While Saturday mornings were devoted to children’s programming from the time TVs were first made household items in the late 1940s-early ’50s, it wasn’t until 1966 that the three existing networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — fully embraced that audience. They soon began delivering a full slate of mostly new, mostly animated shows. That first year, Space Ghost and The New Adventures of Superman were among the biggest hits. In the following season, all three networks fully embraced superheroes.
Space Ghost and Superman aired on CBS, with Hanna-Barbera producing Space Ghost. In 1967, HB produced multiple superhero cartoons, among them being Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. That series aired on NBC, which also featured the HB shows Samson and Goliath, and The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show as well as Super President, which was animated by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises.
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio is a beloved classic, but it didn’t seem to go over as well as Space Ghost. Like the latter series, it was revived decades later for a more mature audience which gave Birdman a larger fanbase.
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio only lasted for one season consisting of 20 episodes. It was not as widely syndicated as Space Ghost. It also wasn’t revived for later iterations the way Space Ghost was revamped after the success of Star Wars for the newer program Space Stars in 1980.
Birdman and The Galaxy Trio were actually two separate segments on the same show. The title characters didn’t interact except in the opening credits. Each episode featured two Birdman shorts sandwiching one Galaxy Trio short.
Unlike Space Ghost, Birdman had a secret identity — Raymond “Ray” Randall — although it was rarely referenced. He was bestowed with solar powers by Ra, the Egyptian sun god, allowing him to fly, fire solar blasts from his hands, and generate force shields. He was accompanied by a trained eagle named Avenger, although it wasn’t pronounced the way we now say “Avenger,” like “Uh-venger.” It was more like “Aa” like “apple”-“venger.”
Birdman would be dispatched on missions by the eyepatch-wearing Falcon 7. Keith Andes provided the voice of Birdman, while Don Messick voiced Falcon 7. In later episodes, Birdman rescued a young orphan boy who would sometimes operate as his sidekick Birdboy. He was voiced by Dick Beals. Another recurring character was General Stone (also Messick), a military leader that often aided Birdman. While Birdman faced a diverse rogues gallery of opponents, his most frequent was Number One (voiced by John Stephenson and Vic Perrin), the leader of the organization F.E.A.R.
Like Space Ghost and other cartoon heroes from this time period, Birdman had a habit for soaring into battle and yelling his name, “Biiiiiiiiirdman!”
Birdman’s adventures were based on Earth. On the other hand, The Galaxy Trio was a galactic peacekeeping force brought together from different planets. In many ways, they were a precursor to Space Stars‘ Teen Force.
The de facto leader was Vapor Man (Messick) from the planet Vaporus, who could turn part or all of his body into gases that could perform different functions like freezing or burning. Meteor Man (Ted Cassidy) from the planet Meteorus could increase the size of parts of his body and had super strength. The third member of this team was Gravity Girl (Virginia Eiler), a princess from the planet Gravitas, who could fly and possessed telekinetic abilities.
In comparison, Teen Force consisted of Moleculad, who could shapeshift, similar to Vapor Man, Kid Comet as opposed to Meteor Man, although Kid Comet had super speed, not strength, and the telepathic and telekinetic Elektra. Moleculad’s costume was even the same green as Vapor Man.
The Galaxy Trio worked for the enforcement agency, the Galactic Patrol, and took their orders from a character known only as “The Chief.”
Like most superhero cartoons from this time period, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio tended to be a little formulaic. Part of which was due to the shortness of each episode. Generally, a villain would pop up, launch their scheme, and the heroes would arrive to defeat them.
As mentioned, neither Birdman nor The Galaxy Trio were revived for Space Stars. But Birdman returned to great success in the 2001 Adult Swim series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Similar to Sealab 2020, this show used the basic art style of the original but was reinterpreted as a comedy. In this version, Harvey Birdman was a lawyer. Falcon 7 was reinterpreted into Phil Ken Sebben, the head of the law firm. Birdboy became “Peanut,” a clerk. Many HB cartoon characters appeared as clients of Birdman.
The original Birdman cartoon featured a one-off character named Birdgirl, who turned out to be a villain. Harvey Birdman included that character, a.k.a. Judy Ken Sebben, as the daughter of Phil. A Birdgirl spinoff series premiered last year and has been renewed for a second which is due to arrive this summer.
As for Harvey Birdman, it lasted for four seasons, consisting of 39 episodes, wrapping up in 2007. A special, Harvey Birdman: Attorney General, arrived in October of 2018.
All episodes of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio are available on DVD. Birdman even made a surprise cameo on the Warner Bros. DVD release The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, a set of cartoons that had been animated by Filmation in the ’60s. Birdman is mistakenly depicted on the menu screen in place of Hawkman. Coincidentally, both boxed sets were released on the same day in 2007.
Episodes of Harvey Birdman have also been released on DVD.
Birdman appeared in the anthology comic book Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes which was published from 1968 to 1969. In issue #2, he teamed up with the Galaxy Trio, something that was never rendered in animation. These characters also appeared in the 2016-17 DC Comics series Future Quest. Gravity Girl recently made a silent cameo on the cartoon Jellystone!.
Is Birdman and the Galaxy Trio worth tracking down? It is pretty by-the-numbers and gets old pretty fast. But if you are a fan of vintage superhero cartoons, definitely check it out!
