Day: December 18, 1975

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Another Time, Another Place

Space: 1999A cloud of dust and brilliant lights draws the moon into its center and then keeps moving past it. Moonbase Alpha sustains moderate damage, but it also seems to have been thrown far from where its normal wanderings would have taken it. One member of the grew, Regina Kesslann, hasn’t quite recovered from the collision with the dust cloud, insisting that she saw the moon vanishing into the distance – from inside the Moonbase. She also seems to think that Commander Koenig and Alan Carter died during the incident. As the moon approaches a solar system, instruments seem to indicate that the star is Earth’s sun – and that the third planet orbiting that star is Earth itself. Koenig grows skeptical as the moon slips into its old orbit without incident, though the rest of the crew is eager to return home without asking too many questions. The one person who continues to have difficulty is Regina, and Dr. Russell is at a loss to explain her condition. When Professor Bergman does a closer inspection, he discovers something even more disturbing: the Earth is now a radioactive wasteland, incapable of supporting human life.

Order the DVDswritten by Johnny Byrne
directed by David Tomblin
music by Barry Gray
additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Judy Geeson (Regina Kesslann), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Clifton Jones (David Kano), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter)

Notes: Judy Geeson later appeared in early seasons of Star Trek: Voyager as Sandrine, the proprietor of Tom Paris’ holodeck pool hall.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ark II

Orkus

Ark IIRuth and Adam look for signs of toxic waste, but are warned away from a bubbling pond by a group of old men – who claim that they were young men only a day ago before they inhaled a toxic gas. Ruth and Adam begin to show signs of rapid aging as well. As Jonah and Samuel try to find an antidote to reverse this unnatural aging, something probes Ark II with a form of energy that simply passes through the Ark’s outer skin, and then addresses Jonah. Introducing itself as Orkus, the disembodied voice offers an antidote to help Ruth and Adam, but insists that Jonah bring Ark II to a specific location. Not trusting Orkus, Jonah goes to the specified coordinates via jet pack instead, finding a shielded amphitheater where Orkus holds court. None of Orkus’ people age or die, and suffer no hardships, thanks to a series of machines called the Providers. But the Providers themselves need something: the energy stores that keep the Ark moving. Jonah must decide between the lives of his friends, or the end of Ark II’s mission.

written by Robert Specht & Chuck Menville
directed by Henry J. Lange, Jr.
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Terry Lester (Jonah), Jean Marie Hon (Ruth), Jose Flores (Samuel), Geoffrey Lewis (Orkus), William Benedict (Malcolm), Monie Ellis (Alicia), Lou Scheimer (voice of Adam)

Notes: Bearing more than a slight resemblance to a number of classic Star Trek episodes, Orkus wraps up the series. This Ark IIepisode reveals that Ark II has a self-destruct mechanism (an odd feature for “the last mobile storehouse of scientific knowledge”), and presumably it’d pack quite a wallop if allowed to explode. Depending on one’s interpretation, there’s a possibility that Orkus and his people played some role in the downfall of human civilization, which they claim to have witnessed in the early 21st century. Be on the lookout for a bunch of people in vaguely Greek-like robes, hanging around a simple gazebo fashioned out of ordinary garden lattice and glass globes, for they will be the death of us all.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Electra Woman & Dyna Girl

Return Of The Pharaoh – Part 1

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlAn ancient curse threatens to close down a display of ancient Egyptian relics, and the Pharaoh is immediately suspected, though his accomplice appears to deliver a warning to Electra Woman and Dyna Girl about his plans. That warning naturally leads them into one trap after another set by the Pharaoh, but they escape, only to find that he has new tricks up his sleeve, from immobilizing weaponry to mind control. It seems they’re no match for the Pharaoh this time.

written by Greg Strangis
directed by Jack Regas
music not credited

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlCast: Deidre Hall (Lori / Electra Woman), Judy Strangis (Judy / Dyna Girl), Norman Alden (Frank Heflin), Peter Mark Richman (The Pharaoh), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Sterling Swanson (Mr. McLintock), Marvin Miller (Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua

Wonder WomanA Nazi defector is questioned by Major Trevor as Diana and General Blankenship watch from the other side of a false mirror; he has valuable information that he’s not unloading until the United States can guarantee his safety. But his fellow Nazis are already planning to recapture him before he can talk, and they’ve prepared for any interference from Wonder Woman by training a giant gorilla to react to her with hostile aggression on sight. She may be an expert at dealing with Nazis, but can Wonder Woman tame the heart of a trained, conditioned primate?

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by David Ketchum and Tony DiMarco
directed by Charles R. Rondeau
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), Robert Loggia (Hans Eichler), Gretchen Corbett (Erica Belgard), John Hillerman (Conrad Steigler), Tom Reese (Carl), Herb Voland (Dr. Osmond), Jerry Fitzpatrick (Circus Guard), Jim Driskill (Sergeant Henderson), Curtis Credel (Corporal Rogers), John Zenda (Soldier), Mickey Morton (Gargantua)

Wonder WomanNotes: Mickey Morton (1927–1993) was a fixture in 1970s and ’80s genre productions:- he had donned a Wookiee suit to play Chewie’s wife Malla in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, and played Solomon Grundy in the lamentable 1979 TV special Legends Of The Superheroes. John Hillerman’s best known role was ahead of him, starring as Higgins in Magnum P.I. from 1980 through 1988.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
KTMA Season Mystery Science Theater 3000

Experiment K06: Gamera Vs. Gaos

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The KTMA SeasonMST3K Story: Joel is still pleased with the phone calls, but he wants the “scary guys with the low IQs” to stop calling and scaring Gypsy. Joel apologizes for all the giant turtle movies, but states that he doesn’t control what films are shown. He explains that the films are sent up by the mad scientists who shot him into space. Later, Joel puts Servo through puberty by changing his voice, taking it from a squeak to a “great dynamic mighty voice”. It immediately goes to Servo’s head. Gypsy also wants a new voice, but Joel thinks her voice is “kinda deep and sexy” and reminds him of Kim Carnes. A caller wants Crow unfrozen and Gypsy to join Joel in the theater. After showing the freezing of Crow again, Joel scolds Gypsy for eating Crow’s garland thinking it was “shiny spaghetti”. Joel gets an invitation to a young viewer’s birthday party. Since he’s trapped in space and can’t attend, the satellite is decorated in the boy’s honor and Servo gives him some life advice. At the close, Joel announces that they won’t be on during the Christmas holidays, but will return for a special New Years Eve broadcast.

Gamera Vs. Gaos Story: A volcanic eruption releases Gaos, a giant, bat-like creature with a laser beam and a taste for human blood. His rampage is delaying the building of an important road, disrupting not only the company, but also the locals who are negotiating the sale of their land for the road’s use. Several different methods are attempted to destroy Gaos, but none prove effective. Only the combined efforts of the Japanese scientific community, Gamera and Ichi (the grandson of the leader of the landowners), proves enough to defeat Gaos.

MST3K segments written by Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, Jim Mallon & Kevin Murphy
MST3K segments directed by Vince Rodriguez
Gamera Vs. Gaos written by Nisan Takahashi (as Fumi Takahashi)
Gamera Vs. Gaos directed by Noriaki Yuasa
Gamera Vs. Gaos music by Tadashi Yamauchi

MST3K Guest Cast: none

Gamera Vs. Gaos Cast: Kojiro Hongo (Shiro Tsutsumi), Yoshiro Kitahara (Dr. Aoki), Reiko Kasahara (Sumiko Kanamura), Kichijiro Ueda (Tatsuemon Kanamura), Koji Fujiyama, Kyôko Enami, Eiko Yanami

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Alien Nation Season 1

The Red Room

Alien NationA break-in at the lab where Cathy works is just the beginning of a reign of terror that shakes George to his core. Sikes meets Detective Jeffries at the scene, who dismisses the entire incident as an animal activist’s protest, but later, when Sikes discovers that there is no LAPD detective by that name, he starts to wonder what’s really going on. Sikes and George continue following the trail, but at several points along the way, George seems disoriented, and he experiences flashbacks to a red room containing a firing range. “Jeffries” appears again, this time at the police station, and apparently has enough influence to close the case. Sikes isn’t ready to give up the chase yet, and he enlists outside help in analyzing newly discovered samples of Tenctonese tissue, as well as George’s murky memories. When he does manage to remember the strange flashbacks he’s been experiencing, the truth about “Jeffries” becomes just one part of a conspiratorial puzzle with dark implications for humans and Newcomers alike.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episodewritten by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle
directed by Chuck Bowman
music by Steve Dorff & Larry Herbstritt

