Mystery Island
Three teens and a robot stranded on a mad scientist's island.
Mystery Island is a live-action science fiction adventure television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired as a segment on The Skatebirds from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978, on CBS. In the fall of 1979, the show returned to CBS in a shortened half-hour version on Sunday mornings until January 25, 1981. In September 2005, episodes resurfaced on Boomerang as part of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 10 minutes (per episode)
- Director
- Hollingsworth Morse
- Producer
- Terry Morse, Jr.
- Executive producers
- Joseph Barbera; William Hanna
- Starring
- Stephen Parr
- Lynn Marie Johnston
- Larry Volk
- Michael Kermoyan
- Voices
- Frank Welker
- Company
- Hanna-Barbera Productions
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Summary
Three young people—pilot Chuck Kelly, computer expert Sue Corwin, her younger brother Sandy, and their robot P.O.P.S.—are stranded on a remote island after the mad scientist Dr. Strange uses a projector beam ray to crash their plane. Dr. Strange wants to capture P.O.P.S. for his world domination plans. Sixteen ten-minute episodes were produced, each ending with a cliffhanger resolved in the next installment. The series closely resembled Sid and Marty Krofft's 1976 live-action show Dr. Shrinker, which also featured a trio whose plane is brought down on an island by a different mad scientist.
Characters
Chuck Kelly, played by Stephen Parr, is a dedicated young pilot stranded on Mystery Island with Sue and Sandy Corwin and their robot P.O.P.S. He is determined to get the group safely back to civilization, and though sometimes prone to rash decisions, often sticks his neck out for the others. Sue Corwin, played by Lynn Marie Johnston, is a pretty and feisty young computer expert whose scientist father created P.O.P.S. Though skeptical about P.O.P.S.' claims of having feelings, she does care for the robot's well-being, as well as for her brother and Chuck. Sandy Corwin, played by Larry Volk, is her likeable adolescent brother. He frequently argues with his sister, but the two care for each other. He looks up to Chuck, has a good rapport with P.O.P.S., and often defends the robot's claims to feeling emotions. He is also an accomplished high school gymnast. P.O.P.S., voiced by Frank Welker, is a robot whose vast intelligence and ability to speak many languages has made him the target of Dr. Strange. He is similar to C-3PO in that both function as comic relief, with a prim and fussy British butler type of personality and a tendency to fret whenever a dangerous situation arises. He claims to be capable of feelings. The P.O.P.S. prop costume was a re-use of the original Robot B-9 from the 1960s television series Lost in Space, modified with a bubble on its shoulders, a cylindrical (rather than bubble) head, a blue-and-white paint job, and other minor changes. It has since been restored to its original Robot B-9 appearance. Dr. Strange, played by Michael Kermoyan, is the principal villain, a mad scientist obsessed with obtaining P.O.P.S. and using his vast knowledge for world domination. His full real name, if he even had one, was never revealed throughout the series' run. Krieg, played by Henry Corden, is Dr. Strange's nasty but inept chief henchman who wants very much to impress his boss but usually falls short. Sly (actor unknown) is a bald-headed oaf who is unofficially Krieg's second-in-command and somewhat smarter, usually the first to question his superior's dubious decisions. Crunch (actor unknown) is another of Dr. Strange's thuggish henchmen and their unofficial clown, usually the first to be 'volunteered' whenever Dr. Strange needs a human 'guinea-pig' to test a new weapon on. The Parrot is Dr. Strange's pet which appears occasionally, the one thing Dr. Strange shows any affection for, similar to Ernst Stavro Blofeld with his cat. There are at least two other henchmen, but they are never named and never speak, played by two sets of actors who switch from episode to episode. Other characters include the Mud People (mud-covered island natives who pursue P.O.P.S., believing the robot to be a god), the Bird Men (a race of humanoid birds from the planet Falconia transported to Mystery Island by Dr. Strange), Wark (a Bird Man who speaks English and wants to turn Sue Corwin into a bird-woman), the Lava Man (a huge creature made of lava who befriends the group after they save his life), the Ape Men (super-intelligent apes resulting from Dr. Strange's evolution experiment), Korba (leader of the Ape Men), and Titan (a massive computer with artificial intelligence who considers all humans inferior).
More in 1970s American Mystery Television Series
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced