Tag: Series Premiere

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Season 1 Sliders

Sliders (Pilot Movie)

SlidersGenius college student Quinn Mallory is about to drive his physics instructor, Professor Maximillian Arturo, quite mad. Quinn is convinced he’s on the brink of breaking the barrier between dimensions, using a device that would let him “slide” between them and visit alternate histories. Professor Arturo is convinced that Quinn is on the verge of doing no such thing if he doesn’t start tending more carefully to his classwork. Quinn’s friend Wade – who isn’t his girlfriend, but wouldn’t mind if he ever did take notice of her – is concerned about him too, and when Wade and Arturo visit Quinn at home, they discover that he has indeed made a breakthrough. Quinn’s sliding device is still in the early stages of testing – and the first time he uses it, it has disastrous results, plunging Quinn, Arturo and Wade into an alternate reality and sucking up a hapless soul singer named Rembrandt “Crying Man” Brown along the way. The four of them find themselves in San Francisco, which is where they started – but they’re trapped in a world where Soviet Communism has overrun America. They quickly fall in with a resistance cell trying to restore democracy, a cell whose missing leader apparently had a striking resemblance to Wade – but they’re met with instant suspicion because the local Commandant bears an equally striking resemblance to Professor Arturo. Even if they survive this adventure, with or without striking a blow for freedom, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to return to their own universe.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Jerry O’Connell (Quinn Mallory), Sabrina Lloyd (Wade Welles), Cleavant Derricks (Rembrandt Brown), John Rhys-Davies (Professor Maximillian Arturo)

Order the DVDswritten by Tracy Tormè
directed by Andrew Tennant
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Linda Henning (Mrs. Mallory), Joseph A. Wapner (Commissar Wapner), Doug Llewelyn (Comrade Llewelyn), Garwin Sanford (Doc), Roger C. Cross (Wilkins), Yee Jee Tso (Wing), Jason Gaffney (Benish), Frank C. Turner (Crazy Kenny), Gary Jones (Hurley), John Novak (Ross J. Kelly), Don Mackay (Artie Field), Alex Bruhanski (Pavel), Jay Brazeau (KGB Colonel), Andrew Kavadas (Vendor), Sook Yin Lee (Pat), Wayne Cox (PBS Spokesman), Raoul Ganee (Sentry), Tom Butler (Michael Mallory)

Notes: Filmed in Vancouver, Sliders visits many of the same locations and even performers as featured a year later in Fox’s 1996 Doctor Who TV movie, including Yee Jee Tso and John Novak. Perhaps not coincidentally, Vancouver was doubling for San Francisco in that production too.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Nowhere Man

Absolute Zero

Nowhere ManPhotographer Tom Veil is a nervous wreck at a showing of his work in his Chicago studio. He convinces his wife to leave the show early to slip out for dinner, but when he goes to the rest room and returns, she is nowhere to be found. The maitre’d doesn’t remember her being there – or Tom himself, for that matter. Tom takes a cab home and finds that another man has taken his place in his home – and that his wife and even his dog apparently have to memory of him.

Tom takes refuge in his studio for the night, finding that the locks have been changed in just a few hours of his absence, and he also finds that one black and white photograph, titled “Hidden Agenda,” has been stolen, and all evidence of his existence has been erased. He tracks down his wife and she confesses that she has been forced to deny his existence by an unknown agency. But when she’s pulled over – a convenience store owner noticed Tom sneaking into her car and called the police – she tells a police officer that she’s never seen Tom before, and Tom is hauled off to a mental hospital. A Doctor Bellamy asks him for a list of people to contact to verify his identity, and a fellow patient who identifies himself only as Eddie seems to know exactly what is going on, but is afraid to tell Tom the truth – and later is subjected to a lobotomy so his knowledge dies with him. Tom kidnaps Bellamy and escapes to his studio, where he uses his photographic expertise to alter Bellamy’s driver’s license so he can avoid being tracked, if only for a little while.

Bellamy offers a handful of hints as to what is happening, but the conversation is cut short when armed mercenaries – working for whoever is out to erase Tom’s existence – storm the studio, and an explosion sparked by darkroom chemicals destroys the building. However, Tom has the master negatives of “Hidden Agenda,” and he escapes again. He finds that his best friend – whose name he gave to Bellamy – has been murdered, and fearing for his mother’s life (since he also gave Bellamy her address), Tom books a flight with Bellamy’s credit card and leaves for Iowa, but has duplicate prints of “Hidden Agenda” made before leaving Chicago. Tom’s worst fears are realized when he arrives at his mother’s home, finds her on life support, and is told by a live-in nurse that his mother suffered a stroke less than a week ago. The nurse’s boyfriend – who happens to be a policeman – arrives and demands that Tom produce identification. Mrs. Veil’s church pastor shows up, temporarily defusing the situation – but he’s not the man who was behind the pulpit the last time Tom was in town. Tom grabs the police officer’s gun and escapes again, holding the nurse at gunpoint, even though there isn’t necessarily any evidence that she, her boyfriend, or the priest are involved in whatever conspiracy seeks to destroy Tom.

