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Ripcord (TV series)

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Ripcord
Title screen
Genre Adventure
Created by
  • Harry Redmond Jr.
  • James Carl (Jim) Hall
Directed by
  • Leon Benson
  • Jack Herzberg
Presented by Larry Pennell
Starring
Narrated by Larry Pennell
Theme music composer Judith Pines
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 76 (38 in black-and-white, Season 1; 38 in color, Season 2)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Leon Benson
  • Stanley Colbert
  • Maurice Unger
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Syndication
Release June 3, 1961  ( 1961-06-03 )  ?
September 1, 1963  ( 1963-09-01 )

Ripcord was an American syndicated television series starring Larry Pennell , with Ken Curtis , which ran for a total of 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963 about the exploits of a skydiving operation of its namesake.

Premise [ edit ]

The premise was a variety of adventures surrounding the then-new, thrilling sport of skydiving . The two men and their private Cessna airplane were placed in unusual situations where their special skills and abilities were needed. This led them on exciting weekly adventures from chasing dangerous criminals to performing difficult and daring, if occasionally absurd, rescues.

Cast [ edit ]

  • Larry Pennell as Theodore "Ted" McKeever (skydiver) handsome, audacious, intrepid, clever, courageous, cunning, headstrong, brave.
  • Ken Curtis as James "Jim" Buckley (skydiver) older, level-headed mentor and best buddy to Ted McKeever.
  • Paul Comi as Chuck Lambert (airplane pilot) - this character was phased out midway through first season, replaced by...
  • Shug Fisher as Charlie Kern (airplane pilot) - replaced the Chuck Lambert character played by Paul Comi midway through the first season.

Fisher and Curtis were bandmates in the musical group Sons of the Pioneers . Curtis was later Marshall Dillon's bumbling deputy Festus Hagin in Gunsmoke . Pennell, on the other hand, guest starred as handsome movie star Dash Riprock in ten episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies between 1965 and 1969.

Production [ edit ]

The stuntmen performing the actual skydiving were Bob Fleming, an airline pilot, and Joe Mangione, both from Brooklyn, New York. Fleming also doubled as the pilot at the controls when not involved in the scene.

Cameramen included Tom Ryan, whose previous experience included early parachute development, testing, and design. Ryan was a pioneer in capturing closeup film footage of free-falling skydivers.

In 1962, the filming of the series involved the transfer of a stuntman between two airplanes, which was being filmed from a third aircraft. Due to air turbulence, the transfer failed and both aircraft touched and subsequently crashed. The pilots of both airplanes and the stuntman involved were able to parachute to safety. Later, the dramatic footage from this near tragic event was subsequently used in a Ripcord second season two-parter episode. [1]

Episodes [ edit ]

Season 1 (1961?1962) [ edit ]

  1. The Sky Diver - Pilot (Thursday September 28, 1961 - guest starred Russell Johnson )
  2. Air Carnival
  3. Airborne
  4. Chuting Stars (guest starred John Agar )
  5. Colorado Jump
  6. The Condemned (guest starred Michael Pataki )
  7. Counter-Attack
  8. Crime Jump (Thursday October 5, 1961 - guest starred Burt Reynolds )
  9. Dangerous Night, a.k.a. DARB (Distressed Airman Rescue Beacon) - guest starred Harry Townes
  10. Death Camp
  11. Derelict
  12. Top Secret
  13. Radar Rescue (Thursday December 28, 1961 - guest starred John Considine and Jack Hogan )
  14. Sierra Jump
  15. The Silver Cord
  16. Thoroughbred
  17. Ransom Drop (guest starred Tracy Olsen)
  18. Escape
  19. Double Drop
  20. The Financier
  21. Sentence of Death
  22. Desperate Choice
  23. Diplomatic Mission (guest starred Richard Simmons )
  24. Hagen Charm (guest starred Arthur Franz )
  25. The Helicopter Race (Thursday March 15, 1962 - guest starred Dyan Cannon )
  26. Jungle Survivor
  27. High Jeopardy
  28. Hi-Jack
  29. The Human Kind
  30. Hurricane Charley
  31. Elegy for a Hero
  32. Cougar Mesa
  33. Last Chance
  34. Log Jam
  35. Mile High Triangle (Thursday May 31, 1962 - guest starred Walter Mathews , Page Slattery, Robert Sampson and Kathie Browne )
  36. Millionaire Doctor
  37. One for the Money
  38. Para-Nurse (guest starred Harry Carey, Jr. and Allison Hayes )

Season 2 (1962?63) [ edit ]

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
39 1 "Aerial Backfire" Unknown Unknown October 18, 1962  ( 1962-10-18 )
40 2 "Among Those Missing" Unknown Unknown October 25, 1962  ( 1962-10-25 )
41 3 "Chute to Kill" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
42 4 "Day of the Hunter" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
43 5 "Devil's Canyon" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
44 6 "Expose" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
45 7 "The Final Jump" Unknown Unknown April 16, 1963  ( 1963-04-16 )
46 8 "Flight for Life" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
47 9 "Flight to Terror" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
48 10 "A Free Falling Star" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
49 11 "Hostage Below" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
50 12 "The Hunter" TBD TBD 1962  ( 1962 )
51 13 "Infiltration" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
52 14 "The Inventor" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
53 15 "Jump or Die" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
54 16 "Jump to a Blind Alley" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
55 17 "Jump to Freedom" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
56 18 "Man on a Mountain" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
57 19 "The Last Chapter" Unknown Unknown January 15, 1963  ( 1963-01-15 )
58 20 "The Losers" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
59 21 "The Lost Ones" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
60 22 "The Lost Tribe" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
61 23 "Million Dollar Drop" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
62 24 "The Money Mine" Unknown Unknown January 3, 1963  ( 1963-01-03 )
63 25 "Panic at 10,000" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
64 26 "Picture of Terror" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
65 27 "A Present for Felipe" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
66 28 "The Proud Little Man" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
67 29 "Race Morgan: Bounty Hunter" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
68 30 "Reprisal" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
69 31 "Run, Joby, Run" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
70 32 "Semper Paratus Any Time" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
71 33 "The Suicide Club" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
72 34 "The Trouble with Denny Collins" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )
73 35 "The Well" Jack Herzberg Karl Daniels 1963  ( 1963 )
74 36 "Where Do Elephants Go to Die?" TBD Harlan Ellison 1963  ( 1963 )
75 37 "Willie" Jack Herzberg Story by  : Sid Harris
Teleplay by  : Steve Fisher 		March 26, 1963  ( 1963-03-26 )
76 38 "Wrong Way Down" TBD TBD 1963  ( 1963 )

International broadcast [ edit ]

Ripcord aired in Brazil in the 1960s under its original title at the same time as in the United States.

Ripcord aired in the UK (under its original title) on BBC1 in 1964, with repeats airing the following year until October 1965. [2]

Home media [ edit ]

On July 23, 2013, TGG Direct released both seasons of Ripcord as a Region 1 DVD. [3]

Some of the Ripcord episodes can be found on YouTube, Veoh and Uncle Earl's Classic Television Channel.

Comic [ edit ]

Ray Bailey  [ fr ] adapted the series into a comic strip. [4]

Toy [ edit ]

This show sponsored a popular Ripcord tie-in toy, consisting of a large plastic parachute with a plastic skydiver figure attached to it, which could be thrown in the air and would float down to the ground, just like a real parachute. It was a big toy seller. At the end of every episode, Larry Pennell as Theodore (Ted) McKeever, along with Ken Curtis as James (Jim) Buckley, delivered a brief comment, addressing to viewers the importance of sport parachuting safety.

References [ edit ]

  1. ^ Ripcord TV Show Accident 1962, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ5EKD_GBUc , accessed 7 January 2015
  2. ^ Ripcord on the BBC
  3. ^ "Ripcord DVD news: Date Change for Ripcord Season 1 and Season 2 - TVShowsOnDVD.com" . Archived from the original on 2013-08-03.
  4. ^ "Ray Bailey (II)" .

External links [ edit ]

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