Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "Farthing's Comet" (December 22, 1973)

Although the competition for the title (particularly from “And Only Man is Vile”) is fierce, “Farthing’s Comet” may just qualify as the very worst episode of The Starlost I've reviewed so far.

Now just pause and let that idea sink in for a moment.  

“Farthing’s Comet” is the worst episode of The Starlost, at least thus far, and there are only two weeks to go.  I make this distinction because, again, the writers and producers of the series seem to have forgotten its very premise, make no explanation for the characters’ behavior and knowledge, and simply stonewall and obfuscate in one important instance, utterly failing to explain a critical plot-point.

In “Farthing’s Comet,” Devon (Keir Dullea), Garth (Robin Ward) and Rachel (Gay Rowan) are buffeted when asteroids begin to strike the Earth Ship Ark.  The control sphere directs them to an astronomical dome, where Dr. Linus Farthing (Edward Andrews) reports that the ship is on an imminent collision course with a comet.  

Farthing and his associate, Dr. McBride (Linda Sorensen) can do nothing to stop the collision course, or avert the other collision course (the one with a Class G Solar Star).  But Devon and his friends refuse to give up.  Garth pilots a spaceship to the Ark exterior and a damaged thruster unit.  And under McBride and Farthing’s direction, Devon repairs it.  The re-activated thruster moves the Ark out of harm’s way, and all is well.

If you’ve been following my reviews of The Starlost, you can detect from the synopsis above that some things are seriously wrong here.

For the record, allow me to enumerate them:

Garth, Devon and Rachel are space Quakers, essentially, from an agrarian community called Cypress Falls.  We have seen no indication that they have been trained in any high-tech skills.  

Yet in this episode, Garth successfullylaunches, maneuvers, and docks a small spaceship around the Ark’s outer skin.  Similarly, Devon, though under direction, is able to repair advanced circuitry, and maneuver safely about on a dangerous spacewalk.  Zero-gravity training, as it turns out, is apparently a core Mennonite skill.

Regarding the characters' sudden competency, it’s as though the makers of the series have forgotten (again...) that these folks come from a place of ignorance (but curiosity), not a place of technical know-how.  I wouldn’t rate it as a problem for the heroes to evidence these new skills if some verbal notation had been made that they were in training, or running simulations at that school we saw back in the episode “Children of Methuselah.”  With no notation, however, it’s just baffling and unconvincing that these interstellar Amish folks can find their way around state-of-the-art technology.

Secondly, McBride and Farthing discuss the fact that she designed the space suit that Devon wears.  How is this possible?  This episode occurs over four hundred years after the accident that crippled the Ark.  How are these two original denizens of the Ark even still alive?  If McBride and Farthing and  were in suspended animation, the episode should make a note of that fact.  If instead they took the “immortality” pill mentioned in “Children of Methuselah,” the episode should make note of that too.  Instead, this episode just progresses as though it is completely normal for Devon and his friends to find two original Ark crew-members in a nearby dome, even though half-a-millennia has passed since the Ark's construction.

Thirdly, Farthing and McBridge have given up on the idea that the Ark’s course can be changed to avert the collision with the class G Solar star.  Yet, knowing that the ship is doomed, they continue to conduct research on the nearby comet.  Why? What good is that scientific information regarding comets if the Ark, and everyone aboard with access to that information, is going to be destroyed?

This one gets worse.  Much worse.  Farthing reports at one point that that the Ark’s course cannot be changed. A little later, however, he admits that he changed the Ark’s course, putting it in line with the comet and endangering the ship.  So he is indeed able to adjust the ship’s course.    Presumably, the only thing stopping him from saving the Ark from the collision with the star, then, is the fact that the reactors are down. Right?

And yet, in this episode, Devon, Garth and Rachel fly out in their spaceship and repair that reactor, so the Ark can be saved, and the collision with the comet averted.  If the collision with the comet could be averted, as it is in this episode, why not the collision with the star?  Wouldn’t one course setting (away from both comet and star?) suffice in terms of setting a safe trajectory?

I am a patient person, and I hope a patient critic too, but this episode of The Starlostis absolutely maddening.  It attributes knowledge to characters who shouldn’t have that knowledge, forgets the history/continuity/background of the series, and does creative somersaults to avoid the obvious conclusion that Farthing can save the Ark from the collision with the star.

One little bright spot to report: This episode features some great footage of the Earth Ship Ark miniature, a vast, highly-detailed model.  It appears in McBride's control room, and is really amazing to behold.

Next week: “The Beehive.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Land of the Lost: "Ancient Guardian"

Is it wrong to observe that as the third season winds down, the Marshalls in the Land of the Lost (1974 – 1977) are starting to seem increasingly unlikable? 

In “Ancient Guardian” for example, the family happens upon a strange Altrusian statue while out on a hike, and decides to take it down and bring it back to the temple for examination.

By removing the statue from its perch, the Marshalls unloose a hairy Yeti-like creature (though explicitly not the yeti-like creature seen in “The Abominable Snowman”) upon the Lost City.  The beast goes on a violent rampage three and in one scene breaks into the Sleestak nursery where it starts breaking and devouring the eggs of their young.

So, just because they were curious, the Marshalls initiated a chain of events that ends with the death of Sleestak young. 

If you were a Sleestak, wouldn’t you have a tough time getting past this particular incident?  If bad blood existed between the humans and Sleestaks in Altrusia before this episode, then certainly “Ancient Guardian” augments it.  And in point of fact, the Sleestak have a point this time around.

The worst part of this dynamic is that the Marshalls show no awareness what they have done, and don’t even apologize for the fact that their actions caused this problem.  Instead, as Will breaks into song one more time, Jack observes that maybe the Marshalls should leave things alone that they don’t understand.

You think?

This is a bizarre inversion of the Land of the Lost’s long-standing conceit that we all must be shepherds of the environment around us.  Previous seasons saw the Marshalls correcting imbalances and recognizing their role in the scheme of things.  Here, the breach is repaired, but the Marshalls show no remorse.  They caused a terrible, mortal imbalance, and it’s just, well, no big deal, right?  Jack, who dismisses Enik’s fears about the monster as “Sleestak Myth” certainly owes the Altrusian an apology.

The most enjoyable aspect of “Ancient Guardian” involves the nifty Altrusian statue itself. As the Marshalls learn, it is an Ancient relic and thus possessed of advanced technology. In particular, it harnesses and focuses solar energy so as to fire a heat beam at the valley where the monster lives, thus keeping it from journeying into the valley.  I always find Land of the Lost intriguing when aspects of Altrusian technology and civilization are revealed and explored.

What doesn’t work so well, again, is the depiction of Enik (Walker Edmiston).  Here, he calls the Yeti “the hairy monster,” or “the monster,” which just sounds ridiculous coming from someone of his advanced intellect.   Lines of dialogue like “The Monster Comes. It is the Hairy One,” are difficult to take seriously, and diminish Enik’s dignity.

And one has to wonder why Enik reveals such little curiosity regarding the inscriptions on the statue, since they originate directly from his culture.

Next week: “Scarab.”

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "The Return of Oro" (December 15, 1973)

This week’s installment of The Starlost (1973 – 1974), “The Return of Oro” is one of the short-lived series’ best episodes.   For one thing the action is framed by one-time director Francis Chapman in such a way that several compositions are not just beautiful to behold, but actually memorable.  This hasn’t frequently been the case on The Starlost, and much of the blocking/action has looked inept; like the directors had no sense of movement or space.  The bad news is that Chapman didn’t direct any other segments of the series. He shows real chops here, as I hope some of the images I selected show-case.

Secondly, this is one of the few episodes of The Starlost that -- as a direct sequel to “The Alien Oro” – can dispense with exposition and laborious introductions.  No straw man society must be set up for the heroes to knock-down, for example.

Instead, the episode gets right into the action, and into a dynamic battle of wills between Devon (Keir Dullea) and Oro (Walter Koenig).  We already know each character well, and little time is wasted on false premises, blind alleys, or other distractions. The final battle, a weird contest of debating skills (judged by a robot, Tau Zeta…) actually generates a bit of tension.

