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The Murrow Disappearance

SearchA high-ranking advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff goes missing, and PROBE is called in to find him, with a pre-mission briefing from an anonymous source code-named Saratoga. Lockwood is once again on the case, and the narrow trail of clues leads to an exclusive club for high-roller gamblers who happen to have high international security clearances. When Lockwood’s papers, identifying him as a UN official, are sniffed out as being forged documents, his cover is blown – and when the missing man turns up dead, the stakes have never been higher.

written by Leslie Stevens
directed by Russ Mayberry
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Hugh O’Brian (Hugh Lockwood), Burgess Meredith (Cameron), Angel Tompkins (Gloria), Capucine (Silvana Tristano), Maurice Evans (Mr. White), David White (Mr. Llewellyn), Ted Hartley (Lee Cardiff), Ginny Golden (Miss Keach), Vernon Weddle (McEgan), Lawrence Cook (Compton), Richard Stahl (Dr. Behrens), Elven Havard (Ambulance Attendant), Loren James (Chauffeur), Melissa MacKay (The Singer), John Raynor (Pale Man), Jay MacIntosh (Adele Murrow)

SearchNotes: With PROBE having gone weekly (and having gone through a name change), Leslie Stevens called upon his old Outer Limits cohort Bob Justman (producer of Star Trek and, later, of the early first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation) to produce Search. Joining Justman on Search was fellow Trek veteran Fred Phillips, the makeup artist who devised Spock’s ears.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ghost Story / Circle Of Fear

The Dead We Leave Behind

Ghost StoryCountry life suits forest ranger Elliott Brent just fine, but his wife Joanna is another story. The dull routine on which he thrives is boring to her, and she’s begun finding distractions – male ones, almost every time she goes into town. Elliott has bought her a television set to try to curb those tendencies, but she’s made up her mind to leave him. Angered, he lashes out, killing her; after he buries her, he tries to resume his normal life while also covering up what he’s done.

Order the complete serieswritten by Robert Specht
directed by Paul Stanley
music by Billy Goldenberg

Ghost StoryCast: Sebastian Cabot (Winston Essex), Jason Robards (Elliott Brent), Stella Stevens (Joanna Brent), Jack Kelly (Motorist), John McLiam (Titus Paul), Skip Ward (Tommy Harper), Burr Smidt (Jud)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 10 Doctor Who

The Three Doctors

Doctor WhoUNIT is called in by a radio astronomer whose studies have turned up distinctly unearthly results of late, but even the Doctor can’t imagine the magnitude of the threat. Somewhere within a black hole, a gateway to an antimatter universe, a malevolent being seeks one of his own race to assume his place as the master of a doomed world – and locates a fellow Time Lord on Earth. When the Doctor realizes the nature of the threat, he sends a distress call to the Time Lords, but their power source is also being drained by the black hole, and they can spare no help – aside from sending the Doctor’s earlier incarnations into his own present. The first Doctor is trapped in a time eddy, barely able to contact his future selves, who travel into the black hole – along with Jo, the Brigadier, and Sergeant Benton – to defy the wrath of Omega…the first Time Lord himself.

Season 10 Regular Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant)

Download this episodewritten by Bob Baker & Dave Martin
directed by Lennie Mayne
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Doctor), William Hartnell (The Doctor), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Stephen Thorne (Omega), Graham Leaman, Tony Lang, Lincoln Wright, Richard Orme, Peter Evans (Time Lords), Clyde Pollitt (Chancellor), Roy Purcell (President), Laurie Webb (Ollis), Patricia Pryor (Mrs. Ollis), Rex Robinson (Dr. Tyler), Denys Palmer (Palmer), Alan Chuntz (Omega’s champion), Cy Town, Ricky Newby, John Scott Martin, Murphy Grumbar (Gell-guards)

Broadcast from December 30, 1972 through January 20, 1973

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 1 Tomorrow People

Slaves Of Jedikiah – Part 1

Tomorrow PeopleYoung Stephen Jameson walks through London, unaware that two very different groups of people are monitoring him closely. He suffers some sort of attack, crumples to the ground, and is rushed to a hospital. When he wakes up, he meets a young woman named Carol, one of his observers, who tells him that he has experienced his “breaking out” – the moment when he evolved from homo sapiens to homo superior, one of the Tomorrow People, the next stage in human evolution. He has mental powers beyond those of most people, and must learn to control those powers to serve a higher good. Two men dressed as doctors appear, but they’re not doctors – they’re members of the other faction watching Stephen’s progress. He is taken to their master, Jedikiah, who intends to harness Stephen’s powers for less noble purposes.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Brian Finch and Roger Price
directed by Paul Bernard
music by Dudley Simpson

