Planet of the Apes: The Gladiators

Even in the year 3085, the rabble and the hoi polloi still enjoy a spot of blood sport. The apes rule the planet, but this local chimpanzee prefect unknowingly applies the techniques of ancient Roman emperors to keep his humans docile, believing his human gladiatorial games satisfy their bloodlust. Peerhaps the two time-warped astronauts saw Spartacus during the 20^th Century (the film, not the later series that betrayed its revolutionary values), but even if they do not want to fight, they still must survive the arena somehow in “The Gladiators,” the second episode of Planet of the Apes, which premiered exactly fifty years ago today.

Virdon, Burke, and their new chimp friend Galen could have avoided all this week’s trouble, if they had minded their own business. Instead, when Burke saw a stronger human manhandling a younger but weaker man, he jumped in, only to have the other turn on him too. We soon learn local gladiator hero Tolar was training his reluctant son Dalton for the arena. Initially, our three cross-species friends got away clean—except that Virdon dropped the flight-recording cartridge, which he stubbornly insists on retrieving.

Of course, they send in Galen to charm Prefect Barlow with his eccentric traveling scholar routine. As usual, at least one of the astronauts cannot help getting captured again, requiring a rescue. This time it is Burke, but in this case, it means he has a date in the arena with burly Tolan.

“The Gladiators” (written by Art Wallace) has a particularly Roddenberry-esque tone, thanks to the way the astronauts inspire Dalton to embrace his long-simmering Pacifist ideals. Frustratingly, Roddenbery would have joined the series as a creative consultant, but it was canceled right before his input could be reflected in new episodes.

In addition to Mark Lenard still snarling up a storm as Gen. Urko, “The Gladiators” has a second Star Trek connection in John Hoyt, who played the first Enterprise doctor, Dr. Philip Boyce, in the failed pilot turned Captain Pike two-parter, “The Menagerie.” He serves as a sly, old foil for Galen as crotchety Barlow. It is quite an episode for guest stars, because William Smith, maybe best known for appearing as Conan’s father in Conan the Barbarian, plays Tolan, whose son, Dalton was played by Marc Singer, which sort of makes Smith the Beastmaster’s dad too.

This is one of several episodes that very successfully repurposed sets from the various films. Consequently, the series looks and feels very much like it is part of the world created in the movies. Viewers can also see Roddy McDowell’s affinity for simian body-language. While some guest-stars merely hunch their shoulders, he fully embraces his character and species with his full walk and chimpanzee-isms.

Anyone who enjoyed the early 1970s movies will dig the Planet off the Apes series just as much or more. The thoughtful way “The Gladiators” addresses mankind’s history of violence is a good example of how so. It is just a shame the series is not more readily streamable. Highly recommended, “The Gladiators” was first broadcast on this date, in 1974.