Expedition!
Encyclopedia
Expedition! was a travel documentary television series that was broadcast in the United States on ABC-TV Tuesday nights in the 1960-61 television season and Monday nights in the 1961-62 television season.
hosted episodes that documented journeys to various remote regions of the world, looking for such unusual things as Abominable Snowmen, African bushmen, unfriendly jungle tribes in Brazil, ruined cities of antiquity, and strange animals in their natural habitat. Episodes varied, but all focused on geological, geophysical, biological, anthropological, or archaeological themes.
7–7:30 PM on Tuesday nights in its first season and on Monday nights in its second season. The first program was broadcast September 20, 1960; the last show was broadcast April 27, 1962. The show received a Thomas Alva Edison award for science education, an Ohio State award for broadcast journalism, and a 1961 Peabody Award
for Television Excellence.
Fred Steiner
, a well-known composer of music for television shows from the 1950s through the 1990s, composed the background music for many of the episodes.
Summary
Producer John D. CraigJohn D. Craig
John D. Craig was an American businessman, writer, soldier, deep-sea diver, Hollywood stunt man, film producer, and television host. He pioneered deep-sea diving as a profession and as an industry from the 1930s on, and filmed aerial combat over Europe during World War II...
hosted episodes that documented journeys to various remote regions of the world, looking for such unusual things as Abominable Snowmen, African bushmen, unfriendly jungle tribes in Brazil, ruined cities of antiquity, and strange animals in their natural habitat. Episodes varied, but all focused on geological, geophysical, biological, anthropological, or archaeological themes.
Production Details
The show was sponsored by the Ralston Purina Company, and was broadcast on the ABC television networkAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
7–7:30 PM on Tuesday nights in its first season and on Monday nights in its second season. The first program was broadcast September 20, 1960; the last show was broadcast April 27, 1962. The show received a Thomas Alva Edison award for science education, an Ohio State award for broadcast journalism, and a 1961 Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for Television Excellence.
Fred Steiner
Fred Steiner
Fred Steiner was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Perry Mason and The Bullwinkle Show...
, a well-known composer of music for television shows from the 1950s through the 1990s, composed the background music for many of the episodes.
Episodes in the 1960-61 Season
Twenty-six episodes were produced and broadcast in the 1960-61 television season.The Frozen Continent
- Broadcast September 20, 1960, this episode presented geophysical information about the South Pole region, along with documentation of winter life in Antarctica. The actual expedition was the scientific exploration of Antarctica under the aegis of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), running from June 1957 through December 1958.
Operation Noah's Ark
- Broadcast September 27, 1960, this episode was based on the book of the same name, published earlier that year, by Charles Lagus, on his work as cameraman for David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
during the late 1950s when Attenborough hosted and narrated the seminal BBC nature documentary series Zoo QuestZoo QuestZoo Quest was a series of multi-part nature documentaries broadcast on BBC television between 1954 and 1963. It was the first major programme to feature David Attenborough....
. The subject was the evacuation of African wildlife from jungleland about to be flooded due to construction of a dam.
Journey To The Roof Of The World
- Broadcast October 11, 1960, this episode was about TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
Men Against the Mountains
- Broadcast October 18, 1960, this episode was about the dangers of mountain climbing, focusing on the deaths of climbers on Mount Blanc, the MatterhornMatterhornThe Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
, and JungfrauJungfrauThe Jungfrau is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps, situated between the cantons of Valais and Bern in Switzerland...
in the European Alps.
3000 Years Under The Sea
- Broadcast November 6, 1960, this episode focused on a search for a ship that sank off the coast of Turkey thousands of years ago. The expedition, in 1959, and organized by Sam Waterman was the first-ever underwater archaeological expedition to Asia Minor to film a Bronze Age shipwreck.
Land Of The Dying Ghosts
- Broadcast November 22, 1960, this episode was about Greenland, and the struggle to find food and survive.
Lost Kingdoms Of Arabia
- Broadcast November 29, 1960, this episode documented the unearthing of TimnaTimnaTimna is an ancient city in Yemen, the capital of the Qataban kingdom; it is distinct from a city in Southern Israel that shares the same name....
, the capital city of the pre-Christian kingdom of QatabanQatabanQataban was one of the ancient Yemeni kingdoms. Its heartland was located in the Baihan valley. Like some other Southern Arabian kingdoms it gained great wealth from the trade of frankincense and myrrh incense which were burned at altars...
, by an expedition researching the ancient spice caravan routes of Southern Arabia. This expedition to Yemen, led by Wendell Phillips of the American Foundation for the Study of Man (AFSM), and running from 1950-1952, was the first major archaeological trek to the area in modern times.
