Line #41 Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vttbots_6030.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:Nelson, Crane, and the ''Seaview''.]]
3
4	A 1964-68 Creator/IrwinAllen SciFi show starring Creator/RichardBasehart as Admiral Harriman Nelson and David Hedison as Captain Lee Crane, and set on the experimental nuclear-powered research submarine, ''Seaview''. The ultimate use of the RecycledScript: almost every episode can be summarized as "MonsterOfTheWeek is defeated by [[RayGun Laser of the Week]]." The first season, filmed and broadcast in black & white[[note]]except for the pilot, which was filmed in color[[/note]], featured more serious and thoughtful stories, along with a greater UsefulNotes/ColdWar emphasis. When the series [[UsefulNotes/SwitchToColor switched to colour]] starting with the second season, it was used as an excuse for a big dramatic storyline during the switch, and the introduction of a new version of the ship.
5
6	Based on [[Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea the 1961 film]] of the same name, in which our heroes defeat a global heat wave (caused by the then recently discovered Van Allen radiation belt [[HollywoodScience catching on fire]]) through DeusExNukina. No, seriously. The movie's storyline was later on recycled as a series episode titled "The Sky's On Fire", complete with copious amounts of StockFootage from the motion picture.
7
8	An [[WagonTrainToTheStars aquatic]] [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace recycling]] of ''Series/WagonTrain'', it preceded ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' by two years. Compare with its SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/SeaQuestDSV''.
9
10	----
11	!!Voyage to the Bottom of the Tropes:
12
13	* AdaptationalBadass: The Admiral Nelson of the movie never sees any physical action. The Admiral Nelson of the series sees his fair share of fistfights, shootouts, espionage field work and running away from (and blowing away) monsters.
14	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: The Admiral Nelson of the movie is an InsufferableGenius that edges enough on TheNeidermeyer that an important plot point is people within his ship (especially the movie version of Crane) actually hoping that his theories are wrong. The Admiral Nelson of the series is a pretty serious example of AFatherToHisMen.
15	* AIIsACrapshoot: Averted in "The Human Computer". The Seaview's new ship-controlling computer system works fine. It's the enemy saboteur on board that's the problem.
16	* AirVentEscape: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in "The City Beneath the Sea", where plugging up an air vent, rather than crawling through it, leads to Crane and the GirlOfTheWeek escaping. PlayedStraight in many episodes afterwards.
17	* AliensInCardiff: Aliens invariably invade the ''Seaview'', and only the ''Seaview'', instead of [[TokyoIsTheCenterOftheUniverse Tokyo]], [[BigApplesauce New York City]], or other such places that aren't isolated arenas several fathoms under the sea.
18	* AloneWithThePsycho: "The Human Computer" takes advantage of this trope to create a BottleEpisode with a MinimalistCast (except for the first 10 minutes or so). The ''Seaview'' is chosen for the trial run of a computer that will operate the sub automatically. Crane is supposed to be alone on board, but a Soviet saboteur has stowed away with orders to steal the computer's secrets -- and also kill Crane and MakeItLookLikeAnAccident so the Russians won't be held responsible for an act of war. Most of the episode consists of Crane and the spy stalking each other throughout the ship.
19	* BaldOfEvil: Most of the members of the villainous group in the pilot ("Eleven Days to Zero") sport this.
20	* BatmanGambit: "The Last Battle" features two of these.
21	** Nelson is kidnapped by a group of [[ThoseWackyNazis latter-day Nazis]], who have been [[KidnappedScientist grabbing geniuses]] and [[DeathFakedForYou faking their deaths]] because their leader, Schroder, wants to TakeOverTheWorld and use his captives as the basis of a new MasterRace. Nelson gets the other prisoners to help him build a [[MacGyvering MacGyvered]] telegraph so he can send the ''Seaview'' their location. Unfortunately, this is [[AllAccordingToPlan just what Schroder wanted]], since his ''real'' plan is to capture the ''Seaview'', use its nuclear missiles to start WorldWarIII, and create the FourthReich out of the ashes.
22	** However, the Admiral turns the tables with a side order of XanatosSpeedChess. Nelson's next plan is for the captives to create primitive bombs to blow up Schroder's operation. But then, we learn that [[spoiler:Schroder has anticipated them again because one of the prisoners is a [[TheMole mole]] who de-activated the bombs! Fortunately, Nelson has already seen through the traitor and re-activated ''his'' bomb. Bye bye, Schroder.]]
23	* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The titular monster from "The Abominable Snowman" seems to be a straight example at first, but turns out to be [[spoiler:a human scientist who's somehow been transformed into a murderous mutant by his own WeatherControl experiments]].
24	* BlobMonster: In "Cradle of the Deep", Dr. Janus is a well-intentioned scientist who puts the ''Seaview'' at great risk as part of an experiment to create life from inorganic matter. All he gets for his trouble is a glowing, pulsating ''thing'' whose uncontrolled growth puts the ship in further danger. [[spoiler:In the end, he helps Nelson destroy the creature -- [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]].]]
25	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Both being brainwashed to kill your friends and being almost killed by your brainwashed friends were consistent threats on the ''Seaview''. Practically OnceAnEpisode consistent.
