Techtite DVD Reviews

The Series: No sooner did Star Wars mania strike in 1977, then suddenly every TV network needed science fiction shows left and right. It makes perfect sense that one attempt at such a show for the kids, would be a re-imagining of the classic 1950's sci-fi serials. Yet who would've thought that a "mere" Saturday morning live-action series would be done with such flair, that it retains a strong cult fan following to this very day? Such is the case for the heroic Jason of Star Command.

The "series" was originally aired in 15-minute clips during what was called "Tarzan and the Super 7." This was a batch of cartoons and live-action shorts ranging from the campy animated Tarzan series to the comic book friendly Batman series (FIlmation's 1970's cartoon, not to be confused with WB's "Batman: The Animated Series"...!). If you want classic 1970's camp: how about "Super Stretch and Micro Woman"...? These "Super Seven" were nothing if not imaginative.

Yet with Jason of Star Command you had something special. Though I'm sure you've heard this sales pitch before: the serial format of Jason's first season had a definitive beginning, middle, and end. Though a cliffhanger concluded each prior episode, by the time the season finale aired, the story actually ended. No "tune in next season to see if the space station blows up or not." Not even most "older-audience," network TV shows are considerate enough to end the stories they started.

Pun not intended; a "stellar" cast certainly helped. Craig Littler made for a perfect "Jason." His "Commander" was none other than James Doohan, better known as "Scotty" from Star Trek. His ally in battle was often Captain Nicole Davidoff, played by All My Children's Susan O'Hanlon. The enjoyably flighty Professor Parsafoot was played by frequently seen character actor Charlie Dell. Then there was Sid Haig as the series' arch-rival, "Dragos." He may have hammed up his role, though he never did so condescendingly. It was obvious he just was having fun with the role...and in the process, we had fun seeing him play the role.

The good news: Jason's first season, during its "Super Seven" years, was successful enough to earn the series its own separate time slot, as its own "individual" series. In other words: among eight shows of "Tarzan" and his "Super Seven," Jason was the only one that warranted its own listing in TV Guide. It's fan base was that strong by then. Cool. Even cooler: its second (and sadly, last) season is offered in this DVD set as well. This is a "Complete Series" set...!

Why are the distributors of this DVD set so generous as to offer both seasons in one? Well, admittedly, it's because season two was not as good as the first. The trouble was that most of the cast only signed on for this series as a one-season deal. So when season two came along, Doohan and O'Hanlon were long gone. With all due respects to the actors who played their "replacements": the show was in essence replacing two characters we'd grown to love, with two characters we barely knew at all. To be fair, it would've been hard for anyone to fill the shoes of "Scotty from Star Trek," though suffice to say: a blue faced alien certainly didn't.

Be this as it may; every episode of the series was campy fun, and now the series is preserved in its entirety on three DVDs. There's even a surprising amount of extras included, like a video of Jason himself, Craig Littler, in a brand new interview...though I'm getting ahead of myself. On to the extras...

The DVD Extras!: When the bonus features on a DVD set cover one-third of the back of the box; you know that you're holding a DVD by its fans, for other fans. I particularly love the "reunion" featurettes on DVD sets of this kind! The Adventures of Jason of Star Command may be "just" a half hour, and yet it is a brand new documentary, which includes many amusing anecdotes from the cast as they look "today."

Three episodes get the audio commentary treatment. Two "cast" commentaries are offered for the first-season episodes "Attack of the Dragonship" and "The Disappearing Man." Craig Littler (Jason) is on hand, as well as executive producer Lou Scheimer and John Berwick, who played "Matt Prentiss" in an episode of an earlier sci-fi series called Space Academy. He played "Matt" in two episodes of this series, apparently as a sort of cohesion with the series plot (Jason's "Star Command" is supposedly a covert ops sort of deal within the same space station as the "space academy"). Both of these commentary tracks, as well as the following one, are "hosted" by Andy Mengels, who one must assume is one of many big fans of the show.

Not to be outdone: a third audio commentary is offered for season two episode "Beyond the Stars!" with visual effects supervisor Chuck Comisky, stop motion animator Jim Aupperle, and live action creature effects artist John Carl Beuchler. Clearly this episode was very visually stunning, and the folks who made it so ---in the low-budget, pre-CGI world of 1970's television--- deserve special recognition.

Additional extras include a special effects demo reel, PC/Mac compatible scripts for all episodes (just put the disc in your computer's DVD drive), and four separate photo galleries for the series promotional photos, behind the scenes photos, the "reunion" hosted for this DVD's release, and most amusing of all: a rare look at the conceptual artwork for a proposed animated series based on this live-action show. There are also some hidden surprise "easter eggs" (see sidebar), though the point is that this is a great DVD set for fans...and for new fans as well.

	Final Rating : Small Crater. Another amusing staple of the "Star Wars mania" in the late 1970's, preserved excellently on multiple DVDs.
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Techtite's DVD Reviews!

Jason of Star Command

(The Complete Series)

Review by Techtite