Survivors of the Ice Age
- Broadcast December 13, 1960, this episode focused on the musk oxMusk OxThe muskox is an Arctic mammal of the family Bovidae, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season...
.
Last Of The Arctic Nomads
- Broadcast December 20, 1960, this episode focused on the reindeer herders of Lapland.
Weavers Of Death
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961, this episode, based on the book of the same name, focused on the everyday lives and customs of the BedouinBedouinThe Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
.
War Clubs Of the Amazon
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961, this episode was based on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article of the same name about warrior tribes living deep in the jungles along the Amazon River in Brazil.
Vanishing Muskox
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961, and focused on efforts to preserve the muskox as a viable species.
Lost World Of The Kalahari
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960 and June 1, 1961, this episode was a summarization of the six-hour BBC-TV series of the same name, which had been based on the book of the same name by Laurens van der PostLaurens van der PostSir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and...
, about the San natives of south-central Africa.
Saga Of The Triton
- This episode was broadcast February 14, 1961, and covered Operation SandblastOperation SandblastOperation Sandblast was the code name for the first submerged circumnavigation of the world executed by the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered radar picket submarine in 1960 while under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach, USN...
: the underwater circumnavigation of the globe by the US Navy first-generation nuclear-powered submarine USS TritonUSS TritonUSS Triton may refer to:, a tug in commission from 1889 to 1930, a tug that served briefly during 1918, a submarine commissioned in 1940 and sunk in 1943, later SSN-586, a submarine in commission from 1959 to 1969See also...
, starting February 24, 1960 and ending April 25, 1960. The trip covered 26723 nautical miles (49,491 km) in 60 days and 21 hours, crossing the Equator on four different occasions.
Man's First Winter At The South Pole
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960 and June 1, 1961, this episode was based on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article of the same name in the April, 1958 issue about IGY research in Antarctica.
Death Rites Of The Camayura
- This episode was broadcast March 7, 1961, and documented the death rites of the Camayura Indians, a tribe living a Stone Age life on Brazil's Upper Xingu RiverXingu RiverThe Xingu River , also called Rio Xingu, is a 1,230-mile long, river in north Brazil; it is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River.-Description and history:...
.
Russian Whale Hunt
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961.
Moon Temple Of Sheba
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960 and June 1, 1961, this episode presented more material from the expedition that had been the basis of the "Lost Kingdoms Of Arabia" episode above.
Invisible World Of The Deep
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961.
Cliff Dwellers Of The Arctic
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961, and documents the lives of the Aseuluk, a small tribe of Inupiat who inhabit King Island in the Behring Strait off the coast of western Alaska.
World Of The Penguins
- Broadcast between December 31, 1960 and June 1, 1961, this episode covered the expeditions of Dr. William Slater, who filmed and studied the life cycle of the penguins in the Falklands. Besides showing the life and struggle of individual penguins, he also showed the answer to the question of how the penguins identify their own chicks in a large group.
Return To The Stone Age
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961.
Flight To The Giants
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961.
Conquest Of Dhaulagiri
- This episode was broadcast between December 31, 1960, and June 1, 1961, and documented leader Max Eiselin and his Swiss team in their successful mountaineering climb in 1960 of the Himalayan peak DhaulagiriDhaulagiriDhaulagiri is Earth's seventh highest mountain at ; one of fourteen over eight thousand metres. Dhaulagiri was first climbed May 13, 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian expedition....
, at that time the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.
Episodes in the 1961-62 Season
Twenty-two episodes were produced and broadcast in the 1961-62 television season.Africa's Animal Kingdom
- This episode was broadcast September 18, 1961, and contained footage of elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, white rhino, impala, zebras, springbok, and many more animals native to Africa.
Water People Of Burma
- This episode was broadcast September 25, 1961, and documented the nomadic lives of the MokenMokenThe Moken , are an Austronesian ethnic group with about 2,000 to 3,000 members who maintain a nomadic, sea-based culture. They speak their own language which belongs to the Austronesian language family.-Nomenclature:They refer to themselves as Moken...
people who live their entire lives on small thatch-covered wooden boats that travel along the coasts of Burma and Thailand.
Sacred Well Of Sacrifice
- This episode was broadcast October 9, 1961, and documented research being done at the Mayan ruins containing the Sacred CenoteSacred CenoteThe Sacred Cenote refers to a noted cenote at the pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in the northern Yucatán Peninsula...
at Chichen ItzaChichen ItzaChichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
, Mexico.
