No doubt. Though it was also for the sake of being able to cast actors close to 30, I'm sure.
Logan's Run (the TV series)
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No doubt. Though it was also for the sake of being able to cast actors close to 30, I'm sure.
Was it not already mentioned upthread that one of the reasons for upping the age of Lastday was because Michael York (and Richard Jordan) could not possibly pass for 21-year-olds?
Actually, it was mentioned. I mentioned it. So I don't know where this "think of the children!" speculation is coming from.
With regard to Look-In, short-lived American series often got several screenings on British TV. Logan was a Sunday schedule filler on ITV for several years, Fantastic Journey was run early morning on BBC1 during school holidays three or four times.Qonundrum, there's a thread covering the series in detail, but I will re-post some information about the series and its media coverage--
About the series: I watched it it first run, but was disappointed that the drama and risk of the film was nowhere to be found. Such is the case of many a serious film adapted for TV.
Typical of the entertainment business, they cannot let a success stand on its own; after the film was a hit, MGM initially wanted a sequel, and of course, that did not happen, eventually leading to the creation of this TV series. Inexplicably, MGM-TV tapped Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts--at the time, famous for developing Charlie's Angels for Spelling-Goldberg Productions--to bring Logan and Company to TV, and despite the contribution of writers such as D.C. Fontana, et al, this was just another in the long line of the man-on-the-run TV sub-genre.
Their best option would have been to make a sequel TV movie with a healthy budget (possible, since they recycled so much from the film), and wrap up the entire post-City matter / answering any questions left by the film. To this end, Marvel Comics--after their 5-issue adaptation of the film--tried to address such issues (anarchy among people forced to think for themselves, Sandmen plotting against Logan, etc.), but the comic was cancelled after the publication of issue #7 (July, 1977).
Ways the TV series differs from the book and the 1976 film: no Lifeclocks. While they were central to the plot of the books and films ( to the extent of being a physical representation of the Thinker's control over citizens), the film rendered them powerless once outside of the City, so in the end--with the series being an off-road chase series--there was no reason to use the Lifeclocks.
The best episodes are any that make any references to the film (though they are not in the same continuity) such as the pilot, and "Carousel", where Logan is shot with some sort of dart that erases his memories of life as a runner, willingly returns to the City, and if memory serves, will face Carousel as his parting gift.
Unintentional CBS/late 70s TV fantasy cross-pollination: Randy Powell (Francis) appeared on The Amazing Spider-Man's two-parter, "The Deadly Dust" (as a classmate of Peter Parker) while Spider-Man himself--Nicholas Hammond--guest starred on this series' "The Judas Goat" as a Sandman surgically altered to appear to be one of Jessica's friends...
Regarding the main title music: instead of using any of Goldsmith's excellent, memorable motifs composed for the film (or modified, if necessary), they tapped Laurence Rosenthal to work way out of his element and deliver some wild, silly synthesizer-laced piece that did not support the series concept at all.
Despite its short life, the TV series did have some sort of following, enough to earn the following coverage in popular magazines of the day:
Look-in (1971-1994) was a weekly UK publication in association with ITV and its local and imported TV series aimed at younger viewers. The Logan's Run TV series inspired an original, serialized comic feature (black and white), which was collected in a hardback annual.
Samples (not in sequential order):
Next...
Circus #168 (November 10, 1977). The once famous music industry magazine covered nearly all popular movies and TV during its run (1966-2006), and yes, the Logan's Run TV series grabbed a cover, with a fairly in-depth behind the scenes article on the show, which--at the time--might have seemed promising, but...
Dynamite #43 (December, 1977). Dynamite was a popular monthly kid's media/education magazine published by Scholastic, Inc. from 1974 - 1992, and was distributed for free in U.S. public schools. Jenette Khan created the magazine two years before joining DC Comics as its publisher, (and playing a significant role in the DC rebirth starting at the end of the 70s, after the infamous "implosion") that would shake/change the mainstream comic book industry. More than the 1976 movie, the TV version of Logan's Run was thought to be somewhat kid-friendly, hence its coverage in a monthly aimed at elementary school-aged kids.
Finally,...
Starlog #9 (October, 1977) and #13 (May, 1978). Of course, Starlog was not going to miss out on the series. with issues eagerly announcing its production, to a cover story (below). Not long after the series' debut, the usually lightweight magazine did have more than a few unkind words dedicated to the series' perceived problems, and by the time CBS cancelled the series in the Spring of '78, Starlog was there to offer their postmortem and a details-free episode guide.
There were other magazines with coverage of the show, but none of it was ever glowing. It received its best treatment after the preview of the pilot, where the many differences between it and the movie were noted, but some reviewers thought that would not matter...if the series was solid. By now, you know the rest.
Oh, on the merchandising end, Mego (the toy company famous for their 8-inch action figures of everything from DC & Marvel characters, Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, among other properties) obtained the rights to develop a line of 9-inch action figure line based on the TV series, creating prototypes of Logan, Rem and Francis. Obviously, the line would not see the inside of Mego's Hong Kong factories when the TV series suffered an early death, but some Sandman costumes were produced and in a strange turn, ended up used on unrelated, Barbie-like dolls.
I picked it up the Logan's Run tv show on dvd a few years back. I was only six in 1977 and missed the original run. Trying to adapt a film, especially sci-fi/fantasy, to a 70's tv budget was never going to be easy. It works for me and I like watching the cast and guest stars work.
I would say the best part of the series is hands down Donald Moffat as the human appearing android Rem. Moffat makes the character seem (at least to me) like more than just a Spock character there to display intelligence or strength the humans don't have.
I like the fact Rem is happy to be an android that happens to look human. He has no pinocchio fantasy or desire of becoming human. He's comfortable in his own (artificial) skin and even displays pride and some ego about being an exceptional android.
I would say the best part of the series is hands down Donald Moffat as the human appearing android Rem. Moffat makes the character seem (at least to me) like more than just a Spock character there to display intelligence or strength the humans don't have.
I like the fact Rem is happy to be an android that happens to look human. He has no pinocchio fantasy or desire of becoming human. He's comfortable in his own (artificial) skin and even displays pride and some ego about being an exceptional android.
If anything, it was kind of the other way around -- adapting a film had a budgetary advantage over creating something brand-new, because they could save money by recycling stock footage, costumes, props, etc. In this case, they didn't so much adapt the film as use its premise as a launching point for the same kind of post-apocalyptic picaresque, weird-society-of-the-week format that network TV had tried to pull off several times before with Genesis II, Planet Earth, Strange New Worlds, Ark II, and Planet of the Apes. And The Fantastic Journey, from the same producer and story editor the previous year, had been along similar lines. So as far as the weekly episodes were concerned, the budgetary demands were on a par with what those shows would have had or did have; and they could embellish that with stock materials from the movie as needed.
If anything, it's striking how much the pilot movie rushes through the movie premise and spends most of its run time on two episode-style plots. It pretty much used the movie concepts as little more than a MacGuffin to set the Fugitive-style formula in motion. It wasn't until later in the season that we got episodes delving more closely into the core premise, which suggests to me that the network suits were pushing for an episodic town-of-the-week formula and it took a while for the producers to successfully push back and start delving deeper.
Rem is absolutely the best part, but I wouldn't say "more than just a Spock character." He's distinct from Spock in personality, of course, but he's analogous to Spock in that he's an extremely charismatic and engaging "logical outsider" character played by an excellent actor.
I think I prefer that to Data's constant desire to be something he wasn't.
Rem's satisfaction in not being human was one of the more unique elements of the series.
That is an impressive amount of information and pictures that you contributed about Logan's Run and even SciFi convention going back in the day. Thanks I appreciate your interest and time devoted to the subject.
You are welcome. I've been a LR fan since reading the novel (before the film's production), and its interesting that for a moment, Logan's Run was its own mini franchise with a film, TV series, comics (US and UK), and novel sequels all in the space of a few years. The original story has always been intriguing with its view of just how dysfunctional one would become in a "perfect" society where anything goes.
The "think of the children" speculation, as you put it, is nothing more than the realization that the US wasn't about to allow a film to present a society with teen sexuality as a primary element, especially not in the late '70s, when the US was spearheading worldwide efforts to combat child pornography.