Tomorrow PeopleCast: Sammie Winmill (Carol), Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen), Stephen Salmon (Kenny), Francis de Wolff (Jedikiah), Michael Standing (Ginge), Derek Crewe (Lefty), Philip Gilbert (TIM), Patricia Denys (Mrs. Jameson), Peter Weston (Policeman), Neville Barber (Dr. Stewart), Christine Shaw (Staff Nurse)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Super Friends

The Power Pirate

Super FriendsPower failures wreak havoc around the world, and Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and superheroes-in-training Marvin and Wendy (and their faithful pet Wonder Dog) gather at the Hall of Justice to try to keep on top of all of the incidents. Everything from electrical power to steam power is likely to fail, and nearly everywhere any of the Justice League members go, the dapper Sir Cedric Cedric of Scotland Yard is already on the case, investigating the power problems for himself. Or is he? Is his presence at almost every incident a mere coincidence…and is he even who he claims to be?

story by Fred Freiberger, Bernie Kahn, Ken Rotcop, Art Weiss, Willie Gilbert, Henry Sharp, and Marshall Williams
Super Friendsdirected by Charles A. Nicholas
music by Hoyt Curtin

Cast: Sherry Alberoni (Wendy), Norman Alden (Aquaman), Danny Dark (Superman), Shannon Farnon (Wonder Woman), Casey Kasem (Robin), Ted Knight (Narrator), Olan Soule (Batman), John Stephenson (Sir Cedric Cedric / Alien), Frank Welker (Marvin / Wonder Dog)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series (Animated) Season 01 Star Trek

Beyond The Farthest Star

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5221.3: Near the edge of the galaxy, a powerful gravitational force has seized the Enterprise. Sulu is able to alter the ship’s course just enough to go into orbit around the dead stellar core which is the source of the gravity, rather than crashing into it. Also in orbit is a vessel of organic origins, with a structure that indicates two things – the ship was built by insectoid beings, and those beings appear to have destroyed themselves. A log entry recorded by one of the aliens warns of the presence of a malevolent life form, prompting Kirk and his landing party to return to the Enterprise – only to discover that whatever attacked the insectoids has now beamed aboard with them.

Order the DVDswritten by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Hal Sutherland
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott / Alien Voice / Insectoid Captain / Transporter Chief), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), James Doohan (Lt. Arrex), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Robert's Robots Season 1

Follow That Robot

Robert's RobotsEccentric inventor Robert Sommerby designs and builds robots – some of them smarter than others – and this has brought him to the attention of the government, as well as earning some research grant money from them as well. Mr. Fosdyke, a visitor from the Ministry of Technology, pays Robert a visit, meets the hulking but none-too-smart robot Katie, and is stunned to learn that Robert’s robots are being programmed to experience emotions. Fosdyke wants Robert’s research to remain top secret.

That doesn’t matter to Mr. Gimble, the private investigator sitting outside Robert’s lab. His employer, the mysterious and heavily-accented Mr. Marken, has ties to international electronics companies who will pay handsomely for Robert’s research – without actually paying Robert, of course. Gimble climbs over the fence and breaks into the lab, hurriedly donning a lab coat when he hears someone coming. His visitor is none other than Mr. Fosdyke…who has been told to go meet the robot wearing a lab coat with an “R” on the back. But how long will he follow Gimble around in the belief that Gimble is a robot?

Robert's Robotswritten by Bob Block
directed by Vic Hughes
music not credited

Cast: John Clive (Robert Sommerby), Brian Coburn (Katie), Nigel Pegram (Eric), Doris Rogers (Aunt Millie), Richard Davies (Gimble), Leon Lissek (Marken), Robert Dorning (Fosdyke), Dudley Jones (Doctor Randell), Larry Noble (Man), Janet Burnell (Woman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 11 Doctor Who

