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Starlost, The

Voyage Of Discovery

The StarlostAfter returning from exile as punishment for sacrelige, Devon returns to the rustic farming community of which he is a member, still bitter that he will not be permitted to marry a woman named Rachel. Devon demands a second opinion, and so the town’s preacher asks the computer system – a device which gives him direct access to his Creator, and which he refuses to question or second-guess – and it once again declares Devon an unfit genetic match for Rachel, regardless of her feelings for him. Devon refuses to stop his attempts to interrupt the impending marriage of Rachel and Garth, and is cast out from his community again. But when Devon learns that the “voice of the Creator” is actually programmed by the preacher himself, a new decree is issue: Devon must be purged from the gene pool. He ventures into a remote cave with a torch-and-pitchfork-toting mob hot on his heels – and a metallic hatch closes behind him. Devon discovers himself in an enormous chamber filled with technology the likes of which he has never seen. He stumbles across a talking console which reveals to him the truth about this place: his village is part of an agrarian biosphere, one of many biospheres clustered together to form an enormous spacefaring vessel called Earthship Ark. Constructed between the Earth and the moon and launched after a catastrophe in the year 2285, Earthship Ark’s sealed biospheres contained a representative sampling of Earth’s flora, fauna and cultures, carrying them away from their dead homeworld and seeking a solar system around a class G star, capable of supporting life.

But Devon doesn’t even know what space is, the people in his biosphere dome having reverted to a more primitive way of life (and yet one that acknowledges the prefabricated boundaries of the world, computer equipment, and other anachronisms). The machine tells him that 100 years into Earthship Ark’s multi-generational flight, an unspecified accident occurred, and the command module containing the Ark’s bridge, from which its flight was guided, was damaged; the bridge has not been heard from in over 400 years. Devon returns to his village with this knowledge, but he is branded a heretic and is sentenced to be stoned to death. Garth breaks Devon out of his prison cell on the condition that Devon should leave and not come back, but instead, Devon does the one thing that he knows will reveal the truth to the rest of his neighbors: he takes Rachel through the hatch into the Ark’s infrastructure. Only Garth is brave enough to step through, and he does so armed with a crossbow, intending to bring Rachel back by force if necessary. The three of them make their way to the bridge, finding it littered with the skeletons of the Ark’s crew. And blazing through the enormous windows in the distance ahead, they see a class G star – suitable for settling the Ark’s precious cargo of life if it has habitable planets – but there’s just one problem: the Ark is locked on a collision course for that star…and no one left alive knows how to alter that course.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Keir Dullea (Devon), Gay Rowan (Rachel), Robin Ward (Garth)

Get this season on DVDwritten by Cordwainer Bird (pseudonym for Harlan Ellison) and Norman Klenman
directed by Harvey Hart
music by Score Productions Ltd.

Guest Cast: Sterling Hayden (Jeremiah), George Sperdakos (Jubal), Gillie Fenwick (Old Abraham), William Osler (The Computer), Sean Sullivan (Rachel’s Father), Aileen Seaton (Rachel’s Mother), Jim Barron (Garth’s Father), Kay Hawtrey (Garth’s Mother), Scott Fisher (Small Boy)

Notes: The concept for The Starlost was credited to series creator “Cordwainer Bird”, a well-known pseudonym for renowned SF writer Harlan Ellison, who frequently used this nom de plume to signal to his fan following that his writing had been tampered with by producers. (At one point Ellison campaigned to have his famous Star Trek script, City On The Edge Of Forever, credited to Cordwainer Bird, and claims that Gene Roddenberry threatened to smear his name in Hollywood if he did so; afterward, Ellison included contractual provisions to have his work credited to Cordwainer Bird, and he triggered that clause on The Starlost.) The producers at Canada’s CTV network obviously had the relatively-recent 2001: a space odyssey on the brain, as Keir Dullea (2001‘s David Bowman) and 2001 special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull both worked on The Starlost.

LogBook entry & review 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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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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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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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

Escape From Tomorrow

Planet Of The ApesA human spacecraft launched in 1980 is captured in a time warp and thrown into the far future. It comes in for a landing on Earth again, over a millennium later in the year 3085; humanity has been reduced to frightened scavengers, with highly evolved apes as their overlords. Of the three crewmen aboard the vehicle, only astronauts Alan Virdon and Pete Burke survive, and they are moved to a place of safety by an old man named Farrow shortly before their ship is found by apes.

Virdon and Burke are captured and brought to trial before the apes’ high council, and while the apes’ leader, Dr. Zaius, believes they must be kept alive to learn the secrets of their technology. Urko, however, feels that the humans are a threat to the ape way of life and wants them executed now – and he demonstrates the use of a human-made grenade to make his point. But the humans’ scientific knowledge intrigues Zauis’ curious assistant, Galen. When he dares to speak on the humans’ behalf, Zaius silences him. Galen then learns that Urko is plotting to kill the humans regardless of Zaius’ wishes; when Galen goes to warn the humans, he winds up in a life-or-death struggle with one of Urko’s guards, and accidentally kills him. Galen is imprisoned, and is stunned when Virdon and Burke arrive to mount a jailbreak.

No longer welcome among his own kind, Galen tags along with the two humans as they try to get their ship ready for a relaunch. The arrival of Urko’s soldiers cuts the repairs short, and when Urko destroys the spaceship, Virdon and Burke are trapped in this time – with only Galen as their guide.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Roddy McDowall (Galen), Ron Harper (Alan Virdon), James Naughton (Pete Burke)

Order the DVDswritten by Art Wallace
directed by Don Weis
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: Royal Dano (Farrow), Woodrow Parfrey (Veska), Mark Lenard (Urko), Booth Colman (Zaius), Biff Elliot (Ullman), Bobby Porter (Arno), Jerome Thor (Proto), William Beckley (Grundig), Alvin Hammer (Man)

Notes: Where the TV series fits into the continuity of the films is uncertain; Zaius mentions a previous visit from human astronauts “10 years ago,” an adventure in which the astronauts were killed, almost certainly referring to the original film. However, since Beneath The Planet Of The Apes takes place immediately after that film, and ends with the destruction of all life on Earth, there are two possibilities: the nuclear holocaust from which Cornelius and Zira escapes in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes may have been overstated, or, as strongly hinted in Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, history has been changed as a result of Cornelius and Zira going into the past. This latter theory is strongly reinforced by the fact that humans have the power of speech and the English language has survived. While that is likely dictated by production realities – the series would’ve been boring at best if Virdon and Burke were the only humans capable of speaking – it would seem to indicate that, while the incident with Taylor did happen, it took place in a parallel timeline in which humans had retained their intelligence; as Zaius later says that the last human visitors didn’t live long enough for him to learn their names, it would seem that Taylor’s visit unfolded even more violently than chronicled in the first movie, again suggesting an alternate timeline.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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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

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Changes, The

The Noise

The ChangesYoung Nicky Gore is preparing for an upcoming English test when her father, complaining of a headache, flies into a rage and destroys the family television set. Not long afterward, a strange noise overcomes the entire family, and they set about destroying every machine in their home – kitchen appliances, radios, clocks, anything even remotely mechanized. And the Gores are not alone; their neighbors are destroying everything from cars to bicycles. Throughout England, the industrial age comes to a standstill. Nicky’s father and her pregnant mother are seized by a compulsion to escape to France, where rumor has it things are “normal”. The noise occurs again, and in the ensuing frenzy to destroy any remaining machinery, Nicky is separated from her family, who continue to France without her. She returns to the family home, but has to resort to foraging for food in abandoned shops. The alternative is starving to death.

written by Anna Home
based on the novels by Peter Dickinson
directed by John Prowse
music by Paddy Kingsland

The ChangesCast: Vicky Williams (Nicky), Sonia Graham (Mrs. Gore), Bernard Horsfall (Mr. Gore), Clyde Pollitt (Preacher), Bartlett Mullins (Old Man)

Notes: Originally filmed in 1973 but not broadcast until early 1975, The Changes is based on Peter Dickinson’s novels “The Weathermonger”, “Heartsease”, and “The Devil’s Children”, though significant changes are made to his stories to fit the entire trilogy into ten half-hour television episodes.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sky

Burning Bright

SearchBored with their parents’ duck hunt, three teenagers drive a land rover into a wooded area; one of them, Arby, discovers a young man, alone and nearly naked, in the forest. Assuming that the stranger is either injured or dead, Arby tries to help, only to discover that the boy – Sky – is very much alive, and unlike anyone he has ever met. Displaying powers of teleportation and telekinesis, Sky fears something called the Juganet, and says he needs Arby’s help.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Patrick Dromgoole
music by Eric Wetherell

SkyCast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Jack Watson (Major Briggs)

Notes: Bob Baker and Dave Martin (1935-2007) had been writing as a team (known informally as “the Bristol Boys”) for some time, including numerous Doctor Who scripts dating back to 1971; later in that show’s lifetime they would create the character of K-9 (and would continue to reap the rewards from having created that character into the 21st century). Baker and Martin also created the 1980s children’s fantasy series Into The Labyrinth.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series 1 Survivors

