Introduction
to the Book
Despite this book's title it is not a complete directory to science
fiction, fantasy and horror television series. As with any reference work of
this type, this book is a work in progress. Over the past several years of
working on this, my friends have constantly asked me if it is done yet.
Although it is not completed and never really will be, it has now gotten to the
point where it is as completed and up to date as it ever will be. With new
episodes of series constantly being produced (at present we seem to be in
something of a glut of genre programmes) the best that one can hope for is that
the book be up to date. Since last summer marked the 50th anniversary of the
premiere of the first genre series
Lights
Out
,
I have decided to make the book chronicle the first 50 years. New series which
have started during the summer of 1996 and new seasons of shows which have
started during the summer are not being included although all episodes of a
programme's 1995-96 season are included.
Having received a university degree in cinema studies, I noticed that
academics in general have tended to ignore television in favour of film. This
is in spite of the similarities between the two media. Television does have a
much wider audience than theatrical films do. If as many people went and paid
to see a movie as watched many of the failed programmes in this book, there
would be plans to make a sequel to the film! As was pointed out during the
course of my studies, no one took a serious academic interest in film until the
late 1950's to the 1960's. Since television has always been several decades
behind film, soon this attitude is due to change.
Little effort has been made to index the vast output of television
programmes being made. In television's earliest days shows were broadcast live,
with the intention of being seen only once. Many were never recorded by any
means and recordings that do survive are a bit lacking in quality. Early
recordings of television shows were often viewed as a liability, something to
store, instead of an asset that could be sold to be rerun. As a result not
everything survives from the early days of television. In America, almost the
entire output of the Dumont Television Network (DTN) was destroyed in the late
1950's to recycle the silver in the film prints. In the United Kingdom, the BBC
systematically destroyed programmes they produced until the late 1970's. The
best copies the BBC has of several
Doctor
Who
episodes have been taken from recordings made by viewers with early Betamax
decks in America during the mid 1970's!
In an attempt to avoid repeating the mistakes of others, whenever
possible, all information in this book has been obtained from the episodes
themselves. This however has not always been possible and when the episodes
themselves have not been available secondary sources such as: TV Guide, Radio
Times, newspapers and press releases have been used. Having journeyed to dozens
of libraries all over the world to do research on this book. I have finally
gotten to the point of diminishing returns where no additional information gets
uncovered. On some series I have found out more than the production company
knows about them and they have asked me for information! This is particularly
true on older programmes which no longer exist and which existing reference
works have sketchy information at best that often conflicts with other works. I
was unable to locate any collections of 'pre-national' TV Guides for any cities
on the east coast which I suspect would have been helpful in filling in some
blanks on older American programmes. These are something which TV Guide does
not have in its archives. Perhaps someday I may run across some, but at this
point I am not hopeful. Editions I was able to use for research were: Chicago,
Des Moines and Minneapolis / St. Paul. If anyone out there does have access to
any of the programme information I have been unable to uncover let me know and
it will be included in any future updates- also let me know the source of said
information.
This book started as a simple means to help keep track of a video tape
collection and soon began to take on a life of its own. In an attempt to limit
the scope certain criteria have been laid down for a series' inclusion in this
book. The definitions of science fiction, fantasy and horror are somewhat open
to debate. While some series obviously belong to one of these genres by most
anyone's definition:
Dr.
Who
,
Twilight
Zone
and
Bewitched
for example, some series fall into a grey area such as:
Mission:
Impossible
and
Alfred
Hitchcock Presents
.
I have attempted to be as lenient as possible with the definitions and have
included every series I know about that could be considered a genre series,
although there are most likely one or two obscure series that have escaped my
notice.
There are some programmes that are not included which one might think
would be. This is because there are several criteria that a series has had to
meet in order to be included. These are: 1) The series has to have been made in
English. Dubbed programmes are excluded. Although I am sure that there have
been good genre shows produced in languages other than English, I am unable to
understand them and also have limited access to them. 2) The series must
feature real people as actors. Animated cartoons and puppet shows are not
included since they could easily take up a whole book on their own. Almost
every animated series ever produced could be included since most feature
fantasy elements such as talking animals. 3) It must have been a series in
which either the episodes are complete stories or the producers had no set
limit to the number of episodes they hoped to make. Serials such as:
Hitchikkers
Guide to the Galaxy
,
mini-series such as:
Martian
Chronicles
and one off made for TV Movies are not included. However these may be included
in any future updates of the book. 4) Educational series whose primary purpose
is instructional are not included. 5) A programme has to consistently be a
science fiction, fantasy or horror programme. One or two episodes with a genre
theme do not count. Thus, the sitcom
Webster
is not included despite the fact that there was one episode of the series which
crossed over with
Star
Trek the Next Generation
.
Due to the scope of this volume it is impossible to give long detailed
scene by scene breakdowns of every episode in the book. I have set out to
provide a long enough description so that someone who has seen the series can
identify the episode and to provide someone who has not seen the series enough
information to spark their interest without spoiling the episode for them. A
number of the more popular programmes covered in this book (such as any variety
of
Star
Trek
,
Doctor
Who
and
Mr.
Ed
)
have had one or more complete books devoted to them. These books can go into
greater detail due to their smaller scope. I do realise that for many of the
programmes that are covered here this will be the most complete and
comprehensive information available.
The spellings on names in the book have been standardized as much as
possible. Often times an actor uses different names or gets credited
differently from one role to another. For example: Although Ed Bishop has been
credited as both Edward Bishop and Ed Bishop, all his credits are Ed Bishop
regardless of what it says on screen. Actresses will often get married and
adopt their husbands name, then drop it after a divorce. Additionally typos do
occur in on screen credits making them not always correct. For some reason
programmes made in Canada have inconsistent spellings on names. One series I
checked had a regular director's name spelled 6 different ways over the course
of its run. I have attempted to find out the 'correct' spelling of a person's
name and used that in each instance of that person's credits, despite what
might appear on the episodes themselves. At present there are still a few names
for which are still on the list of inconsistencies and which I have been unable
to ascertain whether they are the same person or not and if so what the proper
spelling should be. These names have been wisely left alone. Hopefully these
will be corrected in a future update.
Now that this little project has been completed there are several
tenative future projects: 1) The index that has been prepared to check the
spellings of names. I had at first hoped to include this with the rest of the
book, but I had a difficult enough time finding a printer capable of doing a
book this size, and an extra 400 pages of material would have put the size
beyond their capabilities. If sales on this volume are high enough and I feel
demand warrants it, the index may be released as a companion volume. 2) New
programmes. New episodes of series covered in this book as well as brand new
series are being kept track of for any future updates. 3) Omitted programmes.
The thought has occurred to chronicle genre serials, mini-series and made for
TV movies. These could either be released as a companion volume or as part of a
supplement, which would include new programmes. 4) A CD ROM version for
computers. This is an idea I have thought about for several years. However
although I have become somewhat adept at using programmes that run under
Apple's System 6, I have no idea how to actually write the programmes. The
little bit of Applesoft BASIC I know I feel just is not up to the task. 5) The
BIG project of a complete guide to every TV series ever made, which is a bit
unlikely at present.
Everyone who has seen the covers, so far, has been unable to identify
all of the photos. So to make sure everyone knows what show each photo is from
I am listing them here, from left to right then top to bottom. Front cover:
Space: 1999, ALF, Rocky Jones Space Ranger, Babylon 5, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf,
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,
(real)
Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie
&
The
Avengers.
Back cover:
The
X-Files, Superboy, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Dark Shadows
(1966 variety)
,
Lost in Space,
&
Jupiter
Moon.
As stated above if you have any amplifications, corrections or missing
information, please let me know along with the source of your information,
these can be sent to the address below. Also, if you want to be informed about
any future updates to this book, write and let me know. Alan Morton, 2800 SW
Adams, Peoria, IL 61602, USA.
Alan
Morton
March
1997
Guide
to the Book
With over 360 series being chronicled there are bound to be one or two
exceptions to these rules, but each of the series chronicled in this volume has
been set up in the same format. Series are presented in alphabetical order by
the official title the series had when first broadcast in its country of
origin. To help locate shows, the table of contents lists alternate titles.
Each listing starts off with the series title.
Below the title is the years the series was on, which is limited to the
time that the series was on the air with original episodes on an ongoing basis.
Reruns either on the network or in syndication are not included. This is
followed on the same line by the number of episodes of the programme that were
produced. This number counts two hour episodes of one hour shows as two
episodes since these are almost always broken down into two episodes for reruns
(both networked and syndicated). If the programme was still in production at
the end of the 1995-1996 TV season the year it started will be indicated with a
´+' and the number of episodes chronicled in the guide will also be
indicated with a ´+' after it.
The regular performers are then listed with the characters that they
played. The semi regulars are then listed with the characters that they played.
If there are numbers in brackets after the listing those numbers reflect the
seasons of the show in which that character appeared. In a few instances the
numbers in the brackets instead reflect episodes in which the character
appeared. These instances are denoted by the abbreviation ´eps', or noted
elsewhere in the series entry if it applies to all performers.
This is followed by some background information on the programme. The
series' premise is given here along with other useful information and often
brief criticism of the show.
Then, when needed, come any notes specific to the individual guide.
This may include the reason some episodes are asterisked, or information that
the episodes were multi-part serials.
The actual episode listing then starts. The first season (or series) of
the show will have information as to what network the show was on, running time
(if other than an hour), if it was in b&w, transmitted live, in stereo or
produced in widescreen. This information will not be repeated in following
seasons unless something changes, then only the change will be noted. When two
seasons of the show started in the same year the first one will be noted as
spring and the second as fall- even if the spring season started in the middle
of winter.
The episodes are listed in chronological order of broadcast. The first
episode is almost always #1. However in some instances there is an episode 0.
Reasons for inclusion of a ´0' episode include (but are not limited to) an
unaired pilot which was never broadcast, a pilot episode that ran as part of a
different series or a mini-series or film that the series was based on- if
rerun separately from the rest of the series' episodes. Two-hour episodes of
hour shows that get broken up into two parts for reruns are listed as two
episodes with the notation TVM to designate the fact that it was originally run
as one entity. The same applies to hour long episodes of normally half hour
programmes. The broadcast order used is almost always the running order the
show first had in its country of origin. If it is NOT then this fact is noted.
This is usually caused by being unable to ascertain the original order or by
having the show run out of order when first broadcast (this often will affect
only one or two episodes and is noted as such). When a foreign show was run on
an American network the US order is also reflected by a second number in
brackets.
Each episode entry consists of the episode number, the episode title,
and the guest cast in the episode. On the three ´soap operas' listed in
the book the titles (which they did not have) and the guest stars (which they
tended not to have) are not listed. Where a guest star plays a recurring
character that character's name is noted in brackets upon his (or her) first
appearance on the show. This is also done when the actor (or actress) appears
in a role he (or she) made famous elsewhere. For example: William Shatner
appearing as Captain Kirk in an episode of
Mork
and Mindy
.
A brief plot description then follows.
The last line of each entry contains the date of original broadcast,
denoted by 'b:'. This is in the day / month / year format and reflects the
first broadcast in the country of origin, unless noted otherwise. For
syndicated American programmes the date reflects the first broadcast in
Chicago, IL, when available. Chicago was chosen for several reasons: 1) Chicago
gets almost all of the syndicated programmes distributed in the US, 2) Chicago
has had 4 or more TV stations since the late 40's (giving an increased, chance
of a programme getting aired), and 3) I have easy access to Chicago TV listings
to find older broadcast dates. 4) Chicago is on Central Time so the times are
right for a change. This is followed by the episode's writer, or writers,
denoted by 'w:'. When one writer wrote the teleplay based on another's story,
the one who wrote the teleplay receives the 'w:' credit, while an additional
's:' credit is given to the writer upon which the work was based. This can
either refer to a short story or novel or to a script or story treatment. The
director credit is given last and denoted by 'd:'. On multi-part or multi-story
episodes, if the credits are different they are separated by a slash in the
individual categories.
Unaired episodes follow the broadcast ones. Unaired in this context does
not always mean the episode was never seen, just that it was never broadcast
with the rest of the episodes during the show's original run. The reasons for
this are varied but include: getting preempted, censored, or having the show
cancelled in the middle of the season. When more than one episode is unaired
the order reflected is in the order the show gets rerun in syndication, run in
foreign countries or production order- whenever one of these can be determined.
Theatrical and made for television movies relating to the show are then
listed in the order they were made. However in a few cases (Batman for example)
a film came out in the middle of the series run and it is listedchronologically. Instead of numbers movies have the year of their release, then
following the title is the running time in ( ). If it was a theatrical film the
running time is the actual one, however if it was made for TV it is the time
including commercials and is noted again with TVM. The guest cast also includes
any of the regular characters who were played by someone other than the person
who portrayed them in the series. Again this will be noted in brackets.
The final listings in each entry are the episode compilations when
applicable. Episode compilations are made for TV movies that consist of two (or
more) episodes of the series edited together and called a movie. These are
especially prevalent on programmes which had short runs. The name of the
episode compilation is listed, then the episodes that were used to make it are
listed. In those rare instances when new material was also used that is also
noted.