In “The Return of Oro,” Devon, Garth (Robin Ward) and Rachel (Gay Rowan) learn that Oro has returned from his home world of Exar and assumed command of The Ark.  With the Ark’s administrative robot, Tau Zeta (Patricia Moffatt) assisting him, Oro hopes to corral the Ark into Exar orbit.  There, he promises, its denizens shall find a happy new home.

But Devon is concerned, and with good reason.  He learns that Oro has been lying about conditions on Exar, and that the aliens actually intend to salvage and cannibalize the Earth Ship Ark for their own purposes. 

Desperate to escape the impending collision with a Class G “solar star” (!) and live a normal life on a planetary surface, Garth and Rachel aren’t certain if Oro is on the up-and-up or not.   But Rachel watches as Oro is exposed during the “intellectual” debate against Devon.  Oro loses the contest and agrees to return home to Exar, but the Exar-ians destroy his ship, leaving him stranded -- as an agent of chaos -- aboard the Ark.

The episode ends with Oro declared a fugitive on the Ark, as he heads down a long hall-way and smirks. 

No doubt, the intent was that the Man from Exar would return to make mischief.  Had The Starlost gone a second season, however, I would have suggested a different route.  Oro should have been integrated into the cast as one of the protagonists, working with Devon, Garth and Rachel to find a suitable home for the Ark (and bringing peace to the biospheres…) after averting the collision course. 

Oro’s presence -- cunning and a bit anti-social -- would have played well against the idealism of Devon and the others on a weekly basis.

As is par for the course with The Starlost, “The Return of Oro” is not without some problems.  The episode introduces an annoying character named William (Henry Beckman), who has an unhealthy obsession with opening any and all doors around him, and who causes a lot of trouble.  He’s an irritating presence, but not enough of one to ruin the entire episode. 

Secondly, we see yet another Ark Control Center this week, and one monitored by a robot (who resembles a giant vintage toy…) at that.  Yet this robot, Tau Zeta, is unable to act in the interest of the humans on the Ark and adjust the ship’s trajectory to avoid collision with the star.  Why?

Again, this element of the story just doesn’t make sense, and makes The Starlost nearly Gilligan’s Island-esque in its inanity.  We’ve now met space pilots, engineers, super intelligent robots, computers, and aliens who could all make at least an attempt to change the Ark’s course…but don’t.

If we leave behind this problem in believability, “The Return of Oro” works mainly as a contest between two very determined characters: Devon and Oro.  Throughout the episode, they attempt to out-maneuver one another, and their dialogue is sharp, the performances crisp.  It’s a shame that The Starlost was not a better series, one that could have taken advantage of Oro’s presence again and again over a period of seasons.  In some parallel reality, perhaps, audiences celebrated the second feature film reunion, The Starlost II: The Wrath of Oro.

But not in our universe.

Instead we must be content with the fact that this episode of The Starlost is better than most…meaning it’s a relatively painless hour.

Next week: It is back down-hill with “Farthing’s Comet.”

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "The Implant People" (December 8, 1973)

Although it may not be saying much given the general quality of the overall enterprise, “The Implant People” is one of the best-paced, most intriguing episodes in The Starlost (1973 – 1973) canon.  That doesn’t mean the episode is always good, however, and indeed there’s a real problem in logic involved in the narrative, which I’ll explain below.

However, this episode, not unlike “Mr. Smith of Manchester,” involves Devon (Keir Dullea), Rachel (Gay Rowan) and Garth (Robin Ward) endeavoring to help others and act, in a sense, more heroically than is often depicted.  The story also seems better-staged, shot, and paced than many previous entries as well.  This improvement seems indicative of a learning curve since the next episode, “Return of Oro,” also moves along at a good clip, and features better blocking and movement.

In the case of “The Implant People,” our heroic threesome is drawn into political intrigue when a raggedy-looking child steals Garth’s cross-bow and he gives pursuit.  Garth soon finds himself in the lab of Professor Brant (Leo Leyden), a scientist who has developed a mental implant that has been given to his biosphere’s elite class.  The implant was designed to augment intelligence, but is instead being used by a power-grabber named Roloff (Donnelly Rhodes) to cause intense pain in any person who bears it.

