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Space Academy

My Favorite Marcia

Space AcademyThe Seeker sets out to observe a white dwarf star nearing its supernova stage, but the slightly risky mission becomes truly dangerouns when a distress signal is detected on a world perilously close to the soon-to-explode star. The Seeker goes to assist, finding an automated distress beacon from a ship Gampu knows all too well – his old rival (and old flame), prospector Marcia Giddings, has been looking for precious minerals here. Worse yet, Loki and Peepo defy orders to stay put on Space Academy, and have stowed away aboard the Seeker. They find Marcia before Gampu does, discovering that she’s been trapped in this precarious situation by a huge robot. Marcia proposes fighting robot with robot, using Peepo to free herself.

written by Ted Pedersen and Martha Humphreys
directed by Jeffrey Hayden
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Space AcademyCast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Cooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Dena Dietrich (Marcia Giddings), Peepo (himself)

Notes: The “galactic distress beacon” siren heard in Academy Control is the same sound effect Filmation used in the animated Star Trek series. The venerable Robbie The Robot prop/costume from Forbidden Planet makes an appearance (having appeared in an early episode of Filmation’s previous live-action SF series, Ark II, a year before), this time with a different head than is usually seen on the prop.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

The Return of The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible HulkHitchhiking his way across California, Banner sees a young woman on crutches collapse, and he carries her to her home. Her family informs Banner that she is ill, and offers him a job working on the grounds. But something is troubling: the family doctor is administering medication that, far from curing her illness, could actually be making her sick. Of course, without revealing his own identity or his background as a doctor, Banner can’t raise much of an alarm. It turns out the girl is the heiress of the family fortune, and it seems that nearly everyone, including her own mother, is patiently waiting for her to die. Banner tries to help her, but in a delusional haze, the girl attacks him, unwittingly unleashing the Hulk.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Kenneth Johnson
directed by Alan J. Levi
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Laurie Prange (Julie Griffith), Dorothy Tristan (Margaret Griffith), John McLiam (Michael), Mills Watson (Sheriff), William Daniels (Dr. Bonifant), Gerald McRaney (Denny Kayle), Victor Mohica (Rafe), Robert Phillips (Phil), Ann Weldon (1st Nurse), Linda Wiser (2nd Nurse), Roger Aaron Brown (Lab Technician), Janet Adams (3rd Nurse), Socorro Swan (Receptionist), Rita Gomez (Maid), Rick Garcia (The Cuban)

Notes: In syndicated reruns (in which it is divided into a two-parter) and on DVD, this movie is known by the title Death In The Family. The title as originally broadcast was The Return of The Incredible Hulk.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Academy

Space Hookey

Space AcademyLoki, looking for any way to avoid what he considers to be boring classes, dares Peepo to rebel and play hookey. In response to the dare, Peepo imitates Commander Gampu’s voice and grants launch clearance for the Seeker, with the two truants aboard. They investigate a comet that seems to be following the Seeker, ignoring Gampu’s orders to return to Space Academy, where two non-corporeal entities get into Loki’s body and return with him. Just as Gampu prepares to dress down his youngest cadet, one of the entities occupies Gampu’s body, and the commander begins issuing irrational orders, namely changing Space Academy’s position and putting it in violation of a volatile territorial peace treaty…

Space Academyteleplay by Samuel A. Peeples
story by Howard Rayfiel and Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Jeffrey Hayden
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Cooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Peepo (himself)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Academy

Star Legend

Space AcademyA course correction to avoid a piece of fast-moving space junk takes the Seeker into a legendary area of space called the Triangle, where Chris and Paul lose contact with Space Academy. A threatening message is received, though the face on the screen is obviously a mask, and the Seeker is propelled back out of the Triangle. Commander Gampu says this sequence of events has played out before, but downplays the legend of the mysterious Captain Rampo, who supposedly saves ships that drift into the Triangle. Eager to debunk the myth, Gampu takes Space Academy itself into the Triangle. The find the vast starship which, as legend has it, is piloted by Captain Rampo, and they find the man himself inside, claiming to be over a thousand years old. But with such a powerful ship, what’s keeping Rampo in the Triangle?

written by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Ezra Stone
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Space AcademyCast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Cooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Howard Morris (Captain Rampo), Peepo (himself)

Notes: Filmation digs into its own library of in-house music for this episode’s more-dramatic-than-usual soundtrack – music which will be familiar to anyone who watched Filmation’s animated version of Star Trek. Clever re-use of the Space Academy asteroid model (under green lighting) and its sets helped to keep this episode’s budget down. We learn here that a single Seeker could destroy a planetoid the size of Space Academy, provided the planetoid’s shields are down.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Academy

Johnny Sunseed

Space AcademyAs the Space Academy cadets are growing accustomed to a new artificially grown vegetable in their meals, Commander Gampu tensely awaits an inspection from someone who he knows would love nothing more than to shut the Academy down: his brother, Johnny Sunseed. With a reputation as an anti-technology crusader, Sunseed is unimpressed with the Academy, and is annoyed that Gampu has assigned Peepo to serve as his tour guide. An outbreak of an unknown condition with intoxicating effects sweeps through the Academy, and Sunseed is quick to pounce on any sign that things aren’t running smoothly.

written by Don Heckman
directed by Ezra Stone
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Space AcademyCast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Cooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Dallas McKennon (Johnny Sunseed), Peepo (himself)

Notes: Although it seems as though Johnny Sunseed is being set up as a new regular at Space Academy, this is the show’s final episode; plans were already underway, in the wake of Star Wars‘ smash success earlier in the year, to use the Space Academy sets, props and models for a more action-adventure-oriented show.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Logan's Run

The Judas Goat

Logan's RunLogan and Jessica are stunned to see a runner from the City of Domes on the road, and after he initially bolts upon seeing Logan’s Sandman uniform, they pick him up and bring him along. The runner insists that a movement is taking hold within the City – a movement that counts Logan and Jessica as its heroes – and they should return to lead the uprising against Carousel. Before there’s much time to think about it, a force field immobilizes Logan’s hovercraft, and armed men swiftly surround it – including a man who insists that the Sandman inside the vehicle should throw out his “weapon that blasts.” Logan, Jessica, Rem and their new runner friend are taken to a modern compound, where a community is presided over by a man named Matthew – the first man to run from the City of Domes. After a while, he recognizes Jessica, but doesn’t trust Logan, again because of his Sandman uniform. But Matthew has apparently changed since he became the first runner to sprint for freedom – he tells Logan and the others that, for the sake of Matthew’s personal Sanctuary, they can never be allowed to leave.

Download this episodewritten by John Meredyth Lucas
directed by Paul Krasny
music from stock music library

Guest Cast: Nicholas Hammond (Hal 14), Lance Le Gault (Matthew), Spencer Milligan (Garth), Wright King (Jonathon), Morgan Woodward (Morgan), Gary Tomlin (Joseph 8 ), Andrew Massett (Carlos), Diane Lander (Elna), Patrick Skelton (Mark), James Poyner (Theo)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Logan's Run

Futurepast

Logan's RunAfter a narrow escape from the Sandmen, Logan and his friends happen upon a long-abandoned observatory which is apparently maintained by one woman. She proves to be a friendly enough hostess, inviting Jessica and Logan to stay the night and sleep in the first comfortable beds they’ve seen since the City of Domes, and she seems to have a strange effect on Rem. He quickly discovers that their hostess is also an android. What she hasn’t told anyone, however, is that the beds are “dream analysis stations” allowing their users to experience their most deeply repressed fears and desires. Both of them return in their dreams to the City of Domes, Jessica longing to meet her real parents and Logan torn between his need for order and his desire for freedom. Rem is warned not to disconnect his friends from the dream analysis machine for fear of permanent damage to their minds. As the Sandmen close in, all Rem can do is wait – and realize that he and his android hostess may be experiencing something unprecedented: the human emotion called “love.”

Download this episodewritten by Katharyn Michaelian Powers
directed by Michael O’Herlihy
music by Laurence Rosenthal
music from the movie Logan’s Run by Jerry Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Mariette Hartley (Ariana), Michael Sullivan (Clay), Ed Gouppee (2nd Sandman), Joey Fontana (1st Sandman), Janis Jamison (The Woman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Logan's Run

Carousel

Logan's RunLogan, Jessica and Rem stop to explore on foot, but Logan is hit by a tranquilizer dart from a hidden attacker, and Rem and Jessica vanish before his eyes before he loses consciousness. Rem and Jessica find themselves in a place devoid of any features, with a man claiming he represents a “higher authority,” though he declines to say exactly which authority that is. He claims that he and his kind are exploring Logan’s memories, but at the result of temporarily erasing Logan’s memories. The amnesiac Logan is apprehended by Francis. Francis asks Logan of Jessica and Rem’s whereabouts, but Logan remembers neither of them, and he certainly doesn’t remember abandoning the principles of the City of Domes and going on the run himself. Logan is brought back to the City of Domes and stands before the Council of Elders, who promise to let him live past the age of 30 if he will make a public testimony at the next Carousel that there is no such place as Sanctuary. Rem and Jessica are allowed to return to the City to save Logan, but when Jessica brings his plight to the attention of the underground network of runners still inside the City, they have a different assignment for her: she must eliminate Logan before his subconscious knowledge of the runners and Sanctuary resurfaces for the benefit of the Sandmen.

Download this episodewritten by D.C. Fontana and Richard L. Breen Jr.
story by Richard L. Breen Jr.
directed by Irving J. Moore
music from stock music library

Guest Cast: Rosanne Katon (Diane), Ross Bickel (Michael), Wright King (Jonathon), Morgan Woodward (Morgan), Melody Anderson (Sheila), Regis J. Cordic (Darrel), Gary Swanson (Peter), Burton Cooper (First Man), William Molloy (Second Man)

Logan's RunNotes: This episode establishes that Logan has been running for nearly a year. This was the final episode of Logan’s Run broadcast by CBS. Following numerous time slot changes, an intermittent schedule of new episodes, and a fall 1977 schedule that had pitted the science fiction show – traditionally seen as the domain of male viewers – against Monday Night Football at a time when ABC’s weekly football game completely dominated television ratings. Three further episodes were produced, but not aired as part of CBS’ run; they premiered later in syndicated packages sold to such up-and-coming cable “superstations” as Ted Turner’s WTBS. The synopses of the remaining episodes, since their premiere dates are unknown (regardless of what the user-generated content on IMDb says), can be accessed by clicking on the show logo above.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

Final Round

The Incredible HulkAs he continues his trek on foot, Banner runs afoul of inner city street thugs, but before the power of the Hulk is unleashed, he’s saved by “Rocky”, an aspiring boxer who trains at a nearby gym in exchange for running “errands” for the gym owner. Rocky talks the gym owner into taking Banner on as a physical therapist, but the more time Banner spends at the gym, the more he’s convinced that something illegal is happening there. By tagging along with Rocky, he discovers that the errands Rocky runs are transporting heroin to dealers on the street. When a rival dealer intercepts Rocky and his latest delivery, the owner of the gym arranges for Rocky to take a very public, and very lethal, fall. Only Banner’s rage at the impending fate of his new friend can save him.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Kenneth Johnson
directed by Kenneth Gilbert
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Martin Kove (Henry “Rocky” Welsh), Fran Myers (Mary), Al Ruscio (Mr. Sariego), Paul Henry Itkin (Wilt), Ron Trice (Black Mugger), T. Miratti (White Mugger), John Witherspoon (Tom), Tony Brukbaker (Bill Cole), Paul Micale (Man in audience)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

