Year: 1974

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Season 1 Star Blazers

Break Through The Gamilus Absolute Defense Line

Star BlazersD minus 315 days: The Argo encounters a space minefield, and Venture plots a course around the deadly obstacles, only to discover that they’re programmed to follow the ship. The mines slowly surround the ship until it’s impossible for the Argo to move any further. Sandor and IQ-9 undertake a grueling mission to defuse the control mine. As Desslok and his aides watch, the crew of the Argo salvages its ship by removing the mines by hand – a solution the enemy of the human race never would have anticipated.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

Note: This is the first episode in which Desslar/Desslok’s skin appears to be blue; in the first ten episodes, he seemed to have a rather normal caucasian human skin tone. No explanation is given for the change.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Kolchak The Night Stalker Season 1

Horror In The Heights

Night StalkerSenior citizens in a low-income district are dying, literally gnawed to death. The authorities dismiss the deaths as rats feasting on persons dying of natural cause. Kolchak discovers that the neighborhood is covered with swastikas, a religious symbol among many cultures. The trail leads to an elderly Hindu restaurant owner, who fires a crossbow at the reporter and mutters about “Rakshasa.” With the aid of a museum curator, Kolchak discovers that a rakshasa is a Hindu demon that feeds on human flesh, and was banished from Earth centuries ago. From time to time they send a scout back to Earth to see if the time is right for their return. Confronting the restaurant owner, Kolchak discovers the man has devoted his life to killing the Rakshasa scouts. He is informed the creatures kill their prey by taking on the image of a trusted friend or relative, and can only be killed by a crossbow bolt blessed by a priest of Brahma. Kolchak claims to trust no one, but must then decide whether the Miss Emily approaching him is the real one, or the rakshasa.

Order the DVDswritten by Jimmy Sangster
directed by Michael T. Caffey
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Phil Silvers (Harry Starman), Murray Matheson (Lane Marriott), Benny Rubin (Julius “Buck” Fineman), Barry Gordon (Barry the Waiter), Abraham Sofaer (Elderly Rakshasa Hunter)

Notes: Considered the best Night Stalker episode by many. Author Jimmy Sangster penned a number of Hammer horror movies.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

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Land Of The Lost Original Season 1

Hurricane

Land Of The LostWill and Holly find themselves cornered by unusually active dinosaurs. Surrounded on all sides, they’re left with no choice but to climb up a rocky mountainside to escape. They’re surprised to find a pylon atop the mountain, and when Will disturbs the controls, glowing lights appear in the sky, and one of them disgorges a parachutist. Will and Holly rush to help, since any new arrivals are unlikely to be prepared for the abundance of dinosaurs. The parachutist is wayward astronaut Beauregard Jackson, and Will worries that he is responsible for the man’s predicament. Worse yet, the time portal that brought Jackson here is still open, allowing hurricane-force winds to build up.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by David Gerrold and Larry Niven
directed by Bob Lally
music by Jimmie Haskell

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Ron Masak (Beauregard Jackson)

Land Of The LostNotes: Actor Ron Masak has appeared in The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible, Wonder Woman, and Starman, with movie roles in Ice Station Zebra, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and as the hapless sheriff in the MST3K-worthy sci-fi B-movie Laserblast. Jackson notices that the pylons are bigger inside than outside; as Doctor Who had only premiered in the United States a couple of years earlier in a handful of markets, it is very unlikely that the popular British series with its bigger-inside-than-out time machine was an influence. As the Marshalls take shelter just before Jackson’s escape, the actors’ shadows can clearly be seen on the “sky” behind them on set.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Star Blazers

Absolute Death: The Wishing Star Of Orion, Hell-Star

Star BlazersD minus 311 days: The Argo is ensnared in a gravitational space net and targeted by Gamilon missiles. Captain Avatar suddenly seems weakened and hesitant, and only the fast thinking – and even insubordination – of his crew saves the Argo. Dr. Sane bandages up a superficial wound for Avatar after the incident, but then privately gives the captain a warning: Avatar is beginning to succumb to the same radiation sickness that will claim all life on Earth within a year. The captain insists on keeping his condition under wraps, but cannot avoid Dr. Sane’s warning that he will eventually succumb to the radiation and become unfit to command. Desslok forces the Argo into a perfectly-planned trap…and at the most critical moment, Captain Avatar collapses, unable to give vital orders and still unwilling to admit his illness to the crew. And between crises, Nova finally admits her attraction to Wildstar, though the young officer is oblivious to her feelings.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Land Of The Lost Original Season 1

Circle

Land Of The LostWhen Will dives underwater at a watering hole not far from the Marshalls’ makeshift residence, he finds an exit to a dry chamber, full of hibernating Sleestaks. Enik is also there, trapped in this time just like the Marshalls are, but he has a disturbing theory that the Marshalls shouldn’t be here. For anyone to leave through a time portal, someone else must arrive through a time portal, and Enik feels that the Marshalls’ arrival triggered a time paradox, one that only the Marshalls can resolve. But if Enik’s escape depends on getting the Marshalls out of this dimension by any means necessary, can they trust him?

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Larry Niven and David Gerrold
directed by Dennis Steinmetz
music by Jimmie Haskell

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Walker Edmiston (Enik), Scott Fullerton (Sleestak), Jack Tingley (Sleestak), Mike Westra (Sleestak)

Land Of The LostNotes: This episode basically loops around to the beginning of the series, implying either a time loop, or at the very least that the Marshalls will experience the same events again before their adventures continue (in the second season, of course).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 12 Doctor Who

Robot

Doctor WhoThe Doctor’s regeneration and recovery come at an inopportune time for the Brigadier, who has to try to solve a series of crimes related to the top-secret plans for a disintegrator gun. Sarah, researching a story about the equally top-secret Think Tank organization, is introduced to a gigantic robot which could be the perpetrator of the thefts and killings – despite the scientists’ horrifying demonstration that the robot could not kill Sarah. The Doctor, recovering slowly and aggravating the Brigadier with his unpredictable new personality, discovers that the Think Tank scientists are doing much more than research – they’re planning on taking over the world and culling the human herd of those not up to genius standards.

Season 12 Regular Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Terrance Dicks
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Levene (RSM Benton), Edward Burnham (Professor Kettlewell), Alec Linstead (Jellicoe), Patricia Maynard (Miss Winters), Michael Kilgarriff (Robot), John Scott Martin (Guard), Timothy Craven (Short), Walter Goodman (Chambers)

Broadcast from December 28, 1974 through January 18, 1975

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Star Blazers

Hurry, Yamato: Earth Is Suffering

Star BlazersD minus 308 days: Growing tired of the Star Force’s last minute escapes, Leader Desslok calls upon General Lysis, the ruthless Gamilon war hero, to do away with the Argo. An advance flight of Black Tigers engages a squad of Gamilon fighters, capturing one damaged ship and its pilot intact. A large crowd gathers to watch Dr. Sane examine the pilot, and all speculation about the nature and cruelty of the Gamilons is laid to rest when the flight suit is removed – the pilot looks like a human being, only with blue skin, and his vital signs are the same as any human. Wildstar, reliving the trauma of his parents’ death during the Gamilons’ bombing of Earth, has vowed to kill the first Gamilon he sees with his own bare hands…and decides to fulfill this promise even if it means murdering a valuable prisoner.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green