# Does anyone remember "Salvage 1"?



## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I don't mean "Google it and find out what it was." I mean, actually remember it.

I do.

And I might share some of those memories if anyone else actually remembers it.

Two clues:

1) Andy Griffith

2) Isaac Asimov

Again, "Googling" is not "remembering."


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## MorganKegan (Jan 10, 2013)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> I don't mean "Google it and find out what it was." I mean, actually remember it.
> 
> I do.
> 
> ...


I fondly remember Vulture 1.


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## SVD (Jan 15, 2013)

Andy Griffith builds a rocket out of junk to salvage the moon - I remember! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I437 using Tapatalk 2


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## MorganKegan (Jan 10, 2013)

The main capsule of the Vulture 1 rocket was the big drum off a cement mixer truck! They hacked into a NASA computer (via old-syle phone modem) to provide guidance! Actually, I think I remember the TV movie (Salvage) better than the rather short-lived TV series it spawned (Salvage 1).

I'm dating myself, aren't I?


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## Lcthulou (Dec 6, 2013)

Of Course! I was 8 years old, and had a box of legos and would play Salvage with my brother all the time.

Wasn't there a magic rocket fuel too? I think the young lead got kicked out of NASA for some reason but had developed a magic rocket fuel to help get them to the moon.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_1

Didn't even go 22 episodes (I'm actually surprised there IS a wikipedia thread)
And it may not be on DVD because the lawyers for the Griffith estate might be holding things up
Heck they finally got the legal issues set aside for the '66 Batman series which is coming to DVD this year
(Like, finally!)

Anyway yes I remember it (I'm 57)
The 70's was the very best of times for creative ideas for television as well as motion pictures
(My opinion)

so why do you ask? You going to do a new book series? I'd be interested.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I bring it up because it was a fun show and a bit ahead of it's time. Aired after the moon missions were done but before the Shuttle program launched. It's the only SF that I can recall Andy Griffith being involved with. Asimov acted as the series' science advisor on script approval, though I don't think he wrote any episodes himself.

I remember it as a funky, creative little show that was the sort of "slightly ridiculous" that networks don't take chances on anymore. (Unless it's a cable netlet like SyFy.)

It had a 12-episode half-season and was renewed for the fall, but after the first two episodes of the second season failed to live up to the first-season ratings, it was quickly canned in mid-November and the four unaired episodes that were completed before production was halted were not aired until the early 90s on some obscure cable netlet.

Yes, I'm amazed that I can't find it on Netflix or anywhere else.

Though my fond memories (I was probably 12 at the time since it aired in '7 are probably fuzzied by time... I doubt it'd even live up to ST:TNG.

Even so... ahh, memories. The fact that I even remember a show that only aired 14 episodes (I think...) around the same time that Dukes of Hazzard and The Incredible Hulk owned Friday nights....

I seem to recall it being either a Thursday or Saturday night show (this was back when networks still programmed Saturday nights with original content)... a night THE JEFFERSONS ruled, if I recall correctly... well, the Jeffersons, plus on ABC, Fantasy Island and the Love Boat...

I'm 47... probably JUST old enough to remember the series...

And Frank, I won't be doing a book series because Salvage 1 is, of course, owned by others.

The concept wouldn't even work today... or would need to be radically altered... might make a fun KindleWorld, except so few people would even know what it was...

And it's a product of its era... pre-cell-phones, pre-Internet, pre-everything advanced.

But fun, as I recall. Some fun stories. Almost a late-70s Gilligan's Island sort of concept.... Not literally, of course....


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## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

Count me in as remembering it when I was a tiny one.


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## Lcthulou (Dec 6, 2013)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> The concept wouldn't even work today... or would need to be radically altered... might make a fun KindleWorld, except so few people would even know what it was...
> .


You Might want to check out John Varleys Thunder and Lightning Series: It's very much like Salvage:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Thunder-John-Varley-ebook/dp/B00AFXGSRG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391184154&sr=8-1&keywords=red+thunder+Varley


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Edward M. Grant said:


> Except, of course, 'Homeland Security' would stop them before they'd even managed to build the thing.


Nailed it.  Exactly why it wouldn't work today, or any time post-9/11.

Not that it really worked even then. A private spaceship built from spare parts in a junkyard? No neighbors complaining about global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer?  *snicker*


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Edward M. Grant said:


> Wasn't it inspired by the guy who was building a (sub-orbital) rocket in his garage from spare parts? I don't think his ever flew, though.


You're probably right...


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Criaig- most everything on netflix and amazon are licensed- money has to be paid to the owner or caretakers of the property  for a pre- determined amount of time.
At least thats what I know of that end of the biz.
(And yes- you yourself may be aware of that fact but a few others reading this may not be so I typed it out for the information factor)

But if you or anyone else can track down or contact whoever owns the property I can absolutely see a 
6 or 7 book franchise spring off it-- updated to the new millennium of course.

