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| The Fantastic Journey | |
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| Genre | Science fiction |
| Created by | Bruce Lansbury |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Bruce Lansbury |
| Producer | Leonard Katzman |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
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| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | February 3 (1977-02-03) – June 16, 1977 (1977-06-16) |
The Fantastic Journey is an American science fiction television series that was originally aired on NBC from February 3 through June 16, 1977. It was originally intended to run 13 episodes, as a mid-season replacement, but NBC cancelled the series in April, after the ninth episode aired. A tenth episode, already produced, was burned off two months later.
The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the Caribbean for a scientific expedition. In the Bermuda Triangle, after encountering a glowing green cloud, accompanied by the eerie disembodied sound of ship's bells, the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they cannot escape.
They encounter Varian (Jared Martin), initially disguised as an Arawak native, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230. A 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer, Varian explains to the travelers that, like he and many before them, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of "Time Zones". The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland", which lies "far to the rising sun". (It was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island.) The only way to travel between Time Zones is via invisible gateways that instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode, "Beyond the Mountain", the group also encounters a second cloud, which has much the same effect, but which also splits up the group.
After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many Time Zones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways.
The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored. The series, though, soon adopted a consistently futuristic style during the series following pressure from the network. Three characters after the pilot were also dropped, as they wanted a more exotic group of travelers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappeared from the last two episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill.
D. C. Fontana recalled that once the show had been commissioned, she and the producers had a very short period of time to develop and produce the show before filming commenced. Additional footage was shot and inserted into the pilot, introducing the Atlanteans, who are the focus of Episode 2. The addition of these scenes resulted in quickly moving off-screen the characters of Paul, Eve and Jill. They were originally intended to be regulars, but the network wanted a more diverse set of travelers. A subplot involving the group finding an Air Force pilot from the 1940s, held prisoner by 16th-century pirates, was removed from the first episode as well.
The character of Willoway was created with McDowall specifically in mind. The actor was interested, and took the role when it was offered.
The show benefited from more location filming than usual, with familiar sites such as the Hollywood Hills, Zuma Beach, the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, and Griffith Observatory appearing in various episodes.
Although it aired in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs and fantasy was at a height, the show failed to find success. It was originally scheduled opposite The Waltons and Welcome Back, Kotter, both very popular family series, as a midseason replacement for another failed fantasy show in that time slot, Gemini Man. NBC would repeatedly preempt and move the series before finally giving up on it, after only ten of the twelve episodes that the network had ordered to follow the revised pilot had been produced. The script for an eleventh episode, "Romulus", was once available on the Internet.[2]
Within a few months of the abrupt end of production, several of the team that worked on the series would be producing the thematically similar Logan's Run for the 1977–1978 television season.
| No. | Title [3][4] | Original air date [4] | |
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| 1 | "Atlantium" ""Vortex" | February 3, 1977 (1977-02-03) | |
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A party of scientists disappears into the Bermuda Triangle and becomes trapped on an island where past, present and future co-exist. After meeting 23rd century healer Varian and encountering 16th century privateers, the survivors begin their quest to return to their own time. All the while, they are being observed by a mysterious man from a futuristic city in the desert.
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| 2 | "Atlantium (Part 2)" | February 10, 1977 (1977-02-10) | |
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With many of the original party returned to their own time, Varian, Scott and Fred find themselves caught up in the machinations of a megalomaniacal "brain in a box" called The Source, which has enslaved the inhabitants of the city of Atlantium (actually the Westin Bonaventure HotelinLos Angeles), built by the survivors of the original Atlantis and intends to use Scott's life force to regenerate itself. The trio are aided by dissident Atlantean, Liana, who reveals that she is half alien.
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| 3 | "Beyond the Mountain" | February 17, 1977 (1977-02-17) | |
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The travelers are separated by a red cloud which leaves Liana as the 'guest' of Jonathan Willoway, who is the master of a utopian community of golden-garbed androids, and the others trapped in a dark swamp surrounded by shaggy, green-skinned humanoids. However, Willoway's intentions are less than honorable and he has no intention of letting Liana leave, while Fred's medical skills prove invaluable in discovering the truth.[5]
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| 4 | "Children of the Gods" | February 24, 1977 (1977-02-24) | |
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The travelers arrive in a new Time Zone and meet a young boy who has escaped from a community inhabited solely by children led by the bullying teenager Alpha.
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| 5 | "A Dream of Conquest" | March 10, 1977 (1977-03-10) | |
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An alien dictator, Tarant, is planning to invade other Time Zones and conquer the island. Willoway pretends to agree with him so that he can learn Tarant's secrets, especially as the true leader of this alien community is being slowly poisoned by the would-be dictator. Meanwhile, Liana takes pity on an abused furry creature called the Nefring. | |||
| 6 | "An Act of Love" | March 24, 1977 (1977-03-24) | |
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Varian, under the influence of a love drug, meets a woman named Gwenith from a religious community in a geologically unstable Time Zone. His judgment impaired, Varian decides to leave the travelers to stay and marry her. He soon discovers that the community fanatically worships a volcano god called Vatticus, who demands human sacrifices.
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| 7 | "Funhouse" | March 31, 1977 (1977-03-31) | |
| 8 | "Turnabout" | April 7, 1977 (1977-04-07) | |
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The travelers encounter a city where the women are subservient to brutish male authority. The women mutiny and imprison the male travelers in a strange black void, and Liana appears to join their cause. | |||
| 9 | "Riddles" | April 21, 1977 (1977-04-21) | |
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Guided to an old house by a mysterious mounted messenger, the travelers – minus Liana – quest for an object that will assist their search for Evoland, and a strange couple conjures illusions drawn from their deepest fears. | |||
| 10 | "The Innocent Prey" | June 16, 1977 (1977-06-16) | |
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A prison craft from Earth's future crash lands in the Time Zone where the travelers are resting, releasing two prisoners, a convicted murderer and a thief, into a community of stranded humanoid aliens that does not comprehend violence or the concept of doors and locks. With a killer on the loose scheming to abscond with an orb that gives the aliens psychokinetic powers, Varian and the others must deal with him and protect the pacifists. Guest stars: Lew Ayres, Cheryl Ladd, Richard Jaeckel, Nicholas Hammond, and Gerald McRaney Note: The opening of this episode uses flying saucer footage from the opening of the 1967 series The Invaders as the saucer approaches Earth.[6] | |||
