Influential British-born visual effects artist Ron Thornton, one of the pioneer proponents of computer generated animation for television whose work stretches from classic BBC sci-fi through Babylon 5 and the Star Trek franchise, dies after a lengthy illness.
The second episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is produced by Ron Howard (Apollo 13).
The CW airs the 53rd episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin. Greg Grunberg (Heroes) guest stars.
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Actor Ron Glass, known for being a cast member of the 1970s/80s sitcom Barney Miller and for his stint on the short-lived but much-loved science fiction series Firefly, dies at the age of 71. He had reprised the role of Book in the Firefly sequel film Serenity, as well as in the multiplayer computer game Firefly Online, in addition to continuing to make guest appearances on such TV series as CSI, Agents Of SHIELD, and Major Crimes.
La-La Land Records releases the four-CD Star Trek: The 50th Anniversary Collection soundtrack box set primarily featuring music from the original series and The Next Generation, along with new works by Ron Jones and the premiere of a reconstructed selection of music from the 1970s Star Trek animated series.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 43rd episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels.
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Star Wars: Rebels now streaming on Amazon Prime
The third episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is produced by Ron Howard (Apollo 13).
The CW airs the 54th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin. Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Stephen Amell (Arrow), and Caity Lotz (Legends Of Tomorrow) guest star in the first chapter of a crossover event encompassing all of the current DC Comics-based shows.
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The 100th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown), Grant Gustin (The Flash), Susanna Thompson (Star Trek: Voyager), Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow), and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) guest star in an episode which is part of a crossover event involving all of the CW’s DC superhero series.
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The CW airs the 23rd episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Stephen Amell (Arrow), Grant Gustin (The Flash), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), and Donnelly Rhodes (Battlestar Galactica) guest star in the Legends’ chapter of a major DC crossover event.
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Cable channel Disney XD airs the 44th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Clancy Brown (Highlander, Earth 2), Lars Mikkelsen (House Of Cards, Sherlock) and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Steven Universe, Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex) guest star.
More about Star Wars: Rebels in the LogBook
Star Wars: Rebels now streaming on Amazon Prime
The fourth episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is produced by Ron Howard (Apollo 13).
The CW airs the 55th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin. Mark Hamill (Star Wars) guest stars.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.
The 101st episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.
The CW airs the 24th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. John Barrowman (Torchwood) and NEal McDonough guest star.
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The last living member of the original Mercury astronaut group, former Senator John Glenn, dies at the age of 95. Born in 1921, Glenn was a decorated combat pilot who flew during World War II and the Korean War, before turning his piloting skills to testing experimental aircraft. This brought him to NASA’s attention, and he made the first orbital flight by an American astronaut in 1962. Upon returning from that historic flight, he was removed from NASA’s flight rotation by the request of President Kennedy, who didn’t want to risk the life of a national hero. Glenn then turned to the equally high-stakes world of politics, first running for Congress in 1964, but not winning a Senate seat until 1974. Glenn remained in Congress through 1998, at which point he finally returned to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery, the oldest space traveler to have done so.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 45th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Tom Baker (Doctor Who) and Sam Witwer (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
More about Star Wars: Rebels in the LogBook
Star Wars: Rebels now streaming on Amazon Prime
Soundtrack specialty label Varese Sarabande releases a 2-CD set featuring Michael Giacchino’s complete score from Star Trek Beyond.
The fifth episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is produced by Ron Howard (Apollo 13).
The sixth episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel, bringing the show’s first season to an end. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is renewed for a second season after the conclusion of its first season.
British-born shuttle astronaut Piers Sellers dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61. A veteran of over 559 hours in space as a crew member of shuttle missions STS-112, STS-121 and STS-132, Sellers was trained as a meteorologist and did much of his research on climate change, eventually becoming NASA’s acting director of Earth sciences after retiring from flight duty.
33-inch-tall actor Mihaly “Michu” Meszaros, who donned the furry suit of the title character in the late ’80s sci-fi spoof Alf, dies at the age of 76. In any instances where the character was shown from head to toe, Meszaros wore a full-body suit, though in many cases the character was a puppet shown only from the chest up, operated and voiced by show (and character) creator Paul Fusco. To maintain the illusion, Meszaros was credited as a “personal assitant” to Alf for his appearances. A circus performer since the early 1970s, Meszaros also appeared in Big Top Pee-Wee, Waxwork, Warlock: The Armageddon, and the TV series Dear John.
The 829th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 130th episode since the series’ revival). This Christmas-themed episode closes the ninth season, and reintroduces Nardole (Matt Lucas) as a new regular companion for the Doctor in a story that pastiches American superhero comics (and their media spinoffs). Justin Chatwin and Charity Wakefield guest star.
Pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin, whose research led to the discovery of dark matter, dies at the age of 88. In the 1960s and ’70s, Rubin found that the rate of galaxies’ rotation could not be accounted for unless galaxies contained, on average, ten times more mass than could be distributed among the visible stars in that galaxy. This research led her to propose the theory of dark matter in the 1970s, though she tried for many years to find – or at least rule out – any other possible explanations to the galaxy rotation problem.
Actress and author Carrie Fisher, universally known as Princess Leia from the original Star Wars trilogy, dies four days after suffering from a massive heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Alongside a storied career that included movies such as The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally, and a revival of Leia in 2015’s The Force Awakens, Fisher embarked on a writing career that included the semi-autobiographical novel Postcards From The Edge (later adapted into a movie in its own right), which fictionalized elements of her Hollywood upbringing, and autobiographies that exposed her lifelong battles with mental illness. She died at the age of 60.
Milan Records releases the soundtrack from the 2016 science fiction miniseries Mars by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis.
