The Apes saga spawned this short-lived TV series as the movies ran out of steam (following the 5th film in '73): this follows 2 astronauts (Harper & Naughton - a 3rd man died on impact) whose spaceship crashes on Earth of the future (a little over a thousand years from now, in year 3085): humans in this time period are 2nd-class citizens, ruled by apes (Orangutans, Gorillas, and Chimps). There is little or no technology, and the 2 visitors are on the run with new friend chimp Galen (McDowall) from the forces of orangutan politico Zaius (Colman) and General Urko (Lenard), a bad-tempered gorilla. Running around a wilderness area, their travails took on a 'running around in circles' tempo, since they never strayed far from their main nemesis. Much of the action involved the astronauts being chased by gorillas on horseback or fighting them with judo & karate moves. The heroes' ultimate fates were never revealed. Of interest to viewers from the Bay Area in California, since this is where the action took place (one episode, for example, took place in the ruins of Oakland - pretty good set design for a TV series).
The logistics of the series makes sense in so far as it logically occurs about 900 years before the events of the first 2 Apes films: humans here have not yet devolved to unspeaking brutes, being merely a docile but still intelligent servant class. However, this does contradict the events of the final 3 films, which does point to those as the creation of an alternate timeline: most familiar with the saga point out the dog in the very 1st episode (dogs were wiped out between the 3rd and 4th films); also, the astronauts find a book showing an advanced New York City from year 2503, which means, in this version of the saga, Apes took over around the 27th or 28th century whereas, in the 5th film, mankind had fallen by our time (early 21st century). Big difference. There's also a brief mention, in the first episode, of other astronauts who'd bedeviled Zaius 10 years earlier, but we never learn anything about them, except that they'd been killed.
The stories themselves were often parables, commenting on certain social strictures from our own history, involving a persecution of a lower class; one episode had allusions to the Ku Klux Klan activities of a century past, with apes in hoods. A better early episode was "The Trap," where Urko and one of the astronauts get trapped together in an old ruin by an earthquake; Urko soon learns of his true heritage and that these humans are much more resourceful than he dreamed. Indeed, the two astronauts usually showed an advanced proficiency in all areas compared to this ape culture, even in such endeavors as farming. McDowall played his 3rd chimp character here, similar to his Cornelius and Caesar, but a little on the wild side. Lenard, better known for his Sarek character in the Star Trek TV shows and movies, probably did the best work here as the violence-prone but intelligent gorilla military leader.
The logistics of the series makes sense in so far as it logically occurs about 900 years before the events of the first 2 Apes films: humans here have not yet devolved to unspeaking brutes, being merely a docile but still intelligent servant class. However, this does contradict the events of the final 3 films, which does point to those as the creation of an alternate timeline: most familiar with the saga point out the dog in the very 1st episode (dogs were wiped out between the 3rd and 4th films); also, the astronauts find a book showing an advanced New York City from year 2503, which means, in this version of the saga, Apes took over around the 27th or 28th century whereas, in the 5th film, mankind had fallen by our time (early 21st century). Big difference. There's also a brief mention, in the first episode, of other astronauts who'd bedeviled Zaius 10 years earlier, but we never learn anything about them, except that they'd been killed.
The stories themselves were often parables, commenting on certain social strictures from our own history, involving a persecution of a lower class; one episode had allusions to the Ku Klux Klan activities of a century past, with apes in hoods. A better early episode was "The Trap," where Urko and one of the astronauts get trapped together in an old ruin by an earthquake; Urko soon learns of his true heritage and that these humans are much more resourceful than he dreamed. Indeed, the two astronauts usually showed an advanced proficiency in all areas compared to this ape culture, even in such endeavors as farming. McDowall played his 3rd chimp character here, similar to his Cornelius and Caesar, but a little on the wild side. Lenard, better known for his Sarek character in the Star Trek TV shows and movies, probably did the best work here as the violence-prone but intelligent gorilla military leader.