Guest Cast: Katherine Justice (Dr. Wright), John P. Connolly (Detective Jeffries), Tom Dugan (Silas Marner), Patricia Heaton (Amanda Russle), Ray Reinhardt (Chris Pettit), Michele Lamar Richards (Lois Allen), Chuck Bennett (Marcus Byer)

Notes: Seen only in dimly-lit flashbacks (and later in a body bag), guest star Patricia Heaton makes one of her only genre appearances here, long before her co-starring role in Everybody Loves Raymond.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Lexx Season 2

Terminal

LexxWhen awakened from cryostasis with the wrong reanimation sequence, Kai unexpectedly fires his brace at Stan, mortally wounding him. In an attempt to save his life, Zev convinces Stan to surrender the key to the Lexx and then freezes him in Kai’s cryochamber. Zev sets 790 to the task of finding medical help for Stan, and his search leads them to MedSat, a hospital space station. When the medical space station’s receptionist refuses help due to a lack of insurance, Zev orders Lexx to destroy the planet that the station orbits, and immediately Stan’s case is assigned to the station’s top doctor. After he saves Stan’s life, the doctor takes Zev to dinner, where he tries to convince her to give him the key to the Lexx; when she refuses, he knocks her out and takes her to an operating room while his underlings capture Kai and 790. When Zev comes to, she is given one last chance to give up the Lexx’s key – and when she refuses, she is tortured to the point of death, initiating the transfer of the key.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeffrey Hirschfield
directed by Srinivas Krishna
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Simon Licht (Dr. Kazan), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790), Tom Gallant (Lexx), Oliver Stern (Dr. Funz), Barbara Geiger (Dr. Veezra), Eva Ebner (Mrs. Deebee), Errol Shaker (Administrator), Ian T. Dickinson (Berg), Tatiana Alexander (Nurse)

Note: This is Eva Habermann’s final appearance in the role of Zev.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

The Catwalk

Star Trek: EnterpriseShortly after picking up three alien refugees, the Enterprise is caught in the path of a violent neutronic storm, whose radiation will kill the crew within mere minutes of exposure. Sick bay looks like the only part of the Enterprise with enough shielding to protect the crew, but it can’t hold everyone. Then Trip remembers the radiation shielding of the ship’s warp engines – even though the warp reactor will have to be taken offline and there’s only a long, narrow crawlspace, the “catwalk” inside the warp nacelles can protect the ship’s crew, and their increasingly shifty visitors as well. But while Archer and his crew take shelter in the engine, they’re unaware when an alien spacecraft docks with the Enterprise, and powerless to stop the ship’s soldiers from taking over the bridge. The Enterprise’s new guests are in pursuit of the refugees – and they decide they’d like to steal the ship as well.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Scott Burkholder (Tagrim), Zach Grenier (Renth), Aaron Lustig (Guri), Elizabeth Magness (Crewman #1), Danny Goldring (Alien Captain), Brian Cousins (Alien Lieutenant), Sean Smith (Alien Crewman), and Porthos

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Black Mirror Season 1

The Entire History Of You

Black MirrorGrain is a neural implant that records everything a person sees, even details they don’t notice at first, and stores it for later recall. During a replay, called a “redo”, different details can be enhanced and brought into focus, obsessed over, even litigated. A scan of recent memories has become the new background check: airport security, insurance, and job offers are all contingent upon memory scans with no unusual incidents – and no major deletions from the record hinting at a cover-up of such incidents. Liam, unsettled by news that the law firm for which he works will begin using recorded Grain memories to allow people to sue their parents for negligence during childhood, is in no mood for a party with old friends, but he still shows up, annoyed that his wife Fiona is being very attentive toward a male guest Liam regards as a blowhard. Upon learning that his wife had more than a mere passing acquaintance with the man in her single life, Liam is fixated on proving that they’re still having an affair. But the memory of what he does to resolve the situation may yet haunt him.

