Johnny Jupiter
Encyclopedia
There were two quite different versions of Johnny Jupiter. These early 1950s television programs featured a combination of live action and hand puppets.
Saturday evenings for 30 minutes, from March 21 to June 13, 1953, starred Vaughn Taylor
as an elderly janitor, Ernest P. Duckweather, cleaning-up after midnight in a TV studio. Tinkering with a TV set, he somehow made contact with the planet Jupiter
, and two of its inhabitants, Johnny Jupiter and his colleague B-12, both of whom were hand puppets voiced by series writer Jerry Coopersmith and performed by Carl Harms. The often sharp humor of the series was based on Duckweather trying to explain and justify earth customs to the natives of Jupiter, who could view them on their own TV sets.
As an example, the program covered the US fad for 3-D movies
, which came and went rapidly in 1953. The Jovian natives explain that their own movies were originally in 3-D but rapidly evolved to 7-D before dropping to 1-D, which is the format all Jovians prefer today. Youthful viewers may not have appreciated much of the satire which was the focus of the program; in any case, it had a very short run. Very few kinescope
s of this version of the series have survived.
Candies, appeared on ABC
from September 5, 1953 to May 29, 1954. The concept was totally different. Wright King, as Duckweather,
was now an eager young employee of a TV repair shop; most of each episode consisted of live-action situation comedy involving Duckweather, his boss Horatio Frisby, the boss's daughter Katherine, and one or more guest-stars. The puppets appeared only when Duckweather needed help or advice; the magic TV set now brought in three Jovian hand puppets: Johnny Jupiter; a cube-headed robot, Major Domo; and a cylinder-headed, glasses-wearing Reject the Robot, all voiced by Gil Mack. On at least one episode Reject's brother Defect appeared. (Except for Johnny, the natives of Jupiter were apparently now all robots.) The solution to Duckweather's problem generally involved beaming the bumbling Reject to earth, where he was played by new puppeteer Gene (aka Phil) London wearing a large prop robot suit.
Apart from the robot suit, there was little or nothing in this new series to interest children, and it vanished from the schedule after one 39-episode season. In this second series, Jerry Coopersmith was producer and script editor only.
Copies of the ABC version of the program have survived and have been released on DVD
.
Original Version
The original version, broadcast live on the DuMont Television NetworkDuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
Saturday evenings for 30 minutes, from March 21 to June 13, 1953, starred Vaughn Taylor
Vaughn Taylor (actor)
Vaughn Taylor was an American film and television actor. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.His film credits include Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho and In Cold Blood....
as an elderly janitor, Ernest P. Duckweather, cleaning-up after midnight in a TV studio. Tinkering with a TV set, he somehow made contact with the planet Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, and two of its inhabitants, Johnny Jupiter and his colleague B-12, both of whom were hand puppets voiced by series writer Jerry Coopersmith and performed by Carl Harms. The often sharp humor of the series was based on Duckweather trying to explain and justify earth customs to the natives of Jupiter, who could view them on their own TV sets.
As an example, the program covered the US fad for 3-D movies
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
, which came and went rapidly in 1953. The Jovian natives explain that their own movies were originally in 3-D but rapidly evolved to 7-D before dropping to 1-D, which is the format all Jovians prefer today. Youthful viewers may not have appreciated much of the satire which was the focus of the program; in any case, it had a very short run. Very few kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
s of this version of the series have survived.
Second Version
Another weekly 30-minute version of the series, filmed and sponsored by M&M'sM&M's
M&M's are dragée-like "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated...
Candies, appeared on ABC
American 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...
from September 5, 1953 to May 29, 1954. The concept was totally different. Wright King, as Duckweather,
was now an eager young employee of a TV repair shop; most of each episode consisted of live-action situation comedy involving Duckweather, his boss Horatio Frisby, the boss's daughter Katherine, and one or more guest-stars. The puppets appeared only when Duckweather needed help or advice; the magic TV set now brought in three Jovian hand puppets: Johnny Jupiter; a cube-headed robot, Major Domo; and a cylinder-headed, glasses-wearing Reject the Robot, all voiced by Gil Mack. On at least one episode Reject's brother Defect appeared. (Except for Johnny, the natives of Jupiter were apparently now all robots.) The solution to Duckweather's problem generally involved beaming the bumbling Reject to earth, where he was played by new puppeteer Gene (aka Phil) London wearing a large prop robot suit.
Apart from the robot suit, there was little or nothing in this new series to interest children, and it vanished from the schedule after one 39-episode season. In this second series, Jerry Coopersmith was producer and script editor only.
Copies of the ABC version of the program have survived and have been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
See also
- List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
- List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts