[This appreciation appeared in the LA Times, Thursday, April 5, 1979. The author was Mel Gilden.]

I was 2 years old when Captain Video went on the air in 1949. I watched a lot of television then. Westerns, cartoons, variety shows. But what excited me most was space epics-- Space Patrol; Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; and Captain Video.

Captain Video wore a snazzy uniform with a lightning bolt across the front. His ship had the customary cigar shape and fins. He had a sidekick called the Video Ranger. His program's musical theme was Wagner's "Overture to the Flying Dutchman."

Years later, when I met Larry Menkin, the creator of Captain Video, I told him how my family had adopted one of the Captain's lines. When the Captain and the Ranger were in dire peril, they debated whether to "throw out the interlocks." To this day, I do not know what interlocks are, but, when something goes wrong in my family, we still consider throwing them out.

Menkin didn't remember the interlocks, but he did say that, because the show was broadcast live, it had to continue no matter what. The cast taped cards all over the set to help them remember their lines. Sometimes a card was lost. Or something that should have blown up didn't. Or vice versa.

Hodge was an old hand at ad libbing through broadcasting disasters. However, the actor playing the Ranger was not. Whenever an on-the-air disaster occurred, the Ranger would say, "Captain, do you have a plan?"

The Captain always did, and the show went on.

Back when I was in school I wanted to be a physicist. This was largely the Captain's fault. He made science look so exciting, so heroic. When he took off in his ship, the acceleration would push him back in his seat and his face would contort with pain. It wasn't until high school that I found out that acceleration was merely a change in velocity, and not leaning back hard in your chair.

After four years of college physics and one of engineering, I discovered that the Captain had duped me. Science is hard work. The more rarefied branches of it call for abilities that I did not possess. Captain Video had suckered me into SCIENCE, when what I really wanted all along was SCIENCE FICTION.

A few years ago I went to a writers' workshop. One of the teachers was Damon Knight, a respected science-fiction writer and critic. He asked each of us how we had become interested in science fiction, and I said that it all began with Captain Video. He told me then that he had written a few of the Captain's adventures. It was a strange, circular moment.

But it perhaps should not have surprised me. Science fiction is enjoying unprecedented popularity. There is a science-fiction convention somewhere in this country almost every weekend--- all featuring guests of honor, including stars of old science-fiction movies and TV shows. Many of them receive handsome honorariums for appearing.

Yet Al Hodge died poor and alone. How could that happen in a country where STAR WARS is the most popular movie of all time?

For me, Captain Video was more than just another television program. When I read of Al Hodge's death, I felt as if I'd lost a relative I hadn't seen for a long time.

Maybe TV can work that kind of magic today. Maybe somewhere there's a kid watching BATTLESTAR GALACTICA who will grow up to discover a new element or invent a wonder machine.

Although I haven't done anything that remarkable, Captain Video left his mark on me. True, the time hasn't come for me to throw out the interlocks. But, when it does, I hope that, like the Captain, I'LL have a plan.

Goodbye, Captain. Hot jets and spaceman's luck.

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