Production: USA, 1964-67

Cast: Richard Basehart, David Hedison, Robert Dowdell, Terry Becker, Henry Kulky, Paul Trinka, Del Monroe.

 The first Irwin Allen TV show, as one of his feature film sequel.
In fact in year 1961 a movie with the same title was released.
Starring admiral Herriman Nelson (Walter Pidgeon, who had already been prof. Morbius in “The forbidden planet”), inventor and commander of futuristic submarine “Seaview”.
Earth was in a great danger: Van Allen belt was burning and the planet was over-heated, but the scientist- admiral had the right idea. Firing a nuclear missile from a particular position (the Challenger deep in Mariana trench) in a particular moment. The United Nations reject the plan, considered as crazy, but Nelson decides to work it and leaves aboard the Seaview, chased by fleets from all the world, obstacled by mistrust from his crew and his first officer Crane (Robert Sterling), and by two saboteurs (Joan Fontaine and Michael Ansara). Against all odds, the Seaview succeeds in firing the missile in the right moment, saving the world. In the cast there were also Peter Lorre and popular singer Frankie Avalon.
The script was not particularly original or brilliant, but the movie was well-made, with good visual effect, and the result was a pleasant view.

So three years later Allen decided to make a TV show using the same characters and backgrounds.
Again the stars were the “Seaview” submarine and its crew, (with a necessarily “poorer” casting): admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart, who too suffered of claustrophobia...), captain Crane (David Hedison), lieutenant Morton (Robert Dowdell).
In their adventures (which took place between the ‘70s and the ‘80s, which then seemed quite far) they met pirates, saboteurs, spies, monsters and very important passengers like admirals, ministers and similars.
The show was aired by television network ABC, which in year 1966 would broadcast another Allen serie, “The time tunnel”.

Critics never thought very much of this show, which was really rather poor; anyway, four seasons were made (the first in black and white, the following ones in color), and this became the longest Irwin Allen’s show, although it was not really the best or the most original.
Stories and characters were very predictable; moreover, Allen had a preference for all the worst clichès of television science fiction like monsters, explosions, fights and chases, which often frustrated the best intentions of the scripts writers.
Visual effects were quite good, similar to the ones of the contemporary and rather similar Gerry Anderson. Maybe the less interesting thing was the Seaview design, not very original or cool.
The best luck was using the movie backgrounds, which costed as the entire show..

110 episodes, 32 b/n, 78 color, 60’

First season

1)   Eleven Days to Zero
2)   The City Beneath the Sea
3)   The Fear-Makers
4)   The Mist Of Silence
5)   The Price of Doom
6)   The Sky is Falling

7)   Turn Back the Clock
8)   The Village of Guilt
9)   Hot Line
10)  Submarine Sunk Here
11)  The Magnus Beam
12)  No Way Out
13)  The Blizzard Makers
14)  The Ghost of Moby Dick
15)  Long Live the King
16)  Hail to the Chief
17)  The Last Battle

18)  Mutiny
19)  Doomsday
20)  The Invaders
21)  The Indestructible Man
22)  The Buccaneer
23)  The Human Computer
24)  The Saboteur
25)  Cradle of the Deep
26)  The Amphibians
27)  The Exile
28)  The Creature

29)  The Enemies
30)  The Secret of the Loch
31)  The Condemned
32)  The Traitor

Second season

33)   Jonah and the Whale
34)   Time Bomb
35)   ...And Five of Us Are Left
36)   The Cyborg

37)   Escape from Venice
38)   The Left-Handed Man
39)   The Deadliest Game
40)   Leviathan
41)   The Peacemaker
42)   The Silent Saboteurs
43)   The X Factor
44)   The Machines Strike Back
45)   The Monster from Outer Space
46)   Terror on Dinosaur Island
47)   Killers of the Deep

48)   Deadly Creature Below!
49)   The Phantom Strikes
50)   The Sky's On Fire
51)   Graveyard of Fear
52)   The Shape of Doom
53)   Dead Men's Doubloons
54)   The Death Ship
55)   The Monster's Web
56)   The Menfish
57)   The Mechanical Man
58)   The Return of the Phantom


Third season

59)   Monster from the Inferno
60)   Werewolf
61)   The Day the World Ended
62)   Night of Terror
63)   The Terrible Toys
64)   Day of Evil
65)   Deadly Waters
66)   Thing from Inner Space

67)   The Death Watch
68)   Deadly Invasion
69)   The Haunted Submarine
70)   The Plant Man
71)   The Lost Bomb
72)   The Brand of the Beast
73)   The Creature
74)   Death from the Past
75)   The Heat Monster
76)   The Fossil Men
77)   The Mermaid

78)   The Mummy
79)   Shadowman
80)   No Escape from Death
81)   Doomsday Island
82)   The Wax Men
83)   Deadly Cloud
84)   Destroy Seaview!

Fourth season

85)   Fires of Death

86)   The Deadly Dolls
87)   Cave of the Dead
88)   Journey with Fear
89)   Sealed Orders
90)   Man of Many Faces
91)   Fatal Cargo
92)   Time Lock
93)   Rescue
94)   Terror
95)   A Time to Die
96)   Blow Up

97)   Deadly Amphibians
98)   The Return of Blackbeard
99)   Terrible Leprechaun
100)  The Lobster Man
101)   Nightmare
102)   The Abominable Snowman
103)   Secret of the Deep
104)   Man-Beast
105)   Savage Jungle
106)   Flaming Ice
107)   Attack!

108)   Edge of Doom (L’orlo della fine)
109)   The Death Clock (Orologio mortale)
110)   No Way Back (Nessuna via d’uscita)







 




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