History Series / PlanetOfTheApes

* MalevolentMaskedMen: In "The Deception", the human killing Dragoons are malevolent masked chimpanzees and gorillas.
* MeaningfulName: Galen, who is genuinely intrigued by human history and technological accomplishments, is named after one of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen great scientists of antiquity]]. He passes himself off as a scientist in "The Gladiators".

The plot is simple; on August 19, 1980, two astronauts--Burke and Virdon--encounter a space-time warp whilst exploring space near Alpha Centauri, causing them to crash upon an alien world that they soon discover is actually a post-apocalyptic Earth in the year 3085, where a civilization of bipedal apes now rules over a cowed and submissive humanity. Escaping the cabal of orangutans who seek to execute them for fear that they will spark rebellion amongst the native humans with the aid of a sympathetic chimpanzee named Galen, they go on the run, drifting randomly across the known world of the ape-ruled territories in hopes of finding some way to return to their own time.

** In "Escape from Tomorrow", Burke and Virdon find a book showing a picture of New York City that was taken in A.D. 2503. Very close to 2500 which was the year the astronauts in the [[Literature/PlanetOfTheApes novel]] first started their journey, and the [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes first film]] took place in New York.

* DownerEnding: At the end of "The Deception", the Dragoons have been dismantled and their leader taken away for trial. [[spoiler:However, it seems clear that nobody else will be prosecuted, even though all of them are accessories to the murder of at least one human. Fauna goes on living with her uncle, who admits that he covered up the murder of his brother Lucian. And, unusually for this series, Fauna isn't cured of her prejudice against humans at the end. Though Burke inspired her to be more open-minded.]]

* AlternateUniverse: To the rest of the original film continuity, possibly. The series is set chronologically before the first two movies and after all the later ones (the television series is set in 3085 while the first two movies were in 3978-79 (possibly 3955) and the later movies were in the late 20th/early 21st century). Humans still speak, unlike the earlier films. The time apes took over is different from the films as apparently human society survived until at least 2503. Not helping this out is uncertainty around the nature of time in the movies generally (with much fan debate over whether it's a circular time loop or history was changed during the films). Dialogue in ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes'' implied that it took centuries after apes started being used for pets before they took over which would have been consistent with the TV series' timeline, but the final two films showed apes taking over much sooner. It could be that series is supposed to be set in the films' continuity, before the original films, in the original timeline before history was changed (assuming it was), at some point before humans stopped speaking. Alternatively, it may just be an alternate universe where the world being ruled by apes is basically the only thing in common with the film continuity. The show never gave enough detail to make either answer clear.

* AlternateUniverse: To the rest of the original film continuity, possibly. The series is set chronologically before the first two movies and after all the later ones (the television series is set in 3085 while the first two movies were in 3978-79 (possibly 3955) and the later movies were in the late 20th/early 21st century). Humans still speak, unlike the earlier films. The time apes took over is different from the films as apparently human society survived until at least 2503. Not helping this out is uncertainty around the nature of time in the movies generally (with much fan debate over whether it's a circular time loop or history was changed during the films). Dialogue in Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes implied that it took centuries after apes started being used for pets before they took over which would have been consistent with the TV series' timeline, but the final two films showed apes taking over much sooner. It could be that series is supposed to be set in the films' continuity, before the original films, in the original timeline before history was changed (assuming it was), at some point before humans stopped speaking. Alternatively, it may just be an alternate universe where the world being ruled by apes is basically the only thing in common with the film continuity. The show never gave enough detail to make either answer clear.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. Many apes are shown to be quite humane in their attitude and, even if there are bigots and supremacists, there are also decent individuals, hard-working commoners, and even a few subtle human rights supporters. Even the gorillas, despite being an obvious target to scapegoat for this, get some notable exemptions to the "militaristic brute" depictions. Police Chief Perdix in "The Deception" comes down with an iron hand on a bunch of murderous anti-human activists once he finds them. In "The Cure", one of Urko's soldiers, Kava, saves a human village from being destroyed (foiling Urko's plans in the process) after Virdon sneaks a malaria cure to him whilst he's dying.

* TheDeterminator: Virdon. He's going to get home, no matter how many [[IdiotBall idiot balls]] he needs to carry along the way.

* PostApocalyptic: Dogs are seen in both "Escape from Tomorrow" and "The Trap".

* SchizoTech: As a result of orangutan meddling, most likely, the technology in the ape-controlled Earth is... all over the place. Particularly beyond the Capital City, residents live in a fundamentally Iron Age setting, but revolver pistols and repeater rifles out of the late 1800s are standard armaments for apes.
** The rifles are actually M-1 carbines with some exotic furniture added, making the tech even more schizo.

* WhatTheHellHero: In "The Cure". instead of being deferential to Virdon as usual, Galen sharply dresses him down twice: first for opening up to a village girl about their real origins, then for having a guilt complex about a possible plague epidemic.

* LostTechnology: All of human civilization, basically. Zaius has some grenades in his office, which serve as mementos of the human capacity for destruction, as well as a number of human books, including a text book on surgical procedures and medicine.

* [[MalevolentMaskedMen Malevolent Masked Apes]]: The Dragoons in "The Deception".

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The computer disc. It played a major role in the first two episodes, "Escape from Tomorrow" and "The Gladiators", but was never seen nor mentioned again.

** Burke and Virdon began their mission in 1980.

* FantasticCasteSystem: [[{{Lampshade}} Lampshaded]] in "The Tyrant" and "Up Above the World So High". Gorillas do army and police work; chimpanzees are doctors and bureaucrats; and the orangutans control upper-level slots in government, education, and religion.

* ApocalypticLog: "The Legacy".

* FantasticCasteSystem: [[{{Lampshade}} Lampshaded]] in "The Tyrant". Gorillas do army and police work; chimpanzees are doctors and bureaucrats; and the orangutans control upper-level slots in government, education, and religion.

* FarmBoy: Virdon.

* GladiatorGames: "The Gladiators".

* PlotHole: The first episode has a dog chasing a man up a tree, while in ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', it was stated that all dogs and cats were wiped out by a disease from space which necessitated the humans turning apes into a slave race. Though according to ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes'', the plague wiped out a few cats and dogs while the rest of the species had to be put down to prevent an outbreak. In either case, it's possible a few of them survived.

* SchizoTech: As a result of orangutang meddling, most likely, the technology in the ape-controlled Earth is... all over the place. Particularly beyond the Capital City, residents live in a fundamentally Iron Age setting, but revolver pistols and repeater rifles out of the late 1800s are standard armaments for apes.

* ScienceIsBad: Why Zaius is working to keep knowledge about human technology secret. It's implied that the orangutangs all tend to support such beliefs.

* ThemeNaming: Many of the chimpanzees have classical names, like Augustus, Galen, and Lucian.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The computer disc.

* AlternateUniverse: To the rest of the original film continuity, possibly. The series is set chronologically before the first two movies and after all the later ones (the television series is set in 3085 while the first two movies were in 3972 and the latter movies were in the late 20th/early 21st century). Humans still speak, unlike the earlier films. The time apes took over is different from the films as apparently human society survived until at least 2503. Not helping this out is uncertainty around the nature of time in the movies generally (with much fan debate over whether it's a circular time loop or history was changed during the films). Dialogue in Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes implied that it took centuries after apes started being used for pets before they took over which would have been consistent with the TV series' timeline, but the final two films showed apes taking over much sooner. It could be that series is supposed to be set in the films' continuity, before the original films, in the original timeline before history was changed (assuming it was), at some point before humans stopped speaking. Alternatively, it may just be an alternate universe where the world being ruled by apes is basically the only thing in common with the film continuity. The show never gave enough detail to make either answer clear.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. Many apes are shown to be quite humane in their attitude and, even if there are bigots and supremacists, there are also decent individuals, hard-working commoners, and even a few subtle human rights supporters. Even the gorillas, despite being an obvious target to scapegoat for this, get some notable exemptions to the "militaristic brute" depictions; Police Chief Perdix in "The Deception" comes down with an iron hand on a bunch of murderous anti-human activists once he finds them. In "The Cure", one of Urko's soldiers, Kava, saves a human village from being destroyed (foiling Urko's plans in the process) after Virdon sneaks a malaria cure to him whilst he's dying.

* BlindAndTheBeast: In "The Deception", the blind female chimpanzee Fauna falls in love with Burke, whom she thinks is a chimpanzee named Pargo.

* HypocriticalHumor: In "The Tyrant", Galen is aghast at the idea that an ape could use bribery to acquire political power, despite the fact he blatantly brings up the fact that his family and Dr. Zaius are old friends in the pilot as part of his efforts to secure a job working with him.

* {{Nepotism}}: In the pilot, Galen tells Zaius point-blank that he deserves a job because of Zaius' previous connections with his family.

* PropagandaMachine: Even though another set of astronauts landed a decade before the series begins, according to the pilot, the High Council has successfully turned them into tall tales.

* DownerEnding: At the end of "The Deception", the Dragoons have been dismantled and their leader taken away for trial. [[spoiler:However, it seems clear that nobody else will be prosecuted, even though all of them are accessories to the murder of at least one human. Fauna goes on living with her uncle, who admits that he covered up the murder of his brother Lucian. And, unusually for this series, Fauna isn't cured of her prejudice against humans at the end. Though Virdon inspired her to be more open-minded.]]

* ShoutOut: In the pilot, Burke and Virdon find a book showing a picture of New York City that was taken in A.D. 2503. Very close to 2500 which was the year the astronauts in the novel first started their journey, and the film took place in New York.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Burke and Virdon began their mission in 1980.