User reviews

If you want to be really entertained, then watch Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. With a wide variety of monsters, aliens, and special guest stars, you'll want to watch this show again and again. I personally think it was one of the most clever shows and it should always be remembered.

Irwin Allen became known as a special effects wizard because of this series which was the most successful. The photography in it was always great, & Allen knows how to create effects. The SeaView - the main sub in the show would still be futuristic today. Of course the ideas for this series was spawned by the movie that preceded it with the same name.

Richard Basehart & David Hedison were great choices to be in command. They carried the dialog real well & there were plenty of good name guest stars in episodes too. Once in a while a pretty woman would stop in for an episode but most of the time the male cast carried this show to the top for ABC.

Later in the series, they introduced a flying submarine, something which in reality has still never been created. This show can really fire the imagination with how it worked. Now that it is on DVD, it might get some more new fans. As for Irwin Allen Productions, while they have done more recent work, since 1982's Code Red, there has not been as much success as this & the 60's & 70's stuff they did.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was one of my favorite U.S. TV shows! I couldn't wait to get back home from school to watch the antics of the Admiral, the Capt.,Kowalski and the gang as they headed for an unknown destiny amidst the waves of the deep blue sea. It might seem outdated today, but it was a SUPER sci-fi show back then!!! I liked the photography of the entire series and the Seaview was a fascinating piece of prop work just like the Enterprise (Star Trek). The music adopted for the show was ideal for the weird settings in each episode. The monsters and the aliens that showed up in each new episode reminded me of another fabulous TV series called the Outer Limits. Overall, Richard Basehart, RIP, and David Hedison were two extremely fine actors. A must in every true science fiction lover's film library.

I was a kid back in the 60s and Voyage was one of my favorites. The plot lines followed the typical pattern of the day like other sci-fi shows back then. Every week a different undersea monster. The star of the show was the Seaview, a sleek nuclear sub with windows in the nose and fins designed after the 58 Cadillac. There were plenty of TV themed toys available back then I had to have my own Seaview. I got it one Christmas, It was yellow, about a foot long but I was disappointed to find a handle sticking out of the front so you could wind the rubber bands that made it go. Kinda ruined the aesthetics of the model. I also had the plastic model that was put together with glue like an airplane model. although it was much smaller. The closest I ever got to run it was in the bathtub and I had to make my own ping noises. My family must have thought I was nuts. The Seaview got a remodel in the last season with new windows in the nose and a docking birth underneath for the Flying Sub. I recently rented some DVDs from the series. As I expected they had not stood the test of time but back then it was all we had. Three channels if you were lucky. I kinda hope they don't try to do a remake because those things never work like that awful remake of Lost in Space.

1: Nelson orders the Seaview rigged for silent running. In the next scene we see it with its active sonar pinging madly away, as it always does. Seaview must be the most conspicuous sub in the ocean.

2: Nelson says they're 3000 feet deep in a trench 8 miles deep. Nevertheless, we see the sub threading a dangerous course between huge submerged pinnacles in the next scene. Seaview was usually running a submerged obstacle course when submerged, explaining the constant sonar pings, I suppose.

3: Seaview, sitting on the bottom, is emitting huge quantities of bubbles. Good luck surfacing again!

4: Seaview, moving "dead slow", detects the the wreck of another sub a short distance ahead; they can see it with their nose camera. A few seconds later the sub plows right into the wreck for no apparent reason. Great ship handling there, Crane!

5: The sub routinely makes emergency surfaces for no apparent reason. The sub explodes out of the water at a 60 degree angle, then smashes down. I'd like to see what happens on board when they do that.

6: The sub is often shown at steep angles, in pitch, roll, or both. Yet inside, everyone seems to be walking on a level deck.

And yet it's all rather entertaining...

I was just a teenager when this series was popular. I'd lie on the carpet in our living room and watch the plot of each episode unfold on our family's 21 inch black and white Electohome. The special effects were somewhat crude by today's digitalized standards, but they were state of the art at the time. The series centered around the experiences of the crew of the "Seaview", a remarkable nuclear submarine with capabilities far beyond those of the common submarines of the day. It could dive deeper and go faster than conventional undersea vessels and, as if that weren't enough, it could launch a small flying submarine that was as adept at flying in the stratosphere as it was at plying the depths of the world's oceans. The captain of the Seaview was Lee Crane, played by David Hedison. He was responsible for the day to day navigation and operation of the "Seaview". The ship was designed by Admiral Harriman Nelson, played by Richard Basehart. Admiral Nelson was always on the "Seaview" and made the larger decisions regarding the activities and challenges to be undertaken by the ship and it's intrepid crew. The Seaview often encountered monsters during it's explorations and these were my favorite episodes. More often however, the plot of the episode dealt with the larger political and environmental issues of the time. A great series that was about as stimulating as a young mind could wish for.

Irwin Allen who gave us so many good science fiction spectaculars for the big screen and a couple clinkers took a hand in converting one of his big screen efforts for television. Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea cast Richard Basehart as Admiral Harriman Nelson who designed and now owns the Seaview which is like the Starship Eneterprise exploring strange new horizons and going where no one has gone before under the sea. Even today a lot of the ocean depths are still unexplored so viewers imaginations are stimulated. Like Star Trek Basehart and the Seaview run into all kinds of villains and situations in the ocean depths.

Basehart's character just like Walter Pidgeon who played Admiral Nelson on the big screen is based on Hyman Rickover. But unlike Pidgeon and Rickover in real life he never got his own submarine to take home and play with. Rickover operated strictly for the US Navy and so did Pidgeon with his big screen Seaview.

Though the Seaview is owned by some scientific think tank it does run with a Navy crew. One headed by David Hedison playing Captain Lee Crane the role played by Robert Sterling on the big screen. The usual service comedy/drama situations happened here as well as running into monsters and aliens and a few human villains.

This was a nice show which I watched as a lad. Still holds up well today.

I was so young when this show debuted I couldn't stay up to watch it. However, I could hear the theme song and it was beautiful. It's got to be my favorite theme song because it communicates what the show is about, the wonders of the sea.

Every kid on the block would tune into this show when it was on and although I had to catch it in reruns several years later, that's when I got hooked. The show was too 'grown up ' for me at the time and didn't have enough women in mini-skirts and false eyelashes for me. This was a 'man's man' show and I was so sick of war at the time I could only get interested if a babe or a monster appeared on the show. I do remember a few episodes when they debuted and they're classics now.

Later, channel 7, ABC in New York City would rerun the show on Saturday afternoons and it's still the ultimate Saturday afternoon show and I fondly recall that music wafting from every house for a mile around like clockwork every Saturday.

This brings me to the reliability of the actors. These were people you could count on to bring you solid performances and characters you knew you could depend upon. That's what VTTBOTS is all about for me, the portrayal of people who were professionals and had the character to solve those problems they'd wind up in.

I often laugh at some episodes knowing Irwin Allen and his penchant for stock footage, rehashed sets and props, monkeys, and explosions were more of a menace to the crew than the plot points and evil scientists.

One episode had the late great actor Victor Buono as an evil scientist. This episode you have to see to believe. It's so hysterically funny I woke up neighbors one day watching it.

It's not all laughs however as some great drama was portrayed on the show which made me look at the cast with respect and admiration to this day. Remember this show was in the early 60's and having minorities on a show was rare so you have to bypass the political incorrectness to appreciate the show for what it is.

By all means if you can get past the plot holes and the trademark Irwin Allen cost saving production, you'll find some stories and acting that will really be something to treasure.

What can I say? I mean this show was on 7:00 PM Sundays for most of it's run and was followed by Efram Zimbelist Jr. in "The FBI!" Why do I remember this? Because school was Monday and these would be the last shows I could watch before facing a week of shear terror! I guess anything was good if it was on at that time.

It's only competition was Lassie or Disney both of which had no monsters. I would see this show in re runs much later and wonder why I would ever waste my time with it. I flubbed my homework so I could watch this? Now all I think of is the thousands of dollars of income I have lost because I didn't spend more time studying!

Richard Basehart and David Hedison were busy in the first couple of years but after that it was Chief Sharkey, Kowalski, and Paterson and that stupid mini sub in the missle room. This was bad. Also I wonder who the contractor was for the Seaview's electrical system cause every week of the show(and seemingly without fail) the circuitry room would blow up!

My favorite episode as "Jonah and the Wahle" which was when the diving bell containing Captain Crane gets swallowed by a whale like it was bait. Improbable as it was this episode introduced the shows first season in color (the 2nd year I believe)and a redesigned Seaview with a "Flying" Sub. Considering Richard Basehart's best film is "Moby Dick!" you had to wonder who wrote this episode.

I guess they added the flying sub so they could get the action off the sub and into the air! Darn thing crashed every week! How did it get it's certification?

My least favorite episode (I was too young) was the "Phantom" who was the ghost of a World War one U Boat out looking for his lost love. The "Phantom" was in two episodes so I guess someone liked it. As an adult I think these episodes have some class.

The best year of the show drama wise was the first (in black and white)which is why I gave it a seven. Most of the last (4th) year was so silly I really didn't mind if I missed it. The show was a success because it lasted four years in those days was unusual. They just ran out of ideas and, since it was 1968, a generation had really grown up.

The show was unintentionally funny. The cheapest monster was the "flame creature" which was the flame from a blow torch held out in front of the camera. After Captain Crane had rescued some crewmen who were overcome from the heat, he picked up the always handy intercom microphone to alert the control room. All I could think of him saying was "Send down two glasses of ice tea and QUICK!"

And then there was Chip, the exec. How did he survive the boredom. He was in every episode and all he said was "Hello Admiral" or "OK Lee!" And then there was that incredibly bad sonar system and the stupid computer. Boom, sparks aplenty, the Seaview rocks back and forth! "You OK Chip?" At least Dowdell (who played Chip) made a good living in soap operas later on.

Then there were the monster costumes. Irwin Allen had several shows on at once including "Lost in Space" and the "Time Tunnel". The same monster costume would cycle through all the shows. Sometime they would paint it a new color but once it was on "Lost in Space," three weeks later you would see it on "Voyage!" And then there was the clown monster! Hey Bozo, put that ray gun down!

I think that the very talented actors in the show like Richard Basehart (Moby Dick), David Hedison (Felix Lieter in James Bond,) and the aforementioned Chip Dowdell must have thought the same thing I do after looking back on this show which is:

Oh it hurts to even think of the wasted time I spent with this show!

Created and produced by Irwin Allen ,"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was ABC's long-running science fiction/adventure series based on the box office 1961 theatrical feature of the same name starring Walter Pidegon. The television series,based on the same name told the colorful exploits of the Seaview,which was the world's most technologically advanced nuclear powered submarine under the command of it's creator Admiral Harriman Nelson(Richard Basehart) of "The Nelson Institute of Marine Research". Harriman's second in command of the Seaview was Captain Lee Crane(David Hedison). Each week was explosive underwater adventure and suspense that kept viewers tuned in as the crew aboard The Seaview faced unpredictable dangers and save the world from espionagen invaders, diabolical villains, saboteurs, aliens from other lifeforms and some of the scariest sea monsters ever conceived for television.

"Voyage" premiered on ABC's Monday night schedule on September 14,1964 where 32 episodes from Season 1 only where in black and white until April 19,1965. Then on September 19,1965 in it's second season,the show moved from Monday nights to Sunday nights in an earlier time slot for 78 color episodes for the remainder of it's four-year run until March 31,1968 where it faced stiff competition opposite the long-running animal show "Lassie",and "The Wonderful World of Disney". "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" produced in all a total of 110 episodes airing between September 14,1964 until March 31,1968. Created by Irwin Allen under his production company and the first of the trilogy of action- adventure shows he would produced for the network(the others were "The Time Tunnel","The Land of the Giants",and "Swiss Family Robinson").

The series was nominated for 8 Prime Time Emmys and winning 4 Prime Time Emmys in 1965 for Outstanding Individual Achievements In Entertainment- Special Photographic Effects(L.B. Abbott); and again in 1966 for Special Photographic Effects(L.B. Abbott);Outstanding Cinematopgraphy(Winton C. Hoch), Art Direction(William J. Creber); Art Direction and Mechanical Special Effects(Robert A. Tait);and in 1967 for Film and Sound Editing(Don Hall, Dick LeGrand, Daniel Mandell, John Mills),and Photographic Special Effects(L.B. Abbott). Other Emmy nominations were for Sound Editing, Film Editing, Art Direction, and Special Effects.

Several big time directors ranging from Jus Addiss, Jerry Hopper, Sobey Martin, Harry Harris, Leonard Horn, Robert Sparr, Nathan Juran, Sutton Roley, James Goldstone, Laslo Benedek, Gerd Oswald, Tom Gries, Alex March, Alan Crosland, and even Irwin Allen(who directed the pilot episode).

Fantastic writers contribute to some of the great stories which include Irwin Allen(who wrote the pilot episode). Others were William Welch, Allan Balter, John Hawkins, Ward Hawkins, Harlan Ellison, Don Brinkley, Sidney Marshall, Robert Vincent, Alan Caillou, Shimon Wincelberg, to Sidney Ellis and William Read Woodfield along with George Reed and Peter Packer.

The guest star roster for "Voyage" includes big time Hollywood greats including Susan Flannery, Mark Slade, Linda Cristal, Henry Jones, Malachi Throne, Jan Merlin, Leslie Nielsen, Werner Klemperer, Michael Ansara, Lloyd Bochner, Ford Rainey, Kevin Hagen, James Doohan, Eddie Albert, Richard Carlson, Yvonne Craig, June Lockhart, Brooke Bundy, Carroll O'Connor, Viveca Lindfors, Edward Asner, Ina Balin, Gia Scala, Gary Merrill, Victor Buono, Karen Steele, J.D. Cannon, Warren Oates, to Arthur Hill, James Darren, John Lupton, Michael Dunn, Vincent Price, Don Matheson, Robert Duvall,and John McGiver.

The best episodes from this series starts with the pilot episode "Eleven Days To Zero"(which was basically filmed in color but telecast in black and white). Season 1 episodes include "The Sky Is Falling", "Submarine Sunk Here", "Doomsday", "The Saboteur", "The Price of Doom", "The Fear Makers", "The Traitor", "The Mist of Silence", "No Way Out", "The Secret of the Loch","The City Beneath The Sea",and "Mutiny". Season 2 episodes include "The Mechanical Man", "The Cyborg","The Death Ship", "Jonah and the Whale", "Leviathan", "The X-Factor",and "The Phantom Strikes". Season 3 episodes include "The Lost Bomb","The Day The World Ended","Death from the Past","The Creature", "The Wax Men", and "Deadly Invasion". The Fourth and Final Season best episodes were "Edge of Doom", "No Way Back", "Cave of the Dead", "The Man of Many Faces", "Savage Jungle", "The Death Clock", "Man-Beast", "Attack!", "The Rescue", and "The Secret of the Deep" along with "Fires of Death".

When it was abruptly canceled in the Spring of 1968 after four seasons and 110 episodes, ABC didn't waste any time in finding a replacement on it's Sunday night time slot which was another Irwin Allen produced series "Land of the Giants" that ran for two seasons and 51 episodes from 1968-1970.

Cranky old Richard Basehart back on the ocean waves - or rather, under them!

He's done well: from being the Pequod's ".. all save one shall follow." to the boss of Seaview (not a hotel in Rhyl) in less than a decade.

The devil you say . . Not quite Huston, but Irwin Allen also knew his way round a salty yarn.

Spies, aliens, mad scientists, uncontrollable radiation, livid monsters, big angry fish . . Basehart certainly had his work cut out.