Just off the top of my head: (For anyone here who wants to try it-- not just talking to Craig here)(Don't everyone jump onto the idea at the same time- no pushing lol)
Salvage 1 2015 story pitch

A rag tag group of scientists are called upon by the government- or even a splinter group on a real small budget- to build a spaceship or two to go up and grab several items of interest that may or may not be dropping from orbit and threatening weather satellites and what not.

And during each book's 250 pages  they find out there is oh so much more up there than just ordinary and outdated space junk. (Use your imagination for plots here I dont have time to tell you everything)

And of course it wouldn't have to all take place in space there'd be some action down on earth as well. 

During one book a bit of space junk crashes on earth and we have to retrieve it and maybe its discovered its actually alien debris and the occupants survived and escaped and they're on enemy soil and our heroes have to try to intercept them etc etc

Maybe even a few tales told from the point of view of a moon base the government ( not necessarily ours mind you) has in place

So if anyone wants to run with this I release all rights to these ideas. I just want to read the stories.

Of course...... whoever takes this one DOES need to do the legwork in tracking down who it is who owns the rights to the title Salvage 1 as well as characters and their names etc etc etc
And it'll probably cost some coin to GET literary rights ( or fancy negotiations)
Or I imagine somepone could just think up a whole new crew and a new title but it would have to be very different from the tv series and its own plots ( all 16 episodes) ( and probably Varley's story as well)
so you don't get sued.

Good luck


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

http://www.tv.com/shows/salvage-1/episodes/

You all have me curious now
Here is a link to a complete episode guide
Doesnt seem to be writing or directing credits though

Imdb does have full credits though you have to click on each episode title to get them
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078681/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1

Info on the creator of the show- sadly he died pretty young of cancer
http://www.geocities.ws/ghl3/salmlr.html


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Wow
Looks like the pilot episode as well as a number of the episodes are on youtube
Just don't expect HD quality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MykpNI8ABU4


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> I don't mean "Google it and find out what it was." I mean, actually remember it.


Yes! Loved that show.


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

*deleted*


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

Edward M. Grant said:


> Don't worry, if I remember correctly, so were many of the writers of the TV show .


  Hey, if I can fudge it and wing it with technobabble without getting blasted, I'm all in!


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Edward M. Grant said:


> To be fair, they did try harder than many shows of that era, but it didn't make much sense if you really knew much about rockets .


Gas truck cab as an airtight pilot's module? Cement mixer pod?

Yeah, there are big holes there... enough to pilot the Millennium Falcon through.

Still... kinda like the original live-action Saturday morning LAND OF THE LOST... it was a source of some fun storytelling.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Wow...I was born in 1971, so I was all of 7 when this was on ... but it does seem very vaguely familiar. I am pretty sure I watched it. I definitely remember the Vulture...


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078681/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

Looks like ABC owned the rights from the time of the show's creation up through 2001.

Columbia Tri Star then held the rights for a year.

Now, it appears Sony Pictures Television holds distribution rights from 2002 on.

IMDB says it was a 1979 show, not 1978, though... odd.

Still, I looked up some old episode summaries, and it's one of the most non-SF shows a SF fan could ever want.

Here's a fun plot:

*5. The Haunting of Manderly Mansion *
_Airdate: Feb 26, 1979_ 
After Harry purchases a famous haunted mansion with plans to salvage it, strange things begin to happen. The Salvage team discovers it is actually inhabited by a strange alien waiting to be transported home.

But then there are episodes that were almost prescient:

*12. Energy Solution*
_Airdate: May 21, 1979_
Melanie develops a possible-and dangerous-solution to the energy crisis: using monohydrazine to blast new oil out of old dried-out wells. The experiment results in a catastrophic underground explosion and fire that must be extinguished.

(Can anyone say, 'frakking'?)

I think that was part of its unique appeal. Mike Lloyd Ross and company used it as a very "open" concept to tell whatever stories they wanted to tell. (Something that has made DOCTOR WHO thrive for 50 years.)

Some episodes were serious. Some were more comedic. And for a space/SF show, they seemed awfully obsessed with horses (see the episode summaries for examples, esp. the unaired episodes from season 2.)

As to why it didn't last: Here's an interesting fact....

Iran took American hostages on November 4, 1979.

Season 2 of Salvage 1 aired its first episode of the second season on: November 4, 1979. (Which was a Monday, BTW...)

Considering that little fact? I think the nation was suddenly no longer in the mood for light-hearted SF....


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Yes, I do remember "Salvage 1". I saw it approx. ten years after it was made, when it came to German TV sometime in the late 1980s. We called it "Matlock in Space".


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I dimly remember it, but I was off at college at the time and was too busy with other fun stuff to watch much television. Of course I also remember Quark, a science fiction comedy series from the same era that was on the air for about fifteen minutes before it was cancelled!


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