Day: September 20, 1968

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Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

Spock’s Brain

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5431.4: The Enterprise is intercepted by a starship of unknown design and a woman from the ship beams directly into the bridge and uses a device to render the Enterprise’s crew unconscious. She then walks over to Spock… When the crew awakens, McCoy summons Kirk to sick bay and informs him that the alien visitor apparently removed Spock’s entire brain without even performing surgery. After Spock’s body is fitted with a device that allows McCoy to control the Vulcan’s motor functions with a remote control, Kirk starts a search for Spock’s brain, hoping it can be recovered and somehow returned to Spock before his body decays.

Season 3 Regular Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy)

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Lee Cronin
directed by Marc Daniels
music by Fred Steiner

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Marj Dusay (Kara), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), James Daris (Creature), Sheila Leighton (Luma)

Notes: Generally considered the original Star Trek’s lowest ebb, Spock’s Brain – and every other third season episode attributed to “Lee Cronin” – actually came from the pen of Gene L. Coon, who has laid much of the series’ groundwork, including the Klingons and the Prime Directive.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Search

One Of Our Probes Is Missing

SearchWhen a PROBE agent is abducted while trying to crack a counterfeiting ring in the UK, Cameron calls in Nick Bianco, an “Omega Probe” who handles especially hazardous cases. Bianco is brought up to speed on the counterfeiting operation, which has been pumping thousands of $100 bills almost indistinguishable from the real things into world markets, before jetting to London to join forces with an undercover IRS agent. Bianco can barely hide the fact that he’d like to be under her covers, but pleasantries have to wait as a series of escalating encounters with seemingly disconnected people across London make it clear that Bianco is closing in on an operation that threatens to undermine American currency around the globe.

written by Leslie Stevens
directed by Phillip Leacock
music by Dominic Frontiere

SearchCast: Tony Franciosa (Nick Bianco), Burgess Meredith (Cameron), Angel Tompkins (Gloria), Stefanie Powers (Jill Davenport), Allen Garfield (Marty Zakarian), Milton Selzer (Lucas Kaplos), Jacquelyn Hyde (Lena Kaplos), Ford Rainey (Dr. Barnett), Larry Linville (Emery), Henry Capps (Bartender), Lou Peralta (Voit), Harold Oblong (Aaron Kaplos), Ian Abercrombie (Florist), Tony de Costa (Ramos), Byron Chung (Kuroda), Ginny Golden (Keach), Albert Popwell (Griffin), Amy Farrell (Murdock), David Gilliam (Arthur Burrell)

Notes: Another one of the major changes that Search underwent in the transition from TV movie to weekly series was a rare “rotating leading man” arrangement. This not only afforded the series a little bit of flexibility with a complex location shooting schedule, but in more practical show business terms, it meant that the show’s entire future couldn’t be held hostage to the salary demands of a single star. In story Searchterms, it lent some realism to the PROBE operation: a security operation with global reach couldn’t plausibly depend on the services of just one agent. While future Hart To Hart star Stefanie Powers steals the show, Larry Linville can be seen in a bit part; this episode of Search aired just three nights after he made his debut as Major Frank Burns in the first episode of M*A*S*H on rival network CBS.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Kolchak The Night Stalker Season 1

The Zombie

Night StalkerA series of brutal crimes are taking place in Chicago’s underworld. Each victim has his spine snapped. Things become more bizarre when the same corpse is discovered at the scene of two of the murders – a Haitian, his ears filled with chicken blood. Despite police resistance, Kolchak discovers that the Haitian, Francois Edmonds, was killed by the same men who are now being murdered. Edmonds’ mother is a voodoo priestess, capable of raising the dead to seek vengeance for their murder. In this case, she is animating her own son to avenge himself. When he gets too close to the truth, Kolchak becomes a target. He tracks the zombie to the auto junkyard where it rests in a hearse. The only way to permanently kill it? Fill its mouth with salt and sew the lips together, or strangle it while burning holy candles.

