John T. Ryan BRINGING THIS SERIALIZED to television as a segment of the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB'S daily output. The non-cliffhanger serial had one overview introduction and 25 episodes; which meant that it was on our TV screens for 5 whole weeks.THE PRODUCTION FEATURED young 'stars' Tim Considine*(Spin) and David Stollery (Marty) and a team of youthful supporting players. Added to this, we had an ample supply of veteran actors such as: Roy Barcroft, Harry Carey, Jr., J.Pat O'Malley and even 3 Stooges' foil, Emil Sitka!IT WAS CONTINUING dramas like these that gave a variety and balance to Walt Disney's MICKEY MOUSE CLUB and provided relief to the boy viewers to an otherwise seemingly endless parade of song and dance presentations (yuch!!).DURING ITS THREE seasons on ABC, The MICKEY Show always featured similar such serialized series within a series. Some of the others that we recall are two SPIN & MARTY Sequels, CORKY AND WHITE SHADOW (freaturing Mouseketeer, Darlene Gillespie and Buddy Ebsen), THE BOYS OF THE WESTERN SEA (an English-dubbed import) and MOOCHIE & THE DEAD COW (We made that one up. Sorry, Uncle Walt!) CONCERNING THE MAKEUP of this series, it was a natural for the boys and girls seemed to like it too. As the central element of the story is the meshing of two personalities from different backgrounds. Spin, the blue collar kid, natural athlete, born leader and extroverted good guy meets up with Marty, a classic "poor little rich kid", pampered and sheltered, snobbish and a "regular kid wannabee." HOW THEY LEARN from each other is that crux of this series. This important life lesson is presented tastefully and without appearing to be too preachy or educational. Most importantly, this is accomplished without resorting to any "Class Struggle" or any other Marxist principles.ALAS, IF WE could only do it this way today! NOTE: * In addition to his later portrayal of eldest brother, Mike, on MY THREE SONS, Tim Considine had what was perhaps his most visible screen role as the soldier slapped by George C.Scott in PATTON (20th Century-Fox, 1969).

johnstonjames the original 1950's 'MMC' is one of my favorite nostalgia pieces. not only did it epitomize a lot of what Disney was in the 50's, it epitomized 50's television in general.i can't honestly say that there is anything remarkable about the 'Spin and Marty' serial on 'MMC', aside from it's phenomenal success at the time, but it is entertaining and probably a little better made and produced than a lot of serious critics would like to think. not that it's the BBC or PBS or anything, but it was better than a lot of those homey, cozy sitcoms like a 'Father Knows Best' or 'Leave it to Beaver'. it's not that those shows weren't also quintessential 50's television history, it's just that i only like nostalgia when it's good.are Spin and Marty boy's adventures any good? well, apart from the scary, creepy cow hand with the bush wacked eyebrows, yeah i guess. the show actually manages to portray kids, especially boys, with a certain amount of realism. we've seen it all before in young boys. the rivalry, the out of control teasing and hazing, and even the overly sensitive ones defensively hiding their child like emotions. i'd have to say from what i know about boys and having been a young boy at one time, that a lot of this is convincing enough. certainly more believable than the characterizations in the 'Annette' serial and more believable in this opening season than the boys adventures became in later seasons.actually i was kind of surprised when i viewed this, at how a lot of this first season avoided clichés and contrivances.'Spin and Marty' is real retro television fun, and should be of real interest to any serious Disney buff. i enjoyed it and thought it was cute. except for the creepy dude with the bushy uni-brow. he was kind of disturbing.

jaybabb When this first aired on the Mickey mouse club in 1955, I was not even born yet. In fact, it wasn't till recently that I saw this serial in it's entirety on DVD. Wow, what a good show this was! Spread out over 25 11 minute segments on the original Mickey Mouse club in 1955, now we can see this all in one sitting! Spioled rich kid Marty Markum(David Stollery)arrives at the ranch-and he is trouble right from the start. He calls the triple R ranch a "dirty old farm". When Spin Evans(Tim Considine)Puts a frog in his bed-Marty is mad-he does not like the joke-and he wants to knock Spin's block off. Well, the Ranch's Counseler Gives Marty a chance to do just that in a boxing match. Mr. Logan-who heads the ranch, isn't crazy about the idea-but goes along with it.Marty has a chip on his shoulder the size of the national debt-and it is hoped that boxing match would knock that chip off his shoulder-but Marty puts up a very good fight-better than anyone expected. You need to see this to see who wins.In time Marty begins to get along with others. He makes friends with "Skyrocket" the horse he's been given for the summer. He must however face himself first. He lies about being a polo player. Before this, he tells Mr. Burnett-The Ranch's Counseler(Harry Carey, Jr.)that he has never been on a horse before. As Mr. Burnett points out "For a kid who's never been on a horse-you sure picked your self a hobby" He is forced to reveal the truth, he tries to runaway.But Marty Returns to the ranch in style-riding "Skyrocket". He becomes a pretty good rider. He makes friends with "Ambitus" "Al" and Freddie" But when he decides to go on a secret ride, "Skyrocket" encounter a snake Knocking Marty off-breaking his arm. The horse then tramples on the snake-saving Marty's life.The serial culminates with the rodeo between Tripple R and Northfork-this is perhaps the most fun part of this show. There is some comical moments-Besides the frog incident, There's a scene where Ambitus, Freddie and Marty Fixed Marty's Jeans! Then there's The Ghost trick that Marty & Ambitus played on Spin & 2 others.This show has everything, there's the fun of watching kids riding horses and wrestling calves(and occasionally each other)It has drama and comedy. Great actors-and great script-all contribute to this show. It takes 4 1/2 hours to unfold on two discs. It's the kind of storytelling that we don't see much of any more. There's a sense of wonderment and joy watching this. I highly recommend it!

carflo Every day when I got out of school, I would race home as fast as possible to get my homework done so that I could sit down watch The Mickey Mouse Club and the serial that ran every day: Spin and Marty.I loved the show. It was about a summer camp for boys that was a ranch. They had horses and swimming and mysteries and Marty, my first real crush. I don't think I would ever want to see any episodes again. Like Nancy Drew books and Hostess Twinkies, some things belong to the magic of the past.