Day: April 26, 1978

Categories
Amazing Spider-Man Season 1

Night Of The Clones

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)Peter is assigned to take pictures at a press conference involving a revolutionary new cloning technique. A frog is cloned at this public demonstration, but Peter can’t get Dr. Moon, the scientist behind this cloning procedure, to answer whether or not the process could clone a human being. Secretly, Dr. Moon is already working on that, though his first test subject – himself – has proven to be problematic… and now Moon has decided that he wants to clone Spider-Man.

written by John W. Bloch
directed by Fernando Lamas
music by Stu Phillips

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Michael Pataki (Captain Barbera), Lloyd Bochner (Dr. Moon), Morgan Fairchild (Lisa Benson), Rick Traeger (Dr. Reichman), Irene Tedrow (Aunt May), John Finnegan (Male Reporter), Karl Swenson (Dr. Carl Benson), Vince Howard (Elevator Inspector), Alex Rodine (Dr. Keyta), Debi Fries (Girl Reporter), Larry Levine (Desk Clerk)

Amazing Spider-ManNotes: This marks Aunt May’s first appearance in the weekly series, but her memory may be going – she says Peter has an “Uncle Max”, not an Uncle Ben. (Maybe Max was his other uncle…whose old Halloween costume happened to wind up in Aunt May’s attic?) This episode also marks the first time that the villain of the week pieces together Spider-Man’s true identity (not that it helps him – the secret dies with him). Guest star Morgan Fairchild had already made numerous daytime TV appearances, but this episode of The Amazing Spider-Man is a very early entry in her resume of prime-time drama guest roles.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Time Express

The Garbage Man and the Doctor’s Wife

SearchPassengers book tickets aboard a seemingly antique train called the Time Express, unsure of what to expect, arriving at a gate at a train station shrouded in mystery. An elderly couple, Jason and Maggie Winters, greet them aboard the train and remind them of the rules: they can relive the past, or even change it, but they must return to the present aboard the train at the end of their experience. Millionaire Edward Chernoff boards the train, not to change his fortune but to change how he used it, while a doctor whose young wife needs a bone marrow transplant must go back in time to find her birth family, as her adoptive parents don’t match her as donors.

written by Gerald Sanford
directed by Arnold Laven
music by Richard Hazard

Time ExpressCast: Vincent Price (Jason Winters), Coral Browne (Maggie Winters), Woodrow Palfrey (Ticket Agent), William Edward Phipps (E. Patrick Callahan), James Reynolds (R.J. Walker), James MacArthur (Dr. Mark Toland), Jerry Stiller (Edward Chernoff), Pamela Toll (Olivia Toland), Michael Conrad (Sullivan), Alan Sues (Bank Manager), Anne Meara (Gloria Chernoff), Doris Dowling (Sister Bertelli), John de Lancie (John Clayton), Eldon Quick (Niles), Jan Clayton (First Nun), Del Monroe (First Gangster), Richard Angarola (Mr. Durant), Don Keefer (Jim Fraser), Wallace Earl Laven (Virginia Fraser), Bob Delegall (Dr. Samuels), Gay Rowan (Sister Allison), Melvin F. Allen (Mel), Buck Young (Police Clerk), Michael Laurence (First Reporter), Charles Rowe (Second Reporter), John Berwick (Nick), Dar Robinson (Lou), Karen Fredrik (Debbie Clayton)

Time ExpressNotes: If NBC‘s Supertrain was “The Love Boat on a futuristic train”, Time Express on CBS was “Fantasy Island on a time-traveling train”. Veteran Hollywood writers Ivan Goff (1910-1999) and Ben Roberts (1916-1984), who had been working together since the 1940s, had written such screenplays as The Man Of A Thousand Faces and Portrait In Black, then went on to create the successful TV series Charlie’s Angels in 1976. CBS had previously tapped them as the head writers on the short-lived TV adaptation Logan’s Run. Time Express would last only four episodes on CBS’ schedule. John de Time ExpressLancie, long before he became Star Trek’s Q, had already appeared in The Six Million Dollar Man and Battlestar Galactica, among others, at this very early stage in his career, while Gay Rowan had been one of the “three young people” (according to the opening narration) trying to discover the destination of The Starlost in the early 1970s.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
National Public Radio Radio & Audio Dramas Star Wars

The Millennium Falcon Deal

Star WarsWith his aunt and uncle dead at the hands of the Empire, Luke accompanies Ben Kenobi to Mos Eisley Spaceport, a disreputable place where Ben hopes to find a ship to Alderaan. A space pilot points Ben in the direction of a huge Wookiee, Chewbacca, who serves as the co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon, a Corellian freighter. Ben is introduced to Han Solo, a cocky space pilot who quickly clears his schedule when Ben promises a small fortune in exchange for a ride to Alderaan. After the deal is closed, Ben and Luke go back into hiding until Solo is ready for liftoff – and Imperial stormtroopers close in on Mos Eisley in their hunt for the droids. But they’re not the only ones being hunted, as a bounty hunter named Greedo is on the trail of Han Solo.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.

