Product Description

After their spacecraft travels through a time warp, two astronauts (Ron Harper, James Naughton) from 1981 crash-land back on Earth in the year 3085 - a time when intelligent apes rule and humans have been reduced to servants or pets. Captured by the apes and sentenced to death, they are saved by a curious chimpanzee name Galen (Roddy McDowall). But now all three are on the run, trying to keep one step ahead of the gorilla army led by General Urko (Mark Lenard), who is determined to kill the renegades.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64470 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 644 minutes

Amazon.com
Those immersed in the Planet of the Apes universe will go bananas for this DVD-only boxed set containing all 14 episodes of this obscure 1974 TV series based on the 1968 sci-fi classic. Ron Harper and James Naughton star as two astronauts who crash-land on the simian-ruled planet. Roddy McDowall (Cornelius in the Apes films) is Emmy-worthy as "renegade ape" Galen, who befriends them and helps them elude capture by the relentless General Urko. At its best, this series presented thoughtful stories in which the fugitives bridged the human-ape gap ("The Deception"). Of special interest is the episode "The Liberators," which was never broadcast during the series' fleeting run. Notable guest stars include Marc "Beastmaster" Singer ("The Gladiators"), Roscoe Lee Browne ("Tomorrow's Tide"), Sondra Locke ("The Cure"), and a pre-Bad News Bears Jackie Earle Haley ("The Legacy"). --Donald Liebenson

From the Back Cover
It changed the face of television forever. Based on the enormously popular and successful Planet of the Apes movie, the 1974 TV series has become a true cult classic. Now all 14 episodes (including "The Liberator," which never aired during the show's original run) have been compiled and are available to own for the first time.

After their spacecraft travels through a time warp, two astronauts (Ron Harper, James Naughton) from 1981 crash-land back on Earth in the year 3085-a time when intelligent apes rule and humans have been reduced to servants or pets. Captured by the apes and sentenced to death, they are saved by a curious chimpanzee named Galen (Roddy McDowall). But now all three are on the run, trying to keep one step ahead of the gorilla army led by General Urko (Mark Lenard), who is determined to kill the renegades.

Customer Reviews

A Great Series That Was Cancelled Much Too Early!
After the success of five Planet of The Apes motion pictures, it was decided to try Television next, casting Roddy McDowall in the lead role as the sympathetic chimpanzee, Galen (the ape role to which McDowall professed as his favorite in later interviews). Ron Harper & James Naughton were cast as astronaut's Alan Virdon and Peter J. Burke who's spaceship gets caught in a time warp, transporting them 2000 years into the future...a world ruled by apes. Unlike the film series, humans in this time period were able to speak. The TV series had a very unique way of discussing very important topics such as racism, loyalty, honor, as well as the value of ape/human friendship, and many more. Unfortunately the series was cancelled after only 13 broadcasts (having something to do with the fact that CBS put the show up against "Sanford and Son" & "Cheecho and The Man", two of the most popular shows on television at that time..very unwise indeed). It was only many years later that the show found new life when many episodes were cut and spliced together to form a sort of "Movie Length" that began airing along with TV broadcasts of the theatrical films. Many people began to realize just how good a show Planet of The Apes truly was. Now, for the very first time (with the exception of Australia), the complete series is available for home viewing..on DVD no less, with the added bonus of an additional episode that never aired originally ("The Liberator"). I have viewed all 14 episodes in this DVD box set and all I can say is "BRAVO! Fox has done it again!" Now don't expect the picture and sound quality to be tremendous, although the picture is very decent and the sound, though presented in Mono, isn't bad either. But considering it's only a TV series, I really wasn't expecting any heavy duty remastering to take place here. There are four episodes per disc, except for #4 which has two episodes, plus 2 bonus trailers (not indicated on the back of the box) for Planet of The Apes The Evolution Box Set & Planet of The Apes The Tim Burton Film Version. See for yourself why many consider this show a cult classic. There were only a few things I never understood about it. In the first episode ("Escape From Tomorrow") Virdon (Ron Harper) goes back to the wrecked ship to obtain a small disc that supposedly contains vital information that can only be accessed by a computer, which they begin to search for. But after episode two, this whole idea was forgotten & abandoned, which never really made sense to me because in episode five ("The Legacy") a computer is found underground in a city of ruins. The other thing that bothered me was all the times we see Virdon & Burke surprise attack an ape and then never bother to take his rifle from him. You'll notice it many times in the show (though sometimes they do take one now and then). But this is small potatoes...the series is wonderful. The only sad thing is we'll never see how it would've truly ended: Would Virdon & Burke ever get back home? Would Galen come too? Or would they revolutionize the ape ruled world so that apes and humans would live as equals? There were so many ways the series could've gone. But don't let these original 14 episodes pass you by. The set may be short on extra features, but considering the price you pay for 14 episodes (think about how much Paramount charges for the Star Trek Original TV Series and they only give you two episodes per disc), you more than get your money's worth.

Planet Of The Apes The TV Series - A Cult Classic!

Now if only Fox would release the animated series :-)

Highly under rated series gets a new life
I was shocked to see this title announced, especially from Fox. I have nothing against Fox, but their focus has been the release of their high profile television programs on DVD. Of course, the unanticipated success of the EVOLUTION set and the release of a theatrical "reimagining" may have helped some smart executive take a shot at this series.

The plot of the series is basically the same as the first APES film. A ship crashes and two astronauts have to survive on a planet dominated by talking apes. Roddy McDowall stars a Galen, a sympathetic chimpanze who helps them. Mark Leonard (from STAR TREK) plays a gorilla who is out to stop the humans.

The Fox Movie Channel has played some cut up episodes of this show as movies. The picture quality was terrible. However, I'm sure Fox has cleaned these episodes for the DVD release (and the BEHIND THE PLANET OF THE APES documentary would indicate that there are some excellent film sources out there.).

While the show was a bit repetitive (a problem with most adventure series), it was a fairly serious science fiction television series with a focus on the characters. The humans could talk on the show, so it bears a small similarity to the 2001 film. Sadly, the show was cancelled after 13 episodes. Even the original Star Trek really didn't get rolling until the second half of the first season.

IT'S ABOUT TIME!
First let me say I believe this is the first time ever 20th century fox has released the t.v. series on home video, and better yet--it's on DVD! This television series I feel is very underrated. I watched this show when I was a kid and I felt all the episodes were very worthy short stories. The series is about two astronauts that wind up on the PLANET OF THE APES! The series timeline is supposed to be a few thousand years before the first movie! The astronauts are played by RON HARPER & JAMES NAUGHTON! Of course, RODDY MCDOWALL plays Galen and MARK LEONARD(Sarek of "STAR TREK")plays Urko, leader of the gorrila apes. Every episode is done very well and should be in your collection if you're a fan of THE PLANET OF THE APES at all. One of the episodes even has a young MARC SINGER(V, THE BEASTMASTER)! All in all, a very fine series, despite what the critics thought at the time! Buy it today!