Day: July 24, 1971

Categories
UFO

Reflections In The Water

UFOThe sinking of a commercial boat, followed quickly by the death of an underwater cameraman, gets SHADO’s attention focused on the Atlantic Ocean. Reports of objects resembling metallic flying fish tie both incidents together, and Straker orders Skydiver to investigate the region near a volcanic island where the boat was attacked. Skydiver’s sensors find an underwater power cable connected to a large artificial dome structure. When Straker and Foster investigate that dome in person, they see one of their own inside – a possible traitor within SHADO’s midst. They return to SHADO HQ, only to find the presumed traitor there too, but when questioned, he remembers nothing about the underwater dome. Straker and Foster return to the dome, this time to go inside and investigate…and what they find is their entire crew, and the SHADO control center, duplicated in every detail by the aliens…and ready to take over the real SHADO HQ.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by David Tomblin
directed by David Tomblin
music by Barry Gray

UFOCast: Edward Bishop (Cmdr. Straker), Michael Billington (Col. Foster), James Cosmo (Lt. Anderson), Gordon Sterne (Helmsman), Conrad Phillips (Skipper), Fredric Abbott (1st Seaman), Richard Caldicot (Film Producer), Mark Griffith (Underwater Cameraman), Keith Bell (Film Director), Gerald Cross (Insurance Man), David Warbeck (Skydiver Captain), Anouska Hempel (Skydiver Operative), Wanda Ventham (Col. Virginia Lake), Barry Stokes (Skydiver Navigator), Ayshea (SHADO Operative), Vladek Sheybal (Dr. Jackson), Dolores Mantez (Moonbase Commander), Steven Berkoff (Astronaut)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Come Back, Mrs. Noah

To The Rescue

PrimevalThe unwitting occupants of space station Britannia 7 prepare themselves for the arrival of a rescue party via space shuttle. Mission control advises Carstairs to brief the non-astronauts aboard the station in proper procedures for a space shuttle docking, which he proceeds to try to explain with a variety of everyday food items (with varying degrees of success). There’s just one little problem: the Britannia 7 wasn’t ready for launch, and does not have the proper docking mechanism, meaning that Carstairs and everyone else aboard will have to create a temporary airtight seal when the shuttle arrives.

Come Back, Mrs. Noahwritten by Jeremy Lloyd & David Croft
directed by Bob Spiers
music by John Scott / theme song by David Croft

Cast: Mollie Sugden (Mrs. Noah), Ian Lavender (Clive Cunliffe), Donald Hewlett (Carstairs), Michael Knowles (Fanshaw), Tim Barrett (Garfield Hawk), Ann Michelle (Scarth Dare), Joe Black (Garstang), Jennifer Lonsdale (The Technician), Gorden Kaye (The Television Presenter), Raymond Bowers (Slumber Control)

Notes: The model work for the launch of the space shuttle is reasonably good for this era (especially considering that the space shuttle had not actually lifted off yet). Heard several times in this episode is a sound effects sequence known as “White Void”, created for and first used in the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Mind Robber by Brian Hodgson, co-founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Just thought you’d like to know.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 02 SG-1 Stargate

Need

Stargate SG-1On an offworld mission, SG-1 watches from hiding as Goa’uld force the members of a primitive society to mine naquahdah and offer it up as tribute to their masters. When Daniel spots a young woman about to jump from a precipice, he breaks his cover to save her, and the entire team is captured and sent to labor in the naquahdah mines. When O’Neill and Teal’c launch an escape attempt, it’s nearly successful until the Goa’uld guards cause a tunnel to collapse on top of Daniel. The daughter of the local ruler – the same woman Daniel saved – rejuvenates Daniel with a Goa’uld sarcophagus. But her father does not carry a Goa’uld symbiont – he is revered as a god simply because he has continually used the sarcophagus himself, extending his life by hundreds of years. After he is healed, Daniel isn’t returned to slave labor, but instead becomes consort to the princess, who convinces him to begin using the sarcophagus on a regular basis as well.

Order the DVDsstory by Robert C. Cooper & Damian Kindler
telelplay by Robert C. Cooper
directed by David Warry-Smith
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Heather Hanson (Shyla), George Touliatos (Pyrus), Teryl Rothery (Dr. Fraiser), Gary Jones (Technician), Andrew Guy (Jaffa #1), Michael Philp (Jaffa #2), Jason Calder (SF Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Witchblade

Periculum

WitchbladeStricken by grief, Pezzini has locked herself in her apartment for four days. But while she isn’t inclined to get up from her bed, she’s terrified when the Witchblade roots her to that spot, expanding itself into metal tendrils that wrap around her body. Danny appears to comfort her and warn her that the Witchblade is testing her resolve and her character – a test which, if failed, will prove to be fatal. Kenneth Irons is also watching the proceedings closely, and feeling them as well through some kind of link to Sara. Through the test, Sara discovers that she is not related to Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Bronte, or an ancient Celtic goddess of retribution…she is Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Bronte, and an ancient Celtic goddess of retribution. Meanwhile, Jake McCartey is undergoing a test of his own as Captain Dante tries to recruit him into a shady elite police brotherhood known as the White Bulls – an association that would require Jake to sell Pezzini out.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor
story by Ralph Hemecker & Richard C. Okie
directed by Neill Fearnley
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Nestor Serrano (Captain Dante), John Hensley (Gabriel Bowman) and Lazar

Notes: The choice of the Lovin’ Spoonful song “Do You Believe In Magic” may be a bit of an in-joke – series star Yancy Butler is the daughter of Lovin’ Spoonful band member John Butler.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Eureka Season 2

Unpredictable

  • By Dave
  • July 24, 2007

Eureka Carter is feeling pretty good about life, planning a surprise sixteenth birthday party for Zoe and managing to get a raincheck on a coffee date with Allison. But rainclouds quickly roll in, both metaphorically and meteorologically. Strange weather events start occurring all over Eureka, including a sudden temperature plunge at Global Dynamics’ spa that freezes an employee to death. And Carter’s ex-wife Abby comes to Eureka for a surprise visit – and plans to take Zoe back to Los Angeles with her. Carter and Abby had agreed that Zoe would only stay in Eureka for a year . . . but Carter never told Zoe, hoping he could work out a different arrangement before the deadline. When Zoe finds out, she is considerably less than thrilled.

Allison receives an anonymous e-mail with details about Global Dynamics’ research on Kevin – Stark brought him to Eureka in part because he appeared to be somehow linked to the artifact. Her frustration with Stark ebbs after Stark explains himself – and after she traces the e-mail to discover that Stark sent it in the first place. Allison also overrules Beverley and has Henry cleared to work at Global Dynamics. Her efforts to delay Henry thwarted, Beverley hurriedly leaves Eureka in order to make contact with her associates in the Consortium.

As the weather gets worse, the town meteorologist predicts a catastrophic hurricane coming soon. But even in Eureka, an accurate weather forecaster is a phenomenon that raises Carter’s suspicions.

Order the DVDswritten by
directed by

Guest Cast: Debrah Farentino (Dr. Beverly Barlowe), Olivia D’Abo (Abby Carter), Patrick Gilmore (Pete Pullman), Stefanie von Pfetten (Wendy Witicus), David Nykl (Stephen Witicus), Meshach Peters (Kevin), Christopher Gauthier (Vincent), Adrienne Carter (Pilar)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Movies

Pixels

PixelsSuburban pre-teens Sam Brenner, Ludlow and Cooper cross paths in 1982 at an arcade video game tournament. Sam’s natural knack for detecting the games’ movement patterns makes him a hot contender for the top spot, but in the finals, he loses to Eddie, a rude, crude kid who has bestowed upon himself the nickname “Fireblaster.”

The sting of being merely second place haunts Sam throughout his life; he stumbles through a series of unambitious tech jobs, and during his latest gig as an audiovisual installer, he hits on one of his clients, an attractive (but divorced) suburban mom who turns out to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Navy. They cross paths again when Sam is summoned to the White House; his old buddy Cooper is now the President of the United States, and needs Sam’s video game expertise when a mysterious attack on a military base at Guam bears striking similarities to the enemy attack patterns of the video game Galaga. Ludlow, now a shut-in conspiracy theorist, emerges with what he believes is a message from an alien race: they have seen a transmission of the 1982 arcade tournament, along with other samples of Earth culture of the 1980s, and have interpreted it as a declaration of war. Earth has now lost a battle and lost one “life”; two more losses mean game over for the planet. Eddie, serving time for fraud, is sprung from prison and offered a pardon by Cooper if he can help Sam and Ludlow defend Earth with their gaming skills. Another attack on Earth is lost, and the 1982 arcade champions must now reunite to save the planet from repeated waves of attacks that take the form of now-out-of-date game scenarios.

screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling
based on the short film by Patrick Jean
directed by Chris Columnus
music by Henry Jackman

Cast: Adam Sandler (Brenner), Kevin James (Cooper), Michelle Monaghan (Violet), Peter Dinklage (Eddie), Josh Gad (Ludlow), Matt Lintz (Matty), Brian Cox (Admiral Porter), Sean Bean Pixels(Corporal Hill), Jane Krakowski (First Lady Jane Cooper), Dan Aykroyd (1982 Championship MC), Affion Crockett (Sergeant Dylan Cohan), Lainie Kazan (Mickey Lamonsoff), Ashley Benson (Lady Lisa), Denis Akiyama (Professor Iwatani), Tom McCarthy (Michael the Robot), Tim Herlihy (Defense Secretary), Jackie Sandler (President’s Assistant), Jared Sandler (White House Junior Aide), William S. Taylor (Navy Secretary), Rose Rollins (White House Press Secretary), Tucker Smallwood (CIA Chief), Serena Williams (herself), Martha Stewart (herself), Allen Covert (Abusive Citizen), Bill Lake (NY Police Commissioner), Mark Whelan (Colonel Devereux), Dan Patrick (White House Reporter #1), Robert Smigel (White House Reporter #2), Steve Koren (White House Reporter #3), Sadie Sandler (Lemonadie Sadie), Sunny Sandler (Sweet Scout Girl), Hannah Covert (Arcader Choir Girl), Abigail Covert (Classroom Scout Girl #1), Sienna James (Classroom Scout Girl #2), Shea James (Classroom Scout Girl #3), Chris Titone (Soccer Player), Jonathan Loughran (White House Gate Guard), Toru Iwatani (Electric Dream Factory Repairman), Anthony Ippolito (13-year-old Brenner), Jared Riley (13-year-old Cooper), Andrew Bambridge (13-year-old Eddie), Jacob Shinder (8-year-old Ludlow), Jack Fulton (Little Boy on London Street), Kevin Grady (Samurai Gamer), Bridget Graham (Cyber Chick #1), Jocelyn Hudon (Cyber Chick #2), Margaret Killingbeck (Old Woman in London Apartment), Ron Mustafa (Indian Teenage Boy), Meher Pavri (Indian Teenage Girl), Annika Pergament (News Reporter), Lamont James (SEAL #1), James Preston Rogers (SEAL #2), Bola Olubowale (SEAL #3), Rob Archer (SEAL #4), Mark Sparks (Fighter Pilot), Steve Wiebe (DARPA Scientist), Sara Haines (TV News Anchor), Derwin Phillips (Secret Service Man #1), Michael Boisvert (Secret Service Man #2), Colleen Reynolds (Abusive Citizen #1), Jimi Shlag (Abusive Citizen #2), Emily Jenkins (Abusive Citizen #3), Sistah Lois (Sergeant Cohan’s Mother), Andrew McMichael (Arcade Employee), Gary Douglas (DC Valet), Eric Trask (Warden), Susie McLean (Press Person), Daryl Hall (himself), John Oates (himself), Matt Frewer (Max Headroom)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green