Categories
Phoenix, The

The Phoenix

The PhoenixAncient ruins in Peru have been hiding a secret that could challenge everyone’s understanding of world history: a hermetically sealed casket, of a design far more advanced than the Incas were capable of building, is found. Inside is a perfectlly intact, but inert, man, bearing a medallion with an inscription mentioning the Egyptian god Osiris. Though this seems to be just a well-preserved corpse, the man returns to life and escapes the facility where his body is being studied. He hitches a ride with a photographer named Noelle, asking her to take him to the sea or he will die. Once there, he seems to be revitalized, as much by exposure to the sun as proximity to the ocean. The doctor who oversaw his unearthing, Ward Frazier, finds the man – who identifies himself as Bennu of the Golden Light – and discovers that he may be an alien in a human guise, the last remnant of an otherworldly civilization trying to pass its secrets on to Earth so its people can avoid the same self-destructive fate. Bennu is searching for a fellow traveler, who he believes has also come to Earth, but first he will have to survive the paranoia of 20th century Earth.

The Phoenixwritten by Anthony Lawrence & Nancy Lawrence
directed by Douglas Hickox
music by Arthur B. Rubinstein

Cast: Judson Scott (Bennu), Shelley Smith (Noelle Marshall), E.G. Marshall (Dr. Ward Frazier), Fernando Allende (Diego DeVarga), Daryl Anderson (Dr. Clifford Davis), Carmen Argenziano (Kingston), Patricia Conklin (Nurse), Angus Duncan (Surgeon), Terry Jastrow (Hood), Stanley Kamel (Murray), Richard Lynch (Justin Preminger), Jimmy Mair (Tim), James Malinda (Croupier), Paul Marin (Anesthesiologist), Hersha Parady (Lynn), Wayne Storm (Patrolman), Lyman Ward (Howard), Brett Williams (Technician)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 06 Star Trek The Next Generation

The Chase

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 46731.5: Professor Galen, Picard’s beloved archaeology professor from his days at Starfleet Academy, comes aboard the Enterprise in an attempt to recruit Picard for a private expedition, the conclusion of which Galen claims to have profound implications for the entire galaxy. Picard regretfully turns down Galen’s offer, but later finds himself taking up the professor’s work when Galen’s ship is unexpectedly attacked and destroyed. Following his late mentor’s vague leads and secretive trails, Picard takes the Enterprise to distant worlds, attempting to piece the puzzle together. But it is discovered that others – a great variety of others, at that – are also attempting to finish Galen’s work, and the end result could be a secret of vast power.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Joe Menosky
story by Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jay Chattaway

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), Salome Jens (Humanoid), John Cothran, Jr. (Nu’Daq), Maurice Roeves (Romulan Captain), Linda Thorson (Gul Ocett), Norman Lloyd (Professor Galen)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Deep Space Nine Season 01 Star Trek

The Storyteller

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate 46729.1: As the leaders of two Bajoran factions arrive on the station where Sisko hopes to diplomatically steer them away from solving their differences in combat, O’Brien and Dr. Bashir depart to Bajor in response to a distress call which vaguely stated that an entire community is jeopardized. Bashir is puzzled to find all of the villagers except one – the elderly Sirah – in perfect health, yet the locals still insist that they are in mortal danger. They discover, when the Sirah makes his appearance at a yearly festival (against Bashir’s recommendation), that the threat comes from the legendary Dal’Rok, a mythical creature which descends upon the village for five nights of each year in an attempt to destroy it. But every year in the past several generations, the village Sirah told a Story, somehow halting the Dal’Rok’s onslaught. This year, the Sirah will not complete his Story…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Kurt Michael Bensmiller & Ira Steven Behr
story by Kurt Michael Bensmiller
directed by David Livingston
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Lawrence Monoson (Hovath), Kay E. Kuter (The Sirah), Gina Philips (Varis), Jim Jansen (Faren), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Jordan Lund (Woban), Amy Benedict (Woman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Sliders

Eggheads

SlidersQuinn and the others arrive in a world where intellectuals are revered and even worshipped in the same way as athletes are in the sliders’ native dimension. Quinn and Arturo’s duplicates in this dimension are quite famous – and apparently quite infamous too, since Arturo is served with divorce papers intended for his double from a woman that Arturo once fell in love with and lost, and Quinn is roughed up for his alternate’s enormous gambling debts. The only way Quinn can avoid further harm during his stay is to throw a Mindgame championship, a contest combining physical sports and mental prowess, in MIT’s favor. The results if Quinn doesn’t conspire against his own team could be fatal.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Scott Smith Miller
story by Scott Smith Miller & Jacob Epstein
directed by Timothy Bond
music by Mark Mothersbaugh

Guest Cast: Charles Syphers (Coach Almquist), Peter Spellos (Jimmy), Gabrielle Rose (Kristina), Rick Garcia (Referee), Tom Jackson (Color Commentator), Ron Pitts (Play-by-Play Announcer), Andrew Guy (Wilson), Karen Austin (Lydia), William B. Davis (Professor Myman), Roman Danylo (Buyer), Johnny Mah (Victor), Rachel Hayward (Karen), Anthony Harrison (Agent Cannon), Marc Baur (Agent O’Malley), Sheelagh Megill (Mrs. Bingham), Colin Warner (Harvard Captain), Bentley Mitchum (M.I.T. Player), Mark Poyser (Rapper Leader), Carl Hibbert (Rapper #1), Michael McMillian (Rapper #2), Amanda O’Leary (Librarian)

Notes: Guest star William B. Davis is no stranger to fans of the Fox network’s mid ’90s SF series – he’s better known as the “Cigarette Smoking Man” from The X-Files.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 2

There All The Honor Lies

Babylon 5Sheridan unwittingly walks into a trap set by two Minbari, in which he is forced to kill one of them in self-defense as the other witnesses the event. Immediately, all hell breaks loose when the Minbari government presses charges of murder, threatening to reignite the hostility between the two races. Even worse, Delenn’s insistence that Minbari do not lie further clouds the issue as the surviving witness insists that Sheridan killed his fellow Minbari in cold blood. Earthforce seems eager to stand by and let Sheridan be accused of the killing rather than offering official support. Even Kosh, who is tutoring Sheridan for purposes unknown, offers the captain no more help than another lesson. It falls upon Delenn and Lennier – who is in the difficult position of belonging to the same Minbari clan as the accuser – to find out if Sheridan is being framed.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by Peter David
directed by Mike Laurence Vejar
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Lt. Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Andrea Thompson (Talia Winters), Stephen Furst (Vir), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Robert Rusler (Warren Keffer), Mary Kay Adams (Na’Toth), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Julie Caitlin Brown (Guinevere Corey), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Sean Gregory Sullivan (Ashan), Neil Bradley (Minbari #3), Ardwight Chamberlain (Kosh), Jonathan Chapman (Minbari #2), Vincent Duvall (Centauri Envoy), Eliott Arnold Babylon 5(Human Customer), Mark Hendrickson (Human/Alien Customer), Ossie Mair (Store Owner), Michael McKenzie (Alien Customer)

Note: Kosh’s mention in Hunter, Prey of teaching Sheridan to understand himself better comes to fruition in this episode, during which it becomes clear that Kosh has been “tutoring” Sheridan for at least a short while. An interesting comment is later made by Ivanova: “It must be working. You’re beginning to talk just like a Vorlon.”

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
From The Earth To The Moon

That’s All There Is

From The Earth To The MoonOn November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 is launched, almost becoming the first Apollo mission to abort in mid-launch after lightning strikes the command module. Even though mission control and the crew manage to get the situation under control again, nothing else about Apollo 12 follows the serious and even stately precedent set by Apollo 11. Lunar module pilot Al Bean, a member of the third “class” of astronaut recruits whose ranks have dropped due to deaths in aircraft accidents (and, in Roger Chaffee’s case, the Apollo 1 fire), feels especially priveleged to share the trip to the moon with Dick Gordon and practical joker Pete Conrad. Apollo 12’s crew are more than colleagues – they’re friends. But Bean also has a clumsy streak, which could endanger everything from a new color TV camera to vital scientific experiments. With the whole world watching (well, perhaps not, after he fries the TV camera by pointing it into the sun), he tries not to let his country or his crewmates down.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul McCudden, Erik Bork and Tom Hanks
directed by Jon Turteltaub
music by Mason Daring

Cast: Jeff Breslauer (Technician), David Clyde Carr (Gerry Griffin), George Colangelo (“Buck” Willoughby), Dave Foley (Al Bean), Jim Leavy (C.C. Williams), Ben Marley (Roger Chaffee), Paul McCrane (Pete Conrad), Geoffrey Nauffts (Ed Gibson), Mike Pniewski (Flight Surgeon), Shawn Pyfrom (Ten year old boy), Gary Rorman (Geologist), Lane Smith (Emmett Seaborn), John Travis (John Aaron), Tom Verica (Dick Gordon)

Note: Pete Conrad is the only astronaut played by two different actors in the series; here he’s played by Paul McCrane, but was originally portrayed by executive producer Tom Hanks’ former Bosom Buddies co-star Peter Scolari.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
From The Earth To The Moon

We Interrupt This Broadcast

From The Earth To The MoonOn April 13, 1970, veteran TV journalist Emmett Seaborn hits the airwaves with the terrifying news that an unknown accident has crippled the Apollo 13 command module, forcing its three crewmembers into the cramped lunar module. Seaborn’s experience in covering the space program keeps his audience glued to the set, but his failure to grease the palms of his network’s new management opens the door for Brett Hutchins, a determined young reporter with his eyes on history, to dig for a story by any means necessary. Hutchins takes matters into his own hands, following leads and stories, breaking NASA rules for journalists, and burning bridges along the way. But the space agency, realizing how critically its public relations are suffering during the failed mission, is reluctant to shut the young reporter out. As the chances of returning home gradually start to look better for the crew of Apollo 13, Emmett Seaborn feels his own career fading away.

Order the DVDswritten by Peter Osterlund & Amy Brooke Baker
directed by David Frankel
music by Brad Fiedel

Cast: Tammy Arnold (Sarah), Rus D. Blackwell (Joel Kruger), Brian Brightman (Editor), Dan Butler (Gene Kranz), Jack Carroll (Reporter #3), Colette Piceau Colangelo (Reporter #4), Heather DeOreo (Doris), Steve DuMouchel (Jeff Jordy), Jeff Evans (Director), Billy Flanigan (Suit #2), Harold Fletcher (Dr. Swigert), Tim Goodwin (Mr. Radio), Erich Hoffelder (Brett’s sound man), John Hostetter (Ralph Cooper), Clint Howard (Paul Lucas), Key Howard (Reporter #5), John M. Jackson (Hal Deacon), Kathy Karol (Shirley), David Kaufman (David Gibson), William Larson (Seymour Rosen), William Laskin (Larry Thompson), Christopher Miles (TV #3), Jay Mohr (Brett Hutchins), Jeff Moldovan (Reporter #7), Dennis Neal (Suit #1), Don C. Noderer (TV #1), Conor O’Farrell (James McDivitt), Janet Peterson (Mrs. Swigert), Ethan Phillips (Stanley Craig), Ric Reitz (Reporter #8), Brett Rice (Sam Langfitz), Stephen Root (Chris Kraft), John Rothman (Warren Moburg), Paul Rouffa (Mr. AP), Gerard Russell (Suit #3), Nick Searcy (Deke Slayton), Lane Smith (Emmett Seaborn), Catherine Stork (TV #4), Jan Taylor (TV #2), Todd Thompsom (TV #5), Doug Truelson (Mr. UPI), Cyndi Vicino (Reporter #2), Dave Wagner (Anchor), George Wilson (Reporter #6)

Notes: Clint Howard also had a role in the movie Apollo 13, as NASA technician Sy Liebergot. Ethan Phillips took time off from his role as Star Trek: Voyager’s Neelix to appear here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Deep Space Nine Season 07 Star Trek

The Changing Face Of Evil

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: As Worf and Ezri return safely to DS9, news comes that the Breen have attacked Starfleet Headquarters on Earth. Meanwhile, Damar secretly gathers his forces to strike against the Dominion. When the Breen launch a counter-offensive at the Chin’toka system, Sisko joins the Starfleet reinforcements. On Bajor, at “Anjohl”‘s urging, Kai Winn researches ways to free the pagh wraiths from their imprisonment in the Fire Caves. But Winn’s faithful assistant has learned who Anjohl really is.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun), Penny Johnson (Kasidy Yates), Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat), Casey Biggs (Damar), J.G. Hertzler (Martok), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Barry Jenner (Admiral Ross), James Otis (Solbor), John Vickery (Gul Rusot), Salome Jens (Female Changeling), Louise Fletcher (Kai Winn)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

Categories
Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Juggernaut

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: Voyager happens upon a doomed Malon waste freighter, which is about to vent its lethal cargo of theta radiation across an entire sector. Only two Malons seem to have survived whatever happened to their ship, and once beamed to the safety of sick bay, both of them are terrified to return. Chakotay, Neelix and B’Elanna beam to the Malon ship in a final attempt to stabilize its structure, taking the two Malon crewmen with them. But when one of the two Malon is murdered by an unknown creature, it appears that their superstitions may be more accurate than Voyager’s crew thought. And B’Elanna’s fierce temper, which Tuvok cites as a reason to restrict her from away duty, could be her only means of surviving.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Bryan Fuller and Nick Sagan
story by Bryan Fuller
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Ron Canada (Fesek), Lee Arenberg (Pelk), Scott Klace (Dremk), Alexander Enberg (Malon core laborer), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4 Xena: Warrior Princess

Takes One To Know One

Xena: Warrior PrincessXena arrives in Amphipolis to find that Gabrielle’s sister Lila, and their friends, Autolycus, Minya and Joxer have gathered at her mother’s inn to surprise the bard for her birthday. Also at the inn is a strange woman, who watches the warrior.

Later that night during a storm, Xena looks out the window and spots someone in the courtyard. She then hears a crash and goes to her mother’s room, but it’s empty. She breaks open the door to the strangers room and finds her dead on the floor. Discord appears and tells the warrior that Ares appointed her Goddess of Retribution, and that she has until sunrise to find out which one of her friends killed the young woman.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeff Vlaming
directed by Christopher Graves
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Willa O’Neill (Lila), Darien Takle (Cyrene), Bruce Campbell (Autolycus), Allison Wall (Minya), Ted Raimi (Joxer), Meighan Desmond (Discord), Natalie Duggan (Ravenica), and Argo

Original title: Bar Murder Mystery

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

Categories
Season 06 Star Trek Voyager

Muse

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 53896.0: During a scouting mission aboard the Delta Flyer, the ship is thrown violently off-course. Harry Kim manages to get away in an escape pod, while B’Elanna crash-lands the Flyer on a planet populated by a primitive humanoid species. While the engineer is unconscious, a playwright named Kelis boards the wrecked ship and listens to the most recent log entries – and proceeds to write a drama about the lost sailing ship Voyager. But when Kelis next visits the Delta Flyer, B’Elanna is conscious. Kelis worships her as an all-powerful “Eternal” – but with the ship’s power reserves depleted, B’Elanna is all but powerful…and she must convince Kelis to help her repair the Delta Flyer enough to call for help without breaking the Prime Directive.

Order the DVDswritten by Joe Menosky
directed by Mike Vejar
music by David Bell

Guest Cast: Joseph Will (Kelis), Kellie Waymire (Lanya), Tony Amendola (Chorus #3), Jack Axelrod (Chorus #1), Michael Houston King (Jero), Kathleen Garrett (Tanis), Stoney Westmoreland (Warlord), John Schuck (Chorus #2), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

Notes: Tony Amendola may be best known to SF fans as Master Bra’tac, leader of the Jaffa resistance in Stargate SG-1.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Jeremiah Season 1

The Red Kiss

JeremiahBandits carjack Jeremiah and Kurdy, leaving them on foot. The nearest sign of civilization they can find is an abandoned amusement park where a handful of families have taken up residence. The travelers find they’re not welcome there either – children have been disappearing at an alarming rate. When Jeremiah sees that the bandits have been through this area, using the equipment stolen in the land rover as trade bait, he offers to stay and help guard the children until the bandits return. The remaining children at the park regard Jeremiah as the stuff of legend – an avenging angel who has come to protect them from vampires. When more children disappear, their families come to the conclusion that Jeremiah and Kurdy are responsible.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Sam Egan
directed by James Head
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Vincent Gale (Cord Geary), Tobias Mehler (Jack), Pablo Santos (Magyar), Shawn Macdonald (Fipps), Wendy Russell (Treva), Yvonne Myers (Helen), Sharon Alexander (Chapelle), Berend McKenzie (Medicine Joe), Aleks Paunovic (Stomp), Talia Ranger (Maia), Reece Thompson (Tommy Geary), Nickol Tschenscher (Beth Geary), J.R. Messado (J.J.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green