Captain Z-Ro  1955–1956

Captain Z-Ro (pronounced "zero" ) is an American television show that ran locally on KRON-TV in
San Francisco and KTTV in Los Angeles, from November 1951 through 1953, and was later nationally
syndicated in the United States, beginning December 18, 1955 and ending its run of original episodes
on June 10, 1956. It remained in syndication until 1960. Modeled on the science fiction space operas
popular at the time (cf. Captain Video and Space Patrol), it featured sets and costumes emulating the
futuristic designs of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

Premise

Scientist Captain Z-Ro, working in his remote laboratory, safeguarded mankind and history from impending
harm. He had a time machine, the ZX-99, both to view history and to send someone back in time. Each week,
he and his teenage assistant Jet would view an episode in time and inevitably see that some event was
unfolding contrary to history (e.g., King John not signing the Magna Carta). Captain Z-Ro would then send
Jet back in time to intervene and ensure that history played out as originally recorded. Over the years, plots
involved Z-Ro and Jet rescuing a wide range of historical figures, including Genghis Khan, Marco Polo,
Magellan, William the Conqueror, Benedict Arnold, William Tell, Christopher Columbus, Blackbeard,
Leonardo da Vinci, Robin Hood, George Washington, Attila the Hun, Hernando Cortez and Daniel Boone.

Like early episodes of Doctor Who, which premiered in the UK more than a decade later, most episodes were
melodramatic history lessons for children. No serious effort was made to explain how the time machine worked,
and time travel conundra were likewise glossed over.

Each week after the last commercial, the announcer would intone: "Be sure to be standing by when we again
transmit you to the remote location on planet Earth where Captain Z-Ro and his associates will conduct another
experiment in time and space."

A Nice Collection of 24 of the 26 Filmed Episodes on 6 dvds

DVD 1

CH - 1 LEONARDO daVINCI
CH - 2 METEOR
CH - 3 MOLLY PITCHER
CH - 4 DISCOVERY OF GOLD

DVD 2

CH - 5 ROGER THE ROBOT
CH - 6 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
CH - 7 BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE
CH - 8 DANIEL BOONE

DVD 3

CH - 9 MARCO POLO
CH - 10 ATTILA THE HUN
CH - 11 KING ALFRED
CH - 12 ROBIN HOOD

DVD 4

CH - 13 HERNANDO CORTEZ
CH - 14 PONY EXPRESS
CH - 15 WILLIAM TELL
CH - 16 GENGHIS KHAN

DVD 5

CH - 17 KING JOHN
CH - 18 MAGELLAN
CH - 19 CHRISTOPER COLUMBUS
CH - 20 GREAT PYRAMID

DVD 6

CH - 21 WASHINGTON AND HOWE
CH - 22 AZTEC PAPERS
CH - 23 BENEDICT ARNOLD
CH - 24 ADVENTURE IN SPACE