Logan's Run: The Complete Series

Logan's Run was a very short lived series, only 14 episodes were created before the series was cancelled. It was loosely based on the hit movie, but with some significant differences. The movie was a bit of an oddity too, but it had a rather indefinite ending. Logan's Run deals with a post nuclear war society kept prisoner in a multi-domed city. It was a completely hedonistic society, which was emphasized much more completely in the movie version, but was undoubtedly toned down for the censored TV of the 70s. No doubt it was created for the golden "family hour" that was popular with the networks at the time in a failed effort to create shows that were appropriate for the entire family (read lacking sexual/adult content). The down side to living in the City of Domes was that people were promised a reincarnation at the age of 30, but were really be put to death in a colorful ritual call "carousel" when they reached that age. It was never fully explained why this was so--whether it was for population control or some other reason; but it was forbidden for anyone to visit the outside world and whatever the original plan was had been long since lost or corrupted. We might assume that they were being kept in the city until a day where the surface of the Earth was more habitable for human being, but if that was the case the mission was completely lost (in the movie version it appears faulty computers were to blame). To prevent people from leaving the city executioners called Sandmen were employed to annihilate people who wouldnt go to carousel or those trying to escape. Logan's Run deals with Logan (a Sandman who questioned the order of things) and Jessica, who didn't to become incinerated at 30, and became runners who manage to escape together. In the ruins of Washington DC they find an old solar hovercraft and set off to find "Sanctuary", a place said to be where people could live beyond 30 in safety; but no one knew where it was. Along the way they pick up a clever and witty android name Rem. I watched the show as a teenager, but wasn't able to keep up with it due to changing time slots and other conflicts--which was what undoubtedly lead to it's demise. I don't think that it was deliberately campy, it was just the style of those types of series in those days--like the original Battlestar Galactica series. It was definitely better than the later Buck Rogers series, which had better effects but poor writing. This was not a lame show, on what appeared to be a very limited budget it attempted to be a decent science fiction show. Deeply involved was DC Fontana who was a major writer and consultant for the original Star Trek series. They had some decent and known science fiction writers do stories for them. The exploration of a post apocalyptic USA was intriguing, although there were some continuity problems if one looked deeply enough, for the most part the stories were well written. I believe Rem was Ms.Fontana's attempt to add a Spock-like character to the mix and made a good addition to the show's cast. Like Spock he was highly analytical and had capabilities beyond that of human beings. There were some well know TV actors who played guest spots as well as some who had been in other science fiction shows. There is no attempt at restoration on this series, the episodes are "as-is" and there is not bonus materials or extras of any kind, which is a shame because I think that this much overlooked show deserved a little better treatment even if they just dug up some archival materials about it. Shows like NIght Gallery and Time Tunnel got much kinder treatment for their DVD releases. I hope that future releases rectify this oversight. I highly recommend the series to those who liked the movie if they can overlook the somewhat rudimentary special effects and mat paintings, because the story deserves a 2nd look. I think Logan's Run is ripe for a update like was done with Battlestar Galactica and V, perhaps if enough people buy the DVDs the studios will give it some thought.

I was 17 when this show was on TV and didnt watch it. I was to busy being 17 and going to Rocky Horror on Fri nights. I am now a big fan of the show. I have always been a fan of the movie. This show, like other great sci fi shows of the 70's and 80's "Planet of the Apes", "Battle Star", "Quark", "V" , "Starman" , "Alien Nation.", "The Man from Atlantis", "Shazam", "The Powers of Matthew Starr" and "Voyagers" didnt get a chance to grow and were cancelled far to soon. This show might be cheesy and cheap, but for it's time it had great stories. Most of all near the end when they did stories that centered around cults and religion, " Night Visitors" and "Turnabout." I also like that they allowed Francis to do some fancy sword play " star wars style" in the episode "Turnabout". I liked Francis and thought he should have been used more often. The old friendship between Logan and Francis should have been developed more. I see Rem as a forfather of Data in Star Trek Next Gen. At least Rem didnt get on my nerves like Data. I often wished someone would just pull the plug on Data for a whole episode. I am glad they are releasing the old sci fi shows on DVD. The quality of the DVDs are fine. It is to bad there are no extras. You'd think they could at least get in a few interviews or info about the production. Seems like they are doing these shows on the cheap. The same with "The Man from Atlantis." no extras. I would like to see the following on DVD. "Otherworld". "Manimal". "Salvage 1". "The Immortal" . "Tucker's Witch". "The Charmings." "Batman. 60's " (Why is Batman not out?) "Holmes and Yoyo". And stop leaving us hanging on the rest of "Superboy" and please release all of "Rocky Jones Space Ranger." And dont get me started on the great Western TV shows that are not on DVD. They release crappy reality shows on DVD and not shows like "How the West was Won" or "The Quest". Go figure.

The DVD was intact, good quality, an old late seventies SCI FI show that brings back a lot of memories, I enjoyed it even though the stories are not as gripping as I remembered them

La série compléte excellent !!!!

E' un telefilm che non ha avuto un grande successo, ma che rivedendolo si fa ancora apprezzare. Raccomandato agli amanti della fantascienza.

Very hard to find but so much worth the wait.

Yes, that's what REM stands for! Adapted from Michael Anderson's 1976 movie, based on the 1968 novel by William F Nolan and George Clayton Johnson It's the year 2319 and the survivors of the nuclear war 200 years earlier are scattered all over the world having evolved into wildly different societies, largely unaware of each others' existence. One of these societies is the City Of Domes where life is unending bliss and pleasure - until your 30th birthday when you have to enter the quasi-religious ritual of Carousel to be reborn into a new life-cycle. But Carousel is actually an exterminating machine, and those who suspect the truth become runners, fleeing from the system and hunted by elite policeman called Sandmen whose job is to terminate, or kill, runners. Logan is a Sandman, partnered by Francis. Jessica is a member of an underground movement that helps runners. Logan has been having doubts himself and finds himself on the run with Jessica and an android called Rem. They are now hunted by Francis, who also knows the truth and has been promised a life beyond 30 and a seat on the Council of Elders, by the elderly men who secretly run the City behind the scenes, if he brings them back for brainwashing to testify in favour of Carousel and against running. Logan, Jessica and Rem discover strange new societies as they explore the world outside the Domes and try to keep one step ahead of Francis. Objectively, this series is no lost masterpiece due for re-evaluation. It's actually a pretty tame, sanitized reworking of a much better movie which nevertheless itself threw away most of the source novel's original ideas in favour of SF cliches. But as nostalgia for Seventies Sunday afternoons, it is priceless magic. And it's not all bad. Man Out Of Time fills in the details of how Logan's world came to be, a time paradox story with a bitter sting in the tail. The Judas Goat has a Sandman altered to resemble a runner known to Jessica, in order to trick the runners into going back to the City Of Domes, plus their meeting with the first ever runner, Matthew 12. This too has a number of surprises and a fittingly ironic ending. Captured shows Logan and Francis operating as a team, as they must have done before Logan ran. The main problem seems to have been the producers' desire to aim the series at family audiences - the fundamentally dark concept of a society where citizens have to die at 30 (or 21 in the novel) is at odds with this approach. Perhaps if it had lasted a little longer, this might have been addressed. Still, for all it's faults, there's much to enjoy here - Donald Moffatt brings a dignity and - ironically - a humanity to Rem the android, a character created for the TV series, who could have been simply embarassing in the hands of a lesser actor. And male viewers will certainly appreciate Heather Menzies' skimpy little minidress!