July's Space Babe: Farrah Fawcett

July's Space Babe is the late Farrah Fawcett, who we're honoring for several memorable roles from the Space: 1970 era. The stunning feather-haired blonde was a pop culture icon of the 70s, and graced several genre films and television shows with her beauty, presence and talent.

Her role as Holly in the 1976 feature, Logan's Run, was small but star-making, and she also made strong showings on several episodes of her then-husband's TV series The Six Million Dollar Man (most notably in the 1974 episode, "The Rescue of Athena One," in which she played NASA's first female astronaut). In 1980, she co-starred in Stanley Donen's sci-fi gothic, Saturn 3, as Alex, a sexy space scientist, lover of colleague Kirk Douglas (lucky guy), and the object of obsession for both a psychopath (Harvey Keitel) and his equally deranged robot.

Fawcett's life and career was something of a roller coaster, with triumphant highs and tragic lows. Although initially typecast as a lightweight, airheaded bimbo, she eventually proved herself both a formidable dramatic actress and talented comedienne. In the 1970s, she was married to another Space: 1970 icon, Lee Majors, but they divorced in the early 80s. Sadly, she passed away in 2009 from cancer at a too-young 62.

LOGAN'S RUN (1977) TV Series Publicity Stills

Here's a selection of publicity stills shot to promote the 1977 television series, Logan's Run, starring Gregory Harrison, Heather Menzies, Donald Moffat and Randy Powell. The series incorporated elements from the 1976 feature film (costumes, props, and effects footage, mostly), the original William F. Nolan-George Clayton Johnson novel, and (unofficially) the producers' previous sci-fi series, The Fantastic Journey (not to mention, the 1975 WB pilot, Strange New World, which is uncannily similar), as Logan 5 & Jessica 6, fugitives from the totalitarian City of Domes, accompanied by the android Rem, searched a post-Apocalyptic Earth for the legendary community of Sanctuary, relentlessly pursued by Logan's former Sandman partner, Francis.

According to the TV Shows on DVD website, Warners Archive will be releasing the 14-episode series on manufactured-on-demand DVD later this year.

Coming Attractions: LOGAN'S RUN (1976) Theatrical Trailer

I recently re-watched my Logan's Run Blu-Ray disc and thoroughly enjoyed it. In my opinion, it holds up pretty well, and is a highly entertaining 70s sci-fi adventure film.

Sure, there are some logic problems in the script, and some of the effects shots look dated (although, surprisingly, the miniatures of the City of Domes actually look a bit more real in HD instead of less; the only thing that really betrays them is the use of water on the tabletop sets), but there's a lot to like in there, too. Great production design, good cast, and plenty of interesting ideas - even if not all of them make much sense.

Here's the original theatrical trailer.

LOGAN'S RUN Marvel Comics Cover Gallery

George Perez/Al Milgrom

George Perez/Al Milgrom

George Perez/Tom Palmer

George Perez/Klaus Janson

George Perez/Frank Giacoia

Paul Gulacy

Gil Kane/Al Milgrom

After their phenomenal success with the Star Wars comics license, Marvel turned their attention to the most prominent sci-fi flick of the year before, Logan's Run, and made a deal to adapt the MGM film. The adaptation showcased the dynamic talents of a young George Perez, who would soon make a name for himself on The Avengers,  among other books, becoming one of the industry's top pencilers. As I recall, Klaus Janson inked all (or most) of the five-issue movie adaptation, which was scripted by Marvel veteran Gerry Conway and David Anthony Kraft. 

The final two issues attempted to carry Logan and Jessica's adventures beyond the end of the movie, but writer John Warner failed to capture readers' imaginations, which, combined with the low sales figures and high licensing fees, led to Marvel canceling the title. Aircel Comics published adaptations of the original William F. Nolan-George Clayton Johnson Logan's Run novels in the 80s, and Bluewater Comics recently published a Logan series of their own.

(Scans courtesy of the Grand Comics Database.)

News: LOGAN'S RUN TV series on DVD in 2011

TV Shows on DVD is reporting that Warners Archive is in the process of putting together a Logan's Run - The Complete Series manufacture-on-demand DVD-R set for release sometime this year. It will contain all 13 episodes. You can find their article HERE.

I'm a fan of the show, which starred Gregory Harrison, Heather Menzies, Donald Moffat, and the ugliest solar-powered "hovercraft" ever imagined. The show wasn't great, but it was a lot of fun, and had several really good episodes.

Star Trek veteran D.C. Fontana wrote for and was story editor on the show, which was produced by William Cairncross and Leonard Katzman, who had been responsible for Fantastic Journey the previous year.

