Planet Earth

Yet another of Gene Roddenberry's post-'Star Trek' attempts at a series, 'Planet Earth' is generally agreeable entertainment, although nothing special. It gets most of its juice from its digs at sexual politics. Obviously low-budget, it doesn't feature much in the way of futuristic environments, or costumes, or special effects. It is definitely fun in a cheesy, well-meaning sort of way, and it does NOT skimp on sex appeal, with appropriate eye candy for men and women alike.

The almighty John Saxon stars as Dylan Hunt, a man who went into suspended animation in 1979, and was awakened in the 22nd century. Now, a post-"conflict" Earth is divided into societies both advanced and primitive. One such society is matriarchal in nature, with all the males kept drugged up and submissive. The virile, studly Hunt is considered good breeding stock by these women. One lady in particular, Marg (Diana Muldaur, who went on to a role on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' the following decade), is especially taken with Hunt.

A rich cast of familiar faces (Janet Margolin, Ted Cassidy, Christopher Cary, Majel Barrett, Jim Antonio, John Quade) helps to make this easy enough to watch, even though it's just as easy to forget. One good thing about TV movies from this era is their brief running times, so there's less chance of them wearing out their welcome. 'Planet Earth' is adequately paced, but its real strongest suit is its sense of humour. As I already said, some of the cast members are very attractive, so that helps as well; Muldaur is quite striking as the leader of these women.

One thing this viewer liked was the idea that all major population centres on Earth are connected by these underground tunnels, through which Hunt and others travel as if they were subways.

Six out of 10.

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.

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.

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.

This movie was pretty awesome, with great acting(especially by Ted Cassidy and Diana Muldaur), decent special effects, and a good story. Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry, his friend Robert H. Justman, and Star Trek legend director Marc Daniels wove this tv-movie really well. It's available for rent and if you are a sci-fi fan, rent this. I guarantee you you'll like it!