Logan's Run (TV series)

Logan's Run
Cast of Logan's Run
Created by	William F. Nolan George Clayton Johnson
Starring	Gregory Harrison Heather Menzies Donald Moffat Randy Powell
Music by	Laurence Rosenthal
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	14
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ivan Goff Ben Roberts
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production company(s)	MGM Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Audio format	Mono sound
Original release	September 16, 1977 (1977-09-16) – February 6, 1978 (1978-02-06)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Logan's Run is a 1977–1978 American CBS-TV mini series and a spin-off from the 1976 film of the same name. In the UK, it was shown on the ITV networks on Sunday afternoons.

Cast

• Gregory Harrison as Logan 5
• Heather Menzies as Jessica 6
• Donald Moffat as Rem
• Randy Powell as Francis
• Wright King as Jonathan (three episodes)

Production

The series depicted Logan and Jessica—pursued by Francis (Randolph Powell, billed as "Randy Powell")—traveling in a futuristic hovercraft-like vehicle on a cross-country trek to Sanctuary in a post-apocalyptic America. The domed city was seen only in the pilot and two other episodes, using recycled footage from the film. In a change from the book and film, the television series had the city run by a cabal of elderly citizens; Francis has been promised a life beyond thirty as a city elder if he can bring back the fugitives. Logan and Jessica were joined on their journey by an android named Rem, played by Donald Moffat.

D. C. Fontana served as story editor and worked alongside several other writers from Star Trek as well as one of the original novel's authors. Executive Producers of the TV show were Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, who had created Charlie's Angels. Goff and Roberts also wrote the classic film White Heat as well as Man of a Thousand Faces about make-up legend and actor Lon Chaney.

The pilot episode was written by William F. Nolan, co-author of the original novel, with Saul David, the original producer of the film and the TV series (until he was dismissed), and series producer Leonard Katzman. When the pilot was presented to the network, CBS asked to have part of the pilot re-shot with changes to the plot, including the introduction of a cabal of city elders who secretly ruled over the Domed city.

Goff and Roberts were brought on board by MGM when original producer of the TV show (and producer of the film) Saul David was fired from the project and the pilot episode went through reshoots, rewriting and re-editing prior to being green-lit for production as a series. The line producer for the series was Leonard Katzman.

Fontana commissioned Harlan Ellison to write a treatment for one episode ("The Crypt" which was heavily revised) and David Gerrold to write a teleplay ("Man Out of Time"). Gerrold's script was rewritten by someone else, prompting Gerrold to use his nom de plume "Noah Ward" on the episode, but it remained one of the best received of the series.

The series' main theme song was composed by Laurence Rosenthal and incorporated into episode scores by Jerrold Immel.

Production design

The series used the costume designs for the Sandman uniforms and recycled the guns used in the original film. Mort Rabinowitz worked as the art director on the film assisted by set decorator Linda De Scenna.

Visual effects and props

The TV series was one of the earliest to use computer-generated imagery to create the visual effects used for the series. Roy Hayes Visual Effects did the visuals specific for the series.

Some of the props designed for the movie were reused for the TV series, and the pilot episode featured heavy use of the miniatures and visual effects from the movie.

The hovercraft vehicles used for the film were designed by Dean Jeffries Auto Styling. These vehicles were used in other TV shows after the cancellation of the series, including CHiPs, and were used in movies such as Spaceballs and Ice Pirates. The Ground Car was used in the music video for Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky." The vehicles were also rented out for use in a number of low-budget films.