The Time Warrior

Doctor WhoA battle-scarred Sontaran spaceship crashes in medieval England near the castle of Irongron, a plundering pirate who intends to overrun the nearby castle belonging to Sir Edward of Wessex. Linx, the Sontaran warrior, strikes an agreement with Irongron – Linx can repair his ship in Irongron’s castle, in exchange for giving him advanced weapons which are centuries ahead of the times. But Linx finds it impossible to conduct his repairs with nothing more advanced than Irongron’s forge, so he used what’s left of his ship’s technology to abduct scientists and materials from the 20th century. U.N.I.T. is called in to investigate, and the Brigadier isolates all of the remaining scientists who are likely to vanish in one securely guarded premise. But when another scientist disappears under the Doctor’s nose, he follows the trail to Irongron’s castle, where he finds himself up against the much more powerful and warlike Linx.

written by Robert Holmes
directed by Alan Bromly
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Kevin Lindsay (Linx), David Daker (Irongron), John J. Carney (Bloodaxe), Sheila Fay (Meg), Donald Pelmear (Professor Rubeish), June Brown (Lady Eleanor), Alan Rowe (Edward of Wessex), Gordon Pitt (Eric), Jeremy Bulloch (Hal), Steve Brunswick (Sentry), Jacqueline Stanbury (Mary)

Broadcast from December 15, 1973 through January 5, 1974

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 1 Six Million Dollar Man

Population: Zero

The Six Million Dollar ManNorris, California, population: 23…at least until a California highway patrolman pulls into town and reports that everyone in Norris is dead. After just a few minutes of investigating the scene, he too keels over, clutching his head and screaming in pain. Oscar feels that Steve Austin is too valuable a resource to send into what may still be a dangerous situation, but Steve grew up near Norris and refuses to stay away. Despite the fact that no hazardous chemicals or radiation have been detected, Steve dons a spacesuit and walks into town, finding not just one survivor, but many – everyone in Norris is alive. The survivors’ stories lead Steve to believe that ultrasonic sound waves being used by a disgraced government scientist are the culprit; ransom notes dropped by helicopter demand millions of dollars, or the sonic weapon will be used against another town, this time leaving no survivors.

written by Elroy Schwartz
directed by Jeannot Swzarc
music by Oliver Nelson

The Six Million Dollar ManCast: Lee Majors (Steve Austin), Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman), Martin E. Brooks (Dr. Rudy Wells), Penny Fuller (Dr. Chris Forbes), Don Porter (Dr. Stanley Bacon), Paul Carr (Paul Cord), Paul Fix (Joe Taylor), Walter Brooke (General Harland Tate), Morgan Jones (Major Phillips), Colby Chester (Joe Hollister), John Elerick (Corporal Ed Presby), Virginia Gregg (Mrs. Nelson), Stuart Nisbet (Harry Johnson), Bob Delegall (1st Technician), David Valentine (Teletype Operator), Mike Santiago (Frank)

The Six Million Dollar ManNotes: Steve’s bionic limbs and implants are shown to be vulnerable to extreme cold. (Insert Stone Cold Steve Austin joke here.) The casting for this episode really went where no man has gone before: both Paul Carr and Paul Fix guest starred as, respectively, helmsman Lt. Kelso and Dr. Piper, in the second Star Trek pilot. (Their former captain, William Shatner, would be appearing alongside The Six Million Dollar Man later in the show’s first season.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 2 Tomorrow People

The Blue And The Green – Part 1: An Apple For The Teacher

Tomorrow PeopleWith Carol and Kenny having left to live on other worlds, John and Stephen keep their eyes open for other Tomorrow People, perhaps even those who have yet to experience their “breaking out”. One of Stephen’s classmates gets their attention by drawing an accurate artistic representation of another planet, a world about which a normal human would know nothing. But more alarmingly, the weather depicted in the picture changes, affecting the mood of everyone in the class. This happens much to the alarm of Elizabeth, a new student teacher, who admits privately to Stephen that she can overhear his telepathic communication with John and TIM.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Roger Price
directed by Roger Price
music by Dudley Simpson

Tomorrow PeopleCast: Elizabeth Adare (Elizabeth), Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen), Philip Gilbert (TIM), Jason Kemp (Robert), Ray Burdis (Johnson), Nova Llewellyn (Joy)

Notes: John says that Carol and Kenny are “no longer living on Earth”; cast members Sammie Winmill and Stephen Salmon elected not to remain with the series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Shazam!

