Tag: Series Premiere

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New Series Prisoner, The

Arrival

The Prisoner (2009 remake)A man wakes up in the desert, with only vague, fleeting memories of his previous life in New York City. He goes into hiding when he spots a hunting party in pursuit of an elderly man; he manages to reach the old man and help him to safety, but the old man is babbling something about 554 and the Village. When his younger rescuer reveals that doesn’t understand this, the old man says it’s a miracle… and dies.

The younger man, still unable to remember much of anything about his life before these events, wanders until he finds signs of civilizations: a grouping of mostly-identical homes. He has found the Village, but he quickly learns that no one who lives in the Village seems to acknowledge even the possibility that there are places beyond the Village. And he can find no escape himself – the Village seems to be surrounded on all sides by vast expanses of desert. Everyone living there has a number for a name, and this quickly leads the man to go looking for 554, who turns out to be a waitress at a diner. She knew the old man as 93, and he constantly talked of escaping the Village. Pursued by the hunting party from the desert, the man tries to make his escape, but is cornered and then wakes up in a hospital. Everyone there knows him as 6, but thanks to his scrambled memories, he can’t correct them with a real name. He only knows that he must escape the Village… and he quickly learns that the Village’s leader, a man known simply as 2, will do nearly anything to stop him.

written by Bill Gallagher
directed by Nick Hurran
music by Rupert Gregson-Williams

Cast: Ian McKellen (2), Jim Caviezel (6), Hayley Atwell (Lucy), Ruth Wilson (313), Lennie James (147), John Whitely (93), Rachael Blake (M2), Jamie Campbell Bower (11-12), Jessica Haines (554)

Notes: With the classic-series-style furniture and jacket, lava lamp and the drawing of Big Ben, 93 is strongly implied to be Number Six from the original series. (Nine minus three also equals six.) In an NPR interview, series star Jim Caviezel says that the intention was to have Patrick McGoohan play the role, but McGoohan, who died in January 2009 several months ahead of the new series’ premiere, was too ill to take part. Over the years, numerous revivals of the series had been mooted, including a big-screen revival starring Mel Gibson, and indeed even this revival of The Prisoner had been dead in the water at one point, with the original UK production partner balking at the expense involved. The original Prisoner has also inspired several shows directly, most notably Nowhere Man (1995-96) and Lost (2004-10), whose creators both admitted to being heavily influenced by McGoohan’s original series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency First TV Series

Pilot

HyperdriveDirk Gently, a “holistic detective” who deduces the solutions to his cases through his unwavering belief in the interconnectedness of all things, has just accepted a case to find a missing cat, when he notices his old college friend, Richard Macduff, seeming to rob a house. But it turns out that the house is Macduff’s own, and he has a reason to make it look as though the house has been burgled, though it’s not a terribly good reason: he suspects his girlfriend is involved with technology millionaire Gordon Way. With Macduff in tow, Dirk decides to poke around in a seemingly abandoned nearby warehouse, only to discover that it’s rigged to explode. The two barely escape before the warehouse blows up, and the news media report that Way perished in that blast…even though neither Dirk nor Macduff saw him there. Dirk begins investigating the strange disappearance of Gordon Way, and finds the interconnectedness he advocates so often – Way’s disappearance is directly related to Macduff, to Dirk’s own past, and even to the missing cat.

written by Howard Overman
based on “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” by Douglas Adams
directed by Damon Thomas
music by Daniel Pemberton

Dirk GentlyCast: Stephen Mangan (Dirk Gently), Helen Baxendale (Susan Harrison), Darren Boyd (Richard Macduff), Doreen Mantle (Ruth Jordan), Jason Watkins (DI Gilks), Lisa Jackson (Janice Pearce), Anthony Howell (Gordon Way), Miles Richardson (Doctor Gerstenberger), Billy Boyle (Harry Jordan), Elliot Sutherland (Tom), Gary Pillai (Doctor), Alisha Bailey (Reporter), Joe Hall (Newsagent), Leona Walker (Receptionist), Alex Parry (Barman)

Dirk GentlyNotes: The second of the BBC’s attempts to dramatize Douglas Adams’ lesser known books, this is the first attempt on television, and adapts the first of those novels, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, for an hour-long TV format. The results were popular enough to result in a short season of three further episodes the following year.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Black Mirror Season 1

The National Anthem

Black MirrorA member of the Royal Family is kidnapped, and a YouTube video demands that the Prime Minister perform a degrading act on live television to secure her release…or the next video will likely be that of her death. With mere hours before the deadline, the Prime Minister and his staff try to explore numerous avenues of at least appearing to comply with the demand, including backup plans that backfire when word gets out from a bystander on social media. Time is running out, and throughout 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Michael Callow and his aides concentrate on the issue most important to them during this crisis: the poll numbers.

Get the DVDswritten by Charlie Brooker
directed by Otto Bathurst
music by Martin Phipps

Black MirrorCast: Rory Kinnear (Michael Callow), Lindsay Duncan (Alex Cairns), Donald Sumpter (Julian Hereford), Tom Goodman-Hill (Tom Bilce), Anna Wilson-Jones (Jane Callow), Patrick Kennedy (Section Chief Walker), Alastair Mackenzie (Martin), Chetna Pandya (Malaika), Alex MacQueen (Special Agent Callett), Jay Simpson (Rod Senseless), Helen Fospero (Lucinda Towne), Lydia Wilson (Princess Susannah), Sophie Kennedy Clark (Lauren), Andrew Knott (Brian), Allen Leech (Pike), Johann Myers (Noel), Sophie Wu (Jamie), Rakie Ayola (Shelly), Amit Shah (Jack), Nick Hendrix (Andrew), Justin Edwards (Jon), Jeany Spark (Camilla), Aymen Hamdouchi (Kieran), Julian Rivett (Damon Brown), Jonathan Forbes Black Mirror(Browne), Madeliene Bowyer (Sonia), Jeffry Wickham (Sir Harold Mount), Shazad Latif (Mehdi Raboud), Eleanor Wyld (Young Actress), Wolf Wasserman (Spark), Mickell David (Son), Dominic Le Mougnan (Prince)

Note: Shazad Latif would, several years later, take on the role of Ash Tyler in Star Trek: Discovery. (The plot details of this episode have been significantly watered down in the above synopsis; suffice to say, Black Mirror isn’t for kids.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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StarHyke

Disordered

StarHykeIn the year 3034, humanity has eliminated emotions and irrationality, and has set out to rid the universe of other species who refuse to similarly quash their emotions. The human fleet, led by Captain Belinda Blowhard of the Dreadnaught Nemesis, fights a pitched battle against the Reptids that doesn’t go well. A new tactic is devised: the Nemesis will warp back in time to eliminate the Reptid threat before it spreads. A Reptid saboteur breaks into the Nemesis during the time warp and unleashes a secret weapon, restoring the crew’s surgically-removed emotions and depositing the Nemesis in Earth orbit in the early 21st century.

As members of the Nemesis crew visit Earth’s surface, trying to remain incognito as they look for signs of Reptid interference in Earth’s past, the ship’s doctor finds that the Nemesis crew’s emotions are being restored and amplified by a viral weapon unleashed by the Reptid. Unless an antidote is found, the crew will revert to a primitive lack of any control over their own urges.

Order this series on DVDwritten by Andrew Dymond, Jonathan G. Brown and Ian Winter
directed by Andrew Dymond
music by Anthony Brisco and Alan Deacon

Cast: Claudia Christian (Captain Belinda Blowhard), Suanne Braun (Dotty), Brad Gorton (Commander Cropper), Rachel Grant (Wu Oof), Stephanie Jory (Sally Popyatopov), Wayne Pilbeam (Bull Ox), Gene Foad (SERCH), Sue Witheridge (Daphne), Simon Lewis (Reg), Fiona Reynard (Vilma), Jason Bailey (Christian), Simon Gilvear (Reptid), Rebecca Nichols (Nurse Beach), Jeremy Bulloch (Dr. Striker), Danny John-Jules (Admiral Lenovo), Anneli Bird (Human), Chris Howard (Human), Keiran McGreevy (Ensign Hole), Kate Naughton (Human)

StarhykeNotes: The episode is dedicated to the memory of actor Michael Sheard. All six episodes of Starhyke were released direct-to-DVD in 2009, but finally appeared on the UK satellite channel Showcase TV in 2011. The entire series was produced “on spec” without a specific broadcaster lined up to show it – an expensive gamble in television terms, especially for a show with the production requirements of a science fiction series. Claudia Christian starred as Commander Susan Ivanova in the first four seasons of Babylon 5, while Jeremy Bulloch is best known for his appearances as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Danny John-Jules, who starred as Cat in Red Dwarf, makes a one-off cameo here. Suanne Braun appeared in numerous episodes of Stargate SG-1 as Hathor.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Star Trek: Secret Voyage

Whose Birth These Triumphs Are

Star Trek: Secret VoyageHer five-year mission completed, the U.S.S. Enterprise sits in spacedock awaiting a complete refit, with the crew on extended shore leave or reassigned. But the recent discovery of a rare, powerful variant of dilithium crystals has the Federation racing to open diplomatic channels to acquire it for themselves from a reclusive, xenophobic race called the Gimtao. Captain Mercer is quietly put in command of the Enterprise with a mere six months – the ship’s pre-rebuild overhaul period – to establish diplomatic relations with the Gimtao. But Mercer’s mission is anything but simple: some of his crew is hand-picked, and some have been assigned from above, and some simply aren’t happy to be there. Some members of Mercer’s crew may even have their own agendas. Worse yet, this chaotic crew finds itself in the crossfire: another species is already at war with the Gimtao.

Watch itwritten by Craig Sheeler & John Mess
directed by Craig Sheeler
music by Michael Klubertanz

Star Trek: Secret VoyageCast: Tyrone Loukas (Captain Calvin L. Mercer), Mo Stones (Ms. T’Vas), Annie Thalrose (Dr. Miranda Krenaire), Nicole Chauvet (Commander Unara Ivos), Stormie Daye (Ensign Akamu Albright), Devin Kolovich (Ensign Jack Dubois), Robert Shivley (Lt. Commander Ben Jones), Sean Collet (Dr. Thomas Cage), Chris Rodriguez (Admiral Hernandez), Christopher Sheeler (Lt. Robert Banks), Bryan Sheeler (Ensign McCall), Shane Zellow (Ensign Thopson), Trevor Cartwright (Dr. William Brenniese), Daniel Trujillo (Lt. Combs), Shawn Dinsmore (Red Shirt), Nicole Collet (Red Shirt), Alex Lingle (Gimtao Council), Al Kermode (Gimtao Council), Jason McGuinness (Gimtao Council), Travis Loukas (Gimtao Council), Black Yelavich (Gongdea Warriors), Nathan Ferrier (Gongdea Warriors), Rose Hill (23rd Century Reporter)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Metal Hurlant Chronicles Season 1

King’s Crown

Metal Hurlant ChroniclesThe aging, bloated ruler of a kingdom floating in the clouds nears death, and contenders for the throne line up to do battle. In the time-honored tradition, they state their qualifications to rule, and fight to the death until only one man is left standing. One man, Guillam, promises reform: he will put technology to work for the people instead of making the people slaves to technology. But to put his agenda into play, he must still kill. Does he have what it takes to avoid becoming just a cog in a very literal political machine?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Guillaume Lubrano & Justine Veillot
based on a story written by Jim Alexander and illustrated by Richard Corben
directed by Guillaume Lubrano
music by Jesper Kyd

<Metal Hurlant ChroniclesemCast: Scott Adkins (Guillam), Michael Jai White (Teague), Matt Mullins (Julian), Darren Shahlavi (Adam), Marinela Botis (Spectator), Puiu Mitea (Spectator), Ion Bechet (Spectator), Tatar Anca (Spectator), Gabriel Velicu (Spectator), Idan Roxin (Spectator), Stan Niculae (Spectator)

Notes: The comic story of the same title as the episode appeared in Metal Hurlant #142, published in December 2003.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Wizards vs. Aliens

Dawn Of The Nekross – Part 1

Wizards vs. AliensA pair of wizards cast an incantation in a stone circle, apparently drawing the attention of an alien spacecraft. The Nekross have arrived on Earth to begin harvesting the power of magic, upon which their king and their entire species feeds. Since practitioners of magic on Earth tend to live in seclusion, keeping their powers secret, they’ll make easy prey.

When his class gets a welcome break from school to take a field trip to the stone circle, young wizard Tom Clarke – the latest in a long line of wizards, whose dad cautions him against misusing his powers – finds a magical artifact. His science geek classmate Benny is quick to dismiss the possibility that the item has magical properties, until he sees it glowing in Tom’s hand. The Nekross, aboard a spaceship hidden behind the far side of the moon, detect the surge of energy from the item (dropped by their last victims) and begin a search for Tom so they can drain him of his magic. Tom’s grandmother, Ursula, arrives to protect her grandson by using her own powers, but the two of them make an even more tempting treat for the aliens.

