Space Sentinels
Three young heroes with eternal youth guard Earth.
Space Sentinels is a Saturday morning animated science fiction series produced by Filmation that debuted on NBC on September 10, 1977. Originally titled Young Sentinels, it was renamed midway through its only season of thirteen episodes. The show follows a superhero team protecting Earth.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 22 minutes
- Director
- Hal Sutherland
- Producer
- Don Christensen
- Executive producers
- Norm Prescott; Lou Scheimer
- Company
- Filmation
- Voices
- George DiCenzo
- Evan C. Kim
- Dee Timberlake
- Lou Scheimer
- Country
- United States
- Network
- NBC
Facts from the source article.
Premise
Three young Earth people were selected centuries ago and teleported to another planet, where they received eternal youth and superpowers. After training, they returned to Earth to protect the planet and its vicinity, similar to the Green Lantern Corps. Hercules and Mercury became the basis for the mythological Roman deities of the same names through superhuman feats. Astrea, namesake of the Greek deity, has unrelated powers. Their base is a spaceship hidden in a dormant volcano's caldera. They are supervised by Sentinel One, a sentient supercomputer, though the race that gave them powers is ostensibly humanoid. The team uses rocket belts for Earth missions and the spacecraft for faster-than-light travel. The series is set in 1985.
Characters
Hercules, a blond-haired, blue-eyed man with superhuman strength, is obsessed with exercise and healthy eating. He was voiced by George DiCenzo, who also voiced Sentinel One. Mercury can run and fly up to the speed of light; he is Chinese, practices martial arts, and is the jokester. Voiced by Evan Kim, he often prefers running on the ground. Astrea can shapeshift into any Earth animal and serves as de facto field leader. She was one of the few black superheroes in cartoons of the era, voiced by Dee Timberlake. Sentinel One (S-1) is a sentient supercomputer integrated into the spaceship, appearing as a large, hairless holographic head. Other Sentinel computers include Sentinel Seven and the Prime Sentinel. MO (Maintenance Operator) is a small, boxy service robot voiced by Lou Scheimer, infatuated with Astrea and providing comic relief.
Production
Originally titled The Young Sentinels, the show was retitled Space Sentinels after several episodes aired to capitalize on Star Wars' popularity. Since the entire series was already produced, characters are sometimes addressed as Young Sentinels but never Space Sentinels within episodes. Voice actors were cast to match their characters' ethnicity. Uncredited actors including Alan Oppenheimer and Ted Cassidy voiced guest characters. Scripts emphasized morals such as tolerance, understanding, environmental awareness, friendship, and teamwork, so many opponents were misguided rather than malevolent. Theme and background music were credited to Ray Ellis and Norm Prescott under pseudonyms Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael.
Home media
BCI Eclipse LLC, under its Ink & Paint brand and licensed from Entertainment Rights, released all 13 episodes of Space Sentinels on DVD in Region 1 on August 22, 2006, along with all five episodes of The Freedom Force. The episodes are uncut, restored, and digitally remastered. Extras include scripts, Spanish language tracks, audition tapes, a gallery of original images, early presentation images, trivia, and interviews with creators Lou Scheimer, Buzz Dixon, Darrell McNeil, J. Michael Reaves, Robert Kline, and David Wise.
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