The nations where it was produced were ordered to shut down those facilities, it became illegal to possess or sell, and TV producers were invited to make movies-of-the-week about how it was bad and needed to be banned. One such film was actually produced, called Fallen Angel, with the late Dana Hill as the child being exploited, Richard Masur as the guy doing the exploiting, and our own Ronny Cox as the concerned stepfather wanting to protect who he had come to see as his little girl. The network newsmagazines like 20/20 also ran multiple stories about it, and how parents should be extra vigilant lest it be their child being exploited.
Honestly, every time I think about the raised age cutoff in the film, I think of how badly it could have gone for the producers if they hadn't done it.
Ever read the comics Tidal Wave Productions did back the 2010s? I've never seen them, but I've seen them on Comixology a few times?
In that case, there are other movies that "the US" would have acted against that had teen sexuality as a primary element.
The movie was already given a rating that meant kids wouldn't be allowed to see it without an adult, and the only part of the novel that had any element of teen sexuality involving the main characters was when Logan went to the brothel and was propositioned by a 13-year-old (he refused). That part of the book morphed into "the circuit", which is how Logan and Jessica meet (in the book they meet at the New You shop after Jessica has had a face change and is also on Lastday).
So there was ZERO child or young teen sexuality in the movie, and not much in the novel (and what there was - an advertisement for a shop where people on Lastday could remember events of their lives), was regarded unfavorably by the main characters). All the explicit content in the movie is with adult actors.
Okay, do you have a link to anything that supports this? I'm not in favor of child pornography, but I would like to know where you're getting these assertions from, because it's nothing I've ever heard of before in connection to this movie.
I think you mean Bluewater Productions' Logan's Run: Last Day (2011), and I've read this pretty slick miniseries; it adapts the novel, but there are some changes to the plot, while visual elements from the movie were added. Arguably, its the most faithful adaptation of the book (in comic book form) to date, surpassing Adventure Comics' 6-part version published from 1990 to 1991.
On a vaguely related matter, is the film remake EVER going to make it out of development hell? Is it still even being thought of?
That's it, but Comixology has the publisher as Tidal Wave Productions, and then has 3 follow up miniseries, Aftermath, Rebirth, and Black Flower.
It's unnecessary to remake this movie.
I hate how some remakes seem to make the previous one disappear. I love the Richard Chamberlain version of Man in the Iron Mask, it's superior to that ridiculous remake, but it isn't available on DVD.
Thanks, Leonardo.
Plus, the very nature of Logan's Run does seem rather dependent on 70's cheese. Updating it with modern sensibilities would probably kill the entire premise.
Definitely this. Part of the movie's charm is the unabashed use of the 70s styles and mentality. I'm not going to say seeing Jenny Agutter flounce around in that little bit of nothing wasn't alluring when I was a kid in the 70s/80s, but these days, it would be hard to get away with/justify that. And that's only one example.
Going beyond that aspect, look what happened to Total Recall. Great cast, slick FX and it was horrible, compared to the original, which itself isn't really all that good.
In the DVD audio commentary, they say that they changed the age to 30 because it wasn't realistic to have an entire movie with the cast all under 21.
At the time, it would surely have been very hard to find decent actors who could even pass for 21, let alone actually BE it. They could probably do it today, though.
Total Recall without Ahnuld was always doomed to failure.
Actually I think it would be the opposite. In TV and film, you can get away with pretty much anything these days. Maybe that's another reason why a Logan's Run remake wouldn't work. There's precious little left that will still shock an audience.
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In the DVD audio commentary, they say that they changed the age to 30 because it wasn't realistic to have an entire movie with the cast all under 21.
At the time, it would surely have been very hard to find decent actors who could even pass for 21, let alone actually BE it. They could probably do it today, though.
Total Recall without Ahnuld was always doomed to failure.
Actually I think it would be the opposite. In TV and film, you can get away with pretty much anything these days. Maybe that's another reason why a Logan's Run remake wouldn't work. There's precious little left that will still shock an audience.
I just meant from the sexism/misogynistic aspects, but I see what you mean as well.
