Day: February 3, 1966

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Batman Season 1

Rats Like Cheese

BatmanBatman and Robin are rushed to Gotham City Hospital for a risky thawing-out procedure, and then discover that Mister Freeze has kidnapped famous baseball player Paul Diamante – and will accept nothing less than a hostage exchange involving Batman. Batman surrenders himself as demanded, but unknown to him, Robin has planted a homing device and plans to attempt a rescue…a plan that doesn’t quite happen as hoped. Now both of the Dynamic Duo is in the clutches of Mister Freeze, who intends to take his revenge upon Batman.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Max Godge
directed by Robert Butler
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), George Sanders (Mister Freeze), Robert Hogan (Paul Diamante), Shelby Grant (Princess Sandra), Dan Terranova (Doctor Vince), John Willis (Newscaster), Bill Hudson (Photographer)

Notes: The phrase “Curses, foiled again!” – commonly associated with the 1960s Batman TV series – enters the Bat-lexicon here, but it isn’t spoken by either Batman or Robin…instead, the show’s ever-present narrator says it in the opening teaser.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 05 Doctor Who

The Web Of Fear

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are nearly sucked out into the time vortex when Salamander takes off with the TARDIS doors open. Salamander is ejected from the TARDIS, and the ship lands safely in the London Underground circa 1968. But all is not well in central London: a deadly mist hovers above ground over the Circle Line, and an even deadlier web is filling the tunnels of the Underground. Yeti patrol the tunnels, trapping a batallion of Army soldiers in the tunnels. The Great Intelligence has trapped the Doctor and his friends in a scheme to take over the Doctor’s mind, using the Time Lord’s immense knowledge for evil. Professor Travers, the scientist who the Doctor saved from the Yeti in 1930s Tibet, is able to vouch for the time travelers’ good intensions, though some of the soldiers aren’t so trusting. The Doctor races against time to wrest control of the robotic Yeti from the Great Intelligence and to find a traitor among the contingent of soldiers in the Underground. And perhaps most importantly of all, the Doctor must gain the trust of an unusually open-minded Army officer, Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart.

written by Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
directed by Douglas Camfield
music not credited

Guest Cast: Nicholas Courtney (Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart), Jack Watling (Professor Travers), Tina Packer (Anne Travers), Frederick Schrecker (Julius Silverstein), Rod Beacham (Lane), Ralph Watson (Knight), Richardson Morgan (Blake), Jon Rollason (Chorley), Jack Woolgar (Arnold), Stephen Whittaker (Weams), Bernard G. High (Soldier), Joseph O’ Connell (Soldier), John Levene (Yeti), John Lord (Yeti), Gordon Stothard (Yeti), Doctor WhoColin Warman (Yeti), Jeremy King (Yeti), Roger Jacombs (Yeti), Derek Pollitt (Evans)

Note: Considered “lost” for decades following a purge of videotape and film stock in the BBC’s archives, five of the six episodes of The Web Of Fear now exist thanks to the 2013 discovery of 16mm film copies in a broadcast transmitter hut in Nigeria. The third episode – in which the Doctor first meets Colonel Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart – sadly remains missing.

Broadcast from February 3 through March 9, 1968

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 2 Star Blazers

Telezart: Disperse Into Space!

Star BlazersThe Comet Empire accelerates toward Telezart, anticipating no problem in conquering a planet populated by only one person. The Argo crew, especially Venture, is helpless to do anything but watch as the mighty comet barrels toward the planet. But Wildstar has to calm Venture’s worst fears and use the momentary diversion to escape from Telezart’s solar system and make a head start toward Earth. Trelaina’s warns Prince Zordar to halt his advance, but the leader of the Comet Empire refuses to heed the warning. Trelaina’s response is swift and surprisingly powerful – she literally detonates the planet Telezart, forcing the planet to shred itself in the comet’s path. The crew of the Argo watches in awe from a distance as the Comet Empire emerges from the huge explosion, nearly destroyed and now pushed off of its course for Earth, but still in one piece.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 2 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Chris Latta (Sgt. Knox), Lydia Leeds (Trelaina), Chris Latta (General Dire), Chris Latta (Captain Gideon), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 05 Star Trek The Next Generation

Violations

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 45429.3: A party of telepathic Ullians is visiting the Enterprise, ready to share their unique gift of probing into the mind and recovering lost memories. During their visit, Troi reminisces about an earlier encounter with Riker, and then her memory is invaded by an image of one of the Ullians. Dr. Crusher finds Troi in a coma, and she and Riker are the next to have their memories invaded. Data and Geordi try to track down the mystery ailment that has rendered key officers comatose – and discover that there may be no disease involved and one of the Ullians could be behind the telepathic intrusions.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Pamela Gray & Jeri Taylor
story by Shari Goodhartz & T. Michael Gray and Pamela Gray
directed by Robert Weimer
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Rosalind Chao (Keiko), Ben Lemon (Jev), David Sage (Tarmin), Rick Fitts (Dr. Martin), Eve Brenner (Inad), Doug Wert (Jack Crusher), Craig Benton (Crewman Davis), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Time Trax

To Kill A Billionaire

Time TraxDarien and Selma track Sahmbi to Harlan, Kentucky, where Sahmbi has assumed the name “Hamilton Ishan” and has invited representatives of several companies, all of them with one thing in common: they each handle nuclear or otherwise radioactive waste. “Ishan” demonstrates a process that makes the waste simply vanish harmlessly…but Darien recognizes the process: Sahmbi is transporting the waste to exactly the same place in the year 2193, a future whose safer power has left the world without many experts in handling radioactive waste. Darien decides that all options are on the table in dealing with Sahmbi, but the law in 1993 says differently…and the judge before whom Sahmbi is brought is one of the future convicts he freed.

written by Harold Gast
directed by Colin Budds
music by Garry McDonald and Laurie Stone

Time TraxCast: Dale Midkiff (Darien Lambert), Elizabeth Alexander (Selma), Mia Sara (Annie), Jerry Hardin (Judge Benedict Choate), Henry Darrow (The Chief), Peter Donat (Sahmbi), Chad Tyler (Agent Hayes), Alan Fletcher (Davenport), Malcolm Cork (Stern), Steven Tandy (Deepthroat), Peter Marhsall (Foreman), Martin Maddell (U.K. Sergeant), Len Kaserman (Judge Braverman), Fred Steele (Judge Alford), Rhys Muldoon (Lawyer Fox)

Time TraxNotes: Several months before his first X-Files appearance as Deep Throat, Jerry Hardin was already a familiar face to sci-fi TV fans. He had recently appeared in the fifth season finale and sixth season premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Mark Twain, the second time he had played a character on that series. Ironically, there’s an anonymous source identified in the guest starring credits as “Deepthroat” in this episode of Time Trax.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 4

Into The Fire

Babylon 5Ivanova waits impatiently as she ferries Lorien around space in one of the White Star ships, attempting to make contact with more of the First Ones before the fateful convergence of the Shadow and Vorlon fleets. In the meantime, Sheridan with the rest of the White Star fleet in tow is busy attacking both sides’ targets to make sure that the ancient enemies will accept the invitation to face each other at Coriana 3. Londo, now in a position of power as Prime Minister of Centauri Prime, works at a feverish pace to remove Shadow influence from his world before the Vorlons arrive to destroy the planet. Londo at last disposes of Morden and the Shadow ships berthed on Centauri Prime, but his own presence may doom his people. When the Shadow and Vorlon fleets collide at Coriana 3, Sheridan forces the issue right down their throats in order to end the war. But even with the help of Lorien, Sheridan is only beginning to realize what will be required of him to bring the Shadow War to its conclusion.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Kevin James Dobson
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Wayne Alexander (Lorien), Julian Barnes (Durano), Damian London (Minister), Ed Wasser (Morden)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 05 Star Trek

For The Uniform

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate 50485.2: Eight months after Lt. Commander Michael Eddington betrayed Sisko and deserted Starfleet to join his fellow Maquis confederates, he resurfaces, and as the Defiant follows, Eddington triggers a cascade virus that renders the Defiant’s computer useless. An angry Sisko is forced to let another captain take over the search for Eddington, as Eddington begins unleashing biogenic weapons against Cardassian colonists in the DMZ. When Sisko decides to go after Eddington regardless, he must face the possibility that he is becoming dangerously obsessed.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Peter Allan Fields
directed by Victor Lobl
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Kenneth Marshall (Eddington), Eric Pierpoint (Captain Sanders), Aron Eisenberg (Nog)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

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Season 2 Xena: Warrior Princess

The Quest

Xena: Warrior PrincessKeeping with her promise she made to Xena, Gabrielle is taking the warrior’s body back home to Amphipolis. Along the way she is met by bounty hunters. They want to take Xena’s body as proof that she is dead to the warlord that has hired them. But Gabrielle fights them, with help from Iolaus who has just appeared. As Gabrielle continues her journey, she is met by Ephiny and a group of Amazons. Her friend convinces the bard to bring Xena’s body back to the Amazon village for them to honor her with a funeral. Ephiny also tells her about Velasca, Melosa’s adopted daughter. Velasca challanged Melosa for the right to be queen of the Amazons and won. She wants the Amazons to resume their war with the Centaurs. But Gabrielle can stop her since she took the rite of caste and became an Amazon princess. After thinking it through, the bard agrees to become the next queen of the Amazon nation. Not far away, Autolycus steals the dagger of Helios. Soon after he begans to hear Xena’s voice. She tells him that she influenced his decision to steal the dagger and he wants him to travel to the Amazon village and steal her body. Xena knows that she doesn’t have much time to return to life. The only way that she can is through Ambrosia, and the dagger is the key to a crypt that holds the food of the gods.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Steven L. Sears
story by Chris Manheim, Steven L. Sears, and R.J. Stewart
directed by Michael Levine
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Bruce Campbell (Autolycus), Danielle Cormack (Ephiny), Melinda Clarke (Velasca), Michael Hurst (Iolaus), Jodie Dorday (Solari), Alexander Tant (Xenan), Michael Dwyer (Ruffian#1), David Fitchew (Vendor), Christian Hodge (Man), Kirstie O’Sullivan (Woman)

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

Categories
Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Gravity

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 52438.9: On an arid planet, scavenger Noss fends for herself against other hunters, all of whom have been stranded by this world’s unusual gravity well. Noss watches as another ship crash-lands violently on the planet, and reluctantly befriends its two pilots after one of them rescues her from the aliens. Even though these two newcomers are also alien to Noss, she finds herself falling in love with one of them, but for reasons she will never understand, her feelings will never be reciprocated. Noss must decide whether or not there is still any reason to aid these two wanderers. How can she warrant risking her life to help them when the one who calls himself Tuvok cannot comprehend her affection?

Order the DVDsteleplay by Nick Sagan & Bryan Fuller
story by Jimmy Diggs, Nick Sagan & Bryan Fuller
directed by Terry Windell
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Lori Petty (Noss), Leroy D. Brazile (Young Tuvok), Paul Eckstein (Yost), Joseph Ruskin (Vulcan Master)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who

The Juggernauts

Doctor Who: The JuggernautsAn attack on a space cruiser they’re visiting forces the Doctor and Melanie to evacuate by any means necessary. Mel manages to make her way to an escape pod, which takes her to a research colony on the planet Lethe. The Doctor and the TARDIS, however, are captured by the Daleks, who offer to send the Doctor to Lethe too…so long as he reports back on what their creator, Davros, is doing there. When the Doctor arrives, he finds that Davros has managed to conceal his appearance and is calling himself Professor Vaso – and worse yet, he has unearthed specimens of one of the Daleks’ worst enemies, the Mechonoids. Davros has quietly set up self-replication facilities for the Mechonoids, aware of their potential for battling the Daleks, claiming that he hopes to atone for his past by ridding the universe of his creations. But even with this claim of a noble mission, the Doctor sees Davros up to his old tricks, leaving a trail of death in his wake. But when the Doctor fulfills his end of the bargain and alerts the Daleks, who still want to capture Davros and try him for crimes against them, things only get worse, with an entire colony of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of a new Dalek-Mechonoid war.

Order this CDwritten by Scott Alan Woodard
directed by Gary Russell
music by Steve Foxon

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie), Terry Molloy (Davros), Bindya Solanki (Sonali), Klaus White (Geoff), Peter Forbe (Kryson), Paul Grunert (Brauer), Julia Houghton (Loewen), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek and Mechonoid voices)

Timeline: after The Trial Of A Time Lord and before Catch-1782

Notes: The Doctor mentions Evelyn in the past tense here. If one follows the generally accepted view from the novels that the Doctor dropped Melanie – a future companion he hadn’t met yet – off in her own post-seventh-Doctor timeline after The Trial Of A Time Lord, only to encounter her and begin their travels together at a later date, it’s reasonable to assume that the stories with Evelyn Smythe take place in the interim.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Ethon

  • By Dave
  • February 3, 2006

Stargate SG-1Jared Kane of the Rand Protectorate requests permission to travel to Earth via the stargate. Earth has not heard from Rand in months, and Kane explains why – a Prior has visited his world. After the Ori plague killed many, including Jared’s wife, the Prior convinced the people of Rand to follow Origin. The Caladonians had no intention of following Rand’s lead, so the Prior provided Rand with schematics for an orbiting offensive satellite of enormous destructive power. Kane fears that Rand’s increasingly paranoid president will not hesitate to use the now-operational satellite to destroy Caledonia, so he has brought a copy of the early schematics to the SGC to ask for their help. Carter thinks that the Prometheus should be able to destroy the satellite, and Mitchell is ready to do so. Daniel wants to convince Rand to dismantle the satellite themselves, so he contacts their government and receives an invitation to return with Kane for further negotiations. Upon their arrival, however, they are immediately imprisoned as suspected Caladonian spies.

Two days after losing contact with Daniel, the rest of SG-1 arrives at Tegalus in the Prometheus. They attempt to beam Daniel back aboard, but the Rand government has taken his locator beacon. Carter and Mitchell initially hesitate to fire at the satellite, concerned that they are signing Daniel’s death warrant. When the satellite begins to power up, they authorize Col. Pendergast to open fire. But unlike the early blueprints, the satellite has shields – and enough firepower to overpower Prometheus‘s own Asgard shields and tear through the ship. Unable to fight or flee, Pendergast tries to negotiate surrender, but the Rand president refuses to show mercy to Origin’s opponents. Pendergast beams what’s left of his crew to Caladonia before going down with his ship. The Caladonians welcome the survivors, including all of SG-1, but the future looks bleak. Carter finds a flaw in the satellite’s defense system that she believes SG-1 can exploit, but Daniel is determined to make one more attempt to get both sides to break past their paranoia.

Order the DVDsstory by Robert C. Cooper & Damian Kindler
teleplay by Damian Kindler
directed by Ken Girotti
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Gary Jones (Sgt. Harriman), Matthew Bennett (Jared Kane), Barclay Hope (Col. Pendergast), John Aylward (President Nadal), Ernie Hudson (Pernaux), Martin Christopher (Lt. Marks), Chelah Horsdal (Lt. Womack), Desiree Zurkowski (Chaska), Peter Shinkoda (Caledonian Aide), Sage Brocklebank (Rand Tech)

Notes: Daniel’s previous encounter with Jared Kane occurred in season 8’s Icon. “Ethon” is the name of the bird that tormented Prometheus as punishment for giving fire to humanity.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 2 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

The Tower

Stargate AtlantisA visit with a seemingly primitive culture is going uneventfully for Sheppard and his team when the locals mention that half of their crop harvest is surrendered to the Tower as a tribute in exchange for protection from the Wraith. When Sheppard asks about the Tower, the leader of the village they’ve been visiting shows them: covered in vegetation, it’s a structure almost identical to the central control tower of Atlantis itself. Rodney’s scans reveal a vast underground structure – not only is the tower identical, but so is everything else, an Ancient city-ship like Atlantis buried underground. When soldiers from the Tower show up and begin roughing up the villagers, Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon draw their weapons and stop them. A man named Otho, claiming to be a representative of the Tower’s royalty, warns Sheppard that further resistance will only result in a demonstration of power that will cost the village dearly. Sheppard stands his ground until an Ancient drone from the Tower lays waste to part of the village. Otho scans the new arrivals from Atlantis and then has Sheppard disarmed and taken to the Tower, where he is greeted by the ailing Lord Protector, who apparently has the gene needed to power the city’s systems and its drones. Sheppard grows impatient with the court intrigue, however, until Otho confides the truth to him: Sheppard has a higher concentration of the Ancient gene than any surviving member of the royal family, though among the scheming members of that family this makes him either a valuable asset or a liability to be done away with. Sheppard tries to bargain with Otho, offering medical help from Atlantis – including the Ancient gene therapy developed by Dr. Beckett – in exchange for the drones and puddle jumpers berthed in the Ancient city. But Ronon’s distaste for the villagers’ virtual enslavement may kick-start a revolution at the foot of the Tower before Sheppard can seal the deal.

Order the DVDswritten by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Peter Woodward (Otho), Jay Brazeau (Lord Protector), David Bloom (Eldred), Richard Kahan (Baldric), Brendan Beiser (Tavius), Chelan Simmons (Mara), Anna Cummer (Petra), Mark Gibbon (Constable)

Notes: Guest star Peter Woodward starred as the Technomage Galen in the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off series Crusade.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 2

Scar

Battlestar GalacticaAfter discovering a rich source of tyllium ore in an asteroid belt, a mining ship and Galactica are assigned to gather the raw materials needed to replenish the fleet; Pegasus takes the rest of the Colonial fleet out of harm’s way. But four weeks into the mining operation, there is already a high cost in lives: a battered but vicious Cylon Raider lurks among the asteroids, picking off Galactica’s fighters one by one in relentless sneak attacks. Starbuck has to begin planning an operation to take out this fighter, nicknamed “Scar” for its beaten hull, but finds that she has competition in the form of Lt. “Kat” Katraine, who thinks Starbuck has lost her edge and isn’t afraid to challenge her senior officer even in a packed briefing room. As quickly as Galactica’s pilots’ roster can be replenished by recruits from Pegasus, Scar is killing more pilots and destroying more fighters. Wracked with guilt over leading Anders and the resistance behind on Caprica, and drinking more and more heavily to drown her anguish, Starbuck has to face the possibility that even her hotshot flying may not be enough to kill Scar.

written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Luciana Carro (Louanne “Kat” Katraine), Bodie Olmos (Brendan “Hot Dog” Costanza), Christopher Jacot (Ensign Brent “BB” Baxton), Sean Dorry (Ensign Joseph “Jo-Jo” Clark), Christian Tessier (Tucker “Duck” Clellan)

Notes: “Jolly,” mentioned here as the one of Galactica’s deceased pilots, was also the call sign of a Viper pilot in the original Battlestar Galactica series, played by Tony Swartz. Colonial mining of tyllium ore, and even the shape of the ships that accomplish that task, also date back to the original show. We learn in this episode that the Cylon Raiders can be resurrected much like the human models can.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Rebels Season 2 Star Wars

Legends Of The Lasat

Star Wars: RebelsEzra learns from Hondo, a somewhat unreliable source, that some of the last living Lasat refugees are about to be taken into the custody of the Empire. Zeb is relieved at first to see fellow Lasat, but then becomes frustrated when they seem intent on allowing ancient prophecies decide where they will settle. Worse yet, they insist that Zeb is part of those prophecies. How can he take part in them when he doesn’t believe them?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Matt Michnovetz
directed by Saul Ruiz
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer #1), Dee Bradley Baker (Admiral Konstantine), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Grey Griffin (Chava), Gary Anthony Williams (Gron / Stormtrooper #2 / Stormtrooper Commander #1), Jim Cummings (Hondo Ohnaka), Dave Filoni (Stormtrooper #1 / Stormtrooper Commander #2)

LogBook entry by Earl Green