Day: November 8, 1968

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Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5476.3: McCoy tells Kirk that the most recent routine medical exams of the entire crew have revealed a case of a terminal but non-contagious disease. The victim is McCoy himself. Kirk recommends that the doctor resign immediately, but before the discussion gets any further, Kirk leads Spock and McCoy on a landing party mission to the asteroid-like vessel called Yonada, carefully disguised inside to make it appear to the humanoid inhabitants that they are on the surface of a planet. Kirk finds that the “world” is controlled by a computer known by the residents of Yonada as the Oracle, and the Oracle’s instructions are being taken as a religious order. The high priestess catches McCoy’s eye and asks him to remain with her – an offer which, considering the doctor’s current state, McCoy finds tempting.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Rik Vollaerts
directed by Tony Leader
music by George Duning

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Kate Woodvile (Natira), Byron Morrow (Admiral Westervliet), Jon Lormer (Old Man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Night Gallery Pilot Movie

Night Gallery

Night GalleryThe Cemetery: Upon discovering that he is the sole heir in line to receive the inheritance of an elderly uncle he didn’t even know he had, Jeremy Evans wants to speed things up a bit, to the disgust of everyone in his uncle’s employ. Portifoy, the old man’s butler for 30 years, can barely keep himself from uttering his opinion of Jeremy out loud, but thinks better of it. When the old man dies (thanks, in no small part, to Jeremy’s intervention), Jeremy is adamant: he wants it all, and wants it all now. His uncle’s last painting, framed on the staircase of the house where Jeremy now lives, depicts a nearby cemetery…and Jeremy is certain that the painting is changing somehow. Is his uncle’s retribution at hand, or is someone else trying to drive him over the edge?

Eyes: Wealthy Miss Menlo is all but completely blind. She has located a living donor willing to give up his eyesight in exchange for enough money to clear his gambling debt and get loan sharks off his back, but in order to find a doctor willing to take the eyes from a living man, she has to resort to blackmail. Moments after she opens her new eyes for the first time, Miss Menlo is plunged into darkness, unaware that the city is in the grips of an electrical blackout. Convinced that she has been swindled, she vows to destroy the career of the surgeon who performed the transplant, but will her attitude toward him and everyone else in the world change with the rising sun?

Escape Route: A former Nazi war criminal goes into hiding in South America, and even so many years after the war he is paranoid about being seen and recognized. He becomes fixated on a painting in the local art gallery, one which appears to show him in a fishing boat; he also meets a man who claims to have survived Auschwitz, and thinks he looks familiar. Once recognized, he can either become the hunted, or fall back on his experiences as a concentration camp guard. He seeks an escape route, and while the one he gets may not be the one he wants, it may be what he deserves.

written by Rod Serling
The Cemetery directed by Gene Levitt
Eyes directed by Steven Spielberg
Escape Route directed by Barry Shear
music by Billy Goldenberg

Cast: Joan Crawford (Miss Claudia Menlo), Ossie Davis (Portifoy), Richard Kiley (Arndt / Josef Strobe), Roddy McDowall (Jeremy Evans), Barry Sullivan (Dr. Frank Heatherton), George Macready (William Hendricks), Sam Jaffe (Bleum), Norma Crane (Gretchen), Barry Atwater (Carson), George Murdock (1st Agent), Tom Bosley (Sidney Resnick), Tom Basham (Gibbons), Byron Morrow (George J. Packer), Garry Goodnow (Louis), Shannon Farnon (1st Nurse), Richard Hale (Doctor)

Notes: This was Steven Spielberg’s second television directing credit. He went on to direct an episode of Columbo and TV movies such as Duel before becoming one of the late 20th Night Gallerycentury’s most prolific movie directors (Jaws, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and its sequels, E.T., The Color Purple, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Lincoln, Ready Player One). Tom Bosley would go on to become one of the definitive TV dads of the 1970s as Howard Cunningham in Happy Days, a role he played from 1974 through 1984. Unlike the series proper, the Night Gallery pilot movie incorporates the painting representing each story into the stories themselves; when Night Gallery was picked up as a series, the paintings would only appear in Rod Serling’s introduction segments.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Search

In Search Of Midas

SearchA fierce rivalry between two Las Vegas construction companies seems like a surprisingly local concern for PROBE Control’s attention, but the reclusive nature of one of the companies’ founders has gotten enough attention for someone to hire PROBE. C.R. Grover is called into action, and finds himself working alongside gossip columnist Kate Dawes, for whom this is just another attempt to interview enigmatic construction magnate J.R. Devlin. Grover assumes the guise of a city official, which brings him to the attention of both Devlin and his competitors, who suddenly withdraw their bid and focus their energy on Grover. Why is Grover suddenly the center of attention…and who hired PROBE?

written by John Christopher Strong and Michael R. Stein
directed by Nicholas Colasanto
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Doug McClure (C.R. Grover), Burgess Meredith (Cameron), Barbara Feldon (Kate Dawes), David Brian (J.R. Devlin), Logan Ramsey (Kenyon Wade), George Gaynes (Major Matthews), Richard Le Pore (Striker), Wallace Chadwell (Barton), Harper Flaherty (Grady), Tiger Joe Marsh (Butler), Tony de Costa (Carlos), Byron Chung (Kuroda), Amy Farrell (Murdock), Ginny Golden (Keach), Albert Popwell (Griffin), Keone Young (Nagada)

Notes: Oh, bother – the “C.R.” in Grover’s name is revealed to stand for Christopher Robin.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

The Horse Race

Planet Of The ApesDuring a visit with the ape prefect of an outlying town, General Urko is irked when his rider loses in a seemingly friendly horse race – one which Urko was clearly expecting his rider to win (so he could win the bet). But Urko doesn’t know that the local prefect has two new humans working in his stables: Virdon and Burke. When Galen is stung by a particularly venomous scorpion, the son of the blacksmith with whom the refugees are staying offers to ride into town to the clinic for an antidote. But the prefect has made it a crime for humans to ride horses, and the boy is spotted by an ape patrol and followed back to the stables, where he surrenders to save Virdon’s life. Galen knows the prefect of the town from where the boy was pursued, and goes to barter with him: Virdon, an expert horseman, will saddle-break and ride a particularly troublesome but promising horse in the next race. The prize for crossing the finish line is freedom – but when Urko takes that bet, the race is sure to be anything but fair.

Order the DVDswritten by David P. Lewis and Booker Bradshaw
directed by Jack Starrett
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: Morgan Woodward (Martin), John Hoyt (Barlow), Richard Devon (Zandar), Henry Levin (Prefect), Russ Marin (Damon), Meegan King (Gregor)

Notes: More well-known Star Trek guest stars show up here; John Hoyt was the original Enterprise doctor in the first Star Trek pilot, The Cage, and he appears here under ape makeup, reprising the role of Barlow from the second Planet Of The Apes TV episode, The Gladiators. Morgan Woodward was a staple of ’60s and ’70s TV guest spots, including multiple episodes of the original Star Trek and the TV spinoff of Logan’s Run. Just before the final race begins, Virdon winds up covered with mud – which conveniently hides that fact that the stunt rider in the race scenes clearly isn’t Ron Harper.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Kolchak The Night Stalker Season 1

Firefall

Night StalkerThree people are dead, dying of spontaneous combustion. The common factor is their relationship to Ryder Bond, a famous conductor. In fact, witnesses report Bond’s presence at the site of each death. Nonetheless, the conductor has an iron-clad alibi during the time of each murder. When Kolchak investigates, he discovers that no known heat source could so completely immolate human bodies. Suspecting a supernatural source, he discovers that the individual responsible is a doppelganger, the ghost of a petty arsonist who was a fan of Bond. Now the doppelganger, which already looks like Bond, intends to take over the conductor’s body and life, and is waiting for the conductor to fall asleep. It can only strike at its victims when they are sleeping as well. Fighting to stay awake, Kolchak must unearth the arsonist’s body and convince the spirit that it is not, and never can be, Ryder Bond.

Order the DVDswritten by Bill S. Ballinger
directed by Don Weis
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Fred Beir (Ryder Bond), Phillip Carey (Sgt. Mayer), Madlyn Rhue (Maria), David Doyle (Cardinale)

Notes: The episode has a number of plot holes. The victims must be asleep to be immolated, but one dies while awake! The motive for its murders is also unclear. Firefall was edited together with The Energy Eater to make a TV movie called Crackle Of Death, and the episodes are normally only seen in that format.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

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Season 1 Wonder Woman

The Feminum Mystique – Part 2

Wonder WomanDrusilla, in her Wonder Girl guise, is in the hands of Nazi Captain Radl, who forces her to reveal the secret location of Paradise Island, home of her fellow Amazons. With no idea where her sister is, Wonder Woman remains in her Diana Prince guise. When Major Trevor intercepts Nazi orders involving an uncharted island, Wonder Woman must return home to protect her homeland and save her people. But how easily will the Nazis give up their new obsession with feminum, the metal from which her armbands are forged?

