Year: 1972

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Giant Mummy That Summons Storms

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanA trans-Pacific jetliner returning to Japan encounters a strange cloud, blinding its instruments and buffeting the plane with severe turbulence. The pilot sends out an SOS and reports sighting something huge before the plane goes down. It’s not the only sighting, which means the Science Ninja Team is called into action. On this occasion, however, Ken takes it upon himself to investigate since he’s a skilled solo pilot with his own plane. Sure enough, Ken has his own sighting – a huge mummified hand that tries to swat his plane out of the sky. The sensors built into his plane (which also doubles as the G-1 jet fighter, part of the God Phoenix) detect a form of plutonium whose use is forbidden around the world – meaning that Galactor has acquired some of it. But when the downed plane’s pilot mysteriously reappears, Ken knows something is amiss – especially when he learns that the pilot’s brother helped Dr. Nambu develop the dangerous form of plutonium. When an enormous robotic mummy lands at the airport and begins wreaking havoc, there’s no question what Galactor wants the Gatchaman team to surrender.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)

Note: This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here. Makoto can sleep through anything.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

Revenge Of The Mechadegon

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanThe world is plagued by earthquakes that accompany the sudden loss of precious resources from beneath the Earth, and Dr. Nambu is certain that Galactor is behind each incident. After another strike puts most of the world’s oil supplies in Galactor’s hands, Ken assembles the team, but seems determined to go this one alone after failing to save the life of one of the country’s leading seismologists. When the God Phoenix is finally called into action, Ken wants the seismologist’s orphaned daughter to have the honor of firing the bird missile that destroys Galactor’s “iron centipede”… but bringing her aboard compromises the secret identities of the Gatchaman team.

Gatchamanwritten by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

Voice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)

Note: This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Search

Operation Iceman

SearchFor years, a mysterious figure known only as the Iceman has stalked the world of organized crime, carrying out “hits” only on major players in the underworld. But now the Iceman has killed a PROBE agent, and Cameron assigns multiple agents, including Nick Bianco and the soon-to-retire mentor who brought Bianco into the PROBE fold, to track the killer down once and for all. No matter where Bianco or any member of his team go, the Iceman is a step ahead of them, taking out key witnesses before they can talk. Even Bianco’s mentor becomes one of the Iceman’s victims, and Bianco suspects that the Iceman has an ally within PROBE control…

written by S.S. Schweitzer
directed by Robert L. Friend
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Tony Franciosa (Nick Bianco), Burgess Meredith (Cameron),
Edward Mulhare (David Pelham), James Gregory (Gordon Essex), Mary Frann (Stephanie Burnside), Edward Bell (Andre Gerard), Poupee Bocar (Kalia Soulvan), Harve Selsby (Epstein), Patrick O’Hara (Mr. Johns), Russ Marin (Ginelli), J. Ben Hur (Secretary), Loren James (Guard), Abraham Sofaer (Lokarno), Ron Castro (Carlos), Byron Chung (Kuroda), Amy Farrell (Murdock), Ginny Golden (Keach), Albert Popwell (Griffin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

Ghost Fleet From Hell

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanOne of the International Science Organization’s oceanfaring research chips is torpedoed by a “ghost ship” emerging from a thick fog near a fabled ship graveyard; there’s barely time to sent an SOS to the ISO before the ship sinks. Dr. Nambu deduces that the real target is the ISO’s “underwater farm,” an enormous manned oil refinery that’s been designed to withstand any kind of natural disaster that could possibly leak oil into the ocean. Nambu’s guess is correct: the farm is the next target, and an enormous oil spill is the result. The Gatchaman team is dispatched to investigate. They track a Galactor sub back to the ship graveyard, and then surface to find a huge fog-generating buoy deployed by Galactor. Joe’s immediate response is to fire Bird Missiles at every target within sight, but Ken insists on getting Nambu’s permission to do so. When he’s cleared to use the God Phoenix’s most formidable artillery, Joe goes overboard, emptying the ship of every bird missile on board – a bit of a miscalculation, since there are still plenty of Galactor fighters left. Only a miracle can save the team from Joe’s overzealous attack…

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)

Note: This episode marks the first appearance of Red Impulse and his wingmen; only their fighters are seen here. And good thing too. This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Search

The Bullet

SearchAfter an attempt to extract an eastern European weapons designer from behind the Iron Curtain fails, it falls to PROBE to help him defect and get him out alive, along with his designs and formulas for a poison-coated bullet that can kill a target even if it only grazes them. Lockwood ventures into enemy territory, and finds that his arrival has been anticipated. The defector whose life Lockwood means to save is killed, and when he himself is grazed by a bullet, Lockwood finds that the poisonous ammo is already in use in the eastern bloc.

written by Judy Burns
directed by William Wiard
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Hugh O’Brian (Hugh Lockwood), Burgess Meredith (Cameron), Ina Balin (Alexia Trepov), Malachi Throne (Colonel Nobokov), Alan Bergman (Rolf Wentzel), Peter Von Zerneck (Bremer), Robert Boon (Balzak), Byron Mabe (Eagan), Genadii Biegouloff (Lieutenant), Stafford Morgan (Martin), Ron Castro (Carlos), Byron Chung (Kuroda), Amy Farrell (Murdock), Ginny Golden (Keach), Albert Popwell (Griffin), Walter Beakel (Harrison)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Great Mini-Robot Operation

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanAn underground drill bursts through the floor of the World Bank, unleashing a deadly payload: Micros, knee-high robots armed to the teeth with lasers, sent by Galactor to steal every bar of gold and destabilize the world economy. Team Gatchaman is dispatched to retrieve the stolen gold from an unknown base somewhere in the Barelli Islands. The base is soon found, and Ken, Jun and, Jinpei visit the base’s island out of uniform to ensure that they’re captured and taken inside. Joe is left in charge of retrieving the gold, with strict orders from Dr. Nambu not to exceed those orders. But as he often does, Joe manages to do just that, leaving Ryu in the God Phoenix to doze off at the wheel. Joe’s intent is to rid the world of Galactor once and for all, and retrieve the gold. Again, his overzealous refusal to disobey his exact orders put the rest of the team in danger.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)

Note: It’s implied that Sosai X himself designed the Micros; they do seem a bit more reliable than most Galactor gadgets. This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
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

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

Galactor’s Giant Air Show

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanKen gets ready to take on his “day job” as a test pilot, flying Dr. Nambu’s experimental, non-polluting jet, when he sees an amazing sight. A skeletal figure standing on a biplane intercepts the jet and, with powerful metallic tentacles, takes it out of the sky, forcing Ken to eject. As he splashes down in the ocean, he’s powerless to do anything but watch as the biplane and its deadly pilot wipe out most of the other planes at the air show. The God Phoenix is launched immediately, but even Gatchaman’s ship suffers serious damage when it goes up against the mysterious biplane. Dr. Nambu studies the damage and finds proof that Galactor has perfected the process of making weapons from a stronger-than-steel metal called Whisker – a metal that Nambu himself hasn’t been able to duplicate. If Galactor is already producing weapons based on Whisker, even Gatchaman can’t stop them.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Katsenberg), Kazuya Tatekabe (Captain), Mitsuo Yokoi (Captain), Hideo Kinoshita (Narrator)

Note: This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Search

The Adonis File

SearchThe secretary of talk show host Mark Elliott (who also happens to be running for a seat in the United States Senate) is kidnapped and held for a ransom, and Lockwood is called in to try to recover her, or at least find out where she’s being held. Curiously, there seems to be a rush on Elliott’s part to give in to the kidnappers’ demands and pay the ransom, which raises Lockwood’s suspicions even more. Every clue seems to be a dead end, because no one has considered the possibility that the kidnapper and the kidnap victim are the same person.

written by Jack Turley
directed by Joseph Pevney
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Hugh O’Brian (Hugh Lockwood), Burgess Meredith (Cameron), Bill Bixby (Mark Elliott), Deanna Lund Matheson (Linda Harte), G.D. Spradlin (Mr. Ackerman), Victoria George (Anne Delaware), Brenda Benet (Carol Lesco), Philip Bourneuf (Mr. Kinser), Robert S. Carson (Mr. Hartley), John Warburton (Mr. Thomas), Peggy Walton (Sandra Elliot), Jim Goodwin (Hotel Clerk), Byron Bradley (Studio Guard), Byron Chung (Kuroda), Tony De Costa (Ramos), Ginny Golden (Keach), Albert Popwell (Griffin), Roy Jenson (Spencer)

SearchNotes: Bill Bixby (1934–1993) had just ended a three-year run as the star of The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father at the time of his guest shot on Search; he had also already been one of the stars of My Favorite Martian in the 1960s. Still ahead of him were a brief starring stint in The Magician (1973-74), and a five-year run as Dr. David Banner in The Incredible Hulk.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Secret Of Crescent Coral Reef

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanThe sinking of a World Science Organization sub, part of a huge construction effort to build a new underwater base for the Gatchaman team, is the first sign that Galactor is aware of the base. The Gatchaman team is called in to look for signs of Galactor activity on a nearby island, but Dr. Nambu warns Ken and his team not to fight Galactor unless necessary. Stung by a random encounter with a civilian who thinks every other member of the Gatchaman team is more impressive than he is, Jinpei is determined to take on Galactor single-handedly. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to fight them alone, Jinpei also leads Galactor straight to the new underwater base.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Mitsuo Yokoi (Clerk in Charge), Hideo Kinoshita (Narrator)

Note: Jinpei is 18th successor to the Iga Ninja; presumably this means she is a practitioner of Iga-ryu ninjutsu, a real discipline which originated in Iga City, in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The existence of the Gatchaman team is apparently public knowledge, enough that children are aware of the individual team members’ “G numbers” and abilities. (Are there trading cards and action figures, one wonders? There should be.) Again, significant violence from this original episode is swapped out for an unusual number of 7-Zark-7 scenes in the Battle Of The Planets dub. Though the Crescent Coral Reef base is seen throughout Battle Of The Planets as “Center Neptune,” this is its first appearance in Gatchaman. This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Devil From The Moon

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanMeteorites begin raining down on heavily populated cities on Earth, wrecking havoc, death and destruction. The ISO analyzes samples of the meteorites and discovers that they originated as moon rocks. The God Phoenix is launched toward the moon, where it is discovered that Berg Katse and Sosai X control a huge, scorpion-like vehicle which mines moon rocks and then fires them at Earth. Gatchaman must destroy the mecha before it destroys Earth.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

GatchamanVoice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Mitsuo Yokoi (Clerk in Charge), Hideo Kinoshita (Narrator)

Note: This is the first time, in Gatchaman, that we see the God Phoenix lift off into space. (By comparison, the Phoenix in Battle Of The Planets visits an alien world nearly every week.) For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Night Gallery Season 3

Fright Night

Night GalleryTom and Leona Ogilvy have lucked out – or so they think. A cousin of Tom’s has willed his country house to him, which might be just the thing that a struggling writer like Tom needs to finish his next book in peace and quiet. There’s just one catch: in the attic office Tom claims as his study, a large chest sits in the floor – one which Zachariah Ogilvy’s dying wish was to be left alone, with the added promise that, at some point, someone will come to collect it. Tom and Leona begin experiencing unusual events: crickets and birds suddenly stop making any noise, and Tom sees the chest seem to hover in mid-air. Leona makes arrangements to have it removed from the house…but it seems the chest doesn’t want to leave. What’s in it…and what tricks will it play on their minds to draw their attention away from it?

Night Galleryteleplay by Robert Malcolm Young
story by Kurt van Elting
directed by Jeff Corey
music by Eddie Sauter / series theme by Gil Melle

Cast:
Stuart Whitman (Tom Ogilvy), Barbara Anderson (Leona Ogilvy), Ellen Corby (Miss Patience), Alan Napier (Cousin Zachariah), Larry Watson (Longhair), Michael Laird (1st Goblin), Glenna Sergent (2nd Goblin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Ghost Story / Circle Of Fear

Creatures Of The Canyon

Ghost StoryJust widowed, Carol Finney is having to learn to live life without her husband around, with quite a bit of help from her sister Georgia. Not making matters any easier is that fact that her neighbor, Mr. Mundy, seems unable to control his dog, Adam – a Doberman formerly owned by the Finneys. After Adam snarls at her from just outside her front door a couple of times, Carol feels compelled to ask Mundy to tie the dog down at night, which he refuses to do. Georgia, who is scared of large dogs, takes more decisive action to solve the Adam problem, but that action is not only inhumane, but triggers off a series of events with deadly consequences for both sisters.

