Friday, April 24, 2009

Introducing Flipper Friday: King Of The Sea...


Introducing
Flipper Friday
Season 1 [Episode 1: 300 Feet Below]
Original Air Date: September 19, 1964

Last Saturday, I added a new feature to Jake's Rolex Watch Blog named "I Spy Saturday." The idea is that every Saturday I will post, in chronological order–from beginning to end–each and every episode of I Spy so you can watch it on your computer if you choose to do so. Since I watch each episode before I post it, I will do screen grabs for all the interesting Rolex shots.

Today, I am announcing "Flipper Friday" in which we will be doing the exact same thing, except with the 1960s TV show Flipper. Flipper has a special place in my heart because when I was a young child I loved watching repeats of Flipper. I think I related to it so well because the two brothers were about my age and I thought Flipper was really cool. Dolphins to this day remain my favorite animal. I also love dolphins because they are almost always smiling. I also thought the father, Porter Ricks was also a really cool guy.


Flipper was first broadcast on NBC on September 18, 1964 and the last episode aired on April 15, 1967. Flipper revolves around the experience of a dolphin named Flipper, who was a Bottlenose Dolphin who is the wild pet and companion animal of Porter Ricks who is the Chief Warden of the fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in South Florida. Flipper is also very close with Porter Ricks two sons, Sandy and Bud. Bud, the younger son is the closest to Flipper.

The show was conceived by Jack Cowden and Ricou Browning who had a great deal of experience in filming underwater and he played the monster in the hit movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Flipper was actually based on the 1963 movie named Flipper as well as the 1964 sequel named Flippers New Adventure.

Notice that Flipper's trainers (pictured below) are also both wearing Rolex Submariner watches.


Flipper was shot in Miami as well as in Nassau. Flipper was produced in cooperation with the Miami Seaquarium which was located on Key Biscayne in Biscayne Bay which next to Miami, Florida. Ironically, Flipper the dolphin was played by 5 different female dolphins since female dolphins are less aggressive than male dolphins. The female dolphins were unable to do the tail walk so they used a male dolphin to play that part.


Rolex Submariner Watches Abound

So what does Flipper have to do with Rolex? Porter Ricks character, played by actor Brian Kelly, wore a Rolex Submariner from the first episode which the following screen shots are from.



Flipper was a great show with great style. The mid 1960s style including slip-on Vans, Hang-Ten T-Shirts and of course, Rolex Submariner watches. Very much of a clean-cut, early Beach Boys vibe with a definite aquatic setting. There is just something so cool about the whole Submariner/Aquatic lifestyle.


As I reflect back, I realize that probably the first exposure I ever had to Rolex was watching Porter Ricks sporting his Rolex Submariner back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.


Rolex Submariner watches seemed to be everywhere on Flipper. In this episode I saw stainless steel Rolex Submariner watches on at least 3 characters.


You can watch the very first episode of Flipper by clicking on the play button below. Once the show starts playing you can push the button in the upper right-hand-corner to have it play full-screen on you computer. Enjoy!!!