There Was a ‘Planet of the Apes’ TV Show?! 5 Things You Never Knew

Gabrielle Moss September 13, 8:50 am

Ron Harper, Roddy McDowall, and James Naughton, 1974 in PLANET OF THE APES tv show

20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection

Even if you’re a fan, it can be tough to keep up with how many Planet of the Apes properties there are out there: Beyond the five original theatrical films, there are countless supplementary novels and comic books, one remake, four recent prequels, and two separate TV shows. Out of all of these, the original Planet of the Apes TV show, which debuted on Sept. 13, 1974, is most likely to have fallen through the cracks, as it takes place outside of the original films’ continuity, was only briefly released on DVD, has never hit streaming and was re-edited into five made-for-TV movies, further confusing things.

But though the show ran for a single 14-episode season, it’s still a fascinating part of Apes history. So get in your space ship, and get ready to crash-land in some thrilling simian facts.

1. The Series Was Created Instead of a Sixth Apes Film

Though there had been talk of a Planet series starting in 1971, the death of producer Arthur Jacobs in 1973 kickstarted the process of getting the show on the air — his death caused the rights to the series to be sold to 20th Century Fox, which aired the original films as Movies of the Week, to great ratings success.

At the same time, Battle for the Planet of the Apes premiered in 1973, to the worst box office numbers of any of the films. The fifth film was also savaged by critics, leading producers to believe the series had run out of steam for the cinema. Plans for a sixth film were axed, and the TV show was put into production in its place.

2. Rod Serling Wrote the Pilot Episode

The Twilight Zone‘s Rod Serling famously wrote multiple early drafts for the 1968 Planet of the Apes movie, most of which were discarded because they would be prohibitively expensive to shoot (though the final film did retain his signature twist ending). Serling had a very similar experience with the TV show — his original draft for the TV show pilot included material from his original unused scripts, but what eventually turned up onscreen was radically different from what he had written.

Serling did sketch out the show’s basic concept, though: Two human astronauts (James Naughton and Ron Harper) rocket into the future and crash-land on a mysterious planet, this time in the ruins of California. Once there, the show closely parallels the films: The humans navigate the world as fugitives, with angry simians on their trail and one ape pal on their side. And that friendly ape had a very familiar face …

Roddy McDowell, Planet of the Apes TV series

PLANET OF THE APES, Roddy McDowall, 1974, TM and Copyright © 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved,
Courtesy: Everett Collection

3. Roddy McDowall Donned the Ape Makeup Once Again

Though the show exists in a different era from the films (and, according to some fan theories, in a different timeline of reality), it does bear one strong connection with the film — Roddy McDowall.

McDowall has the unusual honor of having played three different roles in Planet of the Apes properties. After playing Dr. Cornelius in the original film and Escape From the Planet of the Apes, and Cornelius’ son Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, he once again put on that fuzzy wig in the series to play a young ape named Galen — an ape who, like Cornelius and Caesar, was a friend to the human heroes (and also had prosthetics that looked a whole lot like McDowall’s previous characters).

4. Humans Could Talk (But Still Didn’t Have Any Power)

In the classic films, which are set in the year 3978 and beyond, humans have lost the power of speech. But in the series, which is set some time after the year 2500, humans can talk — though they are still a slave caste hated by the apes, so it doesn’t seem to do them much good. To show their oppression, they are instead depicted as illiterate.

5. It Was Canceled After Three Months

But not necessarily because it was poor quality. Rather, budgeting was an issue. Each episode had a budget of $250,000, which would be $1.5 million in today’s money; it also employed multiple makeup artists to get all ape characters suited up in prosthetics, a job that often took three hours per person, causing set delays.

Another likely culprit is that the series, which was originally scheduled for the family-friendly Tuesday night slot, instead got moved to Friday nights. Ape shall not kill ape … but the show was likely killed by its competition, the ratings juggernauts Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man. The show’s 14th episode was never aired.

In 1975, the apes popped up on TV again, this time in a Saturday morning cartoon called Return to the Planet of the Apes. But this, too, only ran for one brief season. So while the original films have become classics, and the recent prequels worldwide blockbusters that introduced a whole new generation to the series, it seems like on TV … an ape simply cannot catch a break.