25 August 2024.
Dear Bobby,
Thank you for agreeing to answer some questions re the Planet of the Apes TV series. At this late
stage there are few people left who worked on the series and even fewer willing to talk about it.
I understand that you only guest starred on two episodes but I hope you can shed some light on
some of my questions re aspects of the production.
Susan Cunningham: We know that the episode scripts often underwent considerable adjustment eg "The Cure"
changed from Amy being 12-year-old with Pete Burke taking a fatherly interest in her, to
Amy being 16-year-old with her primary relationship being with Alan Virdon. In your
experience were these changes often made by the actors once filming began? If so, how
were those changes made? Were the changes made on the run by the director, or was
permission sought from higher ups?
Bobby Porter:
I have had the great fortune to have been an actor on many well written television series
throughout my 50 year career. The Planet of the Apes television experience was my very first. I
had already worked with Roddy McDowall on The Poseidon Adventure
and then Battle for the
Planet of the Apes. I had seen how changes to the scripts had worked on feature films. Most of
the major changes took place in pre-production. Many suggested changes were addressed after
the cast had the opportunity to have a "table read" prior to the beginning of filming. Television,
however, was a much faster paced process. With the Apes project it was even more challenging.
The locations, the makeup process and the weather made for very little opportunity to change
the script "on the fly." There was only one actor on the set who would have had the stature to
request a change of dialogue. And Roddy, in my experiences with him, did not exercise that
privilege.
If changes were made, either before or during production, they were made by the writing staff
and the creative producers assigned to that particular episode. If we had new lines to learn for
the shooting day, we were given new pages to insert into our scripts (sometimes that very
day) that were a different color from the traditional white pages of the "Shooting script" when
we began each episode.
Over the years I participated on many productions with scripts that had as many as 8-10
different colors in their final scripts!
SC: We know from interviews with Mark Lenard and Zina Bethune that opportunities for
multiple takes were limited and that actors had to rehearse their lines as the lights were
being set up. The fact this was commented on implies this series was under more time
pressures/constraints than many of its contemporaries. Was this your experience? In this
regard was it very different from other series in your experience?
BP: I mentioned in my answer to question 1 that television production is always going to be, by the
very nature of the budgets and the volume of product needed in a very short time, extremely
fast. Over the years, the Boy Scout motto I reminded my fellow cast members who might be
young or new to the industry is "Be Prepared!" I still, to this day, have the occasional nightmare
that I showed up to the set completely unaware of what my lines were! The Planet of the Apes
television "experiment" was always challenged by 1) the desire to make the actors in Ape
makeup look as good as we did in the features, and 2) give the audience the visual quality of
shooting on location ... frequently at the same "Fox Ranch" ( now known as Malibu Creek State
Park ) where we shot the features. (Ask Dean about his experiences at The Ranch! ) Another
challenge the producers had was in hiring guest actors who had little or no prosthetic makeup
experience and then putting them in front of very hot lights at "The Ranch" in the summer.
Midday temperatures were frequently well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 38 degrees C )
SC: What was the working environment like on the series? Eileen Dietz remarked that after the
day's filming completed, people went home straight away (because of commuting distance)
instead of socialising as often happened in her experience on other sets. Was the set
generally harmonious and professional? My reading of interviews over the years indicates
such but given my first 2 questions and Eileen's comment, it would seem difficult for people
to keep their composure on long days under difficult conditions (heat etc.)
BP: I loved working on the Planet of the Apes feature and television series. I poured my heart and
soul into whatever I was asked to do. Having said that, I will tell you that, at the end of the day,
this 20-year-old fit, long distance runner and martial artist was completely physically spent! And
after spending 45 minutes to an hour getting the makeup off my face I had a two hour drive to
get home. There were many days when I only had about 4-5 hours at my house before I got back
into my car to repeat the process! Oh, and while I was busy "monkeying around" I was a pre
med student at the University of California, Irvine. It was a little known but significant rule
change that occurred in the Screen Actors Guild contract as a result of the Apes television
project. We were finally allowed to have 12 hours off between the time we "wrapped" and the
time we had to report back to work! This was, without exaggeration, life saving.
As for the mood of the cast and crew on the set? It was professional, respectful and executed
with the pride in knowing we were a part of something very special indeed. The mere fact that
we're honoring it 50 years later is the proof!
SC: Finally, is there anything you would like to say about working with the three leads: Roddy,
Ron, and James. As part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations I will be writing bios of all three
with a focus on their lives, not just birthdates and career highlights. I will be using already-
published info and definitely not trash-talking them. So if you have anything you want put
on the record, please feel free to use this opportunity. Bios will be published on Hunter
Goatley's Archives site, alongside my three existing works.
BP: I had the honor of working with Roddy four times in my career. It is truly one of the experiences
in my life that I cherish most! Ron and James came to the Apes franchise knowing full well that
they had been given career defining opportunities ... and they were as prepared and as
professional as any human could be expected to be ! ;) After all, they weren't Apes! ;)
I am very proud to share my experiences with the Apes community because I have always found
them to be intelligent, respectful and exceptionally loyal. I wish you the very best in the future
and would love to have you give Dean a link to your projects.
If you haven't read Dean's book, Who Said Apes Have No Tales, or the remarkable
documentary Making Apes ... The Artists Who Changed Film, I strongly urge you to do so!
Be well. I hope this helped you!
Bobby Porter
27.8.2024