Order the serieswritten by Phil Ford
directed by Daniel O’Hara
music by Sam Watts

Wizards vs. AliensCast: Scott Haran (Tom Clarke), Percelle Ascott (Benny Sherwood), Gwendoline Christie (Lexi), Jefferson Hall (Varg), Brian Blessed (voice of the Nekross King), Annette Badland (Ursula Crowe), Michael Higgs (Michael Clarke), Tim Rose (Nekross King puppeteer), Manpreet Bambra (Katie Lord), Connor Scarlett (Quinn Christopher), Paul Hunter (Robert France), Harry Lawtey (young Mark), Brian Miller (old Mark), Sara Stewart (Miss Webster)

Notes: Created by Russell T. Davies to fill the time slot and resources previously allocated to The Sarah Jane Adventures (whose run ended abruptly upon the death of its star, Elisabeth Sladen, in 2011), Wizards vs. Aliens is not a Doctor Who spinoff. Most of the behind-the-scenes personnel from SJA continue to work on this show, and a few familiar faces can be found in front of the camera as well. Annette Badland portrayed Blon Slitheen in the first season of Davies’ Doctor Who revival, while actor Brian Miller is the widower of Elisabeth Sladen and appeared in Doctor Who and SJA numerous times. Brian Blessed also appeared in Doctor Who (in one of the series’ most controversial segments, parts 5-8 of The Trial Of A Time Lord), but is thankfully better known for appearances in Blackadder, Flash Gordon, and as the voice of Boss Nass, the Gungan leader in Star Wars Episode I.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Audio Series Survivors

Revelation

SurvivorsAn unusually potent winter flu has swept across the British population, leaving classrooms mostly empty and businesses struggling to operate. American attorney Maddie Price finds that she can no longer simply hop on a plane back to Chicago, while reporter Daniel Connor confers with his co-worker and acting editor, Helen, about how best to cover the growing crisis. A low-level government official, Redgrave, confides to Maddie that the spread of the illness is worse – becoming fatal for some – and flights to America (or, for that matter, anywhere else) won’t be resuming anytime soon). Jaded Professor Gillison finds himself giving pre-Christmas-break refresher lectures in sociology to a classroom nearly empty of students. When Helen becomes increasingly sick, Daniel tries to take her home, only to find that her husband and children are dead. Daniel finds every excuse he can to avoid telling her and decides to try to get her to a hospital, but London traffic has come to a standstill; Helen herself dies before Daniel can get her help. Maddie and Redgrave make their way to the airport control tower, now abandoned, to try to get a message out to any other survivors of the plague who may be listening. Similarly, Gillison commandeers the campus radio transmitter to attempt reaching out to others. Daniel, alone, powers up his tape recorder and begins recording events as they unfold.

None of them know if they’ll ever hear another human voice again.

Order this CDwritten by Matt Fitton
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: John Banks (Daniel Connor), Louise Jameson (Jackie Burchall), Sinead Keenan (Susie Edwards), Caroline Langrishe (Helen Wiseman), Adrian Lukis (James Gillison), Chase Masterson (Maddie Price), Terry Molloy (John Redgrave), Camilla Power (Fiona Bell), Phil Mulryne (Pnil Bailey), San Shella (Sayed)

Notes: Based on Terry Nation’s cult classic mid-1970s series about a plague sweeping through the human population and leaving few survivors, Big Finish’s audio series populates its cast with original characters who bump into the original TV characters as their stories unfold. The technology referenced in dialogue still dates the story to the 1970s. This first installment features none of the original TV characters.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 1 Star Wars

