#general urko

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)

[chernobog13]

Screenshot from the 1975 animated series Return to the Planet of the Apes.

[fashioninpaper]

I came across some photos online of the Planet Of The Apes Adventure Set published by Amsco in 1974. It’s based on the Apes TV series released the same year on CBS. Although the photos are small, I can recognize all the main characters.

Like many show of the 1970s and 1980s, the Apes series was a “chase” show. It followed human astronauts Burke and Virdon, along with their chimpanzee friend Galen (played by Roddy McDowall who starting in 4 of the 5 original films).

The humans were trying to find some scientific method to return to the past. But they were chased by orangutan Dr Zaius and gorilla General Urko (played by Mark Lenard who portrayed Spock’s father on Star Trek).

Set pieces include a space ship, Ape Village, and a subway station based on the BART system in San Francisco.

Inexplicably it also includes the underground doomsday bomb and the destroyed Statue of Liberty seen in the films but not the TV series.

[all-action-all-picture]

See The Apes Live! Watch them hunt down and capture the human scourge, er... I mean entertain the audience members!

Urko, Galen and the Astronauts were characters from the TV incarnation of Planet of the Apes as opposed to the movies. The TV series was very popular in the UK despite being cancelled early after a short run in the US in late 1974. Coincidentally I am reliably informed there will be a feature on these live shows in the next issue of Infinity (No. 77, out at the end of September in the UK).

[redbishop37]

General Urko (Mark Lenard) from the Planet of the Apes TV series (1974).

[doraemonmon]

General Urko

[all-action-all-picture]

For those trying to keep track of which Gorilla was in which film General Ursus was in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), played by James Gregory.

Claude Akins played General Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). I don't remember him having the helmet that Ursus and Urko wore though.

Mark Lenard played General Urko (or Chief of Security Urko) in the TV series (1974) and a General Urko was voiced by Thomas Corden in the animated Return to the Planet of the Apes series (1975).

I don't count any of the later movies as their uniforms weren't as good.

[greeneyedmenace]

Science with General Urko