Order the DVDswritten by Lawrence Hertzog
directed by Tobe Hooper
music by Mark Snow

Cast: Bruce Greenwood (Thomas Veil), Megan Gallagher (Alyson Veil), Ted Levine (David “Eddie” Powers), Bernie McInerney (Father Thomas), Michael Tucker (Dr. Bellamy), David Brisbin (Driver), Mary Gregory (Mrs. Veil), John Hillard (Cop), Murray Rubinstein (Larry Levy), Rebecca Hayes (Woman #1), Heather Paige Kent (Woman #2), Alexandra Kenworthy (Woman #3), Marian O’Brien (Nurse), Steve Restivo (Gina), Greg Wrangler (Husband), Jay Arlen Jones (Inmate), Lisa Rafel (Attractive Woman), Robert Kempf (Oscar)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Xena: Warrior Princess

Sins of the Past

Xena: Warrior PrincessAfter ten years as a warlord, Xena decides to head for home. On the way she stops in a clearing to bury her weapons, armor, and leathers, reminders of her dark past. But before she can leave, soldiers chase a group of villagers into the clearing. She manages to go undetected while one of the soldiers orders the villagers to give up their women. A young woman named Gabrielle steps forward and offers herself if the soldiers will let the others go. They laugh at her, and when the leader of the soldiers reaches for her, she slaps him away. He pulls out a whip to beat her, but Xena stops him. Soon Xena, with some help from the villagers, defeats the soldiers.

Gabrielle’s family take Xena to their home to treat her injuries, and to put her armor and leathers back on. Gabrielle deluges Xena with questions about her fighting skills and where she is going. Realizing that Gabrielle intends to follow her, Xena threatens her to discourage the young woman. Xena then heads to Draco’s camp. The warlord who commands the soldiers who terrorized Gabrielle’s village, isn’t too surprised to see Xena. She asks him to leave the village alone. He says he will but only if she’ll join him or fight him. She refuses both and tells him she’s headed for home. He finally relents and promises to leave the villagers alone. Once Xena departs, Draco meets with his soldiers and makes plans to head to Xena’s village, Amphipolous. He sends his lieutenant and a few soldiers to follow the warrior princess.

Later that night, Gabrielle decides to sneak out of her home. She accidentally nocks over a stool, waking her sister. Gabrielle tells Lila of her plans and says goodbye. The next day, Xena encounters a cyclops that she blinded some years before. He tries, unsuccessfully, to smash the warrior princess. She throws her chakrum and cuts the rope he uses to hold up his pants. After he falls, she calls for her horse and then gives the fallen cyclops some advice before leaving. Draco’s men close in on Xena. Before they can reach her she disappears, leaving her horse tied to a tree. One by one she takes the men down. She asks Draco’s lieutenant about what he’s up to in a pinch interrogation. When he informs her that Draco plans on attacking her village, Xena releases him and heads for home.

Gabrielle is captured by the same cyclops that Xena had felled only hours before. She convinces him that she’s out to kill the warrior princess and if he lets her go, she will bring Xena, or at least parts of her, to him. He agrees and she goes on her way. Gabrielle encounters an old traveler in a wagon and begs him to give her a ride to Amphipolous. He tells her no, but she’s persistent and he finally agrees.

When Xena reaches her village, she heads for her mother’s tavern. Her mother isn’t happy to see her. She takes Xena’s sword and tells her she isn’t welcome there. Xena tries to warn them of what Draco is up to and wants to plan a defense. But the villagers remember another time when she asked for help to defend the village, and they refuse to help her. Later, Xena returns to the tavern to retrieve her sword, a group of villagers show up. They are angry because Draco’s men, pretending to be from Xena’s army, are burning their fields. They begin to throw stones at her. Gabrielle has finally arrived and darts in between the angry mob and Xena. She tries to convince them that the warrior has changed, but they won’t listen. So she tries another tactic. If Xena and Draco were friends or more than friends, they will only make him angrier by kiling her. Seeing her point, they ask her to take Xena away.

Xena decides to pay a visit to her younger brother’s tomb, and Gabrielle tags along. While they are away Draco arrives to talk with the villagers. They offer to supply the warlord and his troops whenever they are in the area, if he will leave them alone. He listens to this, and then demands to know where Xena is. When the village elder can’t tell Draco, he threatens to kill the old man. But Xena has returned and speaks up, stopping Draco. Draco again tries to talk Xena into joining him. She still refuses, but offers to fight him in a duel to the death.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Lucy Lawless (Xena), Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle)

Order the DVDsteleplay by R.J. Stewart
story by Robert Tapert
directed by Doug Leflar
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Jay Laga’aia (Draco), Darien Takle (Cyrene), Willa O’Neill (Lila), Anton Bentley (Perdicas), Huntly Eliott (First Citizen), Wally Green (Old Man), Linda Jones (Hecuba), Winston Harris (Boy), Roydon Muir (Kastor), David Perrett (Gar), Geoff Snell (Herodotus), Patrick Wilson (Cyclops)

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

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Space: Above And Beyond

Space: Above and Beyond (Pilot)

Space: Above And BeyondIn the year 2063, the newly established Vesta Colony stands as the furthest human settlement in deep space. But not long after Vesta Colony is inaugurated, a mysterious alien force – the first extraterrestrial life ever encountered by mankind – attacks and destroys it.

The attack – though Earth still doesn’t realize why their colony has dropped out of contact – comes on the eve of the launch of a new group of colonists to settle the planet Tellus. But a Senate directive forces the colony’s governor to drop ten colonists to make way for ten in vitros – artificially-gestated humans – forcing two of the colonists, an engaged couple, to separate. Nathan West tries to stow away aboard the Tellus colony ship, but is arrested and thrown off the ship prior to launch. His only hope to get anywhere near the Tellus Colony is the join the U.S. Marines’ Space Aviators wing in hope of landing colonial security duty. West’s explusion turns out to be his salvation, for unknown to him, the Tellus Colony ship is attacked before it can even land.

Upon enlisting, West meets some of his fellow cadets – the determined but angry Shane Vansen, the naive Paul Wang, erstwhile Mike Pagodin (who really just wants to get into a plane), and an in vitro named Cooper Hawkes who was sentenced to Marine boot camp after retaliating violently against a racially-motivated assault by naturally-born humans. This diverse and conflicting group of wet-behind-the-ears future pilots isn’t a promising combination. But when the news finally breaks that the Vesta and Tellus Colonies have fallen to alien attack, the shadow of an impending war draws the cadets closer…and convinces West that the love of his life has been lost forever.

With war on the horizon, the cadets are rushed into a training mission to Mars. The mission seems almost routine until they make a horrifying discovery – the enemy has already gained a foothold in Earth’s solar system. The Marine cadets defend themselves admirably in their first real combat situation, but Pagodin – who has become the only friend Hawkes has ever made in his life – is killed. And the first alien prisoner of war is taken. With no means of translation or any kind of significant communication, the cadets learn nothing from the alien, aside from the fact that water will kill it. But the technology and battle plans from the aliens’ ship proves to be a valuable find.

However, the human war effort is still falling behind. Every engagement has ended with the aliens victorious. Plans taken from the alien ship found on Mars indicate a major alien offensive being planned at the Groombridge star system, several light years away from Earth, but as the cadets, newly assigned to the 58th Squadron, arrive for their first space combat assignment, they discover that the plans were planted deliberately. A massive alien force already headed for Earth…while the majority of Earth’s firepower has been diverted to Groombridge. The future of mankind depends on the ability of West, Vansen and the others knowing when to follow orders …and when to break them.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Morgan Weisser (Lt. Nathan West), Kristen Cloke (Captain Shane Vansen), Rodney Rowland (Lt. Cooper Hawkes), Lanei Chapman (Lt. Vanessa Damphousse), Joel de la Fuente (Lt. Paul Wang), James Morrison (Lt. Colonel T.C. McQueen), Tucker Smallwood (Commodore Glen Ross)

Order the DVDwritten by Glen Morgan & James Wong
directed by David Nutter
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Bill Hunter (Secretary General Chartwell), Amanda Douge (Kylen), Michael Edwards-Stevens (Maxwell), Bartholomew John (Richard West), Colin Friels (Lt. Colonel Fouts), Gennie Nevinson (Anne West), Charles Anthony (Nelson), James Campbell (John West), Peter Kent (Mike “Pags” Pagodin), Angus Grant (Neil West), Theresa Wong (Michelle Low), Melissa Bullock (young Shane), Anja Coleby (Bartley), Colin Handley (Sgt. Vansen), Darrin Klimek (Carter), Rebecca Riggs (Mrs. Vansen), Ric Anderson (Slayton), Chris Kirby (Lt. Stone), Robert Coleby (Governor Overmeyer), Alan Dale (Governor Borman), F. Lee Ermey (Sgt. Bouguss)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lexx Season 1

I Worship His Shadow

LexxThe forces of His Divine Shadow and the warrior race of the Brunnen G clash near one of the Brunnen G’s worlds. The fight ends badly for the Brunnen G and their planet is destroyed. Kai, leader of the Brunnen G attack group, orders a last-ditch kamikaze dive into the control deck of the Shadow starships, but he is the only one who even gets that far. He slams into the ship’s bridge and survives the impact, only to be personally killed by His Divine Shadow itself. The last of the Brunnen G is dead. Two thousand years pass.

In the Cluster, the seat of His Divine Shadow’s government ruling over the league of 20,000 worlds, the clerics of the divine order are trying to figure out how to extend the life of His Divine Shadow. It passes from host brain to host brain, but its sheer power overwhelms each successive host. The spent host’s brain is preserved and kept alive to join His Divine Predecessors. The clerics also worry about a vague prophecy that His Divine Shadow’s forces will cut down the Brunnen G to the last man, but that His Shadow will be slain by a Brunnen G in the end – clearly impossible, since that race is now extinct. The Shadow’s order maintains control over thousands of planets through merciless rule, military might, and forcing the populations of those worlds to worship His Shadow.

The arrival of a prison ship signals the end of the Divine Shadow’s order, though in the unlikeliest way. A heretic hero, Thodin, is among the ship’s prisoners, though he has allowed himself to be captured and brought to the Cluster so he can engineer the Shadow’s downfall. Also among the prisoners are a notorious female cannibal named Giggerota, and an overweight woman named Zev who faces a severe punishment for not fulfilling her “wifely duties.” Zev is sentenced to be reprogrammed into a senator’s love slave, her body altered accordingly to fit her future master’s desires.

Thodin’s plan misfires literally – a bomb goes off in the wrong place, releasing a pack of omnivorous Cluster Lizards into the general populace instead of the public arena where he faces a gladiatorial death sentence. One of the Cluster Lizards reaches the lab where Zev is being “reshaped,” and it falls into the body-shaping apparatus with her. When Zev emerges, she’s part human, part Cluster Lizard, with a fiercely independent spirit and now the strength and fighting instinct to match – as well as quite a healthy sexual appetite. She is spared the mental reprogramming part of the operation by grabbing the head of a robot destroyed by the Cluster Lizard and putting it into the apparatus. The robot, 790, instantly falls head over heels – well, perhaps just head over head – in love with her, and Zev only reluctantly brings it with her to open doors along the path of her escape.

Zev encounters low-ranking security guard Stanley Tweedle, who is on the run for questioning a high-ranking officer’s orders. Using 790, they manage to evade capture, and run into Thodin and his rebels as they try to board a new, insect-based organic warship developed by the Divine Order: the Lexx. Capable of obliterating a planet with a single shot, the Lexx is the most top-secret and heavily-guarded project in the entire Cluster, but His Shadow’s elite guards are conspicuous by their absence in the launch area.

The Lexx bonds to and takes orders from only one person, and when that person dies, the biometric key transfers itself to Stanley Tweedle – the only other human in the previous keyholder’s vicinity. Stanley, Zev, Giggerota and 790 board and launch the Lexx, but find it incapable of defending itself – it’s programmed not to fire on ships loyal to His Divine Shadow. Worse yet, they have company aboard – Kai, last of the Brunnen G, reanimated by His Divine Shadow and reprogrammed to serve as the Shadow’s personal assassin, boards the Lexx and disposes of Giggerota, holding the others at the mercy of his Brunnen G brace weapon. But when His Divine Shadow arrives to personally quash the rebellion and bring the Lexx home, Kai begins to regain the memory of his proud heritage – and his death – and becomes an instrument of prophecy.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Donovan with Jeffrey Hirschfield and Lex Gigeroff
directed by Paul Donovan
music by Marty Simon

Cast: Brian Downey (Stanley Tweedle), Eva Habermann (Zev), Michael McManus (Kai), Barry Bostwick (Thodin), Ellen Dubin (Giggerota), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790), Lisa Hines (Zev of B3K), Gil Brenton (Tem), David Renton (Senior Cleric), Anna Cameron (Prophet), Bill Carr (Correction Centre Guard), Lionel Doucette (Holo Judge), Liz Richardson (Holo Prosecutor), Chris Rowntree (Holo Official), John Dartt (Holo Defense Lawyer), David McClelland (Holo Cleric), Jocelyn Cunningham (Cluster Major), Richard Donat (Megashadow Admiral), Chas Lawther (Video Customs Officer), Andrei Mahankov (Robot 2), Clive Sweeney (Megashadow Adjutant), Jeremy Akerman (Transport Major), Joseph Rutten (Slab Prisoner), Alan MacGillivray (Argon Protopi), Josh McDonald (Sergeant), Lex Gigeroff (Bound Man), Walter Borden (His Dying Shadow), John Dunsworth (Video Asteroid Commander), Jack Carr (Video Boy Cleric), Horst Ulan (Cluster General), Glen Wadman (Officer), Stephen Turnbull (Fore Shadow Officer), Jamie Bradley (Cleric 2), Andrew Smith (Cleric), Michael Petersen (Robot & Lizard), Janice Evens (Computer Voice), Tom Gallant (Lexx), Walter Borden (His Shadow), Marty Simon (Brain No. 14)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deepwater Black Mission Genesis

Awakening

Deepwater Black / Mission GenesisA young woman named Yuna awakens from cryogenic sleep aboard a ship that’s lurching unpredictably through space. Other cryogenic containers open gradually, revealing the rest of her crewmates, though none of them – including Yuna – can remember their names or their shipboard functions at first.

Yuna and a young man named Reb regain enough of their memories to realize that their ship is being attacked, and manage to evade the attack by jumping into hyperspace – but whoever is firing on them continues the pursuit, and they can’t run forever. The others begin to recall their jobs: Zak is a cybernetics expert, and immediately sets about trying to repair the onboard computer and its holographic interface, Gen. Lise is medically trained, while the aggressive Bren comfortably steps back into his function as the ship’s security chief. Gret seems to be the crew’s communications expert. But all of them will have to remember how to do their jobs quickly in order to survive the next attack…

written by Bill Taub
based on the Deepwater novels by Ken Catran
directed by George Mendeluk
music by Fred Mollin

Cast: Gordon Michael Woolvett (Reb), Nicole de Boer (Yuna), Jason Cadieux (Bren), Julie Khan (Gen), Craig Kirkwood (Zak), Sara Sahr (Lise), Kelli Taylor (Gret)

Deepwater BlackNotes: Aired in the U.S. as Mission Genesis on Sci-Fi Channel, this series – based on a series of young adult SF novels by Canadian writer Ken Catran – was partially bankrolled by Sci-Fi Channel and was billed as the first Sci-Fi Channel original series. The cast is filled with faces familiar to viewers of Canadian-produced drama series (a category that also crosses over with many later Sci-Fi Channel original series). The television series diverges from the books in everything from minor story details to major elements such as the characters’ names. Composer Fred Mollin had previously scored such Canadian-produced TV series as Friday The 13th: The Series (and some of the later movies from that franchise), Forever Knight, TekWar and episodes of the new Outer Limits.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 01 SG-1 Stargate

Children Of The Gods

Stargate SG-1At a top secret facility in Cheyenne Mountain, the stargate is kept in a storage facility, guarded by a handful of of soldiers. When it activates, Goa’uld warriors come out shooting. One of the soldiers is taken hostage and her comrades, despite putting up a valiant fight, are killed. The Goa’uld take their hostage and leave.

Colonel Jack O’Neill, a year after his first voyage through the stargate, is called out of retirement and questioned by General George Hammond about his original mission. When General Hammond reveals a plan to send another nuclear bomb through the gate to prevent it from ever opening again, O’Neill finally reveals that he didn’t necessarily carry out his orders and that the team members he reported killed in action are, in fact, still living on Abydos. O’Neill suggests sending a message of sorts through the stargate to see if archaeologist Daniel Jackson is alive and well; when a reply is received, O’Neill is recalled to active duty and assigned to take another trip through the gate to investigate the sudden revival of the Goa’uld’s interest in Earth. Major Samantha Carter, an expert on the workings of the stargate, is added to O’Neill’s reassembled original team for the mission.

An initially hostile reception on the other side of the gate is quickly prevented by Daniel Jackson, who reveals his theory that there are more than two stargates – and that it’s likely that there’s an entire network of gates spread throughout the galaxy. Daniel has begun to make some headway on translating several cartouches which may be a map of that network. But before he can explain much more, Goa’uld invade Abydos through the stargate, again slaughtering everyone they can and taking a hostage – in this case, the woman Daniel has taken as his lover. He agrees to return to Earth with the surviving members of O’Neill’s team, but upon his return he finds that General Hammond isn’t exactly pleased to see him again.

With what seems to be the return of Ra, despite O’Neill and Daniel’s insistence that they did succeed in killing him, Hammond forms nine teams to perform regular reconnaisance and security missions through the Stargate, and assigns O’Neill and Carter to the prime team, SG-1. But on their first mission, the odds are against them. Daniel discovers that his lover is now inhabited by the symbiont of a Goa’uld queen, and the entire SG-1 team is captured. Only the startling rebellion of a Goa’uld warrior named Teal’c turns the tide when he joins O’Neill.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Richard Dean Anderson (Colonel Jack O’Neill), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson), Amanda Tapping (Major Samantha Carter), Christopher Judge (Teal’c), Don S. Davis (General Hammond)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Jonathan Glassner & Brad Wright
directed by Mario Azzopardi
music by Joel Goldsmith
main theme adapted from music by David Arnold

Guest Cast: Jay Acovone (Major Kawalsky), Vaitiare Bandera (Sha’re), Robert Wisden (Major Samuels), Peter Williams (Apophis), Brent Stait (Major Ferretti), Gary Jones (Technician), Alexis Cruz (Skaara), Rachael Hayward (Guard #3), Rick Ravanello (Guard #2), J.B. Bivens (Guard #1), Stephen Sumner (Goa’uld #1), Adam Harrington (Goa’uld #2), John Bear Curtis (Primitive), John Tierney (Monk), Colin Lawrence (Warren), Garvin Cross (Casey), Anthony Ashbee (Soldier), Eric Schneider (Doctor), Andrew McIlwaine (Medic), Santo Lombardo (Bolaa), Sean Amsing (Tobay), Monique Rusu (Dark Skinned Woman), Janette de Vries (Female Serpent Guard)

Stargate SG-1Notes: There are several differences between the world established in the movie Stargate and that of the series. The location of the mountain base housing the Stargate has changed to Cheyenne Mountain, an actual Air Force base. (O’Neill mentions that he has been there before, suggesting that the stargate was not moved between the film and the series.) The spellings of “Jack O’Neill” and “Sha’re” have been changed from the original “O’Neil” and “Sha’uri.” The characters of Kawalsky and Ferretti were lieutenants in the movie, but majors in the series. In the film, Abydos was in another galaxy. In the series, it is one of the closest planets with a stargate to Earth, which is why the Earth gate is able to connect to it without adjustments to the address. The alien that possessed the human body Ra was a humanoid in the movie, not a snake-like creature. Ra’s guards were not called by any name or title in the movie, but were referred to as Horus and Anubis in the credits. Their headpieces folded away completely and disappeared, unlike the serpent guard headpieces of the series. (The name Anubis was later given to a major villain in the series’ later seasons.) In the film, O’Neil and Jackson agreed that the major danger was the Earth gate, and that O’Neil would find some way to have that shut down when he returned home. No explanation is given for why the stargate remained unburied and connected to power. Alexis Cruz played Skaara in both the movie and the series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green with notes by Dave Thomer

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Earth: Final Conflict Season 1

Decision

Earth: Final ConflictEarly in the 21st century, a number of alien Taelons, calling themselves the Companions, have arrived on Earth, ridding the human race of disease, famine and other scourges of overpopulation, bringing Earth into a new era of prosperity. But not every human being trusts the Companions – what is the price of the Taelons’ boundless generosity?

Policeman William Boone tries to arrange for heightened security for the visit of Da’an, one of the Companions, to an urban area, only to have his efforts rebuffed. Boone’s worst nightmare comes to fruition when an attempt is made on Da’an’s life, and Boone’s partner takes the bullet meant for the alien. Worse yet, the sniper is revealed to be a fellow war veteran of Boone’s, now a member of an underground resistance movement whose mission is to undermine the Companions. While hunting down his fleeing former comrade, Boone is offered a high-ranking security position by the Taelons, but his immediate obsession is to solve the case at hand. But when Boone’s wife is killed in an act of terrorism, he is left with many questions – how widespread is the resistance movement against the Companions? And who killed Boone’s wife – the resistance, or perhaps the aliens themselves?

Season 1 Regular Cast: Kevin Kilner (Captain William Boone), Lisa Howard (Captain Lili Marquette), Von Flores (FBI Agent Ronald Sandoval), Leni Parker (Da’an), Richard Chevolleau (Augur), David Hemblen (Doors)

written by Gene Roddenberry
directed by Allan Eastman
music by Micky Erbe & Maribeth Solomon

Guest Cast: Miranda Kwok (Kwai-Ling), John Evans (Morovsky), Lisa Ryder (Kate Boone), Michael Filipowich (Corr), Monique Mojica (Mayor Ruiz), Paul Boretski (Jordan), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Dr. Belman)

Notes: Launched almost exactly six years after the death of its creator, Earth: Final Conflict is the result of a series concept originally titled “Battleground: Earth” which Roddenberry was developing for CBS in 1976 before he was lured away to work on the proposed new Star Trek series which later evolved into the first Trek theatrical film. Majel Barrett, Roddenberry’s widow (and a recurring guest star in Star Trek’s numerous incarnations as well as Earth: Final Conflict) discovered her husband’s pilot script in 1995 and began looking for a studio to develop it into a new series. The name of Gene Roddenberry was officially made part of the show’s title to cash in on the posthumous fame of the creator of Star Trek.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Mercy Point

New Arrivals

Mercy PointIn the year 2249, space station Mercy Point serves as humanity’s primary medical facility at the edge of a hazardous area of deep space known as the Sahartic Divide. Both human and alien doctors practice there, straining under constant shortages of both supplies and personnel. Dr. Grote Maxwell and Dr. Haylen Breslauer, both humans, eagerly await the arrival of a new resident to ease their workload, but Haylen is less than overjoyed when her younger half-sister, Dr. Dru Breslauer, is the new arrival. Her arrival also leaves Dr. Caleb Jurado, Mercy Point’s chief EMT, at a loss for words, as the two had a tumultuous prior relationship. Mercy Point’s resident nurses seethe with jealousy over Ani (short for Android Nursing Interface), a tireless nurse with perfect bedside manner and appearance, no matter how long her shifts are. A computer technician from the nearby Jericho Colony, the most distant human settlement, arrives and begins have seizures. Maxwell is flustered in his attempts to pinpoint the cause, but when a group of patients arrive from the same colony and display similar symptoms, Mercy Point is placed under quarantine to contain a possible epidemic.

written by Trey Callaway
directed by Michael Katleman
music by Jon Ehrlich

Mercy PointCast: Joe Morton (Dr. Grote Maxwell), Maria Del Mar (Dr. Haylen Breslauer), Alexandra Wilson (Dr. Dru Breslauer), Jordan Lund (Dr. Batung), Julia Pennington (Ani), Gay Thomas (Dr. Rema Cook), Brian McNamara (Dr. Caleb Jurado) Joe Spano (Dr. DeMilla), Salli Richardson (Kim), Zachary Ansley (Bortok), Veena Sood (Mrs. Tennant), Gordon Currie (Mr. Tennant), Mitch Kosterman (Hennessy), Christine Willes (Nurse Tobbit), Leanne Adachi (Mednaut Cowan), Brent Chapman (Launch Attendant), Paul McGillion (Pvt. Banes), Joe Pascual (Mednaut Westhusing), Rick Ravanello (Mednaut Thurston), Diana Stevan (Mrs. Hennesey), Haig Sutherland (Nagnom)

Mercy PointNotes: As the writer of the hit movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, series creator Trey Callaway was given his first shot at a “created by” credit on TV, resulting in Mercy Point, a SF medical drama which was part of an attempt by UPN to revitalize the network in its third year on the air. Genre series were greenlit with great fanfare in UPN’s fall 1998 season, though Mercy Point was the first to fall under the axe, airing only three episodes before cancellation. Its stablemate, Seven Days, found an audience by virtue of sharing Wednesday nights with Star Trek: Voyager. UPN burned off the remaining unaired Mercy Point episodes in July 1999. Callaway went on to write and produce CSI:NY.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Farscape Season 1

Premiere

  • By Dave
  • March 19, 1999

FarscapeCommander John Crichton is the first test pilot of Farscape One, a craft he designed in order to test a theory on gravitational acceleration. However, when the ship encounters a disturbance midflight, Crichton winds up sucked through a wormhole right into the middle of a prison ship’s escape from its military escort. Moya, the prison ship, brings Crichton on board, but not before one of the attacking Peacekeeper fighters collides with Farscape One and subsequently crashes. His first encounter with the escapees – the exiled priest Zhaan, the deposed ruler Rygel, and the warrior D’Argo – does not go well, and before long he and a captured Peacekeeper stage a prison break of their own . . . with the brother of the dead pilot on their trail and seeking revenge.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Ben Browder (Commander John Crichton), Claudia Black (Officer Aeryn Sun), Virginia Hey (Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan), Anthony Simcoe (Ka D’Argo)

Order the Season 1 DVDswritten by Rockne S. O’Bannon
directed by Andrew Prowse
music by Subvision

Guest Cast: Kent McCord (Jack Crichton), Lani John Tupu (Captain Bialar Crais)

Notes: Lani Tupu also provides the voice for Pilot, one of Farscape‘s recurring animatronic characters. Jonathan Hardy voices the former Hynerian Dominar, Rygel.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Babylon 5 / Crusade Spinoff: Crusade

War Zone

CrusadeIn the aftermath of the Drakh War, Earth Alliance ships pursue remnants of the Drakh fleet. The government has moved to Mars, and those trapped behind the Earth quarantine have already begun to surrender to despair. The EA assembles a team of scientists and soldiers to crew the Excalibur and search the galaxy for any clue that may lead to a cure before all life on Earth ends. Despite the government’s attempt to maintain control of this politically delciate mission, two participants in the War are determined to take their place in the effort. On its shakedown cruise, the Excalibur has its first opportunity for action: save a team of archaeologists from an advancing Drakh army, and salvage the Drakh’s fallen ship.

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Janet Greek
music by Evan H. Chen

Cast: Gary Cole (Captain Matthew Gideon), Tracy Scoggins (Captain Elizabeth Lochley), Daniel Dae Kim (Lt. Matheson), Carrie Dobro (Dureena Nafeel), David Allen Brooks (Max Eilerson), Marjean Holden (Dr. Sarah Chambers), Peter Woodward (Galen), Alex Mendoza (Trace Miller), Tim Thomerson (Sentator McQuate), Chris Comes (Aide), Maggie Egan (ISN Anchor), Don Fischer (Captain Henson), Mark Hendrickson (Drakh Captain), Elijah Majar (Crew #1), Rebecca Markham (Sam), Brook Parker (Lieutenant Ross), John Sanderford (Mr. Ames), Will Schaub (Jenson), Otto Sturcke (Ensign)

Notes: The episode Racing The Night was originally intended to lead off the series, but TNT insisted that series creator J. Michael Straczynski turn in a script with more action and introductions to the characters (since production delays meant that Crusade didn’t premiere until half a year after the Babylon 5 movie A Call To Arms, which was meant to segue between the two series). As such, the inclusion of elements like the mutiny aboard Gideon’s ship and the obviously 20th century news footage were last-minute additions. Galen and Dureena were both introduced in A Call To Arms, as was the Excalibur herself; Marjean Holden also appeared in that movie, though not in her regular Crusade role of Dr. Sarah Chambers.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer with notes by Earl Green

Categories
5th Doctor 6th Doctor 7th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Sirens Of Time

Doctor Who: The Sirens Of TimeThe seventh Doctor is drawn to a jungle world, where he rescues a hapless bystander and discovers an elderly couple nearby. The couple have a unique relationship based on a mutual loathing that seems like it could become murderous at any moment – and they both have very dark secrets to hide. The fifth Doctor, meanwhile, finds himself locked out of the TARDIS, which has materialized aboard a doomed British ship in the North Atlantic. The ship is torpedoed by a German U-boat, and the TARDIS is lost at sea. The Doctor, along with an Irish woman from the British vessel, drifts along with the debris until taken aboard the German sub as a spy. Elsewhere, on the starliner Edifice, the sixth Doctor’s TARDIS arrives, coinciding with an experiment being performed on a time-sensitive creature known as the Temperon. But shortly after the experiment fails, the entire crew – with the exception of its android helmsman and a waitress who appears to have survived through pure luck – is killed, and the Doctor must find out why. Each incarnation of the Doctor is unaware that he is facing the same threat, but in different places and times. And each Doctor has a piece of the puzzle that could save their besieged home planet of Gallifrey.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Colin Baker (The Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Andrew Fettes (Commander Raldeth / Schmidt), Anthony Keetch (Coordinator Vansell), Michael Wade (The President), Sarah Mowat (Elenya / Helen / Ellie / Knight Commander Lyena), Maggie Stables (Ruthley), Colin McIntyre (Sancroff), John Wadmore (Commandant / Lt. Zentner / Pilot Azimendah / Subcommander Solanec), Mark Gatiss (Captain Schwieger / Edifice Captain / Knight 2), Nicholas Briggs (The Temperon), Nicholas Pegg (Delegate)

Timeline: part one takes place in an unspecified time frame while the seventh Doctor is traveling alone; part two takes place while Tegan and Turlough are traveling with the Doctor, but since he makes no reference to being Lord President of Gallifrey, this may place it between Terminus and The Five Doctors. Part three takes place between Trial Of A Time Lord and Time And The Rani, since the sixth Doctor is traveling alone.

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
Cleopatra 2525 Season 1

Quest For Firepower

Cleopatra 2525Centuries before 2525 A.D., humanity was driven into vast networks of underground tunnels and chambers by flying mechanical aliens known as Bailies. Freedom fighters try to restore human control of Earth, but find themselves up against agents of the Bailies even underground. Hel and Sarge manage to reach the surface, a rarity for their generation of humans, only to find themselves in a firefight with a Bailey almost immediately. A third freedom fighter reveals himself to be a “traitor bot” – a mechanical assassin created by the Baileys to infiltrate and eliminate resistance cells. He injures Sarge, but fails to capture either Sarge or Hel.

Hel takes Sarge to an underground “body bank”, where they will have to barter for a new kidney to replace Sarge’s injured kidney. The shady characters operating the body bank have plenty of replacement organs to choose from, harvested from recently-recovered humans cryogenically frozen in the early 21st century, though they’re keeping one particularly attractive female intact for their own lascivious purposes. This woman awakens during Sarge’s operation and, having no knowledge of when or where she is, tries to escape, but when the traitor bot tracks Sarge down, all three women flee together. Sarge and Hel discover, much to their chagrin, that their new friend Cleopatra was what was known in the 21st century as an “exotic dancer”, and has no fighting experience whatsoever. But is there something she can contribute to the fight to save humanity?

teleplay by R.J. Stewart
story by Rob Tapert & R.J. Stewart
directed by Greg Yaitanes
music by Joseph Lo Duca

Cleopatra 2525Cast: Gina Torres (Hel), Victoria Pratt (Sarge), Jennifer Sky (Cleopatra), Patrick Kake (Mauser), David Press (Horst), Mark Williams (Cat Man), Elizabeth Hawthorne (Voice)

Notes: Airing as a CGI-heavy, half-hour action series in its first season, Cleopatra 2525 was hastily conceived as one of two shows to fill in the slot formerly occupied in the Universal Action Pack syndication package by Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a show which had come to an abrupt end with the defection of its star, Kevin Sorbo, to Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. (It shared Hercules’ former one-hour Cleopatra 2525time slot with the Bruce Campbell series Jack Of All Trades, which also clocked in at half an hour) All three of Cleopatra 2525’s leads had previously played roles on Hercules and Xena. American-born actress Jennifer Sky played Amarice in several Xena episodes, and would go on to make appearances in Charmed, CSI: Miami, and Fastlane. Canadian actress Victoria Pratt appeared as Cyane in the Xena two-parter Adventures In The Sin Trade, and immediately after Cleopatra 2525 moved on to the syndicated series Mutant X as one of its regulars; she has since appeared in Day Break, NCIS, and Cleopatra 2525Heartland. Gina Torres appeared as Nebula in several episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and after this series went on to the recurring role of Jasmine in the Buffy spinoff Angel, before taking the role of Zoe Washburne in Joss Whedon’s Firefly. She has since appeared in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, 24, Alias, Standoff, Hannibal, and Suits, and has voiced characters in Justice League, Transformers Prime, and, most recently, Star Wars Rebels.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Pilot Movie Witchblade

Witchblade (Pilot Movie)

WitchbladeNYPD detectives Sara Pezzini and Danny Woo are on the trail of a criminal named Gallo who, among other things, is suspected by Pezzini of murdering her father, and, more recently, a childhood friend of hers. In the ensuing chase, Pezzini and Danny are separated, and Pez finds herself in an art gallery at the mercy of a trained killer. The only thing that saves her life is the Witchblade – an armored gauntlet in one of the display cases which seems to somehow make its own way onto her arm in the melee, deflecting bullets and effectively ending the fight by sparking a huge explosion which kills the gunman. Pezzini is understandably confused by what has happened, especially when there is no evidencee of the gauntlet later (though she can’t explain the origin of the ancient-looking bracelet which now graces her wrist) – nor is there any evidence of a dark-clothed man who she spotted gazing at the Witchblade in the gallery.

As she recovers from the fierce fight, Pezzini’s dreams are infiltrated by the bracelet, filling them with images of death, battle, and even Joan of Arc. And the man in black from the gallery is watching her and reporting back to an unseen master – a master who owns the Rialto Theatre, a property in which Gallo is interested. Pezzini and Danny act on a tip about Gallo’s interest in the Rialto from rookie cop Jake McCarty – whose somewhat hazy background doesn’t inspire Danny’s trust. Unknown to the two veteran cops, two others tag along when they stake out the Rialto – the man who has been trailing Pez, and McCarty, who seems determined to get a piece of the action. But the stakeout goes horribly wrong when Danny is captured by Gallo’s thugs and killed in cold blood by Gallo himself. Before McCarty can come to the rescue, the mysterious man in black knocks him out cold. Pezzini is alone against her arch nemesis, and suddenly the bracelet’s true nature makes itself known – it unfolds across her arm, becoming the Witchblade, enabling her to take on and defeat Gallo’s mob literally single-handedly.

As if her life isn’t already complicated enough, Pezzini files a report about the Rialto incident, but leaves out any mention of her secret weapon, which arouses the police department’s suspicion. Danny appears to her at his own funeral, seemingly as a ghost that only she can see. Gallo is still on the loose, and even tries to claim the Danny’s death is Pezzini’s fault. And perhaps most shockingly of all, her mentor (and the captain of the NYPD homicide division) admits that Pezzini was adopted at birth – and the man whose death she seeks to avenge wasn’t even her real father. McCarty tries to shoehorn himself into the position of being Sara’s partner, even coming up with an unusual link between the museum where she found the Witchblade, the Rialto, and the man in black. The common denominator is eccentric billionaire Kenneth Irons, owner of the gigantic Vorschlaag Industries, and collector of art and artifacts related to the Witchblade. Irons tells her the nature of her newfound savior, and even offers to help her hone her skill at using it. But as soon as she leaves, Irons and his minion begin laying out plans to manipulate Sara, to see if she is truly destined to wear the Witchblade. Even though she doesn’t know how to summon its powers in battle, Sara Pezzini will have to use the Witchblade as best she can in one last showdown with Gallo.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by J.D. Zeik
directed by Ralph Hemecker
music by Joel Goldsmith and Neil Acree

Cast: Yancy Butler (Detective Sara Pezzini), Anthony Cistaro (Kenneth Irons), Conrad Dunn (Gallo), David Chokachi (Detective Jake McCarty), Kenneth Welsh (Captain Joe Siri), Will Yun Lee (Detective Danny Woo), Eric Etebari (Ian Nottingham), Jody Racicot (Maria), Hal Eisen (Lorenzo Vespucci), Jim Codrington (Drexler), Tony Munch (?), Katherine Trowell (?), Whitney Westwood (?), Phil Hay (?), Tyson McAuley (?), Noah Danby (?), Sven Wan De Ven (?), Tig Fong (?), Sean Baek (?), and Lazar

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Dalek Empire Doctor Who

Invasion Of The Daleks

Dalek Empire: Invasion Of The DaleksSusan “Suz” Mendes’ peaceful life of conducting mineralogical surveys on the planet Vega VI is shattered abruptly when a Dalek invasion fleet blasts its way through the Vega system, enslaving or exterminating millions of humans. Heartier members of the population are robotized, receiving cybernetic implants that give the Daleks direct control over them, while the other survives are forced to work in mines – often until they die. Alby Brook, a friend of Suz, ran when the fleet appeared, and although he escaped to safety, he now wants nothing more than to return to Vega VI and rescue her. However, with the prospect of a new human-Dalek war looming, Brook – who was actually there on a covert mission to find a rogue Knight of Velyshaa named Kalendorf – is called to full-time service…and told to forget a woman who is, in all likelihood, dead. He befriends an overenthusiastic reporter, Gordon Pellan, who relishes broadcasting live from the war zone. When Suz attracts the attention of the Emperor Dalek by defying the Daleks’ death threats if she doesn’t stop campaigning for the slave workers’ basic human rights, she finds herself in a position to help others and save lives. She’s more than a little surprised to learn that the first life she has saved is Kalendorf. When the tide of battle cuts Alby off from his superiors and their orders, he throws caution to the wind and embarks on a mission to save Suz, dragging Pellan into the fray with him.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sarah Mowat (Susan Mendes), Mark McDonnell (Alby Brook), Gareth Thomas (Kalendorf), John Wadmore (Gordon Pellan), Joyce Gibbs (Narrator), Ian Brooker (Admiral Cheviat/Ed Byers/Roboman), David Sax (Tanlee), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices), Alistair Lock (Dalek voices)