Episodes

Nº	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Original air date
1	"Logan's Run"	Robert Day	Saul David, Leonard Katzman, William F. Nolan	16 September 1977
90-minute pilot: In the 23rd century, survivors of a nuclear war live in a domed city where they are allowed to stay alive only until age 30. "Runners," who refuse to die in the extermination ceremony known as Carousel, are hunted down and killed by enforcers called Sandmen. Logan is a Sandman who's begun to question the system, and he and a woman named Jessica leave the city to look for a mysterious place called Sanctuary. Along the way they meet an android named Rem, who joins them in their quest. The three of them are being pursued by a Sandman named Francis.
2	"The Collectors"	Alexander Singer	James Schmerer	23 September 1977
Logan and Jessica are abducted by John the Protector and Joanna, aliens from another planet who are manipulating their minds, making them believe that they have found Sanctuary. But they are not alone in their captivity.
3	"Capture"	Irving J. Moore	Michael Edwards	30 September 1977
A hunter named James Borden (Horst Buchholz) and his wife capture the Runners and Francis. Now all of them have to run from the new hunters, who enjoy the chase.
4	"The Innocent"	Michael Preece	Ray Brenner, D. C. Fontana	10 October 1977
Logan, Jessica and Rem encounter a young woman named Lisa, whose parents left her alone with only two robots for company. Lisa has a crush on Logan and plans to get rid of Jessica so she can have him for herself.
5	"Man Out of Time"	Nicholas Colasanto	Noah Ward	17 October 1977
Scientist David Eakins time-travels 200 years into the future, where he encounters Logan, Jessica and Rem. He then plans to change history and prevent the nuclear war, but in the process he could erase the Runner world's existence.
6	"Half Life"	Steven Hilliard Stern	Shimon Wincelberg	31 October 1977
Logan, Jessica and Rem are attacked by two bands of duplicate humans with vastly different temperaments: one group is kind and gentle while the other is violent and vicious. Jessica is captured and split into two different persons with completely opposite temperaments.
7	"The Crypt"	Michael Caffey	Harlan Ellison, Alfred Hayes	7 November 1977
The Runners find an underground room with six selected survivors of the nuclear holocaust, chosen to rebuild civilization, cryogenically preserved. They need a cure for a plague from the past, but there is not enough medicine for all of them.
8	"Fear Factor"	Gerald Mayer	John Sherlock	14 November 1977
The Runners are captured by scientists of an authoritarian, concealed city who plan to use Logan in their experiments, in order to remove all human fears and to create a powerful army.
9	"The Judas Goat"	Paul Krasny	John Meredyth Lucas	19 December 1977
A Sandman has plastic surgery so that he appears identical to one of Jessica's friends, so that he can try to persuade the trio to return to the City to supposedly help other Runners escape to the outside world.
10	"Futurepast"	Michael O'Herlihy	Katharyn Powers	2 January 1978
Logan and Jessica are accidentally put to sleep by a dream analysis machine controlled by a female android named Ariana. Logan dreams he is back in the City of Domes being interrogated by the Sandmen about how he found Sanctuary, and Jessica dreams she is being forced to take part in Carousel.
11	"Carousel"	Irving J. Moore	Richard L. Breen Jr., D. C. Fontana	16 January 1978
Strangers shoot Logan with a dart containing a serum that erases his memory. Francis then takes him back to the City to testify against the Sanctuary and to be terminated via Carousel. Jessica and Rem try to save Logan and retrieve his memory.
12	"Night Visitors"	Paul Krasny	Leonard Katzman	23 January 1978
The Runners stop at a house haunted by spirits from another time. Jessica is captured so that one of the spirits can use her as the receptacle for his dead wife's spirit.
13	"Turnabout"	Paul Krasny	Alfred Hayes, Michael Michaelian	30 January 1978
The Runners are captured by backward desert dwellers and condemned to death. Francis attempts to rescue Logan and Jessica.
14	"Stargate"	Curtis Harrington	Dennis O'Neil	6 February 1978
The Runners encounter aliens from a much hotter planet who need parts from Rem to bring others of their kind to Earth.

Cancellation

The series initially had solid ratings but CBS constantly pre-empted the show which caused the series to lose much of its audience. Only 11 episodes of the series were broadcast on the West Coast during its original run.

DVD release

The complete run of the series was released by Warner Home Video on Region 1 DVD on April 10, 2012.

Originally intended as a DVD-R on demand release, the DVD uses the menu and packaging designed for the DVD-R on demand release planned for 2011. The episodes come from a variety of sources and are of varying quality.

External links

• Logan's Run at IMDb
• The Logan's Run Television Show