Have You Ever Seen "The Phantom Empire" with Gene Autry? It's the Original Sci-Fi Western.

[MentorMom1]

You have got to check this out. After all these years I remembered a Saturday morning kids' show with a singing cowboy and a subterranean kingdom of masked riders - like Tolkien's Black Riders in the Fellowship of the Ring. 

I did a little searching online and can now claim a clean bill of mental health.  I wasn't crazy after all. The show did really exist. It starred Gene Autry (yup, the one who sings Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and his sidekicks, including a couple of trick-riding kids who get him out of trouble when he battles the Muranians and Queen Tika.

And the clincher is, Autry has to be back at Radio Ranch, his dude ranch, for the 2:00 broadcast or risk losing his contract and the ranch.

It's a mix of cowboys and sci-fi/fantasy. Don't miss it. Read the rest of the story and find a link at http://www.familyfieldguide.com/.

 

 

[Lb128f]

Jan. 10, 2012 at 1:16 PM

LOL, thanks...sounds...hmm, interesting! :-)