Order the DVDswritten by Zekial Marko
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Charles Aidman (Captain Leo Winwood), Joe Sirola (Benjamin Sposato), Scatman Crothers (Uncle Filemon), Val Bisoglio (Victor Friese), Antonio Fargas (Sweetstick Weldon), J. Pat O’Malley (Cemetery Caretaker), Earl Faison (Francois Edmonds – The Zombie)

Notes: This is one of the better episodes, particularly the climax when Kolchak must climb into a hearse and try to sew the zombie’s lips together.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

The Gladiators

Planet Of The ApesAs Virdon, Burke and Galen explore their world, stopping to sample the local fruit until the hear the sounds of fighting nearby. The two astronauts intervene when they find two men apparently intent on beating each other to a pulp. Burke intervenes, but instead of finding a victim grateful that his attacker has been beaten off, he finds himself targeted by both combatants. Virdon joins in until the sound of approaching ape soldiers drives the astronauts into hiding. Virdon realizes that his most prized possession – a disc from the spaceship’s flight recorder that might prove useful in reconstructing the events leading up to the time warp – was dropped during the fight, and is now in the hands of the local ape prefect. Virdon, Burke and Galen go to retrieve the disc, and Galen offers to take the point, as he’ll have less trouble blending into an ape community. Virdon and Burke, on the other hand, are arrested for trying to steal horses. Burke is singled out to participate in gladiatorial games against another human – Tolar, the older of the two men they spotted fighting before. Burke beats Tolar in hand-to-hand combat, but refuses to kill him when a sword is thrown into the arena. Rather than inspiring humans and apes alike with this act of mercy, Burke has merely made a new human enemy by violating a primitive code of honor – and they’re no closer to retrieving the disc.

Order the DVDswritten by Art Wallace
directed by Don McDougall
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: William Smith (Tolar), John Hoyt (Barlow), Marc Singer (Dalton), Mark Lenard (General Urko), Pat Renell (Jason), Andy Albin (Man), Eddie Fontaine (Gorilla Sergeant), Nick Dimitri (A Gorilla), Ron Stein (1st Gorilla), Jim Stader (2nd Gorilla)

Notes: A number of past and future SF TV veterans appear here, most notably Mark Lenard – best known for playing the part of Spock’s father Sarek in the original Star Trek – shows up again as the astronauts’ recurring arch-rival General Urko. John Hoyt also puts in an appearance; he had played the part of the Enterprise’s original chief medical officer, Dr. Boyce, in the Star Trek pilot The Cage. And future V veteran Marc Singer can be seen here as well, putting in an early-career guest appearance.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Far-Out Space Nuts

The Robots Of Pod

Far-Out Space NutsThe lander is trapped on a planet where a full-scale robot uprising is taking place. Barney and Junior have to disguise themselves as robots to survive in the tyrannical rule of Mercurial, the robots’ overlord, and they have to stay alive long enough to help the other robots overthrow him.

written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann
directed by Claudio Guzman
music by Michael Lloyd / arranged by Reg Powell

Far-Out Space NutsCast: Bob Denver (Junior), Chuck McCann (Barney), Patty Maloney (Honk), Eve Bruce (Princess Lantana), Earle Doud (Mercurial)

Notes: Both of the creators of Far Out Space Nuts appear in the flesh in this episode: Chuck McCann appears in every episode as Barney, while Earle Doud put in an appearance as the robots’ ruler.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Buck Rogers Season 1

Buck Rogers In The 25th Century / Arrival

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyRanger 3, a manned deep space probe launched by NASA in 1987, plunges off-course after a meteor collision. A malfunction of the life support system preserves the ship’s sole occupant, pilot William “Buck” Rogers, in suspended animation. NASA never hears from Ranger 3 again, and the human race all but destroys itself in Rogers’ absence.