In fact, Roloff is inching closer to taking total control over the biosphere as he plays the peoples’ council against the grieving ruler, Serina (Pat Collins), who was recently widowed.  As the go-between delivering messages between these two factions, Roloff begins to reserve total power for himself.  He does so by lies, obstruction, and trickery.  At one point, he even tricks Devon into being implanted.

Soon, a feisty and regal Serina realizes she is being manipulated, and with Devon, Garth and Rachel’s help, sets out to stop Roloff and build a fairer society for all, one where the implant can no longer enslave the population.

The big problem in logic that I see in “The Implant People” is that Professor Brant, himself implanted, possesses the technology to un-implant himself and any others at any time, as the third act reveals.  Given this availability of instrumentation, why doesn’t he merely release himself from Roloff’s enslavement, and remove the implant from himself, his scientist cohorts, and the people’s council-members?  To do so would be to rob Roloff of his only means of domination.  And since Brant isn’t guarded all the time by Roloff or his guards, this seems eminently possible.

Instead, Brant doesn’t remove the implant until led to that (obvious) course of action by Devon and Garth, and that seems silly.  You’d only need to be rendered paralyzed by that kind of pain once, I would think, before choosing to remove the implant, especially with the means readily available.  The implant removal device is right there in the laboratory, after all...

Another problem here is one featured frequently on The Starlost.  Roloff is consulted about the Earth Ship Ark’s impending collision course, and says he can’t do anything to stop it.  Then he goes right back to consolidating power in his biosphere.  Could anyone really be so short-sighted, or have such tunnel vision?  Would  anyone really go to so much trouble to seize power in a biosphere knowing that the Ark could be speeding towards destruction at any minute?  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it's not like this idea of "tunnel vision" is one of the social commentaries on the show.

Despite such issues “The Implant People” in large part succeeds for two reasons.  The first is that Donnelly Rhodes is really great as the manipulative, Iago-like Roloff.  Rhodes makes a great villain, and his character's   machinations make for some entertaining viewing.  Roloff is a silver-tongued devil, for sure.

Secondly, this episode -- like the not-very-good“ Astromedics” -- features a stronger role for the taciturn Garth (Robin Ward).  In many ways, he’s quietly stepping up as the new, reluctant hero of The Starlost.  In some ways, I prefer Garth to the increasingly strident and pedantic Devon, who constantly seems to be asserting his will, often at the expense of his comrades.   As the series goes on (and there are only a handful of episodes left to review at this point…) Devon grows less likable as Garth grows more likable, and more prominent.  I don't really blame Keir Dullea for the fact that Devon isn't very likable.  It's obvious that the writers were trying to transform the character into an aggressive, Captain Kirk-like alpha male of command stature.  But that interpretation of the character doesn't fit his background as a Quaker, essentially, and doesn't leave him much room to reveal humanity or vulnerability.

Next week, Walter Koenig makes an encore appearance in “The Return of Oro.”

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "Astro-Medics" (December 1, 1973)

This week on The Starlost, Devon (Keir Dullea) is injured while attempting to rescue Garth (Robin Ward) during repairs on the Ark.  Garth blames himself for Devon’s injury.  Even as Garth faces self-recriminations, Rachel’s (Gay Rowan) call for medical help is answered by the Ark’s Medical Corps/space patrol.

Devon is taken aboard the equivalent of a space ambulance with his friends from Cypress Corners, but the father-and-son doctors tending to his nervous system injuries must first contend with their own contentious personal history…

“Astro-Medics” is another one of those The Starlost (1973 – 1974) episodes that doesn’t seem a good fit for the established series format.

As you will recall, the series concerns a generational ship, the Earth Ship Ark, on a collision course with a star.  The people on the Ark -- separated in different cultures within different biospheres -- are unaware of one another for the most part, and also unaware that they are on board a spacecraft at all.  The series’ three protagonists, Devon, Rachel, and Garth constantly search for some person with the skill, knowledge and desire to change the ark’s disastrous trajectory.

In “Astro-Medics,” however, the audience learns that a fully-functioning medical corps is still at work half-a-millennium after the catastrophe that splintered the cultures on the ship, and still tending to medical emergencies on the Ark.

These fully-equipped, fully-trained doctors -- who must be the descendants of the original crew -- patrol in space beyond the perimeter of the Ark, and even offer medical assistance to alien life forms nearby.

The existence of this operational medical corps raises some very big questions in terms of story consistency.

First, other than folks like Garth, Devon and Rachel -- who know the truth about the Ark -- who is going to call for the Corps’ help?  Certainly the folks in Cypress Corners don’t call outsider (heathens…) for medical assistance.  Certain Mr. Smith of Manchester -- massing his army – isn’t calling them for help.

Secondly, if the people in the biospheres don’t call for help either because they are unaware of the Corps. Or because they don’t want the help, what calls (again, other than our heroes’) do these doctors respond to on a regular basis?  (And where were these doctors in “Lazarus in the Mist” when Devon and the others visited a medical facility and could have used a physician’s skills?)

Next, the question becomes: why can’t doctors fully trained in surgical procedures, spaceship piloting, and the use of highly-advanced instrumentation, change the ark’s deadly course?  As “Astro-Medics” reveals, all the doctors know of the collision course crisis, but have decided they can’t do anything about it.  Instead, they race about to help sick individuals, all while the whole of mankind is in dire physical jeopardy. 

This is roughly akin to treating a patient’s broken leg when he is undergoing cardiac arrest.

To put it even more simply, if a person can pilot a medical space ambulance around the Ark -- and to the location of a damaged alien ship -- then certainly he could at least take a crack at setting a new trajectory for the Ark, right?  

Couldn’t he or she at least…try?

The next issue raised by “Astro-Medics” is one of Devon, Garth and Rachel’s quest.  Their job, essentially, is to bring order out of chaos, to bring together the various and diverse biospheres so that they can combine together and save humanity.  Wouldn’t the existence of an organization like the Medical Corps – with their technology and medicine – make that quest infinitely easier?  Wouldn’t the threesome from Cypress Corners wish to avail themselves of that support?

Finally, I must second-guess the producers for highlighting this story, which in essence deals with a father and son -- both doctors -- learning to respect each other, while caring for their patients.  Why is this tale -- more at home on Marcus Welby, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, or Trapper John MD --appropriate for inclusion on a series called The Starlost?

As I see it, “Astro-Medics” serves two essential purposes.  First, it sidelines Devon and thus gives Keir Dullea a break.  Week after week of carrying the lion’s share of the dialogue and action, I can see why this is useful.  Secondly, Devon’s absence allows Garth to step into the spotlight.  I must confess, as the series progresses, I’m coming to like and appreciate Garth quite a bit.  He shows real humanity, discipline and character in episodes such as “Astro-Medics” “The Alien Oro” and the upcoming “The Implant People.”  After many episodes in which the writers seemed at a loss about how to handle the character, Garth seems to be coming into his own as a character in this batch of shows.  He’s a lot less strident than Devon.

Next week: “The Implant People.”

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "The Alien Oro" (November 3, 1973)

Walter Koenig -- Mr. Chekov himself -- arrives on the Earth Ship Ark in “The Alien Oro,” this week’s selection from the Canadian 1973-1974 TV series, The Starlost. 

Mr. Koenig plays an apparently cold-hearted, emotionless citizen of the distant planet Exar, one who has crash-landed on the Ark and is desperate to return home before his planet passes out of range.  So desperate, in fact, that he has begun cannibalizing portions of the Ark to repair his damaged space ship.

Despite the fact that he appears human and wears a terrible gold Lamé suit, Oro is actually an interesting character…our first extra-terrestrial on The Starlost.  He is not overtly villainous in character, but, like Mr. Spock, seems to have ice water running through his veins at times.  Koenig isn’t my favorite Star Trek actor, but he makes some unique acting choices in this episode that successfully add to the character's alien-ness  His Oro is a man of frequent reflection, as many quiet, calculating reaction shots reveal.  He’s always thinking out chess moves, it’s clear.

The heart of this episode involves Oro’s “feelings” (if you can call them that) for a human woman on the Ark, a character named Idona (Alexandra Bastedo) who will die without his help, and the help of advanced Exarian medicine.  

But Koenig doesn’t play Oro as a man of emotions, but rather as a man divorced or disassociated from his emotions (as well as other beings...), leaving us to decide his exact motives for ourselves.  He’s an ambiguous character, but one of tremendous intelligence, and I enjoyed both the character and Koenig’s performance, which, at first blush, I dismissed as disengaged and stilted.  On closer reflection, I detected the opposite was actually true.  He underplays in the extreme, but shows flashes of cunning, and yes, humanity. 

The crux of “The Alien Oro” involves Oro’s motives.  He could, ostensibly, fix the Ark’s course, thus avoiding the collision with the "solar star,"(!) but claims he must return first to Exar to save  Idona's life.  He even promises to come back, if range permits, to help out Devon (Keir Dullea), Garth (Robin Ward) and Rachel (Gay Rowan).  The rub is that you are never certain he is telling the truth, or operating honestly.  Instead, he may just be cannibalizing parts and telling Devon what he wants to hear so he can make his escape back to space in time.  

There have been a few episodes of the series so far that have tried to play with the idea of Garth romancing a guest star character, since the issue of the Devon-Rachel-Garth love triangle is obviously settled in Rachel’s mind.  She’s chosen Devon.  Accordingly, Garth has shown interest in female characters in “And Only Man is Vile” and even “Gallery of Fear.”  But “The Alien Oro” presents his first substantial romantic relationship with another woman, one that is fully reciprocated (and not some kind of malicious ruse).  Thus, the episode provides a love triangle of its own, with Oro winning the day, apparently, because he possesses the ability to save Idona, and true love, as we all know, is not selfish.

In terms of the other characters, “The Alien Oro” doesn’t contribute much of worth.  Rachel locks herself in Oro’s spaceship and panics, necessitating a rescue.  

And Devon continues to come across as strident and combative.  He has a lot on his mind, of course, namely the rescue of the Earth Ship Ark.  But he frequently seems commanding and bossy, even though he holds no title of authority or command.  It’s clear the series writers were attempting to make their lead character a kind of forceful alpha male, but that kind of “command” mentality doesn’t fit very well with what we know of Devon’s history.  First and foremost, he is someone who asks questions, who challenges the status quo.  He's a thinker.  That’s a good deal different than presenting Devon as a capable fighter and negotiator.  As I like to point out, he’s basically a Mennonite on a spaceship, and the changes to his character to make him more "cowboy"-like and assertive don't really work in my opinion.

Although the events of “The Alien Oro” are decidedly low-key, with no real villain and no overt threat, the episode nonetheless remains one of the best installments of the series.  Koenig’s icy, dispassionate presence provides a good counterbalance to Devon’s blind passion/obsession with his mission, and the romantic relationship between Garth and Idona is actually believable, and modestly touching.  

I tend to like the "smaller," almost modest episodes of The Starlost, ones with fewer characters, and straightforward narratives.  In these episodes, the series' reach doesn't exceed its grasp by such a wide margin.  "Lazarus in the Mist" and "The Alien Oro" are two prime examples, I suppose.

Next week: “Astromedics” adds further to the confusion and inconsistencies about the Ark and its infrastructure.

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "Mr. Smith of Manchester" (November 24, 1973)

This week’s episode of The Starlost (1973 – 1974) is called “Mr. Smith of Manchester,” and it’s the first biosphere “civilization of the week” that we’ve encountered in a while, probably since the same-sex civilization of “The Goddess Calabra” fairly early in the catalog. 

Other recent Starlost episodes have instead focused on the (bizarre…) infrastructure of the Earth Ship Ark and a few individuals manipulating it.  These stories have been set at a school (“Children of Methuselah”), a dome dedicated to psychological research (“And Only Man is Vile,”) at the ship’s self-destruct circuitry (“Circuit of Death”) and even a weird Avant-garde art gallery (“Gallery of Fear.”)

The civilization this week is a dictatorship run by the tyrannical Mr. Smith (Ed Ames).  His biosphere is a toxic, polluted, industrial disaster, and of course, pollution was one of the driving social issues of 1970s science fiction television and film, featured in productions as diverse as  Z.P.G. (1972) and Empire of the Ants (1977)   

Here, factories (rendered in none-too-convincing miniature…) constantly spew smoke into the atmosphere.  The air is so toxic that exposure for even a limited time can cause pulmonary arrest, and wandering sentries collect the bodies of the dead.

Devon (Keir Dullea), Rachel (Gay Rowan) and Garth (Robin Ward) find a secret entrance and exit to Manchester, a gateway that Mr. Smith covets because he has been building a vast army to conquer the other biospheres.  Devon and the others dare not share the information, lest the other domes suffer, and they align themselves with a personality named Trent (Pat Galloway), who warns them of Smith’s totalitarian excesses.  

This aspect of the episode doesn’t quite work, and it’s tough to see how Devon, Garth and Rachel befriend Trent so quickly.  They suddenly devote themselves to saving her life and ensuring her safety when, frankly, they hardly know her. 

Still, it’s nice to see that these main characters have the capacity to care for another person and another person’s plight, given that many episodes merely concern survival or escaping from an enemy.

Additionally, one must wonder at some of elements of this story-line. Late in the tale, Garth, Devon and Rachel pick up automatic weapons and engage in a gunfight with Mr. Smith and his troops.  How do these Amish-like gentle-folk from Cypress Corners know how to fight with advanced weaponry?  And even if they could operate such machinery, would they be any good?  Could they really battle trained soldiers to a stand-still?

Garth, I might believe as a capable marksman given that he always carries about his crossbow.  But until a few months ago, story-time, I would assume that Devon and Rachel have no training with weapons of any kind, and certainly not advanced weaponry.  Perhaps more importantly, how do peaceful, gentle individuals like Devon and Rachel feel about taking up arms?  The episode never tells us.

Another issue worthy of discussion is the episode’s resolution.  Devon, Garth and Rachel manage, by luck, to locate the secret door iris that allows them to escape from Mr. Smith’s industrial nightmare.  But since they found it so easily, it follows that Smith could do the same, and thus imperil the entire ark.

I don’t want to be too negative however, about “Mr. Smith of Manchester” because as far as The Starlost episodes are concerned, this one moves at a quicker clip, features more action, and allows its characters to fight for a cause other than their own.  While the episode is not great -- or really, frankly that good -- all these touches suggest a step in the right direction.

Next week, Walter Koenig guests on The Starlost as “The Alien Oro.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Land of the Lost: "Medusa" (October 9, 1976)

The fifth episode of the third (and final) season of the NBC Saturday morning series highlights the mythological Medusa -- snake-haired Gorgon (sister in myth to Euryale and Stheno) -- as the villain of the week.

And indeed, if you are familiar with this bicentennial-era series, it may sound like a real stretch that the Gorgon Medusa would appear in the "closed" pocket-universe of the Land of the Lost. But 1976 was a year of significant format alterations for this series, as we've seen in the preceding weeks.

Specifically, star Spencer Milligan -- playing Dad, Rick Marshall -- left the program. On screen, Ron Harper (Planet of the Apes) took the lead as Uncle Jack, and behind the scenes, Sam Roeca, a veteran of CBS's animated Valley of the Dinosaurs, came aboard as writer and story editor. Also, writer/producer Jon Kubichan joined up.

"The first thing that Sam and I did was watch all the episodes," Kubichan reported when I interviewed him for Filmfax. "I wanted the series to be more fun, and to do something in every episode that was instructive in terms of science."

Roeca was on the same page in these desires and shared a mutual enthusiasm for mythology with Kubichan. 

Together, the new team sought to present in each third season installment "something from the past, from some literature or children's narrative."

This shift in narrative/imaginative focus resulted in a controversial third season that saw the Marshalls grapple with mythological creatures and beings such as The Flying Dutchman, a unicorn, a fire-breathing dragon, the Yeti...and Medusa.

"Medusa wound her way into the Land of the Lost because that actress is my wife," Kubichan joked with me.

"A writer that I knew came in, Greg Strangis, and came up with his story. He said, 'How'd you like to do a Medusa story?' and I thought it was a good idea. He went home, worked out a story, and I made some changes. He re-wrote a little, and that was that."

One reason that humanoid mythological creations like Medusa appeared on the show so frequently in the third season involved matters of schedule and budget. "It was very difficult to do anything with the dinosaurs," Kubichan informed me. "It took a long time to shoot that stuff, so you can't have it done in a couple of days. It takes weeks..."

