Planet Earth (TV pilot)

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This article is about the science fiction film. For the BBC documentary, see Planet Earth (TV series).

Planet Earth was a TV pilot that was created by Gene Roddenberry and first aired on April 23, 1974 on ABC, starring John Saxon as Dylan Hunt.

Planet Earth was the second attempt by Roddenberry to create a weekly series set on a post-apocalptic future Earth. The previous pilot was Genesis II, and it featured many of the concepts, characters later redeveloped in Planet Earth. Sets and props from Genesis II also found their way into Planet Earth.

A third and final movie, Strange New World, was aired in 1975. This movie also starred John Saxon. In this movie a trio of astronauts returns to Earth after 180 years in suspended animation.

None of these three pilots was ever developed into a series.

[edit] Plot synopsis

In the year 2133, and on an Earth devastated by a nuclear war decades previous, a team from PAX is conducting a survey of central California. PAX is a scientifically based society dedicated to restoring civilization and peace to the world.

Returning to PAX headquarters, the team are attacked by a group of mutant humans known as the Kreeg. After a struggle, the PAX team manages to escape in a subshuttle, a vehicle that can travel long tubes that connect settlements. One of the team, Kimbridge, is badly wounded and needs a prosthesis to replace his damaged pulmonary artery.

PAX Team 21, lead by Dylan Hunt, heads out to locate a missing doctor, Jonathan Connor, who is the only surgeon who can perform the delicate heart surgery. Their search leads the team to the Confederacy of Ruth, a society of latter-day Amazons, where women are dominant and men are enslaved.

A woman in the PAX group, Harper Smythe, binds Hunt and enters the city. Once there she meets Marg (Diana Muldaur), the leader of the women, who claims Dylan as her own property.

While captive, Hunt learns that the men are subjugated and kept under control by a drug that is put into the food.

Harper finds her way into the women's village where she befriends one of the women. Later, Harper challenges Marg for the ownership of Hunt. Harper defeats Marg and gains respect of the community. She then enlists aid to find Dr. Jonathan Connor.

Dylan and Harper finally meet Doctor Connor and learn he has developed an antidote to the drug.

Meanwhile, the Kreeg are headed to attack the women's community. Harper convinces Marg to trade Connor for Dylan. While leaving, Doctor Connor places the antidote in the food supply. The Kreeg attack the village and are fought off by the help of the males, who have defended the females. The women of the village decide that the drug should no longer be used.

The PAX team returns Dr. Jonathan Connor safely to PAX where he successfully performs the surgery on Pater Kimbridge.

[edit] Trivia

• The plot outline for this episode existed as far back as Roddenberry's original pitch for Star Trek.
• The Kreeg foreheads and craniums sport a ridge that would later be somewhat imitated by the revised Klingon appearance starting in 1979. The Kreeg utilized ancient automobiles but powered by wood-fired engines

[edit] External links

• Planet Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Planet Earth