Get the DVDswritten by Jesse Alexander
directed by Brian Welsh
music by Stuart Earl

Black MirrorCast: Toby Kebbell (Liam), Jodie Whittaker (Fiona), Tom Cullen (Jonas), Amy Beth Hayes (Lucy), Rebekah Staton (Colleen), Rhashan Stone (Jeff), Phoebe Fox (Hallam), Jimi Mistry (Paul), Daniel Lapaine (Max), Karl Collins (Robbie), Elizabeth Chan (Leah), Mona Goodwin (Gina), Kemal Sylvester (Airport Security)

Note: Jodie Whittaker would go on to become Doctor Who‘s thirteenth face, making her debut in the closing moments of Twice Upon A Time (2017).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Mandalorian, The Season 1

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

Star Wars: The MandalorianGreef Karga sends a message to the Mandalorian, revealing that the Imperial presence near the Guild’s home base on Nevarro has grown to an intolerable level, almost as if the planet is again under Imperial rule. Karga proposes using the child as bait to draw out the Imperials who wanted to dissect him, and then take out their leadership. The Mandalorian changes course, but not for Nevarro; first he returns to offer Cara Dune the job of backing him up. They then travel to the planet where the child was found, where the Mandalorian plans to make the same offer to Kuiil, only to discover that IG-11 is still operational – reprogrammed by Kuiil to be a servant. With Dune, Kuiil, IG-11, and Kuiil’s blurrgs aboard, the Razor Crest finally returns to Nevarro. En route to the city, the local fauna attacks, and Karga is seriously injured, but the child heals his injuries completely; this inspires Karga to take out what remains of his security detail and warn the Mandalorian that the plan was to lure him back to Nevarro, where the now sizeable Imperial regiment would kill him and take the child. The plan is altered accordingly, but it would seem that even the Imperial client who originally ordered the child’s capture is marked for death. Someone else is now calling the shots: Moff Gideon.

The Mandalorianwritten by Jon Favreau
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Ludwig Goransson

Cast: Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), Gina Carano (Cara Dune), Nick Nolte (voice of Kuiil), Taiki Waititi (voice of IG-11), Werner Herzog (The Client), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Adam Pally (Bike Scout Trooper #2), Dave Reaves (Zabrak Fighter), Misty Rosas (Kuiil performance artist), Rio Hackford (IG-11 performance artist), Chris Bartlett (RA-7 Droid performance artist)

The MandalorianNotes: Death Troopers were established in Rogue One (2016), and appeared again in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels; they accompany only high-ranking officials such as Director Krennic or, in this case, Moff Gideon. Gideon’s TIE Fighter, though it looks much like a standard-issue Imperial fighter, demonstrates a previously unseen ability to fold up its wings and land; also seen for the first time in live action is an Imperial Troop Transporter, a vehicle that was introduced to the Star Wars universe not by a film or animated appearance, but by Kenner’s toy line from the original movie. (Naturally, Hasbro, Kenner’s successors to the Star Wars toy license, rolled out a new Imperial Troop Transport after its appearance in The Mandalorian. Odds are pretty good that they’re working on Gideon’s TIE Fighter too.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Mandalorian, The Season 2

Chapter 16: The Rescue

Star Wars: The MandalorianWith the help of Boba Fett, Bo-Katan, Cara Dune, and Fennec Shand – and with a little bit of information gleaned from the Imperial scientist captured en route to continue his experiments on Grogu – the Mandalorian plans a two-pronged attack on Moff Gideon’s cruiser. His objective is to rescue Grogu, while Bo-Katan wants to recapture the Darksaber and regain control of Mandalore. Standing in their way is an entire platoon of Darktroopers – droid stormtroopers impervious to the weaknesses of either Imperial recruits or clones – and taking out even one of them is almost more than the Mandalorian can handle on his own. Bringing Moff Gideon to heel is somewhat easier, but once the entire team is trapped on the cruiser’s bridge with Gideon and Grogu, with Darktroopers crowding on the other side of the blast door, it seems a new hope is needed.

The Mandalorianwritten by Jon Favreau
directed by Peyton Reed
music by Ludwig Goransson

Cast: Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Omid Abtahi (Dr. Pershing), Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett), Gina Carano (Cara Dune), Mercedes Varnado (Koska Reeves), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Thomas E. Sullivan (Co-Pilot), Luke Baines (Pilot), Gabriel Ebert (Gunnery Officer), Katy O’Brian (Comms Officer), Matthew Wood (Bib Fortuna)

LogBook entry by Earl Green