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Planet Earth (1974 TV movie)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 10:29 pm    Post subject: Planet Earth (1974 TV movie) Reply with quote



Executive producer Gene Rodenberry made three unsuccessful attempts to sell the networks this idea for a series. With a little encouragement, Rodenberry might have turned this into another "Star Trek".

"Planet Earth" is Rodenberry's second attempt to transport viewers into a post-holocaust future where civilization has collapsed and society has fragmented into strange little subcultures ("Genesis II" was the first try, "Strange New World" was the third).

John Saxon takes over the role of Dylan Hunt from "Genesis II" star Alex Cord. Hunt is a scientist who is revived from suspended animation in the year 2133 by a peaceful group of dedicated reconstructionist who labor to restore world order. Saxon leads a team of experts on a search for a missing surgeon who is needed to perform a life-saving operation on an injured leader of the reconstructionists.

Janet Margolin plays a fiesty female team member who secretly wants to get romantic with Saxon if the network will just buy the series and give her the time. Team member Ted (Lurch) Cassidy wears a long blond wig and a headband to give him a hippy/Indian look.

Saxon's team is captured by Diana Muldaur's female-dominated society. Saxon seduces Muldaur, helps organize a bloodless revolt against the slave-master women, and whips the menfolk into shape just in time to defeat an attacking band of renegade mutant soldiers.

All in all, "Planet Earth" is easy to like, a spirited sci-fi adventure whose only real fault is that it baby-talks its story to the viewer. Directed by Marc Daniels from a screenplay by Gene Rodenberry and Juanita Bartlette. Also starring Johana DeWinter, and Christopher Gary.

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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2015 1:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I recall seeing Genesis II, but I completely missed this one. I had a lot of other things to do in '74 than watch TV. Looking at clips on YouTube, Saxon seems to make a pretty good Capt. Kirk type. It's always good to see Ted Cassidy, though that's not his best look ever. I once met him in his full Lurch getup. The guy made a strong impression in person.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Genesis II was the better pilot compared to Planet Earth.

PE started out with an exciting first part but then bogged down into a dull treatise about an all woman society.

Liked the cast & guest stars.

The team PAX uniforms & equipment were very sharp to look at.

Really enjoyed seeing Ted Cassidy return for this pilot movie. My quibble was why did they have to cast him as a mono-syllabic Amerind?
Why could he not simply portray & intelligent normal speaking scientist? Unfortunately due to his impressive height of 6'8,"Cassidy was often cast as villains or slow thinking gentle giants.
PE could have changed all that by having him play a regular person. Also I don't believe he had any American Indian blood in him. So that whole aspect to his character would not be p.c. these days.

Concept had definite potential here.Today's state of the art FX, make up, animatronics, & so forth would make this an even superior looking series compared to what they had available when this pilot was first made.

Deserves a revival. Along with Assignment: Earth.


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I have a DVD-R of both Planet Earth and Earth II, and although they're both enjoyable (two versions of the same basic story), I'm not sure I would have enjoyed them as much as Star Trek if either one had become a series.

I'm more of the "optimistic future" kind of sci-fi fan, not the "post-apocalyptic future" kind.
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__________________ Planet Earth 1974 Intro


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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The team PAX uniforms & equipment were very sharp to look at.

The Pax equipment for "Planet Earth" was designed by Franz Joseph, of the "Star Fleet Technical Manual" fame. Gene Roddenberry liked his work and hired him to design the field equipment. He designed the communicator, a scanner, and medical equipment. In an issue of "Enterprise Incidents" he described how the devices were suppose to work, and showed his drawings of the equipment. He said that there were no close-up, hero versions of the props made, due to the limited time before filming. It the show had sold, then they would have made the detailed versions.

I believe that the communicators were latter reused in the TV series "Quark".

David.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, Planet Earth was both a post-apocalyptic premise as well as an optimistic one.

True, the story is set years after WWIII. However, we see that humanity is rebuilding itself in a positive & peaceful manner. Well, at least as far as PAX is concerned. The episodes would have dealt with how PAX was attempting to solve problems in an intelligent way, helping other communities.

Gene Roddenberry was all about a positive & hopeful future in his philosophy & writing. PE would have continued to reflect that concept.

Gene's setting the show in its post-war years was to create an intriguing scenario from which the stories could take place. And for all his hope for our future Gene also saw the challenges & issues humanity was (is) facing.

So, he also realized that world-wide devastation due to war or environmental crisis was a real possibility.

But what he was also saying is that even amidst such tragedy there could be hope for humanity if they could survive & learn.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Pow, you're absolutely right.

The premise isn't necessarily downbeat, as I implied above. The flavor of the series would depend on the individual stories, and with Roddenberry at the helm I'm sure the plots would focus on restoring civilization and meeting the challenges of building a new world.

When I read your post above I remembered that Star Trek often featured stories about an idealist group (the crew) with advanced technology they used to help primitive cultures.