The Fourth Horseman

Survivors (1970s series)A routine day in Abby Grant’s cozy world starts to unravel slowly. Her son’s school is locked down due to a flu outbreak – only the latest such outbreak in recent weeks – and her husband’s train is delayed by hours due to power outages and rail backups all the way to inner London. In London itself, Jenny Richards tries to get a doctor to make a house call for her ailing roommate, but by the time help arrives, the woman has died. The doctor admits that the fast-spreading disease is not the flu – and that even modern medicine in a major city like London cannot find a cure. He urges Jenny to head for the safety of the country: before long, the inner city will be piled up with the dead, unleashing more diseases that, despite being fairly common, will wipe out those who remain without medical services. Jenny packs her bags and starts making her way out of London. People make their way to churches and other refuges, and fear leads to isolation. Those seeking shelter are turned away; every man, woman and child must fend for themselves. As the disease wipes out much of the world’s population, the facade of civilization melts away.

Abby herself has fallen ill with the disease, and her husband leaves to find a doctor. But while Abby survives her infection, her husband dies. She sets out alone and finds no survivors in her relatively isolated village; the dead pile up in church pews, living rooms, and cars. Abby finally leaves to go retrieve her son from his boarding school, and is almost relieved to find that her son is missing – at least he’s not among the dead. She finds only one man alive on the entire campus, a teacher who reveals that Abby’s son was among a small group of students who were evacuated just before the disease spread through the student body like wildfire. Armed with this information, Abby returns home one last time to prepare for the quest to find her son – and to say goodbye to the life she once knew.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Pennant Roberts
title music by Anthony Isaac

Cast: Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards), Talfryn Thomas (Tom Price), Peter Bowles (David Grant), Peter Copley (Doctor Bronson), Christopher Reich (Andrew Tyler), Margaret Anderson (Mrs. Transon), Callum Mill (Doctor Gordon), Blake Butler (Mr. Pollard), Elizabeth Sinclair (Patricia), Giles Melville (Kevin Lloyd), Len Jones (First Youth)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Invisible Man

The Invisible Man

The Invisible ManAfter eight months of working on a teleportation system for the mysterious Klae Corporation, scientist Dr. Daniel Westin has been concealing a second research project, investigating an unexpected side effect of his research: invisibility. Westin and his wife, Dr. Kate Westin, have succeeded in rendering inanimate objects and small animals invisible. When this fact is revealed to Carlson, the director of Klae Corporation, Carlson immediately suggests military uses for the Westins’ breakthrough. Daniel refuses to cooperate further, and the Westins are fired from the Klae Corporation; their home is surrounded by armed agents. Daniel decides to risk sneaking back into his Klae lab to destroy the machinery that makes invisibility possible, but makes himself invisible first so he can escape, fully believing that he will became visible again after a short while.

But the effect turns out to be permanent. Daniel goes into hiding and enlists the help of an old friend, a plastic surgeon, to create a lifelike mask and gloves to simulate Daniel’s real face and hands. Daniel is left with no choice but to return to Klae to offer apologies and to try to piece together his destroyed research so he can someday become visible again. He demands that Carlson call off the armed agents surrouding the Westin home…and then discovers that they have nothing to do with Klae Corporation at all, and that someone else is willing to go to any length, including threatening Kate’s life, to gain the secret of invisibility for themselves.

teleplay by Steven Bochco
television story by Harve Bennett & Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Michael Lewis
music by Richard Clements

The Invisible ManCast: David McCallum (Dr. Daniel Westin), Melinda Fee (Dr. Kate Westin), Jackie Cooper (Walter Carlson), Henry Darrow (Dr. Nick Maggio), Alex Henteloff (Rick Steiner), Arch Johnson (General Turner), John McLiam (Blind Man), Ted Gehring (Gate Guard), Paul Kent (Security Chief), Milt Kogan (Doctor), Jon Cedar (Lobby Guard), Tamar Cooper (Receptionist), Lew Palter (Motel Clerk), Richard Forbes (Motel Guest)

The Invisible ManNotes: A 90-minute pilot movie that led to a series in NBC’s fall 1975 TV season, The Invisible Man is only loosely based upon H.G. Wells’ novel. The special effects used in each episode to depict Daniel’s invisibility are done on video, much like a live TV weathercast. Film-based opticals couldn’t be done on a TV timetable, so The Invisible Man shot those scenes on videotape, and then transferred that video to film by syncing a high-resollution monitor to the scan rate of the film camera. Much like contemporary BBC productions that showed little concern about switching from studio video to location film, the change is noticeable, and the process was still costly.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Breakaway

Space: 1999Commander John Koenig is hand-picked to take over at the manned lunar colony Moonbase Alpha, the site of the impending launch of an interstellar probe to the planet Meta, and also the site of a slowly spreading epicdemic that endangers that mission. When Koenig arrives, he finds a supportive old friend in Professor Victor Bergman, and a somewhat perturbed chief surgeon, Dr. Helena Russell. Dr. Russell has been diagnosing the victims of the outbreak as they progress from mental aberrations to a comatose state and finally to death, and she has made a few discoveries – but all of her recommendations have gone unheeded (and worse yet, have been considered unfounded) by space program commissioner Simmonds. Koenig soon finds that Simmonds has been ignoring any reports that don’t indicate a perfectly normal situation, and decides to force the commissioner’s hand by bringing him to Moonbase Alpha in person.

Following Dr. Russell’s leads, Koenig postpones the launch of the Meta probe and leads an investigation into strange happenings at the station’s nuclear waste facility, where unwanted material from Earth is being stockpiled until scientists can figure out what to do with it. Koenig finds out only too late that far too much nuclear waste has been shipped in from Earth, setting up an unanticipated electromagnetic effect that accounts for the strange behavior of both equipment and crewmen. An emergency operation is set up to disperse the material, but the procedure goes horribly wrong – a colossal nuclear explosion generates enough force to push the moon out of Earth’s orbit, destroying the Meta probe’s launch facility and inflicting massive damage on Moonbase Alpha in the process. With the base’s communications down, and the moon plummeting through deep space too fast for any rescue ship from Earth to catch up with it, Earth presumes all hands have been lost – and Commander Koenig and his crew have a new permanent assignment…whether they want it or not.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Martin Landau (Commander John Koenig), Barbara Bain (Dr. Helena Russell), Barry Morse (Professor Victor Bergman)

Order the DVDswritten by George Bellak
directed by Lee H. Katzin
music by Barry Gray / additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Roy Dotrice (Commissioner Symonds), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), Philip Madoc (Commander Gorski), Lon Satton (Ouma), Eric Carte (Collins)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Isis Season 1

The Lights of Mystery Mountain

IsisCindy surprises Andrea and Rick with clear photos of UFOs spotted near Mystery Mountain, as well as photos showing burn marks on the ground near the sightings. When a report comes in that someone renting a cabin on Mystery Mountain has disappeared, Andrea and Rick decide to investigate. They witness the spectacle of the UFOs themselves when they arrive, and Cindy’s photos attract the attention of a couple of teenagers who seem to have a great deal of interest in the UFO sightings. But are they interested in seeing the UFOs…or in covering something up?

Get this season on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Russell Bates
directed by Hollingsworth Morse
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: Joanna Cameron (Andrea Thomas), Brian Cutler (Rick Mason), IsisJoanna Pang (Cindy Lee), Kelly Thordsen (Joel Moss), Hank Brandt (Sheriff Harley), Ken Wolger (Art Byron), Mike Maitland (Chick), Albert Reed (Dr. Barnes)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

It’s All In Your Mind

Far-Out Space NutsAfter confusing “lunch” with “launch”, two launch pad employees are blasted into deep space. They frantically try to return to Earth, but are faced with the reality that they’re really just qualified to load food on a spaceship, not fly it.

Having already explored one planet where they found a lonely life form known as Honk, which communicates entirely by honking through a horn-like protrusion on its head, they land on a planet ruled by a mind-controlling computer named G.A.L., only to find that Junior’s thoughts somehow become reality here. That’s the only way they can escape G.A.L. and its sinister cybernetic henchmen.

written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole
directed by Wes Kenney
music by Michael Lloyd / arranged by Reg Powell

Far-Out Space NutsCast: Bob Denver (Junior), Chuck McCann (Barney), Patty Maloney (Honk), Leo Gordon (Head Dronek), Joan Gerber (voice of G.A.L.)

Notes: The series art director was Herman Zimmerman, who would go on to create the distinctive sets Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek V, Star Trek VI, Star Trek Generations, and so on. Representing Star Trek’s past was the show’s makeup chief, Fred Phillips, who had created and applied Mr. Spock’s Vulcan ears for the entire run of Star Trek in Far-Out Space Nutsthe 1960s. The name of the all-controlling computer, “G.A.L. 36-24-36”, is both a play on 2001: a space odyssey‘s HAL 9000, and a set of measurements that was likely intended to sail directly over the heads of the show’s young audience. (An almost identical gag was used a few years later as an episode title on Quark.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost Saucer

894X2RY713 I Love You

Sense8A flying saucer from the planet ZR-3, piloted by the androids Fum and Fi, lands in an American city in the 1970s (despite the fact that the spaceship itself hails from the year 2369). Inquisitive Jerry and his teenage babysitter, Alice, wander aboard the saucer and find themselves whisked away as Fum and Fi make a hasty escape from Earth authorities.

But their first stop away from Earth isn’t much more hospitable, as Alice and Jerry find themselves arrested on an alien planet where everyone except them covers their faces and is required by law to wear a number. To appear in public unmasked and unnumbered is a combination of two of this world’s worst crimes, and it’s up to Fum and Fi (and their half-horse, half-dog pet, the Dorse) to help the kids escape.

The Lost Saucerwritten by Si Rose
directed by Jack Regas
music by Michael Lloyd

Cast: Jim Nabors (Fum), Ruth Buzzi (Fi), Alice Playten (Alice), Jarrod Johnson (Jerry), Edson Stroll (456Y3Z1843), Duncan McLeod (136B76Q128), Jerry Holland (321Y3Z1848), Annmarie (361X2RYT13), Larry Larsen (The Dorse)

Notes: Production illustrator Mike Minor (1940-1987) had done design work on three episodes of the original Star Trek’s final season, and would later go on to work on the aborted attempt to launch a new Star Trek series as the cornerstone of a new Paramount network in 1978 (frequently referred to as Star Trek Phase II), and was The Lost Saucerresponsible for many of the early illustrations of that planned series’ new bridge set and other locales, as well as contributing designs to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. He also worked on The Powers Of Matthew Star, The Winds Of War, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone, The Beastmaster, Meteor, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, and, in contrast to his work on The Lost Saucerthis Saturday morning series, also worked on the decidedly less family-friendly 1974 adult film sci-fi spoof Flesh Gordon. Jim Nabors (1930-2017) was best known for starring as Gomer Pyle USMC, a military comedy built around a character Pyle originated on The Andy Griffith Show in the early 1960s. (His trademark Gomer Pyle catchphrase, “Well, gaw-lee!”, is heard here as well.) On the subject of how many actors with SAG cards could possibly be named Duncan McLeod, there can presumably be only one.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Legend Of Robin Hood, The

Episode One

The Legend Of Robin HoodEngland, before the Crusades: the Earl of Huntingdon entrusts his infant son to his close friends and allies, Sir Cedric and Father Ambrose. As his only heir, the child will be in danger. When the boy is of age, he is to be told of his true identity, and instructed to claim his inheritance. Until then, he is to live the life of a commoner.

The boy, Robin, is brought up and well-educated, especially for the son of the King’s forester, John Hood. But it’s not until after he’s already developed a taste for standing up to the landed gentry that Robin learns that he, too, is of noble blood. With his late father’s ring, and proof of his identity, Robin Hood heads to London to claim his birthright. Along the way, he assists an entourage led by Sir Kenneth Neston, who is taking his niece, Marion, to marry Sir Guy of Gisbourne – one of Robin’s least favorite people, due to the cruelty with which he treats those under his rule. Robin arrives in London and proves his identity to King Richard, who welcomes him as the rightful Earl of Huntingdon. Robin’s true identity is a problem for some of Sir Guy’s allies, including the Sheriff of Nottingham. Together, Sir Guy and the Sheriff are planning to manipulate Prince John in the event that he ascends to Prince Regent in his brother’s upcoming absence to lead the Crusades from the front in the Holy Land. And as Robin rides alone toward the Huntingdon estate, other men lie in wait for him…

written by Alistair Bell
directed by Eric Davidson
music by Stanley Myers

The Legend of Robin HoodCast: Martin Potter (Robin Hood), Diane Keen (Lady Marion), John Abineri (Sir Kenneth Neston), William Marlowe (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), Paul Darrow (Sheriff of Nottingham), Michael-John Jackson (Richard I), David Dixon (Prince John), David Ryall (Abbot of Grantham), Geoffrey Russell (Longchamp), Miles Anderson (Will Scarlet), Stephen Whittaker (Ralph Gammon), Anthony Garner (Earl of Huntingdon), Michael Fleming (Sir Cedric Usher), David King (Father Ambrose), Trevor Griffiths (John Hood), Geoffrey Greenhill (Norman Soldier), John Caesar (Norman Soldier), Geoffrey Jackman (Landlord), Tony Doyle (Norman Sergeant), Sheelah Wilcocks (Old Woman), Robert Russell (Robber Chief), Martin Duncan (Blondin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green