Spark Of Rebellion

Star Wars: RebelsOn the outer rim world of Lothal, Ezra Bridger ekes out a life of causing mischief for the local Imperial garrison, getting what he can for himself, and escaping to do it all again another day. He also has an ability to stay one step ahead of the local Imperial forces, making quick getaways and startling leaps to safety. Ezra notices unusual activity surrounding a shipment of Imperial cargo crates, but what’s unusual is the motley group of people who try to steal that cargo. Since it’s obviously of value, Ezra decides to steal some of it for himself, which endears him to neither the Imperial stormtroopers or his rival band of thieves, led by Kanan Jarrus. Impressed by Ezra’s abilities, Kanan rescues the boy (and the crate of cargo he’s stolen) and makes a quick getaway about his cargo ship, the Ghost. Ezra finds he’s made an enemy of Kanan’s strong man, Zeb, and has simply annoyed explosives expert Sabine and the Ghost‘s pilot, Hera (and her C-10-P astromech droid, Chopper). But Ezra slowly begins to realize that he’s taken his first step into a larger world: Kanan Jarrus and the Ghost’s crew are fighting the Empire on principle, not for profit…and Kanan is not simply a sharp shot with a blaster, but one of the last remaining wielders of a Jedi lightsaber. Kanan believes that, like himself, Ezra has the ability to connect with the Force. Ezra’s life has just become a lot more dangerous.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Simon Kinberg
directed by Steward Lee & Steven G. Lee
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Alton Kastle / Stormtrooper 3 / Stormtrooper 6), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Keith Szarabajka (Vizago / Transport Captain / Imperial Officer / Old Man), David Shaughnessy (Aresko / Myles Grint / Refugee 1), Greg Weisman (Commander Stormtrooper), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Greg Ellis (Stormtrooper 5), Liam O’Brien (Yogar Lyste / Morad Sumar / Vendor), Jason Isaacs (The Inquisitor)

RebelsNotes: Star Wars: Rebels takes place five years before the original Star Wars, and 14 years after Revenge Of The Sith. Few Jedi escaped the Order 66 massacre in the latter movie, but Kanan Jarrus was a young Jedi at the time and has escaped detection by putting his Force abilities to use as a privateer. The Jedi Holocrons were first seen on TV in Rebels’ predecessor series, Star Wars: Clone Wars, but mentions of them in print media preceded their appearance in filmed media. Many of the show’s designs were based on unused or early Ralph McQuarrie designs for the original trilogy.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Powers Season 1

Pilot

PowersSuperpowers are real. Those who have them – known simply as Powers – operate on a different level of morality than “mere mortals”, though they themselves are perfectly mortal. Major metropolitan areas suffer serious damage from battles between real superheroes and supervillains, and subterranean prisons exist to house captured villains. Powers have celebrity status; young people with latern powers must choose how to use their abilities, often with little in the way of guidance.

Superpowers no longer exist for Detective Christian Walker. Now the head of the NYPD’s Powers Division, Walker was once a Power himself – a famous superhero known as Diamond. He lost his abilities in a battle with “Big Bad” Wolfe, who now languishes in a federal Powers containment facility. One of Walker’s superhero allies from his days as Diamond, Olympia, turns up dead, a victim of a designer drug that somehow modifies Power DNA. The drug was given to him by a girl named Calista, a “wannabe” who claims she has latent powers. Walker and his new partner, Deena Pilgrim, question the girl, but she vanishes from her interrogation room. Walker suspects one of his old enemies, Johnny Royale, is still on the move, though everyone else thinks Royale is dead. Walker tries to find Calista to learn more about the drug and to find out if Royale is involved, but he finds her on the brink of suicide, and in trying to stop her, he makes the fatal mistake of forgetting he himself is no longer a Power…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Charlie Huston
based on the graphic novel by Michael Avon Oeming & Brian Michael Bendis
directed by David Slade
music by Jeff Rona

Cast: Sharlto Copley (Christian Walker), Susan Heyward (Detective Deena Pilgrim), Noah Taylor (Johnny Royale), Olesya Rulin (Calista), Adam Godley (Captain Cross), Max Fowler (Krispin Stockley), Michelle Forbes (Retro Girl), Eddie Izzard (Wolfe), Logan Browning (Zora), Claire Bronson (Candace Stockley), Aaron Farb (Simons), Justice Leak (Detective Kutter), David Ury (Dr. Death), Mario Lopez (himself), Phillip Devona (Zabriski), Daniel Thomas May (Bug), Adam Boyer (Olympia), Mickey Cole (Levitation Boy), Pete Burris (Adlard), Brian LaFontaine (Brian Stockley), Johnny Giacalone (Cancilarra), Brett Gentile (Argento), Leander Suleiman (Mack), Jeryl Prescott Sales (Golden), Linds Edwards (Zerotron X), Michael Beasley (Chaykin), Victor Turner (Supression Specialist), B.J. Winfrey (Shaft Guard), Dave Pileggi (Med Tech #1), Troy Brenna (Iron Impact), Sara Pagliocca (Porn Star)