Ranger 3 is recovered by the flagship of the Draconian race in the Earth year 2491. When revived by Princess Ardala and her henchman Kane, Buck is interrogated. The Draconians claim to be on a mission of peace, but Buck wasn’t born yesterday – he was born five centuries ago, and he can tell when something’s afoot. Buck is turned loose – with a homing device planted aboard his ship, unknown to him – and makes his way back to Earth, where he is stunned to learn how long it has been since he last set foot on his home world. But even there, Buck is suspected of being a spy by everyone except Dr. Theopolis, a computerized brain who serves on the Computer Council that governs Earth. Buck also earns the trust of Twiki, a chatty, servile robot. When Colonel Deering and Dr. Huer discover the Draconian homing device, Buck is put on trial. Despite the valiant defense offered by Dr. Theopolis, Buck is found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.

Colonel Deering offers Buck one last chance to prove his word by taking him along on a mission to escort the Draconian flagship to Earth in peace. The peace is cut short by what appears to be a pirate attack – and with the marauders’ unpredictable flying, only Buck’s headstrong, old-fashioned air combat training saves the Earth pilots – and, so it seems, the Draconian flagship. Princess Ardala is welcomed to Earth in an elaborate celebration. Dazzled by her beauty, and knowing that it is now well within the power of the Draconians to conquer Earth, Buck must make a choice – run away with the winning side (and the beautiful princess), or fight a hopeless battle to save a world he no longer knows?

Order the DVDswritten by Glen A. Larson & Leslie Stevens
directed by Daniel Haller
music by Stu Phillips

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Pamela Hensley (Princess Ardala), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Henry Silva (Kane), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Joseph Wiseman (Draco), Dick Butler (Tigerman), Felix Silla (Twiki), Caroline Smith (Young woman), John Dewey-Carter (Supervisor), Kevin Coates (Pilot), David Cadiente (Comtel officer), Gil Serna (Technician), Larry Duran (Guard #1), Kenny Endoso (Guard #2), Eric Lawrence (Officer), H.B. Haggerty (Tigerman #2), Colleen Kelly (Wrather), Steve Jones (Pilot #2), David Buchanan (Pilot #3), Burt Marshall (Wingman), Eric Server (voice of Dr. Theopolis), Mel Blanc (voice of Twiki), William Conrad (Narrator/Draconian computer voice)

Notes: This pilot movie is frequently referred to as Arrival, though that title never appears on screen.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

Shattered

Captain PowerIn the future, after a bloody, lengthy war between humans and artificial intelligences, the Earth is a ruined wasteland and the AIs still stalk the land, looking for humans to render harmless by digitizing them. Lord Dredd controls the AIs’ relentless march, while the human resistance is headed up by Captain Jonathan Power and his team.

“Scout” infiltrates one of Lord Dredd’s hideouts with orders to set explosive charges and destroy the base, but the base’s exterior doors close thanks to a preset timer – a security measure that almost results in disaster. Scout is able to escape by the skin of his teeth. Back at the group’s hidden headquarters, Power receives a message from Athena, a childhood friend dating back to before the war, originating from the ruins of San Francisco, and he goes to meet her there. The mission is trouble from the outset: Pilot is knocked out by some sort of sleeping gas while keeping watch on the ship, and Power is ambushed by his old friend, who is now doing Dredd’s bidding. Pilot awakens and summons the rest of the team for backup, but Dredd has dispatched backup of his own in the form of Soaron.

written by Larry DiTillio
directed by Mario Azzopardi
music by Gary Guttman

Captain PowerCast: Tim Dunigan (Captain Jonathan Power), Peter MacNeill (Maj. Matthew “Hawk” Masterson), Sven Thorsen (Lt. Michael “Tank” Ellis), Maurice Dean Wint (Sgt. Robert “Scout” Baker), Jessica Steen (Corporal Jennifer “Pilot” Chase), David Hemblen (Lord Dredd), Ann-Marie MacDonald (Athena), Bruce Gray (Mentor), Deryck Hazel (Soaron), Tedd Dillon (Overmind)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 02

Thanks For The Memory

Red DwarfA Quick Reminder: It’s Rimmer’s deathday, which Lister, Holly and the Cat are probably celebrating more elaborately than they would be if it were his birthday. They all get well pissed, but even the worst hangover doesn’t account for how they wake up the next morning – Lister and Cat each have one foot in a cast, Rimmer remembers confessing in a drunken stupor to Lister that he’s only had sex once with something that wasn’t inflatible, there are gaps in Holly’s memory, and worst of all, someone’s finished the puzzle that Lister had been trying to finish. Naturally, the ship’s black box recorder would have the information they’re after, but even this has gone missing, at least until it is found buried on a nearby moon. When they find out just what has happened, Rimmer and Lister wish they could just forget all about it…

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Sabra Williams (Lise Yates)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 07 Star Trek The Next Generation

Descent Part II

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 47025.4: Taken prisoner by Lore and the Borg while trying to locate the missing Data, an away team consisting of Picard, Troi and Geordi is trapped while the Enterprise is attacked in orbit by the Borg ship. Left in command by Picard, Beverly beams aboard as many of the Enterprise search parties from the planet below as she can and is forced to retreat. Riker and Worf, left behind, discover that Hugh is in hiding on the planet and is biding his time to wrest control of the newly-individualized Borg from Lore, who appealed to the disoriented members of the former collective to follow him to a state of completely non-organic immortality. In the meantime, Data has distanced himself from his past, showing cruelty and sadism toward his captured former comrades. Riker offers to help Hugh in his fight against Lore while hoping to free Picard and the others, as Beverly decides to turn the Enterprise around to retrieve the rest of the crew – but if Data continues to obey the dictates of Lore, there may be no members of the crew to retrieve.

Season 7 Regular 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)

Order the DVDswritten by Renè Echavarria
directed by Alexander Singer
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Brent Spiner (Lore), Jonathan del Arco (Hugh), Alex Datcher (Taitt), James Horan (Barnaby), Brian J. Cousins (Crosis), Benito Martinez (Salazar), Michael Reilly Burke (Goval), and Spot

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Firefly Season 1

The Train Job

  • By Dave
  • September 20, 2002

FireflyRiver is plagued by bad dreams of her time at the Alliance academy, as well as bouts of seeming incoherence where she mutters about men with hands of blue, coming two by two. Mal continues an annual tradition by getting into a bar fight with Alliance supporters on Unification Day, the celebration of the final defeat of the Independents. With that taken care of, the crew moves on to its real job, a train heist on behalf of Adlai Niska. Their employer leaves no doubt in Mal’s mind as to what he does to people who fail to meet his expectations. Mal and Zoe ride the train and discover that a number of Alliance troops are on board, which only makes the job more appealing for him. Jayne breaks into the train from above, with the plan being for Serenity to haul the cargo and the three of them up. When one of the troops gets the jump on them, Jayne calls for an early pull-up, leaving Mal and Zoe behind. They blend back in with the other passengers, all of whom are held for questioning at the train’s next stop. Jayne wants to proceed to the rendezvous point immediately, while the rest of the crew tries to figure out a way to save Mal and Zoe first. Even if their cunning plan succeeds, questioning from the local sheriff is enough to give Mal second thoughts about completing the deal.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear
directed by Joss Whedon
music by Greg Edmonson

Guest Cast: Tom Towles (Lund), Andrew Bryniarski (Crow), Michael Fairman (Niska), Gregg Henry (Bourne)

Notes: This was the first episode of Firefly broadcast by Fox. It was written as a replacement for the original pilot, Serenity. An introduction to the overall setting, narrated by Book, began appearing before the teaser with this episode. These opening narrations do not appear on the DVD release.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer