Year: 1975

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Breakaway

Space: 1999Commander John Koenig is hand-picked to take over at the manned lunar colony Moonbase Alpha, the site of the impending launch of an interstellar probe to the planet Meta, and also the site of a slowly spreading epicdemic that endangers that mission. When Koenig arrives, he finds a supportive old friend in Professor Victor Bergman, and a somewhat perturbed chief surgeon, Dr. Helena Russell. Dr. Russell has been diagnosing the victims of the outbreak as they progress from mental aberrations to a comatose state and finally to death, and she has made a few discoveries – but all of her recommendations have gone unheeded (and worse yet, have been considered unfounded) by space program commissioner Simmonds. Koenig soon finds that Simmonds has been ignoring any reports that don’t indicate a perfectly normal situation, and decides to force the commissioner’s hand by bringing him to Moonbase Alpha in person.

Following Dr. Russell’s leads, Koenig postpones the launch of the Meta probe and leads an investigation into strange happenings at the station’s nuclear waste facility, where unwanted material from Earth is being stockpiled until scientists can figure out what to do with it. Koenig finds out only too late that far too much nuclear waste has been shipped in from Earth, setting up an unanticipated electromagnetic effect that accounts for the strange behavior of both equipment and crewmen. An emergency operation is set up to disperse the material, but the procedure goes horribly wrong – a colossal nuclear explosion generates enough force to push the moon out of Earth’s orbit, destroying the Meta probe’s launch facility and inflicting massive damage on Moonbase Alpha in the process. With the base’s communications down, and the moon plummeting through deep space too fast for any rescue ship from Earth to catch up with it, Earth presumes all hands have been lost – and Commander Koenig and his crew have a new permanent assignment…whether they want it or not.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Martin Landau (Commander John Koenig), Barbara Bain (Dr. Helena Russell), Barry Morse (Professor Victor Bergman)

Order the DVDswritten by George Bellak
directed by Lee H. Katzin
music by Barry Gray / additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Roy Dotrice (Commissioner Symonds), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), Philip Madoc (Commander Gorski), Lon Satton (Ouma), Eric Carte (Collins)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Land Of The Lost Original Season 2

Tar Pit

Land Of The LostTar pits are nothing new where/when the Marshalls come from – dinosaur fossils aplenty have been found there in the 20th century, after all – but they have an urgent dilemma when Dopey finds himself sinking into a tar pit from which he doesn’t seem to be able to escape despite their best efforts. Unless the Marshalls and the Paku can rescue Dopey, the most inoffensive of the local dinosaurs may become a fossil himself.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Margaret Armen
directed by Gordon Wiles
music by Michael Lloyd

Land Of The LostCast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Phillip Paley (Cha-Ka), Scutter McKay (Ta), Sharon Baird (Sa)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Isis Season 1

The Lights of Mystery Mountain

IsisCindy surprises Andrea and Rick with clear photos of UFOs spotted near Mystery Mountain, as well as photos showing burn marks on the ground near the sightings. When a report comes in that someone renting a cabin on Mystery Mountain has disappeared, Andrea and Rick decide to investigate. They witness the spectacle of the UFOs themselves when they arrive, and Cindy’s photos attract the attention of a couple of teenagers who seem to have a great deal of interest in the UFO sightings. But are they interested in seeing the UFOs…or in covering something up?

Get this season on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Russell Bates
directed by Hollingsworth Morse
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: Joanna Cameron (Andrea Thomas), Brian Cutler (Rick Mason), IsisJoanna Pang (Cindy Lee), Kelly Thordsen (Joel Moss), Hank Brandt (Sheriff Harley), Ken Wolger (Art Byron), Mike Maitland (Chick), Albert Reed (Dr. Barnes)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

It’s All In Your Mind

Far-Out Space NutsAfter confusing “lunch” with “launch”, two launch pad employees are blasted into deep space. They frantically try to return to Earth, but are faced with the reality that they’re really just qualified to load food on a spaceship, not fly it.

Having already explored one planet where they found a lonely life form known as Honk, which communicates entirely by honking through a horn-like protrusion on its head, they land on a planet ruled by a mind-controlling computer named G.A.L., only to find that Junior’s thoughts somehow become reality here. That’s the only way they can escape G.A.L. and its sinister cybernetic henchmen.

written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole
directed by Wes Kenney
music by Michael Lloyd / arranged by Reg Powell

Far-Out Space NutsCast: Bob Denver (Junior), Chuck McCann (Barney), Patty Maloney (Honk), Leo Gordon (Head Dronek), Joan Gerber (voice of G.A.L.)

Notes: The series art director was Herman Zimmerman, who would go on to create the distinctive sets Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek V, Star Trek VI, Star Trek Generations, and so on. Representing Star Trek’s past was the show’s makeup chief, Fred Phillips, who had created and applied Mr. Spock’s Vulcan ears for the entire run of Star Trek in Far-Out Space Nutsthe 1960s. The name of the all-controlling computer, “G.A.L. 36-24-36”, is both a play on 2001: a space odyssey‘s HAL 9000, and a set of measurements that was likely intended to sail directly over the heads of the show’s young audience. (An almost identical gag was used a few years later as an episode title on Quark.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes The Animated Series

Flames Of Doom

Planet Of The ApesThe spaceship Ventura, with its crew of three astronauts, plunges through a time warp as it returns to Earth from a deep space mission to find the whereabouts of a lost expedition (which was itself launched to search for Taylor’s crew). Though it still lands on Earth, its crew has arrived nearly two millennia after they expected to return. The world is now ruled by intelligent apes, and a heated debate rages over whether human beings are dangerous to the dominant ape species, or if they can be preserved as harmless pets. Astronauts Hudson, Franklin and Carter find a settlement of humans, but these humans are primitive at best. The contrast between the native humans and the astronauts attracts the attention of the new rulers of Earth, who consider a more modern human race a threat to their existence, and they set out to capture the three astronauts.

Order the DVDswritten by Larry Spiegel
directed by Cullen Houghtaling
music by Dean Elliott

Voice Cast: Tom Williams (Bill Hudson), Claudette Nevins (Judy Franklin), Austin Stoker (Jeff Carter), Henry Corden (Dr. Cornelius), Tress MacNeille (Dr. Zira), Henry Corden (General Urko)

Notes: It’s nearly impossible to reconcile Return To The Planet Of The Apes with either the movies that started the saga, or the short-lived live-action series that attempted to continue it. It’s probably wisest to view Return as a retelling of the Apes saga for a younger audience, rather than any kind of continuation. The depiction of humans at a stone-age level, the inclusion of Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius, and the mentions of Brent and Nova from Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, are appropriated from the films, but the apes in Return have far more advanced technology, including motorized vehicles and television. The character of General Urko is borrowed from the live-action television series, again serving as a persistent nemesis for the humans. The exterior of the three-person Ventura is represented by artwork of the single-seater Mercury capsules of the 1960s, rather than a depiction that’s anywhere near the vehicles seen in the Apes movies or live-action TV series; the design of the American space shuttle was finalized by the time Return To The Planet Of The Apes went into production, but wasn’t used.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost Saucer

894X2RY713 I Love You

Sense8A flying saucer from the planet ZR-3, piloted by the androids Fum and Fi, lands in an American city in the 1970s (despite the fact that the spaceship itself hails from the year 2369). Inquisitive Jerry and his teenage babysitter, Alice, wander aboard the saucer and find themselves whisked away as Fum and Fi make a hasty escape from Earth authorities.

But their first stop away from Earth isn’t much more hospitable, as Alice and Jerry find themselves arrested on an alien planet where everyone except them covers their faces and is required by law to wear a number. To appear in public unmasked and unnumbered is a combination of two of this world’s worst crimes, and it’s up to Fum and Fi (and their half-horse, half-dog pet, the Dorse) to help the kids escape.

The Lost Saucerwritten by Si Rose
directed by Jack Regas
music by Michael Lloyd

Cast: Jim Nabors (Fum), Ruth Buzzi (Fi), Alice Playten (Alice), Jarrod Johnson (Jerry), Edson Stroll (456Y3Z1843), Duncan McLeod (136B76Q128), Jerry Holland (321Y3Z1848), Annmarie (361X2RYT13), Larry Larsen (The Dorse)

Notes: Production illustrator Mike Minor (1940-1987) had done design work on three episodes of the original Star Trek’s final season, and would later go on to work on the aborted attempt to launch a new Star Trek series as the cornerstone of a new Paramount network in 1978 (frequently referred to as Star Trek Phase II), and was The Lost Saucerresponsible for many of the early illustrations of that planned series’ new bridge set and other locales, as well as contributing designs to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. He also worked on The Powers Of Matthew Star, The Winds Of War, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone, The Beastmaster, Meteor, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, and, in contrast to his work on The Lost Saucerthis Saturday morning series, also worked on the decidedly less family-friendly 1974 adult film sci-fi spoof Flesh Gordon. Jim Nabors (1930-2017) was best known for starring as Gomer Pyle USMC, a military comedy built around a character Pyle originated on The Andy Griffith Show in the early 1960s. (His trademark Gomer Pyle catchphrase, “Well, gaw-lee!”, is heard here as well.) On the subject of how many actors with SAG cards could possibly be named Duncan McLeod, there can presumably be only one.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Invisible Man

The Klae Resource

The Invisible ManSome time after the incident that caused him to be rendered permanently invisible, Dr. Daniel Westin and his wife, Dr. Kate Westin, are in the employ of the Klae Corporation, and are hired out as a team of “specialists” to take on particularly difficult tasks. One such task will require both invisibility and cunning: an inventor named Parks has gone missing, and the government is concerned that he might sell his latest energy breakthrough to the highest bidder in the Middle East. His last known location is a Vegas casino hotel, but no one has actually seen him recently…and solving the mystery of his whereabouts will require the skills of someone else who no one can actually see.

written by Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Michael Lewis
music by Henry Mancini

The Invisible ManCast: David McCallum (Dr. Daniel Westin), Melinda Fee (Dr. Kate Westin), Craig Stevens (Walter Carlson), Robert Alda (Fielder), Conrad Janis (Homer), Barry Sullivan (Lionel Parks), Scott Walker (1st Guard), Paul Kent (Kelly), Dick Balduzzi (Agent Stern), James Karen (Hotel Manager), Joseph George (2nd Guard), Jackie Russell (Female Operator), David Knapp (Casino Drunk), Dennis Robertson (Technical Expert), Jack Frey (Bellman), Gary Pagett (Croupier), Chuck Courtney (Limo Driver), Richard Geary (Boone)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Force Of Life

Space: 1999Technician Anton Zoref starts his day on Moonbase Alpha like any other, but unknown to him, the rest of the base has been frozen in time – an event corresponding with the arrival of a glowing blue cloud of energy. It simply passes through the moonbase’s walls and takes Zoref over. When the rest of the crew begins moving again, they have no memory of the blue energy that they observed approaching the moon. When Zoref awakens, even he seems normal – until he shorts out a medical monitor as Dr. Russell gives him a routine checkup. That’s just the beginning of the strange signs Zoref exhibits. He now seems to be able to drain energy from any source on the moonbase, and his hunger for that energy is beyond his control. When Zoref’s abilities grow to include draining energy from other living beings, Koenig declares him a deadly threat and reluctantly orders his termination. But when Koenig powers down Moonbase Alpha’s reactors to starve the creature that is now stalking the corridors, will he really risk the lives of everyone on the base to carry out one death sentence?

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

Guest Cast: Ian McShane (Anton Zoref), Gay Hamilton (Eva), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Clifton Jones (David Kano), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), John Hamill (Mark Dominix), Eva Reuber-Staier (Jane)

Note: This is the first episode (in the original broadcast order) to mention Professor Bergman’s artificial heart.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Land Of The Lost Original Season 2

The Zarn

Land Of The LostTaking shelter in a cave when they’re cornered by a dinosaur, Rick and Will find a vast cavern containing something that may or may not be a spaceship. They find another human being in a coffin-like container, and it turns out to be a woman from Rick’s home town, and they share many experiences and memories from years before he was marooned here. Rick invites her to join the Marshalls for dinner, though Will and Holly are suspicious of their guest, and how quickly she gains Rick’s trust. Is she too good to be true?

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Dick Morgan
directed by Bob Lally
music by Michael Lloyd

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Brooke Bundy (Sharon), Marvin Miller (Zarn voice), Van Snowden (Zarn)

Land Of The LostNotes: Brooke Bundy has played guest roles on Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Mission: Impossible, Circle Of Fear, Night Gallery, Search, Wonder Woman, and Starman, as well as being the first chief engineer of the new Enterprise in the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (whose first season seemed to have a new chief engineer nearly every week). Marvin Miller would go on to be the omnipresent voice of the narrator throughout another Sid & Marty Krofft series, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl a year later.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Isis Season 1

Fool’s Dare

IsisA string of car thefts with no clues has the police puzzled. When her own car is stolen, Andrea is perplexed as well, though an oily rag left where her car was parked provides a clue. Cindy is challenged by two of her fellow students to climb into an abandoned junk lot, but sprains her ankle as she climbs down from the fence…and she’s sure she sees Andrea’s car getting a new paint job. Now she must alert Isis to the presence of the chop shop without blowing her cover.

Get this season on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David Dworski
directed by Hollingsworth Morse
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: Joanna Cameron (Andrea Thomas), Brian Cutler (Rick Mason), IsisJoanna Pang (Cindy Lee), Charles Cyphers (Sam Miles), Frank Whiteman (Cy Kahn), Joshua Albee (Ernie Rothchild), Jeffrey Tyler (Frank Iverson), Albert Reed (Dr. Barnes)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

The Crystallites

Far-Out Space NutsAt their latest destination, Junior and Barney discover that they’re out of water. Junior and Honk go exploring to try to find a water source, but instead, Junior finds gourd-like fruit whose innards taste like chocolate. But he’s allergic to the fruit, and every time he sneezes, he turns into a giant green hairy beast without realizing it. But the locals aren’t worried about that…until they decide Junior is their next ruler.

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), John Carradine (Ruler)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes The Animated Series

Escape From Ape City

Planet Of The ApesBill has been captured by the apes and taken back to their city, where the ape scientists, Cornelius and Zira, express an interest in him. That interest keeps Bill from being subjected to brutal slave labor or taking part in ape war games, but when he learns that Zira and Cornelius plan to perform surgery on his brain, Bill voices his objections…which stuns his captors, who have never met a human intelligent enough to speak. Bill plots not only his own escape, but plans to free the rest of the humans captured by the apes.

Order the DVDswritten by Larry Spiegel
directed by Cullen Houghtaling
music by Dean Elliott

Voice Cast: Tom Williams (Bill Hudson), Claudette Nevins (Judy Franklin), Austin Stoker (Jeff Carter), Henry Corden (Dr. Cornelius), Tress MacNeille (Dr. Zira), Henry Corden (General Urko)

Return to The Planet Of The ApesNotes: The first few minutes of this episode basically repeat some of the major plot points of the original Planet Of The Apes movie; Bill is called “Blue Eyes” (as opposed to Taylor being called “Bright Eyes” in the film), and the revelation that he can speak plays out similarly to that of Taylor in the movie, again making it easier to regard this as a reboot from the ground up, rather than a part of the original film and TV continuity.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Invisible Man

The Fine Art Of Diplomacy

The Invisible ManWhen priceless pieces of art go missing, replaced by forgeries, the Klae Resource is called into action. Daniel is happy to help try to solve the mystery, but he’s less thrilled with the plan that calls for his wife to distract the suspected art thief, a foreign ambassador, by any means necessary. Unfortunately for both of them, the ambassador has quite lethal ideas on protecting his stash of priceless paintings, and evil Daniel’s invisibility may not see things through.

written by James D. Parriott
directed by Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
music by Henry Mancini

The Invisible ManCast: David McCallum (Dr. Daniel Westin), Melinda Fee (Dr. Kate Westin), Craig Stevens (Walter Carlson), Ross Martin (Ambassador Diego Devega), Michael Pataki (Tandi), Paul Stewart (Mr. Wood), Vincent Beck (Gregario), Pepe Callahan (Manuel), Gwil Richards (Capitol Guard), Nicholas Lewis (1st Embassy Guard), Raymond O’Keefe (2nd Embassy Guard)

Invisible ManNotes: This is one of the earliest professional writing credits for James D. Parriott, who returned to pen several more Invisible Man scripts. He also wrote episodes of The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and The Six Million Dollar Man before embarking on a stellar career of creating and running his own shows, from Voyagers! to Misfits Of Science to Forever Knight to Defying Gravity.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Collision Course

Space: 1999An asteroid is plummeting toward the moon, and a last-ditch effort is underway to plant nuclear explosives on the rock to destroy it before it collides with Moonbase Alpha. During the flight to deposit one of the last bombs, Alan Carter’s Eagle runs into technical problems, delaying the all-important timed blast. Commander Koenig is forced to detonate the asteroid before Carter is clear of the blast radius. Despite Bergman’s warnings about debris and residual radiation, Koenig insists on leading a recovery mission to find Carter – dead or alive. Aboard the rescue ship, Koenig begins hearing a female voice he doesn’t recognize, but the voice gives him the precise coordinates of Carter’s ship. Alan, still alive, hears the voice as well – and thinks he sees a veiled figure in the cockpit of his Eagle. But a new danger presents itself when a massive planet appears in the path of the moon – and this time, there’s no getting around it or going through it. Bergman and Paul Morrow concoct a plan to recreate the cataclysmic blast that originally threw the moon out of Earth’s orbit to divert its course, but Koenig continues to hear the mysterious voice, and this time it’s telling him not to change the moon’s course. The voice was right once before, so how far will Koenig trust it this time?

Order the DVDswritten by Anthony Terpiloff
directed by Ray Austin
music by Barry Gray
additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Margaret Leighton (Queen Arra), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Clifton Jones (David Kano), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

The Robots Of Pod

Far-Out Space NutsThe lander is trapped on a planet where a full-scale robot uprising is taking place. Barney and Junior have to disguise themselves as robots to survive in the tyrannical rule of Mercurial, the robots’ overlord, and they have to stay alive long enough to help the other robots overthrow him.

written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann
directed by Claudio Guzman
music by Michael Lloyd / arranged by Reg Powell

Far-Out Space NutsCast: Bob Denver (Junior), Chuck McCann (Barney), Patty Maloney (Honk), Eve Bruce (Princess Lantana), Earle Doud (Mercurial)

Notes: Both of the creators of Far Out Space Nuts appear in the flesh in this episode: Chuck McCann appears in every episode as Barney, while Earle Doud put in an appearance as the robots’ ruler.

LogBook entry by Earl Green