PowersNotes: Based on a series of comics first published in 2000 whose film/TV rights were optioned within a year of the publication of the first collected graphic novel edition, Powers took a long road to the screen. In 2011, filming began on a pilot with an earlier edition of the script (written by Brian Michael Bendis, writer of the comics) and a completely different cast, only to be turned down by cable network FX. A new cast (led by District 9 star Sharlto Copley) began shooting new scripts in 2014, with Bendis and fellow creator Michael Avon Oeming serving as executive producers. Rather than a traditional broadcast or cable outlet, Powers found a home as the first original series on the Playstation Network. Despite mixed reviews, viewership numbers were promising enough for Sony to greenlight a second season, to debut in 2016. You can read reviews of the original Powers graphic novels in our Book Reviews section, and you can also check out a lengthy multi-part interview with Brian Michael Bendis at Dave Thomer’s This Is Not News (part 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Other Space

Into The Great Beyond…Beyond

Other SpaceIn the year 2105, the Universal Mapping Project cruiser – already considered something of an expensive failure – is assigned to a new commander, freshly promoted Captain Stewart Lipinski. Considered a promising candidate for his unusual solution to the UMP’s “no-win scenario” simulation, Stewart is joined by his older sister Karen, who is somewhat awkwardly assigned to be his second-in-command. Stewart’s former babysitter, Michael, is third-in-command, while veteran UMP engineer Zalian Fletcher keeps his existing post aboard the cruiser (along with his homemade robot, A.R.T.). Kent Woolworth, son of the President of the UMP, is the ship’s science officer, while Stewart has his academy crush, Tina Shukshin, assigned as navigator. The ship’s onboard AI, Natasha, oversees automatic systems for the cruiser’s small crew.

Almost immediately, Stewart’s first command goes awry; Zalian neglected to requisition replacements for the ship’s 35-year-old food packs, and while he offers to share his personal supply of fudge with the others, Stewart decides to turn the cruiser around. A chance collision with a tear in space and time deposits the UMP cruiser in another universe, with no clear way to return to the universe in which it started. Fortunately, things aren’t as they seem. And then Stewart realizes that even the things that aren’t as they seem…aren’t as they seem.

Watch this at the official sitewritten by Paul Feig
directed by Luke Matheny
music by Orr Rebhun & Erica Weis

Other SpaceCast: Trace Beaulieu (A.R.T.), Neil Casey (Kent Woolworth), Eugene Cordero (Michael Newman), Joel Hodgson (Zalian Fletcher), Conor Leslie (Natasha), Bess Rous (Karen Lipinski), Karan Soni (Stewart Lipinski), Milana Vayntrub (Tina Shukshin), Jessica Chaffin (General Hayson), Bjorn Gustaffson (Ted), Roni Akurati (young Stewart), Edgar Blackmon (Crew Member #3), Brian Carpenter (Dom), Mo Collins (Helen Woolworth), Kate Comer (Crew Member #1), Evan Gustao (Crew Member #2), Jerry O’Connor (A.R.T. Puppeteer #2), Ryan Petersen (young Michael)

Other SpaceNotes: Series creator Paul Feig is renowned in cult TV circles as the creator of the short-lived series Freaks & Geeks, and went on to direct a big-screen, gender-flipped reboot of Ghostbusters on the big screen. Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu are veterans – and founding cast members – of legendary movie-riffing comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. As with his MST3K character, Beaulieu provides both the voice and some puppetry expertise for A.R.T. All eight episodes of Other Space’s first season were released simultaneously by Yahoo Screen, a video-on-demand service later cancelled by Yahoo.com.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Supergirl

Supergirl (pilot)

SupergirlIn the dying days of the planet Krypton, young Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth to protect her younger cousin, Kal-El. When debris from Krypton’s destruction knocks Kara’s escape pod off-course, a detour through the Phantom Zone means that she doesn’t reach Earth until after Kal-El has reached maturity (and become known to the world as Superman). Her upbringing is entrusted to the Danvers family, where she has a normal life, an older sister…and eventually grows up in a very human way, not using her powers at all, holding down a dead-end job at the National City Tribune, being ordinary.