With a tremendous, instantly recognisable theme (41 reviews here AND NO-ONE HAS MENTIONED IT!), by Paul Sawtell - a music that perfectly sums up the series' nautical adventure flow - and great production values (tho how many times we see the sails and spines-enhanced iguanas and crocodiles from Allen's 'The Lost World' movie re-used is a minus), this intrepid, swashbuckling series, with it's half-dozen scripts rejigged over and over, is a knockout ("Ouch!" - Kowalski).

Some things aren't explained. Such as why a 'research vessel' has such a big range of powerful weapons - including the ocean's biggest nuclear arsenal.

Or why the gormlessly superb Kowalski didn't get his own spin-off show.

Upsetting as it is, I guess we'll never know.

This week, see Admiral Nelson be knocked on the head/confused by gas/kidnapped by foreign agents/taken over by aliens and needing to be confined to quarters to the Seaview crew's consternation.

Next week, see a crazy monster with telepathic powers try and take over the Seaview to fire its nuclear weapons at the US and begin Armageddon.

The week after, see Captain Crane be knocked on the head, etc . .

To be honest - I found this Sci-Fi/Underwater, TV-Adventure series from 1965-1966 to be kinda on the disappointing side.

Even though the premise for its stories was actually intriguing and some of the special effects were quite good (while some were totally cheesy) - I thought that the overall presentation of its episodes to be too dry, with there being far too much talk going on and not enough worthwhile action.

Though this was obviously a TV program with a fair-sized budget - The show's episodes (being 50 minutes in length) lapsed far too often into a monotony that was just too dreary for my liking.

All-in-all - Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea was, at best, just so-so entertainment.

This was my favorite TV series, growing up in the 1960's. And it still is a fun show for a lazy afternoon, or late at night. Richard Basehart, as Admiral Nelson, was (and still is) like an uncle or grandfather to me. He always knew just what to do in any emergency, and his subtle sense of humor really makes him very likable too. David Hedison, playing Captain Lee Crane, was the person I wanted to be someday. And the relationship between Captain Crane and Admiral Nelson is almost like a father and son - some tension now and then, but they always respect each other in the end. Of course, the real stars of this TV series are the Seaview and the Flying Sub. Even today, many fans of the show collect and build model kits of these two amazingly cool submarines. No matter how silly some of the series plots and monsters look today, the Seaview and Flying Sub are still two of the best designed vehicles in the history of science fiction television. For this alone, Irwin Allen will always have my most heartfelt thanks and appreciation. Hopefully someone will attempt a new feature film of 'Voyage' someday, as was done with 'Lost In Space' in the late 90's.

This show, as so often with TV series' produced by Irwin Allen, started out strong in the first season but by the time of the third season had become absolutely absurd with monsters and aliens trying to take over the world. Richard Basehart and David Hedison were brilliant in this series and made the show watchable. It's a shame that the scripts didn't give them chance to develop their characters. The special effects were good at first but the reuse of stock footage became tiresome in the end. Quite often props and monsters used in one Irwin Allen TV show appeared in another of his and he was still using some props in his later disaster movies.

After making a successful feature film entitled Journey to the bottom of the sea. Irwin Allen transformed the idea into a weekly series, but this time its protagonists would be Richard Basehart and David Hedison. The first season made in black and white was focused on pure adventure and espionage with a dose of fiction, this was the season that has the best stories. With season 2 comes the color and the aerosub (A kind of mini ship that can move both underwater or fly. It begins to show a little wear of ideas in some episodes. For season 3 there was a budget cut and this was noticeable Much, Allen argued that women delayed the recordings and increased the costs in terms of costumes, makeup and hairstyles and decided to eliminate the female element of the stories. The series became absurd and sometimes even ridiculous with all kinds of monsters that before already we had seen in Lost In Space, mummies, robots, fossil men, various types of aliens and mad scientists appeared. Richard Basehart did his best to bring seriousness to almost childish scripts. The fourth and final season tried to return to the roots of the beginnings and I improved a lot. The series ended up being quite irregular in its quality with extraordinary episodes like The Enemies or Turn Back The Clock until ridiculous episodes Like The Terrible Toys or The Wax Men.

