Day: December 14, 1974

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Land Of The Lost Original Season 1

Elsewhen

Land Of The LostThe Marshalls once again sneak into the Sleestak city to try to work out the operation of the time portal. Growing bored as Rick admits that the number of combinations of colored crystals could be infinite, Holly wanders off; before she is found again, she encounters a woman named Rani who seems to know a great deal about her, including her fear of heights. Rani insists that this fear must be overcome soon if Holly is to save the lives of her family. But can Rani be trusted, or will this latest attempt to investigate the time portal end with another Sleestak attack?

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by D.C. Fontana
directed by Dennis Steinmetz
music by Jimmie Haskell

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Rick Marshall), Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Penny Marshall), Erica Hagen (Rani), Scott Fullerton (Sleestak), Jack Tingley (Sleestak), Mike Westra (Sleestak)

Land Of The LostNotes: Guest star Erica Hagen had a small role in 1973’s Soylent Green, and guest-starred in a two-part episode of Wonder Woman. She had previously appeared in Land Of The Lost as an illusion of Will and Holly’s mother. The time doorway was introduced in The Stranger, and we explored further in The Hole. The plot twist of Rani’s origin is an element that would be borrowed by the 1990s version of Land Of The Lost.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 4

Warlord

Blake's 7Avon calls a summit meeting of the most powerful non-Federation-aligned worlds’ leaders to devise a plan to combat the Pylene-50 pacification drug, but his most powerful ally, Zukan, turns out to be an underground informant for Servalan and plants explosives in Xenon Base. The base explodes while Avon and Soolin are en route to rendezvous with a source of vital raw material. Zukan later discovers that his own daughter has stayed behind on Xenon to remain with Tarrant, and Avon manages to save his crew just in time, but Zukan’s daughter dies while reactivating the Xenon Base life support systems.

written by Simon Masters
directed by Viktors Ritelis
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Roy Boyd (Zukan), Bobbie Brown (Zeeona), Dean Harris (Finn), Simon Merrick (Boorva), Rick James (Chalsa), Charles Augins (Lod), Brian Spink (Mida)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Movies

Dune

DunePadishah Emperor Shaddam IV is on the receiving end of a rare personal visit from a Navigator of the Spice Guild: his longtime hold over the life-extending, interstellar-travel-enabling Spice Melange may be at an end. The Navigators foresee a “problem” involving the son of Duke Leto Atreides, ruler of the planet Caladan, and chief competitor of the spice-mining operation run by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, ruler of planet Geidi Prime…and personal pick of the Emperor to mine the spice found only on the planet Arrakis, known informally as Dune. The Emperor’s concubine, a member of the telepathic Bene Gesserit sisterhood, sets about trying to learn about Atreides’ son, Paul. As the male child of another Bene Gesserit woman, Paul may indeed pose a great threat to the existing balance of power.

Paul, in the midst of training to accompany his father to Arrakis, begins to experience visions of strange places and events, full of names and faces unknown to him. On Arrakis, Duke Leto Atreides impresses the local spice harvesters with his compassion and non-dictatorial attitudes, a distinct change from the iron-fisted rule of House Harkonnen. But the Harkonnen, eager to regain sole control over the spice, have set traps within traps: Leto’s personal doctor has been swayed against him, and multiple assassintation attempts are hatched. Finally, a brute-force assault puts Paul and his mother on the run, while Leto falls int othe hands of Baron Harkonnen.

Paul and his mother encounter the Fremen, desert warriors native to Arrakis, who defy the planet’s fierce desert climate with hidden stockpiles of water. The Fremen need a leader to fend off the inevitable campaign by the Harkonnen to re-enslave everyone on Arrakis, and in Paul, they find the prophesied leader. Paul must survive numerous challenges and introduce the Fremen to his ways if he is to avenge his father, overthrow the corrupt Emperor, and bring peace to Arrakis.

screenplay by David Lynch (credited in extended edition as Judas Booth)
based on the novel by Frank Herbert
directed by David Lynch (credited in extended edition as Alan Smithee)
music by Toto
Prophecy Theme by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno

DuneCast: Francesca Annis (Lady Jessica), Leonardo Cimino (The Baron’s Doctor), Brad Dourif (Piter De Vries), José Ferrer (Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV), Linda Hunt (Shadout Mapes), Freddie Jones (Thufir Hawat), Richard Jordan (Duncan Idaho), Kyle MacLachlan (Paul Atreides), Virginia Madsen (Princess Irulan), Silvana Mangano (Reverend Mother Ramallo), Everett McGill (Stilgar), Kenneth McMillan (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen), Jack Nance (Captain Iakin Nefud), Sian Phillips (Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam), Jürgen Prochnow (Duke Leto Atreides), Paul Smith (The Beast Rabban), Patrick Stewart (Gurney Halleck), Sting (Feyd Rautha), Dean Stockwell (Dr. Wellington Yueh), Max von Sydow (Dr. Kynes), Alicia Roanne Witt (Alia Atreides), Sean Young (Chani), Danny Corkill (Orlop), Honorato Magalone (Otheym), Judd Omen (Jamis), Molly Wryn (Harah)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 25 Doctor Who

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS is invaded – not by Daleks, Sontarans or Cybermen, but by a satellite delivering junk mail to any passing vessels. This particular satellite brings good tidings from Segonax, home of the Psychic Circus, and the Doctor is intrigued – while Ace is repulsed, primarily by the thought of circus clowns. The Doctor decides to go anyway, and finds Segonax less inviting than its sales pitch promised. From the curious variety of other circusgoers, to the abandoned bus manned by a homicidal robot tram conductor, to the mysterious explorer known only as the Captain and his exotic sidekick Mags, the Doctor immediately senses that something is wrong. Upon arriving at the Psychic Circus at last, the Doctor discovers the truth: those coming to visit the circus are not there as spectators, but as the entertainment – and the penalty for failing to entertain the unusual audience, a seemingly bland family of three, is death.

Order the DVDwritten by Stephen Wyatt
directed by Alan Wareing
music by Mark Ayres

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), T.P. McKenna (The Captain), Jessica Martin (Mags), Christopher Guard (Bellboy), Dee Sadler (Flowerchild), Ian Reddington (Chief Clown), Deborah Manship (Morgana), Ricco Ross (Ringmaster), Chris Jury (Deadbeat), Daniel Peacock (Nord), Gian Sammarco (Whizzkid), David Ashford (Dad), Janet Hargreaves (Mum), Kathryn Ludlow (Little Girl), Peggy Mount (Stallholder), Dean Hollingsworth (Bus Conductor)

Broadcast from December 14, 1988 through January 4, 1989

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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1984-95: Heisei Series Godzilla

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

GodzillaIn 2204, the remains of King Ghidorah, minus one head, are discovered beneath the ocean.

In 1992, Reporter Kenichiro Terasawa interviews World War II vet Ikehata, who claims his military unit was protected from U.S. forces by a dinosaur on Ragos Island. Terasawa beleives nuclear testing may have caused the dinosaur to become Godzilla. Industrialist and creator of Dinosaurworld Yosuki Shindo admits to seeing the dinosaur on Ragos Island when confronted by Tersawa.

A UFO is discovered in a glade. Japanese security and intelligence officials are greeted by it’s passengers. Wilson, Grenchiko, and Emmy Kano, who explain they are from the Earth Union of the future and will meet with the Japanese Prime Minister the following day. At the meeting, they say Godzilla will return, destroy nuclear power plants, and cause Japan to become inhabitable. They are there to stop the King of the Monsters. Emmy reveals a book written by Tarasawa about a massive battle with Godzilla, a book he has not yet written because the battle has yet to occur. The people from the future plan to return to Ragos Island and remove it prior to becoming Godzilla, eliminating the monster from Japan’s history. They take Terasawa, dinosaur expert Mazaki, and Miki Seagusa of the ESP Institute. Also on the trip is andriod M-11, and three bio-engineered creatures called Dorats, which look like large, brown bats.

In 1944, the time travelers arrive just as American ships begin shelling Ragos Island. The Japanese troops, including Shindo and Ikehata, are waging a losing defense against U.S. ground troops when suddenly a dinosaur appears. The creature destroys the American troops, but is seriously injured. The time travelers watch as the Japanese soldiers honor the Godzillasaurus. After the troops leave, the time travelers remove the monster using a teleport machine. The dorats are left in the island when the group returns to 1992.

There, Wilson and Grinchiko tell them Godzilla is no longer an historic figure, but King Ghidorah is. The nuclear explosions had merged the three dorats into one giant angry creature. Thier plan was to use the three headed monster to remove Japan from a future history in which it dominates the world economy. Ghidorah is laying waste to Japan. Feeling betrayed, Emmy flees.

Shindo agrees to allow his privately developed nuclear powered and nuclear armed submarine to turn the Godzillasaurus into the King of the Monsters, but is destroyed by Godzilla. A nuclear submarine that had sunk years previously irradiated the beast, turning it into Godzilla. Meanwhile, Ghidorah continues his attack. Godzilla makes landfall. He is much larger than before because he was subjected to a higher grade of nuclear radiation than in the previous timeline. Wilson orders Ghidorah to attack Godzilla. The three headed monster blasts at Godzilla with lightning-like bolts emanating from his mouths.

Ghidorah is getting the upper hand, when explosives in the time machine are set off by Emmy, Terasawa, and M-11, causing Wilson and Grinchiko to lose control over Ghidorah. The machine though is set to automatically return to the future in the event of serious damage. Emmy, Terasawa, and the android escape the ship by fleeing in a smaller time machine. Godzilla has managed to defeat Ghidorah and uses his nuclear blast to severe one of Ghidorah’s heads. M-11 uses the teleporter to send the larger machine to the creature’s battlefield. Moments before the automatic controls return the ship to the future, it is destroyed by Godzilla.

Sapporo prepares for an attack by Godzilla. Thier defenses are useless as he smashes through the city. M-11 and Emmy return to the future to “fix” Ghidorah and bring him back to the 20th century. This time, they’ll use the golden beast to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan.

Godzilla is attacking Tokyo. Shindo, though refuses to evacuate. The same monster that saved him 50 years earlier is now destroying all he built. Godzilla recognizes the industrialist when he finds him. Shindo is incinerated with a blast from Godzilla. He continues his rampage through Tokyo, but is met by Mecha-King Ghidorah. It has a new mechanical head, wings, and torso with Emmy piloting and M-11 as the computer brains. The two monsters wage a back and forth battle, with Godzilla finally blasting the refurbished monster out of the sky, knocking Emmy unconscious. Before he can deliver the killing blow, Emmy awakens and launches several thick cables that wrap around Godzilla. Mecha King Ghidorah carries Godzilla out to sea, both of the creatures falling when Godzilla blasts at his opponant.

The smaller time machine rises out of the ocean. Emmy reveals that Terasawa is one of her ancestors as she returns to her time. Godzilla, however, is still alive.

screenplay by Kazuki Omori
directed by Kazuki Omori
music by Akira Ifukube

Human Cast: Kosike Toyohara (Kenichiro Tarasawa), Anna Nakagawa (Emmy Kano), Megumi Odaka (Miki Saegusa), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Yasuaki Shindo)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Dorat, Godzillasaurus, Mecha King Ghidorah

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

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Highlander Season 1

Family Tree

HighlanderRichie, trying to find out more about his parents, tries to steal orphanage records and gets himself arrested. MacLeod bails him out again, and Tessa gently suggests that maybe Richie’s family research would go better if he had help. Eventually, Richie follows the trail of clues to a run-down apartment, where a man named Joe Scanlon rudely brushes off his requests for information. Richie leaves a business card from Tessa’s shop with Scanlon and then leaves. Scanlon’s next visitor isn’t so pleasant – a loan shark’s thug has come to collect $50,000. The next day, Richie is surprised when Scanlon shows up, claiming to be Jack Ryan – his father.

MacLeod, suspicious as always, checks out Scanlon’s apartment for himself, and runs into the thug who had visited there the previous day. After following the thug back to the club where he works, MacLeod learns the truth – Scanlon is a third-rate gambler, deep into debt, who has only two days to come up with the money. But even after MacLeod tries to warn Richie that he’s being scammed, Richie may risk his life to help “Jack.”

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Droney
directed by Jorge Montesi
music by Roger Bellon

Cast: Adrian Paul (Duncan McLeod), Alexandra Vandernoort (Tessa), Stan Kirsch (Richie), Peter DeLuise (Clinch), HighlanderJ.E. Freeman (Joe Scanlon), Tamsin Kelsey (Mrs. Gustavson), Matthew Walker (Ian MacLeod)

Notes: Speaking of the family tree, guest star Peter DeLuise is the son of Dom DeLuise and, like many of his brothers, built a career in showbiz in Vancouver (Highlander’s North American filming location and base of operations). Peter later went on to direct and write many episodes of the Stargate series and Jeremiah, including one of the final Stargate SG-1 episodes, titled Family Ties.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 06 Star Trek The Next Generation

Chain Of Command Part II

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 46360.8: Cardassian representative Gul Lemec reveals to Jellico that Picard has been captured on Celtris III. Under interrogation by Gul Madred, Picard is tortured in the Cardassians’ attempt to find out more about the defenses of Minos Korva, a planet once sought by the Cardassians in their war with the Federation. On the Enterprise, Jellico prepares for all-out war in the event of a collapse of diplomatic relations, but meets with open disapproval from Riker. Jellico relieves Riker of his duties and continues to deny that Picard’s mission was ordered by Starfleet, which disqualifies Picard from the terms of the Federation-Cardassian treaty concerning fair treatment of prisoners of war. Picard resists further torture but is pushed to the limits of his endurance while Gul Madred continues to question him about Minos Korva, of which Picard knows nothing. Meanwhile, Jellico confronts the Cardassians and calls their bluff after discovering a flotilla of their warships hiding near Minos Korva. He successfully demands a withdrawal and the release of Picard. Returned to the Enterprise, Picard resumes command, but all is not normal after his experience at the hands of the Cardassians.

Order the DVDswritten by Frank Abatemarco
directed by Les Landau
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), David Warner (Gul Madred), Ronny Cox (Captain Jellico), John Durbin (Gul Lemec), Heather Lauren Olsen (Jil Orra), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 2

Soul Mates

Babylon 5Londo’s three wives arrive on B5, summoned by their husband for reasons unknown. Mystery also surrounds the arrival of Matthew Stoner, Talia’s ex-husband. Londo has called his wives to the station on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his ascension so he can choose which of them to remain married to, since his gift from the Emperor is to be granted a painless divorce from two of them. Stoner, on the other hand, wants Talia back, something Garibaldi is wary of on both professional and personal levels, but no one can seem to disagree with Stoner for very long for some reason. At the party, Londo’s wives give him an old Centauri artifact which turns out to be booby-trapped, and Londo lands in medlab facing certain death. In the meantime, nobody is able to find a reason to think twice about Stoner’s actions, even when Talia announces her wish to leave B5 with him.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by Peter David
directed by John C. Flinn III
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), Keith Szarabajka (Matthew Stoner), Lois Nettleton (Daggair), Blair Valk (Mariel), David L. Crowley (Lou Welch), Carel Struycken (Trader), Jane Carr (Timov), Bryan Michael McGuire (Man)

Original title: Pestilence, Famine and Death

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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1999-2004: Millennium Series Godzilla

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

GodzillaShobijin, fairy twins from Infant Island warn that Godzilla’s bones, which are now part of Mechagodzilla, must be reburied. Mothra will protect Japan in Mechagodzilla’s place. Officials reject the offer.

The carcass of a Megalo Matamata, a giant sea turtle, is found washed up on beach. It’s believed to have been killed by Godzilla. Later, a submarine is attacked and sunk by the King of the Monsters. He is lured to Shinagawa district of Tokyo, the site of the last battle and still in ruins. He crashes through to the Minata district, where repairs to Mechagodzilla are continuing.

Mothra, in her butterfly form, arrives and confounds Godzilla by beating up wind and dust, then grasping him and tossing him aside. They continue to fight into the evening. Meanwhile, the Fairy Twins await the hatching of a new Mothra at Himago Island. The Prime Minister decides to launch Mechagodzilla, even though repairs are not quite complete.

Godzilla fires a blast at Mothra, striking one of her wings and causing her to crash to the ground. As he advances against the flying creature, Mechagodzilla arrives to press its attack. Lasers, masers, and missiles are fired at Godzilla with minimal effect. Godzilla fires a nuclear blast through a skyscraper, striking Mechagodzilla and slamming it to the ground. Before Godzilla can destroy his robot doppelganger, Mothra flies into him. Godzilla fires another blast, hitting it with a deadly blow. Back at the island, two Mothra larvae hatch from the egg.

Mechagodzilla gets to its feet and renews the battle. While there’s some initial success, the remote controls are sluggish and the monster again brings the ‘bot crashing down. The larvae arrive and confer with the dying butterfly. Godzilla uses his nuclear blast against the three, but the flying creature sacrifices itself and takes the full brunt of the blast, exploding in a massive fireball.

Yoshi Chujo volunteers to enter Mechagodzilla to make repairs. While on his way, the larvae press their attack against Godzilla. Yoshi manages to repair the remote controls, but battle damage jams his exit from inside the robot. He lies and says he has left in order for remote operators to control Mechagodzilla. The robot is again put into service and the pair wrestle near the center of Tokyo. Godzilla is thrown against the capital building. He gets up, but the robot uses a hand-mounted drill against the monster. Injured, he backs away, but Mechagodzilla’s Hypermaser is deployed against it. As Godzilla falls, the Mothra larvae spin a cocoon around it.

The Shobijin remind the humans that “no human being may touch the souls of the dead” and Godzilla should be returned to the sea, including the remains of Godzilla that are within Mechagodzilla. The Prime Minister agrees to scrap the Mechagodzilla project but orders it to destroy Godzilla. The cyborg refuses to kill Godzilla and instead carries it off to sea. Before it can sink Godzilla and itself into the Japan Trench, a White Heron is able to shoot a hatch open, allowing Yoshi to escape. The Mothra larvae return to Himago Island.

screenplay by Mashiro Yokotani & Masaaki Tezuka
directed by Masaaki Tezuka
music by Michiru Oshima

Human Cast: Noboru Kaneko (Yoshito Chujo), Miho Yoshioka (Azusa Kisaragi), Hiroshi Koizumi (Shinichi Chujo)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Mothra, larval Mothra, Megalo Matamata

Notes: The original Japanese language version of this is Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. This is the only movie in the Millennium Series to continue the continuity from a previous Millennium Series movie (Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla). The Megalo Matamata is also identified as Kamoebas from an obscure Toho movie Space Amoeba. However, this also appears to be an homage of sorts to Gamera, the giant flying turtle from Daiei Motion Picture Company. Gamera rivaled Godzilla in the 1960s and also experienced a resurgence in the 1990s with a trio of movies that began with the excellent Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

Categories
Doctor Who The Audio Dramas War Doctor

The Innocent

Doctor WhoCardinal Olistra of the Time Lords receives word that the Doctor has died in the latest battle of the Time War, taking the place of two Time Lord soldiers sent to deploy the Daleks’ own Time Destructor in the path of their advance against Gallifrey. The Doctor felt more qualified – and likely to survive – than the young Time Lords whose place he takes. Indeed, he does survive, escaping (just barely) in his TARDIS, which lands on the planet Cesca, a world seemingly untouched by the Time War. But it’s still a planet at war: the native Cescans are under siege by their enemies, the Tarlians. The Doctor acts quickly to fend off a Tarlian attack, but when he is offered a reward, he asks to be left alone in peace. His request is almost granted; the only person who doesn’t honor it is the girl who first found him when his TARDIS landed there. Fascinated by his tales of travel through time, she wants to join him when he leaves, but the Doctor insists that he doesn’t take on companions anymore. The Doctor also insists that he is a monster, and she doesn’t believe him. But the Time Lords want him back on Gallifrey, fighting for their side – and they are not above doing away with the Doctor’s would-be companion for their own purposes.

written by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Howard Carter

Cast: John Hurt (The War Doctor), Jacqueline Pearce (Cardinal Ollistra), Lucy Briggs-Owen (The Nursemaid), Carolyn Seymour (The Slave). Beth Chalmers (Veklin), Alex Wyndham (Seratrix), Kieran Hodgson (Bennus), Barnaby Edwards (Arverton), Mark McDonnell (Traanus), John Banks (Garv), Nicholas Briggs (Daleks)

Notes: The Dalek Time Destructor was last deployed, to devastating effect, on the planet Kembel in part 12 of The Daleks’ Masterplan (1966); on that occasion, it was activated by the first Doctor’s companion, Sara Kingdom, who paid for it with her life.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green