Category: Planet Of The Apes

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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

The Tyrant

Planet Of The ApesBurke, Virdon and Galen are helping out in a human village, but have to take shelter when an ape garrison rolls into town to shake down the residents for a “tax” payment: the village’s entire crop of grains for the year. The three travelers offer their help, but the older humans in the settlement are too accustomed to being beaten down for the frequent payments. Only one villager’s brash young son is willing to help mount a resistance against the apes: in a fierce attack, the grain is hijacked and brought back to the villagers. The retaliation is swift and vicious: the young man who helped Virdon and Burke is gunned down in cold blood, and his father is injured, but left alive. News of the commotion draws Urko’s attention, but the local garrison commander is an old rival of his. That rivalry may be their key to escaping with their skin intact.

Order the DVDswritten by Walter Black
directed by Ralph Senensky
music by Lalo Schifrin

Planet Of The ApesGuest Cast: Percy Rodrigues (Aboro), Michael Conrad (Janor), Joseph Ruskin (Daku), Klair Bybee (Sam), Arlen Stuart (Gola), James Daughton (Mikal)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

The Cure

Planet Of The ApesGetting the feeling that they’ve outstayed their welcome at the most recent human village they’ve visited, the three travelers journey on before Urko catches word of their presence. But not long after they leave, they hear that the village they just left has been quarantined by apes, with a fatal disease spreading rapidly among the humans. Virdon recognizes the symptoms immediately: malaria has taken hold. Zoran, an ape doctor dispatched by Dr. Zaius and the apes’ science council, arrives to take charge of the scene, only to find that Virdon is already directing the effort to ease human suffering and cure those affected. Worse yet for Zoran, Virdon’s attempt to contain the disease seems to be working. He takes credit for Virdon’s efforts when he reports back to Zaius – and Urko immediately suspects that Zoran has help from the runaway astronauts.

Order the DVDswritten by Edward J. Lasko
directed by Bernard McEveety
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: Sondra Locke (Amy), David Sheiner (Zoran), Ron Soble (Kava), George Wallace (Talbert), Mark Lenard (Urko), Booth Colman (Zaius), Biff Elliot (Orangutan), Albert Cole (Mason), Ron Stein (Neesa), Charles Leland (Dying Man)

Planet Of The ApesNotes: Though she’s generally better known for her movie roles, particularly those in which she appeared alongside her real-life love interest Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke was a familiar face on early ’70s TV, also appearing in Night Gallery, Kung Fu and Barnaby Jones, among others. The medical infomation in the story – battling malaria by deriving quinine from the bark of cinchona trees – is actually accurate, though that method of battling malaria was phased out in the 1940s with the advent of more reliable medicines.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes Season 1

Up Above The World So High

Planet Of The ApesVirdon, Burke and Galen spot something unusually large flying overhead; the two humans immediately recognize it as a primitive hang glider, which would represent a huge step forward for humans. The glider has also attracted the interest of the apes, however: Dr. Zaius sees great potential to enforce ape law from the air, while General Urko dismisses the glider as a toy. Its inventor is determined to keep developing it regardless of the risk, but when Virdon and Burke demonstrate some knowledge of flight, he instantly regards them with suspicion. And there’s someone else involved too – someone who sees the glider as the perfect way to drop bombs on the apes.

Order the DVDsteleplay by S. Bar-David and Arthur Browne Jr.
story by S. Bar-David
directed by John Meredyth Lucas
music by Lalo Schifrin

Guest Cast: Joanna Barnes (Carsia), Frank Aletter (Leuric), Martin Brooks (Konag), Mark Lenard (Urko), Booth Colman (Zaius), William Beckley (Council Orang), Ron Stein (Gorilla Guard), Eldon Burke (2nd Trooper), Glenn Wilder (Human Driver)

Planet Of The ApesNotes: This was the final live-action Planet Of The Apes project until the 2001 remake movie directed by Tim Burton, and the last Planet Of The Apes media to feature Roddy McDowall (1928-1998). With declining ratings, and the show’s increasing tendency toward controversial subject matter (including an entire completed episode that CBS deemed unsuitable for air), CBS opted not to order further episodes of the series.

