What tomorrow looked like yesterday

theLogBook.com is a chronicle of how we used to imagine the future - an ever-expanding logbook of what our entertainment, our culture, and even our brightest minds thought would happen. It's nostalgia - and some real history - that always looks to the future.

Created & curated by Earl Green


Latest Podcasts

Gene-ology 65 – A Crisis Named Wavelin Gene-ology: A Roddenberry Podcast

Welcome to Gene-ology, where we explore the earliest TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek! Was this the final aired episode of Wrangler, or was "A Crisis Named Wavelin" left on the cutting room floor?  Which would have been better?  Gene-ology examines Gene Roddenberry's final Wrangler script, which has a troubling tendency to use some disturbingly heavy themes as a source of…humor? Join us as we dig into the Roddenberry archives and discuss how Gene’s early writing shaped the groundbreaking worlds he would later bring to our screens. Hosted by Earl Green and Ashley Thomas Guest starring Cody Banning as Pitcairn, Kendra Bolen as Wavelin, Daniel Hackman as Paulo, and Shane Sexton as Ghourbaht 🌟 About Gene-ology: Gene-ology is a Roddenberry Entertainment podcast dedicated to exploring the formative years of Gene Roddenberry’s career before Star Trek. We explore his early TV scripts—including unproduced works—and examine the evolution of his storytelling. Buckle in and get ready for Gene-ology! 🔍 In This Episode: A breakdown of key moments and themes from Wrangler, “A Crisis Named Wavelin” Insight into Gene Roddenberry’s early career and how this episode fits into his body of work. How the themes in this episode connect to the larger Roddenberry universe. 💬 Join the Conversation: What do you think of Wrangler, “A Crisis Named Wavelin"? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments! 🔔 Subscribe and Stay Tuned: Make sure to subscribe for more deep dives into Gene Roddenberry’s earliest TV writing. We release new episodes every other week! Follow us on Social Media: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/MissionLogPod X: https://x.com/MissionLogPod THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@roddenberrypodcasts FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MissionLogPod Gene-ology is produced by Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producer Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry. Visit https://Podcasts.Roddenberry.Com for more great content. 💖 Support the Show: Join our Patreon for exclusive content, and connect with fellow fans in our Discord community. Every contribution helps us continue our mission to explore the early works of Gene Roddenberry. https://www.Patreon.com/MissionLogPod
  1. Gene-ology 65 – A Crisis Named Wavelin
  2. Gene-ology 64 – Encounter At Elephant Butte
  3. Gene-ology 63 – Incident At The Wide Loop
  4. Gene-ology 62 – The Affair With Browning's Woman
  5. Gene-ology 61 – Affair At The Trading Post

Retrogram #7718: B.S.W. Retrogram – theLogBook.com

The week of May 2, 1977: Before the Dark Times, before the Empire – well, approximately three weeks before the Dark Times and before the Empire – television sci-fi is just doing its thing on both sides of the Atlantic, unaware that audience expectations are about to change drastically. Retrogram examines five shows that were on the air during one of the last few weeks before a little movie called Star Wars took the world by storm. (1:06:06) Right-click here and “save as” to download the podcast – trust me, it sounds better this way than it does on 8-track. Links: Feel free to help support the show at Patreon or Ko-Fi! November 1983 in theLogBook’s History Timeline Special thanks to Ashley Thomas – The Nerdy Blogger (and all of our other Patreon supporters) Support Retrogram by purchasing through links and search boxes in theLogBook.com Store. The #1 song of that week… Music (in order): “Great Dark Spot” by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com) CC BY-SA “O Crebro do Morto” by Dr. Frankenstein (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-SA “Queen” by Soft and Furious (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-SA (break music) “League Of Mice” by Dee Zee (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-SA “Nine Stones” by Andrew Howes (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-SA “Theme from Man From Atlantis” by Fred Karlin “AVV Revisited” by Hermelin (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-SA
  1. Retrogram #7718: B.S.W.
  2. Retrogram #9060: What Did You Do During The Syndication Wars?
  3. Retrogram #8347: The Day After The Day Of The Doctor
  4. Retrogram #7152: 72 @ 50, Part 1
  5. Retrogram #2214: The Little Black Bags

Latest Reviews


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Published On: February 22, 2019

BeresheetThe Israeli-built Beresheet uncrewed experimental lunar lander is launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Originally intended as an entrant for the Google Lunar X Prize, Beresheet (and all the other hopefuls) missed the March 31, 2018 deadline, leaving the $20,000,000 Lunar X Prize unclaimed. Unlike past lunar missions, Beresheet is launched into a high Earth orbit, whose apogee (maximum distance from Earth) will be increased over a period of nearly two months with multiple burns of the vehicle’s main engine until it coincides with the orbital distance of the moon, at which time the engine will be fired again to place it in a lunar orbit prior to landing. The lander contains digital copies of numerous documents from Earth, reflecting the builders’ Jewish heritage as well as extensive databases of knowledge from sources such as Wikipedia. As the lander itself has not been built with protective shielding of any kind, its operational lifetime is expected to last only around two days on the lunar surface. If the mission succeeds, Israel will be the fourth nation (after the United States, Soviet-era Russia, and China) to land a spacecraft on the moon.

Published On: February 22, 2017

The ExpanseThe 15th episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Chad L. Coleman (The Orville) guest stars.

The Expanse now streaming on Amazon Prime

Published On: February 22, 2017

Trappist-1NASA announces the discovery, via the Spitzer Space Telescope, of a system of seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1, only 40 light years from Earth’s solar system. Though water may exist in some state on all seven of the planets, three of them are thought to be orbiting within the “Goldilocks zone” in which liquid water would be abundant, making life possible on the surfaces of those planets.

Published On: February 22, 2017

ArrowThe 106th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 2016

The X-FilesThe 207th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Mitch Pileggi, Annabeth Gish, William B. Davis, Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) and Robbie Amell (The Tomorrow People, The Flash) guest star in the tenth season finale.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 2000

The StrangerersThe second episode of the science fiction comedy series The Strangerers is broadcast on Sky One, created and written by Rob Grant (Red Dwarf), starring Mark Williams and Jack Docherty. Paul Darrow (Blake’s 7) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 2000

Buffy The Vampire SlayerThe 71st episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Amber Benson and Eliza Dushku guest star.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 1998

The X-FilesThe 109th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Luke Wilson guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 1996

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Columbia is launched on the 75th shuttle flight, staying in orbit for nearly 16 days. The crew attempts to deploy a tethered satellite experiment flown unsuccessfully in 1992, only to watch as the tether snaps with the satellite 12 miles away from the shuttle. The remainder of the flight is spent conducting planned material science experiments. Aboard Columbia for her 19th flight are Commander Andrew Allen, Pilot Scott Horowitz, Payload Commander Franklin Chang-Diaz, and mission specialists Maurizio Cheli, Jeffrey Hoffman, Claude Nicollier and Umberto Guidoni. To this day, video of the satellite floating in space after the tether failure is circulated as “proof” of the existence of UFOs.

Published On: February 22, 1995

The Tomorrow PeopleThe 23rd episode of Roger Price’s rebooted science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid, Alexandra Milman, and Christian Tessier. Clive Merrison and Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) guest star.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 1994

The Tomorrow PeopleThe 13th episode of Roger Price’s rebooted science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid, Naomie Harris (Spyfall), and Christian Tessier. Christopher Benjamin (Doctor Who) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Published On: February 22, 1993

Babylon 5The week-long national syndication window opens for the pilot movie of Babylon 5, The Gathering. The movie’s completely computer-generated effects – a first for television science fiction – win an Emmy Award. Despite favorable ratings from the movie’s initial broadcast, months pass before Warner Bros. orders the first full season, to premiere in 1994.

More about Babylon 5 in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Babylon 5 now streaming on Amazon Prime
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Published On: February 22, 1980

Corvus OmniNetCorvus Systems introduces its Winchester hard disk drive for the Apple II computer, available with five or ten megabytes of storage. A bulky device requiring its own power supply independent of the computer to which it’s connected, the Winchester drive carries a $5,000 price tag and an unconventional data backup system, Corvus Mirror, which uses videocassettes (also a fairly new technology). As the investment in this new mass storage technology is fairly daunting, Corvus will introduce a networking system the following year to allow multiple computers access to a single hard drive.

More about Apple II in Phosphor Dot Fossils

Published On: February 22, 1978

NAVSTARThe U.S. Air Force launches NAVSTAR-1, the first of a planned constellation of experimental satellites supporting the Department of Defense’s Global Positioning System project. Envisioned as a network of satellites providing extremely accurate location data for military purposes, the Global Positioning System will later grow to service civilian customers as well. Three other NAVSTAR satellites are launched in 1978 alone, and later satellites in the original NAVSTAR series will be launched betwen 1980 and 1985. Unlike the later, more advanced NAVSTAR II satellites of the 1990s, data from the original NAVSTAR constellation is restricted to the American military.

Published On: February 22, 1952

Tales Of TomorrowThe 21st episode of ABC’s science fiction anthology series, Tales Of Tomorrow, airs on ABC, with each episode’s opening titles proclaiming that the series is produced “in cooperation with the Science-Fiction League of America”, a collective of sci-fi writers including Isaac Asimov and Theodore Sturgeon among its members. This episode stars Boris Karloff and Barbara Joyce.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

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