Ripcord (TV series)

Ripcord was an American syndicated television series starring Larry Pennell, with Ken Curtis, which ran for a total of 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963 about the exploits of a skydiving operation of its namesake.

Ripcord
Title screen
Genre	Adventure
Created by	Harry Redmond Jr. James Carl (Jim) Hall
Directed by	Leon Benson Jack Herzberg
Presented by	Larry Pennell
Starring	Larry Pennell Ken Curtis Paul Comi Shug Fisher
Narrated by	Larry Pennell
Theme music composer	Judith Pines
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	76 (38 in black-and-white, Season 1; 38 in color, Season 2)
Production
Executive producers	Ivan Tors Babe Unger
Producers	Leon Benson Stanley Colbert Maurice Unger
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Ziv Television Programs (first 39 episodes) Rapier Productions Incorporated and United Artists Television (last 37 episodes)
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	June 3, 1961 (1961-06-03) – September 1, 1963 (1963-09-01)

Premise

The premise was a variety of adventures surrounding the then-new, thrilling sport of skydiving. The two men and their private Cessna airplane were placed in unusual situations where their special skills and abilities were needed. This led them on exciting weekly adventures from chasing dangerous criminals to performing difficult and daring, if occasionally absurd, rescues.

Cast

• Larry Pennell as Theodore "Ted" McKeever (skydiver) handsome, audacious, intrepid, clever, courageous, cunning, headstrong, brave.
• Ken Curtis as James "Jim" Buckley (skydiver) older, level-headed mentor and best buddy to Ted McKeever.
• Paul Comi as Chuck Lambert (airplane pilot) - this character was phased out midway through first season, replaced by...
• Shug Fisher as Charlie Kern (airplane pilot) - replaced the Chuck Lambert character played by Paul Comi midway through the first season.

Fisher and Curtis were bandmates in the musical group Sons of the Pioneers. Curtis was later Marshall Dillon's bumbling deputy Festus Hagin in Gunsmoke. Pennell, on the other hand, guest starred as handsome movie star Dash Riprock in ten episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies between 1965 and 1969.

Production

The stuntmen performing the actual skydiving were Bob Fleming, an airline pilot, and Joe Mangione, both from Brooklyn, New York. Fleming also doubled as the pilot at the controls when not involved in the scene.

Cameramen included Tom Ryan, whose previous experience included early parachute development, testing, and design. Ryan was a pioneer in capturing closeup film footage of free-falling skydivers.

In 1962, the filming of the series involved the transfer of a stuntman between two airplanes, which was being filmed from a third aircraft. Due to air turbulence, the transfer failed and both aircraft touched and subsequently crashed. The pilots of both airplanes and the stuntman involved were able to parachute to safety. Later, the dramatic footage from this near tragic event was subsequently used in a Ripcord second season two-parter episode.

Episodes

Season 1 (1961–1962)

1. The Sky Diver - Pilot (Thursday September 28, 1961 - guest starred Russell Johnson)
2. Air Carnival
3. Airborne
4. Chuting Stars (guest starred John Agar)
5. Colorado Jump
6. The Condemned (guest starred Michael Pataki)
7. Counter-Attack
8. Crime Jump (Thursday October 5, 1961 - guest starred Burt Reynolds)
9. Dangerous Night, a.k.a. DARB (Distressed Airman Rescue Beacon) - guest starred Harry Townes
10. Death Camp
11. Derelict
12. Top Secret
13. Radar Rescue (Thursday December 28, 1961 - guest starred John Considine and Jack Hogan)
14. Sierra Jump
15. The Silver Cord
16. Thoroughbred
17. Ransom Drop (guest starred Tracy Olsen)
18. Escape
19. Double Drop
20. The Financier
21. Sentence of Death
22. Desperate Choice
23. Diplomatic Mission (guest starred Richard Simmons)
24. Hagen Charm (guest starred Arthur Franz)
25. The Helicopter Race (Thursday March 15, 1962 - guest starred Dyan Cannon)
26. Jungle Survivor
27. High Jeopardy
28. Hi-Jack
29. The Human Kind
30. Hurricane Charley
31. Elegy for a Hero
32. Cougar Mesa
33. Last Chance
34. Log Jam
35. Mile High Triangle (Thursday May 31, 1962 - guest starred Walter Mathews, Page Slattery, Robert Sampson and Kathie Browne)
36. Millionaire Doctor
37. One for the Money
38. Para-Nurse (guest starred Harry Carey, Jr. and Allison Hayes)

Season 2 (1962–63)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
39	1	"Aerial Backfire"	Unknown	Unknown	October 18, 1962 (1962-10-18)
40	2	"Among Those Missing"	Unknown	Unknown	October 25, 1962 (1962-10-25)
41	3	"Chute to Kill"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
42	4	"Day of the Hunter"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
43	5	"Devil's Canyon"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
44	6	"Expose"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
45	7	"The Final Jump"	Unknown	Unknown	April 16, 1963 (1963-04-16)
46	8	"Flight for Life"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
47	9	"Flight to Terror"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
48	10	"A Free Falling Star"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
49	11	"Hostage Below"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
50	12	"The Hunter"	TBD	TBD	1962 (1962)
51	13	"Infiltration"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
52	14	"The Inventor"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
53	15	"Jump or Die"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
54	16	"Jump to a Blind Alley"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
55	17	"Jump to Freedom"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
56	18	"Man on a Mountain"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
57	19	"The Last Chapter"	Unknown	Unknown	January 15, 1963 (1963-01-15)
58	20	"The Losers"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
59	21	"The Lost Ones"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
60	22	"The Lost Tribe"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
61	23	"Million Dollar Drop"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
62	24	"The Money Mine"	Unknown	Unknown	January 3, 1963 (1963-01-03)
63	25	"Panic at 10,000"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
64	26	"Picture of Terror"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
65	27	"A Present for Felipe"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
66	28	"The Proud Little Man"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
67	29	"Race Morgan: Bounty Hunter"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
68	30	"Reprisal"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
69	31	"Run, Joby, Run"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
70	32	"Semper Paratus Any Time"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
71	33	"The Suicide Club"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
72	34	"The Trouble with Denny Collins"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)
73	35	"The Well"	Jack Herzberg	Karl Daniels	1963 (1963)
74	36	"Where Do Elephants Go to Die?"	TBD	Harlan Ellison	1963 (1963)
75	37	"Willie"	Jack Herzberg	Story by : Sid Harris Teleplay by : Steve Fisher	March 26, 1963 (1963-03-26)
76	38	"Wrong Way Down"	TBD	TBD	1963 (1963)

International broadcast

Ripcord aired in Brazil in the 1960s under its original title at the same time as in the United States.

Ripcord aired in the UK (under its original title) on BBC1 in 1964, with repeats airing the following year until October 1965.

Home media

On July 23, 2013, TGG Direct released both seasons of Ripcord as a Region 1 DVD.

Some of the Ripcord episodes can be found on YouTube, Veoh and Uncle Earl's Classic Television Channel.

Comic

Ray Bailey adapted the series into a comic strip.

Toy

This show sponsored a popular Ripcord tie-in toy, consisting of a large plastic parachute with a plastic skydiver figure attached to it, which could be thrown in the air and would float down to the ground, just like a real parachute. It was a big toy seller. At the end of every episode, Larry Pennell as Theodore (Ted) McKeever, along with Ken Curtis as James (Jim) Buckley, delivered a brief comment, addressing to viewers the importance of sport parachuting safety.

External links

• Ripcord at IMDb