Does anyone recall the animated adaptation Filmation created around 1980 (or thereabouts)?
The original plan was to be a 2 movie (80 to 90 minutes without commercials) for prime-time television. But NBC changed its mind and requested Filmation to restructure it as a Saturday morning series. Filmation expanded upon the major scenes of the movie, creating enough new material for 16 half hour episodes. And like the famed 1930s movie serials starring Buster Crabbe, each episode ended upon a cliffhanger.
NBC was not thrilled with that aspect since it meant all 16 needed to be presented, and in sequential order for a single overall story to be told. NBC did order more episodes, but the network demanded they be self contained. Far more annoying to many fans, NBC insisted upon a "cute animal" mascot character (ala Scooby Doo) to appeal to younger viewers. We got a pink dragon hatchling.
If one ignores those later segments, Filmation's version probably comes closest to the original Alex Raymond newspaper strips, from which all later interpretations sprang. Well, I should say the 2 hour prime-time movie. You see, it was presented as a period piece, set in 1938 just as the Nazis invaded Poland. Well, the movie spends only 10 minutes on Earth, so it doesn't really affect later events, but it was nice Filmation made it that much closer to the source material.
NBC finally did air in 1982 as a late night presentation but was never repeated.
Sincerely,
Bill