| Slot: |
Four Color 928 |
| Item: |
Four Color #928 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC 8.0 |
| Cert #: |
0157873007
|
Owner Comments
Sea Hunt 9/58 File Copy
Photo Cover: Lloyd Bridges
This is the best of just two copies graded to date. 01/13. I originally bought thi9s ungraded from Heritage Auctions as a VF.
Wikipedia offers this iaddinformation on the original TV series:
Sea Hunt is an American adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges as ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson, and was produced by Ivan Tors.
Development
Series executive producer Ivan Tors conceived the idea for Sea Hunt while working on the 1958 film Underwater Warrior.[1] Tors tried in vain to sell the series to all three major networks, but each network passed on the show because they felt a series set underwater could not be sustained.[2] Tors then decided to sell the series into the first-run syndication market. Tors teamed up with Ziv Television Programs and was able to sell the show to over 100 syndicated markets before the series debuted in January 1958.[1]
Lloyd Bridges was soon cast as lead character Mike Nelson. Sea Hunt was intended as a comeback vehicle for Bridges due to his brief blacklisting from acting. Bridges was blacklisted after admitting to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had been a member of the Actors' Lab, a group that was tied to the Communist party.[3][4]
After winning the role, Bridges was given a crash course in scuba diving by Zale Parry and Courtney Brown. Brown served as his underwater stunt double. Bridges was also educated in the art of Scuba equipment by Brad Pinkernell on the beach in Southern California in 1956-57. It was at a chance meeting when Pinkernell was coming out of the ocean with his scuba gear on. Over the course of the show's run, Bridges got more involved in the underwater stunt work, graduating from close-ups in the earliest episodes, to doing all but the most dangerous stunts by the end of the series' run.
[edit] Synopsis
Mike Nelson (Bridges) is a free-lance scuba diver who has various adventures. Traveling on his boat the Argonaut, Nelson outmaneuvers villains, salvages everything from a bicycle to a nuclear missile, rescues children trapped in a flooded cave, and even a dog. In the pilot episode, Mike rescues a downed Navy pilot from his sunken jet. Since no dialogue was possible during the underwater sequences, Bridges provided voice-over narration for all the installments.
At the end of each episode, Bridges would appear as himself to deliver a brief comment. These comments sometimes included a plea to viewers to understand and protect the marine environment, along with gems of wisdom from Bridges' own experiences.
[edit] Guest stars
The series served as a stepping stone for some of Hollywood's most notable actors, including Leonard Nimoy, Robert Conrad, Bruce Dern, Larry Hagman, Ross Martin, Jack Nicholson (in the last episode of the series), and Bridges' own sons, Beau and Jeff.
[edit] Production notes
[edit] Filming
The underwater sequences were filmed in a matrix fashion at many locations including studio tanks and outdoor locations in California, Florida, and eventually the Bahamas. Much stock footage was shot and later mixed with episode-specific character footage. Filming locations included Marineland of the Pacific (Park operated 1954–1987), the front side of Catalina Island; Paradise Cove west of Malibu; Silver Springs, Florida; Cypress Gardens, Florida; Tarpon Springs, Florida, Nassau; and Grand Bahama Island. On-land location shots were filmed throughout Los Angeles, in central Florida, Nassau, or on a sound stage.
Famous divers such as Zale Parry and Albert Tillman were involved in production of the show, as was Jon Lindbergh, son of aviator Charles Lindbergh. Parry was joined in 1960 by 18-year-old Wende Wagner as female underwater stunt double. Pioneering underwater cinematographer Lamar Boren, who also worked on other Ivan Tors productions (such as the motion picture and TV series versions of Flipper, and three James Bond films—Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and The Spy Who Loved Me—shot nearly all of the underwater footage for the series. John Lamb, who went on to shoot the underwater sequences for both the movie and TV versions of Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, also filmed some episodes.
[edit] Reception
Sea Hunt proved to be popular with viewers and was a hit throughout its four season run. It became one of the best remembered and most watched syndicated series in the United States.[2][5]
During the first nine months of its debut, Sea Hunt came in #1 in the ratings. The show attracted half of the viewing audience in 50 major cities, and averaged 59 percent of audiences in New York City. Producer Ivan Tors later estimated that 40 million people viewed the series weekly.[6]
[edit] Merchandising
Due to the show's popularity, Dell Comics released a series of Sea Hunt comic books.[7] Series star Lloyd Bridges also endorsed swim equipment by Voit.[8]
[edit] Cancellation
Despite the series' solid ratings, Sea Hunt was canceled in 1961 due to the dwindling first-run syndication market.[9] The series ran for a total of 155 episodes.[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Hunt
|
| Slot: |
Four Color 994 |
| Item: |
Four Color #994 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC 8.5 |
| Cert #: |
0255869008
|
Owner Comments
Sea Hunt 05-07/1959
Photo Cover: Lloyd Bridges
Pencils & Inks: Dan Spiegle
Table of Contents
0. Sea Hunt
Sea Hunt
1. ["Above the waves or below the depths..."]
Sea Hunt
2. Treasure Reef
Sea Hunt
3. Danger Dive
Sea Hunt
4. Lloyd Bridges photo
5. Aquatic Architects
I am not sure if this particular issue had an Ad back variety. This one has the standard cartoon back.
Some data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://www.comics.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
http://www.comics.org/issue/15248/
|
| Slot: |
Four Color 1041 |
| Item: |
Four Color #1041 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC 9.2 |
| Cert #: |
0910828005
|
Owner Comments
Sea Hunt 1-12/59 File Copy Adapted from the "Sea Hunt" TV series. Third of three Sea Hunt Four Colors. Continues as Sea Hunt (Dell 1960 series) #4 (January-March 1960).
Photo cover: Mike Nelson (as played by Lloyd Bridges, photo)
Script: Eric Freiwald; Robert Schaefer
Pencils & Inks: Alex Toth
This copy is tied with two others as the best copies of eight graded to date. 02/13. I bought this copy graded, as is, from Heritage Auctions.
Table of Contents
1. 1. Sea Hunt
Sea Hunt
2. 2. Valley of the Amazon
Sea Hunt
3. 3. Test Dive
Sea Hunt
4. 4. Did You Know That
5. 5. Cautions For Divers This is also the back cover of this copy.
Some data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://www.comics.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
http://www.comics.org/issue/15313/
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