Picture it: Manhattan, 1985. An ever-aspiring writer checks the trade papers for a writer's gig that will help him escape his hum-drum work life. In May 1985, he sees a classified ad in the Village Voice (the city's funky weekly publication): Wanted: Writers. Animated, science fiction, action/adventure series. Send resume & samples to: Transcom Media, 58 Walker St., NYC 10013.
Sure, that sounds legit, right? It was something. I just had to send a sample. And a resume. Which in 1985 was a Mad magazine joke and maybe a Steve Allen joke. Now you have to understand, my previous exposure to science fiction was "Abbott & Costello go to Mars." It really wasn't my thing. But I had a radio script, which I had written with my classmate, John Rawlins, for a show called "The Adventures of Captain Useless." It was a comedy about the misadventures of a clumsy super hero who had to stop and alien invasion. So, that's sci-fi, right? I mailed it in and, much to my surprise, got called in for an interview in June...
Sure, that sounds legit, right? It was something. I just had to send a sample. And a resume. Which in 1985 was a Mad magazine joke and maybe a Steve Allen joke. Now you have to understand, my previous exposure to science fiction was "Abbott & Costello go to Mars." It really wasn't my thing. But I had a radio script, which I had written with my classmate, John Rawlins, for a show called "The Adventures of Captain Useless." It was a comedy about the misadventures of a clumsy super hero who had to stop and alien invasion. So, that's sci-fi, right? I mailed it in and, much to my surprise, got called in for an interview in June...
 I visited 58 Walker Street recently. It's an apartment building now. No plaques marking it as the home of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers. Sad. |  Me proving I was at 58 Walker Street before someone started checking out his front window to see what I was doing. The interview was at their offices, on Walker Street, in the fabled center of New York City's animation district... Chinatown. Yeah. A third floor walk-up in Chinatown. I stepped into that office and it was a beehive of activity. Artists at desks, some type of studios in the back. I was greeted by the receptionist/co-producer, Eleanor, and brought in to meet with the producer, Robert Mandell. |
Good looking guy. A couple of years older than me, but with an actual drive and purpose.
Mandell interviewed me, talking about the show, its characters, its goals. He showed me art work, character designs and sketches. He gave me the show's "bible," essentially the instruction manual for the series. It had plot ideas for episodes, maps of the universe, listed the main characters by name and then a description of each. He played up the idea of a "western in space," mentioning how "Star Trek" was pitched as "Wagon Train" in space. He spoke of robo-horses, space ship propulsion systems, pyschochambers, star stones, environmental issues and distance worlds.
All the while I'm nodding along, thinking, "I am so in over my head." I'm not a western guy. Sci-fi, not my thing. I'm a comedy writer who's done comedy sketches, prose and a couple of unproduced radio scripts. It was scary, sitting there thinking this was beyond my scope. So, we're going through the character descriptions and I get to "villians" section, where you have your Evil Queens, Lazarus Slades, Capt. Kidds, and the space sorcerers, in a Mogul vein. There's a sketch of him and a list of powers, his place in the universe and the name of his main henchman, Larry. This caught my eye.
All the while I'm nodding along, thinking, "I am so in over my head." I'm not a western guy. Sci-fi, not my thing. I'm a comedy writer who's done comedy sketches, prose and a couple of unproduced radio scripts. It was scary, sitting there thinking this was beyond my scope. So, we're going through the character descriptions and I get to "villians" section, where you have your Evil Queens, Lazarus Slades, Capt. Kidds, and the space sorcerers, in a Mogul vein. There's a sketch of him and a list of powers, his place in the universe and the name of his main henchman, Larry. This caught my eye.
As Seen on the Roy Rodgers Kid Meal "So the space sorcerer Mogul has a henchman named 'Larry'?"
"Sure," Mandell answered, "Why not?"
That was the moment I thought it might work out.
I was given a copy of the bible, some art work, the demo tri-fold they used at pitch meetings and a list of plotlines they wanted for season one. I went with "The Ax" as it seemed a basic plot:
10- The Ax
When an asteroid miner discovers a mysterious alien robot buried in a frozen rock, Niko is sent t o investigate. She discovers that the device has been there for twenty million years. The robot was the supreme creation of its makers and also the cause of the destruction of their race. She must prevent it from destroying humanity after it awakens.
"Sure," Mandell answered, "Why not?"
That was the moment I thought it might work out.
I was given a copy of the bible, some art work, the demo tri-fold they used at pitch meetings and a list of plotlines they wanted for season one. I went with "The Ax" as it seemed a basic plot:
10- The Ax
When an asteroid miner discovers a mysterious alien robot buried in a frozen rock, Niko is sent t o investigate. She discovers that the device has been there for twenty million years. The robot was the supreme creation of its makers and also the cause of the destruction of their race. She must prevent it from destroying humanity after it awakens.
