Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - Pilot (1964)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the television series. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the first of Irwin Allen's four science fiction television series. The show's main theme was underwater adventure.

 Voyage was broadcast on ABC from September 14, 1964 to March 31, 1968, and was the decade's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters. The 110 episodes produced included 32 shot in black and white (1964–65), and 78 filmed in color (1965–68). The first two seasons took place in the then future of the 1970s. The final two seasons took place in the 1980s. The show starred Richard Basehart and David Hedison.

Pilot Episode
In the pilot episode "Eleven Days to Zero", which was filmed in color but shown in black and white, the audience is introduced to the futuristic nuclear submarine Seaview and the lead members of her crew. Most notable is the designer and builder of the submarine, Admiral Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart). We also are introduced to the Nelson Institute of Marine Research (NIMR) in Santa Barbara, California which serves as a support structure for the Seaview. The Seaview is often moored, when at the base, some 500 feet below ground level in a secret underground submarine pen, Dock C-4, carved out of solid rock-although much of the drydock appears to be constructed of large stones. The submarine's official status is for undersea marine research, but its secret mission is defend the planet from all world and extraterrestrial threats. We learn, not for the last time, that the series is set in the then-future of the 1970s. The pilot episode tells the story of how Commander Lee Crane (David Hedison) became the Seaview’s Captain after the murder of her original commanding officer, Commander John Phillips. At the end of the episode, we learn that the series will be about the adventures of the Seaview and her crew roaming the seven seas and visiting many exotic locations. The Seaview and her crew's primary task in the series will be to probe the mysteries of nature and fight forces that threaten the survival of the United States and the entire world

WATCH THIS EPISODE:



VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (PILOT EPISODE)
IRWIN ALLEN (1964)
20TH CENTURY FOX
60 MIN