The Beast Within

The Incredible HulkDavid finds work in a zoo where Dr. Claudia Baxter is conducting research into quelling primal rage in animals. Though he’s employed as little more than a glorified janitor, David asks Dr. Baxter in-depth questions about her work, and is surprised to hear her admit that she’s trying to continue the work of the late Dr. David Banner. But her already-controversial research has hit a snag – a string of unusual deaths among animals at the zoo – and David is suspicious of Baxter’s boss, Dr. Malone, and his aide, Carl. He knows he’s getting close to the truth of what’s happening when Carl locks him into a cage with a gorilla, who Carl then injects with a chemical designed to bring its rage to the boiling point…and that’s when the Hulk appears.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Karen Harris & Jill Sherman
directed by Kenneth Gilbert
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Caroline McWilliams (Dr. Claudia Baxter), Richard Kelton (Carl), Dabbs Greer (Dr. Malone), Charles Lampkin (Joe), Jean Durand (Jagger), Norman Rice (1st Zoo Security Guard, Joe DeNicola (2nd Zoo Security Guard), Billie Beach (Rita)

The Incredible HulkNotes: Richard Kelton (1943-1978) was one of the cast members of the short-lived NBC sci-fi spoof Quark, which was airing at the same time as The Incredible Hulk – in fact, this episode aired opposite an episode of Quark on the same night. He died later in 1978.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

Of Guilt, Models And Murder

The Incredible HulkDavid awakens, dazed, from a recent transformation into the Hulk, and unable to remember what happened. The news media is there to fill him in: the Hulk is accused of the murder of a model, and a manhunt has begun for the huge creature. David manages to get a job as a valet to James Joslin, who was present at the scene of the Hulk’s attack, and discovers another eyewitness to the event, model Sheila Cantrell. He tries to piece together his missing memories to find out what really happened, and what the Hulk really did…only to discover that the Hulk was the only one present who wasn’t directly involve in the murder.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by James D. Parriott
directed by Larry Stewart
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Jeremy Brett (James Joslin), Loni Anderson (Sheila Cantrell), Jane Alice Brandon (Girl), Ben Gerard (Sanderson), Deanna Lund (Terri Ann), Doug Hale (TV Reporter), Rick Goldman (Elkin), Nancy Steen (Ellen), Bill Baldwin (Jackson), Vince Howard (Security Guard), Art Kimbro (1st Policeman), Ross Durfee (Collins)

The Incredible HulkNotes: The Incredible Hulk’s casting department managed to land Loni Anderson mere months before the premiere of WKRP In Cincinnati made her a household name. Jeremy Brett (1933–1995) had already made numerous TV and movie appearances by this point, though his signature role, that of Sherlock Holmes, was a few years ahead of him still. Deanna Lund had been one of the stars of Irwin Allen’s Land Of The Giants.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

Terror In Times Square

The Incredible HulkDavid makes his way to New York City to compare notes with a renowned genetic researcher, but in the meantime he’s picked up work at a pinball arcade. Unknown to him, McGee is not far behind him, following up on a lead about a recent sighting of the Hulk in the Big Apple. David’s a bit surprised to see Mayor Jason Laird pay his employer a visit, and listens in from the next room under the pretense of gathering his tools. What he overhears is horrifying: Laird is running a protection racket, grafting money from David’s new boss and other merchants in Times Square…and worse, Laird has become aware of one man who wants to blow Laird’s scheme wide open, and wants David’s boss to kill that man. Laird’s cronies spot David trying to warn the intended victim, and invite him to tell Laird what he knows…not knowing that their interrogation methods will unleash the Hulk on New York City.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by William Schwartz
directed by Alan J. Levi
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Robert Alda (Jason Laird), Jack Kruschen (Norman Abrams), Arny Freeman (Leo Kahn), Pamela Shoop (Carol Abrams), Karl Held (Jonathan), Michael Mancini (Hank), Simmy Bowe (Mr. Burns), Al Fann (Robert Benson)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

