NBC airs the 18th episode of the military drama The Lieutenant, created and produced by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and starring Gary Lockwood (2001: a space odyssey) and Robert Vaughn (The Man From UNCLE). 
Returning to Camp Pendleton, Lt. Rice is struck head-on by a drunk driver. The other driver dies in the collision; Rice seems to be paralyzed in one arm and from the waist down. As he begins the long, slow road toward recovery – a recovery that even the doctors caring for him are unsure he’ll be able to make – he meets a woman named Julie, who he assumes is doing charity work at the hospital. As it turns out, she’s the granddaughter of a Navy Admiral, and she’s as much a patient as Rice is. Suffering from some sort of head trauma, Julie is prone to severe headaches and fainting spells. She tries to encourage Rice in his recovery, and that encouragement leads him to opt for a risky exploratory surgery to check his spine for permanent damage…and to pledge his love for her. But her own condition doesn’t leave much room for “happily ever after” even if Rice does regain the use of his legs.
teleplay by Margaret & Paul Schneider
story by Robert E. Thompson
directed by Richard Donner
music by Jeff AlexanderCast: Gary Lockwood (Lt. William Rice), Richard Adams (2nd Patrolman), Marcia Gahva (Nurse), John Garwood (1st Patrolman), Peter Hansen (Dr. Sidney Oliver), Michael Hoctor (Corpsman), Arch Johnson (Commander Harry Engstrom), Joanna Moore (Julie Havener), Conrad Nagel (Admiral Terence Havener), Don Penny (Lt. Stan Harris)
Notes: Co-writer Paul Schneider would work for Roddenberry again, writing the acclaimed Balance Of Terror and The Squire Of Gothos episodes for Star Trek’s first season. This is the second and final episode of The Lieutenant to be directed by future Superman / The Omen / Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner.
LogBook entry by Earl Green