Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, season 1

release year: 1964-5
genre: TV action/adventure (32 episodes)
viewing setting: home DVD 6/28/22 - 7/5/22

synopsis: This series showcases the adventures of the advanced submarine Seaview and her crew.

impressions: Made in the mid-1960s, this took place in the then-future world of the 1970s. It was one of those shows that fascinated me as a young child, but may not have aged well. This first season seemed to have a lot of "enemy government" presence, or maybe some secret evil group like in some Bond movies. Anyway, here are really brief episode synopses:

episode 1: the pilot, in which the sub goes to the north pole to stop world-threatening earthquakes, and is challenged by opposing governments led by a shadowy, bald, cigarette-smoking man right out of a James Bond movie (plus there's some recycling of footage from the movie)

episode 2: much land-based espionage as they search for a hidden undersea city

episode 3: enemy agent menaces the sub with fear gas, as they dive to crush depth...not the best plan

episode 4: fairly boring political drama involving a Latin American country

episode 5: monster episode! giant creeping plankton! (plus guest star Jill Ireland)

episode 6: a UFO crashes in the ocean and the Seaview is sent to find it

acting: Aside from minor roles, there are only two recurring characters of note at this point: Richard Basehart as the admiral/inventor/scientist, and David Hedison as the actual captain. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's really in charge.

final word: Fun, if dated submarine drama/action/sci-fi.

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