Pilot script for the TAS that (thankfully) never was...

[UnknownSample]

You can do intelligent shows for kids which don't talk down to them, but we hardly ever see it. I remember feeling insulted by most of it, when I was a kid. Very early Lost in Space did a good job. I'm thinking of one where Penny's "imaginary friend" turns out to be a friendly stranded alien. Not silly, not lightweight.

 

[Christopher]

You can do intelligent shows for kids which don't talk down to them, but we hardly ever see it.

We actually see it a lot these days, from Batman: The Animated Series and Gargoyles in the '90s to the Avatar franchise, Young Justice, and the Star Wars animated shows more recently. Even My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is pretty smart and well-done, which is why it has so many adult fans. Heck, I'm currently watching Netflix's new Voltron: Legendary Defender series from some of the Avatar/Korra creative team, and it's pretty good -- and I say that as someone who never really liked Voltron before. There are lots of very talented people working in kids' television. (Although, granted, sponsors have increasingly forced kid-oriented networks like Cartoon Network and Disney XD to focus narrowly on shows aimed at preteen boys, so more sophisticated or gender-balanced fare tends to be thinner on the ground these days than it was.)

 

[Galileo7]

I think Escape from... is the second-best film of the original five (the first film is the best, of course). Sure, the setup makes no sense at all, but it's a good satire.

Agree. Escape From The POTA(1971) and POTA(1968) are the best of the original.

Yeah, sure, if you squint and ignore a few details. Which is necessary for buying the conceit that the films fit together at all. (Seriously, how the hell did Cornelius and Zira get Brent's space capsule launched without an industrial civilization to build the launch stages, gantry, mission control center, fuel refineries, etc. and without the thousands of skilled and educated people necessary to create and operate them all?)

In Escape From The POTA(1971) it was actually stated as being Taylor's spaceship [which had sunk in the lake], not Brent's spaceship that had crashed on land. More crazy, how did Cornelius and Zira get Taylor's spaceship from the bottom of the lake?

 

[Maurice]

More crazy, how did Cornelius and Zira get Taylor's spaceship from the bottom of the lake?

They did it by hoping the audience had forgotten where the ship crashed.

 

[Marsden]

Agree. Escape From The POTA(1971) and POTA(1968) are the best of the original.


In Escape From The POTA(1971) it was actually stated as being Taylor's spaceship [which had sunk in the lake], not Brent's spaceship that had crashed on land. More crazy, how did Cornelius and Zira get Taylor's spaceship from the bottom of the lake?

Drought caused the lake to dry up. It's not that ridiculous an idea, especially considering 3 chimpanzees piloted it back through time, the lake being dry is easy.

 

[Christopher]

Drought caused the lake to dry up. It's not that ridiculous and idea, especially considering 3 chimpanzees piloted it back through time, the lake being dry is easy.

Still doesn't explain how a preindustrial society managed to launch it into orbit. The capsule in the original movie is pretty clearly just a re-entry vehicle with little in the way of engines, probably just the nose cone of a larger craft; it would have to be launched by a Saturn-like rocket to get out of Earth's intense gravity well, and the apes didn't have anything more advanced than a horse-drawn carriage. It's the most ridiculous retcon in a film series loaded with retcons.

 

[Marsden]

Still doesn't explain how a preindustrial society managed to launch it into orbit. The capsule in the original movie is pretty clearly just a re-entry vehicle with little in the way of engines, probably just the nose cone of a larger craft; it would have to be launched by a Saturn-like rocket to get out of Earth's intense gravity well, and the apes didn't have anything more advanced than a horse-drawn carriage. It's the most ridiculous retcon in a film series loaded with retcons.

Ok. They used one of the underground mutant's missiles.

Dr. Milo was just that good.

 

[Christopher]

Ok. They used one of the underground mutant's missiles.

I thought they only had the one.

 

[Marsden]

I thought they only had the one.

But, the other underdwellers had some without warheads. They just had the one with the big bomb on display.

 

[Galileo7]

I thought they only had the one.

Yes, there was only one Alpha Omega bomb as seen in Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. There even was a deleted scene filmed in Battle For The Planet Of The Apes [which takes place before BeneathPOTA] in which that same Alpha Omega bomb was to be transported to New York where it ultimately was seen in the future Beneath The Planet Of The Apes.

excellent POTA site:
http://www.goingfaster.com/icarus/tableofcontents.html
http://www.goingfaster.com/icarus/timeline.html

 

[Doctor Clu]

Just really glad the chibi version of Star Trek never happened.

Besides, we know what REALLY happened. Filmation said "Well, how can we cut costs? We have all these Star Trek actors and actresses we have to pay, PLUS we have all these kid actors we'll have to pay. So let's just get stand-ins for the Trek actors since they cost so much money... (someone whispers in the execs ear) ... ok, that idea probably would fail. Fine, keep the Trek actors, loose the kids, and loose the Russian...."

 

[Christopher]

Besides, we know what REALLY happened. Filmation said "Well, how can we cut costs? We have all these Star Trek actors and actresses we have to pay, PLUS we have all these kid actors we'll have to pay. So let's just get stand-ins for the Trek actors since they cost so much money... (someone whispers in the execs ear) ... ok, that idea probably would fail. Fine, keep the Trek actors, loose the kids, and loose the Russian...."

No. As I've said before, the cadet-crew idea was years earlier, developed while TOS was still on the air as a companion piece and complement to it. By the time they finally made TAS, the show had been off the air for several years, so their goal was to do a faithful revival instead.

 

[Maurice]

Drought caused the lake to dry up. It's not that ridiculous an idea, especially considering 3 chimpanzees piloted it back through time, the lake being dry is easy.

Given the size of that lake, it's preposterous. It would take decades, if not a century.

 

[Maurice]

Just really glad the chibi version of Star Trek never happened.

Besides, we know what REALLY happened. Filmation said "Well, how can we cut costs? We have all these Star Trek actors and actresses we have to pay, PLUS we have all these kid actors we'll have to pay. So let's just get stand-ins for the Trek actors since they cost so much money... (someone whispers in the execs ear) ... ok, that idea probably would fail. Fine, keep the Trek actors, loose the kids, and loose the Russian...."

Supposedly they weren't going to hire Nichols and Takei, either, until Nimoy intervened.

 

[Redfern]

With the junior cadets taking center stage in this proposal, suddenly I have the absurd mental image of M'Ress serving as the gang's quasi talking team mascot, ala Scooby Doo. (Yeah, I know the timing would have been off. As I stated, just an absurd thought.)