Search Results for: Shimon Wincelberg

Rendezvous With Yesterday

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The Time TunnelSenator Clark arrives to take stock of the top secret Project Tic-Toc, a staggeringly expensive, vast underground complex built around an experimental time travel device known simply as the Time Tunnel. The civilian manager of Project Tic-Toc, Doug Phillips, gives Senator Clark the guided tour, but Clark’s presence unnerves project scientst Dr. Tony Newman, who has poured his entire life into the project. Determined to prove that it does work, Newman appoints himself the first human time traveler and sends himself back into the past. Radiation imparted by the use of the Time Tunnel allows Project Tic-Toc technicians to track him back into the past, where they can see and hear that he has arrived on the ocean liner Titanic…mere hours before its destruction. Doug volunteers to travel back in time to help Tony escape, but the only way off the Titanic for the two men is a further trip via the Time Tunnel to a time and place they can’t predict.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Harold Jack Bloom and Shimon Wincelberg
story by Irwin Allen, Shimon Wincelberg and Harold Jack Bloom
directed by Irwin Allen
music by Johnny Williams

The Time TunnelCast: James Darren (Tony Newman), Robert Colbert (Doug Phillips), Michael Rennie (Capt. Malcolm Smith), Susan Hampshire (Althea Hall), Gary Merrill (Senator Leroy Clark), Lee Meriwether (Dr. Ann McGregor), Wesley Lau (Master Sgt. Jiggs), John Zaremba (Dr. Raymond Swain), Whit Bissell (General Heywood Kirk), Don Knight (Grainger), Gerald Michenaud (Marcel), John Winston (The Guard), Brett Parker (Countdown Technician)

Notes: The latest of Irwin Allen’s 1960s science fiction series, The Time Tunnel premiered on ABC one day after the broadcast premiere of Star Trek on rival network NBC; it ran concurrently with the final seasons of Lost In Space and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Though Allen’s big screen work is often synonymous with epic disaster scenarios, his treatment of the sinking of the Titanic is relatively tame, primarily for budgetary reasons; building the cavernous, The Time Tunnel$130,000 Time Tunnel set (or is it a giant prop?) consumed much of the pilot episode’s budget, forcing Allen to fall back on reusing footage from the 1939 film Titanic (which, handily enough, was also produced by 20th Century Fox). Ironically, co-star James Darren would, decades after his trips through the Time Tunnel ended, return to SF TV in another iteration of the Star Trek franchise, as holosuite Rat Pack crooner Vic Fontaine in the later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Darren also co-starred with William Shatner in T.J. Hooker at a point in his career where his focus was switching from acting to directing.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

And Only Man Is Vile

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The StarlostDevon, Garth and Rachel enter a biosphere that’s been left in prime condition – fresh food everywhere, clean quarters…and no people to be found, at least until Garth discovers a young woman named Lethe, who appears to be in shock after the rest of her people suddenly abandoned her – or so she says. She seems to make a remarkable recovery and begins to say things that cause the three travelers to doubt one another. Devon eventually finds the other former inhabitants of this dome, discovering that they’re paranoid to the point of being fully prepared to kill any strangers in their midst. Devon protests, but is sentenced to death – and Lethe has turned Garth against him, so he refuses to save him. But in a secret observation room, a cynical scientist is pulling Lethe’s strings – using all of these events to prove his belief that the descendants of the Ark’s original residents are too soft to survive.

Get this season on DVDwritten by Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Ed Richardson
music by Score Productions Ltd.

Guest Cast: Simon Oakland (Dr. Asgard), Irena Mayeska (Dr. Diana Tabor), Trudy Young (Lethe), Tim Whelan (Village Elder), John Bethune (Villager “A”)

Notes: The “ancient poem” Devon remembers is the hymn “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains”, written by Reginald Heber in 1819. The section quoted on the obelisk at the beginning of the episode – which also gives this episode its title – is “Though every prospect pleases / And only man is vile / In vain with lavish kindness / The gifts of God are strown / The heathen in his blindness / Bows down to wood and stone.”

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Up Above The World So High

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Planet Of The ApesVirdon, Burke and Galen spot something unusually large flying overhead; the two humans immediately recognize it as a primitive hang glider, which would represent a huge step forward for humans. The glider has also attracted the interest of the apes, however: Dr. Zaius sees great potential to enforce ape law from the air, while General Urko dismisses the glider as a toy. Its inventor is determined to keep developing it regardless of the risk, but when Virdon and Burke demonstrate some knowledge of flight, he instantly regards them with suspicion. And there’s someone else involved too – someone who sees the glider as the perfect way to drop bombs on the apes.

Order the DVDsteleplay by S. Bar-David and Arthur Browne Jr.
story by S. Bar-David
directed by John Meredyth Lucas
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: Joanna Barnes (Carsia), Frank Aletter (Leuric), Martin Brooks (Konag), Mark Lenard (Urko), Booth Colman (Zaius), William Beckley (Council Orang), Ron Stein (Gorilla Guard), Eldon Burke (2nd Trooper), Glenn Wilder (Human Driver)

Planet Of The ApesNotes: This was the final live-action Planet Of The Apes project until the 2001 remake movie directed by Tim Burton, and the last Planet Of The Apes media to feature Roddy McDowall (1928-1998). With declining ratings, and the show’s increasing tendency toward controversial subject matter (including an entire completed episode that CBS deemed unsuitable for air), CBS opted not to order further episodes of the series.

S. Bar-David is a pseudonym frequently used by writer Shimon Wincelberg; he also used this pseudonym on episodes of the original Star Trek. Director John Meredyth Lucas was a frequent writer and director on that show as well, and was a name often seen in one of those capacities in 1960s TV credits. He also wrote episodes of The Starlost and Logan’s Run.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Half Life

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Logan's RunLogan’s hovercraft is ensnared in a net, and primitive humans surround them with 20th century weapons. A different group of people arrives with more sophisticated weapons, driving the primitives away. This new group’s leader introduces his people as Positives, and calls the others Negatives; he offers Logan and his friends shelter from the Negatives. But once inside the Positives’ community, Logan, Rem and Jessica notice that the faces they’re seeing among the Positives are the same faces they saw among their Negative attackers – the very same people. It’s only when the Positives hypnotize Jessica and subject her to their “processing” that the disturbing truth comes to light: the Positive’s processing splits its subjects into two people, one gentle and happy, the other aggressive and operating purely on instinct. But can the two aspects of Jessica be reunited in one body?

Download this episodewritten by Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Steven Stern
music by Jerrold Immel

Logan's RunGuest Cast: William Smith (Patron / Modok), Len Birman (Positive 14 / Brawn), Kim Cattrall (Rama II), Jeanne Sorel (Rama I), Betty Jinnette (Woman-Positive), John Gowans (Engineer-Scientist)

Notes: The Positives’ processing equipment apparently uses the same sound effect as the viewscreen of the Enterprise from the original Star Trek.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Imp

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Man From AtlantisA strange, playful imp boards the Navy’s Triton 1 undersea research station, and everyone with whom he comes into physical contact reverts to a childlike state of mind. By the time Mark reaches Triton 1, only one crewmember is left alive, and he is taken back to shore via the Cetacean. But Moby has followed the Cetacean back to its base, and proceeds to reduce the crew and staff there to mental children. Only Mark is immune, with Moby keeping him at arm’s length because Mark is a “down there person” instead of an “up there person”. Moby wants to see more of the surface and its inhabitants and to bring them joy. Moby especially wants to visit a remarkable place he has heard of, known as the Pentagon. Only Mark is left to stop him.

written by Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Paul Krasny
music by Fred Karlin

Man From AtlantisCast: Patrick Duffy (Mark Harris), Belinda J. Montgomery (Dr. Elizabeth Merrill), Alan Fudge (C.W. Crawford), Dick Gautier (Duke), Pat Morita (Moby), James Ingersoll (Triton Officer), Mel Scott (Davis), Lyman Ward (Clavius), Larry Breeding (O’Toole), William Benedict (Guard), Harvey J. Goldenberg (Man), Allen Joseph (Shop Owner), Richard Laurance Williams (Jomo), J. Victor Lopez (Chuey), Jean Marie Hon (Jane), Anson Downes (Allen)

Man From AtlantisNotes: This is the final appearance of series regular Belinda J. Montgomery; the character of Dr. Merrill is not seen in the two remaining episodes of the series, but is mentioned in dialogue in the next episode. An attempt was made to create a replacement character in the following episode, but the series’ time had run out, and star Patrick Duffy was already auditioning for a role in an upcoming prime time drama, Dallas. This also marks the final Man From Atlantis appearance of Cetacean crew background regulars Jean Marie Hon and Anson Downes.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

And A Cup Of Kindness Too

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SupertrainAt Grand Central Station, a man collapses on the floor and no one stops to help him – no one, that is, until already-distracted Jack Nordoff helps him up. Jack is not there to catch a train, but to see off his soon-to-be-ex-wife before the divorce proceedings heat up. The man Jack helped, Waldo Chase, cracks a joke about needing a hit man instead of a lawyer, and then they part ways…until Jack calls his wife on the train, and discovers that Chase is also on the train, having followed here. Chase says he owes Jack a favor, and always pays his debts…and that all Jack’s troubles will soon be over. Jack now has to find a way to beat Supertrain to its Chicago stop to try to save his wife’s life…but who can outrun Supertrain?

written by Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Rod Amateau
music by Bob Cobert

SupertrainCast: Edward Andrews (Harry Flood), Patrick Collins (David Noonan), Harrison Page (George Boone), Robert Alda (Dr. Lewis), Nita Talbot (Rose Casey), Aarika Wells (Gilda), William Nuckols (Wally), Michael DeLano (Lou Atkins), Charlie Brill (Robert), Dick Van Dyke (Waldo Chase), Larry Linville (Jack Nordoff), Barbara Rhoades (Myra Nordoff), Keith Mitchell (Rodney), Rachel Jacobs (Daphne), Byron Morrow (Farrell), Lou Krugman (Cabbie), Valorie Armstrong (Airline Employee), Al Hansen (Motor Cop), Anthony Palmer (T.C. Baker), Cameron Young (Fenner), Frank McCarthy (Detective), Jack O’Leary (Salesman), Kenneth White (Tex), Casey Brown (Stewardess), Fritz Reed (The Maitre’d), Lee Stein (Young Man), Bill Smillie (Chicago Cabby), Mary Ellen O’Neill (Cleaning Lady), Don Delaney (Waiter), Alfred Mariorenzi (Desk Sergeant)

SupertrainNotes: The second episode is a marked improvement over the first, if only for the (guest) star power on display, and the fact that it’s only an hour long. Dick Van Dyke needed no introduction to TV audiences, having starred in his own sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke show, from 1961 through 1966. After several years of steady work, most recently (at the time) a stint on the Carol Burnett Show, he was exploring both comedic and dramatic guest roles in prime time, and this one was distinctly unnerving. Opposite Van Dyke is Larry Linville (1939-2000), one of the founding cast members of the long-running sitcom M*A*S*H, on which he played the uptight Major Frank Burns from 1972 through 1977. The episode’s title comes from the Anglicized lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne”. Supertrain!

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Impact

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Lost In SpaceThe Resolute, a massive space colony ship outbound from Earth, is attacked by robots of unknown origin; the colonists are ordered to evacuate in their landfall craft. But unknown to any of them, a rift in spacetime has opened, sucking in the evacuating colonists’ ships, and the wreckage of the Resolute, and depositing them in another galaxy far beyond the reach of Earth. The Robinson family’s landfall craft, the Jupiter 2, homes in on a barely-habitable planet and comes down for a hard landing on a frozen lake. Moments after evacuating the ship containing all of their survival gear, the Robinsons are helpless to do anything but watch as their ship’s heat melts the ice, allowing it to sink into the water. Combat veteran John Robinson seems to be unable to get his wife, Maureen, or any of their three children to stick to anything resembling military discipline. Maureen’s leg, broken in the crash, is a cause for immediate concern. Judy Robinson, the eldest daughter, dives into the water to retrieve batteries to power their makeshift camp, only to be trapped beneath the rapidly refreezing ice in a spacesuit that will eventually run out of oxygen. Penny Robinson, the middle child, is left to look after her mother while John and his son Will go to search for magnesium that could be ignited to burn through the thick ice. Will falls into an ice tunnel, emerging in a heavily wooded area, where he discovers that he is not the only crash survivor: one of the robots has survived, but in the crash has forgotten its hostile intent. Will persuades it to reunite him with his family and to help them survive the various dangers. Neither Will nor any of his family saw the attacking robots, and do not realize that one of their attackers is now among them. They only know that they wouldn’t have survived their first night on this planet without it.

written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
based on the teleplay Lost In Space: No Place To Hide by Irwin Allen and Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Neil Marshall
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Bill Mumy (Dr. Zachary Smith), AnnaMaria Demara (Tam Roughneck), Natasha Quirke (Salesperson), Vanessa Eichholz (News Anchor)

Notes: Arriving 20 years after the previous one-off big screen remake and over 50 years after the original Lost In Spaceseries, the premiere episode of the reimagined Lost In Space still finds a moment to look back over its shoulder, casting Bill Mumy (the original Will Robinson) in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as the “real” Dr. Smith (whose identity is stolen by Parker Posey’s character, whose real identity would be revealed later in the season).

LogBook entry by Earl Green