During the late 1970s, there was a fad for live-action adventure on Saturday morning TV. Mostly low-budget, sometimes stage-bound, but with lots of cute boys and men for the preteen set. Occasional shirtless shots and some buddy bonding. In the fall of 1977, for instance:
At 8:00: Space Academy (1977-78), starring Jonathan Harris of Lost in Space as the headmaster of an academy for kids with paranormal powers. The main hunk was second-in-command Chris (Ric Carrott, seen here in a later soft core porn flick). But there was also the super-intelligent Paul (Ty Henderson), the super-strong Tee Gar (Brian Tochi), and their mascot, an orphan boy named Loki (Eric Greene).
At 8:30: Skatebirds (1977-78). A Saturday morning ripoff of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, lacking the earlier series’ insightful social commentary or wry wit. But one of the live action segments, Mystery Island, starred the muscular Stephen Parr , the robot from Lost in Space, plus their two teen companions, played by Larry Volk and Lynn Marie Johnston.
At 9:00: Kids from C.A.P.E.R. (1976-78), about four teenagers working for the Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everybody: the leader P.T. (Steve Bonino), muscular Bugs (Cosi Costa), gentle Doomsday (Biff Warren, left), and intellectual Doc (John Lansing). They displayed varying levels of heterosexual interest in the girl of the week, and the blond, muscular Doomsday, none at all.
At 9:30: Search and Rescue (1977-78): the Alpha Team consisted of Dr. Bob Donell (Michael J. Reynolds), Katy (Donann Cavin), Jim (Michael Tough, right), and some specially trained animals
At 10:00: The Red Hand Gang (1977-78), inner city kids who fought crime: leader Frankie (Matthew Laborteaux, center, who would go on to star in Whiz Kids), J.R. (J.R. Miller, right), Lil Bill (Johnn Brogan, second right), and Doc (James Bond III, right).
And there were many others with that I missed.
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