Earth II (TV series pilot)
Encyclopedia
Earth II was a 1971 pilot, aired November 28, for a television series about a colony established in orbit around the Earth. It starred Gary Lockwood
, Anthony Franciosa
, Lew Ayres
and Mariette Hartley
.
" agent is killed in the water nearby before he can sabotage the rocket launch.
The president (Lew Ayres) of the United States
announces that the three men and their ship will be the nucleus of a new nation, and asks Americans to turn their lights on that night to show support for the project. The astronauts take photos of the Earth's surface as they orbit, to be processed later to determine the level of public support for the idea. The results indicate widespread support for a new nation in outer space.
The movie skips ahead several years to show a shuttle approaching a space station
, a huge, rotating city known as Earth II, with technology at its disposal that makes it fairly easy to maneuver around the city and supply it. There is a family aboard the shuttle — Frank, Lisa and Matt Karger — who are new immigrants to the colony of many national origins.
Shortly after arrival, Earth II's administrators, including David Seville (Lockwood), become aware of a warhead in orbit that comes close to Earth II every few hours. The warhead was launched by the People's Republic of China. Earth II requests a meeting with PRC representatives through the UN
(of which Earth II is a member nation) when the PRC refuses to remove the weapon and threatens to detonate it if it is tampered with.
Earth II has a direct democracy process known as a "D&D" - Debate and Decision. The newly arrived Frank Karger (Franciosa) initiates a D&D to decide on dealing with the warhead directly. After some of the citizens, including Russian emigre Ilyana Kovalefskii (Inga Swenson) make their statements, the vote is to act. Two men, including Ilyana's husband Anton (Edward Bell) go out in a tug to deactivate the warhead, but Anton is electrocuted when the Chinese activate the weapon. The weapon does not explode because Kovalefskii had already cut several wires in the arming device. The tug operator rescues the technician, secures the bomb and brings both back to Earth II. Ilyana is told that Anton will be disabled for life as a result of his injuries unless surgery is attempted. Ilyana approves the surgery.
Meanwhile, Lisa Karger (Hartley) doesn't want the bomb aboard, and is alarmed at Frank's intent to initiate a D&D on Earth II becoming a nuclear power. When someone tells her one way to dispose of the bomb is to fire it at the sun, she blows the hatch cover on the holding bay, waits for the sun to come into the view, and launches the bomb at it. The Earth's gravitational pull is greater however, and the bomb falls toward the Earth and will detonate over the Great Lakes region.
The tug operator retrieves it, but not before the warhead's casing disintegrates in the Earth's atmosphere. The bomb is brought back and put into the same holding bay, and station rotation is slowed as much as possible while a crew works to permanently deactivate the bomb. The city is still rotating enough to bring the sun into view and the temperature is rising, threatening to melt safeties and detonate the bomb, so a tug goes out and puts its nose against one of the main struts of the city and fires its engines to stop rotation altogether.
The disarming is completed, the rotation of the city is restarted, Karger reverses his decision regarding Earth II's nuclear weapons status, and the bomb is launched toward the sun.
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
, Anthony Franciosa
Anthony Franciosa
Anthony Franciosa was an American actor, usually billed as Tony Franciosa during the height of his career.-Early life:...
, Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
and Mariette Hartley
Mariette Hartley
Mary Loretta "Mariette" Hartley is an American character actress.-Personal life:Hartley was born in Weston, Connecticut, the daughter of Mary Ickes “Polly” , a manager and saleswoman, and Paul Hembree Hartley, an account executive. Her maternal grandfather was psychologist John B...
.
Story outline
Three men are launched from Cape Kennedy in a typical Apollo style launch; a "Red ChinesePeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
" agent is killed in the water nearby before he can sabotage the rocket launch.
The president (Lew Ayres) of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
announces that the three men and their ship will be the nucleus of a new nation, and asks Americans to turn their lights on that night to show support for the project. The astronauts take photos of the Earth's surface as they orbit, to be processed later to determine the level of public support for the idea. The results indicate widespread support for a new nation in outer space.
The movie skips ahead several years to show a shuttle approaching a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
, a huge, rotating city known as Earth II, with technology at its disposal that makes it fairly easy to maneuver around the city and supply it. There is a family aboard the shuttle — Frank, Lisa and Matt Karger — who are new immigrants to the colony of many national origins.
Shortly after arrival, Earth II's administrators, including David Seville (Lockwood), become aware of a warhead in orbit that comes close to Earth II every few hours. The warhead was launched by the People's Republic of China. Earth II requests a meeting with PRC representatives through the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(of which Earth II is a member nation) when the PRC refuses to remove the weapon and threatens to detonate it if it is tampered with.
Earth II has a direct democracy process known as a "D&D" - Debate and Decision. The newly arrived Frank Karger (Franciosa) initiates a D&D to decide on dealing with the warhead directly. After some of the citizens, including Russian emigre Ilyana Kovalefskii (Inga Swenson) make their statements, the vote is to act. Two men, including Ilyana's husband Anton (Edward Bell) go out in a tug to deactivate the warhead, but Anton is electrocuted when the Chinese activate the weapon. The weapon does not explode because Kovalefskii had already cut several wires in the arming device. The tug operator rescues the technician, secures the bomb and brings both back to Earth II. Ilyana is told that Anton will be disabled for life as a result of his injuries unless surgery is attempted. Ilyana approves the surgery.
Meanwhile, Lisa Karger (Hartley) doesn't want the bomb aboard, and is alarmed at Frank's intent to initiate a D&D on Earth II becoming a nuclear power. When someone tells her one way to dispose of the bomb is to fire it at the sun, she blows the hatch cover on the holding bay, waits for the sun to come into the view, and launches the bomb at it. The Earth's gravitational pull is greater however, and the bomb falls toward the Earth and will detonate over the Great Lakes region.
The tug operator retrieves it, but not before the warhead's casing disintegrates in the Earth's atmosphere. The bomb is brought back and put into the same holding bay, and station rotation is slowed as much as possible while a crew works to permanently deactivate the bomb. The city is still rotating enough to bring the sun into view and the temperature is rising, threatening to melt safeties and detonate the bomb, so a tug goes out and puts its nose against one of the main struts of the city and fires its engines to stop rotation altogether.
The disarming is completed, the rotation of the city is restarted, Karger reverses his decision regarding Earth II's nuclear weapons status, and the bomb is launched toward the sun.