Jack Lehman looks back fondly at his days as a local TV celebrity

By JOHN PRZYBYS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Many Las Vegans know of Jack Lehman as a District Court judge. Others, whose memories may stretch back a bit further, know him as a veteran Las Vegas trial attorney.

But to a generation of baby boomers, Lehman will forever be remembered as an authentic childhood hero.

For just over a year during the '50s, Lehman was Commander Lee, a space ranger/submarine commander who hosted his own locally produced TV show.

And while Lehman's days as Commander Lee represent only a small portion of his professional resume, it's a portion that Lehman -- and the kids who remember him -- think fondly of even today.

Lehman, 72, says his interest in broadcasting was piqued during his service from 1951 to 1953 with a psychological operations unit in Korea.

"I was in charge of propaganda for the (military) radio network in Korea," Lehman says. He also did programming for the armed forces' radio network in Korea, and discovered that he enjoyed broadcasting, interviewing and writing.

After the war, Lehman got a job at a radio station in Prescott, Ariz., a mountain community north of Phoenix.

"The total population at the time was 10,000, and it was the only radio station in town," Lehman says. "They had no television. In the summertime, particularly, they either listened to us or they listened to nobody.

"In a small station like that, you do everything. I wrote commercials and I went out and sold commercials. I was a disc jockey, a newscaster, a news commentator. I really loved it. I really enjoyed it."

Two years later, in 1955, Lehman moved to Las Vegas, both because it was a bigger market and because his in-laws lived here. He took a job at an advertising agency that had as one of its clients Vegas Village, a 10,000-square-foot department store and supermarket.

The agency decided to create a local kids' show on behalf of Vegas Village, and anointed Lehman as the show's host, space ranger Commander Lee.

The show aired from 5 to 6 p.m. weeknights on Channel 2, one of only two TV stations here at the time. Wearing a sort of flight suit -- supplied by Vegas Village, which, Lehman notes, sold kid-sized versions of it, too -- Lehman introduced cartoons and movie theater serials and did commercials.

Each day, Lehman also would interview each of the 10 to 20 kids who attended the day's live broadcast, asking them about school, hobbies, and -- a key part of the Commander Lee code -- the good deeds they'd done. Each child then left the show with a souvenir photo of Commander Lee and that day's crew of kids.

"Every day was seat of the pants," Lehman recalls. "Every day, everything was live. Every program I ever did at the station was live."

The show's fans could get Commander Lee membership cards, prizes, whistles and membership buttons.

"I had 7,800 little space rangers running around when there were only 50,000 people here. They were all in my club," he says.

And, Lehman adds, smiling, "I took them all over to Channel 8 when I moved over there."

That happened about six months into his run at Channel 2. Channel 8 had been running a similar show hosted by Captain Jack, a submarine commander. When Captain Jack left the show, "Channel 8 called me up and said, `You make a hundred-and-a-quarter there. We'll pay you $150 to come here.' "

Lehman accepted the offer.

"It was a submarine set," Lehman says, "so all these space rangers became submariners, but they didn't care."

Jim Olson, a Las Vegas attorney who remembers the switch, agreed that kids didn't fret the details of Commander Lee's job change.

"He was probably just a versatile adventurer," Olson says. "James Bond could do everything, right? Even before his time, he was kind of a James Bond character."

Olson made several appearances on Lehman's Channel 8 show when he was about 8, and even had his own kid-sized Commander Lee jumpsuit.

While Lehman did have competition on the other station -- "kind of a queen or something," Olson recalls -- Commander Lee was the hot ticket in town.

"Just from my own point of view, Jack's was the cool show," Olson says. "His was the one to be on."

"It was really something to get on that show and to be on television. `Fifteen minutes of fame' hadn't been coined yet, but, I'll tell you, that was the feeling. I think you could say he was a celebrity, at least among the kids."

Olson remembers Commander Lee as "very nice, very cordial. I mean, he was great with all these kids. We were all just kind of in awe of him when we went on the show."

But it was live TV, and things didn't always go as planned. Lehman says members of the studio crew sometimes would stand behind the camera, doing their best to make him lose his on-air composure.

Once, the daughter of a crew member appeared on the show. "He said, "We've got the whole family at the house watching,' so I told him I'd keep her on as long as I can," Lehman says.

"I asked her her name, what good deeds she did -- was she helping her mother around the house, was she brushing her teeth. I was trying to drag it out.

"I said, `Are there any other good deeds you do? Think now.' She put her finger in her mouth and said, `You know, there is one.' I said, 'What is it?'

"She said, `I don't wee-wee in my pants anymore.' I said, `Oh, that's a good deed!' "

"Then I had one kid with a low voice. He was about 5, and I said, `What good deed did you do?' He said, `I don't do any good deeds.'

"It broke me up," Lehman says. "I never had a kid come on and say, `I never did a good deed.' They'd usually rattle off 15 of them."

Lehman was amused, and sometimes surprised, by his local fame. Once, he had to drive his pregnant wife to the forerunner of University Medical Center.

"I ran to the station, got on the set and said, `Kids, today my wife is about to have a baby, so I'm going out to Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital. I'll be out there in about a half-hour. All you're going to see is cartoons and serials and some commercials, but I won't be here.'

"I took off. Two nurses were waiting for me when I drove up to the hospital and said, `Our kids were watching. We knew you were coming in to bring your wife.' "

In 1957, Lehman accepted an offer to do daily TV newscasts and put his kids' show days behind him.

"I loved doing the kids' show," he explains, "but I really loved the newscasts."

Later, Lehman would work on former Gov. Grant Sawyer's campaigns, serve as the state's economic development director and head the U.S. Department of Commerce's Los Angeles office. He'd earn a law degree, move back to Las Vegas in 1967 and spend 20 years as a trial lawyer before becoming a District Court judge in 1988.

But, even today, Lehman occasionally is reminded about his days as Commander Lee.

Olson remembers one time when he and Lehman were on opposite sides of a lawsuit. During depositions, Olson showed Lehman the group photo taken at one of his appearances on the show.

"I said, `Do you remember me now, Commander Lee?' " Olson says. "He just started laughing, and I think he laughed for five minutes.

"We've had cases together and I've appeared before him in court. He was a great lawyer and he's a great judge. He has a great personality. You could see why he was a media personality."

"Let me tell you, the show was enormously fun," Lehman says. "It was probably one of the most fun things I ever did."