Trivia / Captain Video

• Follow the Leader: The success of Captain Video saw the creation of similar series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (various networks^†(Tom Corbett was one of the six regular shows that managed to air on all four networks [ABC, CBS, DuMont, NBC] during the 1950's.), 1950-1955) and Space Patrol (ABC, 1950-1955). There were often plot similarities between the three series, to the point where Space Patrol was sometimes seen as "Captain Video West" (Video and Tom Corbett originated from New York, Space aired from Los Angeles).
• I Am Not Spock: While testifying on the subject of television violence, the congressmen addressed actor Al Hodge as 'Captain'.
• The Merch: There was Captain Video merchandise such as space helmets, decoder badges, toy rockets and so on, which was advertised through the "Video Ranger messages" on the show. Dave Barry mentioned the "Captain Video Rocket Ring", which he claimed "seemed to have a higher production value than the actual TV show". Said merchandise was a point of contention for Richard Coogan, the original Captain Video, who quit partially because the producers refused to let the cast members have a cut of the licensing revenue.
• Missing Episode: Most of the episodes are gone, since the kinescopes were lost, reprocessed, or dumped into a river. Out of an estimated 1,537 episodes produced, only 24 are known to survive; of those, only five are publicly available on home video, the rest being locked away at the UCLA archives.
• No Budget: As typical of the DuMont output, the series had to work with a severely limited budget. The prop budget was $25/week, resulting in such improvisations as the telephone "communicator" and Army surplus outfit. The actors were paid so little that they made more money from in-character personal appearances than from the show.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Richard Coogan was Captain Video on the first 17 months of the series. Al Hodge assumed the role for the rest of the series. Judd Holdren played the Captain in the movie serial.
  • Dr. Pauli was first played by Bram Nossen, who quit after suffering a nervous breakdown from having to do the show six times a week and was replaced by Hal Conklin. Conklin was in turn replaced by Stephen Elliot in 1954. The change between actors that looked nothing like each other was Hand Waved as Dr. Pauli undergoing plastic surgery to outwit Captain Video.
• Similarly Named Works: Unrelated to Ralph Zavadil's character, Cap'n Video who would do Jackass style stunts on community cable.
• Throw It In!: During a broadcast, a baby elephant that was kept in the studio for an appearance on Manhattan Spotlight (a talk show also broadcast on DuMont) suddenly started trumpeting. The following ad-lib happened:
  Captain Video: What the hell was that?
  Video Ranger: I don't know Captain, but get down, it might be dangerous!
• What Could Have Been: The show was originally intended to be a western movie slot hosted by Captain Video. It was eventually decided to develop an entire show around the would-be host. The usage of cowboy films as stock footage in the Video Ranger Broadcast was due to DuMont having already spent money for the broadcast rights to those films; the perpetually cash-strapped network didn't want that money to go to waste.