FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS - PAUL RYAN

So far, our July Friday Hall of Famers, we’ve inducted a defense lawyer, a British detective from the beginning to the end of his career, and a hard-nosed American cop.  For our last Law & Order inductee into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame for this month, we’re going to look at the prosecutorial side of a court case.

This week our inductee is Paul Ryan.  Not not that Cheesehead who was the Speaker of the House.  I’m talking about the assistant district attorney for Los Angeles County from the late sixties to the early seventies – at least as far as what we could see on the TV.  (Life goes on in Toobworld after cancellation.)

PAUL RYAN

From Wikipedia:
'The D.A.' is an American half-hour legal drama that aired Fridays at 8:00-8:30 pm on NBC for the 1971-72 season. It ran from September 17, 1971 to January 7, 1972 and was replaced by the more successful 'Sanford and Son' the following week. The show was packaged by Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television and is not to be confused with a show Webb produced in 1959 with a similar name, 'The D.A.'s Man’, which starred John Compton in the lead role.

'The D.A.' starred Robert Conrad as Deputy District Attorney Paul Ryan, a tough-minded, hard-hitting prosecutor in Los Angeles County who was assisted by criminal investigator Bob Ramirez (Ned Romero). He prosecuted all types of cases under the watchful eye of his supervisor, Chief Deputy District Attorney H. M. "Staff" Stafford (Harry Morgan, who directed at least one episode himself). His opponent was usually Public Defender Katherine Benson (Julie Cobb).

During the courtroom segments Ryan also provided a voice-over narration (like 'Dragnet'), which brought the audience in on legal jargon and court procedures and allowed there to be less exposition in the dialogue, which was necessary due to the program's brevity, as most legal dramas have episodes twice the length of that of 'The D.A.'.
Robert Forward produced the show, which was spun off from two TV-movies produced by Webb's production company, Mark VII Ltd., "Murder One" from 1969 and "Conspiracy to Kill" from 1971, both of which fictionalized cases prosecuted by Vincent Bugliosi, world-famous as the prosecutor of Charles Manson. Bugliosi served as technical advisor on both of the pilot films. In his account of the Manson prosecution, "Helter Skelter", Bugliosi stated that Conrad modeled the Ryan character on Bugliosi.

A two-part cross-over episode began on another Webb show, 'Adam-12', in which officers Malloy (Martin Milner) and Reed (Kent McCord) made an arrest. In the follow-up episode from 'The D.A.', Ryan handled the eventual prosecution. Co-star Morgan also accompanied Webb's Joe Friday character on the 1967-70 version of 'Dragnet' as Officer Bill Gannon.

Four episodes of the series were combined into a feature-length TV-movie called "Confessions of the DA Man". "The People vs. Saydo" was used as the basic plot, and, while Ryan is attempting to get a friend of the defendant to testify, describes previous cases to try to illustrate the importance of testifying. The cases he recounts are "The People vs. Slovik" because the witness's idealism reminds Ryan of the attorney he faced in that case, "The People vs. Fowler" to illustrate the importance of testifying even when it's difficult (as in the case of the rape victim), and "The People vs. Walsh" to illustrate the dangers faced by police in their daily jobs. The film first aired January 20, 1978 as a 'CBS Late Movie'.

Here are Ryan’s qualifications for membership:
D.A.: Murder One  
(1969 TV Movie)
D.A.: Conspiracy to Kill
(1971 TV Movie)
The D.A.
(1971-1972)
15 episodes
Adam-12
- The Radical
(1971)
Confessions of the D.A. Man
(1978 TV Movie)

O’Bservation – As stated above, this is basically a retread of one of Ryan’s cases which featured his flashback memories of three other cases. So it should be combined as such.
This marks Conrad’s second character in the TVXOHOF as a character, James T. West being the other.  There may be two more who are eligible, with one being saved until his death, which I hope is a long way off…..
Welcome to the Hall, Mr. Ryan!

