Begun on a shoestring budget by the Dumont television network Vice President James Caddigan, it was both the first "tv kids show" cult series and the first science fiction/space fantasy series to air on television. Many imitators cropped up on other networks, most notably Space Patrol, which was also an old time radio series of the ABC network at the same time. While still largely influenced by old time radio in style, Captain Video's use of special effects in television was ground-breaking, while its use of moralistic PSAs to punctuate its content is strangely both ahead of its time in principle and archaic in content by more modern standards. Space Patrol bridged both TV and Radio stylistically, while ranging beyond the confines of both to produce a more mature and sophisticated show. Both series live on in the hearts of millions of American kids of all ages of that bygone era for whom the medium of television was first tailoring its children's programing.