54-12-18 Escape from Neptune 54-12-25 Lost Galaxy 55-01-01 Ambush in Space 55-01-08 Prison Planet 55-01-15 Crown of Dardeda 55-01-22 Shadow Chardu 55-01-29 Planet of Discord 55-02-05 Conquest of Dargeeda 55-02-12 The Hermit of Pluto 55-02-19 The Time Pirates 55-02-26 Voyage to the Future 55-03-05 Monster from the Past 55-03-12 Weeds of Despair 55-03-19 Fugitive from Tolarma