THURSDAY THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - THE PAUL RYANS

In the main Toobworld, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s presence as a member of the League of Themselves is voluminous… when it comes to political discussion programming.  And while that may add flavor to his Earth Prime-Time background, it doesn’t qualify as the founding qualifications needed for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

Ryan has shown more presence in Skitlandia with appearances on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and even then he’s a televersion – first played by Taran Killan and then by Mikey Day.  

Not even his use in archival footate during comedy routines on the late night talk shows really help his case, unless – again – as “flavoring” for himself once he’s established in Earth Prime-Time legitimately.  For that to happen he has to appear as himself within the confines of a dramatic series with fictional series, even if it is as archival footage.
And lookee here!  We got one!
30 Rock
- Governor Dunston (2012)
... Himself (uncredited)
For Toobworld Central, that’s good enough to anchor Paul Ryan in Earth Prime-Time. 

Okay, I admit it.  I’m easy; but I’m not cheap! 

But let's face it, a guy who will pose for pictures like this should be a sitcom character!

Over the years we’ve seen that fictional TV characters have been related to real-life figures:

• Art Carney was related to Vera on ‘Alice’
• Tim Russert was related to Detective Megan Russert on ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’

and

• Bryant and Greg Gumbel are related to Sammy from ‘The Nanny’

So here’s the theory of relateeveety I’m proposing for Paul Ryan’s fictional televersion in Earth Prime-Time:

'THE D.A.'
(1971-72)

He is distantly related to Paul Ryan from the City of Angels, who was once the District Attorney in Los Angeles County.  When we as the Trueniverse audience saw him, he was the assistant district attorney, but he eventually rose to the position of District Attorney.  (His rise might have been a quick one as well, depending on when the L.A. D.A. was next fictionalized in one Los Angeles-based dramas.)
Ryan is no longer the Los Angeles D.A., but he is still alive, in his 80s.  And apparently distant cousins of his on the Ryan side of the family in Wisconsin decided to name their son after him back in January of 1970 because they were so impressed with him that they wished to set an example for their newborn son.

O'Bservation: 
Paul Ryan of Earth Prime was born two years before the series debuted.  But Paul Ryan of Earth Prime-Time already was an established TV character with TV movies in 1969 and 1971.  

Yeah, hurts your head, don't it?  Not the way it played out in the real world, but forget it, Jake.  It’s Toobworld….. 

BCnU!

WIKI TIKI WEDNESDAY - "THE HIGHWAYMAN"

In the 1971 TV-movie "They Call It Murder" which was based on a novel by 'Perry Mason' creator  Erle Stanley Gardner, Madison County District Attorney Doug Selby (Jim Hutton) finds himself attracted to one of his chief suspects, Jane Antrim (Jessica Walter). 

At one point, they bonded by quoting passages from an obscure poem to each other.  It was easy enough to track down with a Google search of a key line in that poem.

From Wikipedia:"The Highwayman" is a narrative poem written by Alfred Noyes, first published in the August 1906 issue of Blackwood's Magazine, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The following year it was included in Noyes' collection, Forty Singing Seamen and Other Poems, becoming an immediate success. In 1995 it was voted 15th in the BBC's poll for "The Nation's Favourite Poems".

The Highwayman
BY ALFRED NOYES
PART ONE

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.  
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.  
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
And the highwayman came riding—
         Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,  
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh.  
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
         His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.  
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
         Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked.  
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,  
But he loved the landlord’s daughter,
         The landlord’s red-lipped daughter.
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—

“One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,  
Then look for me by moonlight,
         Watch for me by moonlight,
I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.”

He rose upright in the stirrups. He scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;  
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
         (O, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.