747

The Incredible HulkBanner boards flight 14, a Chicago-bound 747, hoping to meet with a neuroscientist about his condition. A passenger in a neighboring seat passes out after drinking coffee, and Banner goes to inform the pilot, who asks Banner to follow him into the hold…at which point Banner is shoved into a cage and locked in. The pilot and a member of the flight crew are not what they seem: they’ve drugged the flight crew and put the plane on autopilot, and plan to parachute out after stealing prized artifacts hidden among the cargo. The pilot plans to dispose of his inconvenient witness, only to discover that the tight, pressurized confines of a passenger airplane don’t mix with the Incredible Hulk.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson
directed by Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Edward Power (Phil), Sondra Currie (Stephanie), Denise Galik (Denise), Brandon Cruz (Kevin), Howard Honig (Mr. Leggit), Don Keefer (Mr. MacIntire), Susan Cotton (Cynthia Davis), Del Hinkley (Pilot), Ed Peck (Captain Brandes), J. Jay Saunders (Controller), Shirley O’Hara (Mrs. McIntire), Barbara Mealy (Nurse)

Notes: Richard Christian Matheson may not be the Richard Matheson who wrote “I Am Legend”, numerous Twilight Zone scripts, and other works of speculative The Incredible Hulkfiction, but he is that Richard Matheson’s son, and happens to be a prolific scribe in his own right; this and an episode of Three’s Company were his first two first produced scripts. He would go on to write episodes of Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, The A-Team (a show for which he was also story editor), Hardcastle & McCormick, Amazing Stories, Tales From The Crypt, Masters of Horror, and Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Spider-Man Season 1

The Deadly Dust Part 1

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)Peter’s nuclear physics instructor stirs up controversy by acquiring weapons-grade plutonium oxide to use in a small experimental reactor on campus. This attracts the attention of numerous parties, from some would-be anti-nuclear activitist classmates of Peter’s, to domestic terrorists who want to hold the entire population of the Big Apple to a ransom. The plutonium is quickly stolen, and worse yet, the police blame Spider-Man for stealing the plutonium. Complicating things further is a national magazine reporter who wants to follow Peter around since he’s the only person who seems to be close to Spider-Man. Just when the world needs Spider-Man the most, there are too many eyes on Peter Parker for him to become his alter-ego.

written by Robert Janes
directed by Ron Satlof
music by Stu Phillips

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Michael Pataki (Captain Barbera), Joanna Cameron (Gail Hoffman), Robert Alda (Mr. White), Randy Powell (Craig), Sid Clute (Inspector DeCarlo), Steven Anderson (Ted), Anne Bloom (Carla), Herb Braha (LeBeau), Leigh Kavanaugh (Linda), Ron Hajek (Salesman), David Somerville (Singer), Gail Jensen (Singer), Walt Davis (Helicopter Repairman), Barbara Sanders (Waitress), Jerry Martin (Doorman)

Amazing Spider-ManNotes: Apparently the demands of being Spider-Man have led Peter to move out of Aunt May’s house; he has his own apartment in New York City. Guest star Joanna Cameron was previously best known for the role of Isis in Filmation’s live-action series The Secrets of Isis (a character she also played in several crossover appearances on Filmation’s other live-action superhero series, Shazam!). Robert F. Simon takes over the role of Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson as of this episode, while Chip Fields makes her first appearance as Jameson’s secretary, Rita.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Spider-Man Season 1

The Deadly Dust Part 2

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)Mr. White has stolen the home-made bomb created by Peter’s anti-nuclear protestor classmates with plutonium stolen from the college. White retreats back to his home turf in Los Angeles, leaving Peter to use fellow reporter Gail Hoffman as an excuse to travel cross-country (on the Daily Bugle’s dime). He has a plan to track White, and find and defuse the crude atomic bomb before it can take out a major population center, but along the way, observant reporter Gail asks Peter a critical question: is he Spider-Man?

written by Robert Janes
directed by Ron Satlof
music by Stu Phillips

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Michael Pataki (Captain Barbera), Joanna Cameron (Gail Hoffman), Robert Alda (Mr. White), Randy Powell (Craig), Sid Clute (Inspector DeCarlo), Steven Anderson (Ted), Anne Bloom (Carla), Herb Braha (LeBeau), Leigh Kavanaugh (Linda), Ron Hajek (Salesman), David Somerville (Singer), Gail Jensen (Singer), Walt Davis (Helicopter Repairman), Barbara Sanders (Waitress), Jerry Martin (Doorman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green