Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category
The Outer Limits: The Man with the Power
From Season 1, Episode 4
Original Airdate: October 7, 1963
A college professor implants a device in his brain that lets him fire an electromagnetic beam.
I remember this episode purely because of Donald Pleasence. He often played either someone who was really evil or a weak, milktoast character. This role combined a little bit of both. You’ll probably remember him as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, or as Colin Blythe, the POW who was going blind, in The Great Escape. I also remember him for his role in THX 1138, which I first saw as a 13 or 14 year old on late night television (I was covertly watching it while my parents slept). For a younger generation he played Dr. Loomis in the Halloween film series.
Lost in Space: Collision of Planets
From Season 3, Episode 9
Original Airdate: November 8, 1967
A group of space hippies seek to destroy the Robinsons’ planet!
The “Establishment” really had it out for Hippies. It was a good thing that their portrayal of long haired youth was so pathetically laughable. The oddest thing is the leading hippie was played by Daniel J. Travanti. Travanti would end up playing “The Man” as Capt. Frank Furillo in “Hill Street Blues.” In some ways that mirrors what happened to most Hippies, they married, settled down, found jobs and raised a family. The Establishment got their revenge after all.
Star Trek: Space Seed
(Click Image to Play)
From Season 1, Episode 22
Original Airdate: February 16, 1967
Kirk meets Khan, a leader of Earth’s Eugenics War.
Luckily, we have avoided the eugenics world war of the 1990′s mentioned in this episode (at least so far). Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino was a star in Mexico by the 1940′s, but in US movies and television series he was often cast in minor roles or as Indians or Asians. It wasn’t until his turn as Mr. Roarke in the television series Fantasy Island that he achieved stardom, along the reprisal of his role of Kahn in Star Trek, The Wrath of Kahn. Montalban was also a strong advocate for Latinos in the movie and television industry.
Twilight Zone: To Serve Man
(Click Image to Play)
From Season 3, Episode 24
Original Airdate: March 2, 1962
The Kanamits, nine-foot tall aliens, arrive on Earth with one lofty goal: To Serve Man. They end war, they end famine. They make the military wonder: what’s the catch?
Richard Kiel plays the alien from Kanamit. You might remember him from the James Bond movies where he played, “Jaws” opposite Roger Moore as 007. He also had a role as a giant of a man in Clint Eastwood’s, “Pale Rider” and a lot of other movies and TV episodes.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Sky is on Fire
From Season 2, Episode 18
Original Airdate: January 23, 1966
When the Van Allen radiation belt catches fire, Nelson’s plan to extinguish the blaze is thwarted by a misguided U.N. official.
This episode is almost an exact copy of the plot for the movie “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” on which the series was based. You might wonder if they could do that, well if you’re Irwin Allen, who was the producer and director of both the movie and the series and also co-wrote the movie, then there is no reason not to recycle a perfectly good script and special effects.
The Prisoner: Free for All
From Season 1, Episode 3
Original Airdate: October 22, 1967
Presented with the opportunity, Number Six runs for election to the post of Number Two.
In the US this series ran as a summer replacement for all things, The Jackie Gleason Show in 1968. It must have been a bit of a shock to viewers. I remember watching this series on PBS, along with other subversive programs like Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Eric Portman, who plays “Number 2,” was a noted Shakespearian actor who can be found in a lot of those WWII movies that came from Britian, such as “We Dive at Dawn” and “One of Our Aircraft is Missing.”