The Joy Riders

Shazam!Young Billy Batson has been given a special power by the immortals: by speaking the word “Shazam!”, he can transform into Captain Marvel. But this is a last resort, as Billy himself is meant to be learning from both the immortals and Mentor as they travel across the country.

Billy and Mentor take note of a group of boys who are starting down a dangerous path, “harmlessly” borrowing cars for joyrides. One of the boys, Chuck, is less enthusiastic about joining his friends; he knows they’re doing something wrong. But when the peer pressure mounts, Chuck gives in and joins them, finding himself in enough trouble that it may take Captain Marvel to save them.

written by Len Janson & Chuck Menville
directed by Hollingsworth Morse
music by Horta-Mahana

Shazam!Cast: Michael Gray (Billy Batson), Les Tremayne (Mentor), Jackson Bostwick (Captain Marvel), Kerry MacLane (Chuck Wagner), Barry Miller (Mike), Ty Henderson (Kyle), Lee Joe Casey (Rich)

Notes: Ty Henderson would be cast as a series regular on a later Filmation live-action series, Space Academy. This is not the first filmed adaptation of Captain Marvel; the first was a 1941 theatrical serial released during the character’s WWII heyday, at a time when Fawcett Publications’ Captain Marvel comic book was routinely outselling Superman, published by rival National Comics (later to change names to Shazam!DC Comics). But that was also the year that National Comics sued Fawcett for copyright infrignement, a suit that was initially decided in Fawcett’s favor, but a 1951 appeal gave National Comics the upper hand. The two companies settled out of court, with Fawcett backing out of the comics business altogether. DC Comics licensed and revived Captain Marvel – quite probably for the sheer perversity of keeping a character named Captain Marvel out of the hands of its new rival, Marvel Comics – in 1972, keeping the character alive through what is now widely regarded as the Silver Age of comics. In 1980, DC put enough money on the table for Fawcett to hand over all rights to Captain Marvel and its other comics to DC in perpetuity.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series (Animated) Season 02 Star Trek

The Pirates of Orion

Star Trek ClassicStardate 6334.1: A small epidemic of choriocytosis strikes the Enterprise crew, but it is considered a minor bug until Spock contracts the disease, which can be fatal to Vulcans. Worse yet, the antidote that will save Spock’s life is a rare substance, and the nearest source is four days away. When Orion pirates attack a ship ferrying the vital medicine to the Enterprise, Kirk embarks on a risky quest not only for Spock’s sake, but for the freedom of the space shipping lanes…but the price of securing that freedom could be the destruction of the Enterprise.

Season 2 Regular Voice Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), James Doohan (Lt. Arrex), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel)

Order the DVDswritten by Howard Weinstein
directed by Hal Sutherland
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Guest Voice Cast: James Doohan (Captain O’Shea), James Doohan (Orion Commander)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Land Of The Lost Original Season 1

Cha-Ka

Land Of The LostOn a rafting trip, the Marshall family is deposited into another world after a huge earthquake sends them over an uncharted waterfall. The presence of three moons in the night sky is their first clue that they’re no longer on Earth, and yet the jungle world is populated by dinosaurs straight out of Earth’s prehistoric age.

On the run from a tyrannosaurus rex, Will and Penny Marshall stop to help a chimp-like Paku named Cha-Ka. In his own flight from the T-rex, Cha-Ka has broken his leg. Will and Penny’s father, Rich Marshall, reluctantly allows them to offer shelter to their new friend. Cha-Ka is fascinated by the humans’ ability to create fire seemingly from nothing, and sneaks out of the Marshalls’ “home” cave with a lighter. The Marshalls follow him, only to find themselves at the mercy of the dreaded T-rex once more. But will Cha-Ka lead them to safety or sacrifice his new friends to make his own escape?

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by David Gerrold
directed by Dennis Steinmetz
music by Jimmie Haskell / theme music by Linda Laurie

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Sharon Baird (Paku), Joe Giamalva (Paku), Philip Paley (Cha-Ka)

Notes: A fondly-remembered cornerstone of NBC’s Saturday morning children’s lineup for three years, Land Of The Lost is populated – at least behind the scenes – by veterans of the original Star Trek. David Gerrold wrote the pilot and numerous other Land Of The Lostinstallments, as well as script-editing the series (and, in interviews for the DVD release of the series, Gerrold says he was responsible for nailing down the series concepts into a coherent writers’ bible, although Allan Foshko and executive producers Sid and Marty Krofft are credited with creating the series). Art director Herman Zimmerman would be later be involved with Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and virtually all of the Star Trek feature films that were released during those two series’ run. Original series prop and monster-maker Wah Chang created the detailed animated dinosaur models, which were truly impressive for a television show in the early ’70s, and Michael Westmore – credited as “Mike” – handled the series’ creature makeup. Other Trek veterans crop up during the series’ run – see if you can spot them all!

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Kolchak The Night Stalker Season 1

The Ripper

Night StalkerA serial killer is on the loose, leaving a trail of mutilated female corpses in his wake. Kolchak has been assigned to handle Miss Emily Fenwick’s letter column after irritating the police. The reporter can’t stay away, however, and is soon witness to a number of occurrences where the press-dubbed Ripper, seemingly immunity to gunfire and possessed of superhuman strength, escapes the police with ease on several occasions. Kolchak soon comes to believe that the murderer is the 19th century Jack the Ripper, gifted with immortality. Going back through the historical accounts, Carl discovers that the Ripper broke off his killings in New York with the invention of the electric chair. From this, he suspects that electricity may be the Ripper’s one weakness. Following up the lead of an elderly writer to the “Dear Emily” letter column, he tracks the Ripper to the abandoned house where he has made his lair.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Darren McGavin (Carl Kolchak), Simon Oakland (Tony Vincenzo), Jack Grinnage (Ron Updyke), Ruth McDevitt (Emily/Edith Fenwick/ Cowels/Cowles), John Fiedler (Gordan “Gordy the Ghoul” Spangler), Carole Anne Susi (Monique Marmelstein)

Order the DVDswritten by Rudolph Brochert
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Beatrice Colen (Jane Plumm), Ken Lynch (Captain Warren), Mickey Gilbert (The Ripper), Ruth McDevitt (Elderly Woman)

Notes: Ironically, the premiere episode aired on Friday the 13th (9/13/74). Ruth McDevitt plays an elderly woman who writes to the “Dear Emily” letter column. A few episodes later, she plays Miss Emily. In this episode, Emily’s last name is Fenwick.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

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Season 1 Star Blazers

S.O.S. Earth: Revive Space Battleship Yamato

Star Blazers2199 A.D.: At the end of the 22nd century, planet Earth has been laid to waste by decades of radioactive planet bombs launched by the all-conquering Gamilons. The surviving human population has resorted to elaborate underground cities to survive, but the radiation will soon reach a point beyond which the surface of the Earth cannot protect them. All life on Earth is doomed.

Captain Avatar, one of the Earth Defense Force’s most seasoned leaders, commands a futile action against Gamilon forces which have now gained a solid foothold in Earth’s solar system on Pluto. The battle quickly turns against the human warriors, and with only two ships left of the fleet he led to Pluto, Avatar orders a retreat. The captain of the other ship, Alex Wildstar, disobeys direct orders and covers Avatar’s retreat – at the cost of his own life. Only Avatar and his surviving crew escape the slaughter, and the Gamilon presence in the solar system is left unchecked.

Meanwhile on Mars, Cadets Mark Venture and Derek Wildstar – Alex’s younger brother – discover the remains of a crashed spacecraft, neither of Earth or Gamilon origin. The sole occupant, a beautiful young woman, died in the ship’s violent landing, protecting a message capsule to the last. Wildstar and Venture are picked up by Avatar’s returning battleship, bringing the mysterious capsule with them.

Once decoded, the capsule turns out to be a message from Queen Starsha of the distant but peaceful planet Iscandar. Starsha offers a solution to Earth’s imminent doom in the form of Cosmo DNA, which can only be obtained on her world. The message also includes complete instructions for building a new propulsion system which will make the journey, spanning hundreds of thousands of light years, possible within one year.

Wildstar and Venture are summoned to a city constructed beneath what was once an ocean floor. Lodged in the surface above them lies the great World War II battleship Yamato, which is secretly being refitted into an advanced, one-of-a-kind starship using Starsha’s wave motion engine designs. To their surprise, the cadets have been hand-picked to join the command crew of the new vessel – which is to be commanded by Captain Avatar, whom Wildstar blames for Alex’s death.

But before the mighty Yamato can be rechristened Argo and launched on the last desperate mission to save the human race, the Gamilons launch an attack to destroy the ship on the ground – unless the ship’s new crew can pull together quickly and repel the assault.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green