Day: December 18, 1975

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Season 1 Space: 1999

Another Time, Another Place

Space: 1999A cloud of dust and brilliant lights draws the moon into its center and then keeps moving past it. Moonbase Alpha sustains moderate damage, but it also seems to have been thrown far from where its normal wanderings would have taken it. One member of the grew, Regina Kesslann, hasn’t quite recovered from the collision with the dust cloud, insisting that she saw the moon vanishing into the distance – from inside the Moonbase. She also seems to think that Commander Koenig and Alan Carter died during the incident. As the moon approaches a solar system, instruments seem to indicate that the star is Earth’s sun – and that the third planet orbiting that star is Earth itself. Koenig grows skeptical as the moon slips into its old orbit without incident, though the rest of the crew is eager to return home without asking too many questions. The one person who continues to have difficulty is Regina, and Dr. Russell is at a loss to explain her condition. When Professor Bergman does a closer inspection, he discovers something even more disturbing: the Earth is now a radioactive wasteland, incapable of supporting human life.

Order the DVDswritten by Johnny Byrne
directed by David Tomblin
music by Barry Gray
additional music by Vic Elms

Guest Cast: Judy Geeson (Regina Kesslann), Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow), Clifton Jones (David Kano), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Anton Phillips (Dr. Mathias), Nick Tate (Alan Carter)

Notes: Judy Geeson later appeared in early seasons of Star Trek: Voyager as Sandrine, the proprietor of Tom Paris’ holodeck pool hall.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Electra Woman & Dyna Girl

Return Of The Pharaoh – Part 1

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlAn ancient curse threatens to close down a display of ancient Egyptian relics, and the Pharaoh is immediately suspected, though his accomplice appears to deliver a warning to Electra Woman and Dyna Girl about his plans. That warning naturally leads them into one trap after another set by the Pharaoh, but they escape, only to find that he has new tricks up his sleeve, from immobilizing weaponry to mind control. It seems they’re no match for the Pharaoh this time.

written by Greg Strangis
directed by Jack Regas
music not credited

Electra Woman & Dyna GirlCast: Deidre Hall (Lori / Electra Woman), Judy Strangis (Judy / Dyna Girl), Norman Alden (Frank Heflin), Peter Mark Richman (The Pharaoh), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Sterling Swanson (Mr. McLintock), Marvin Miller (Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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KTMA Season Mystery Science Theater 3000

Experiment K06: Gamera Vs. Gaos

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The KTMA SeasonMST3K Story: Joel is still pleased with the phone calls, but he wants the “scary guys with the low IQs” to stop calling and scaring Gypsy. Joel apologizes for all the giant turtle movies, but states that he doesn’t control what films are shown. He explains that the films are sent up by the mad scientists who shot him into space. Later, Joel puts Servo through puberty by changing his voice, taking it from a squeak to a “great dynamic mighty voice”. It immediately goes to Servo’s head. Gypsy also wants a new voice, but Joel thinks her voice is “kinda deep and sexy” and reminds him of Kim Carnes. A caller wants Crow unfrozen and Gypsy to join Joel in the theater. After showing the freezing of Crow again, Joel scolds Gypsy for eating Crow’s garland thinking it was “shiny spaghetti”. Joel gets an invitation to a young viewer’s birthday party. Since he’s trapped in space and can’t attend, the satellite is decorated in the boy’s honor and Servo gives him some life advice. At the close, Joel announces that they won’t be on during the Christmas holidays, but will return for a special New Years Eve broadcast.

Gamera Vs. Gaos Story: A volcanic eruption releases Gaos, a giant, bat-like creature with a laser beam and a taste for human blood. His rampage is delaying the building of an important road, disrupting not only the company, but also the locals who are negotiating the sale of their land for the road’s use. Several different methods are attempted to destroy Gaos, but none prove effective. Only the combined efforts of the Japanese scientific community, Gamera and Ichi (the grandson of the leader of the landowners), proves enough to defeat Gaos.

MST3K segments written by Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, Jim Mallon & Kevin Murphy
MST3K segments directed by Vince Rodriguez
Gamera Vs. Gaos written by Nisan Takahashi (as Fumi Takahashi)
Gamera Vs. Gaos directed by Noriaki Yuasa
Gamera Vs. Gaos music by Tadashi Yamauchi

MST3K Guest Cast: none

Gamera Vs. Gaos Cast: Kojiro Hongo (Shiro Tsutsumi), Yoshiro Kitahara (Dr. Aoki), Reiko Kasahara (Sumiko Kanamura), Kichijiro Ueda (Tatsuemon Kanamura), Koji Fujiyama, Kyôko Enami, Eiko Yanami

