Shark Bytes

I have to agree with the person who wrote that the show jumped the shark when Dawn Lyn was on it. She may have well filled in for the chimp since he also wore a diaper.

This show jumped the shark because its producers only made 13 episodes!!! Think of it - each episode repeated 4 times!!!

The Show Jumped The Shark when they hired the Queen of Grunge Dawn Lyn to fill in for the chimpanzee. I remember the announcement "The part of the chimpanzee will be played by Dawn Lyn this week"

"This show was probably inspired somewhat by the even cooler vehicle from the movie "Damnation Alley" but it was all good for a young boy of a certain age!"

Maybe by the book, as the Ark II series predates the movie by a year.

"It started first with two made-for-tv movies, which launched the series, but the series never survived beyond one season."

There were no TV movies. None of the fansites talk of them, nore the filmmakers. Besides is these did exist they most likely would have been released on DVD along with the series.

"I can't believe someone drug out the Lost in Space robot and painted it white for this show."

Did you even watch the show? Or thinking of another? The only famous robot to make an appearance was Robby The Robot, and he wasn't painted white.

"However, I think that the worst part of all of this is that in this day of 70's kitchze appearing on DVD almost daily ( all the gerry anderson shows, as well as kroft superstars...), we'll probably never see ARK II because it never really attained proper cult status!"

Thankfully it did get a DVD release.

"I'm rather glad it didn't last and is not even being considered for a revival, else we'd be getting more of Al Gore's misleading "America is causing global warming""
Well, america IS causing global warming.

p"ropaganda. (For the record, CO2 levels lag global temperature by about 800 years or so. The Middle Ages - around the year 1000 or so - were several degrees warmer than it is now"
Not actually true, but hey you're a republican! You probably believed that were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

, yet the geological record indicates that the CO2 level was far lower.)

Also not true, but you don't care!

Thank goodness at the time it was on, I didnt get and didnt care about the tree hugging aspect of this show. I do remember liking it for the same reasons Lost in Space and Space 1999 were cool, the gadgets and sci-fi stuff! There were far worse shows (during that decade and also this one) that have gone much much longer for no reason. I always liked the Biblical references too. Pretty unheard of in mainstream kids TV.

This was one of those shows that I loved when I was able to watch it, which was far too seldom.

Yes, it was pure cheese (I mean, come on, a talking chimpanzee???), and they seemed to use that jetpack in every episode, but there was always a bit of hard science to learn in it.

I'm rather glad it didn't last and is not even being considered for a revival, else we'd be getting more of Al Gore's misleading "America is causing global warming" propaganda. (For the record, CO2 levels lag global temperature by about 800 years or so. The Middle Ages - around the year 1000 or so - were several degrees warmer than it is now, yet the geological record indicates that the CO2 level was far lower.)

I loved this show!!! I have a hard time getting people to remember it, but I never missed it. I loved how the little pills turned into cooked food in the "microwave" or whatever it was called. I was only 7 at the time! In my 7-year-old mind, this show rocked and could never jump the shark.

This show was probably inspired somewhat by the even cooler vehicle from the movie "Damnation Alley" but it was all good for a young boy of a certain age!

This show never jumped because it never got off the ground. It started first with two made-for-tv movies, which launched the series, but the series never survived beyond one season. I believe the show never jumped because there's just nothing cooler than the "drive the ****** laboratory RV through the post apocalyptic wasteland" road warrior thing. This movie is probably what gave the creators of the Road Warrior movies the idea. The Ark itself was the coolest thing anyone had ever seen, and using a real jetpack for the show was beyond cool in itself.

Actually, this show was more than just done in the Roddenberry tradition. This was a show that Gene Roddenberry had wanted to do for years and had discussed back when the original Star Trek was still on TV. I remember only a few things from this show - and many of them are pure Star Trek. Remember the show about the big, mysterious obelisk in the middle of some ruins? The gadgets were the biggest attraction, though. What 8-year old boy doesn't want to see jet packs and ray guns on Saturday morning?

ARK II, one of my favorite "kiddie" sci-fi shows of the 70's, was a show that never jumped the shark in the traditional way. I guess you could technically categorize it as having jumped at episode 1, but it is more complicated than that. It was designed to be a Politically Correct show of the times ( the sensitive 70's, popularized by Jimmy Carter and Alan Alda) that taught children peaceful solutions to problems, and about ecology, etc.. It was designed to do this, but it is this premise that actually killed it. Too much sermonizing, and too little action. Strange, too, since it had some really cool gadgets. The Ark of course was the main draw, but I also remember a jet pack, and a really cool laser weapon that looked like a large flat cupcake pan held at each side, that emitted a laser beam. It should have done some shows involving post-apocalyptic monsters, while retaining a moral tone. Many sci-fi tv shows have successfully lectured and incorporated action ( hell, Star Trek!!!), but ARK II never found this niche. However, I think that the worst part of all of this is that in this day of 70's kitchze appearing on DVD almost daily ( all the gerry anderson shows, as well as kroft superstars...), we'll probably never see ARK II because it never really attained proper cult status!

I can't believe someone drug out the Lost in Space robot and painted it white for this show. The show was pretty good, but what heresy!

A worthy entry in the "solving society's problems touring this great land of ours in a Winnebago" genre (cf. Shazam) with bonus wrinkle of a really cool post-apocalyptic RV. First show featuring a personal jet pack. Fine lib'ral sci-fi in the Roddenberry tradition.

This show was a favorite. I enjoyed it much more than other programs at that same time (Isis and Captain Marvel, especially).