Day: October 2, 1959

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1960s Season 1 Twilight Zone

Where Is Everybody?

The Twilight ZoneA man awakens on the outskirts of the town of Oakwood, with no knowledge of how he got there – or even who he is. He can’t find another living creature anywhere in town – no policemen in the police station, no prisoners in the jail, no business owners in the shops. And yet he’s certain that he’s being watched by someone who has something to do with his present predicament. He pieces together clues that add up to an inescapable conclusion: someone else is in Oakwood with him. Whether he can figure out who it is before his sanity gives way is another question…

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Rod Serling
directed by Robert Stevens
music by Bernard Hermann

Cast: Earl Holliman (Mike Ferris), James Gregory (General), Paul Langton (Doctor), James McCallion (Reporter The Twilight Zone#1), John Conwell (Colonel), Jay Overholt (Reporter #2), Carter Mullally (Captain), Gary Walberg (Reporter #3), Jim Johnson (Staff Sergeant)

Notes: If Oakwood’s town square seems familiar, you’ve probably been time traveling with Doc Brown. The same outdoor set on the Universal Studios lot became the center of the town of Hill Valley in the Back To The Future movies.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

Tower Of Tagot

Far-Out Space NutsUsing his “future machine”, the mad tyrant Tagot sees a future in which Barney, Junior and Honk threaten his reign. The Sarians, who seek to end Tagot’s reign by rescuing their kidnapped queen, equip the wayward space travelers with such weapons as an inviso-ray and a bravery belt, because they’re equally sure that Barney and Junior pose a threat to Tagot. The only missing piece of the puzzle? Nobody knows how they’ll overthrow Tagot.

written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann
directed by Wes Kenney
Far-Out Space Nutsmusic by Michael Lloyd / arranged by Reg Powell

Cast: Bob Denver (Junior), Chuck McCann (Barney), Patty Maloney (Honk), Robert Quarry (Zarlam), Barbara Rhoades (Pulma), Paul Wexler (Tagot)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Death’s Other Dominion

Space: 1999Passing close to the icy world of Ultima Thule, the moon receives a signal from a lost Earth expedition claiming to have created a paradise – one in which human beings can live forever. When Koenig, Dr. Russell, Alan Carter and Professor Bergman take an Eagle down to the surface, however, they find the most forbidding icy landscape imaginable – one in which they almost don’t survive. The humans on Ultima Thule find them just in time, except for Carter, who stumbles back to the Eagle and manages to get back inside. Dr. Cabot Rowland and the seemingly insane Colonel Tanner lead two discrete factions of survivors from a failed mission to Uranus, but they’re not exactly locked in a struggle for survival. Beneath the surface of Ultima Thule, coniditions are tolerable – and all indications are that the “Thulians” are indeed impervious to disease or old age. What’s more, Rowland is eager for the Alphans to join them, promising the entire crew immortality of their own. Tanner, himself a former command office despite his disheveled appearance and behavior, takes Koenig into his confidence and reveals that the immortality promised by Rowland has come at a tragic price in wasted lives, and the process is by no means guaranteed to succeed. But even with this information, will Koenig’s crew opt for eternal life on Ultima Thule, or their uncertain existence on Moonbase Alpha?

Order the DVDswritten by Anthony Terpiloff & Elizabeth Barrows
directed by Charles Crichton
music by Barry Gray
additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Brian Blessed (Dr. Cabot Rowland), John Shrapnel (Colonel Jack Tanner), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Clifton Jones (David Kano), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), Mary Miller (Freda)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ark II

The Robot

Ark IIThe Ark II crew enjoys a little bit of downtime. For Jonah, Ruth and Adam, this means fishing, though they’re slightly annoyed that their expert fisherman, Samuel, is spending his free time inside the Ark, working on his hobby project, a huge robot named Alpha-1 (or, to Samuel, “Alphie”). When toxic gas is detected in the air, and Jonah and his friends see strange behavior in people exposed to the gas, the vacation is over. Jonah orders Samuel to shut Alphie down because there’s serious work to be done. Alphie has other ideas, however, and escapes from the Ark. Now Jonah has to contend with a toxic gas and an escaped robot on the loose, either one of which could do serious harm.

The Slaveswritten by Chuck Menville and Len Janson
directed by Ted Post
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Terry Lester (Jonah), Jean Marie Hon (Ruth), Jose Flores (Samuel), Al Dunlap (Brant), Elizabeth Cheshire (Nestra), Lou Scheimer (voice of Adam / voice of Alphie)

Notes: If Alphie looks familiar, it’s because he’s as close as anything in Ark II gets to being a genuine sci-fi icon: he’s better known as “Robby the Robot,” an invention of MGM’s prop shop for the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet. He has appeared in dozens of other productions since, including Lost In Space, Twilight Zone, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Ark II’s Filmation stablemate Space Academy.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 14 Doctor Who

The Hand of Fear

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS arrives in a desolate, rocky landscape – which the Doctor and Sarah realize, only too late, is actually a rock quarry. Sirens go off to signal imminent blasting, and the time travelers fail to get far enough away from the blast. The Doctor and Sarah survive, but Sarah finds something unusual and perhaps even alien: something which appears to be a petrified severed hand. Though she was only slightly injured by the blast at the quarry, Sarah soon begins to exhibit strange and dangerous behavior, even walking into the core of a nuclear reactor. As it turns out, she has been possessed by an entity known as Eldrad, whose quest for revenge upon her native world of Kastria is boundless – and who won’t hesitate to sacrifice the lives of everyone around her to achieve that aim.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Bob Baker & Dave Martin
directed by Lennie Mayne
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Roy Pattison (Zazzka), Roy Skelton (Rokon), David Purcell (Abbott), Renu Setna (Intern), Rex Robinson (Dr. Carter), Robin Hargreave (Guard), Glyn Houston (Professor Watson), Frances Pidgeon (Miss Jackson), Roy Boyd (Driscoll), John Cannon (Elgin), Judith Paris (Eldrad), Stephen Thorne (Eldrad), Libby Ritchie (Hospital Nurse)

Broadcast from October 2 through 23, 1976

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 2 Space: 1999

Brian The Brain

Space: 1999A gravitational force draws the Moon off of its course. Moonbase Alpha’s computer, which has already been acting strangely, can find no signs of whatever may be causing the anomaly. Koenig orders a full-scale evacuation, and another spacecraft approaches the Moon – an early version of the same Eagles used by Koenig and his crew. A voice hails them from that Eagle, introducing himself as the ship’s captain, but when the Eagle lands at Moonbase Alpha, there’s no sign of the Eagle’s crew – and the captain’s voice is coming from a mobile computer which christens itself Brian. Detaching himself from his Eagle’s control console, Brian pays a visit to Moonbase Alpha, making wisecracks at the crew and earning their trust. But while giving Koenig and Dr. Russell a tour of his Eagle, Brian takes off with them inside – threatening to kill them unless they help him acquire a new power source.

Order the DVDswritten by Jack Ronder
directed by Kevin Connor
music by Derek Wadsworth

Guest Cast: Tony Anholt (Tony Verdeschi), Bernard Cribbins (voice of Brian / Captain Michael), John Hug (Fraser), Marc Zuber (Security lieutenant), Michael Sharvell-Martin (Brian robot), Annie Lambert (First operative), Yasuko Nagazumi (Yasko)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Electra Woman & Dyna Girl

Glitter Rock – Part 2

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlElectra Woman, Dyna Girl and King Alex escape from Glitter Rock’s trap, but they still haven’t recovered the jewel from the king’s key. Glitter Rock plans to use the rare gem to power a satellite that he will launch into orbit, broadcasting his mind-controlling rock ‘n’ roll to the entire world. After King Alex saves them from that mind control, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl fly the Electra Plane into the stratosphere to intercept the satellite.

written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole
directed by Chuck Liotta
music not credited

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlCast: Deidre Hall (Lori / Electra Woman), Judy Strangis (Judy / Dyna Girl), Norman Alden (Frank Heflin), John Mark Robinson (Glitter Rock), Jeff David (Side Man), Michael Blodgett (King Alex)

Notes: The “satellite” is clearly a plastic model of an Apollo lunar lander; a similar model was used heavily in another Krofft series, Far-Out Space Nuts, which had aired the previous fall on CBS.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battle Of The Planets

Attack Of The Space Terrapin

Battle Of The PlanetsEarly warning robot 7-Zark-7 observes as a huge, turtle-shaped alien spacecraft from the planet Spectra attacks a heavily guarded facility to steal the formula for a substance that Earth shares freely with many other worlds to ease famine. G-Force, a team of five young people whose cerebonic implants give them amazing strength and endurance, is called into action. But when the vehicle vanishes without a trace, G-Force leader Mark decides that the team needs to forgo destroying their target so they can find its base of operations on Earth. His second-in-command, Jason, disagrees… but with Spectra’s forces constantly stepping up their attacks on Earth, he’ll have plenty of opportunities for the action he craves. Aboard their spacecraft, the Phoenix, G-Force works to destroy the Spectra vehicle from the inside… but escaping won’t be so easy.

written by Jameson Brewer
directed by Alan Dinehart
music by Hoyt Curtin and Bob Sakuma

Voice Cast: Casey Kasem (Mark), Janet Waldo (Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Ronnie Schell (Tiny), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar / The Luminous One)

Battle Of The PlanetsNote: For this episode only – the first one produced – Ronnie Schell plays Tiny, but the actor says he did not provide the voice of Jason for this first episode. The voice actor for Jason remains unknown for this episode alone. 7-Zark-7 says that Center Neptune is “900 fathoms beneath the surface of the sea” off of America’s west coast – or just a little over a mile undersea. All of Dr. Nambu’s appearances in this episode are replaced by narration or orders delivered by radio from 7-Zark-7. Dr. Nambu would appear in later episodes, but he was given the name of Chief Anderson – a name that, in the original Gatchaman episodes, belonged to a completely different character.

For the corresponding episode of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Max Headroom Season 2 (US)

Grossberg’s Return

Max HeadroomThe latest telelection is upon the public, and a vicious mudslinging war is being waged on the airwaves by incumbent Simon Peller and rival candidate Harriet Garth. Network 23 is squarely in Peller’s court, but Garth is being backed by Network 66 – where Ned Grossberg, the unscrupulous ex-Network 23 executive who was ousted after the Blipvert scandal, is slowly taking control. While Edison and Murray fight to keep 23’s coverage above the war of words, Grossberg is playing all sides against the middle, and his aim is to take over Network 66 from the inside, not to propel a particular candidate into office. And if that means engineering a political scandal that not only takes down Garth, but destroys the career of Edison Carter as well, Grossberg won’t hesitate to do it.

written by Steve Roberts
directed by Janet Greek
music by Michael Hoenig

Max HeadroomGuest Cast: Charles Rocket (Ned Grossberg), Caroline Kava (Harriet Garth), Hank Garrett (?), Lee Wilkoff (Pat Zein), Sharon Barr (?), Howard Sherman (Simon Peller), Rosalind Chao (Angie Barry), Andreas Katsulas (Bartlett), Brett Porter (?), Stephen Elliott (Thatcher), Karen Hensel (?), James F. Dean (?), John Hamelin (?), Donald Burda (?), Lisa Peders (?), Rachelle Ottley (?), Brian Little (?), J. Jay Smith (?), Saida Pagan (?)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 03 Star Trek The Next Generation

The Ensigns Of Command

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate not given: Data attempts to convince the stubborn leader of an endangered colony that his people must evacuate the planet or face certain extinction at the hands of a race of ruthless aliens also seeking a planet to colonize.

Order the DVDswritten by Melinda M. Snodgrass
directed by Cliff Bole
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Eileen Seeley (Ard’rian MacKenzie), Granger Hines (Gosheven), Mark L. Taylor (Haritath), Richard Allen (Kentor), Colm Meaney (Chief O’ Brien), Mart McChesney (Sheliak)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alien Nation Season 1

Little Lost Lamb

Alien NationJust as George is remarking on the superficiality of human physical relationships, Sikes pulls over to help a Tenctonese prostitute being threatened by an equally Tenctonese pimp. George gives her bus fare to go home to her family, and charges Sikes with making sure she makes it to her bus. At first Sikes is furious, but George explains that the girl is suffering from a kind of Newcomer post-traumatic stress disorder that convinces its sufferers that they are still slaves. Rather than getting on a bus, she wanders back to Sikes’ apartment, where he puts her up for another night – and when he comes home from work, she’s been murdered. George and Sikes set out to find the killer, and the trail leads them to a talent agency whose owner, a Newcomer woman, seems to find it all too easy to enslave her people again. But closer to home, George learns of a troubling secret his son has been keeping as well.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episodewritten by Diane Frolov
directed by Kevin Hooks
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Heather McAdam (Mary Shelley), Kimberly Kates (Dallas Ft. Worth), Shannon Wilcox (Charlotte Bronte), Will Bledsoe (Dorian Grey), James Greene (Moodri), Trevor Edmond (Blentu), Catherine Lansing (Receptionist), Robert Mangiardi (Harry Marcus), Noon Orsatti (Svabo), William Wellman Jr. (Ruby)

Notes: Buck’s tangle with members of a street gang happened in the pilot episode.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 04 Star Trek