This ends when she learns that a flight taking her sister to Geneva is about to crash. She brings the plane down safely, but in doing so exposes herself to the scrutiny of the public as well as secret organizations. One of them, a cabal of Kryptonian criminals banished to the Phantom Zone, followed her pod to Earth, a planet of weak beings they intend to subjugate. Kara is an obstacle to their plans and is marked for death.

But Kara is even more disturbed to find that another organization, tracking aliens and those with extraordinary powers, includes her older sister, Alex, among its ranks. This organization is aware of, and closely monitors, the Kryptonian criminals, but believes Kara will prove ineffective in stopping them. She is urged to go back into hiding, to retreat into ordinary human life.

But it’s too late for that. Cat Grant, publisher of the Tribune, has taken the few blurry photos of Kara from the airplane rescue and has attached a name to National City’s new hero: Supergirl. With some advice from James (formerly Jimmy) Olsen, an old friend of her cousin’s, Kara must now navigate the already-complicated life of a twenty-four year old woman…and a secret life as a superhero.

Get this season on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Ali Adler
story by Greg Berlanti & Ali Adler & Andrew Kreisberg
directed by Glen Winter
music by Blake Neely

SupergirlCast: Melissa Benoist (Kara / Supergirl), Mehcad Brooks (James Olsen), Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers) Jeremy Jordan (Winn Schott), David Harewood (Hank Henshaw), Calista Flockhart (Cat Grant), Dean Cain (Jeremiah Danvers), Laura Benanti (Alura / Astra), Helen Slater (Eliza Danvers), Owain Yeoman (Vartox), Faran Tahir (Commander), Ben Begley (Tobey), Robert Gant (Zor-El), Derek Mio (Hayashi), Maline Weissman (young Kara Zor-El), Jordan Mazarati (young Alex Danvers), Briana Venskus (Agent Vasquez), Chriss Anglin (Pilot), Rick Garcia (Himself), Nick Jaine (Another Staffer), Kinna McInroe (Waitress), Leyna Nguyen (Herself), Paul Stuart (Yale), Julien Yuen (Terrified Teen)

SupergirlNotes: Kara’s parents are portrayed by actors with significantly super roles of their own. Helen Slater played Supergirl in the character’s sole big-screen adventure in 1984, while Dean Cain played Superman himself, almost as a side-note to the role of Clark Kent, in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Supergirl was developed for TV by the dynamic duo of Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who brought Arrow and The Flash to CBS’ sister network, the CW; it was felt that Supergirl was enough of a high-profile character to add her to the CBS schedule rather than the CW. Supergirl proved popular on CBS, winning the series a full-season pickup, though she would eventually migrate to the CW for her second season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Audio Series Prisoner, The

Departure and Arrival

The PrisonerAn agent of the British Foreign Office unexpectedly submits his resignation, setting off a panic among his superiors, who discovered that he is planning to flee the country and go to the Bahamas. Armed agents break into his home and abduct him, and when he awakens, he is in the Village, a gaily-colored, self-contained community whose residents seem to know nothing beyond its boundaries. No one seems to know who he is, and no one knows his name. A man identifying himself as Number Two introduces himself, and welcomes the newly-christened “Number Six” to his surveillance and control center, the Green Dome. The tools at his disposal for watching every moment of every life within the Village unfold is mind-boggling, with cameras, mobile phones, ubiquitous and even portable screens, and a kind of interconnected network tying it all together at Number Two’s fingertips. Number Two makes it clear that no one leaves the Village – and Number Six suspects that the penalty for doing so would be fatal. A former intelligence colleague of Number Six, Cobb, is also on the island, and mounts a valiant escape attempt, but he is captured by a deadly security device called Rover and taken to the Village’s hospital; not long afterward, Cobb is reported to have committed suicide, though Number Six immediately suspects something far more sinister. A chance meeting with a woman named Number Nine leads to another escape plan, but is Nine truly an ally and a fellow victim of the Village…or is she a trap?

written by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Jamie Robertson

Cast: Mark Elstob (Number Six), John Standing (Number Two), Celia Imrie (Number Two), Sara Powell (Number Nine), Helen Goldwyn (Village Voice), Sarah Mowat (ZERO-SIX-TWO), Jim Barclay (Control/Old Captain/Cobb), Barnaby Edwards (Number 34/Danvers/Butler)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Stranger Things

The Vanishing Of Will Byers

Stranger ThingsNovember 6, 1983: An incident occurs at the Hawkins National Lab in Hawkins, Indiana. Something beyond the lab’s control escapes into the surrounding suburbs.

A marathon weekend session of Dungeons & Dragons breaks up, and Mike Wheeler has to give up being the Dungeon Master and return to school the following day. His friends Lucas, Dustin and Will all get on their bikes to head home, but the sight of a strange, towering humanoid figure sends Will off the road. He ditches his bike and races home on foot, only to find that both his older brother and his mother are still at work. Something beyond Will’s comprehension takes him.

Joyce Byers, Will’s mother, files a missing child report with the local police, though the initial response from Hawkins’ police chief is a bit underwhelming. Mike, Lucas and Dustin are all warned to stay home, rather than going to look for Will. Across town, a mysterious girl in a hospital gown is taken in by a restaurant owner, who pays for his kindness with his life when armed agents come looking for her. The girl manages to escape, and runs into Mike, Lucas and Dustin, who are doing precisely what they’ve been told not to do.

written by Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer
directed by Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer
music by Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein

Stranger ThingsCast: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner), Joe Chrest (Ted Wheeler), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Rob Morgan (Officer Powell), Ross Partridge (Lonnie Byers), Shannon Purser (Barbara Holland), John Paul Reynolds (Officer Callahan), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Mark Steger (Monster), Chris Sullivan (Benny Hammond), Andrew Benator (Elevator Scientist), Stefanie Butler (Cynthia), David Dwyer (Earl), Catherine Dyer (Agent Connie Frazier), Salem Hadeed-Murphy (High School Principal), Randy Havens (Mr. Clarke), Hugh Holub (Scientist), Tobias Jelinek (Lead Agent), Cade Jones (James), Anniston Price (Holly Wheeler), Tinsley Price (Holly Wheeler), Anthony Reynolds (Agent), Susan Shalhoub Larkin (Florence), Tony Vaughn (Principal Coleman), Peyton Wich (Troy), Brenda Wood (Local Newswoman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
2010s Series Tick, The

Pilot

The Tick1908: An alien artifact of unimaginable power plummets through Earth’s atmosphere and explodes over a forest in Tunguska, Russia. The emissions from this unearthly explosion imbue some humans with superpowers…and also serves as a beacon to others. Both superheroes and supervillains are now a part of life on Earth.

20 years ago: Young Arthur Everest witnesses the crash-landing of a spacecraft crewed by superheroes…pursued closely by a spacecraft full of supervillains. Incidentally, the crashing spaceship also crushes and kills Arthur’s father before his very eyes. A photographer captures a shot of Arthur being menaced by the supervillains’ leader, The Terror.

Now: Years of medication, treatment, and legal issues have left Arthur a barely-functional adult. Convinced that the Terror still lurks somewhere nearby, controlling the criminal underworld, Arthur has devoted his life to tracking the Terror down…despite the rest of the world insisting that the Terror was killed by a superhero known as Superian. Arthur follows one of his hunches to the city docks, spying on a criminal operation, when he is confronted by a superhero in an inadvisably tight blue suit – the Tick! The Tick seems certain that Arthur is destined to be his new sidekick. And Arthur may finally get the answer to the question that has consumed his life – is the Terror still alive? – unless befriending the Tick gets him killed first.

written by Ben Edlund
directed by Wally Pfister
music by Chris Bacon

The TickCast: Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick), Griffin Newman (Arthur Everest), Valorie Curry (Dot Everest), Brendan Hines (Superian), Jackie Earle Haley (The Terror), Yara Martinez (Ms. Lint), Kyle Catlett (young Arthur), Joanna P. Adler (Dr. Creek), Malachi Weir (Thug #2), Christian Navarro (Sidekick), Whoopi Goldberg (herself), Richie Moriarty (Mr. Everest), Andrew Dolan (Officer Dietz), Sonam Kunlingtse (Herder), Henry Yuk (Shaman), Berto Colon (Thug #1), Siraj Huga (Cab Driver)

The TickNotes: The half-hour pilot episode of The Tick restarts the story, completely separate from the previous live-action series starring Patrick Warburton (who is a producer of this series), the animated series that inspired it, or the comics that inspired all of the above. The Tick creator Ben Edlund returns to revamp his unlikely hero for a new decade, and a new distribution channel: this pilot was distributed free as part of Amazon’s Pilot Season event in 2016, winning a series pickup later that year.

LogBook entry by Earl Green