Space Pets

Phantom Television takes us back into space for our next show, 'Space Pets'.

An early eighties science fiction program designed to appeal not only to a family audience but to their pets as well. In order to tap into this very select audience the leads were a golden retriever, a house cat and a guinea pig.

In the near future world of the year 2000 NASA has build the first inter galactic space ship. For its test run a variety of animals are placed on board. Something goes wrong and the space hurtles out of control into remote regions of the galaxy.

The Captain of the vessel was Bingo, the dog. He piloted the ship, prodding the controls with his wet nose. His second in command was Fluffy, the cheeky house cat who led scouting missions. Finally there was the plucky engineer, Mrs Pinky the guinea pig.

Each week the crew of the USS Petting Zoo landed on a new alien world and the crew would struggle to find vital supplies and perhaps, a way home. The animals seemed to cope well where ever they landed as they had only a basic awareness of their surroundings.

Unusually the series contained very little spoken dialogue. None of the animals could speak and unsurprisingly any aliens meet spoke their own language. While this put extra pressure on the director and writers to communicate the story through pictures alone it aided the series sales in foreign markets.

Apart from the animals the only reoccurring character was Commander Drax. In the pilot episode he is bitten by Bingo, scratched by Fluffy and nibbled on by Mrs Pinky. Seeking revenge he pursued them all across the universe, ready to spay them for their crimes.

His catch phrase

“These Earthians are vile and hairy creatures. How I despise them with every
fibre of my hairless body,”

became part of the pop culture of 1980s (and was often used by late nineties comedian Big Randy Brown).

The series was well known for its special effects. By paying their main actors in pet food the budget was able to be spent to turn the forests in Vancouver into alien worlds and build bizarre creations that would populate these locations.

After its successful four year run the series was recast for Space Pets: The Next Generation. A new cast of animals were sent to find and return with the original crew. An over excited group of mice eat through the ships wiring sending them to the other side of the universe, far from their goal. This was less successful but did result in the Space Pets movie that featured both casts.

SELECTED EPISODES:

ONE SMALL BARK
Bingo falls in love with the beautiful Princess Squeal, ruler of the peaceful Velargians. The rest of the crew wonder if this will be the end of their travels as Bingo prepares to settle down. It all ends in disaster when the Velargians develop a crippling allergy to dog hair that causes extreme episodes of manic depression.

FLUFFY SCRATCH FEVER
After being exposed to the chemical pools of Flarven 5 Fluffy contracts a rabies-like virus that threatens to tear the crew apart. Just as if it looks like the foaming mouthed animals are about to tear each others throats out they are boarded by Commander Drax who wishes to put their differences behind them. He is repeatedly bitten and scratched.

MAY ALL MY GUINEA PIGS BE FOREVER
Mrs Pinky’s attempts to reconfigure the USS Petting Zoo’s engines to get them home misfires resulting in Mrs Pinky being duplicated over and over again. Each version is different from the last. While the initial copy is an evil Mrs Pinky wearing an eye patch the next is a Viking Mrs Pinky, the next a 18th century Scottish soldier Mrs Pinky and endless other variations.
Soon the ship is almost filled to bursting with guinea pigs in various costumes. With time running out Fluffy contacts his old allies, the Infinite Order of Wisdom in a Finite Dimension but will they arrive in time?

TRIVIA:

Commander Drax was actually Gordon Nap, owner of the three animals. He was so keen to appear on television he waived the usual fee for the service of his animals.

The episode “A FURRY FATE WORSE THAN DEATH” was disrupted when a demonic spirit possessed Fluffy. He can be seen levitating in the background when Bingo pilots the ship through the ice nebula.

Concerns about animal welfare required each animal to have a human stunt man. This roll was performed by Zack Halbert. He would later play a dog in the hit cable show, Uncle Toby’s Fun House. He was fired in the third season after rumours circulated that he was engaged in a romantic relationship with Bingo. This rumour was proved false, it was actually Mrs Pinky.

During the course of the show the animals eventually died due to stress and unforeseen accidents. In order to continue they were replaced each time. By the end of the series there had been 3 Bingos, 15 Flufffys and 93245256 Mrs Pinkies.

The pilot features an additional crew member, science officer Dr Owl. Dr Owl was later removed as he would either fly into the lighting or attack Mrs Pinky. Many people incorrectly call Dr Owl Mr Owl. Mr Owl is of course a respected child psychologist.