PART TWO

He did not come in the dawning. He did not come at noon;  
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  
When the road was a gypsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moor,  
A red-coat troop came marching—
         Marching—marching—
King George’s men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

They said no word to the landlord. They drank his ale instead.  
But they gagged his daughter, and bound her, to the foot of her narrow bed.
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!  
There was death at every window;
         And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest.
They had bound a musket beside her, with the muzzle beneath her breast!
“Now, keep good watch!” and they kissed her. She heard the doomed man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
         Watch for me by moonlight;
I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!  
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
         Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest.  
Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast.  
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;  
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
         Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love’s refrain.

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horsehoofs ringing clear;  
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding—
         Riding—riding—
The red coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still.

Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!  
Nearer he came and nearer. Her face was like a light.
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,  
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
         Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.

He turned. He spurred to the west; he did not know who stood  
Bowed, with her head o’er the musket, drenched with her own blood!  
Not till the dawn he heard it, and his face grew grey to hear  
How Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
         The landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high.
Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat;
When they shot him down on the highway,
         Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat..       .       .

And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,  
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
A highwayman comes riding—
         Riding—riding—
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard.
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred.  
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
         Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

O'BSERVATION:
Mrs. Antrim made the observation that D.A. Selby was not the Highwayman of the poem, but instead he was the King's Man.  That should have been the tip-off for Doug that there could be no future for him with the beautiful young widow who must have seen herself as the inn-keeper's daughter.

BCnU!


 

TOOBWORLD'S TUESDAY MOVIE OF THE WEEK

'Columbo' is one of my favorite TV shows, in the top five as a matter of fact.  Along with my friends from the Facebook page "Columbo TV", I like to find the many (but not enough) guest stars from the 69 episodes of that Peter Falk mystery series in other shows and movie.

And we have a term for that type of actor, one who has appeared in 'Columbo' at least once in their career - "Columni".

I’m currently watching a TV movie that may have been a failed pilot - “They Call It Murder.”

It stars Jim Hutton as a character created by Erle Stanley Gardner, with the script by Sam Rolfe. If this was to be a series, I could see Jim Hutton, Jo-Anne Pflug, Robert Wilke, Miriam Colon and the two minor actors as deputies continuing on to the show.  Another actor who might have been recurring would have been 'Twilight Zone' stalwart Vaughn Taylor as the coroner.

But for Ed Asner as the Police Chief, even though he was still two years out from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', I think he would have been too busy to be locked into a show where he was perhaps the fourth banana in a role that was written to be very stereotypical.  (In fact, this movie was made in 1968 but shelved until 1971.  I think by then it was the pull of Asner from the MTM show which caused it to be broadcast.  I also think that's why Asner is so prominent on the video cover when he was low in importance to the plot.)

Sam Rolfe wrote the 'Man' and 'Girl from UNCLE' series for a total of 134 episodes, and over 200 episodes of 'Have Gun Will Travel' plus a lot of TV classics of all genres. Plus over 20 episodes each of 'Kaz' and 'Delvecchio', and a hefty chunk for 'The Delphi Bureau', 'Matt Helm' and single episodes of signature shows like 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine', 'Quantum Leap' and 'Matlock'.

From the IMDb:

This is the only vehicle - movie, TV or otherwise - to feature Doug Selby, and it is based on Erle Stanley Gardner's Doug Selby novel "The DA Draws a Circle."

I mentioned "Columi" earlier, and there were a top tier handful of Columni to be found in this TV movie.

In order of appearance:

• Leslie Nielsen (horrible Irish accent)
• Jessica Walter
• Lloyd Bochner
• Vic Tayback
• Nita Talbot

Plus! A great assembly of non-Columni:

Jo-Ann Pflug, Harry Townes, Michael Pataki, Carmen Matthews, Robert Wilke, Vaughn Taylor, Helen Kleeb and Ed Asner.  I would have loved to have seen all of them play one kind of role or another on 'Columbo'.  (And Pataki could have been one of the Lieutenant's many brothers!)

Just to allay any suspense you might have been harboring, Tayback was the character who got to say the movie title as part of the dialogue.

