Okay, here's a good one found via Pop Candy...someone listed six of the best Sci Fi television shows that you never saw (meaning that they lasted only a season or less).If a young Julie Newmar is a robot, is she the first fem-bot? I suppose in many ways she's a sex toy ahead of her time.
I like the concepts behind Alternative 3 (a documentary about a group of people who have abandoned the planet Earth as a lost cause) and The Ultimate Imposter (an agent with a chip in his head to give him a different personality each week). I see elements of the latter in Joss Whedon's new series Dollhouse.
I'm not sure about Cold Lazarus, as virtual reality had been done before that. I liked the idea of a serious Groundhog Day-style mystery in Day Break, although I was unable to catch the series when it was on.
As for Gilligan's Planet, all I can say is I noticed that Dawn Wells (who played Mary Ann in the live version) was the voice of both Mary Ann and Ginger. I guess people really do prefer Mary Ann.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-30-2008 @ 9:52AM
Ed Venture said...
I noticed Dawn Wells' dual role too. It didn;t really surprise me. Tina Louise is notorious for despising Gilligan's Island.
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4-30-2008 @ 9:55AM
Charlie Conner said...
I think it should be a law that any discussion of shows that lasted under a year should automatically include Firefly...be sure to call your congressman to make this happen!
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5-01-2008 @ 12:26AM
s thompson said...
How can you talk about failed science fiction pilots and series without talking about these...
"Genesis II" was a Gene Roddenberry creation that was a proposed pilot for a series. The series never happened, but the story was retooled as a pilot called "Planet Earth".
That show didn't get made, either.
"Questor" was a proposed series from Gene Roddenberry that produced a wonderful pilot, but was never picked up.
"The Fantastic Journey" was a short-lived series about people lost on an island and the different people the survivors encountered. I guess no one would watch a show like that (except me). What I recall about that show was the different time periods that seemed to exist on the same island.
"Man from Atlantis" was a superhero/alien as saviour show that really didn't seem to be interesting enough to sway people away from watching Fonzie.
"Logan's Run" was an excellent take on both the movie and the series of books by William F Nolan. Unfortunately, the show might have been too smart for its own good. I recall it only lasted 13 episodes.
CBS once tried the tv version of "Planet of the Apes". The less said about it the better.
There was an Irwin Allen redux of "Time Tunnel" that produced an excellent pilot that I think (it's been a few years) was called "Time Travellers". This was before sf/fantasy shows began carving out a niche on prime time television.
"The Second Hundred Years" was an offbeat comedy about a prospector who is frozen in a glacier and is revived 67 years later and has to adjust to his new surroundings. I know I liked it when I was six years old-- often high concepts aren't as good as your memory when it comes to comedy.
"Quark" was a Buck Henry creation that spoofed both "Star Trek" and "Star Wars". (The captain was in charge of an intergalactic garbage scow.) Funnier than it sounds-- but not a spoof in the Mel Brooks vein.
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4-30-2008 @ 10:43AM
Jeff said...
Yeah they took Firefly out, to the black.
Was told they ain't coming back.
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4-30-2008 @ 11:01AM
Andrew said...
I really liked Daybreak - Brilliant show.
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4-30-2008 @ 1:37PM
PurpleSlog said...
I would have put Now and Again at the top list and have included Firefly.
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4-30-2008 @ 4:22PM
Aberdeen said...
Hello, no love for Odyssey 5?
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4-30-2008 @ 6:52PM
Nathaniel said...
Day Break (it's spelled with a space) was amazing. Though it really wasn't sci-fi... at all...
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4-30-2008 @ 7:24PM
Morjana Coffman said...
Ahem.
I actually watched every episode of "My Living Doll." I adored Julie Newmar. :)
I have vague memories of Gilligan's Planet.
Morjana
who is older than Disneyland
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5-07-2008 @ 4:00PM
simiandowntimeanalyst said...
poor poor threshold didnt make it either
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5-01-2008 @ 2:11AM
bc said...
"My Living Doll" is actually one of the first TV shows I can recall watching, along with "Romper Room" and "Studio Wrestling."
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