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About
the Show
Salvage 1 was
created by an electronics design engineer named Mike Lloyd Ross
who switched careers to work on industrial training films. Both his
technical and film backgrounds came in handy when he was inspired by a
small article in the paper about the equipment left behind on the moon
by the Apollo astronauts. The idea for Salvage 1 took root. Although
Mike originally intended his story to be a theatrical film, TV
producers Harve Bennett (of Star Trek
Skip and Melanie
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movie fame) and Harris Katleman
saw the potential of a television series based on Mike Lloyd Ross'
concept. The original story premise premiered as a two hour pilot film on January 20, 1979
and the series was quickly sold to ABC as a mid-season replacement
during the 1978-1979 TV season. The pilot film is an absolute delight
and introduces the main characters of Harry Broderick (Andy Griffith),
fuel expert Melanie
"Mel" Slozar (Trish Stewart) and former NASA astronaut Addison "Skip"
Carmichael (Joel Higgins), as well as FBI agent Jack Klinger
(Richard Jaeckel).
Because
of the hectic production schedule of a mid-season show, there were some
problems with subsequent scripts. The cast soon found themselves trying
to improve some of the stories and trying to flesh out the 
characters.
Despite the rush, 12 one hour episodes were aired from January to May,
1979. The series never pulled strong ratings and since it was merely a mid-season
replacement, some of the episodes were preempted by local programming
where I lived. During the Summer of 1979, ABC did not announce the
return of Salvage 1 for the new Fall '79 season, but did order the
production of 13 more episodes to be ready as a mid-season replacement
for the first ABC series that got cancelled. A new child character was
added as a regular to the show (played by Heather McAdam) and the scripts
written to accomodate a possible move to the Sunday 7pm Eastern time
slot, a slot usually geared towards children and a death blow for any
show but 60 Minutes and Disney.
Inside Vulture's cockpit
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Even though production of the second season of Salvage 1 was originally
scheduled to start in the summer, filming did not start until the fall,
keeping the stars and production crew waiting for months. The cast grew
dissatisfied with ABC's indecision and with the declining quality of
the scripts once production finally began. After filming seven hours of
the second season, ABC decided to officially cancel the show.
Originally intended to be the second seaon premiere, "Hard Water" parts
1 and 2 (the iceberg-towing episodes) aired in
Harry at Vulture's Hatch
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November, 1979. The other four episodes of Salvage 1 that were filmed
were never broadcast on ABC, however they were seen in the UK.
It may be just as well that the second season died early. The entire
format of the show was taking a more juvenile direction with less
emphasis on science fiction elements.In the 1980's, Salvage 1
reappeared several times as CBS Late Night movies, featuring the
original pilot and both parts of "Golden Orbit" and "Hard Water". The
latter two were heavily edited to fit time constraints. In the late
eighties, the Nostalgia Channel showed all the episodes including the
four that were never aired in the U.S. The pilot episode has resurfaced
a few times on Turner Broadcasting and the Lifetime channel. |
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characters.
Despite the rush, 12 one hour episodes were aired from January to May,
1979. The series never pulled strong ratings and since it was merely a mid-season
replacement, some of the episodes were preempted by local programming
where I lived. During the Summer of 1979, ABC did not announce the
return of Salvage 1 for the new Fall '79 season, but did order the
production of 13 more episodes to be ready as a mid-season replacement
for the first ABC series that got cancelled. A new child character was
added as a regular to the show (played by Heather McAdam) and the scripts
written to accomodate a possible move to the Sunday 7pm Eastern time
slot, a slot usually geared towards children and a death blow for any
show but 60 Minutes and Disney.