Guest stars included Mary Woronov (Death Race 2000), Kim Cattrall (Star Trek VI), Soon-Tek Oh, Jared Martin (The Fantastic Journey), Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon), Angela Cartwright (Lost In Space), Barbara Babcock, Nehemiah Persoff, and Gerald McRaney.

Hopefully, by the time they get this set put together, I'll be able to figure out a way to order discs from Warner Archive. (Last I tried, they did not accept debit cards, and I don't currently use a credit card.)

Cover Gallery: DYNAMITE Sci Fi

Back in the distant mists of prehistory - the 1970s - grade school kids across America were first exposed to the concept of "pop culture magazines" with the monthly publication called Dynamite. Sort of an Entertainment Weekly for pre-adolescents, the colorful magazine showcased the hottest stars, TV shows, and movies of the day.

If your school participated in the Scholastic Book Club, you'd get an order form for your parents to order an assortment of children's paperback books. Some were pretty cool: I still have a few of my old Scholastic purchases, including a really cool time travel adventure by Lester Del Rey and a Martian sci-fi adventure by Robert Silverberg. The order form also offered Dynamite, and as far as I know, it was only available through Scholastic's club. Because of the order form, you always knew in advance who or what was going to be on the cover, and there were tons of cool games, puzzles, comics, articles and Shaun Cassidy posters in every issue.

I guess the magazine - and club - lasted into the early 80s. I remember that Marvel had their own Dynamite clone, called Pizzazz, and I vaguely recall another similar magazine called Bananas, but I never read either of those. I did get Dynamite every month, though, and except for those Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers issues (I was too old for the club by then, having moved on to Junior High), I'm pretty sure I had all of the other ones shown above. I specifically - and vividly - remember the Space: 1999 and Logan's Run covers.

August's Space Babe: Jenny Agutter

The elfin Jenny Agutter as Jessica Six in the 1976 feature film, Logan's Run. It's a couple days early, but September's Space Babe is one of my all time favorites. Beautiful and sexy with a charming innocence, Agutter's layered portrayal of Jessica Six is forever seared into my adolescent brain. Doesn't hurt that she had a couple of tantalizing nude scenes... and that dress!

Born on December 20, 1952, in Taunton, Somerset, England, UK, Agutter was the daughter of an army officer and spent her childhood traveling and living in different countries. Her film career began at the age of 12!

Agutter is an accomplished and prolific English actress with substantial television, film and stage credits. Her genre credits are slim, aside from her iconic role in Logan's Run, but she did appear in episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, and is well-known for her co-starring role in 1981's An America Werewolf In London.

70s SciFi Blues

Previously released on DVD by MGM and Warner Brothers at least three times, the 1976 science fiction favorite Logan's Run made its high-definition debut on Blu-Ray disc last winter, but I only just got my hands on the disc over the past weekend. I've always enjoyed the movie and I was eager to replace my old 1998 MGM disc.

Sometime in the distant future, after a great global catastrophe, humanity lives in sealed, domed cities where their every need is met, and life is devoted to sybaritic pleasures. There's one catch, though - at age 30, each citizen must undergo the rite of Carousel where they are killed, supposedly to be renewed - presumably reincarnated - into a newborn life.

Some people don't have much faith in the whole "renewal" concept, and instead decide to try and avoid their fate by running away to someplace outside the domes that they call "Sanctuary." These "runners" are hunted and terminated by a special, armed force known as Sandmen. One of these Sandmen, Logan 5 (Michael York, The island of Doctor Moreau) is ordered by the computer intelligence that runs the city to infiltrate the runners, find "Sanctuary," and destroy it. Using a young woman named Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter, An American Werewolf in London) to win the trust of the runners, he begins his search - only to find himself questioning the system, falling in love, and being hunted by his best friend.

Directed by Michael Anderson (The Martian Chronicles, Millennium), Logan's Run is very much a product of its era, and while much of it may seem dated today, it was clearly an expensive, seriously-intended science fiction effort on the part of the studio and filmmakers.

Somewhat loosely based on a novel by George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan, the film is an entertaining futuristic adventure with good performances by York and the lovely Agutter, and a particularly delightful thespic turn by Peter Ustinov. It further benefits from charming, old-school, hand-crafted special effects (the movie was produced just one year before the effects revolution inaugurated by Star Wars), and some imaginative production design. Jerry Goldsmith's musical score is also innovative, with a fascinating melding of electronic tonalities with symphonic themes.

