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1980s Series V

The Deception

V (1980s series)Disoriented after the escape from the Visitors’ forced labor camp, Robin wanders aimlessly, trying to stay out of the sight of Visitor patrols until she flags down a motorcyclist – who happens to be Kyle Bates, Nathan Bates’ son, also a recent escapee from the same camp. He offers to give Robin a ride to her father’s ranch, but their trip is detoured when they witness the crash of a jet fighter in the California desert. The pilot manages to eject, but is dying of his injuries before he lands. With his last breath, he hands Kyle a pouch with instructions to deliver it to the resistance. Kyle tracks down Donovan and gives it to him, but Kyle’s connection to Nathan Bates earns him immediate suspicion from Ham Tyler. The message lists coordinates for a meeting where Donovan is expected to hand Elizabeth off to the New York resistance for her own safety. But on his way home, Donovan spots his son Sean, who has been captured by the Visitors. Donovan himself is captured and drugged, and wakes up in a room with Sean and Julie nearby, telling him that the war to free Earth has been won.

written by Garner Simmons
directed by Victor Lobl
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Nick Katt (Sean Donovan), Sandy Lang (Visitor Captain), Randall Brady (Pilot), Anthony Ellis (Checkpoint Cop), Howard K. Smith (himself)

VNotes: Though the computer in Julie’s office appears to be an IBM PC variant, its display, when shown in close-up, was generated by an Apple II computer in text mode. Even though Robin and Kyle were both prisoners in the Visitors’ work camp in Breakout, this episode seems to presume that they never met there – which, for the viewing audience, may be just as well since NBC didn’t air the episodes in the intended order, postponing Breakout until 1985, by which point the series had been cancelled. Howard K. Smith is credited, but does not appear in the episode.

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1980s Series V

The Return

V (1980s series)Donovan and Julie’s resistance cell is cornered, outgunned, and outnumbered: escape is unlikely, if not impossible. But salvation comes from an unlikely source: all of the Visitors on Earth are recalled to their motherships immediately, and hostilities are called off. Philip announces that the Visitors’ Supreme Leader has arrived, and desires a truce and a meeting with Elizabeth. The sudden cease-fire only reinforces Diana’s distaste for peace. Philip and Donovan agree to a demonstration of fencing – Visitor-style – but they also agree to disarm the swords’ supercharged blades. Diana tries to sabotage the truce by arming the swords by remote control, but the first time one of the swords slices into part of the training area, the two swordsmen put down their weapons. She hasn’t done away with either of her enemies, and worse yet, Diana now has to plan to assassinate not just Philip, but her race’s supreme leader.

telelplay by David Abramowitz & Donald R. Boyle
story by David Braff & Colley Cibber
directed by John Florea
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Judson Scott (James), Frank Ashmore (Philip), Marilyn Jones (Thelma), Ashton Wise (V Lieutenant), Tawny Schneider (herself)

VNotes: The Leader’s ability to communicate to and through Elizabeth may be the inspiration for the “bliss” effect used by Visitor leader Anna in ABC’s 21st century remake of V – a slight irony, since this was the final episode of the original V. This episode was written with a cliffhanger that has never been resolved on television or in other media.

During the scene of the arrival of the Leader’s shuttle, series composer Dennis McCarthy uses a musical theme that’s almost identical to the one he later employed for the arrival of “Judge” Q in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes Encounter At Farpoint and All Good Things…

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1980s Series V

Breakout

V (1980s series)Donovan and Tyler scuttle an undercover operation to save a rebellious teenager from a Visitor patrol, but this only invites the attention of an even larger force of Visitors. They find shelter in a nearby house, as well as useful information: Donovan was planning on pulling his son Sean out of school, but the Visitors have already “evacuated” all of that school’s students to an unknown location. The moment they break their cover, Donovan and Tyler are arrested by the Visitors and hauled off to a labor camp which seems to have minimum security. But the first time one of the inmates tries to escape across the sand that encircles the entire camp, he’s devoured by an alien creature placed there by the Visitors. Even with no fences, escape from the camp on foot is impossible. Donovan discovers Robin, already enslaved at the camp, and has to break the news to her about her father’s death. But there’s another prisoner of interest to the Visitors here: Kyle Bates, the son of collaborator Nathan Bates, becomes Diana’s pawn in an effort to force the resistance to hand over Elizabeth. At Elias’ restaurant, Juliet and the others find themselves at a loss for how to deal with Elizabeth’s seemingly instant transformation from child to young woman – and wonder how long they can conceal her in plain sight by not tipping off the Visitors about her rapid aging.

written by David Braff
directed by Ray Austin
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Pamela Ludwig (Annie), Xander Berkeley (Isaac), Christian Jacobs (Billy), Patricia Allison (Annie’s Mother), Charles Macaulay (Col. Sawyer), Burt Marshall (Steve), Herman Poppe (Vanik), Michael Abelar (Kyle’s Friend), Mary Baldwin (Guard), Fiona Guinness (Cafe Customer), J.D. Hall (Cafe Customer), Greg Zadikov (Kipper Cordisco), Howard K. Smith (himself)

VNotes: This episode, with its numerous graphic deaths – Visitors mauled to death by dogs, the victims of the alien sandworm, Ham Tyler’s habit of dispatching his opponents with brutal martial arts moves – was rejected during V’s original run, appearing only in post-season reruns after the series had already been cancelled. Its omission in the original intended running order interrupted a closely-linked quartet of stories that set up the landscape for the rest of the season. With Breakout dropped, the next episode (The Deception) opens with Robin wandering through southern California for no readily apparent reason (she had just escaped from the prison camp).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

Ghost Train

Amazing StoriesThe Globe family has moved from Chicago to the family’s original farmland, a move that doesn’t excite young Brian, who has only known city life. The one bright side of the move is that Brian’s grandfather, Ompa, is moving in with them. But he too is less than thrilled about his new surroundings: on the farmland are reminders of a railroad line that once ran through here, where a train derailed because of his foolishness as a young boy. Ompa insists that the same train will be coming for him soon – and warns that the house is in its way.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Frank Deese
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by Steven Spielberg
music by John Williams

Amazing StoriesCast: Roberts Blossom (Ompa), Scott Paulin (Fenton), Gail Edwards (Jolene), Lukas Haas (Brian Globe), Renny Roker (Dr. Steele), Hugh Gillin (Conductor), Sandy Ward (Engineer)

Notes: Lukas Haas and Roberts Blossom both went on to appear in episodes of the late ’80s revival of The Twilight Zone. In fact, Haas then went on to appear in the third revival of that series in the early 2000s. Executive producer Steven Spielberg would only go on to direct one more episode of Amazing Stories, The Mission, also during the show’s first season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

The Main Attraction

Amazing StoriesHigh school football star Brad Bender has it made. The All-State all-star barely even has to try, and fully expects to be named the King of the Prom at school. He’s not quite prepared for a rule change that means he has to sell the most raffle tickets, but his popularity among the student body won’t make it too hard to sell more raffle tickets than anyone else…well, almost anyone else. He makes it a point to avoid any and all contact with Shirley, who he considers geeky and unattractive. His science teacher reminds the class of a historic meteor shower that night, and he’s not quite prepared for the meteorite that crashes into his bedroom window, which somehow magnetizes his whole body. Anything made of metal – staples, sports equipment, locker doors, bicycles, other students’ braces – sticks to Brad now. And so does another student, whose home was also hit by a meteorite, and whose body is also now magnetic.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Brad Bird and Mick Garris
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by Matthew Robbins
music by Craig Safan

Amazing StoriesCast: John Scott Clough (Brad Bender), Lisa Jane Persky (Shirley), Richard Bull (Mr. Hiller), Barbara Sharma (Mrs. Bender), Tom Napier (wylie), Bill Allen (Cliff Rath), Nicholas Mele (Scientist #1), Joan Foley (Scientist #2), Brad Bird (Scientist #3), Dominick Brascia (Billy Johnson – Fat Kid), Isabelle Walker (Francine), Eric Bruskotter (Stan), Michael Joshua Cramer (Kid), Megan Wyss (Girl #1 Blonde), Piper cochrane (Girl #2 Darcy Cook), Larry Spinak (Geek)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

Alamo Jobe

Amazing StoriesThe Alamo, 1836: Jobe is a young volunteer, part of the besieged force attempting to hold the Mexican army at bay at the Alamo. One by one, Jobe watches as his leaders and heroes are felled by enemy fire. The Alamo is about to fall, and yet Jobe swears he sees unarmed civilians in strange clothes wandering through the fort as if nothing is happening. Jobe is sent on a last-ditch mission to deliver a handwritten note begging for reinforcements, but is stunned when he darts out of the fort into…

San Antonio: 1985: …where nothing is familiar, no one seems concerned about the fate of the great free state of Texas, and everyone is oblivious to the fighting. To them, Jobe is a wild-eyed youth running through the center of town, armed with a deadly weapon, still living a battle whose grim conclusion is burned into the pages of history.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Joshua Brand & John Falsey
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by Michael Moore
music by James Horner

Amazing StoriesCast: Kelly Reno (Jobe), William Boyett (Colonel Travis), Lurene Tuttle (Harriet Wendse), Richard Young (Davy Crockett), Robert V. Barron (Curator), Michael Cavanaugh (Storekeeper), Benjie Gregory (Sam), Dick Yarmy (VCR / Man #2), Pattie Pierce (Tour Guide), Chip Lucia (Dad)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

Mummy Daddy

Amazing StoriesFilming nears completion on a movie called The Mummy’s Kiss, until a single phone call disrupts the last overnight filming: the actor in the mummy suit is about to become a father. Without thinking, he leaves the set and races off in a car that’s nearly out of gas. It stalls in a small town, where he proceeds to spook everyone with whom he comes into contact. The town is full of old legends of a real mummy, one which the townsfolk are sure has come back to haunt them. Harold isn’t the real mummy, of course…but that doesn’t mean that a whole backwoods town of suspicious simpletons isn’t suddenly out to kill him.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Earl Pomerantz
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by William Dear
music by Danny Elfman & Steve Bartek

Amazing StoriesCast: Tom Harrison (Harold), Bronson Pinchot (Dean), Brion James (Willie Joe), Tracey Walter (Ezra), Larry Hankin (Jubal), Lucy Lee Flippin (Librarian), William Frankfather (Mayor), Arnold Johnson (Town Sage), Michael Zand (Ra Amin Ka), Len Lesser (Old Grave Robber), Billy Beck (Old Blind Man), Brian Bradley (Actor), Joann Willette (Ruta Mae), Pamela Seamon (Assistant Director), Edlen Ratliff (Freckle-Faced Boy), Dalton Cathey (Doctor), Oliver Dear (Young Grave Robber), Susan Dear (Harold’s Wife), Bill Martin (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

The Mission

Amazing StoriesAn American B-17 Flying Fortress takes off from an Allied airstrip in Europe, patrolling the skies during World War II. It’s the last flight for her Captain and crew, who have flown 23 successful sorties over Europe; after their 24th, most of them are going home. But a mid-air dogfight puts their future plans in doubt. The Nazi plane is shot down, but not before its debris slams into the American plane, trapping Jonathan, a young dreamer who hopes to return to the States and become a cartoonist for Disney, in the belly gunner position. Worse yet, the attack destroyed the plane’s landing gear. The Captain is capable of landing the plane on its belly, but Jonathan will almost certainly be killed. His comrades in arms pray, argue about whether to end his suffering early, and bid their farewells as the plane prepares for its fateful landing…but ultimately, Jonathan is left to draw his own conclusions as to how that landing will unfold.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Menno Meyjes
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by Steven Spielberg
music by John Williams

Amazing StoriesCast: Kevin Costner (Captain Spark), Casey Siemaszko (Jonathan), Kiefer Sutherland (Static), Jeffrey Jay Cohen (Jake), John Philbin (Bullseye), Gary Mauro (Sam), Glen Mauro (Dave), Terry Beaver (Officer), David Grant Hayward (Mechanic #1), Peter Jason (Commander), Karen Hopkins (Liz), Anthony Lapaglia (Mechanic #2), Gary Riley (Tail Gunner), Ken Stovitz (Lamar), Nelson Welch (Father McKay)

Notes: Though the typical format of an Amazing Stories episode was a half-hour timeslot, NBC and showrunner Steven Spielberg agreed that he would direct at least one episode with an extended running time. Kevin Costner, Kiefer Sutherland and Jonathan Lapaglia all went on to greater fame after this episode. Amazing StoriesCasey Siemaszko had already been seen on the big screen (as Biff’s 3-D-glasses-wearing cohort in Back To The Future), and went on to recurring roles in NYPD Blue and Damages. Perhaps even more surprising than Steven Spielberg directing an hour of television at the height of his fame was that he got composer John Williams, one of his most frequent collaborators throughout his career, to score an hour of television. (Williams had already done the series’ theme music.) One of the orchestrators helping Williams arrange the score for this episode was Alexander Courage, better known for writing the theme tune from Star Trek. Spielberg was nominated for best director in the 1986 Emmy Awards for this episode, but lost to Georg Stanford Brown, director of the last episode of Cagney & Lacey’s fifth season. This episode’s cinematographer, John McPherson, did win an Emmy for the show’s lighting and camera work.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alf Season 1

ALF (Pilot)

ALFAn alien spacecraft crash-lands in a suburban neighborhood, in the yard of one Willie Tanner, who pulls one furry alien creature out of the wreckage. The creature, who he names ALF (for “Alien Life Form”), survived the crash, and gets to know Willie, his wife Kate, and their two children. He’s eager to get to know the Tanners’ cat, Lucky, since the people of Melmac (ALF’s planet) eat cats. In fact, ALF is so friendly, he decides to make an impression on the Tanners’ nosy neighbor, who in turn calls the Army.

Download this episodewritten by Tom Patchett
directed by Tom Patchett
music by Alf Clausen

ALFCast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Liz Sheridan (Mrs. Ochmonek), John LaMotta (Mr. Ochmonek), Frank McCarthy (Army Officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alf Season 1

Strangers In The Night

ALFThe Tanners have a busy social calendar, and have to find a babysitter. ALF volunteers, but what with his being an alien from another planet and all, Willie and Kate have reservations. Their nosy neighbor, Mrs. Ochmoneks is drafted into babysitting duty… and ALF is told to stay in an upstairs bedroom and not make a single noise. But ALF wants pizza, and he wants it delivered…and the last thing the Tanners want anyone to know is that they’re offering refuge to a furry space alien.

Download this episodewritten by Thad Mumford & Paul Fusco
directed by Peter Bonerz
music by Alf Clausen

ALFCast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Larry Hankin (Burglar), Lisle Wilson (Policeman), Marc Levine (Pizza Delivery), Liz Sheridan (Mrs. Ochmonek), John LaMotta (Trevor Ochmonek)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alf Season 1

Looking For Lucky

ALFLucky, the Tanners’ cat, has been on ALF’s radar since he landed on Earth, but he has agreed not to eat any family members. When Lucky turns up missing, however, the Tanners automatically suspect their alien house guest, and there seems to be little ALF can do but pack up and leave. But he’s so fond of the family – and even their cat – that he sets out to find Lucky and bring him home…until he gets mistaken for a stray pet himself.

Download this episodewritten by Bob Bendetson & Howard Bendetson
directed by Peter Bonerz
music by Alf Clausen

ALFCast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Darwin Joston (Dogcatcher), Carrie Lorraine (Heidi), Jed Mills (Heidi’s Dad)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alf Season 2

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

ALFBrian is repeatedly beaten down by the school bully, prompting Alf to try (unsuccessfully) to show him a few self-defense moves, and leaving Willie at a loss for words in trying to console his son. Alf makes things worse by placing a belligerent phone call to the father of the bully…while identifying himself as Willie. Now Willie’s expecting to be on the receiving end of a less-than-pleasant conversation, though if he can just stand up for himself – non-violently, of course – he feels he can resolve things calmly. But with Alf involved, that’s not what’s going to happen.

ALFDownload this episodewritten by Kevin Abbott
directed by Gary Shimokawa
music by Alf Clausen

Cast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Martin Doyle (Mr. Duncan), John La Motta (Trevor Ochmonek), Liz Sheridan (Raquel Ochmonek)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Highwayman, The

The Hitchhiker

The HighwaymanTurned away from a UFO crash site – and possibly the biggest story of her life – a reporter settles for hitching a ride with the Highwayman, who – unknown to her – is hauling the charred and highly radioactive remains of the UFO’s sole occupant to a military medical facility. His truck’s motion detectors pick up movement of the cargo, and it’s then that the reporter’s eyes take on a green glow – the consciousness of the UFO’s pilot has jumped to her body. At the medical facility, it continues going from person to person until it possesses the Highwayman himself, taking him over in a bid to signal for help from others of its kind – aliens who could easily enslave the Earth if they’re summoned there.

The Highwaymanwritten by Glen A. Larson
directed by Larry Shaw
music by Stu Phillips

Cast: Sam Jones (The Highwayman), Mark “Jacko” Jackson (Jetto), Jane Badler (Tania Winthrop), Tim Russ (D.C. Montana), Joe Regalbuto (Major Fury), James Staley (Major), Robert Doqui (Doctor), Wendie Malick (Dr. Leslie), Arlen Dean Snyder (General Nordhoff), Christina Raines-Crowe (Pepper MacKenzie), Stuart Grant (Dr. Long), Will Hannah (M.P.), Tony Noakes (Brig M.P.), Robin Wayne (Gate M.P.), Ron Brott (General’s Pilot)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Quantum Leap Season 3

The Leap Home

Quantum LeapSam finds himself back home in Elk Ridge, Indiana – not living someone else’s life, but for once, reliving his own youth. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving and a major high school basketball game whose outcome would define some of his classmates’ lives, Sam has an opportunity – according to Al – to change the outcome of that game. But Sam sees other outcomes in much more urgent need of changing, such as trying to introduce his father to a healthier lifestyle so he won’t die in 1972, and trying to prevent his older brother, Tom, from shipping out to Vietnam. Uncharacteristically, Sam boldly announces that he has seen the future, and he knows what will happen…but far from convincing his family that he’s right, all this does is convince them that he’s crazy.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Donald P. Bellisario
directed by Joe Napolitano
music by Velton Ray Bunch

Quantum LeapCast: Scott Bakula (Dr. Sam Beckett / John Beckett), Dean Stockwell (Al), David Newsom (Tom Beckett), Olivia Burnette (Katie Beckett), Hannah Cutrona (Mary Lou), Mai-Lis Kuniholm (Lisa Parsons), Caroline Kava (Thelma Beckett), Mik Scriba (Coach Donnelly), Niles Brewster (Dr. Berger), Matthew John Graeser (Herky), Ethan Wilson (Sibby), John L. Tuell (No Nose Pruitt), Adam Affonso (young Sam)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Heroes Season 1

Pilot

HeroesConvinced that humanity is on the cusp of an evolutionary step that could unlock its true potential with undreamt-of abilities, Professor Mohinder Suresh finds himself facing skepticism from both the students in his genetic science class and his fellow faculty members in India. When he learns that his father – upon whose theories his life’s work is based – has died under mysterious circumstances in New York City, Suresh leaves his teaching career behind to find out what really happened. Before he leaves India, he stops by his father’s office to pick up his research on humans with extraordinary abilities – and someone else is already there for the same reason.

In Las Vegas, single mother Niki Sanders and her electronics-savvy son Micah find themselves on the run when her debt to a mob bass named Linderman comes due. She leaves Micah with a friend and then goes home to pack, but Linderman’s hired hands are waiting for her. Niki blacks out, and when she awakens, she finds that the thugs have been brutally killed – and sees someone who is both herself and not herself in the mirror, urging her to stay quiet. In Odessa, Texas, high school cheerleader Claire Bennet demonstrates an amazing ability to one of her friends, taking a deliberate fall from a great height and surviving unharmed – the latest of several stunts that would be lethal to anyone else – but she later draws attention to her ability by pulling a man from a burning train wreck. In New York City, Congressional candidate Nathan Petrelli grows concerned as his younger brother Peter talks endlessly about a series of dreams and visions in which he believes he can fly. Artist Isaac Mendez awakens from a drug binge, discovering several pictures that he doesn’t remember painting, and he’s certain that they describe future events. His girlfriend Simone, who has hired Peter Petrelli as a day nurse for her dying father, convinces Peter to help Isaac; along the way, Peter has a chance encounter with Suresh, now working as a cab driver. Simone finds Isaac unconscious, and Peter finds Isaac’s most recent paintings – a picture of Peter flying, and a picture of a mushroom cloud erupting in the heart of NYC. In Tokyo, office worker Hiro Nakamura continues his own experiments, having discovered the ability to stop or even reverse time simply by intense concentration; his friend Ando is not impressed. Hiro practices another ability – teleportation – and ends up in New York City. However, when Peter Petrelli, inspired by the painting, decides to practice the ability that he’s certain he possesses, the results are less conclusive…

Season 1 Regular Cast: Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez), Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet), Tawny Cypress (Simone Deveaux), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh), Leonard Roberts (D.L. Hawkins), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli)

Order the DVDswritten by Tim Kring
directed by David Semel
music by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman

Guest Cast: Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli), Ashley Crow (Sandra Bennet), Thomas Dekker (Zach), Shishir Kurup (Nirand), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), John Prosky (Principal), Deirdre Quinn (Tina), Brian Tarantina (Weasel), Richard Roundtree (Charles Deveaux)

Notes: The character of Mr. Bennet, not made a regular until later in the season, was originally billed simply as “Horn Rimmed Glasses” in early press releases. The scene in which Claire sticks her hand into a kitchen disposal and removes it again, mangled but rapidly healing, drew complaints from In-Sink-erator, the maker of the disposal. Though this first episode of Heroes is officially given the simple title Pilot, fandom has dubbed it both Genesis and In His Own Image. An extended cut of the pilot was shown as San Diego Comic Con 2006, and an even longer cut assembled by Tim Kring, including a central character who was omitted from the rest of the series, is included on the season 1 box set. This synopsis describes the broadcast version of the episode rather than either of those extended versions.

LogBook entry by Earl Green