26	* BodySnatcher: If it wasn't brainwashing, the other ever-present threat was having your body taken over by malevolent aliens/ghosts/etc. Captain Krueger's use of this trope is probably the show's best example, since "The Phantom Strikes" was well-received enough to warrant a rare sequel, "The Return of the Phantom".
27	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: When Crane is captured in "The Silent Saboteurs", he's allowed to live because the villains want to question him about the Flying Sub, although he's warned that he'll be killed if he tries to escape.
28	* ChummyCommies: While the show is ''far'' more likely to feature DirtyCommies when communist countries appear, there are exceptions. "Hot Line" features two Soviet scientists, Malinoff and Gronski, who are sent to help deactivate the nuclear reactor aboard a crashed Soviet rocket before it irradiates the nearby San Francisco. Both men act polite and helpful toward the crew, and while Gronski is an imposter and saboteur, the real Gronski behaves pleasantly before he's [[UncertainDoom killed or drugged]] and then replaced. Malinoff undergoes a crash course in diving so that he can deactivate the device underwater without complaint and cordially drinks a toast with the Seaview's officers at the end of the episode.
29	* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: Several episodes, especially in the first season, use this as a backdrop.
30	* CoolBoat: The flying submarine, as well as the ''Seaview'' itself.
31	* CoolPlane: The flying sub, introduced in the second season.
32	* DecoyProtagonist: In "Eleven Days to Zero", the original pilot, the narrator introduces the original captain of the Seaview, John Phillips. Phillips is shot dead less than five minutes later.
33	* DressingAsTheEnemy: "Time Bomb" shows how this trope [[DeconstructedTrope can go wrong]]. Crane poses as a Russian soldier to find Nelson; however, Nelson sees him from the back and attacks him. Fortunately, he soon gets a look at Crane's face and recognizes him.
34	* EmbarrassingMiddleName: In "The Lost Bomb", we learn that Chief Sharkey's full name is Francis Ethelbert Sharkey, and a lifelong friend who shows up on the Seaview needles him by calling him "Ethel".
35	* FailSafeFailure: In the first season episode "Doomsday".
36	* FictionalUnitedNations: The "World Government" that issues missions to the ''Seaview''.
37	* FishPeople: ''Voyage'' was a sci-fi series with an underwater setting that often used MonsterOfTheWeek plots, so it's not surprising that the crew of the Seaview encountered characters like this occasionally.
38	** In "The Mermaid", the titular character is accompanied by a ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''-type humanoid monster who wreaks havoc aboard the Seaview.
39	** The monsters in "Deadly Amphibians", who look like a cross between the Creature and the Mutant from ''Film/ThisIslandEarth'', are even less friendly. They're an ancient race trapped in caves beneath the ocean floor, but they invent sonic weaponry to help them escape. Their leader regards humans as "[[FantasticRacism a sub-species to be used or discarded at our will]]", and he wants to use the Seaview to TakeOverTheWorld. They also convert Kowalski into one of them both physically and mentally, but his physical mutation is a BitByBitTransformation and [[StatusQuoIsGod he's back to normal by the end of the story]].
40	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The downed alien in "The Sky is Falling" is quite ugly by human standards. So, when talking to Admiral Nelson, it takes on a form it feels Nelson wouldn't find offensive: [[spoiler: that of Nelson, himself. And it later does the same for Capt. Crane.]]
41	* FramedFaceOpening: Used in the TitleSequence from the second season onwards.
42	* GagDub: Episode "Werewolf", where one of the protagonists is infected with a germ that turns him into a werewolf with the reactor core's radiation, was famously gag-dubbed by Mexican comediant Trino into the protagonist "getting" AIDS in the hand from Captain Patterson, going to the reactor core to take a dump believing it's the restroom, and transforming into a monster from the AIDS.
43	* HeroesRUs: The Nelson Institute of Marine Research.
44	* HisNameIs: In "Secret of the Loch", UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard Inspector Lester radios Nelson and Crane that he's found out the truth of what's going on at Loch Ness. And he's killed by [[spoiler: the fake Nessie]] just before telling them the rest.
45	* {{Leprechaun}}: "The Terrible Leprechaun" has twins - one good, one [[EvilTwin evil]].
46	* MildlyMilitary: The ''Seaview'' technically belongs to the NIMR, but the crew is comprised of civilian and Navy personnel. They're at the government's beck and call, which is presumably why they're trusted to pack nuclear missiles and single-handedly guard the world from undersea Communists and space Nazis.
47	* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: How "The Peacemaker" starts. Scientist Everett Lang helps an unnamed Asian nation (which is ''probably'' not RedChina) develop a "proton bomb" that could destroy the world, reasoning that the country's Premier will be able to force the world to make peace. Once the job is done, the Premier declares that any peace will be on ''his'' terms, then has Lang and his assistants machine-gunned because [[HeKnowsTooMuch they know too much]] and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness are no longer needed]]. Lang somehow survives and immediately decides to go back to the West.
48	* NotTheNessie: TheReveal of [[spoiler:"Secret of the Loch".]]
49	* OceanPunk: The oceans are another Cold War battlefield, and if the men of the ''Seaview'' aren't dealing with [[SpyFiction spies]] they're fighting {{monster\|Of The Week}}s, {{alien\|Invasion}}s, spirits, [[WeirdScience science run amok]] and oceanic versions of the NegativeSpaceWedgie.
50	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Italian-British Gia Scala actress isn't the most convincing Russian scientist in "Jonah and the Whale."
51	* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: In "The Mermaid", Captain Crane captures, well, a mermaid, who is depicted as a vaguely flirtatious CuteMute with [[PsychicPowers telekinesis]].
52	* [[PerversePuppet Perverse Puppets]]: The titular puppets in "The Deadly Dolls". Most of them steal the bodies of the crew members, but one, the delightfully creepy Nelson-puppet, remains in puppet form throughout the episode.
53	* PlantPerson: In "The Plant Man", the titular creature isn't really an example; it's more of a monstrous mutant that attacks anyone in its general vicinity.
54	** PlantMooks: Ben Wilson wants his scientist brother John to create a whole army of the things that will do his bidding.
55	* PursuedProtagonist: “Turn Back the Clock” begins with Jason Kemp fleeing from dinosaurs at the Earth’s core and fashioning an air bag from some shed dinosaur skin to escape underwater. [[spoiler:However, it turns out that he isn’t exactly a protagonist and his cowardice got two colleagues killed.]]
56	* RecycledTitle: The series did two unrelated episodes titled "The Creature".
57	* TheRemnant: One episode dealt with a Japanese holdout from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
58	* ReplacedTheThemeTune: Like ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'' decades later, the series had a different theme tune on exactly ''one'' episode - Music/JerryGoldsmith scored the season two opener "Jonah And The Whale" and wrote his own rather more serious theme to replace the brighter Paul Sawtell one. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kgMx0ib5YQ You can hear both themes here.]] [[Film/TheSwarm1978 He would later return to Irwin Allen territory]].
59	* SealedOrders: In the aptly named episode [[Recap/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSeaS4E5SealedOrders "Sealed Orders"]], the orders are to dispose of a NeutronBomb but the crew isn't informed until they are near said bomb's location.
60	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Missile officer Corbett does this twice in "Doomsday". First, he can't bring himself to turn his missile key when a war alert is sounded. Then, [[spoiler: he refuses to set a missile to explode beneath the ocean's surface, which would keep the episode's FailSafeFailure secret from the public.]]
61	* SpotTheImposter: A variation comes up during "The Silent Saboteurs". Crane is leading a mission into the Asian jungle to foil a plot against the American space program. He's supposed to rendezvous with a Major Li Cheng, but two agents (a man and a woman) show up, both claiming to be Cheng! Which one is telling the truth? [[spoiler: Neither one, because the real Cheng is dead. However, the woman is working with the Americans, while the man is a traitor.]]
62	* StockFootage: Lots. "Creator/IrwinAllen" is basically synonymous with this trope. For example, the Seaview dove out of control into the seabed with monotonous regularity, always hitting the ''same rock''. After the first few times, you'd think they'd move the rock.
63	* StockScream: The Wilhelm Scream can be heard during the assassination that kicks off "Eleven Days to Zero".
64	* TitleScream: During the TitleSequence.
65	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The series was set during TheSeventies, roughly a decade ahead of when it was made.
66	** "Doomsday", from the first season, sets the year at 1973, but it changes from episode to episode.
67	* TwinTelepathy: In "The Plant Man", Ben Wilson and his scientist brother John share this. Unfortunately, Ben is a budding supervillain who abuses this power to [[CompellingVoice order John around]].
68	* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: The end of "Destroy Seaview!". [[spoiler:Admiral Nelson is BrainwashedAndCrazy for most of the episode, but once he returns to normal he doesn't remember anything he did in that state.]]
69	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Everett Lang from "The Peacemaker". After the MistreatmentInducedBetrayal incident, he helps Nelson retrieve and disarm the proton bomb... or at least, he pretends to. What he actually does is make himself the ''only'' person who can detonate the bomb, then demands that every nation disarm its nukes within 24 hours or he'll use it to destroy the planet. After the situation is resolved, Nelson says he hopes Lang will be judged for his methods, but not his goals.
70	* WholePlotReference: The episode "The Sky Is On Fire" is one to [[Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea the original movie]], compressed in fifty minutes.
71	* WhyAmITicking: The premise of "Time Bomb". American intelligence sends Nelson on a mission to confirm that the Soviet Union is storing illegal nuclear materials. However, the whole thing is a setup; a FemmeFatale DoubleAgent has secretly injected him with cesium, so he'll set off an explosion as soon as he's close enough to the radioactive stuff. This will trigger a nuclear war between America and Russia, leaving RedChina (the instigators of the EvilPlan) in a position to be the last superpower standing and TakeOverTheWorld. Can Crane, a female American agent, and the femme fatale (whom they're forcing to help them) find Nelson in time to warn him?
72	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: An early example is Jenkins from the first season episode, "The Amphibians". Experiments give him the ability to survive underwater, along with heightened senses and strength, and makes him power-mad.

Context Series / VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea