Two astronauts and a sympathetic chimp friend are fugitives in a future Earth dominated by a civilization of humanoid apes. Based on the 1968 Planet of the Apes film and its sequels, which were inspired by the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
When they are buried alive, underground, in an ancient San Francisco subway station during an earthquake, Burke and General Urko are forced to work together. Above ground, Galen and Virdon try to figure out a way to help Burke, with the assistance of several gorilla soldiers.
When Galen hurts his leg and can't travel, Virdon and Burke seek refuge in a farm till their friend recovers. The farm is operated by a gruff but decent ape named Polar, his wife Zantes, and their three children: older son Anto, younger son Remus, and daughter Jillia. Polar puts to work the two strangers who teach him about contour farming, windmill building, seed selection, etc. Polar soon accepts these changes but Anto resents the strangers, fearing they will hex a cow about to give birth. (Until the cow delivers a bull calf, Anto can't start a farm of his own.) When Virdon helps deliver not one but two bull calves, Anto is won over and names the calves Virdon and Burke.
Two astronauts survive a crash-landing on a planet where intelligent apes rule over humans. The men find that their own intelligence challenges the apes' superiority and puts their lives in danger.
While walking on an ocean beach with Galen, Virdon and Burke see a condemned man lashed to a raft in the water. They rescue him and carry him to a nearby cave but then an ape-on-patrol captures the two astronauts and takes them to his boss, Hurton. Hurton administers a fishing operation and he presses Virdon and Burke into service as fishermen after they pass a test by swimming under a sheet of flames. Trouble arises when Hurton's superior, Bandor, comes on an inspection tour, but the astronauts save the day by demonstrating how a net can catch more fish than spears. They credit this innovation to the once-condemned man, Gahto, who's then re-united with his daughter, Soma.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
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