When this series followed the feature film , of the same decade, I thought this was most amazing and awesome series ever..... Nothing like it , until Star Trek, had ever been seen on the small screen. Rather dated now but just as enticing and when watching the series , when seen on TV, I'm 18 again and that in its self is worth the while. Ten stars? All things considered, it , the whole series , deserves way more.....

Firstly,All praise to Irwin Allen and his fantastical shows,(..Lost in Space,Land of the Giants,Time Tunnel etc..),which gave so much pleasure to me and generations of children,(..and hopefully,still do..). I recently stumbled across full episodes on YouTube and started watching them and was instantly transported back to the 60's and 70's. With a beaming smile on my face I watched Admiral Nelson,Capt Crane,Chip,Chief Sharky,Kowalski and the rest of the crew outwit the larger,(..literally..),than life,scenery chewing Victor Buono as a Mad Scientist wanting to start WW3 by taking control of the 'Seaview',(..the absolutely beautiful submarine which still looks great nearly 60years on...ditto,the Flying Sub,an absolutely awesome designed craft..). I did vaguely remember the ep but loved it anyway,the shonky sets and wobbly scenery,(..primitive by today's standards,obv..),just adding to the Charm. I shall be watching all I can and enjoying every second of them. Some people say Nostalgia isn't what it was,well it is for me. Big Thank You again to the Mighty Mr Allen.

"Kill The Admiral!" The most frequently repeated line in this ground breaking, no, wind-breaking series about a Silly Submarine that our teen aged selves called "The Sea Screw." The line recurred every time the crew became infested with a weird, cloud-like creature, went crazy and chased the Admiral around the ship. A frequent sight-gag was the Sea Screw bumping into something or encountering turbulence. The thing would madly rock from side to side and they would run the same film library clip of the crew bouncing from one side of the instrument-rich corridors to the other with sparks flying all around them. One kid went " Hee!Hee! Snark! There isn't a circuit breaker on the ship!" If anybody decides its a good idea to bring this turkey back, may they be infested by a weird, cloud-like creature

This was great stuff for the time. I remember that my family rarely missed this show! Richard Basehart as Adm. Harriman Nelson and David Hedison as Capt. Lee Crane were always searching for new undersea discoveries. These, of course, very often led to adventure and drama. We never knew when the Seaview was on her last voyage. There were often giant undersea monsters to deal with. And, of course, even though they haven't been spotted by man in all of written history, they were THE biggest danger of our time. They obviously had to be dealt with, now didn't they? By today's standards, the special effects were quite laughable but for their day, they did their job. I recall some of these shows even today, decades later.

Ruined the same way as LIS--and in this instance the was no presence of children to excuse it. It was--had been gravitated towards an older audience. The characters remained the same, the crew being people in the navy had an air of realism and the cast were competent actors; at the end the acting was the lone contributor of keeping the show on. Oh yeah and for me, using the modern term: "Crane was hot". I scored it 8 because it was 2nd to Star Trek in its convincing me for a long time it was a real ship they were filming.

Clearly fault rests solely writers dropping the cloak and dagger spy genre of season one for taking inspiration from drafts of LIS season 2 & 3 episodes.

"voyage to the bottom of the sea" was the sixties' imaginative precursor to "star trek" in many ways. an artistically beautiful and super-capable sci-fi craft, launched into the great underwater frontier of our great oceanic world, still unappreciated in imagination as well as reality. yes, to be a kid at these times was an incredible blessing, and the series came on as really tremendously welcome relief to all the, well, too-many episodes of gun smoke and andy griffiths. it was much better to see the nuclear powered "Seaview" launched and ready to tango with anything the enemy could come up with, either alien or under-water monster. yes, the dramatic rapport between admiral nelson and captain crane was special, much like the descendant admiral picard and "number one." nostalgia – hope netflix puts it on, or i can find the DVD set around these parts of western canada.