If you’re interested, you can find it on Amazon Prime.  I'd recommend it for fans of Classic TV "movies of the week", "cozy" murder mysteries, Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen fans, and for Perry Mason fans who might be interested in a different facet of Erle Stanley Gardner's world.

BCnU!

MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TRIBUTE

Sadly, we have a new Monday Memorial TVXOHOF Tribute….

From the Los Angeles Times:
Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the independent-minded jurist whose bright bow ties and courteous manner symbolized an old-fashioned style of integrity, died Tuesday after suffering a stroke a day earlier. He was 99.

Though he joined the court as a centrist Republican, he emerged in his later years as the leading voice of its liberal bloc.

Stevens retired in 2010 after more than 34 years on the bench, the third-longest tenure in the court’s history. Then-President Obama, sporting a red bow tie in his honor, described him as a “brilliant, non-ideological, pragmatic” justice who “applied the Constitution and the laws of the land with fidelity and restraint.”

His departure also marked the end of an era. He was the last World War II veteran to serve on the court. And as he noted on his last day, he had joined “the brethren” in 1975 at a time when only men served as justices. He was replaced by Justice Elena Kagan, who became the third woman on the nine-member court.

From Wikipedia;
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1975 until his voluntary retirement in 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldest-serving justice in the history of the court, and the third-longest-serving justice. His long tenure saw him write for the court on most issues of American law, including civil liberties, death penalty, government action and intellectual property. In cases involving presidents of the United States, he wrote for the court that they were to be held accountable under American law.  A registered Republican when appointed, Stevens was considered to have been on the liberal side of the court at the time of his retirement. Stevens is the longest-lived Supreme Court justice in United States history.

Born in Chicago, Stevens served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. After clerking for Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge, he co-founded a law firm in Chicago, focusing on antitrust law. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Stevens to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Five years later, President Gerald Ford successfully nominated Stevens to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice William O. Douglas. He became the senior Associate Justice after the retirement of Harry Blackmun in 1994. Stevens retired during the administration of President Barack Obama and was succeeded by Elena Kagan.

Stevens' majority opinions in landmark cases include Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Apprendi v. New Jersey, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Kelo v. City of New London, and Massachusetts v. EPA. Stevens is also known for his dissents in Texas v. Johnson, Bush v. Gore, D.C. v. Heller, and Citizens United v. FEC.

Stevens is not being inducted as a member of the League of Themselves.  He was played by three different actors in three different venues.

From Wikipedia:
Stevens was portrayed by the actor William Schallert in the film “Recount”. He was portrayed by David Grant Wright in two episodes of ‘Boston Legal’ in which Alan Shore and Denny Crane appear before the Supreme Court.

And he was also portrayed by Richard Erdman in an episode of ‘Picket Fences’.

Any differences in Stevens’ appearance in the three TV series portrayals can be chalked up to the perception of the Justice by regular characters from ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘Picket Fences’.  This leaves Schallert’s depiction which, while still in the main Toobworld (as well as in the MOTW Toobworld), stands alone with no recurring characters to anchor it.  So it could be said that Justice Stevens as seen in “Recount” could be considered the official portrayal. 

“RECOUNT”
William Schallert as Justice Stevens

‘BOSTON LEGAL’
“THE COURT SUPREME”
“LAST CALL”
David Grant Wright as Justice Stevens

‘PICKET FENCES’
“MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT”
Richard Erdman as Justice Steven

Welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Your Honor.....

TVXOHOF 50th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE - THE APOLLO 11 CREW

When it comes to the Apollo 11 crew in the greater TV Universe, only Buzz Aldrin qualified as an inductee into the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame by being a member of the League of Themselves.  He also qualified for his Tooniversion from the Tooniverse.  But all three men are multi-dimensionals, having been portrayed at least three times in three different TV movie or TV mini-series dimensions.  (Once again, Aldrin has the advantage there.)