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Alien Nation Season 1

The Red Room

Alien NationA break-in at the lab where Cathy works is just the beginning of a reign of terror that shakes George to his core. Sikes meets Detective Jeffries at the scene, who dismisses the entire incident as an animal activist’s protest, but later, when Sikes discovers that there is no LAPD detective by that name, he starts to wonder what’s really going on. Sikes and George continue following the trail, but at several points along the way, George seems disoriented, and he experiences flashbacks to a red room containing a firing range. “Jeffries” appears again, this time at the police station, and apparently has enough influence to close the case. Sikes isn’t ready to give up the chase yet, and he enlists outside help in analyzing newly discovered samples of Tenctonese tissue, as well as George’s murky memories. When he does manage to remember the strange flashbacks he’s been experiencing, the truth about “Jeffries” becomes just one part of a conspiratorial puzzle with dark implications for humans and Newcomers alike.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episodewritten by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle
directed by Chuck Bowman
music by Steve Dorff & Larry Herbstritt

Guest Cast: Katherine Justice (Dr. Wright), John P. Connolly (Detective Jeffries), Tom Dugan (Silas Marner), Patricia Heaton (Amanda Russle), Ray Reinhardt (Chris Pettit), Michele Lamar Richards (Lois Allen), Chuck Bennett (Marcus Byer)

Notes: Seen only in dimly-lit flashbacks (and later in a body bag), guest star Patricia Heaton makes one of her only genre appearances here, long before her co-starring role in Everybody Loves Raymond.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Lexx Season 2

Terminal

LexxWhen awakened from cryostasis with the wrong reanimation sequence, Kai unexpectedly fires his brace at Stan, mortally wounding him. In an attempt to save his life, Zev convinces Stan to surrender the key to the Lexx and then freezes him in Kai’s cryochamber. Zev sets 790 to the task of finding medical help for Stan, and his search leads them to MedSat, a hospital space station. When the medical space station’s receptionist refuses help due to a lack of insurance, Zev orders Lexx to destroy the planet that the station orbits, and immediately Stan’s case is assigned to the station’s top doctor. After he saves Stan’s life, the doctor takes Zev to dinner, where he tries to convince her to give him the key to the Lexx; when she refuses, he knocks her out and takes her to an operating room while his underlings capture Kai and 790. When Zev comes to, she is given one last chance to give up the Lexx’s key – and when she refuses, she is tortured to the point of death, initiating the transfer of the key.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeffrey Hirschfield
directed by Srinivas Krishna
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Simon Licht (Dr. Kazan), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790), Tom Gallant (Lexx), Oliver Stern (Dr. Funz), Barbara Geiger (Dr. Veezra), Eva Ebner (Mrs. Deebee), Errol Shaker (Administrator), Ian T. Dickinson (Berg), Tatiana Alexander (Nurse)

Note: This is Eva Habermann’s final appearance in the role of Zev.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

The Catwalk

Star Trek: EnterpriseShortly after picking up three alien refugees, the Enterprise is caught in the path of a violent neutronic storm, whose radiation will kill the crew within mere minutes of exposure. Sick bay looks like the only part of the Enterprise with enough shielding to protect the crew, but it can’t hold everyone. Then Trip remembers the radiation shielding of the ship’s warp engines – even though the warp reactor will have to be taken offline and there’s only a long, narrow crawlspace, the “catwalk” inside the warp nacelles can protect the ship’s crew, and their increasingly shifty visitors as well. But while Archer and his crew take shelter in the engine, they’re unaware when an alien spacecraft docks with the Enterprise, and powerless to stop the ship’s soldiers from taking over the bridge. The Enterprise’s new guests are in pursuit of the refugees – and they decide they’d like to steal the ship as well.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Scott Burkholder (Tagrim), Zach Grenier (Renth), Aaron Lustig (Guri), Elizabeth Magness (Crewman #1), Danny Goldring (Alien Captain), Brian Cousins (Alien Lieutenant), Sean Smith (Alien Crewman), and Porthos

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Black Mirror Season 1

The Entire History Of You

Black MirrorGrain is a neural implant that records everything a person sees, even details they don’t notice at first, and stores it for later recall. During a replay, called a “redo”, different details can be enhanced and brought into focus, obsessed over, even litigated. A scan of recent memories has become the new background check: airport security, insurance, and job offers are all contingent upon memory scans with no unusual incidents – and no major deletions from the record hinting at a cover-up of such incidents. Liam, unsettled by news that the law firm for which he works will begin using recorded Grain memories to allow people to sue their parents for negligence during childhood, is in no mood for a party with old friends, but he still shows up, annoyed that his wife Fiona is being very attentive toward a male guest Liam regards as a blowhard. Upon learning that his wife had more than a mere passing acquaintance with the man in her single life, Liam is fixated on proving that they’re still having an affair. But the memory of what he does to resolve the situation may yet haunt him.

Get the DVDswritten by Jesse Alexander
directed by Brian Welsh
music by Stuart Earl

Black MirrorCast: Toby Kebbell (Liam), Jodie Whittaker (Fiona), Tom Cullen (Jonas), Amy Beth Hayes (Lucy), Rebekah Staton (Colleen), Rhashan Stone (Jeff), Phoebe Fox (Hallam), Jimi Mistry (Paul), Daniel Lapaine (Max), Karl Collins (Robbie), Elizabeth Chan (Leah), Mona Goodwin (Gina), Kemal Sylvester (Airport Security)

Note: Jodie Whittaker would go on to become Doctor Who‘s thirteenth face, making her debut in the closing moments of Twice Upon A Time (2017).

LogBook entry by Earl Green