So, I got my assignment and each writer got a show "rule book." Little details about the GR universe that we should reference. There were character looks and traits, maps of the galaxy, things to avoid, terminology, villians, etc.
I'm setting up that stuff elsewhere.
I'm setting up that stuff elsewhere.
It was sometime after this I learned that Mandell was really under the gun. It's June 1985. The show is contracted to air September 1986, He was still putting together a writing staff. Knowing he was still looking for talent, I recommended my friend John Rawlings. I figured it was an easier than usual to pitch Rawlins, as my sample to Transcom Media had been the radio script, "Capt. Useless," and John had been the co-writer on it, so if he liked it enough to hire me, he would like John. Later we pitched him a couple of other writer friends. Lance Strate, who wrote "Ghost Station" and another friend who shall remain nameless. He interviewed but didn't care for the contract clause that allowed Transcom Media to use his name and likeness for advertising the show, if they wanted to (frankly, they never did). So too bad for him, I tried.
(I like to think that with my 5 episodes, Rawlins 7 episodes, Strate's 1, that's 13 episodes, so I am like responsible for 1/6 of the Galaxy Rangers first season).
Turns out Rawlins and Mandell hit if off very well and he was pitching a lot of new ideas and reworking other scripts for Mandell as well. He was churning out scripts like a mimeograph machine.
(I like to think that with my 5 episodes, Rawlins 7 episodes, Strate's 1, that's 13 episodes, so I am like responsible for 1/6 of the Galaxy Rangers first season).
Turns out Rawlins and Mandell hit if off very well and he was pitching a lot of new ideas and reworking other scripts for Mandell as well. He was churning out scripts like a mimeograph machine.
After finally getting my draft approved for production, we got to pick another premise off their master list. I was surprised to discover that we were also being given the chance to pitch ideas of our own. I basically tried to lean into the Western side of things because my sci-fic chops were lacking.
That's when Rawlins and I started pitching things like "Buzzwang's Folly" and "Murder on the Andorian Express." Slapstick and murder mysteries. Rawlins was pitching a ton of material to the show, he had really found his niche.
I was writing episodes on lunch breaks, the commute to work, at my desk at work, whenever I had a moment. And this was back pre-word processor for me. I was typing this stuff up on my reliable electric typewriter. When I got hit with notes and rewrites, I was literally cutting up my old script and pasting to a new, half-typed page. Then I would xerox that into a single sheet of paper.
I was writing episodes on lunch breaks, the commute to work, at my desk at work, whenever I had a moment. And this was back pre-word processor for me. I was typing this stuff up on my reliable electric typewriter. When I got hit with notes and rewrites, I was literally cutting up my old script and pasting to a new, half-typed page. Then I would xerox that into a single sheet of paper.
With my first check I ran out an purchased my first computer/word processor, which I still have. Possess. It's not like I'm still using it with that daisy wheel printer or the WP cartridge. But I used it for years. What fun it was trying to format scripts in it!
When the show premiered, it was on at 8 am in NYC. I didn't have a VCR back then (I do now!), so I was wondering how I was going to watch it! The production team only got the running order for each week's shows the week before, so I would call to find out what episodes where going up the following week. Finally, a cousin of mine lent me her Sony Walkman TV. I was able to watch the show on a 4 inch screen as I crossed New York Harbor on the Staten Island ferry. Not ideal. In fact, because of this, I still haven't seen all the episodes. I now have the DVDs, but still need to buckle down and do it.
Rawlins and I had an appointment to visit the office once, I guess notes about one of our joint scripts. It was interesting. An episode had come in and they were in the process of looping in the dialogue. I remember it being Goose's voice. Japanese animation studio would create the cartoon and ship it back to the US. They worked with the script and imagined how the speaking would go. Then they'd call in the actors and basically dub in their voice over the images, which is totally backwards from the way animation is usually done. Artists animate to an actor's voice and dialogue. And, sorry, no, I don't know what episode it was.
Then, one day it was over. They had the 65 scripts needed for the season. In fact, they had a couple extra, since they didn't know when the 65th script would come in, so we were all working on something to the end. They also had to consider what kind of scripts were in the mix; did they have the right mix of dramatic, fun, adventurous, and silly shows. They even had additional pitches and outlines coming in. We all crossed our fingers and hoped for a second season, thinking at least we've have a jump on it this time. It was not meant to be.
We heard the ratings were okay, but we weren't pre-sold I.P. and without a big toy company behind us, the chances of long term survive were grim. But, to be fair, I believe only one of the new cartoons that premiered that year made any waves...I think it was The Real Ghostbusters.
