1976’s Ark II offered an interesting piece of post-apocalyptic sci fi for its day and has held up better than expected for a Saturday morning entry.
What Is It?
This 70s Saturday morning show followed a group of scientists (and their talking chimpanzee) who travel through post-apocalyptic America in the high-tech vehicle of the title attempting to bring civilization back to the world. The basic premise is put forth in the opening voice-over:
For millions of years, Earth was fertile and rich. Then pollution and waste began to take their toll. Civilization fell into ruin. This is the world of the 25th Century. Only a handful of scientists remain, men who have vowed to rebuild what has been destroyed. This is their achievement: Ark II, a mobile storehouse of scientific knowledge manned by a highly trained crew of young people. Their mission: to bring the hope of a new future to mankind.
Cast: Terry Lester, Jean Marie Hon, Jose Flores
Crew: Ted Post (Creator/Director), Martin Roth (Creator/Writer), Norm Prescott (Executive Producer), Lou Scheimer (Executive Producer)
Aired: CBS, 1976, 1 Season Totaling 15 Episodes
Legacy:
This kid-friendly show may not count as must-watch sci fi TV, but it appealed to fans who could find little else of interest in the way of genre television on the air at that time. And it stands as a nice throwback series from the 70s that had potential and that holds up better than you might expect.
A Closer Look:
Back in the 1970s, there was not much in the way of sci fi TV in Prime Time, and what did show up there rarely lasted long. So genre fans often looked to the weekends when Saturday-morning shows like Star Trek: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, Space Academy, Ark II, and more were either airing new episodes or were slated for eternal reruns. These shows definitely skewed to a younger audience, but several had broader appeal and enough in the way of sci fi elements that older viewers could enjoy them as well. Ark II was one that definitely treads that fine line between an adult and kid’s show, and though it delivered its share of 70s cheesiness, it has dated better than some other genre entries from that time.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world caused by humanity’s own failure to take care of the environment (prophetic indeed!), it offers a society-of-the-week format where the team of the Ark II tries to help the survivors it encounters (no Prime Directive mucking things up here). The show obviously took a more hopeful approach to its sci fi to fit into the Saturday morning schedule, but like Star Trek, that worked out well (and the concept is similar to the “Land Trek” pilots by Gene Roddenberry Genesis II and Planet Earth, more on those at this link). The creative team added some science and sci fi concepts to the show, and the heroes tried to find peaceful ways to resolve conflict. And they managed to work these elements in without pandering too much or becoming too preachy (though there definitely was some of that).
The show had decent stories and competent or better actors, and of course it had the cool high-tech gear. There was the Ark itself, the jetpack, the roamer, and more, all of which helped spice up the show’s mild morality tales. They did also throw in the Saturday-morning-friendly talking monkey, but mostly for comic relief and he is not nearly as annoying as you might expect. And the guest star list was a who’s who of TV and sci fi faces including Jonathan Harris, Malachi Throne, Jim Backus, and even Robby the Robot. All of this came together to make an enjoyable, low-key genre entry that may not count as a sci fi TV classic, but that brings back fond memories from those who watched it in the 70s. And is still worth a look these days.
Cancelled Too Soon?
Sort of. Saturday morning shows at that time were not designed for long runs. If they got a second or third season, it was generally only about six episodes and those would be interspersed with reruns of the first season. Kids will watch the same shows over and over, and those few new episodes make a series seem a little fresher. Ark II did not get that second-year episode boost, but the network continued to rerun the first season for several years. So it did get a decent amount of exposure, and that is in part why it is well remembered by sci fi fans from that era.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Yes. As mentioned, this show holds up much better than you might think, and the concept has plenty of potential. It’s true that it skewed to the younger audience and may seem a bit quaint with its non-violence and science-will-save-the-world themes. But perhaps the reboot/revival could key off of that. I’d love to see this done as a sequel to the original where they have found that peaceful answers don’t always work, especially when humanity has been reduced to a state of nature. But they still have a hope that they can get there and have to work through some moral quandaries where idealism clashes with reality (very similar, in fact, to the approach Gene Roddenberry took with Genesis II). I think it would be a great show, but since Ark II is more of a nostalgic relic from the past it seems unlikely it will get put into the reboot queue unless a high-profile name like J.J. Abrams or Bryan Fuller gets attached to it.
Interesting Facts:
The Ark II vehicle was notorious for breaking down, and the way the windows were placed made it hard to handle because the driver could not easily see outside. And because of the poor visibility, no scenes were filmed at night. The nose of the Ark II was later repurposed as the front of the Seeker spaceship in the Filmation series Space Academy.
Jean Marie Hon would jump over to Man from Atlantis on NBC after this show ended to play the recurring Cetacean crewmember Jane across nine episodes.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series was released on DVD, but that has since gone out of print and is fetching pretty high prices from third-party sellers. It is not currently streaming on any of the major services nor is it available to purchase VOD. You can find episodes on YouTube, though.