So, is there really a big difference between primitive alien cultures on other planets who need help and primitive human cultures on Earth who need help?

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The saga of Dylan Hunt was continued in the Roddenbery series ANDROMADA with Ken Sorbo as Hunt. This series takes him further into the future and ran for a few seasons.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For anyone interested, at Trekplace.com there is the Franz Joseph Gallery.

The gallery has the original drawings for the high-tech props that would have been used if Planet Earth had become a weekly series.

The medipak (field medical kit), transceiver (communication device), and multiceiver (similar to Star Trek's tricorder in functions) are laid out in the sketches. The PAX dart gun & voice recording contrivance used by John Saxon are not part of these drawings, nor is the Tyreaneans STIM device.

The drawings are well done of these nifty looking futuristic PAX devices. Unfortunately the writings that tell what the functions on these gizmos perform is too small to read and the pictures don't expand.

You can see the influence of the tricorder from Star Trek with the designs for both the medipax & multiceiver. Yet both designs are just different enough to make 'em cool looking in their own way.

Had Planet Earth gone to series we'd have seen these intriguing looking gizmos each week.


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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scripts for Genesis II had the TV-movie/pilot been picked up as a weekly show.

"Company B,"---A "Trojan Horse" suicide squad from the days of the Great Conflict comes out of suspended animation and attacks PAX. They represent the 1995 A.D., ideal of the perfect soldier.

Thoughts: I'm assuming the "Trojan Horse" gambit means that somehow these soldiers are brought inside PAX without the PAXers realizing who & what they are. Either that, or perhaps the soldiers are already hidden deep with the expansive caverns of PAX in their suspended animation pods. It sounds like an intriguing episode; might have made a great plot for the pilot/movie.

"London Express,"---A hair raising journey through the submerged potions of the North Atlantic subshuttle tube take Dylan Hunt and his PAX Team 21 to London of 2133 A.D. There they encounter their Tyranian foe, Lyra-A and the mad monarch King Charles X.

Thoughts: looks like they'll be shooting on the European backlot set of whatever movie studio was going to be home for the television series.

"Robots Return,"---The advanced alien computers and sophisticated machinery discovered earlier on a moon of Neptune in the year 1992 by a NASA expedition, have evolved into a new life form of robotic existence. They visit Earth in search of the "God" NASA.
When they encounter Dylan Hunt, formerly a scientist of NASA, they consider him a messiah.

This concept was reworked for the story for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Thoughts: This would have made for an exciting episode for Planet Earth. But could they have really successfully pulled it off given their television budget & tight shooting schedule? Could 1974 special effects really have tackled so ambitious a plot?

Would the production have been unable to show us a flashback of NASA first finding the robots on Neptune's moon, or the robots later travel through space to Earth?

Could the budget truly make this happen?

I'm also curious as to why the discovery of the robots back in 1992 did not lead to results of some kind? Did NASA simply leave the moon without any answers? Why wouldn't the robot life respond to NASA discovering them?

Nowadays with the fantastic advent of CGI, LED Wall, and other enormous technological advances in the field of special/visual effects, such an episode (with a lavish budget) would be doable.

I think that resurrecting Gene Roddenberry's Genesis II/Planet Earth would be a terrific idea and it would be far superior in 2021 with its visual effects capabilities compared to what the effects artist could do back in 1974.

"Poodle Shop,"---Dylan Hunt is captured and put on sale by the females of a strange society where the men are treated as domestic pets and traded back & forth for breeding purposes.

The plot for this episode would be revived and form the story for the Planet Earth TV-movie/pilot which was in itself a reworking of Genesis II.

Thoughts: A shame that of all the purposed plots for episodes of Genesis II they went and picked this weak story for the Planet Earth TV-movie/pilot. PE had, as did G II, a lot of potential as a entertaining and thoughtful weekly sci~fi show. When you're producing your pilot movie you lead with the most intriguing & visual story, not your most mediocre effort. No wonder the network didn't pick up PE.

"The Apartment,"---Trapped inside 20th century ruins by a mysterious force field, Dylan Hunt is catapulted through a time continuum to the year 1975. There he can be seen as a "transparent ghost" by a woman living in an apartment. A bizarre love story unfolds with a surprise twist ending.

Thoughts: Better be one heck of a cool Twilight Zone kinda ending because little else in this story interests me at all.

This idea was reworked for the Star Trek: Phase II television series that never happened. The title for it was "Tomorrow and the Stars."

"The Electric Company,"--- Dylan Hunt and his PAX team encounter a society where a strong priesthood holds its population in bondage via clever use of electricity. Hunt & his people decide to employ there own cleverness to free these citizens from the cult.

Thoughts: Not a particularly imaginative plot. Something similar was used on the Saturday morning sci~fi TV show Ark II. I believe such a storyline also made it into an episode of the Fantastic Journey TV series. Like I said, kinda tired and stale as a plot device.

Making the priesthood as the villains was a pretty obvious ploy by atheist Roddenberry. Predictable.