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing and the first steps on the moon, Toobworld Central is inducting the fictional Apollo 11 crew as played by other actors.

From Wikipedia:

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours 39 minutes later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before lifting off to rejoin Columbia in lunar orbit.

 Sorry for the rerun.

Might as well take these in alphabetical order for the productions.

For some unnamed TV Movie dimension:
APOLLO 11 (1996)

To be found in a TV Mini-series dimension:
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1998)

And then another TV Movie dimension:
MOONSHOT (2009)

That last one was to mark the fortieth anniversary of the historic voyage.

So here are the crew members as depicted in multiple dimensions:

NEIL ARMSTRONG

From Wikipedia:
He made his first spaceflight as command pilot of Gemini 8 in March 1966, becoming NASA's first civilian astronaut to fly in space. During this mission with pilot David Scott, he performed the first docking of two spacecraft; the mission was aborted after Armstrong used some of his re-entry control fuel to stabilize a dangerous roll caused by a stuck thruster. During training for Armstrong's second and last spaceflight as commander of Apollo 11, he had to eject from the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle moments before a crash.  

 Tony Goldwyn
‘From The Earth To The Moon’
(Two episodes)
(He performs first docking in space as commander of Gemini 8 in episode 1, and is the first man to set foot on the Moon with Apollo 11 in episode 6, "Mare Tranquillitatis".)

Jeffrey Nordling
“Apollo 11”

Daniel Lapaine
“Moonshot”

MICHAEL COLLINS

From Wikipedia:
His first spaceflight was on Gemini 10, in which he and Command Pilot John Young performed orbital rendezvous with two different spacecraft and undertook two extravehicular activities (EVAs, also known as spacewalks). His second spaceflight was as the command module pilot for Apollo 11. While he stayed in orbit around the Moon (30 orbits), Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left in the Apollo Lunar Module to make the first crewed landing on its surface.  

Carey Elwes
(Two episodes)
‘From The Earth To The Moon’
(Gemini veteran and Command Module pilot on Apollo 11, episode 6, also CAPCOM during Apollo 8 in episode 4.)

Jim Metzler
“Apollo 11”

Andrew Lincoln
“Moonshot”

And finally……

BUZZ ALDRIN

From Wikipedia:
[He was] the first astronaut with a doctoral degree. His doctoral thesis was “Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous”, earning him the nickname "Dr. Rendezvous" from fellow astronauts. His first space flight was in 1966 on Gemini 12 during which he spent over five hours on extravehicular activity. Three years later, Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969 (UTC), nineteen minutes after Armstrong first touched the surface, while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit.

Bryan Cranston
(Two episodes)
‘From Earth To The Moon’
He performs EVA during Gemini 12 in episode 1, seen as Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 11 in episode 6.

Xander Berkeley
“Apollo 11”

James Marsters
“Moonshot”

Cliff Robertson
“Return To Earth”

From Wikipedia:
“Return to Earth” is a 1976 American biopic TV movie that originally aired on May 14, 1976 on ABC. The film stars Cliff Robertson as astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Shirley Knight as Joan Aldrin. Based upon Aldrin's 1973 book of the same name, the film dramatizes the emotional difficulties of Aldrin's life following his 1969 trip to the Moon on Apollo 11.  

Buzz and Cliff

Years later

Just because the 50^th anniversary is now upon us, I doubt that means we’ve seen the last of dramatizations of this historic event.  Give it ten years and we’ll see some niche network produce their own movie and/or min-series wth all new televersions of Neil, Buzz, and Michael.

BCnU!

THE APOLLO 11 FOOTAGE FROM CBS

Let’s take a look at the Apollo 11 mission….
From Wikipedia:
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours 39 minutes later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in l  unar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before lifting off to rejoin Columbia in lunar orbit.
Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages – a descent stage for landing on the Moon, and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit.
After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquility. The astronauts used Eagle's ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled the ship out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits on a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.
Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy: "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."