So Much Andy Griffith, So Little "Salvage 1"

Amor Mundi rectifies a grave imbalance in the current Griffith hagiography.



In 1979, ABC aired sixteen episodes (of the twenty that were made) of "Salvage 1," a kinda sorta science fiction series in which a junk man builds a rocket ship from junk to scoop junk off the Moon and out of orbit for profit (having failed to hit on the whole "steal underpants" program, I suppose). If you think all this is flabbergastingly implausible, you should hear the stuff the sooper-geniuses of SpaceX tell all the credulous Ayn Raelians in their TED talks. I'm just saying. At age fourteen, already very much the dewy-eyed NASA fanboy I remain to this day, I would shake my fists at the screen during the launch and landing sequences, wondering why my parents didn't have the sense to share my outrage.



None of this is to deny Griffith was a fine enough actor and a fine enough liberal, so don't even start.