We heard the ratings were okay, but we weren't pre-sold I.P. and without a big toy company behind us, the chances of long term survive were grim. But, to be fair, I believe only one of the new cartoons that premiered that year made any waves...I think it was The Real Ghostbusters.
One of the disappointments of writing for animation is that there are NO residuals. You get paid once and that's it. I got nothing for them using my Space Moby episode for the Roy Rodgers Kids Meal. Nothing for the DVD releases over the years. The only interesting dividend was that the show was very popular overseas.
In the European Union, they passed a law where they were collecting a "deposit fee" on any blank video tape sold throughout the EU. That money was to reimburse writers and creators for any time a household may have taped a show off the air. We didn't even know it existed until the Writers Guild of America got involved with the situation many years later. The studios were claiming all the money for themselves but the EU did not recognize studios as creators, so the WGA had to broker a deal where the money was to be divided between writers and studios. It took forever, but eventually shook a couple of Foreign Levy bucks to me. And that was the one stop I had on the gravy train.
In the European Union, they passed a law where they were collecting a "deposit fee" on any blank video tape sold throughout the EU. That money was to reimburse writers and creators for any time a household may have taped a show off the air. We didn't even know it existed until the Writers Guild of America got involved with the situation many years later. The studios were claiming all the money for themselves but the EU did not recognize studios as creators, so the WGA had to broker a deal where the money was to be divided between writers and studios. It took forever, but eventually shook a couple of Foreign Levy bucks to me. And that was the one stop I had on the gravy train.
Another bone of contention; we didn't get our bylines on the actual episodes; you know, Space Moby by Dan Fiorella. They had a "story people" card in the end credits, and that wasn't even complete. I know at least one person didn't get a listing and heard there were others. Supposedly, it was to be addressed in the second season. But it stinks, because there aren't many ways to find out who wrote what. IMDB has bad entries. I've tried correcting it multiple times, but it somehow gets undone. I always felt bad about the writer of Shaky. I can't give credit to who wrote that because I don't know and IMBD gives me credit for it. And what really bugs me is that I had a copy of the script when we were comparing Shaky to Boomtown and I have long since misplaced it.
At one point, we each got a proto-type of a ranger badge they were thinking of producing. It was very cool. I tried wearing it with my Mork Rainbow spenders. I couldn't pull it off. I lent it to a nephew for his Halloween sheriff costume and it got lost. Still kicking myself about that one. It seems overseas they did actually produce toys for the foreign audiences.
At one point, we each got a proto-type of a ranger badge they were thinking of producing. It was very cool. I tried wearing it with my Mork Rainbow spenders. I couldn't pull it off. I lent it to a nephew for his Halloween sheriff costume and it got lost. Still kicking myself about that one. It seems overseas they did actually produce toys for the foreign audiences.
Through the years I would stumble upon various fans of the show; an email chat-list here, a MySpace page there. As the internet grew, so did the interchange of fans and websites. I liked that I had a little fame. Years later, I got to met actor Jerry "Zachery Foxx" Orbach and learned he still had fans of the show approach him.
Rawlings and I pitched some other cartoon ideas to Mandell, trying to capitalize on our connection. We even proposed a "backdoor pilot" where would would take our Capt. Useless character and put him in an episode. At the end of that episode, the Captain would be zapped out, presumably to our time and begin his own adventures. The other one I remember was titled "Tech-Mechs" about a futuristic time where only robots fought wars and there was a squad of repair techs on the front lines of these space wars to keep them working. I don't think we thought that one out too far beyond the title.
Rawlings and I pitched some other cartoon ideas to Mandell, trying to capitalize on our connection. We even proposed a "backdoor pilot" where would would take our Capt. Useless character and put him in an episode. At the end of that episode, the Captain would be zapped out, presumably to our time and begin his own adventures. The other one I remember was titled "Tech-Mechs" about a futuristic time where only robots fought wars and there was a squad of repair techs on the front lines of these space wars to keep them working. I don't think we thought that one out too far beyond the title.
I'm now finding some of the post-Season 1 material I was working on. My biggest regret? They had an episode about Zozo on a planet where the trees were the highest order and he kills a tree and has to be rescued. I wanted to take that episode and do my twist on it. I pitched it as a Christmas episode. They weren't sure it was feasible to create a Christmas story, but I did write up the treatment for "Zozo's Christmas Massacre" and it was in the hopper, should we had gotten a green light for season 2.
It's always fun when I get called upon about my GR days. The fanzines, the fan groups (it was that email list of fans which actually got the producers of the DVD to include me onto the box set of the show), podcasts and such. But, I'm kind of an idiot about it, too. I've never thought about how to capitalize it or monetize it for myself. Never went to a comic con or anything like that. I mean, the reality is, as a writer, no one is paying attention. Oh, well. Happy 40th anniversary, GR!
