User Reviews

In general, Men Into Space was head and shoulders above the rest of the 1950's run of TV sci-fi. Riddled with what are now known to be scientific inaccuracies, the show nonetheless generally did better than the usual stories of caped space-princesses, malevolent dictators and blaster-wielding heroes in tights. But in this episode, they fell straight on their collective 50's faces, with a story that is absolutely dismissive of its protagonist. Renza Hales (Nancy Gates) is sent to the moon with less than a day of warning or preparation, along with her astronaut husband Major Joe Hales (H. M. Wynant) on a 90 day mission to (wait for it) cook and clean for her husband. Yep - they literally send her there as a "Moon Maid". The story is riddled with stereotypes and tropes too numerous to list here. Let's just say - SPOILER WARNING - that she finally proves her value to the expedition by producing a cake. One doubts that this outing is something writer James Clavell (Shogun, Noble House, King Rat, Tai Pan) featured prominently on his resume.

To find out if women are suitable for life in space, with future colonization in mind, an astronaut's wife is invited to join her husband on a three month mission to the moon base. Off they go to the moon. She does the cooking (in an atomic oven) and housekeeping, while the men are out working. But she gets tired of being cooped up alone all day with little to do, and takes to suiting up and stepping out of the cramped igloo to frolic in the low lunar gravity. One day she is found gone and doesn't answer her radio. Col. McCauley orders everyone into the search. She is found napping on a rock, and had neglected to turn on her radio.

Hubby is miffed. She shouldn't be out without telling someone, and no one is allowed out alone at all. The couple argue. He wants her sent back to Earth. She wants to stay. Then he decides she's staying, and now she wants to leave. "Women," says a crewman. McCauley finally settles the argument. She can stay on the moon. And he orders the husband--against his wishes, he has real work to do--to accompany his wife on her jaunts.

On their first outing together he kicks a big rock in their path, sending it flying in a high, lazy arc. They both laugh. Then, holding hands, they leap together. Up they go over a jagged rock. When they return to the base, she cooks a spectacular dinner for the crew, complete with fancy table settings and candles. (McCauley keeps their secret. He allowed her to bring ten pounds of personal stuff.) The experiment is judged a success. Moon colonization will be possible.

A decidedly sexist episode, but not unusually so for the time. And it's done with a light tone. In a series that is usually serious and down to business, it's nice to see characters taking advantage of the unique possibilities for fun on the moon. Written by James Clavell (King Rat,) who also wrote the second episode, "Moon Landing."