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Jimmy Sangster
story by Barbara Avedon & Barbara Corday
directed by Herb Wallerstein
music by Artie Kane

Wonder WomanCast: Lynda Carter (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Lyle Waggoner (Major Steve Trevor), Richard Eastham (General Blankenship), Beatrice Colen (Etta Candy), John Saxon (Captain Radl), Carolyn Jones (Queen Hippolyta), Charles Frank (Peter Knight), Paul Shenar (Lt. Wertz), Debra Winger (Drusilla), Erica Hagen (Dalma), Pamela Shoop (Magda), Rayford Barnes (Lt. Weil), Kurt Grayson (Harris), Jay Fenichel (Tommy), Newell Alexander (Destroyer Commander)

Notes: This is the first appearance appearance of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet since the pilot; transparent set pieces and a “sky” background take the place of the less-than-convincing shot-on-video effects of the pilot movie.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Man From Atlantis Season 1

Shoot-Out At Land’s End

Man From AtlantisAs the Cetacean participates in routine monitoring of an undersea volcano, Mark feels a sharp, stabbing pain in one shoulder, and is determined to find out why, leaving the sub to head for nearby land. He meets locals at a settlement who seem to think they know him (except they think his name is Billy), discovering an entire island still operating by the rules of the wild west. Mark soon meets “Billy” himself, his near-identical twin, who became a hired gun on this island after he was found alone on the beach. Mark is convinced that Billy is exactly like him, but his ability to feel whatever pain Billy feels could become a fatal liability when Billy is cornered by a lynch mob.

written by Luther Murdoch
directed by Barry Crane
music by Fred Karlin

Man From AtlantisCast: Patrick Duffy (Mark Harris / Billy), Belinda J. Montgomery (Dr. Elizabeth Merrill), Alan Fudge (C.W. Crawford), Pernell Roberts (Clint Hollister), Jamie Smith Jackson (Bettina Washburn), Noble Willingham (Artemis Washburn), Tasha Martell (Carla), Bill Zuckert (Virgil), Richard Laurance Williams (Jomo), J. Victor Lopez (Chuey), Jean Marie Hon (Jane), Anson Downes (Allen)

Man From AtlantisNotes: It was not uncommon for 1970s American science fiction series to hew closely to the conventions of TV westerns, especially as many of the TV writers working at the time had been all but weaned on that genre, but this episode of Man Of Atlantis bends over backward to take the western connection to somewhat awkward extremes. Guest star Tasha Martell is better known as actress Arlene Martel (1936-2014); she adopted the stage name Tasha Martell in the 1970s and used it through the early ’90s.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Buck Rogers Season 1

Planet of the Amazon Women

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyBuck rescues a stranded spacecraft with a crew of two women and tows it back to their home planet, where he’s treated as an honored guest. But after a while, Buck realizes that he’s more of a prisoner than a guest – he’s trapped on a world populated almost exclusively by women, where he is to be auctioned off as slave labor – and breeding stock. Buck finds some women on the planet sympathize with the plight of the men who are captured and brought to their world, and enlists their help.

Order the DVDswritten by Michael Richards & Clayton Richards
directed by Philip Leacock
music by Michael Melvoin

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Ann Dusenberry (Ariela), Jay Robinson (Cassius Thorne), Anne Jeffreys (Prime Minister), Antoinette Stella (Jayel), Wendy Oates (Renna), Liberty Godshall (Nyree), Darrell Zwerling (Macon), Teddi Siddall (Linea), Wally K. Berns (Pilot), James Fraracci (Karsh)

Notes: This episode sees the introduction of many elements that would become mainstays of the second season, though no one knew it at the time. The women’s shuttle set, with some redressing, became the Searcher shuttle used frequently in the second year os the show, while the unusual standing clock prop seen in the auction scenes was given an overhaul and turned into the Searcher’s Crichton robot.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Knights Of God

