Tag: CBS

In the clutches of the interplanetary warlord Dragos, Jason finds that his reputation precedes him. Dragos has been expecting Star Command to interfere, and creates an “energy clone” of Jason to return to Star Command instead of the real Jason. Unknown to Nicole and Professor Parsifoot, a similar clone of Commander Canarvan is already in their midst, and leaves Star Command headquarters defenseless.

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Nicole, having escaped from Dragos’ ship thanks to Jason’s interference, returns alone to Star Command and stops Canarvan’s clone from lowering the shields. Aboard Drago’s ship, Jason uses Wiki to free himself and the real Commander Canarvan, and then helps Canarvan to escape in his Starfire shuttle. Jason, however, is trapped on the Dragonship with Drago and his minions…

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Canarvan’s energy clone, under Dragos’ control, makes one final attempt to leave Space Academy defenseless. Jason is thrown into a dungeon, where he meets an alien princess whose world has been taken over by Dragos. They escape to the Starfire escape pod and take refuge on a planet, only to discover that the safety of their haven is only momentary – and not just because of Dragos.

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Roseanne Katon (Allegra)

Notes: Dragos can apparently see everything that goes on at Star Command – security probably needs to do something about that. Also, the engines of Dragos’ ship can apparently destabilize an entire planet – the show’s makers probably need to double-check the laws of physics on that.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Launched by Jason from the surface of the unstable planet on which he’s tapped, the tiny Wiki robot homes in on Nicole’s Starfire and alerts her to Jason’s plight. Dragos delivers an ultimatum to Space Academy: surrender, or he will allow the Academy to fall into the sun. Professor Parsifoot, left in command in the absence of anyone higher-ranking, refuses to give in to Dragos’ demands. Nicole rescues Jason and Allegra from the planet moments before it explodes, but her Starfire is intercepted by the Dragonship. Jason hatches an audacious plan to abandon ship, leaving Dragos to pick up an empty Starfire which will self-destruct shortly afterward.

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Roseanne Katon (Allegra)

Notes: Jason and company’s “life support belts” are conceptually similar to a life support system introduced in Filmation’s animated Star Trek series of the early ’70s, even if the “bail out of the Starfire” scene features atypically underwhelming special effects in a show that, for its time, generally boasted excellent effects scenes.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Allegra finds crystals on the surface of the asteroid where she, Jason and Nicole have taken refuge, but the two officers from Star Command are unimpressed with her find, as well as her insistence on being treated as royalty. When a giant insectoid monster attacks out of nowhere, Jason leads it away from his friends and drives it away by triggering an avalanche. Dragos’ space fighters accost Wiki in deep space, preventing the tiny robot from reaching Space Academy; fortunately, Wiki is close enough to its goal that the Academy helps him break free. Professor Parsafoot recovers the stranded space heroes, but Dragos intercepts them yet again. Jason has no choice but to send Allegra home via the Starfire’s escape pod, while the crew of Star Command find yet another planetoid on which to elude Dragos.

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Roseanne Katon (Allegra)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Jason’s latest planetoid hiding place seems to be a time warp – characters from Earth’s distant past appear and disappear when the Starfire first lands. But Jason, Nicole and Parsafoot are soon captured by a man claiming to be treasure-hungry pirate Captain Kidd, who takes Wiki to help him find a treasure Dragos has left on this world. Typically for Dragos, the treasure turns out to be a trap – but despite the danger, the loot is needed to power up Jason’s Starfire.

written by David Villaire
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Brendan Dillon (Captain Kidd)

Notes: Planets in Jason’s universe seem terribly prone to exploding.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Dragos spawns an electron storm in space, leaving Jason’s just-launched Starfire to be buffeted in the deep space equivalent of choppy waters. But with Captain Kidd aboard, Jason is able to pit the wits of one pirate against another (since Kidd is of the opinion that Dragos is little more than another scurvy dog of the high seas). Dragos dispatches all of his firepower to attack Space Academy, leaving himself open to attack from Jason himself. But can the Academy withstand the attack while Jason goes after Dragos?

written by Don Heckman
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Brendan Dillon (Captain Kidd)

Notes: There’s no small irony in the scene of Commander Canarvin demanding quicker results from Space Academy’s engine room (since Canarvin actor James Doohan was often on the receiving end of such demands in Star Trek). The voices of Dragos’ fighter pilots are, in fact, the heavily-processed voice of Filmation honcho Lou Scheimer.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Dragos discovers Wiki and Peepo conducting a defense survey on the planet Arcturon, and sends his minions to capture them. When the robots fail to check in with Star Command on time, Jason and Nicole go to Arcturon to investigate. When Peepo realizes that Dragos’ henchmen plan to reprogram him, he sends Wiki for help, but it powerless to prevent Dragos from extracting the coordinates of Space Academy from his memory banks. Jason leads Dragos’ henchmen on a chase while Nicole frees Peepo, unaware that Peepo has been completely reprogrammed.

written by Don Heckman
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin)

Notes: Aside from the appearance of Space Academy itself in nearly every episode, this is the only episode to deliver on the intriguing notion that Space Academy and Jason Of Star Command take place in the same universe, with both sets of characters potentially existing side-by-side. Peepo was seen throughout Space Academy.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A Seeker spacecraft appears out of nowhere near Space Academy and disappears again, reappearing moments later in the landing bay. Jason and friends record strange sounds aboard the empty Seeker, but when played back at a slow speed, the strange sounds turn out to be the voice of missing Space Academy cadet Matt Prentiss, who has been missing for a year. Professor Parsafoot devises a way to speed Jason up into the same “time dimension” as Prentiss, but after Jason finds the missing cadet and returns him to normal time, the device malfunctions, stranding Jason.

written by Sid Morse
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), John Berwick (Lt. Matt Prentiss)

Notes: Matt Prentiss is the only human character to carry over to Jason Of Star Command from Space Academy (original plans called for Commander Gampu to give Jason his orders, but a dispute with actor Jonathan Harris over merchandising royalties short-circuited the producers’ plans for such major continuity elements). He previously appeared in the Space Academy episode The Cheat. This episode shares many conceptual similarities with the Star Trek episode Wink Of An Eye – but to give credit where it is due, Jason figures the mystery of the mosquito-like voices much faster than Kirk does! In line with the notion that five years of his life have passed in the year that he has been missing, Prentiss’ hair has greyed (despite the fact that he still appears to be in his twenties).

LogBook entry by Earl Green