Logan's Run isn't without its flaws, but it's a fun movie. The film was popular enough in its day to spawn a Marvel Comics series, a single-season television show, and a couple of sequel novels by Nolan, and it's fondly remembered by more than a few old fanboys like myself.

Warners' Blu-Ray disc is a significant improvement over the 1998 MGM DVD I own, with a razor-sharp, color-balanced transfer that is utterly devoid of specks or other imperfections. Presented in 1080p 2.40:1 widescreen, the disc apparently uses the same source material as the 2007 Warners DVD, and it looks absolutely stunning in high-def. Ported over from the '07 DVD is an audio commentary track by director Anderson, star York and costume designer Bill Thomas. There's also a vintage promotional featurette and the original theatrical trailer.

Logan's Run is a minor classic of 1970's science fiction cinema, and the Blu-Ray is the best home video presentation of the film to date. Considering that it retails for around ten bucks, every self-respecting vintage SF fan should consider adding it to their HD library.

I also picked up the new Flash Gordon (1980) Blu-Ray over the holiday. This new HD edition is, to all intents and purposes, identical to Universal's 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD in every way but technically. You can read my review of that DVD edition here.

Where this edition differs from that previous DVD release is in format, obviously. The new Universal Blu-Ray disc sports a stunning, high-definition, 1080p 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, apparently from the same, remastered 2007 source, and as gorgeous as that looked, it benefits further from the bump up to HD. The colors are vibrant, detail is astounding, and the presentation looks superior to any previous home video releases, and light-years better than it did in theaters in 1980. Audio options are a robust 5.1 DTS Master Audio and 2.0 Dolby Digital. Bonus features are identical to the "Saviour of the Universe" DVD - interviews with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and comic book artist/FLASH-fan Alex Ross, the original theatrical trailer and the complete first chapter of the 1936 Flash Gordon movie serial with Buster Crabbe and Charles Middleton. Well, it doesn't include the "teaser" for the abominable short-lived SyFy Flash Gordon television series that was on the '07 DVD, nor the Alex Ross art cards that were included in the DVD, but otherwise, the supplements are the same.

As Flash Gordon is one of my all-time personal favorites (and I don't need to justify myself to you, mister), upgrading to Blu-Ray was pretty much inevitable. If you're a fan of the film and are HD-equipped, you'll probably want to pick it up, too - especially if you don't already own the "Saviour" DVD from three years ago. It's the best home video version of the movie to date.

LOGAN'S RUN (1977) Opening Titles

I've decided, for the time being, not to do my previously announced episode-by-episode review of the Logan's Run television series. When I came up with that idea, I wasn't aware that the series was readily available on iTunes. I may still write about one or two of them in my forthcoming Favorite Episodes feature, though.

For now, though, here's the opening titles. Someone posted in the comments a while back that they thought it had the worst theme music of any genre show - I disagree. I actually rather like it, even if the melody, for some reason, reminds me of John Williams' "Leia's Theme" from Star Wars....

Run Logan, Run

Starting in February, I'm going to start posting episode reviews of the Logan's Run television series from 1977. I have roughly two-thirds of the series here from old VHS recordings, and will be watching and writing up my thoughts on those shows here as a regular feature.

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the TV series and the movie, which I have very clear memories of watching when it aired on network television. I even started to write my own "novelization" of the film, which I abandoned only after I found out there already was a book. Of course, the book was so different from the movie that I was both confused and a little angry.

Nowadays, I have great admiration for the trilogy of novels by William F. Nolan (who I've had the great fortune to correspond with in the past) and George Clayton Johnson (co-writer of the original novel).

Anyway, while I dread the prospect of a new Hollywood remake (which seems to be constantly under discussion), at least that would mean there would be a good chance of getting the TV series released on disc. And I'd like that.

Look for my Logan's Run reviews to begin in a couple weeks.

Space Babe: Heather Menzies

Heather Menzies as Jessica 6 on TV's Logan's Run. Her adventures on the show were strictly Earthbound, but lovely Heather was one of my favorite Space Babes of the 70s. I had trouble actually finding a good, sexy still of Heather as Jessica online, but she was really a very unique beauty and a very appealing heroine - with truly great legs.

She was a child actress who appeared in as a Van Trapp kid in The Sound of Music, and as a young woman, she was a popular TV actress who also starred in a couple of B-movie genre films like Piranha and Sssssss. To me, though, she'll always be Jessica 6 on the short-lived television version of Logan's Run. Of course, part of my affection for Heather may because around the same time she appeared on Logan's Run, I happened to get a look at the pictorial she did for Playboy...

Here's a link to her website.