Ghost StoryOrder the complete seriesteleplay by Del Reisman
directed by Walter Doniger
music by Billy Goldenberg and Robert Prince

Cast: Sebastian Cabot (Winston Essex), Angie Dickinson (Carol Finney), John Ireland (Arthur Mundy), Madlyn Rhue (Georgia Strauss), Mary Murphy (Maggie Mundy), Robert Donner (Ralph)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 2 Sixth Sense, The

Gallows In The Wind

The Sixth SenseA blustery coastal getaway for several vacationgoers becomes deadly when they’re trapped, along with Dr. Rhodes, at a boat rental store nearby – the only high ground available in an approaching hurricane. One of the tourists, Carey Evers, has been experiencing unusual visions since wandering into a nearby stone building dating back a hundred years, a vision of an executioner who wants her and everyone else in the house dead. While most of her housemates dismiss these visions as superstitious hallucinations, Rhodes believes they may be premonitions that add up to a warning of danger from the approaching storm. And then, in her latest vision, Carey sees Rhodes himself sinking into a watery grave…

written by Don Ingalls
directed by Alan Crosland
music by Billy Goldenberg

The Sixth SenseCast: Gary Collins (Dr. Michael Rhodes), Meg Foster (Carey Evers), R.G. Armstrong (Jack Preston), Richard Lawrence Hatch (Owen Preston), Gary Clarke (Mr. Sandifur), Virginia Gregg (Thelma), George Ives (Frank Young), Conlan Carter (Mack)

Notes: Future Battlestar Galactica star Richard Hatch (1945-2017) – billed as his full name, Richard Lawrence Hatch – appears here in one of his The Sixth Senseearliest screen roles, four years before joining the cast of The Streets Of San Francisco started building him up toward household name status. Meg Foster was similarly new to Hollywood, though she’d had a bit more experience than Hatch; in 1982 she would portray Christine Cagney in the brief (six episode) first season of Cagney & Lacey, though between seasons she was replaced by Sharon Gless in the role. Her genre credits include The Six Million Dollar Man, Ghost Story/Circle Of Fear, the 1980s Twilight Zone revival, the live-action Masters Of The Universe film, They Live, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess,

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
TV Movies

The Stone Tape

The Stone TapeAn abandoned pre-war building is taken over by Ryan Electronics to serve as the skunkworks for a crash program to find and develop the electronic recording medium that will supplant magnetic tape. With its wartime history as a command post for visiting American soldiers, and an even longer history as a haunted house stretching back into the late 1800s, the building isn’t anyone’s favorite place. Some members of the electronics R&D team refuse to work there, and a visit to the pub reveals that the locals believe that any new secret project there is military (and hazardous) in nature. The sole female member of the Ryan Electronics team, Jill, experiences a vision in a supply room formerly used by the U.S. Army, catching a fleeting glimpse of a screaming woman, and project director Peter isn’t convinced until he hears the screaming for himself. Determined to debunk the hauntings so his team can get down to their real work, Peter decides to throw the team’s resources at the problem, using every kind of sensing and recording equipment at their disposal and regarding the sightings as merely misinterpreted data. Even though sightings continue, none of the group’s equipment manages to record any of it. After several further sightings, Peter becomes convinced that the sightings are a message recorded in the very stones of the building itself, a “stone tape” recorded by a massive output of psychic energy, though the haunting nature of the repeated sightings gives his team the uncomfortable feeling that the burst of energy was provided by the moment of the screaming woman’s death. Gradually becoming unhinged by an obsessive belief that the “stone tape” represents exactly the kind of breakthrough recording medium his team was sent to discover, Peter begins probing the room with UV light, lasers, and blasts of high-frequency sound, and eventually the sightings stop: his team believed he’s “wiped the tape.”

At least until Jill begins to pick up on something else, another presence somehow recorded in the stone. Something older – almost unimaginably older – and far more dangerous than a screaming woman. Could it be that Peter has simply erased the most recent recording from the stone tape and revealed the original recording?

written by Nigel Kneale
directed by Peter Sasdy
special sound effects by Desmond Briscoe and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Cast: Michael Bryant (Peter), Jane Asher (Jill), Iain Cuthbertson (Collinson), Michael Bates (Eddie), Reginald Marsh (Crawshaw), The Stone TapeTom Chadbon (Hargrave), John Forgeham (Maudsley), Philip Trewinnard (Stewart), James Cosmo (Dow), Neil Wilson (Sergeant), Christopher Banks (Vicar), Michael Graham Cox (Alan), Hilda Fenemore (Bar Helper), Peggy Marshall (Bar Lady)

Notes: There is little music in The Stone Tape; instead of crediting a music composer, BBC Radiophonic Workshop co-founder Desmond Briscoe is billed as creating “special sound effects.” BBC graphics designer Bernard Lodge, responsible for many of the Doctor Who title sequences including the Tom Baker-era “time tunnel” graphics, created the title sequences for The Stone Tape. Louis Marks (Doctor Who: Day Of The Daleks) was the script editor, and the show was produced by late-Hartnell-era Doctor Who producer Innes Lloyd.

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green