The Way Of The Warrior

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate 49011.4: As the crew of Deep Space 9 try to prepare for a possible invasion by the Dominion, a fleet of Klingon ships decloak and take “shore leave” on the station. The Cardassians have sealed their borders after a rumored coup on their homeworld, and Klingon ships are stopping ships leaving Bajoran space to search them for Changelings. To get answers, Sisko calls on the aid of Lt. Commander Worf, who has been among the Klingon clerics on Boreth following the Enterprise’s destruction, and is considering resigning Starfleet. Worf learns that the Klingons plan to invade Cardassia on the suspicion that the new civilian government is run by the Founders. Sisko uses Garak to warn the Cardassians, and Gul Dukat manages to save the Detepa Council as the Klingon fleet advances. But the Defiant is needed to get them to safety – and its aid will have far-reaching consequences for the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Season 4 Regular Cast: Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko), Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Terry Farrell (Lt. Commander Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir), Nana Visitor (Major Kira)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
directed by James L. Conway
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Andrew Robinson (Garak), Penny Johnson (Kasidy Yates), Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat), Deep Space NineRobert O’Reilly (Gowron), J.G. Hertzler (General Martok), Obi Ndefo (Drex), Christopher Darga (Kaybok), William Dennis Hunt (Huraga), Patricia Tallman (Weapons Officer), Judi Durand (Station Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

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Season 02 Star Trek Voyager

Twisted

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: On Holodeck 2, Kes’ second birthday party is interrupted by the news of a spatial distortion. As the crew scatters to their duty stations, they discover that something has affected the inside of the ship and the corridors seem to be shifting. It becomes impossible to reliably get anywhere by standard means. Captain Janeway makes physical contact with the anomaly and is rendered unconscious, leaving Chokotay in command as an implosion ring continues to crush the ship. After exhausting all other courses of action, the crew is left with the most unlikely option of all.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Kenneth Biller
story by Arnold Rudnick and Rich Hosek
directed by Kim Friedman
music by Jay Chattaway

Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Judy Geeson (Sandrine), Larry Hankin (Gaunt Gary), Tom Virtue (Baxter), Terry Correll (Crewman)

LogBook entry by Paul Campbell

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Season 1 Xena: Warrior Princess

The Path Not Taken

Xena: Warrior PrincessA young princess is kidnapped, and her fiance seeks out Xena’s help in rescuing her. He tells the warrior that she was taken to Traikus and is being held by the arms dealer Mezentius. When Xena arrives in Traikus, other warriors are suspicious of her. They’ve heard the stories about how she has changed. She tells them that her “help” is just a way of gaining people’s trust. Marcus, an ex-lover, is happy to see Xena. He introduces her to Mezentius. The arms dealer is wary of Xena until he hears her plans. She tells him she knows that he has the princess, and that he hopes that her family will go to war against her fiance’s family. She says that her army could extend the battle by fighting first for one side and then the other in exchange for half of his profits and ransom. Before he can answer, there is a commotion outside. The princess is on a ledge with a knife. She plans on killing herself because she’s afraid of what Mezentius has planned for her. Xena goes to the balcony and tells the princess that her fiance sent her. She’s unwilling to believe until Xena shows her proof. The warrior tells her to meet her later and she will get her out of Traikus. Mezentius finally agrees to Xena’s proposal. Xena meets the princess, but before they can leave Mezentius arrives. Xena hides the girl, and talks to the arms dealer. He finally goes away, and Xena sneaks the princess into a storage room. She has removed weapons from one of the crates, and hides the princess in it. But before she can get the crate outside, Marcus arrives.

Order the DVDswritten by Julie Sherman
directed by Stephen L. Posey
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Bobby Hosea (Marcus), Stephen Tozer (Mezentius), Nicola Cliff (Jana), Jimi Liversidge (Agranon), John O’Leary (Antonius), Iain Rea (Brisus), Christine Bartlett (Philana), Peter Saena-Brown (Soldier #1), Paul Norell (Street Vendor)

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

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Season 03 Star Trek Voyager

False Profits

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 50074.3: The investigation of a possible wormhole reveals signs of visitors from the Alpha Quadrant on a primitive planet. Chakotay and Paris make an incognito visit to a location where sensors have detected a replicator in use, only to find a village of humanoids who seem obsessed with charging money for any goods or services, no matter how insignificant. At the heart of this culture lie two Ferengi, stranded in the Delta Quadrant since they were trapped by the Barzan Wormhole discovered by the Enterprise seven years earlier. The Ferengi have come to this society as gods bearing wisdom – the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition – but their true motive is to exploit the native population for their own gain. Janeway sets a plan into motion which involves Neelix masquerading as an envoy from the Grand Nagus. But if his disguise fails to fool the Ferengi, he may find that these profit-mongerers will do anything to keep their grasp on godhood.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Joe Menosky
story by George A. Brozak
directed by Cliff Bole
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Dan Shor (Arridor), Leslie Jordan (Koll), Michael Ensign (Bard), Rob LaBelle (Kafar), Alan Altshuld (Sandalmaker), John Walter Davis (Merchant)

Notes: Arridor and Koll have been stuck in the Delta Quadrant for a long time – ever since the unstable Barzan Wormhole stranded them there in The Price, an episode of the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation

LogBook entry by Paul Campbell with notes by Earl Green