SPACE FORCE {PILOT FOR UNPRODUCED SERIES} (TV)
Summary
The pilot episode in this unproduced comedy/science fiction series about a semi-inept military outfit operating in outer space.
In this episode, Captain Leon Stoner is exasperated to find that crew member Berkowitz has gone missing, and his other officers, including Private Arnold Fleck, are once again using D.O.R.C., their all-knowing, German-accented computer, for unrelated personal business. Captain Robert Milford nervously admits to Sergeant Eve Bailey that Captain Thomas Woods and alien Lieutenant Kabar have been selling unauthorized military gear and joyrides to civilians, and Stoner, as yet unaware of the scheme, bursts in and chastises the team when they respond too slowly to his emergency drill.
Dimwitted Commander Irving Hinkley laments that a rival officer has received a prestigious humanitarian award, and Stoner, enamored with Bailey, is annoyed to find that she has "a little thing going" with Woods. War Minister Dalan then contacts the ship and announces that he has kidnapped Berkowitz and intends to execute him. Stoner independently decides to attack Dalan's planet, Algon, though D.O.R.C. opposes the plan. Woods begs for time to attempt a non-violent rescue, and D.O.R.C. manages to obtain Berkowitz's coordinates by "flirting" with another computer system. As Stoner learns of Woods' extracurricular activities, "fruitcake" Fleck is tasked with repairing the damaged translocator device, and he manages to beam a confused Berkowitz safely back onto the ship. Stoner sends Woods to the brig for his insubordination, but Woods swears that his illegal sales are being used to rebuild a children's hospital on another planet; he quickly gives an oblivious Hinkley "credit" for the idea, thus making him a beloved humanitarian, just as he wished. Commercials deleted.
(Willard would go on to appear on the similar 2020 Netflix comedy series "Space Force," making it his final filmed role before his death on May 15, 2020.)
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: March 30, 1977 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:25:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:11394
- GENRE: Comedy, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy, fantasy/science fiction; Space exploration; Space aliens
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1978
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- John Boni … Producer, Created by, Writer
- Norman Stiles … Producer, Created by, Writer
- Peter Baldwin … Director
- Artie Butler … Music by
- Fred Willard … Cast, Captain Thomas Woods
- Jim Boyd … Cast, Captain Leon Stoner
- Hilly Hicks … Cast, Captain Robert Milford
- William Phipps … Cast, Commander Irving Hinkley
- Larry Block … Cast, Private Arnold Fleck
- Maureen Mooney … Cast, Sergeant Eve Bailey
- Joe Medalis … Cast, Lieutenant Kabar
- Zitto Kazann … Cast, War Minister Dalan
- Billy Braver … Cast, Berkowitz
- Richard Paul … Cast, The Voice of D.O.R.C.
- Patricia Noble … Cast, The Voice of Merivac
- Deborah Harmon … Cast, Ship's Crier