Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers was a 30-minute, weekly CBS-TV network outer space adventure series, broadcast live Saturdays from April 18, 1953 to May 29, 1954. Set in 2153 and all-too-obviously inspired by Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950 - 1955), the series depicted the adventures of fearless Rocket Rangers, who operated from Omega Base, piloting their nuclear-powered space ship Beta throughout the solar system, to battle crime and the weird menace of extraterrestrial life-forms. The three Rangers were curly-haired Rod Brown (Cliff Robertson), prickly Frank Boyd (Bruce Hall) and obese Wilber Wormser (Jack Weston). Their immediate superior was Commander Swift (John Boruff). Director George Gould had also been the director of ABC's Tom Corbett from 1950 to 1952, and he carried with him to CBS several of the writers for that pioneering series, plus its basic concepts, plus the major special effect, an amplifier producing travelling mattes. The very close similarity between Rod Brown and Tom Corbett generated at least one law-suit, which seems to have resulted in the Rod Brown kinescopes never being rebroadcast. For other uses, see CBS (disambiguation). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of stories that were depicted in television, radio, books and newspaper strips of the 1950s. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ... Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of stories that were depicted in television, radio, books and newspaper strips of the 1950s. ... For other uses, see CBS (disambiguation). ... The term kinescope originally referred to a type of early television picture tube. ...

Rod Brown's adventures had a sponsor, Jell-O Instant Pudding. However, there are very few premiums or toys associated with the series, as compared to its rival live space adventure series such as Captain Video, Space Patrol, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Only a Rocket Ranger membership card, and a Rocket Ranger Squadron Charter, have been observed. Captain Video and His Video Rangers was the first of the American outer space television shows, beginning on the DuMont network on June 27, 1949. ... A number of science fiction works have had the title Space Patrol. ... Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of stories that were depicted in television, radio, books and newspaper strips of the 1950s. ...

External links

• Space Hero Files: Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
• Space Heroes of the 1950s
• VARIETY review of first broadcast of Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers