Many centuries ago, three carefully selected young Earthlings were transported from their native lands to my faraway world. Here they were granted astounding powers, and eternal youth, then returned to Earth. Their mission: to watch over the human race, helping the good in it to survive and flourish. In the course of history, their names have become legend: Hercules, empowered with the strength of a hundred men. Astrea, able to assume any living form. Mercury, the amazing athlete who can match the speed of light. Working together with me, Sentinel One, and my maintenance robot, M.O., these teenage guardians form the greatest team the world has ever known: The Space Sentinels.
Good morning cartoon lovers! I am back at it again after taking a few weeks off to recharge and refocus with a rare gem from 1977 entitled Young Sentinels. This short-lived superhero program actually got a name change halfway through to Space Sentinels, which is the title most people remember it by.
I guess that adding the name 'Space' to anything the same year Star Wars came out couldn't hurt in the marketing department right?
The premise for the show was somewhat unoriginal as a group of multiethnic teens are transported into space and given superhero powers to fight against criminals and supervillains. I say unoriginal because it is the same premise used in the original Ultraman tv series, Captain Marvel comics books and at least a dozen other superhero franchises before it.
This of course should come at no surprise because the Young Sentinels were the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the duo that originally created Superman.
History:
Space Sentinels (originally titled The Young Sentinels and renamed midway through its only season) is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Filmation which debuted on the NBC network on September 10, 1977 and ran for thirteen half-hour episodes. The series has been called "ahead of its time" due to its racially diverse cast of main characters.
In this series, the Roman mythological figures Hercules and Mercury are joined by Astrea, to form a superhero team to protect mankind in the then future year of 1985.
Although this series only had one season, a spin-off was developed for the Tarzan and the Super 7 animated series the following year, called The Freedom Force. Both of these shows were released together on DVD.
Three young Earth people were selected many centuries ago and teleported to another planet, where they were given eternal youth and superpowers. They were trained and returned to Earth, where they are tasked with protecting the planet and its vicinity, similar to the Green Lantern Corps. Hercules and Mercury through superhuman feats became the basis for the mythological Roman deities of the same names. They are joined by Astrea, namesake of the Greek deity but with unrelated powers.
Their base of operations and living quarters is a spaceship hidden within the caldera of a dormant volcano. They are supervised by Sentinel One, a member of a series of sentient supercomputers that command and coordinate Sentinel teams, although the race that gave the Sentinels their powers is ostensibly humanoid. For missions anywhere on Earth, the team is launched through vertical tubes and fly to their destination through the use of rocket belts in their suits, which seem to have intercontinental range as well as hypersonic capability (although Mercury can fly even faster). For interplanetary and interstellar missions, Sentinel One transports them within the spacecraft, which has faster-than-light capability. - Wiki
Trivia:
From IMDB
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Filmation Associates was prospering in Fall 1977, and especially on CBS, with "THE BATMAN-TARZAN ADVENTURE HOUR" and their live-action TV series, "SPACE ACADEMY", while on rival TV network, NBC as part of their NBC Fun Machine" lineup, came "THE NEW ARCHIE-SABRINA SHOW", and "THE YOUNG SENTINELS"-one of Filmation's most original animated TV series, it was well-written, and well-casted, with actors, George DiCenzo, a former associate producer of ABC's "DARK SHADOWS", who became an actor -best remembered from his role as "Vincent T Bugliosi" from CBS/Lorimar's "HELTER SKELTER" miniseries in 1976, DiCenzo voiced "Hercules" and "Sentinel One", while Evan C Kim, who also appeared in "THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE" in "The Fistful Of Yen" spoof, played the voice of "Mercury", and actress Dee Timberblake", who voiced "Astria". while co-executive producer and Filmation founder, Lou Scheimer voiced "M.O." (Maintenance Opperator) The series was later changed to "SPACE SENTINELS" in October 1977. the animated series was a cross between super hero and science fiction, and well devised, about an alien race that selects certain people, and are trained on an alien world to be the intergalactic guardians throughout parts of the vast universe. though short-lived, "SPACE SENTINELS" became a Filmation original, five years before their CBS series, "BLACKSTAR" from Fall 1981 (which George DiCenzo also voiced) came on the air, which was a "sword and sorcery" type of cartoon series, like Ruby-Spears' "THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN". But "SPACE SENTINELS" stayed well rooted with science fiction and some sorcery-mystical themes, but very intellectual and technical, and again, well-written! other voices like Marvin Miller, Ted Cassidy, and Howard Morris also turned up in this Filmation production!
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