A 20th Century man wakes up in 2133, where men are slaves and women rule.A 20th Century man wakes up in 2133, where men are slaves and women rule.A 20th Century man wakes up in 2133, where men are slaves and women rule.
Jo de Winter
- Villar
- (as Johana De Winter)
Corinne Camacho
- Bronta
- (as Corrine Camacho)
Sue Dahlman
- Thetis
- (as Sara Chattin)
Robert Sutton
- Kreeg Captain
- (as Raymond Sutton)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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Featured reviews
Not great, but better than before
With Marc Daniels directing, William Theiss doing costumes, and Bob Justman producing, this is about the Star Trekkiest non-Trek this side of TNG: no less than seven people who directly worked on Star Trek TOS.
Essentially a sequel/revamp of Genesis II, reusing the premise, the bullet-train sets and even the p.o.v. Shot of the zooming tunnel. Ted Cassidy and Majel Barrett return -- Ted as the same character, Majel as slightly different one (though barely seen). Janet Margolin capably replaces Lynne Marta as the plucky Harper-Smythe.
As is usual for these fictional female-dominated societies, there's little logic applied and apparently no research into actual female-dominated societies, so we can forget the "science" part of "science fiction" and just call it fantasy. The good news is that the actresses largely pull it off: Sally Kemp particularly brings a feeling of naturalness to her character Treece, though that may partly owe to the fact that hers is the most realistic role. Diana Muldaur's role is tougher, as she has to embody the dumbest aspect of the plot, but she does it well.
The overall result is adequate. I wouldn't tell anyone to make an effort to see it, but honestly John Saxon makes almost anything look good. Notable non-Roddenberry move: for Muldaur's final scene, they gave her a close-fitting red dress with a neckline that plunged to her navel .... and then only showed her from the side, from a great distance, or from the neck up. Women's lib indeed.
Essentially a sequel/revamp of Genesis II, reusing the premise, the bullet-train sets and even the p.o.v. Shot of the zooming tunnel. Ted Cassidy and Majel Barrett return -- Ted as the same character, Majel as slightly different one (though barely seen). Janet Margolin capably replaces Lynne Marta as the plucky Harper-Smythe.
As is usual for these fictional female-dominated societies, there's little logic applied and apparently no research into actual female-dominated societies, so we can forget the "science" part of "science fiction" and just call it fantasy. The good news is that the actresses largely pull it off: Sally Kemp particularly brings a feeling of naturalness to her character Treece, though that may partly owe to the fact that hers is the most realistic role. Diana Muldaur's role is tougher, as she has to embody the dumbest aspect of the plot, but she does it well.
The overall result is adequate. I wouldn't tell anyone to make an effort to see it, but honestly John Saxon makes almost anything look good. Notable non-Roddenberry move: for Muldaur's final scene, they gave her a close-fitting red dress with a neckline that plunged to her navel .... and then only showed her from the side, from a great distance, or from the neck up. Women's lib indeed.
fun show
PLANET EARTH and GENESIS 2 were fun pilots. PLANET EARTH was set on a earth after a nuclear war yet, was ahead of it's time. It's a shame roddenberry couldn't get a syndication deal like Gerry Anderson of SPACE 1999. Syndication would have helped this show more than network airings.
Weakest of 70's horny Roddenberry phase
It plays kind of like a rejected Star Trek episode, but not one of the better ones but that does give it a bit of nostalgia value. The opening is loaded with voice over narration to explain the whole set up for those who didn't watch Genesis 2 the previous year. The basic idea is the same as one Rod Serling had for a series or show that he never had an ending for, that didn't stop Roddenberry. Of course since this is kind of weak stuff the network actually let Roddenberry have two pilots but it still didn't go to series.
This also shows where some of the "new" ideas for the first Star Trek film came from. The enemy characters have a sort of spine on their bald foreheads like the Klingons soon would have and the main uniforms are sort of the same "Jammies" that the first Star Trek feature featured.