Treasure Of The Sacred Well
- This episode was broadcast October 16, 1961, and continued the previous week's episode coverage of the research being done at Mayan ruins.
Valley Of Shangri-La
- This episode, broadcast November 20, 1961, explored a hidden valley in the Himalayas that likely inspired James Hilton's Lost Horizon.
Menace Of The Moving Glacier
- This episode, broadcast November 27, 1961, was a continuation of the previous week's episode on the true story of the valley of Shangri-La.
Journey To The Lost World
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, focused on a South American cave exploration led by Stanley Jeeves in the British colony British GuianaBritish GuianaBritish Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(now known as the independent nation of GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
), on the Caribbean coast of South America. The expedition was later documented in a 1965 book of the same name by Jeeves.
Saga Of Sea Dragon / Under the Ice
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, documented the voyage of the USS SeadragonUSS Seadragon (SSN-584)USS Seadragon , a , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the seadragon, a small fish commonly called the dragonet....
, a nuclear-powered US Navy submarine on its underwater traverse of the Arctic ice cap. The submarine departed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire on August 1, 1960, and, heading north, traveled from Atlantic to Pacific in two weeks, surfacing at the North Pole midway through the journey.
Land Divers Of Pentecost
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, was the first American re-broadcast of an episode of the 1960 BBC television series The People of ParadiseThe People of ParadiseThe People of Paradise is a six-part documentary film series produced and presented by David Attenborough. The series exhibits the people and geography of Oceania; particularly, of Fiji and Tonga. BBC1 transmitted The People of Paradise in 1960....
, produced and narrated by David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. The subject was the "land divers" of Pentecost IslandPentecost IslandPentecost Island is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. It lies due north of capital Port Vila. Pentecost Island is known as Pentecôte in French and Pentikos in Bislama. The island was known in its native languages by names such as Vanu Aroaroa, although these...
of the South Pacific nation of VanuatuVanuatuVanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
: young men who jumped from tall wooden platforms with vines tied to their ankles as a test of courage, the inspiration for modern-day bungee jumpingBungee jumpingBungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...
.
Challenge Of The Pamirs, or Challenge of the Seven Peaks
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, documented the 1950s explorations of the Pamir MountainsPamir MountainsThe Pamir Mountains are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World" a probable...
(also called "The Roof of the World"), a mountain range in central Asia overlapping several countries.
Behind The Walls Of Kano
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, documented the ancient history of the city of KanoKanoKano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
in Nigeria, which had only just become an independent nation October 1, 1960.
Firewalkers Of Fiji
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, was the first American re-broadcast of an episode by the same name of the 1960 BBC television series The People of ParadiseThe People of ParadiseThe People of Paradise is a six-part documentary film series produced and presented by David Attenborough. The series exhibits the people and geography of Oceania; particularly, of Fiji and Tonga. BBC1 transmitted The People of Paradise in 1960....
, produced and narrated by David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. The episode documented the legendary firewalkers of Beqa Island, Fiji.
Socotra: Forgotten Island
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, documented the Oxford expeditions, headed by Douglas BottingDouglas BottingDouglas Botting is an English explorer, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists Gavin Maxwell and Gerald Durrell . He was the inspiration behind and writer of the BBC comedy show The Black Safari, a role reversal comedy show with Africans touring England...
, into the Yemni island group of SocotraSocotraSocotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...
in the Indian Ocean in 1956.
Cliffs Of The Dead
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, documented burial practices in Sagada, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, where coffins for the dead of the Kankanaey tribal people are crafted from century-old pine trees, over which death rituals are performed before the coffins are taken to their final resting places, suspended along the local limestone cliffs.
Cargo Cult
- This episode, broadcast between December 31, 1961 and April 27, 1962, was the first American re-broadcast of an episode by the same name of the 1960 BBC television series The People of ParadiseThe People of ParadiseThe People of Paradise is a six-part documentary film series produced and presented by David Attenborough. The series exhibits the people and geography of Oceania; particularly, of Fiji and Tonga. BBC1 transmitted The People of Paradise in 1960....
, produced and narrated by David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. The subject was the tribal worship called "Cargo Cult"Cargo cultA cargo cult is a religious practice that has appeared in many traditional pre-industrial tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures. The cults focus on obtaining the material wealth of the advanced culture through magic and religious rituals and practices...
, as practised at Sulphur Bay, Fiji.
External links
- 1960 webpage (under '1960/61 Fall Season' heading) of the TVSEASONS website
- EXPEDITION webpage of the TVTANGO website