User Reviews

And so begins the popular Flipper TV series. The series features the introduction of Tommy Norden as Bud as the younger brother. Brian Kelly as Porter Ricks in the familiar Park Ranger role debuted in the second Flipper movie "Flipper's New Adventure" in 1963 whereas Luke Halpin as Sandy Ricks is the sole star who began the role in the original Flipper movie in 1962. Filming of the TV series began in the early summer of 1964 when Kelly was 33, Halpin was 17 and Norden was 12 (after a pilot filmed the year before right after Kelly and Halpin appeared in "Flipper's New Adventure" and become Episode 3 - SOS Dolphin). The credits for the first few episodes in Season 1 features footage of Kelly, Halpin (then 16) and Norden (then 11) in the 1963 pilot.

It begins in dramatic fashion with a distress radio signal from a shark mauled diver who is also a doctor. Sandy is left to man the radio at home while Bud and Porter race to the rescue and pick up the diver's unsuspecting wife en route. The Coastguard must fly plasma by helicopter from Miami. Due to the dramatic blood loss, its a race against time. The container with the plasma is fumbled by Porter on the tower of the boat and tumbles to the deep ocean floor too quick for Porter to dive after it.

Flipper emerges as the logical choice to retrieve the box as dolphins can dive far deeper and Bud suggests Flipper as he'd trained him to retrieve a box at the beginning of the show. Porter arranges for the CG helicopter to go get Flipper with Sandy in attendance to water Flipper down. This desperate plan is implemented with clinical efficiency. Porter tasks 15 year old Sandy to gather 3 other men and bring Flipper to the chopper when it arrives. Sandy bathes Flipper with water and sooths his fears as they fly quickly to the site of the diver's boat. The chopper hovers as close as possible to the water (about 15 feet) and Sandy first tips in Flipper and then dives in himself. Bud starts with the box that Flipper had previously trained with as a demo and gives Flipper precise instructions as retrieving to the plasma box below. This was one of the few times Luke Halpin had a stunt double step in as the dive from the helicopter was done by dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry who was slightly built like Halpin.

This sets the scene for the whole TV series where Flipper is now close to not just Sandy but Bud as well in fact if anything, the scrip writers seem to prefer it that Bud would come to be the one who understands Flipper the most which is a change from the Sandy/Flipper duo as seen in the two movies.

A cool sub plot is the relationship between the doctor/diver and his wife. Their marriage was on the verge of breakup and this tragedy brings them close together again! Finally the rescue is done with the ever dangerous presence of a shark which Flipper must dispatch with what became his trademark nose butt before retrieving the plasma box!