Tonight on MeTV- after viewing the excitement of a real-life moon mission just last month- we launch an H.G. Wells tale of another journey to the moon- a previously unknown event that occurred years before the advent of NASA! We flashback to the late 1800s to learn the truth about the original lunar landing of the “First Men in The Moon”!

As this film featuring stop-motion effects by the one and only master Ray Harryhausen opens- it’s 1964 and a United Nations spacecraft with a multi-national crew touches down on the moon, and celebrates being the first humans to visit the earth’s satellite- until they discover a battered-looking Union Jack flag and a note claiming the noon for- Queen Victoria!

The uproar from this astonishing find begins an investigation that leads to the one survivor of the Victorian-era flight who is in a nursing home. Arnold Bedford’s claims about his space travel have been considered delusions due to senility- but now, authorities take them seriously as he relates how it all began.

Back in 1899, Bedford was a less-than-successful writer living in a cottage in rural Dymchurch. His lovely fiancée Kate arrives, surveys the situation, and, after meeting their neighbor, eccentric inventor Joseph Cavor, who shows interest in buying the cottage -strictly as a precaution in the event one of his experiments should cause damage to it- decides that the sale should take place , and solve their money problems.

This leads to Bedford hanging out with Cavor, who has invented a substance he calls Cavorite which has anti-gravity powers- and which he plans to utilize to travel to the moon!

After a few mishaps, Cavor’s ball-shaped spacecraft, propelled by Cavorite, takes off and heads for the moon, with Cavor, Bedford, and Kate ( and a chicken) aboard. They crash-land on the lunar surface, where the two men, in diving suits, go exploring and find a shaft that leads underground and has breathable air. They also find bizarre insect-like creatures Cavor dubs as Selenites- and their spacecraft (and Kate) end up being brought to the underground lair of the Selenites, where they encounter more strange creatures- and the entity that rules the moon! It’s a fantastic face-off with the possibility of escape hanging in the balance!

This 1964 production is another amazing showcase for Ray Harryhausen’s animation-and an exciting interpretation of the Wells story. We’ll tell you about the cast, give some background information on the movie, bring back some segments from our original local showing of this film several years ago, plus a new song and more!

“First Men in the Moon” takes off tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. You can launch into live commenting both on Bluesky and Twitter/X during the show- just use the hashtag #svengoolie in all your posts and Tweets. Our local Chicago area viewers can get an encore look at Peter Cushing in “Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell” at 11 am on WCIU the U.

If you’re behind on finding a Mother’s Day gift, check out our store here on our website- you’ll find terrific favorites for those Moms who are fans of our program, better late than never!

Tonight, don’t be late for pre-Mother’s Day moon mayhem on MeTV!