S. Bar-David is a pseudonym frequently used by writer Shimon Wincelberg; he also used this pseudonym on episodes of the original Star Trek. Director John Meredyth Lucas was a frequent writer and director on that show as well, and was a name often seen in one of those capacities in 1960s TV credits. He also wrote episodes of The Starlost and Logan’s Run.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes The Animated Series

Flames Of Doom

Planet Of The ApesThe spaceship Ventura, with its crew of three astronauts, plunges through a time warp as it returns to Earth from a deep space mission to find the whereabouts of a lost expedition (which was itself launched to search for Taylor’s crew). Though it still lands on Earth, its crew has arrived nearly two millennia after they expected to return. The world is now ruled by intelligent apes, and a heated debate rages over whether human beings are dangerous to the dominant ape species, or if they can be preserved as harmless pets. Astronauts Hudson, Franklin and Carter find a settlement of humans, but these humans are primitive at best. The contrast between the native humans and the astronauts attracts the attention of the new rulers of Earth, who consider a more modern human race a threat to their existence, and they set out to capture the three astronauts.

Order the DVDswritten by Larry Spiegel
directed by Cullen Houghtaling
music by Dean Elliott

Voice Cast: Tom Williams (Bill Hudson), Claudette Nevins (Judy Franklin), Austin Stoker (Jeff Carter), Henry Corden (Dr. Cornelius), Tress MacNeille (Dr. Zira), Henry Corden (General Urko)

Notes: It’s nearly impossible to reconcile Return To The Planet Of The Apes with either the movies that started the saga, or the short-lived live-action series that attempted to continue it. It’s probably wisest to view Return as a retelling of the Apes saga for a younger audience, rather than any kind of continuation. The depiction of humans at a stone-age level, the inclusion of Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius, and the mentions of Brent and Nova from Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, are appropriated from the films, but the apes in Return have far more advanced technology, including motorized vehicles and television. The character of General Urko is borrowed from the live-action television series, again serving as a persistent nemesis for the humans. The exterior of the three-person Ventura is represented by artwork of the single-seater Mercury capsules of the 1960s, rather than a depiction that’s anywhere near the vehicles seen in the Apes movies or live-action TV series; the design of the American space shuttle was finalized by the time Return To The Planet Of The Apes went into production, but wasn’t used.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Planet Of The Apes The Animated Series

Escape From Ape City

Planet Of The ApesBill has been captured by the apes and taken back to their city, where the ape scientists, Cornelius and Zira, express an interest in him. That interest keeps Bill from being subjected to brutal slave labor or taking part in ape war games, but when he learns that Zira and Cornelius plan to perform surgery on his brain, Bill voices his objections…which stuns his captors, who have never met a human intelligent enough to speak. Bill plots not only his own escape, but plans to free the rest of the humans captured by the apes.

Order the DVDswritten by Larry Spiegel
directed by Cullen Houghtaling
music by Dean Elliott

Voice Cast: Tom Williams (Bill Hudson), Claudette Nevins (Judy Franklin), Austin Stoker (Jeff Carter), Henry Corden (Dr. Cornelius), Tress MacNeille (Dr. Zira), Henry Corden (General Urko)

Return to The Planet Of The ApesNotes: The first few minutes of this episode basically repeat some of the major plot points of the original Planet Of The Apes movie; Bill is called “Blue Eyes” (as opposed to Taylor being called “Bright Eyes” in the film), and the revelation that he can speak plays out similarly to that of Taylor in the movie, again making it easier to regard this as a reboot from the ground up, rather than a part of the original film and TV continuity.

LogBook entry by Earl Green