Still & all, I'd love to see Genesis II/Planet Earth rebooted today with strong writing and with the sophisticated visuals we now have. It could make for a compelling sci~fi show.
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The medipak (field medical kit), transceiver (communication device), and multiceiver (similar to Star Trek's tricorder in functions) are laid out in the sketches. The PAX dart gun & voice recording contrivance used by John Saxon are not part of these drawings, nor is the Tyreaneans STEM device.

In Genesis II -- the first incarnation of the concept -- the hand-held devices the Tyranians used to control their slaves by administering pain and pleasure were called "stims" (short for "stimulators").
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The STIM was a rod shaped device which could stimulate either the pain or pleasure centers in a recipients brain via sonics.
No physical damage was caused.

In Tyrania, the STIM is regarded as a symbol of honor, and confers dignity.
The STIM was developed in the final days of the Great Conflict in order to control both troops as well as the civilian population.

The STIM was a nifty looking device I always thought. The concept of one gizmo being able to convey either pain or pleasure was an unusual one.

Of course for it to be effective an individual would have to be extremely close to its victim.

It somewhat reminded me of the Hornet Sting weapon used by Britt Reid on The Green Hornet TV show that ran from 1966~1967.

When the Hornet Sting was folded up it was similar in shape to the STIM. In addition, both contraptions operated on ultra-sonics.

The Ganymede Project was the name of the suspended animation experiment that Dylan Hunt was involved in.

The PAX dart handgun was a non-lethal weapon that fired small dart (mini-hypodermic) that injects a powerful and fast acting tranquilizer into its victim.

During PAX Team 21's battle with the Kreeg, mutant warlike humans, in the pilot we hear Dylan Hunt order his team to go to the more potent XY tranquilizers when the normal tranquilizers don't incapacitate the attacking Kreegs.

The Sub Shuttle was a subterranean mag-lev train which was capable of high-speed travel in the vast underground tunnels that honeycombed the Earth.

The shuttle would have played an important role in PE had it gone to series. It would have been able to transport PAX Team 21 almost anywhere on Earth and into new adventures of exploration, discovery, and danger.
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The STIM was a nifty looking device I always thought. The concept of one gizmo being able to convey either pain or pleasure was an unusual one.

I'm sure it would be a popular adult toy in certain circles! Wink
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem with the Paxer needle gun is that no injected anesthetic is instantaneous, you're still going to have a few seconds until it takes effect. The further the injection point from the heart or brain, the longer the target stays conscious and mobile. Long enough for the target to perform a lot of mayhem. A better solution would be to combine the anesthetic dart with some kine of TASER projectile.

David.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I like the dart gun design, you make a reasonable comment regarding just how effective the darts would be given how long it might take for 'em to kick in on a victim.

I would also think that the PAX Team 21 members utilizing such a weapon would have to get into relatively close proximity to any of their victims. That would make certain missions difficult if for some reason getting very close to an enemy was not feasible. Any reboot of PE would have to address this problem, or come up with an entirely different---but still non-lethal---device.

Similar problem would also be with the Tyanian's STIM device. If direct contact to the person is required for the STIM, then couldn't any large group of slaves overpower the holder of the device? Perhaps the Tyranians don't allow any large gatherings of slaves at any time; perhaps Tyranians always insure that there are always more of them together than their slaves.

Still & all, it seems like a potentially flawed idea to possess a weapon that the holder must get inches away from its victim.

I realize that the Tyranians are mutants and stronger than the average human (they have two hearts), although how much stronger is not indicated in the TV-movie. Are they as strong as a Vulcan? Khan? Less than those examples?

However, depending on brute strength alone (do they have any martial arts training or boxing skills) and a weapon that must touch its victim while you hold onto it could put Tyranians at considerable risk.

Come to think of it, would PE have carried over the Tyranians & their STIM gizmo from Genesis II? I think they should as they could make an intriguing recurring enemy for PAX.

PE did establish the Kreeg as an ongoing foe for PAX. Kreeg are also mutated humans who are warlike. The PAX Team 21 has to up their tranquilizer dosage for their dart gun in order to take down the Kreeg. So are the Kreeg significantly stronger than normal humans?

I wonder if the Kreeg were created for the second pilot in order to look more fierce and dramatic than the Tyranians who merely appeared as human? Perhaps if PE had sold then the whole Tyranian culture concept might have been dropped in favor of the Kreeg?

Seems to me that they should have made room for both the Tyranians & the Kreeg as enemies to PAX.

You could mine more stories by having two recurring foes for the show. Star Trek had Klingons & Romulans after all.

Another nice touch with PE was having the Log Recorder to document a mission by PAX. Dylan Hunt is using it in the opening of the movie to lay out a brief synopsis for the audience of what's going on.

Obviously Gene like this concept from having Captain Kirk do log recordings on ST:TOS.

And I gotta give another two thumbs up for those nifty looking PAX Team 21 uniforms.
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