It's poorly structured with characters disappearing for long periods of time and the whole thing stops totally dead during the horny Roddenbery staple which was part of all his things during this period of time. That would be the scene where the man has to prove he's the world's greatest lover to the less experienced woman to save the day. And it takes forever for this section to be over with. It just seems like dirty old man material, kind of leering and juvenile at the same time.
John Saxon does strike some good Kirk poses and it's nice to see Cassidy with a meaty role--he does a couple of impressive stunts during the big brawl ending.
This really feels like the Planet of the Apes series that came shortly after this.
It's perfectly fine this didn't go to series, too bad that far superior Spectre and Questor Tapes didn't even get 2 chances that this one didn't deserve.
This also shows where some of the "new" ideas for the first Star Trek film came from. The enemy characters have a sort of spine on their bald foreheads like the Klingons soon would have and the main uniforms are sort of the same "Jammies" that the first Star Trek feature featured.
It's poorly structured with characters disappearing for long periods of time and the whole thing stops totally dead during the horny Roddenbery staple which was part of all his things during this period of time. That would be the scene where the man has to prove he's the world's greatest lover to the less experienced woman to save the day. And it takes forever for this section to be over with. It just seems like dirty old man material, kind of leering and juvenile at the same time.
John Saxon does strike some good Kirk poses and it's nice to see Cassidy with a meaty role--he does a couple of impressive stunts during the big brawl ending.
This really feels like the Planet of the Apes series that came shortly after this.
It's perfectly fine this didn't go to series, too bad that far superior Spectre and Questor Tapes didn't even get 2 chances that this one didn't deserve.
Passed Over for "Planet of the Apes"
In his book "Star Trek Movie Memories" William Shatner describes Roddenberry's career in the early 70's.
With regards to "Planet Earth", it's stated that the network passed on the series because it was felt that it could only afford 1 expensive science fiction television series.
The other choice was "Planet of the Apes". Because of the franchise success of the "Apes" films, it was felt by network bigwigs that an "Apes" TV series was the better bet and had more of a chance of being a hit.
As it turned out, the "Apes" series tanked after 13 episodes.
Hal
With regards to "Planet Earth", it's stated that the network passed on the series because it was felt that it could only afford 1 expensive science fiction television series.
The other choice was "Planet of the Apes". Because of the franchise success of the "Apes" films, it was felt by network bigwigs that an "Apes" TV series was the better bet and had more of a chance of being a hit.
As it turned out, the "Apes" series tanked after 13 episodes.
Hal
fun Planet Earth facts
Apparently, networks at the time were only comfortable with one sci-fi series at a time.
CBS picked "Planet of the Apes" over Genesis II, and ABC picked "Six Million Dollar Man" over Planet Earth.
The main character in each was Dylan Hunt, though they were played by different actors. This is interesting because when Roddenberry made the second Star Trek pilot, he gave the new lead actor a new name. (Capt. Pike became Capt. Kirk)
The name Dylan Hunt would be used in Andromeda, which was an outer space version of Planet Earth, which in turn was a land-based version of Star Trek.
The script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was based on an unused Planet Earth script. In fact, several of the first season episodes of ST: TNG were written for either the unrealized new Star Trek series in the 70s, or Planet Earth,
Roddenberry believed in recycling.
CBS picked "Planet of the Apes" over Genesis II, and ABC picked "Six Million Dollar Man" over Planet Earth.
The main character in each was Dylan Hunt, though they were played by different actors. This is interesting because when Roddenberry made the second Star Trek pilot, he gave the new lead actor a new name. (Capt. Pike became Capt. Kirk)
The name Dylan Hunt would be used in Andromeda, which was an outer space version of Planet Earth, which in turn was a land-based version of Star Trek.
The script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was based on an unused Planet Earth script. In fact, several of the first season episodes of ST: TNG were written for either the unrealized new Star Trek series in the 70s, or Planet Earth,
Roddenberry believed in recycling.
Did you know
- TriviaThe outdoor scenes were filmed at The University of California, Riverside due to the many "futuristic" architectural features.
- ConnectionsFollows Genesis II (1973)
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