Fantastic Journey!

The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the Caribbean for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle with an unnatural green cloud the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape.
They encounter Varian (Jared Martin), initially disguised as an Arawak Indian, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230; a 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer. Varian explains to the travelers that, like many before them including himself, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of timezones. The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland" which lies "far to the rising sun" (it was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island itself). The only way to travel between timezones is via invisible gateways which instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode "Beyond The Mountain" the group also encounters a second cloud which has much the same effect, but which also splits the group up.
After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many timezones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored; however, the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series following pressure from the network. They also dropped three characters after the pilot as they wanted a more exotic group of travellers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappears from the last 2 episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill.
Although airing in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs and fantasy was at a height, the show Varian (Jared Martin)"A man from the 23rd century possessing awesome powers". Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline 'tuning fork' device named the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device, is completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device. Following the departure of Professor Paul Jordan at the end of the pilot film, Varian takes over as de facto leader to the travellers and adopts a parental role over Paul's teenage son, Scott (most notable in episodes such as "An Act of Love" and "Turnabout").Scott Jordan (Ike Eisenmann)"The 13-year-old son of a famous scientist". Scott has an excellent knowledge of Earth history and events, but is still young and has a lot to learn.Dr. Fred Walters (Carl Franklin)"A young doctor just out of medical school"Lianna (Katie Saylor)
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Despite being canceled after only ten episodes. the producers decided to give the series a full 22 episode in the fall of 1978.
 
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Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline 'tuning fork' device named the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device, is completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device.

Well, that's certainly original. :rolleyes:
 
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Ike Eisenman would go on to do three star trek films in the 80, playing James Doohans

Nephew but in the summer of 78, eisenman was doing witch mountain. And quickly moved on from his f.j experience. I thought Eisenman told me as I interviewed him at world con 08. this would be ten episodes and that’s it.I had no clue this would turn into a hit series loved by sci fi fans around the world.I like the fantastic journey comics put out by Gil Kane and Bill mantlo. The series may have had some clunkers but we were ahead of other 70s series like battle star galactica.
I could have won an award for best supporting actor in Cleopatra but the studio made an error and disqualified me. I never became bitter. As a child star I was used to disappointment. After the ape films which I dearly loved there was legend of hell house a film, like planet of the apes I loved. I felt my career in TV. Was going nowhere and film would be my future. F>J got surprisingly better as time went along. I am glad n...B.C. took a chance and went beyond the ten episodes in the fall of 1978.
Roddy McDowall starlog interview April 1988
Jared martin had fond memories of working with Roddy McDowall, in 1989 the former apes star guest stared on martin’s next series war of the worlds. “roddy” martin looked a sad reminiscing with his old f.j star, it was clear to me AS I interviewed him the f.j cast was close like a family.roddy good old roddy McDowall was always telling jokes ,telling stories, one minute he would tell me about the day he first met buster Keaton. He tells me a story of some film buster made in 1924. Then he tell me a story about Elizabeth Taylor and a fight she had on the set of Cleopatra with her soon to be husband richard burton. You know star trek’s D.C. Fontana wrote the scripts and my character being like Spock, a 23rd future man with no emotions, they would do scenes with doctor willoway where willoway would try to atangonise Varian. However, in real life roddy and I were the best of friends.
Mr.

Martin, who never stopped giving autographs to fans while I interviewed him, later on, he would gave me a free autograph.without me asking for one.I was surprised to speak to the next guest, Eiseman and Jared martin retired from show business. Carl Franklyn was very busy. He had directed all three black panther films the first one in 2004.he was thirty years older then the version of himself in the f.j series but there was a since of playfulness in him as he joked with fans , he sports a bald head. He turned down offer of being caption in star trek the next generation. After he sat down next to him. I ask him what he remembered of f.j.
Well.

You know in the 70s you had runoff the mil shows like ships, starsky and hutch and you had outright sci fi failures like space 199.franklyne laughs. Years before Obama became president; we had a story about America having its first black president... years before we had our first president impeached, Franklyn laughs we did a story about that too. But I want to talk about f.j not politics and I know you do too. When we had the villains the mechanical man, people wrote to starlog saying were ripping off the doctor who the

daleks, well t.n.g had the Borg we all copied a little.whats original in Hollywood Franklyn said to me.
I was surprised Mr. Franklyn spoke with such candor, Katie Saylor who rarely gave interviews and only made a few appearances in TV. playing the lead role in beauty and the beast and the lead in terminator 2.
I asked Katie what was the aspect of f.j she remembered the most.

I think it made shows like sliders more accessible to the viewing public, in out third season and our fourth season. We started doing alternative history stories, I think there would be no alternative history show on sci fi today had it not been for fantastic journey, my favorite episode was the one where Walter Koenig played a alien from a country that is similar to the old u.s.s.r we help him find peace from soldiers who were after him wanted to kill him. We helped him find a village he could stay in. out r last episode we all went home. I went to Atlanta. Varian back to the 23rd century. Eisenman and Franklyn to the 1980s. in roddys short-lived apes series he with Ron Harper and James naught on were on the apes from gorilla’s while the roddy played Galan Harper and naughton played astronaughts, well to tie into the planet of the apes TV. show and fantastic journey. Harper and naughton played astronaughts from a alternative history where Robert f. Kennedy was president of the unites states and roddy McDowall’s character willowy went home with him it was sad day when we filmed the last episode of f.j. because unlike star wars and star trek we took it as far as it possibly go. Saylor looked as beautiful as she did 30 years ago and signed my first edition of f.j marvel comic book.
 
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in 1978. fanastic journey was canceled after ten episode, the pod is the series cbecomes a huge cult hit.

That's going to take a lot of doing. There were a whole slew of fantasy-dramas like this in the mid to late 70's and most suffered from the same problems, cookie cutter characters, no real narrative drive, reusing the same plot devices, and serial amnesia; that is the previous weeks events were forgotten by the following week. You are going to a radical change in the writing department to make this happen for starters.
 
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