Wing Commander Academy
{{for|video game spin-off of Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi|Wing Commander Academy (video game)}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Wing Commander Academy title screen.jpg
| caption = Title screen
| genre = Science fiction
| camera =
| based_on = {{based on|Wing Commander|Chris Roberts}}
| runtime = 22 minutes
| creator =
| developer = Michael Edens
Mark Edens
| producer = Larry Latham
| director = Larry Latham
| executive_producer =
| voices = Mark Hamill
Tom Wilson
Malcolm McDowell
Dana Delany
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = Alexander van Bubenheim
| country = United States
| company = Universal Cartoon Studios
USA Studios
| language = English
| network = USA Network
| first_aired = {{start date|1996|9|21}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1996|12|21}}
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 13
| list_episodes =
| related =
}}Wing Commander Academy is a 1996 American animated television series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, along with a team led by Larry Latham.{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=909–910}} The show was based on the Wing Commander franchise and loosely served as a prequel to Wing Commander. The show's aired from September 21{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+Origin+Inspired+Wing+Commander+Academy+Cartoon+Series...-a018698542|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305162919/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+Origin+Inspired+Wing+Commander+Academy+Cartoon+Series...-a018698542|title=Electronic Arts Origin Inspired Wing Commander Academy Cartoon Series Premieres Saturday; Universal Cartoon Studios' Production Debuts on USA Network|website=Business Wire|date=September 20, 1996|archivedate=March 5, 2016|accessdate=September 3, 2021|via=The Free Dictionary}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/159011605/|title=America's Most Wanted Ends Its Run With Special|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 21, 1996|page=222|accessdate=September 3, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}{{closed access}}{{subscription required|s}} to December 21, 1996, on the USA Network's "USA Action Extreme Team" block.{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |pages=699–700}}
Cast
=Main cast=
- Mark Hamill as Christopher 'Maverick' Blair
- Thomas F. Wilson as Todd 'Maniac' Marshall
- Malcolm McDowell as Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn
- Dana Delany as Gwen 'Archer' Bowman
=Additional voices=
- Lauri Hendler as Maya McEaddens, Lindsay 'Payback' Price
- Kevin Schon as Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Hector 'Grunt' Paz
- Pat Fraley as Dr. Guthrig Andropolos, Gharal nar Hhallas
- Ron Perlman as Daimon Karnes, Krulan nar Ragitagha
- Jeff Bennett as Bokh nar Ragitika
- Dorian Harewood as Jazzman
- Jessica Walter as Admiral Rhea Bergstrom
- Joan Van Ark as Dr. Bronwyn Sing
- Jim Cummings as Emil 'Easy' Zoharian
- Jennifer Hale as Princess Zukara nar Kiranka
- Andrew Prine as Vidkun
- Michael Dorn as the Warrior King
Spacecraft featured in the series
The series featured many spacecraft introduced in the Wing Commander video games. The Scimitar and Broadsword were the primary fighters and bombers flown by the main characters, with the Dralthi and Grikath fulfilling those roles for the Kilrathi. As in Wing Commander I, the TCS Tiger's Claw was a Bengal class strike carrier. Individual episodes also featured cameo appearances from ships introduced in later games such as Wing Commander III's Arrow, Hellcat and Longbow and Wing Commander IV's Avenger. None of these ships are mentioned by name. A number of new capital ships were introduced by the series including the Achilles class destroyer and the Agan Ra Sivar class dreadnaught.
Episode list
{{Episode table |overall=10 |title=|writer= |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| Title = Red and Blue
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens and Michael Edens
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|9|21}}
| ShortSummary = Blair and Maniac are assigned to the Tiger's Claw for training.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| Title = The Last One Left
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Michael Edens (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|9|28}}
| ShortSummary = Maverick and Maniac are captured by Daimon Karnes, a missing legendary space fighter pilot who became disillusioned with the war and turned to piracy.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| Title = The Most Delicate Instrument
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Shari Goodhartz (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|10|5}}
| ShortSummary = Mentally unbalanced from stellar phenomena, four cadets begin to exhibit erratic behavior.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| Title = Word of Honor
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Richard Mueller (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|10|12}}
| ShortSummary = Blair and Grunt crashland on an alien world, but they're not alone...
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 5
| Title = Lords of the Sky
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Matthew Edens (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|10|19}}
| ShortSummary = Blair and Maniac land on an alien world where the local savages worship the dastardly "Lords of the Sky".
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 6
| Title = Chain of Command
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Brooks Wachtel (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|11|2}}
| ShortSummary = Tolwyn meets an old "friend", who just happens to outrank him now.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 7
| Title = Expendable
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Ted Pedersen and Francis Moss (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|11|9}}
| ShortSummary = Blair and Payback scout an unstable jump node.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 8
| Title = Recreation
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Matthew Edens (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|11|16}}
| ShortSummary = The crew of the Claw discovers a mysterious being in suspended animation aboard a derelict space capsule.
Note: This episode is the final part of a crossover storyline that spanned the other shows in the USA Action Extreme Team lineup. The crossover began with episodes of Street Fighter ("The Warrior King"), Savage Dragon ("Endgame"), and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm ("Resurrection").{{Cite web|date=2017-05-13|title=Warrior King: The Forgotten Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat Crossover|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/warrior-king-the-forgotten-street-fighter-mortal-kombat-crossover/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Den of Geek|language=en-US}}
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 9
| Title = Walking Wounded
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Ralph Sanchez (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|11|23}}
| ShortSummary = Maniac scores guard duty on a crippled medical ship.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 10
| Title = On Both Your Houses
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Shari Goodhartz (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|11|30}}
| ShortSummary = Blair, Maniac, and Archer pursue Kilrathi fighters to a lush tropical planet where things are not as they seem.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 11
| Title = Invisible Enemy
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Richard Mueller (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|12|7}}
| ShortSummary = The Kilrathi have a new and terrible weapon: the Stealth Fighter.
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 12
| Title = Price of Victory
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Steve Cuden (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|12|14}}
| ShortSummary = Blair crashes on an ice world, where he meets an unusual Kilrathi who just happens to have an agenda...
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 13
| Title = Glory of Sivar
| WrittenBy = Mark Edens (story)
Mark Edens and Michael Edens (teleplay)
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1996|12|21}}
| ShortSummary = Blair and Grunt land on the planet Dolos, and find themselves surrounded by fur.
}}
}}
Home media
In March 2012, Visual Entertainment released Wing Commander Academy - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.{{cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Wing-Commander-Academy-The-Complete-Series/16083 |title=Wing Commander Academy DVD news: Date Change for Wing Commander Academy - the Complete Series | TVShowsOnDVD.com |access-date=2011-10-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015175948/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Wing-Commander-Academy-The-Complete-Series/16083 |archive-date=2011-10-15}} The series became available on the Peacock streaming service in July 2020.
References
External links
- [http://www.wcnews.com/wca/ Wing Commander CIC]
- {{IMDb title|id=0115421}}
- [https://archive.today/20130110172443/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/47801-Wing_Commander_Academy.html Wing Commander Academy] at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- [http://www.wcnews.com/news/update/6959 Wing Commander Academy TV episodes]
{{Universal Animation Studios}}
{{Wing Commander series}}
{{USANetwork Shows}}
Category:1996 American animated television series debuts
Category:1996 American television series endings
Category:1990s American animated television series
Category:1990s American children's television series
Category:American children's animated action television series
Category:American children's animated space adventure television series
Category:American children's animated science fiction television series
Category:Animated series based on video games
Category:Animated television series set on fictional planets
Category:USA Network original programming
Category:USA Action Extreme Team