10/10
Great Adaptation and one of the many successful Irwin Allen produced action-adventure shows of the 1960's. The phenomenal "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"
2 February 2016
Created and produced by Irwin Allen ,"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was ABC's long-running science fiction/adventure series based on the box office 1961 theatrical feature of the same name starring Walter Pidegon. The television series,based on the same name told the colorful exploits of the Seaview,which was the world's most technologically advanced nuclear powered submarine under the command of it's creator Admiral Harriman Nelson(Richard Basehart) of "The Nelson Institute of Marine Research". Harriman's second in command of the Seaview was Captain Lee Crane(David Hedison). Each week was explosive underwater adventure and suspense that kept viewers tuned in as the crew aboard The Seaview faced unpredictable dangers and save the world from espionagen invaders, diabolical villains, saboteurs, aliens from other lifeforms and some of the scariest sea monsters ever conceived for television.

"Voyage" premiered on ABC's Monday night schedule on September 14,1964 where 32 episodes from Season 1 only where in black and white until April 19,1965. Then on September 19,1965 in it's second season,the show moved from Monday nights to Sunday nights in an earlier time slot for 78 color episodes for the remainder of it's four-year run until March 31,1968 where it faced stiff competition opposite the long-running animal show "Lassie",and "The Wonderful World of Disney". "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" produced in all a total of 110 episodes airing between September 14,1964 until March 31,1968. Created by Irwin Allen under his production company and the first of the trilogy of action- adventure shows he would produced for the network(the others were "The Time Tunnel","The Land of the Giants",and "Swiss Family Robinson").

The series was nominated for 8 Prime Time Emmys and winning 4 Prime Time Emmys in 1965 for Outstanding Individual Achievements In Entertainment- Special Photographic Effects(L.B. Abbott); and again in 1966 for Special Photographic Effects(L.B. Abbott);Outstanding Cinematopgraphy(Winton C. Hoch), Art Direction(William J. Creber); Art Direction and Mechanical Special Effects(Robert A. Tait);and in 1967 for Film and Sound Editing(Don Hall, Dick LeGrand, Daniel Mandell, John Mills),and Photographic Special Effects(L.B. Abbott). Other Emmy nominations were for Sound Editing, Film Editing, Art Direction, and Special Effects.

Several big time directors ranging from Jus Addiss, Jerry Hopper, Sobey Martin, Harry Harris, Leonard Horn, Robert Sparr, Nathan Juran, Sutton Roley, James Goldstone, Laslo Benedek, Gerd Oswald, Tom Gries, Alex March, Alan Crosland, and even Irwin Allen(who directed the pilot episode).

Fantastic writers contribute to some of the great stories which include Irwin Allen(who wrote the pilot episode). Others were William Welch, Allan Balter, John Hawkins, Ward Hawkins, Harlan Ellison, Don Brinkley, Sidney Marshall, Robert Vincent, Alan Caillou, Shimon Wincelberg, to Sidney Ellis and William Read Woodfield along with George Reed and Peter Packer.

The guest star roster for "Voyage" includes big time Hollywood greats including Susan Flannery, Mark Slade, Linda Cristal, Henry Jones, Malachi Throne, Jan Merlin, Leslie Nielsen, Werner Klemperer, Michael Ansara, Lloyd Bochner, Ford Rainey, Kevin Hagen, James Doohan, Eddie Albert, Richard Carlson, Yvonne Craig, June Lockhart, Brooke Bundy, Carroll O'Connor, Viveca Lindfors, Edward Asner, Ina Balin, Gia Scala, Gary Merrill, Victor Buono, Karen Steele, J.D. Cannon, Warren Oates, to Arthur Hill, James Darren, John Lupton, Michael Dunn, Vincent Price, Don Matheson, Robert Duvall,and John McGiver.

The best episodes from this series starts with the pilot episode "Eleven Days To Zero"(which was basically filmed in color but telecast in black and white). Season 1 episodes include "The Sky Is Falling", "Submarine Sunk Here", "Doomsday", "The Saboteur", "The Price of Doom", "The Fear Makers", "The Traitor", "The Mist of Silence", "No Way Out", "The Secret of the Loch","The City Beneath The Sea",and "Mutiny". Season 2 episodes include "The Mechanical Man", "The Cyborg","The Death Ship", "Jonah and the Whale", "Leviathan", "The X-Factor",and "The Phantom Strikes". Season 3 episodes include "The Lost Bomb","The Day The World Ended","Death from the Past","The Creature", "The Wax Men", and "Deadly Invasion". The Fourth and Final Season best episodes were "Edge of Doom", "No Way Back", "Cave of the Dead", "The Man of Many Faces", "Savage Jungle", "The Death Clock", "Man-Beast", "Attack!", "The Rescue", and "The Secret of the Deep" along with "Fires of Death".

When it was abruptly canceled in the Spring of 1968 after four seasons and 110 episodes, ABC didn't waste any time in finding a replacement on it's Sunday night time slot which was another Irwin Allen produced series "Land of the Giants" that ran for two seasons and 51 episodes from 1968-1970.
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