In "Medusa," Holly (Kathy Coleman), Will (Wesley Eure) and Cha-Ka (Philip Paley) are busy preparing a sort of emergency canoe on the river that the Marshalls explored in first season's "Downstream." Holly boards the craft, and when a dam down-river breaks, she end ups hurtling away from the others. She is rescued by a mysterious woman named "Meddie" (Marion Thompson), and escorted to Meddie's "Garden of Eternity."

There, in the Garden, Holly sees several very life-like statues, including a statue of one Jefferson Davis Collies, the Civil War soldier that Holly encountered with her Dad and Will in the aforementioned "Downstream."

Now, this is a really splendid and entirely unexpected bit of continuity in the series; a direct reference to a program two years previous. The statue of Collies is even seen with his beloved cannon, Sarah.

After Holly learns that "Meddie" has also turned the land's resident triceratops, Spike, to stone, she begins to suspect that she's in some real trouble. Meddie attempts to entice Holly to stay in the Garden by offering her a new, beautiful dress..

Elsewhere, Uncle Jack, Will and Cha-Ka, attempt to rescue Holly from Meddie -- Medusa -- but most grapple with the Gorgon's sentient mirror (!) and the ambulatory, crushing vines that crawl all over the Garden of Eternity. In the end, Jack defeats Medusa by forcing the monster to gaze upon her own horrifying reflection...

Today, Land of the Lost's dedicated sense of creative imagination and fantasy far outstrips the production's prehistoric special effects, which have not aged gracefully. The series is still incredibly enjoyable (the effects are no worse than Dr. Who's; or Blake's 7, for instance...), but "Medusa" is nonetheless hampered by some poor visualizations. 

For instance, when "Meddie" turns into the Gorgon, it's clear that the snakes in her hair are just rubbery, inanimate, life-less things. And her gray, monstrous face make-up doesn't extend fully down her neck. In other words, you can see clearly where the make-up stops and real flesh color begin.

But again, Land of the Lost remains a really terrific Saturday morning's kid show because it is so endlessly imaginative, and because many episodes tend to concern great concepts, whether from science fiction (like time-loops, for instance) or from mythology. Greg Strangis's fantasy story is actually grounded in reality too, and has two very notable themes.

In a very real way -- and this is probably why this episode was so frightening to children at the time -- the episode concerns our childhood fear of strangers. 

Here, Holly is alone and taken in by an apparently kind adult, but one with secret motives. She tries and tries to get away, but the adult is both demanding and apparently friendly simultaneously, and, well, it's hard for kids to go against the wishes of an adult. Here, the stranger is indeed a monster, and Holly must plot her escape carefully. So the story here, in veiled terms, is -- watch out for strangers.

The other sub-text in "Medusa" surely concerns vanity. "Meddie" is ultimately undone by her narcissistic obsession with her physical beauty. According to the teleplay, it is actually "ugly" to be too concerned with one's self. As Holly notes at the end, the problem with vanity is that you might -- like Medusa -- get "trapped" by it.

As a six-year old kid, Land of the Lost's "Medusa" terrified me to my core, but it wasn't just the Gorgon's appearance and frightening ability to turn people to stone that was so powerful; it was the idea that she was a dishonest, untrustworthy adult who was planning to do monstrous things to an innocent child. 

Yikes...now that's disturbing in a real life way; a way that, well, dinosaurs or Sleestak are not.

Today, it's probably hard to conceive that an innocuous Land of the Lost from the disco decade was ever something that was legitimately "scary." But even today, you can detect how the series always attempted to ambitiously present a lot on a very small budget. 

For instance, "Medusa" features one or two very impressive high angle shots of Medusa's lair. These difficult-to-stage angles get across the atmosphere of danger and dread in a powerful way. A kid's show in a hurry likely wouldn't have found the time to pick out the right angle in moments like these, but Land of the Lost remains powerful (especially to the young-at-heart...) because its stories were conveyed with care both on the page and on the stage.

"Medusa" is a strong entry for the third season, which has been some rough sailing thus far.  It's imaginative and scary, even if certain questions about it persist.  Like, for instance how did Medusa get into the Land of the Lost, and how has she so long eluded the notice of the Marshalls (or the Sleestak, for that matter?)

Next week: "Cornered."