“From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King!” This opening sound from my favorite television program aired each Sunday evening, so many moons ago. It was all about adventure and the setting for this popular children’s program was situated in the fictitious town of Grover, Arizona, with Schuyler “Sky” King, his niece Penny and her brother, Clipper. Sky King operated from his Flying Crown Ranch and both he and Penny were constantly involved in one adventure after another. Somewhere along the line, Clipper moved on to the United States Air Force, leaving Sky King and Penny to cope with the criminal element, spies and lost hikers in the “Songbird”, King’s twin-engined Cessna aircraft.
For the almost eight years this show ran, I so wanted to be just like Penny who would often fall into the hands of various bank robbers, a few spies and other questionable individuals. Many of the story lines for those growing up in the 50’s and 60’s found cast members in some type of near-death situation but rescue always came along, with just a few seconds to spare; this was always the storyline on “Sky King”.
Looking back, I find it interesting as to how these villains were usually depicted as reasonably intelligent and believable especially since their motivations instrumenting bad behavior carried a bit of logic as opposed to random evil, common in many action dramas of that time.
My weekly ritual of becoming “Penny” would surface every Sunday evening where I’d imagine myself living on the mystical Flying Crown Ranch, high-flying on the Songbird, guided by its twin engines mounted on wings and helping with all types of rescues and captures of criminals. For me, it was an escape of sorts, a respite, where I could be anyone else but me, for twenty-five minutes.
From the Writer’s Workshop: What TV character did you want to be as a kid? Why?
