Tag: Series Premiere

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Red Dwarf Season 01

The End

Red DwarfThe Beginning: It’s an abysmally average day about the Red Dwarf, a mining ship of the Jupiter Mining Corporation. The two lowest-ranking members of Red Dwarf’s crew, second technician Arnold J. Rimmer and third technician David Lister, are – as one gets the impression is common – unable to agree on anything. Lister’s laid-back lifestyle and his refusal to deal with or, for that matter, acknowledge the existence of any problem unless his life depends on it irritates Rimmer, who sees himself as prime officer material despite his chronic inability to pass the ship’s navigation exams. As Rimmer undertakes the nav exam one more time (only to realize that he once again knows nothing about the subject), Lister opens a ventilation duct in their quarters to let his pet cat Frankenstein out. The cat in question later becomes something of a point of contention between Lister and Captain Hollister, who calls Lister to his office and demands custody of the unauthorized and unquarantined animal. When Lister refuses, he is sentenced to make the rest of Red Dwarf’s journey in suspended animation without pay.

He is awakened from his time in stasis by the ship’s computer, Holly, who, moments after Lister rejoins the world of the living, breaks the news to him that the rest of that world has apparently vacated Red Dwarf – an improperly repaired drive plate (improperly repaired, naturally, by Rimmer) released deadly cadmium-2 radiation into the ship’s habitable areas, killing all aboard except Lister, who was sealed safely in stasis, and his cat, who was safely sealed in a cargo bay. Holly then comforts Lister by revealing that this tragedy happened a long time ago – three million years, to be exact. As if that’s not enough, Rimmer has been revived as a hologram, unable to touch anything, but fully capable of getting on Lister’s nerves. And the generations of kittens born to Lister’s cat have evolved into a humanoid form of cat, with the outward appearance of a human being but the vanity and attitude of a tomcat on the make; one such creature, who winds up with the highly original name of Cat, is “adopted” by Lister. Having had enough surprises for one day, Lister orders Holly to set a course to Fiji.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Norman Lovett (Holly)

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Robert Bathurst (Todhunter), Paul Bradley (Chen), David Gillespie (Selby), Mac McDonald (Captain Hollister), Robert McCulley (McIntyre), Mark Williams (Petersen), C.P. Grogan (Kochanski)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Probe

Computer Logic

ProbeEccentric, reclusive scientific genius Austin James is disturbed by the arrival of his new secretary, Michelle Castle, who has no idea what he’s working on. Austin’s name has come up in the investigation into the death of another self-styled inventor, a water department employee who was due for retirement and then died in a freak pedestrian traffic accident. He had discovered the first hint of something that eventually becomes a major mystery for Austin and Michelle: finding out whether CROSSOVER, an artificial intelligence created by Austin’s friend (and sometimes rival) John Blaine, is responsible for the death…and whether or not it’s now trying to kill Austin now that he suspects CROSSOVER has gone rogue.

Probewritten by Michael Wagner
directed by Sandor Stern
music by Sylvester LeVay

Cast: Parker Stevenson (Austin James), Ashley Crow (Michelle Castle), Jon Cypher (Mr. Millhouse), William Edward Phipps (Miles Smillanich), Andy Wood (John Blaine), Scott Feraco (William Stevens), Jan Sandwich (Maid), Ray Guth (Hotel Manager), Gene Johnson (Preacher), Judy Scovern (Personnel Manager), Diana Baynes (Secretary #1), Carol Weston (Secretary #2), Fred Schiwiller (Old Man), Sandy Elias (Customer), Bill Lane (Truck Driver), Gertrude Nicholls (Old Woman)

Notes: Probe was heavily promoted as being created by legendary SF author Isaac Asimov and Michael Wagner, though Wagner alone was responsible for writing the actual pilot script. The weekly episodes following this pilot movie were scheduled opposite The Cosby Show on NBC, which was a ratings behemoth at the time, ensuring that Probe died a fairly quick death.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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KTMA Season Mystery Science Theater 3000

Experiment K01: Invaders From The Deep

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The KTMA SeasonMST3K Story: Joel says the guys at the station sent a fax saying that Invaders From The Deep is up next. Crow has fired the retro rockets, but wants Servo to keep his involvement quiet. Joel apparently spends some time looking after some “vacuuflowers” which intoxicate with just a smell causing the Bots to attempt to avoid smelling them by putting clothespins on their noses.

Invaders From The Deep Story: WASP (the World Aquanaut Security Patrol) has been charged with the task of keeping the oceans safe. Captain Troy Tempest commands the submarine Stingray, the most impressive vessel in WASP’s fleet. He is accompanied by Lt. George Lee “Phones” Sheridan and Marina, a beautiful, but mute, princess of an underwater kingdom. Giving support at the home base, Marineville, are WASP’s leader, Commander Sam Shore and his daughter, Lt. Atlanta Shore. Their adventures are dramatized in the following stories:

  • “Hostages of the Deep” – Admiral Carson, a former member of WASP, and his wife are kidnapped by the evil Gadus. Gadus leaves a bomb behind to destroy the WASPs when they come to investigate. His plans are foiled by a coded radio signal sent by the Admiral to Troy and Phones. Gadus flees deep into the ocean, finding refuge in a crack in the ocean floor too narrow for Stingray to enter. Marina attempts to rescue the Admiral and his wife, but she is captured. Troy and Phones manage to survive the intense pressure, rescue the captives and defeat Gadus.
  • “Deep Heat” – In the middle of a rare night out, the Stingray team are called into action to discover the whereabouts of a missing probe. While investigating, the Stingray is sucked into the same crater where the probe was lost. At the bottom, Troy and Phones meet the last two survivors of an underwater race, the Centrallius. They explain that recent volcanic eruptions destroyed their world and that they tried to use the probe to escape, but failed. Since the WASPs have only two air masks, the Centrallius take the masks by force and attempt to board the Stingray. When Marina refuses to let them in, they return to their home, where they are overcome by the WASPs. By holding their breath, the WASPs are able to allow the Centrallius to use the air masks until all four reach the Stingray and escape to safety.
  • “The Big Gun” – Stingray is attacked by a pair of submarines with powerful guns. The WASPs destroy one of the submarines and give chase to the other, leading them to the underwater city of Solarstar. The water pressure begins to prove too much for Stingray and she begins to buckle. Marina, who is immune to the effects of the water pressure, is able to destroy the final submarine, enabling Stingray to return to safer waters.
  • “Emergency Marineville” – The WASPs’ home base Marineville finds itself under missile attack from an unknown location. Tracking the path of the missiles, Stingray and her crew come upon a volcano located on a tropical island. The inhabitants are able to capture the WASPs and torture Marina to get information that will allow their missiles to destroy Marineville. Troy and Phones manage to escape and disarm the missile before it is launched. They leave a message detailing their location inside the missile. When the missile lands in Marineville, the message is discovered, the WASPs are rescued and the aliens are defeated.

Season 0 Regular Cast: Joel Hodgson (Joel Robinson), Trace Beaulieu (Crow T. Robot / Dr. Clayton Forrester), Josh Weinstein (Tom Servo / Gypsy / Dr. Lawrence Erhardt), Kevin Murphy (Puppet Operation and Voices)

MST3K segments written by Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, Jim Mallon & Kevin Murphy
MST3K segments director unknown
Invaders From The Deep written by Allan Fennell
Invaders From The Deep directed by Desmond Saunders, David Elliott & John Kelly
Invaders From The Deep music by Barry Gray

MST3K Guest Cast: unknown

Invaders From The Deep Cast: Don Mason (Troy), Lois Maxwell (Atlanta), Robert Easton (Phones, X-20)

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Alien Nation Season 1

Pilot

Alien NationFive years after a ship full of Tenctonese slaves crashed on Earth, the “Newcomers” are gradually integrating into human society, holding jobs, holding public office, and struggling for acceptance. LAPD Detective Matt Sikes and his Tenctonese partner, Detective George Francisco, find themselves investigating a case involving the body of a dead homeless man, covered with sores of an unknown origin. They find most of the leads in the case to be dead-ends, but things get more complicated when the body vanishes from the coroner’s morgue. In the meantime, they have their hands full with other emergencies as well, including breaking up a rally of anti-Newcomer “Purists” at a local school which happens to be attended by George’s eight-year-old daughter Emily. The protest rally is quickly disbanded by Sikes, but when class resumes, Emily discovers that bigotry isn’t a phenomenon unique to adult humans. Emily’s older brother Buck actively resents his father’s insistence that he assimilate into human society, opting instead to skip school and fall in with a crowd of like-minded Tenctonese teens, though Buck’s attempts to live part of his life on the streets may have disastrous consequences. George’s wife Susan attends classes of her own, trying to discover a niche she can fill on Earth.

When Burns, a tabloid photographer who hangs around the precinct and continually annoys Sikes, captures a photo of a hulking insectoid creature, and Newcomer bodies begin to turn up horribly disfigured, rumors abound, ranging from an unknown virus brought to Earth by the aliens, or some sort of creature that occupied a Newcomer host body for its trip to Earth. Public sentiment turns against the Tenctonese and tensions rise. Sikes turns to his Newcomer neighbor, biologist Cathy Frankel, for help in deciphering the clues, but it seems that she knows something about the case that she doesn’t want to discuss. Sikes and George mount a stakeout at the site where Newcomer corpses have been found, only to discover that their threat may be more home-grown than they realized.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episodewritten by Kenneth Johnson
directed by Kenneth Johnson
music by Joe Harnell

Cast: Gary Graham (Matt Sikes), Eric Pierpoint (George Francisco), Michele Scarabelli (Susan Francisco), Lauren Woodland (Emily Francisco), Sean Six (Buck Francisco), Terri Treas (Cathy), Molly Morgan (Jill), Jeff Marcus (Albert Einstein), Jeff Doucette (Burns), Ron Fassler (Capt. Grazer), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Sgt. Dobbs), L. Scott Caldwell (Lyddie), Diane Civita (Jill’s Mother), William Frankfather (Purist Leader), Ketty Lester (Teacher), Loyda Ramos (Puente), Tim Russ (Ketnes), Brian Smiar (Priest), Evan Kim (Dr. Lee), Tony Acierto (Marcus), Jeff Austin (Randall), Terry Beaver (Newcomer Cop), Lisa Donaldson Bowman (Miranda), Jade Calegory (Mark), George Cheung (Rowdy #2), Gus Corrado (Linen Manager), Robert Allan Curtis (Salvage Manager), Trevor Edmond (Blentu), John William Evans (Vagrant), Brooks Anne Hayes (Receptionist), Marco Hernandez (Tito), Kevin Hurley (Second Streetperson), John Kirby (Supporter), Aaron Lustig (Amos N. Andy), Melora Marshall (Woman Purist), Joe Mays (Informant), Richard Mehana (Dr. Hurwitz), Martha Melinda (First Streetperson), Catherine Paolone (Diane), John Patrick Reger (Ramna), Bert Rosario (Bernardo), Andrea Stein (Homeowner), Tiere Turner (Black Kid), Steve Vandeman (Rowdy #1), Ed Williams (Newcomer), Biff Yeager (The Man)

Notes: The two-hour pilot of Alien Nation is distinctly different in tone from the rest of the series, and makes many major changes from the story established in the film of the same name. Writer/director Kenneth Johnson enlisted the help of several people he had worked with on V, including composer Joe Harnell and actors Diane Civita and Evan Kim. Alien Nation has another connection with Johnson’s earlier work: the basic premise of Alien Nation, minus the characters, was intended to be the premise of the (never produced) season season of V, which would have seen the alien Visitors withdraw from Earth en masse, except for at least one ship which crashed on Earth, its complement of reptilian Visitors forced to become an underclass in a storyline that would’ve commented on Apartheid. This is the only episode in which Sikes is seen to smoke, though that may have been an attempt to stay “in character” as a street bum.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Land Of The Lost Remake Season 1

Tasha

Land Of The LostExploring while on vacation, the Porter family is deposited into another world after their truck plunges into a rift in the ground during a huge earthquake. The presence of three moons in the night sky is their first clue that they’re no longer on Earth, and yet the jungle world is populated by dinosaurs straight out of Earth’s prehistoric age.

The Porter family, safe in their newly built treehouse, is awakened by the sound of dinosaurs battling it out nearby. In the morning, Annie and Kevin go to collect water, finding a nest of destroyed dinosaur eggs, and a dead dinosaur – the mother who laid the eggs died trying to protect her young from a tyrannousaurus. Annie finds an intact egg in the nearby brush and they take it back to the treehouse. It hatches overnight, and Annie christens the baby dino Tasha: much to Kevin’s chagrin, Tasha is here to stay. When the same tyrannosaurus attacks the Porter family, they’ve got a defense plan inspired by Tasha… and no guarantee that it’ll work.

Land Of The Lostwritten by Len Janson & Chuck Menville
directed by Ernest Farino
music by Kevin Kiner

Cast: Timothy Bottoms (Tom Porter), Jennifer Drugan (Annie Porter), Robert Gavin (Kevin Porter), Ed Gale (Tasha), Danny Mann (voice of Tasha)

Notes: The baby dinosaur is named Natasha after the kids’ mother; it’s implied in dialogue that Natasha Porter is deceased. Composer Kevin Kiner would go on to co-compose the scores for several episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Star Trek: Enterprise with Dennis McCarthy, before moving on to the computer-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Dark Season

Episode 1

Dark SeasonLondon teenagers Reet and Thomas grudgingly walk to school every day with their eccentric junior classmate Marcie, who claims to see patterns and conspiracies almost everywhere she looks. The latest object of Marcie’s fascination is the arrival of mysterious electronics company Abyss Modem at their school, with the enigmatic Mr. Eldritch promising one of the new Abyss computers to every student, free of charge. Marcie is certain that there’s more to this generous offer than meets the eye. Mr. Eldritch selects a random student to receive the first Abyss computer for publicity purposes, and she discovers that the free computer definitely has strings attached…

Dark Seasonwritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Colin Cant
music by David Ferguson

Cast: Tim Barker (Dr. Osley), Samantha Cahill (Olivia), Ben Chandler (Thomas), Rosalie Critchley (Mrs. Polzinski), Brigit Forsyth (Miss Maitland), Victoria Lambert (Marcie), Roger Milner (Headmaster), Grant Parsons (Mr. Eldritch), Cyril Shaps (Mr. Polzinski), Kate Winslet (Reet)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Highlander Season 1

The Gathering

HighlanderA common thief named Richie Ryan breaks into an antiques store and soon finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for: a man wielding a sword appears to protect the shop, introducing himself as Duncan MacLeod. Richie’s predicment gets even stranger as two more men appear, each brandishing their own swords – one says he has come for Duncan’s head, and the other claims to be Connor MacLeod, a relative of Duncan’s. Richie uses the confusion of what appears to be an impending swordfight to sneak away; Duncan’s girlfriend Tessa watches the proceedings with alarm as Connor and the other swordsman leave.

The following day, Connor returns, as does the other swordsman, Slan Quince – harrassing Tessa and Duncan. Where Richie was terrified by the crossing of swords, Tessa has reluctantly become accustomed to it – Duncan is an Immortal, a human being both cursed and blessed with the ability to survive any injury, even a fatal one, except for decapitation. When one Immortal beheads another, he gains the fallen Immortal’s experience and power in an explosive transfer called the Quickening. Both Duncan and Connor try to lay claim to Slan Quince, but Connor knocks Duncan out and takes the initiative. He meets Slan on a bridge elsewhere in the city, and though he wins the swordfight, Connor finds out the hard way that Slan has a secret weapon: a gun built into the hilt of his sword. As Richie watches, Connor plunges into the river beneath the bridge – and Duncan appears, ready to take up the fight. But even if he survives, Duncan has already pledged not to put Tessa any further through the ordeal of his Immortal struggle.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Dan Gordon
directed by Thomas J. Wright
music by Roger Bellon

HighlanderCast: Adrian Paul (Duncan McLeod), Alexandra Vandernoort (Tessa), Stan Kirsch (Richie), Christopher Lambert (Connor MacLeod), Richard Moll (Slan Quince), Wendell Wright (Sgt. Powell)

Notes: Until the fourth Highlander theatrical movie, which brought Duncan and other TV characters into the movie mythology, Connor’s appearance in the Highlander series pilot was the only definitive connecting tissue between the original movies and the series. This was the only episode in which a cast member from the movies appeared, though careful examination of the opening credits in the first season reveal at least one shot of Connor – not Duncan – experiencing a quickening from the original Highlander film.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 01 Star Trek

Emissary

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate 46379.1: Commander Ben Sisko and his son Jake, both survivors of the Wolf 359 Borg massacre, arrive at the planet Bajor as part of a Starfleet team taking over the abandoned Cardassian space station Deep Space 9. The station, which was intentionally damaged by the Cardassians before they left it behind, is being pieced together by newly-transferred Operations Chief O’Brien from the Enterprise. Sisko also meets Major Kira, his Bajoran first officer who doubts the ability of the provisional government of Bajor to avert a civil war and trusts the Federation even less; Odo, a mysterious shapeshifter in charge of station security; and Quark, the suspicious Ferengi kingpin who’s eager to get out of town before the regulatory hand of the Federation clamps down on his shady “business” affairs.

Sisko is summoned to the Enterprise for a briefing with Captain Picard, whom he still remembers as the man responsible for the death of thousands, including Sisko’s wife, in the Borg invasion attempt. Picard gives Sisko the Federation’s orders regarding management of Deep Space 9 – to do everything, short of violating the prime directive, to get the struggling Bajora back on their feet so they can join the Federation. Sisko, however, is considering resigning from Starfleet to raise his son in a better environment. Soon afterward, the Enterprise departs to undertake other duties as the station’s new doctor, the brilliant but inexperienced Julian Bashir, and science officer Jadzia Dax arrive. Dax, a Trill who has lived in a number of bodies, is an old friend of Sisko’s. Sisko, at the suggestion of Kira, travels to Bajor and visits Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Opaka, who tells Sisko that he is to be the emissary of the people to the temple of their gods. Opaka reveals an Orb, a mystic object of a type which has appeared throughout Bajoran history. The Orb envelops Sisko in a brief recollection of his first meeting with his wife, and then releases him. Opaka gives him the Orb, and the news that Sisko – whether he likes it or not, whether he even knows it or not – will find the temple. He returns to Deep Space 9 and hands the Orb over to Dax for further study.

The Cardassians return, ostensibly to make use of the station’s amenities. Dax discovers that reports of the Orbs’ appearances correspond to a certain area of space near Bajor. She and Sisko set out in a Federation Runabout to investigate, and stumble across a wormhole that shoots them 70,000 light years across the galaxy. Trying to return to the station, their ship is halted. Dax is taken back to the station by an Orb, while Sisko is kept and studied by noncorporeal beings who built the wormhole. These beings have no conception of linear time, existing simultaneously in the past, present and future, and they ask Sisko questions about the ephemeral nature of humans, which they do not comprehend. Dax, back on Deep Space 9, fills the crew in on details of the wormhole. Major Kira orders O’Brien to shift the station’s position so that it stands in front of the wormhole. A Cardassian ship, however, enters the wormhole, but is damaged by the wormhole life forms. When another Cardassian flotilla arrives and finds no sign of the missing ship, they threaten to open fire on Deep Space 9 unless Kira agrees to surrender the station. In the wormhole, the aliens’ study of Sisko reaches an end when they discover the human drive for knowledge, and they are puzzled by Sisko’s inability to get over the death of his wife.

At the station, Kira’s brinksmanship abilities and her feisty confrontations with the Cardassians result in a firefight, damaging the station heavily. The solution to the confrontation lies with Sisko, if he can overcome the wormhole beings’ manifestations of his inner barriers and escape from the wormhole.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Avery Brooks (Commander Benjamin Sisko), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Siddig El Fadil (Dr. Julian Bashir), Terry Farrell (Lt. Jadzia Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Michael Piller
story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller
directed by David Carson
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard/Locutus of Borg), Camille Saviola (Kai Opaka), Felecia M. Bell (Jennifer Sisko), Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat), Joel Swetow (Gul Jasad), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Stephen Davies (Tactical Officer), Max Grodenchik (Ferengi Pit Boss), Steve Rankin (Cardassian Officer), Lily Mariye (Ops Officer), Cassandra Bryam (Conn Officer), John Noah Hertzler (Vulcan Captain), April Grace (Transporter Chief), Kevin McDermott (Alien Batter), Star Trek: Deep Space NineParker Whitman (Cardassian Officer), William Powell-Blair (Cardassian Officer), Frank Owen Smith (Curzon Dax), Lynnda Ferguson (Doran), Megan Butler (Lieutenant), Stephen Rowe (Chanting Monk), Thomas Hobson (young Jake), Donald Hotton (Monk #1), Gene Armor (Bajoran Bureaucrat), Diana Cignoni (Dabo Girl), Judi Durand (Computer Voice), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

Notes: John Noah Hertzler is also known as J.G. Hertzler, who would return later in the series in the role of General Martok.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Rangers

The Replacements

Space RangersBoon’s crew is assigned to track down a hijacked ore transport, but shortly after they catch up with the ship and board it, an armed man blasts Doc while someone else escapes in a lifepod. Boon brings Doc back to Fort Hope, where Mimmer starts trying to save his life while Boon interrogates his unhelpful prisoner. Boon complains bitterly about having to take on missions with an exhausted crew and equipment that’s fallen apart in the face of constant budget cuts, taking his anger out on Weiss, an Earth bureaucrat who’s been “exiled” to Fort Hope. Weiss responds to this outburst by assigning an android crewmember to Boon’s ship. After their sole prisoner is mysteriously murdered in his cell with no security record of how he died, the Space Rangers are left with a seized transport which appears to carry nothing but ordinary ore, and a lot of unanswered questions. Little do they know that the hijackers are working against them from inside Fort Hope.

Space Rangerswritten by Gregory Widen
directed by Ben Bolt
music by Hans Zimmer & Mark Mancina

Cast: Jeff Kaake (Captain John Boon), Marjorie Monaghan (Jojo), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Zylyn), Jack McGee (Doc), Clint Howard (Mimmer), Danny Quinn (Daniel), Gottfried John (Weiss), Linda Hunt (Chennault), Richard Grove (Isogul), Keith Berger (Ringer), Richard Marcus (Bashad), Tony Amendola (Smuggler), Mark Venturini (Lieutenant), Gregory Phelan (Technician No. 1), Wendy Way (Technician No. 2)

Space RangersNotes: Although aired first, this was not the series pilot, creating some inconsistencies in the flow of the storyline (i.e. Boon’s wife has already left him and gone to Earth, even later episodes contradict this). Tony Amendola would later become a fixture on Stargate SG-1 as Master Bra’tac. Writer Gregory Widen was the creator of the Highlander franchise, and wrote the screenplay to Backdraft, which was produced by Space Rangers creator Pen Densham.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Time Trax

A Stranger In Time

Time TraxIn the year 2193, gifted and fiercely devoted Darien Lambert is one of the best law enforcement officers on Earth…until a string of suspects seem to disappear completely from view with no explanation, many of them on Lambert’s watch. Due to his outstanding service record, it is simply assumed that Lambert needs more of the latest crime fighting tools, and he is issued a portable artificial intelligence called Selma, who can appear visually to Lambert but can also communicate with him via audio only.

The theft of the firearm used by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Lincoln raises the alarm that something big is on the horizon, and Lambert feels certain that the weapon’s symbolic importance points to a high profile target: the president of the United Nations. Lambert’s hunch is correct, but his timing is off: he can’t prevent the assassination, but he does capture the assassin. However, that same assassin vanishes into thin air from the confines of a state-of-the-art maximum security prison cell. Lambert suspects matter transmission, either into an alternate universe or backward or forward in time.

His suspicions lead him to a lab run by a beautiful scientist, whose work on an experimental time travel device called Trax is slowly being taken over by an obsessive Nobel Prize winning scientist, Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi. The use of Trax involves the injection of a drug that allows the human body to endure the rigors of time travel, but only twice; a way has not been found to make the third trip non-fatal. Lambert methodically gathers his evidence until he’s ready to launch a sting operation on the Trax lab to arrest Sahmbi for sending heinous criminals back in time, unleashing them on the primitive, unsuspecting world of 1990s Earth. Sahmbi himself escapes, and Lambert, with Selma, must subject himself to time travel via Trax in an attempt to stop history from being rewritten by an insane criminal.

written by Harve Bennett
directed by Lewis Teague
music by Garry McDonald and Laurie Stone

Time TraxCast: Dale Midkiff (Darien Lambert), Elizabeth Alexander (Selma), Mia Sara (Elyssa / Annie), Michael Warren (Frank), Henry Darrow (The Chief), Peter Donat (Sahmbi), Henk Johannes (Dietrich), Martin Maddell (Sergeant), Monroe Reimers (Duke), Peter Whittle (Wahlgren), David Franklin (Fredric), Rob Steele (Wilson), Lewis Fitz-Gerald (C.L. Burke), Michael Edward-Stevens (Art), Stephen Bergin (Grille Bar Waiter), Billy Sandy (U.N. President), Jimmy White (Reporter), Pamela Norman (Archive Clerk), Dave Robinson (Businessman), Ben Lawson (12 year old Darien)

Time TraxNotes: Add a dash of Quantum Leap to The Fugitive, and you have Time Trax. Created by Harve Bennett with Jeffrey Hayes (T.J. Hooker) and Grant Rosenberg (Lois & Clark), Time Trax was teased as a sci-fi cop show, though after the pilot strands Lambert in the past, the show happens almost entirely in the present day (of the 1990s, when the show was made). Time Trax was part of the short-lived, ill-fated Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), an attempt by Warner Bros. and Chris-Craft Television to launch a fifth network in the same mold as the then-recent launch of the Fox network; other PTEN shows included Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Babylon 5, the latter being the only PTEN series which actually outlasted PTEN.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Century Falls

Episode One

Century FallsTess Hunter and her mother are new arrivals in the quaint village of Century Falls, hoping to escape the rigors of big-city life. They quickly become the talk of the insular town, and are greeted by the local landlord, Richard Naismith. Naismith’s nephew and niece, Ben and Carey, are the only other children in Century Falls, though Tess promises that will change when her mother has her second child in a few months – new that seems to shake the residents of Century Falls to their core.

Ben Naismith appears to have extraordinary powers, and leads Tess and his sister to the ruins of the local church, the site of a tragedy that occurred on July 17th, 1953. Somehow, Ben is able to give Tess and Carey a glimpse back in time to that event – a fire which few survived, and whose survivors began dying off soon afterward. But on a later visit to the waterfall that gives Century Falls its name, even Ben can’t explain the appearance of the young girl they glimpse through the waterfall. Tess tries to get a closer look and falls into the water.

At that moment, Alice Harkness, the mother of the Harkness sisters who run the only shop in Century Falls, who has been silent and almost vegetative since July 17th, 1953… screams.

written by Russell T. Davies
directed by Colin Cant
music by David Ferguson

Century FallsCast: Catherine Sanderson (Tess Hunter), Heather Baskerville (Mrs. Hunter), Simon Fenton (Ben Naismith), Emma Jane Lavin (Carey Naismith), Marc Sinden (Francis Naismith), Tatiana Strauss (Julia), Bernard Kay (Richard Naismith), Alex Mollo (Ashe), Mary Wimbush (Esme Harkness), Georgine Anderson (May Harkness), Eileen Way (Alice Harkness), Donna Fawthrop (Young Woman), Jennifer Harris (Little Girl)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade TV Movies

The Gathering

Babylon 5In the Tigris Sector in the year 2257, the gigantic space station Babylon 5 has entered service and is preparing for its first major official duty, hosting the ambassadors of the Minbari, Vorlon, Centauri and Narn governments who will, along with station Commander Sinclair, the Earth representative, begin down the uneasy path toward interstellar peace. The station’s first officer Takashima and security chief Garibaldi are both officers with career records that are, in places, less than exemplary, giving the impression that the Earth Alliance isn’t going to send the cream of its crop to Babylon 5 – especially not since Babylons 1, 2 and 3 were sabotaged and destroyed, and the fourth station in the line vanished without a trace within a day of becoming operational. There are also questions about the alien representatives: Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari spends a good deal of his time in the diplomatic pursuit of drinks and winnings in the station’s casino; Minbari Ambassador Delenn, whose people once waged a vicious war with Earth and suddenly stopped all attacks just moments before wiping out the human race, is secretive and speaks in riddles. Ambassador G’Kar of the Narn Regime is ill-tempered and makes no secret of the fact that he seeks power and prestige for his own people and himself, no matter what the cost to other individuals or governments. And last, but not least, Vorlon Ambassador Kosh Naranek, who, when he arrives, will be the first Vorlon ever encountered by any of the above species, travels incommunicado. This proves to be a problem when Kosh, in a life-sustaining encounter suit, is found unconscious moments after his ship docks at Babylon 5. The crew swings into action and discovers foul play, which infuriates the Vorlon Empire. Matters are made no less critical when it is discovered that the culprit is at large on Babylon 5, and Commander Sinclair is framed for the attack on Kosh. His crew must fight to uncover the truth to prevent the Vorlons from extraditing Sinclair – or to prevent them from simply declaring all-out war on the Earth Alliance…

Order now!Download this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Richard Compton
music by Stewart Copeland
(music in 1998 TNT special edition by Christopher Franke)

Cast: Michael O’ Hare (Commander Jeffrey Sinclair), Tamlyn Tomita (Lt. Commander Laurel Takashima), Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Ambassador Delenn), Blaire Baron (Carolyn Sykes), John Fleck (Del Varner), Paul Hampton (The Senator), Peter Jurasik (Ambassador Londo Mollari), Andreas Katsulas (Ambassador G’Kar), Johnny Sekka (Dr. Benjamin Kyle), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Steven R. Barnett (Eric), William Hayes (Traveler), Linda Hoffman (Tech #2), Robert Jason Jackson (Tech #3), F. William Parker (Businessman #1), Marianne Robertson (Hostage), Dave Sage (Businessman #2), Ed Wasser (Guerra)

Babylon 5Notes: Three of the main characters – Takashima, Dr. Kyle and Lyta – were replaced by the time the weekly series began, as was Sinclair’s girlfriend Carolyn; the sets also changed between the film and series, primarily due to the production moving to its own custom-built facility, necessitating some redesigns, although the series sets are very much like the movie’s. Almost all of the alien makeups were also altered for the series, most notably Mira Furlan’s Delenn makeup, which originally was much more gaunt and had several “bumps” on the head, as well as light blue spots and blotches; the makeup for G’Kar also changed, notably with the addition of redder contact lenses and a more rounded-off chin than was seen in the movie.

Another curiosity: close examination of the station in the pilot film reveals that the cobra bay doors from which the fighters launch in the series are not present. You may also notice Ed Wasser, later much more recognizable as Shadow agent Morden, playing a technician on the station’s observation dome.

The “special edition” of The Gathering shown after the world premiere of TNT’s Babylon 5: In The Beginning restored several dropped scenes, including a brief hostage scare (taking place after Lyta’s arrival), and additional dialogue with Takashima and Kyle, Sinclair and Delenn, and others. Delenn also takes a much more active part in the climactic hunt for the saboteur.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
M.A.N.T.I.S.

M.A.N.T.I.S.

M.A.N.T.I.S.A well-organized and planned heist of a bank in Ocean City is cut short by the appearance of a silhouetted figure wearing a high-tech helmet. By the time the police arrive, the helmeted man is gone, but the robbers are still there, frozen in place. In one of the robbers’ mouths, police find a metal figurine of a praying mantis.

In the run-up to the 1994 election, which will decide the next Mayor of Ocean City, the race is down to two men – Ocean City’s Chief of Police, Frank Stark, and an incumbent, elder-statesman Mayor. Stark has attracted controversy by mandating violent “anti-riot” tactical training as the answer to gang activity, while claiming that the sitting Mayor is soft on crime, but most of Stark’s crime-fighting activity is focused squarely on the city’s African-American populace. When amateur videotape of the helmeted man lands in the hands of TV reporter Yuri Barnes, he suspects that the mystery vigilante – known on the street only as “Mantis” – is part of some undisclosed secret plan being hatched by Stark. Barnes’ girlfriend, Dr. Amy Ellis, is an examiner at the city coroner’s office, and says she’s heard nothing about this being part of a police operation.

It’s not long, however, before Dr. Ellis sees the masked man in action for herself, as he arrives in a flying car to break up a crime that uses a deliberate traffic jam to cover for a spree of robberies. The perpetrators are shot with some kind of dart that leaves them paralyzed, like the bank robbers, and then the helmeted man flies away with police helicopters in pursuit. The impossibly high-tech flying car dives into a tunnel, where it shimmers, emerging from the tunnel as an ordinary (if vintage) car. The frozen perpetrators are examined at police headquarters by biophysicist Dr. Miles Hawkins, who is unable to offer any conclusions. After seeing Antoine Pike, head of the Mayor’s anti-gang task force, in action, Dr. Ellis suspects that he may be “Mantis”, though Barnes dismisses that theory. Dr. Ellis has another theory: Dr. Hawkins’ attempts to determine what paralyzed the criminals may lead to Chief Stark having a powerful new weapon which she fears will be used predominantly on Ocean City’s African-American population.

Word reaches Hawkins that Pike’s much-touted truce between the city’s gangs is broken, “Mantis” swings into action to prevent a gang war that will give Stark an excuse to declare a war of his own, whether he does so as the Chief of Police or as the Mayor. But what no one realizes is that M.A.N.T.I.S. stands for Mechanically Augmented Neuro-Transmitter Interception System, a powered suit devised by Hawkins to allow him to move without his wheelchair. But the suit also gives him powers beyond walking, and he’ll need every one of them to stop Stark’s scheme to influence the election…and start a massacre.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Sam Hamm
story by Sam Raimi & Sam Hamm
directed by Eric Laneuville
music by Joseph Lo Duca

M.A.N.T.I.S.Cast: Carl Lumbly (Dr. Miles Hawkins), Bobby Hosea (Yuri Barnes), Gina Torres (Dr. Amy Ellis), Steve James (Antoine Pike), Obba Babatunde (Cornell), Marcia Cross (Lila McEwan), Wendy Raquel Robinson (Hawkins’ Assistant), Christopher M. Brown (Hawkins’ Assistant), Phillip Baker Hall (Smitty), Yvonne Farrow (Magda), Francis X. McCarthy (Chief Stark), Alan Fudge (Captain), Grant Heslov (TV Crew), Louis Ramos (TV Cameraman), Billy Kane (DeCarlos), Jeremiah Birkett (Kid MG), Dex Elliot Sanders (L.T.), Theo Forsett (Jay), Jerry Black (Mayor Beane), Larron Tate (Day Day), Vicellous Reon Shannon (Ski), Tierre Turner (Rahsaan), Martin Davis (Todd), Kimble Jemison (Curtis), David Fresco (Motorist), Edwina Moore (Jay’s Mom), Charles Hoyes (Policeman Guard), Lucy Lin (Newswoman), Ossaun Elam (Gangbanger #1), Richard Jones (Gangbanger #2), Dane Winters (Interviewer), Nelson Parks (Office Worker), Martin Cassidy (Dispatcher), Steve Hom (Cop in Alley), Jermaine Shoulders (10K Member), Mark Phelan (Stark’s Handler), Gene Arrington (Reggie), Richard Zobel (Homeless Man), Mark Avery (Basketball Guard), Robair Sims (Thug), Craig Hosking (Pilot)

M.A.N.T.I.S.Notes: Created by future Hercules and Xena creators Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert with Batman and Batman Returns screenwriter Sam Hamm, M.A.N.T.I.S. was a made-for-TV superhero with an almost entirely African-American cast and no comic book antecedent. Fox made significant changes to the show’s casting and format before it returned in August as a weekly series; Carl Lumbly (as Hawkins/M.A.N.T.I.S.) was the only cast member or character to transition from the pilot to the series. Much was made of Hamm’s involvement at the time, as his scripts for the two Tim Burton Batman films were regarded as a revival for the character in film. The M.A.N.T.I.S. suit was designed by comics artist Denys Cowan and fabricated by KNB EFX Group (then known best for A Nightmare On Elm Street 5, Halloween 5, and Dances With Wolves).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Space Precinct

Protect And Survive

Space PrecinctIn the year 2040, interplanetary travel has become a reality. 20-year NYPD veteran Patrick Brogan is now working a new beat, patrolling space near the planet Altor, home to the nearest orbital precinct base for the interspecies Space Police.

But the transition isn’t as easy as Brogan and his hotshot young partner, Jack Haldane, sometimes make it look. They pursue a courier with insider knowledge of an interstellar crime syndicate, but the pursuit itself causes considerable damage and Brogan is forced to shoot to kill when the courier draws a gun on him. Later, the informant who tipped Brogan off to the presence of the courier is brutally murdered by crime boss Gershom… who has unwittingly left a witness to the incident. Brogan and Haldane are assigned to keep that witness alive long enough to testify against Gershom in court, a task that won’t be as easy as it sounds.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Ted Shackelford (Lt. Patrick Brogan), Rob Youngblood (Officer Jack Haldane), Simone Bendix (Officer Jane Castle), Nancy Paul (Sally Brogan)

written by Paul Mayhew-Archer
directed by John Glen
music by Crispin Merrell

Guest Cast: Bert Kwouk (Slik), Oliver Cotton (Gershom), David Shaw-Parker (Lawyer), Nic Klein (Matt Brogan), Megan Oliver (Liz Brogan), Richard James (Orrin), David Quilter (Fredo), Jerome Willis (Podly), Mary Woodvine (Took), Leigh Tinkler (Medic #1), Rob Thirtle (Loyster), Andy Dawson (Judge), Gary Martin (voice of Slomo)

Notes: Gerry Anderson’s first live-action series since Space: 1999, nearly 20 years earlier. In that time, Anderson had split with his wife and former producing partner, Sylvia Anderson, and sold off the rights to his earlier Supermarionation series as well as such projects as UFO and Space: 1999; his only other work since Space: 1999 had been the puppet series Terrahawks and Dick Spanner, P.I. in the 1980s. Unless one counts the Thunderbirds live action remake movie directed by Jonathan Frakes, Space Precinct remains Anderson’s last live-action project to date. The show shares some common ground with Space: 1999, including the “this episode!” montage in the opening credits, and sticking steadfastly to miniature models even at a time when CGI was rapidly coming into vogue with series such as Babylon 5 and seaQuest DSV on the air at the same time. Even before that, however, Anderson initiated Space Precinct in the late 1980s as a pilot film called Space Police, which starred Shane Rimmer as Chuck Brogan. Space Precinct launched in the lucrative syndicated market for science fiction in the U.S. that was created by the popularity of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but didn’t catch on in the U.S.; by the time Space Precinct premiered and gained an audience in Europe in 1995, its fate was already decided: there would be no second season without success in the American market.

Categories
Season 01 Star Trek Voyager

Caretaker

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 48315.6: A starship controlled by the Maquis mysteriously disappears in the Badlands, a charged energy field near the demilitarized zone, after being pursued by a Cardassian ship. U.S.S. Voyager, commanded by Captain Janeway, is dispatched from DS9 to the Badlands to find out where the Maquis ship went, especially since a Starfleet security operative, Vulcan Lt. Tuvok, was aboard. Arriving in the Badlands, the Voyager is scanned by an unknown presence and then ripped out of the Alpha Quadrant by a subspace phenomenon that causes heavy damage and kills many of the crew. Voyager ends up in an unexplored part of the galaxy where the first thing the crew sees is an enegry collection array. While repairs are being made, Janeway and her crew are kidnapped from the ship via transporter and deposited in a virtual reality, the inhabitants of which conduct experiments on the Alpha Quadrant visitors and then return them – minus helmsman Ensign Kim. Making contact with the Maquis crew commanded by Chakotay, Janeway discovers that the same tests were forced upon the renegades and that one of their number has also been abducted. A tenuous truce is arranged so that both crews can recover their missing comrades. Ensign Kim and Maquis engineer B’Elanna Torres, in the meantime, have been beamed to the planet Ocampa, a barren wasteland of a world whose short-lived inhabitants live underground. There they are attended to by the Ocampa, who have been instructed by the Caretaker to look after the two visitors since they have somehow become infected with a terminal illness. Voyager’s crew track their missing comrades to Ocampa and encounter the scavenger Neelix, who offers to be the crew’s guide through this part of space. His knowledge of the local area is invaluable, such as the revelation that water is a rarity and is valuable currency here. The crew is also introduced to the Kazons, who roam the surface of Ocampa foraging a meager existence. They hand over a captive Ocampa named Kes in exchange for some water from Voyager. Shortly after Kes leads the crew to Kim and Torres, the energy array shuts down after transmitting a final burst of power to Ocampa.

The Kazons make a gambit to claim the array for themselves, but Chakotay and Tom Paris, a dishonored former Maquis member aboard Voyager, battle the scavengers off with their respective starships as Janeway and Tuvok beam to the array and find the elderly and dying Caretaker, whose race accidentally destroyed the Ocampan ecosphere and then built the subterranean habitat and the power array so the Ocampa could survive. The Caretaker must be succeeded by another and has been trying to find a replacement for decades, but so far all of those tested for their suitability – such as Kim and Torres – have not proven adequate to the task. The Caretaker decides to set the array to self-destruct to avoid allowing the Ocampa to be enslaved by the Kazons. In the fierce battle with the Kazons, Chakotay’s Maquis ship is destroyed when he rams it into the lead Kazon ship, which then collides with the array, disabling the self-destruct sequence. Janeway beams back to the Voyager and destroys the array herself, though it could have sent her and her crew back to the Alpha Quadrant. The Kazons swear vengeance should they encounter Voyager again. With the surviving members of the Maquis and Starfleet crews both safely aboard Voyager – and with Kes and Neelix in tow – the ship sets a course back home, E.T.A.: 75 years…

Order the DVDsteleplay by Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor
story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Jay Chattaway
series theme by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Basil Langton (The Caretaker), Gavin O’Herlihy (Jabin), Scott Jaeck (Commander Cavit), Angela Paton (Aunt Adah), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alicia Coppola (Lieutenant Stadi), Bruce French (Ocampa Doctor), Jennifer Parsons (Ocampa Nurse), David Selburg (Toscat), Jeff McCarthy (Human Doctor), Stan Ivar (Mark), Scott MacDonald (Rollins), Josh Clark (Carey), Richard Poe (Gul Evek), Keely Sims (Farmer’s Daughter), Eric David Johnson (Daggin), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

Notes: This was easily the most troubled Star Trek series pilot since The Cage was rejected in 1965 by NBC. Internal problems in mounting Paramount’s new network made the show’s future uncertain as to whether it would be a network production or syndicated. (An earlier attempt to launch a Paramount network, with Star Trek: Phase II starring William Shatner and much of the original crew as the network’s cornerstone program, was aborted in the late 1970s.) Academy Award-winning French Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold then accepted the role of Janeway, only to resign from the show three days into filming due to the hectic pace of TV production and, according to some sources, a disagreement with director Winrich Kolbe. At this point, forces within Viacom tried to exert pressure to make Janeway a male character, having resisted the suggestion of a female lead all along. Other voices in the executive ranks suggested – since the other shows comprising Paramount’s new network were even further behind schedule than “Voyager” – that the ever more problematic gestation of the fifth network should be ended, lest the network take to the air and fail, taking dozens of new affiliate stations with it. In the space of a week, Kate Mulgrew was cast for the role as production continued with the cast and crew trying to maneuver around the lack of a captain in the meantime. The theme for the show’s opening titles was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who had scored the first and fifth Trek movies, the theme from which was also adapted to serve as the score for Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Goldsmith’s latest entry into Trek’s otherwise drab musical canon later won the Emmy for main theme music in September 1995.) The show premiered on schedule on UPN.

LogBook entry by Earl Green