Episode 9

Knights Of GodDuring Mordrin’s mysterious absence from the headquarters of the Knights of God, Brother Hugo makes his first real grab for power, calling a meeting of the council and trying to build a majority to depose the Prior upon his return. Hugo’s arguments are persuasive: he insinuates that the rumored meeting with the leaders of the resistance could be a step toward surrender, and hints that Mordrin may be trying to install himself as England’s new King – a position that the Knights of God outlawed. Mordrin calls his own council meeting when he returns, setting out to make quick work of Brother Hugo’s insurrection, and finding an ally (and useful cannon fodder) within the ranks of Hugo’s followers. But before he sets Hugo up for his downfall, Prior Mordrin announces that he could ascend to the royal throne if he decides to. And among the ranks of the resistance, passions run high as Arthur insists on a trial for Gervase and Julia. They are sentenced to banishment in the wastelands – the most merciful fate that Arthur’s engraged resistance fighters will tolerate.

written by Richard Cooper
directed by Andrew Morgan
music by Christopher Gunning

Knights Of GodCast: John Woodvine (Mordrin), Patrick Troughton (Arthur), George Winter (Gervase), Julian Fellowes (Hugo), Nigel Stock (Simon), Harrie Cookson (Brigadier Clarke), Gareth Thomas (Owen), Shirley Stelfox (Beth), Claire Parker (Julia), John Vine (Williams), Don Henderson (Colley), Peter Childs (Tyrell)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 07 Star Trek The Next Generation

Attached

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 47340.2: The world inhabited by the Kes and the Prit is divided; the Prit are xenophobic to the point of hostility, but the Kes have applied for membership in the Federation, which is surprising since they are paranoid to the point of operating like a police state. Beaming down to meet with Kes representatives, Picard and Beverly are kidnapped by the Prit, who believe the potential Kes affiliation with the Federation to be a military pact. Fitted with neural implants to allow their captors to retrieve information without an interrogation, Picard and Beverly manage to escape with the aid of an undercover Kes agent onto the surface, where they are to head to the Kes border. An unusual side-effect of their implants allows them to hear each other’s thoughts en route. In the meantime, Riker is trying to glean information about his captain’s whereabouts from a Kes representative who is deliberately being less than helpful.

Order the DVDswritten by Nicholas Sagan
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Robin Gammell (Mauric), Lenore Kasdorf (Lorin), J.C. Stevens (Kes Aide)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 02 Star Trek

Necessary Evil

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate 47282.5: Quark is hired to retrieve a list of names hidden on DS9 by a Bajoran five years ago, but when he gets curious about the list’s contents, a Bajoran man enters his bar and shoots him. As Quark fights for his life in the infirmary under guard, Odo realizes that this incident is somehow linked to the murder of a Bajoran five years ago, when Odo was assigned to investigate his first crime on DS9 by Gul Dukat. The Bajoran whose murder Odo never solved turns out to be the husband of the woman who paid Quark to get the list. Five years ago, she accused Kira of the crime, claiming that the then-resistance fighter was having an affair with the woman’s husband. Though the woman is currently involved in some suspicious activities, she was correct in one of those assumptions.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Peter Allan Fields
directed by James L. Conway
music by Jay Chattaway

Cast: Avery Brooks (Commander Benjamin Sisko), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Siddig El Fadil (Dr. Julian Bashir), Terry Farrell (Lt. Jadzia Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys), Katherine Moffat (Pallra), Max Grodenchik (Rom), Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat), Robert Mackenzie (Trazko)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade TV Movies

The River of Souls

Babylon 5Corwin finds Lochley in the Zocalo, taking a stroll and enjoying the relative peace and quiet that has enveloped the station since Sheridan and Garibaldi departed, setting up Corwin to deliver the news that Garibaldi has returned to Babylon 5. He’s still trying to track down Edgars Industries’ black projects, and he has a meeting on the station with one of Edgars’ researchers, Dr. Bryson, an archaeologist searching for the secrets of immortality. Lochley and Zack, meanwhile, have their hands full with a holo-brothel operator who has set up shop in Brown Sector, armed with a very persistent lawyer against their efforts to void his lease. Bryson arrives, bringing with him a find from his latest dig, a glowing sphere that cost the lives of the rest of his team. He quickly becomes obsessed with unlocking the secrets of the globe, and succeeds in releasing an entity trapped inside it…a soul crying out for death. One of a billion souls trapped thousands of years ago by the Soul Hunters, who arrive to reclaim their lost prize. One of millions of souls who find a way to leave the globe, hungry for revenge and release…even at the cost of the station’s destruction.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Janet Greek
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi), Tracy Scoggins (Captain Lochley), Richard Biggs (Stephen Franklin), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Ian McShane (Dr. Robert Bryson), Martin Sheen (Soul Hunter), Jeff Doucette (Second man), Wayne Alexander (Soul Hunter), Bob Amaral (Customer), Beece Barkett (Woman), Joel Brooks (Jacob Mayhew), Joshua Cox (Lt. Corwin), T.J. Hoban (Male hologram), Stuart Pankin (James Riley), Ray Proscia (Klaus), Nikki Schieler Ziering (Female hologram), Jeff Silverman (Mr. Clute), Jean St. James (Sheila)

Notes: This film is set midway through 2263, after the events of Objects At Rest. The Soul Hunters’ first appearance on the series was in the first season episode Soul Hunter.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 5 Xena: Warrior Princess

Purity

Xena: Warrior PrincessXena and Gabrielle find a monk from the temple where Xena had left Lao Ma’s book. He delivers a message that the warrior realizes is from her late mentor. The two women, along with Joxer, head for Chin. Once there, they find a devastated village. As they are investigating the damage, missiles begin exploding throughout the ruins around them, and soldiers attack them. During the fighting, a woman joins their defense and soon the army retreats. The woman then identifies herself as Pao Ssu, daughter of Lao Ma. She explains to them that the army that was attacking has discovered the secret of black powder, which had been outlawed in Chin. They head for the temple and discover that Lao Ma’s book has been stolen. As Xena and Pao Ssu search for the thief, Gabrielle and Joxer head to the market to get what they need to make their own black powder.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeff Vlaming
directed by Mark Beesley
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Ted Raimi (Joxer), Marie Matiko (Pao SsU/K’Ao Hsin), Andy Choi (Go Kun), William Kwan (Vendor)

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

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Season 07 Star Trek Voyager

Inside Man

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 54208.3: The latest datastream transmitted from Starfleet to the Delta Quadrant is larger than usual. Harry extracts an entire holoprogram from the data, apparently supplied by Lt. Barclay of the Pathfinder project. Barclay’s hologram – created in his own image – advises Janeway and the crew of a new way to create a quick, direct path to the Alpha Quadrant. But the hologram (whose personality displays far more bravado than its creator) seems to have a hidden motive…and it may no longer be serving Starfleet’s – or Voyager’s – best interests.

Order the DVDswritten by Robert Doherty
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: Dwight Schultz (Barclay), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Richard Herd (Admiral Paris), Richard McGonagle (Commander Pete Harkins), Frank Corsentino (Gegis), Christopher Neiman (Yeggie), Michael William Rivkin (Nunk), Sharisse Baker-Bernard (Leosa), Brooke Averi (Little girl #1), Lindsey Parks (Little girl #2), Chase Penny (Cabana boy), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

Notes: Once again, Geidi Prime is mentioned, this time with a golf course (!). This episode also reveals that Commander Riker and Counselor Troi are still an item after the events of Star Trek: Insurrection.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Firefly Season 1

Safe

  • By Dave
  • November 8, 2002

FireflySerenity lands on Jiangyin to deliver their cattle cargo. In an effort to ensure things go smoothly, Mal sends Simon and River to take a walk into town while he concludes the deal. This being one of Mal’s ideas, things don’t quite go as planned. Simon manages to insult Kaylee, and while she’s giving him what-for, River wanders off. Mal’s trading partners are wanted for murder; the local law shows up, and the suspects don’t go quietly. In the shootout, Book is wounded. Zoe manages to stabilize him, but he needs a doctor. Unfortunately, Simon and River have been kidnapped by an outlaw community with much the same need. Mal orders Serenity to take off and rendezvous with an Alliance cruiser. The Alliance captain is hesitant to offer aid until Book’s ident card earns him the VIP treatment, for reasons the Shepherd won’t explain. Simon thinks back to the life he left behind in order to find his sister – a lifestyle his parents weren’t willing to endanger – but he fights through the frustration to try to help those in need. But when River starts reading the locals’ minds, they accuse her of witchcraft. And they have an old-fashioned solution for that particular problem.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Drew Greenburg
directed by Michael Grossman
music by Greg Edmonson

Guest Cast: Isabella Hoffman (Megan Tam); William Converse-Roberts (Gabriel Tam); John Thaddeus (Stark); Gary Werntz (Patron)

Notes: Mal contracted to deliver the cattle in Shindig. This episode features Mal’s introductory narration.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer