Speculations about Gary Seven, Isis, Dr. Who, and the “Assignment” that never was.

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Hi Everyone,

Imagine at TV series where there’s a mysterious alien traveling through time and space with a often silly companion and a little magic wand that helps him get through tough situations. No, not Doctor Who, although…

I’m thinking of Assignment: Earth, the would-be TV series born of the Star Trek episode of the same name. I think it might have had a chance in the spy-crazy era of the late 60’s. And with the cold war still raging at the time, Gary Seven and his cat Isis would have made a fun entry into TV land. Unfortunately, it wasn’t picked up, and we are only left with the one hour where Spock and Kirk are made to look really silly as Gary Seven embodies a cool only equaled by Spock.

That hat Spock? Seriously? But nice suits.

The more I looked into the brief world of Gary Seven, the more I see homage to (or copyright of?) Dr. Who. Consider after all, he can travel anywhere through time and he has his own little version of a ‘sonic screwdriver’. And if he and Miss Lincoln are to have “…interesting experiences” together, Hmm, I think I’m beginning to see where the inspiration came from…

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Seven with his own ‘sonic screwdriver’.

From what we’ve seen, Gary is a lot like The Doctor. He seems to be awfully intelligent about well, everything, he is often sent on missions to fix events in time (boy could we use him now), and using the convenient ‘screwdriver’ that is often the determinant between escape or capture. We never see the ship he travels in, but it is assumed that his ‘assignments’ take him all over the galaxy through different eras. He’s a Time Lord.

Miss Lincoln (Teri Garr) had promise and deserved better!

Miss Roberta Lincoln would make a good companion. She’s young, quirky, a bit daft, but determined to make a statement (“We want to know if we’ll be alive when we’re 30!”) I think of the series were picked up at the time, I hope she would evolve into a stronger female character, yet in reality, if it was picked up the 60’s she’s probably remain more comic relief, at least until the advent of the Women’s Movement. Now if it was made today, I’m pretty sure she’d be more like a combination The Doctor’s companions; I’m thinking Donna Noble, Clara Oswald and a little Martha Jones, and she’d be much more interesting. Unfortunately we have little insight into Roberta left. Teri Garr, who played Roberta, noted in her memoir: *

“I played Roberta Lincoln, a dippy secretary in a pink and orange costume in a very short skirt. Had the spin-off succeeded, I would have continued on as an earthling agent, working to preserve humanity. In a very short skirt.”

Then there’s Gary Seven’s cat, Isis. Of course we found out at the very end that Isis was actually a shape-shifter; she briefly appeared as a human sex-kitten lounging on Seven’s couch, much to a flummoxed Roberta Lincoln’s instant jealousy. Isis wears cat ears and purrs in her human form! Yet Gary depends on her greatly, and acknowledges her advice. Maybe she’s Gary’s River Song (The 11th Doctor’s wife).

April Tatro as the real Isis

No doubt Isis’ little trick was meant as a teaser to entice the would-be buyer of this pilot-within-a-Star Trek-episode to want more. So is Isis a woman in a cat’s body or a cat in a woman’s body? The world may never know…

As a bonus, I’ve always loved how Spock was instantly ‘strangely attracted’ to Isis. It’s fun to see the real chemistry between Nimoy and the cat in the Briefing Room. The cat sits and purrs contentedly in his arms, eyes slowly opening and closing. Cats know a good person. Although speaking from a character’s point of view, I wonder if Isis was subtly mind-melding with Spock, or giving off pheromones, or at least good vibes? How else to explain Spock’s urge to cuddle? But then, he had the same, if embarrassed reaction to Tribbles! It was a cute touch.

Hello Kitty. Spock and Isis.

So I wonder, why wasn’t Assignment: Earth picked up as a series? Was it too expensive, too far fetched? Would it have continued to connect with the original Star Trek series? Well…

Turns out Assignment Earth did find a way to continue after it’s ill-fated pilot. Comic book writer and artist John Byrne did write a 5 volume sequel to Assignment Earth – in glorious graphic novel style! The issues cover 5 years, starting 3 months from the date Enterprise left Gary and Roberta to figure their fate. Each issue presents a year later. These came out a while back, but you can find all 5 in digital versions on Comixology.

Of course, since Gary Seven is part of the Star Trek universe, maybe he could turn up on Picard? Or sequel-mad CBS All Access could reconsider that little pilot, updated for the times. I could see Mahershala Ali or Adam Driver or as Seven.

How did you feel about Assignment: Earth and Gary Seven? Please let me know in the comments!

*Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood. by Teri Garr.

My Home Made TARDIS

Today was my sweet husband’s birthday, and we love Dr. Who, so I made him his own TARDIS!   And like the real thing, it’s BIGGER on the INSIDE! (And a candy box to boot!)   I got the idea to make this from this picture on the ‘net. although mine’s more crafty, (note the felt exterior, shiny metallic interior and how the candy boxes read “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey”!)  Didn’t know I liked Dr. Who too,eh?  I made it it two days, glad I pulled it off! He got a big kick out of it!   Enjoy!

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(*Gasp!*) Godzilla, Costumes, Trek and more at my day at RoberCon. (Gallery)

Hey Kids,

I had a fun time at our local “RoberCon” convention in Binghamton NY yesterday — the first sci-fi convention of its kind at the Roberson Mansion and Planetarium.   It was attended by 1000+ fans and it was especially a pleasure for me to see the universe spanning array of costumes people came in. It was like a grand ball for Geekdom, and I’m delighted  to say that I pulled off finishing my  T’Pau costume in time for the event!

The  the hardest part of  building my costume was the T’Pau’s complicated hairdo!  Seriously, it’s not a hairdo, it’s an Engineering Thesis!   The styling  took me @ 90 minutes early yesterday morning, as I assembled six different hair pieces into my own for the multi-braid effect.   Adding the ears was a little nerve-wracking too, but although it wasn’t too difficult to attach them, I felt sympathy for Mr. Nimoy and anyone who’s had to don those points. Actually, I hardly felt them at all once they were in place,and they worked quite nicely.  My favorite part of the costume was the great walking stick, which I made from an $8 wooden chair from the Salvation Army.   I reassembled the legs and a spindle from it, and spray painted it black.  The filial on top was a door pull from Home Depot, and the big ‘bead’ was a piece of florist foam, carved and painted to look ornamental.

In addition to the costume contest, there were panels discussing costume construction, and a panel that was supposed to discuss Star Trek, but it became more centered The Twilight Zone. There might have been another Trek panel, but I missed it (for the contest) There was also a guest appearance by Annie Serling (Rod’s Daughter), but I didn’t stay that long (my two teen sons were getting hungry and we had been there for nearly 4 hours).

Here’s a gallery of characters from the con.  Some of the costumes were really masterful – especially Godzilla!  Now don’t be fooled, this may look like a factory manufactured rubber suit, but it was actually was hand crafted and tooled by its wearer! I could see elements of foam rubber and styrofoam in it, and the gentleman who wore it said it took over a year to create in his garage! Wow.  Amazingly, he didn’t win 1st place that went to the two young girls who hand crafted their dazzlingly frightening costumes of Weeping Angels (including the masks) from Dr. Who.  Other winners were The Iron Patriot, (which was also amazing), Wonder Woman, and a delightfully loony Freakazoid. There were Lots of comic book, and gaming characters represented there too, as well as Steam punk creations and many Dr. Who’s (two wearing a fez).

There were many fan groups as well, with Star Wars well represented.  There was only one Star Trek group, U.S.S. Serling, whose ‘Captain’ and ‘First Officer’ I posed with (Lisa Stucky, Doc David Rasey) They liked my costume, and for me personally, it was nice to have someone there recognize my 44-year-old TV character! I admit, I got a lot of odd looks from people, with hardly anyone recognizing me as a Star Trek character.  It definitely made me feel old, as a few people thought I was from Lord of the Rings, and no one said “It’s T’Pau!” To be fair, if this was a Star Trek Convention I’d be more recognized, but despite my crafted look, I did feel a bit dated here.  At least I passed out a few trekkerscrapbook calling cards to anyone who had an inkling as to what the Original Series was! Maybe we’ll get a few more watchers here.  Glad I went.

FArFri – “Ensign Two: The Wrath of Sue” by Clare Mosely and Kevin Bolk

This is a hilarious series of comics from Clare Mosely and Kevin Bolk that combines practically every  character of fangeekdom in one brilliantly silly anime-style story! (Dr Who is just the beginning!)  This is the sequel the the pair’s previous story “Ensign Sue Must Die!” You can buy the whole book here.

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