Books

Movie

Movie Pics

Location

Costumes

Articles

Video

Home

Arcade

TV Series

TV Pics

Vehicles

Fandom

Stuff

Comics

Audio

Script

Who's Who
TV Production Information

MGM PRESS INFORMATION

"LOGAN'S RUN" (pilot information)

A detalied overview of the events taking place in the original 60 minute pilot. It does not contain any of the footage added in later of the Council of Elders, or of the farmers hiding underground form the riders. Very interesting reading.

MGM PRESS INFORMATION

"LOGAN'S RUN" Production Notes

This overview centeres around the basic plot for the series. Why our trio never settles down with any of the civilizations they encounter and who was responsible for making the series both in front and behind the lens. This also includes very brief biographies of the major people involved. This press release was written after the addition of the Council of Elders to the series.

MGM PRESS INFORMATION New 9-2-2001

AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL IN THE 241H CENTURY

By Earl Wingard

All day long Heather Menzies lives precariously in the danger filled world of the Twenty-fourth Century, performing her starring role as Jessica in MGM Television's LOGAN'S RUN, new science fiction series seen Monday nights on CBS.

I don't have a scan yet!

New 2-26-03
Logan's Run
A Look Into the Future

A series pitch document used to sell the series to network executives. A high tech rebel base? Love between logan and Jessica? Sorties back into the Domed City? Secretes of a series we really never got to see! Parts obviously lifeted from a writer's guide to the proposed series.


I have a hard time finding information about the production of this series. One of my recent finds was an interoffice memo sent to the accounting department because of the revised cost of the production of the series. Of special interest on this paper was the title list and production numbers reprinted below. This memo came out after the decision was made to expand the pilot so I assume that it was just as production started on the series. Episodes in red were produced

Prod #

Episode Titles

Episode Airing #

3301

Logan's Run Pilot

1

3302

Half Life

6

3303

Fear Factor

8

3304

Crypt

7

3305

The Thunder Sentinels

Not Produced

3306

Capture

3

3307

Man Out Of Time

5

3008

The Guardians

Not Produced

3309

The Collectors

2

3310

Child of The Times/ The Innocent

4

3311

Measure For Measure/Turnabout

13

3312

Judas Goat / Wake the Dead

9

3313

Future Past

10

3314

Star Gate

14

3315

Carousel

11

3316

The Peacemakers

Not Produced

3317

The Playground

Not Produced

3396

Retakes Pilot Opening

Part of #1

3397

Added Scenes - Pilot

Part of #1

3398

Amort. 1st year.

Measure for Measure later became titled Turnabout.
Judas Goat was underlined in pen on the memo.

I acquired this sheet from Chris whose mother worked in the accounting department at MGM during the time Logan's Run was produced. he pointed out that Production # 3396 was added in at the last second " I remember my mother saying that whoever was running the TV Dept. at the time "LR" was about to premiere was really mad, because CBS decided they wanted some graphics like at the beginning of "Star Wars" (with the letters fading back as the story is told). I can't recall on the TV show if the first episode had such graphics, but CBS told MGM to pay for the new special effect or they wouldn't air the show. My mother remembers her boss being really mad, because it cost a fortune to "rush" the effect onto the show." I do not have an original broadcast of the pilot. Does anyone remeber this?

The Playground was not produced, but a script has been floating around. The Thunder Sentinels (aka Thunder Gods) was a very nice treatment written by William F. Nolan and Dennis Etchison. If you have any information about these please e-mail me More information about unproduced episode can be found at the bottom of this page.
Rem was originally named Omo but the name was changed when it was discovered that Omo was a brand of clenser in England!

One of the problems with Logan's Run was the scheduling. Sometimes it was hard to find as they interupted the showing for specials on at least three weeks instead of showing re-runs. One of the major sponsors was "Dawn" the detergent. I an mot quite shure how the show was intended to sell dish soap. Also just as the show was getting started CBS switched the day, and later the timeslot from 8pm to 9pm. When it went off the air it was replaced in most areas by "Good Times" I guess it took 'Dyno-mite!!" to get rid of Logan...

The shooting schedule for the original 60 minute pilot can be found below. With only a 12 day schedule I think they managed to do an excelent job. This schedule does not include the additional shooting to bring the pilot to 90 minutes.

Airing Schedule

#

Episode Title

Air Date

Day / Time

1

Logan's Run Pilot

9-16-77

Friday

2

The Collectors

9-23-77

Friday

3

Capture

9-30-77

Friday

4

The Innocent

10-10-77

Monday

5

"Man Out Of Time"

10-17-77

Monday

6

Half Life

10-31-77

Monday

7

Crypt

11-7-77

Monday

8

Fear Factor

11-14-77

Monday

9

The Judas Goat

12-19-77

Monday

10

Futurepast

12-26-77 or 1-2-78

Monday ?

11

Carousel

1-16-78

Monday ?

12

Night Visitors (East coast only)

1-23-78

Monday ?

13

Turnabout (East coast only)

1-30-87

Monday ?

14

Stargate (East coast only)

2-6-78

Monday ?
Although many sources reported that CBS did not air any of the three episode I have heard from a few east coast fans over the years who have told me that one station in upstate New York did run those episodes on the dates indicated. Perhaps they just did not send them onto the west coast?

Early documents relating to the series cary the mark "An IBIS Production" including a series pitch packet which described where they series was going. It described the ending of the first season with Logan and the others setting up a perminant base to run the resistance from on the outside of the City of Domes. A place to coordinate their activities with the resistance inside the City of Domes.

All the major cast members made an appearance at Starcon in San Diego in 1977 to promote the series. At this point the pilot was long finished and they were in the process of filming the first season. Also at this convention plot details for many of the pirst season episodes were revealed including The Guardians (See unproduced episodes at the bottom of this page. The convention was held on September 30th 1977. In one of the mor ammusing moments of the pannel Greg pulled out a ping pong ball shooting ray gun and turned it on Randy! These pictures come to you vie Eric Popejoy. I am still hopeing to put more of them up as I get the time.


This is a MGM 'blue book' brochure on the Logan's Run the TV series. It shows Francis and the other three Sandmen as seen in the pilot episode and described in the publicity handout.

One picture is of Greg and one of Heather, as well as one picture of Rem and the hovercraft. It is unclear if these were ever distributed, but they were most likely given to press and CBS affiliates during the 1977 TV season. Though the brochure is for the pilot, the wording refers to the series. To view the inside of the brochure click on the picture located on the right.

Click above to see the full brochure!

Warning large file!

A while back I recieved an e-mail from Heather Menzies. She also has her own web page http://www.roberturich.com/page2.html She had some interesting insights into the cancelation:

The cancellation of the show did come as a surprise considering the ratings. I don't think they knew what directon to go with it or what target audience to shoot for, or what in the world to do with the Logan /Jessica relationship.. The constant pre-emptions and time changes didn't help either. Someone wrote in when the show was cancelled and said something to the effect of " no wonder the show was axed...who could find it?" They needed to spend more money on the whole thing. A two part episode with an all out war with the Domed City would have shaken things up a bit.

Somethimes if one looked closely enough the wheels of the "hovercraft" were very visible as it spun around a corner. A little embarrassing.

I haven't seen any of the other cast members exept for Greg in a long time. We remained good friends through the years. I ran into Randy Powell twice in two weeks recently. Hadn't seen him since the day we wrapped. I loved working on the show and felt it had a lot of promise. As far as the summer heat of '77 was concerned...my outfit was a bit airconditioned. Those sandman rubber wet suits were another story.

Heather Menzies 4-2000

During the production of The Crypt Circius magazine (mostly a rock music magazine) visited the set and intereviewed the principal actors of the series. Donald comes across very well. he speaks a bit about dialogue changes. Both Greg and Heather dis' the movie a bit. Read the article!

When the TV show was canceled I immediately wrote in to CBS and asked them politely to bring back the show. A few months went by and then I received this letter back. I was rather surprised to get this letter in the mail. I was not expecting to hear back from them. Anyhow I guess I was one of the few people out there who bothered to write in. I just found this today 6-12-2000, some 23 years after opened the envelope. I am in the process of moving and it was an odd experience to find it again after all these years.

Script Information

From this information I gather than the final episode shot was Night Visitors as its script was written last.

Episode Title(s)

Draft of Script/ Cover

Date

Production #

Episode #

Author (s)

Shows in Red I do not have information for. I am assuming there were no more than three drafts.

Logan's Run Pilot

Frist Draft

3301

1

Logan's Run Pilot

3301

1

Additional Pilot Sequences

First Draft

3397

1a

Additional Pilot Sequences

Final Draft

June 28 1977

3397

1a

Leonard Katzman

The Collectors

First Draft

3309

2

The Collectors

3309

2

The Collectors

Revised Final Draft

July 21 1977

3309

2

James Schmerer

Capture

First Draft

3306

3

Capture

3306

3

Capture

Revised Final Draft Green

July 29, 1977

3306

3

Michael Richards

Child of The Times/ The Innocent

First Draft

3310

4

D.C. Fontanna and Ray Brenner

The Innocent

3310

4

D.C. Fontanna and Ray Brenner

The Innocent

Final Shooting

August 16, 1977

3310

4

D.C. Fontanna and Ray Brenner

"Man Out Of Time"

First Draft

3307

5

David Gerold

"Man Out Of Time"

Final Draft

August 11, 1977

3307

5

Noah Ward (aka David Gerold)

"Man Out Of Time"

3307

5

Noah Ward (aka David Gerold)

Half Life

3302

6

Half Life

3302

6

Half Life

Revised Final Draft

June 30, 1977

3302

6

Shimon Wincelberg

Crypt * Ellison treatment

First Draft/Treatment

April 14, 1977

3304

7

Harlan Ellison (treatment only)

Crypt

Final Draft

Sep 2, 1977

3304

7

Crypt

Revised Final ? ?

3304

7

The Fear Factor **

First Draft Dark Blue

Aug. 3, 1977

3303

8

John Sherlock

Fear Factor

3303

8

Fear Factor

3303

8

Judas Goat / Wake the Dead

First Draft

3312

9

The Judas Goat

3312

9

The Judas Goat

3312

9

Futurepast

First Draft Grey

Sept. 6, 1977

3313

10

By Al Hayes

Futurepast

Final Draft

????

3313

10

By Katharyn Michaelin Powers and Al Hayes ??

Futurepast

Rev.Final Draft Yellow

Sept. 26,1977

3313

10

By Katharyn Michaelin Powers and Al Hayes

Carousel

First Draft

3315

11

Story: Richard L. Breen, Jr.
Teleplay: D.C. Fontanna

Carousel

Final Draft

Oct 6, 1977

3315

11

Story: Richard L. Breen, Jr.
Teleplay: D.C. Fontanna

Carousel

??

??

3315

11

Night Visitors

First Draft

3324

12

Leonard Katzman

Night Visitors

Final Draft

Nov 11, 1977 

3324

12

Leonard Katzman

Night Visitors

3324

12

Leonard Katzman

Measure For Measure/Turnabout

First Draft

3311

13

Measure For Measure/ Turnabout

Final Draft

Oct 17 1977

3311

13

Story: Michael Michaelian
Teleplay: Al Hayes

Turnabout

Revised Final Draft

Oct 19, 1977

3311

13

Story: Michael Michaelian
Teleplay: Al Hayes

Stargate

First Draft

Oct 27, 1977

3314

14

Dennis O'Neil

Stargate

Final Draft

Oct 31, 1977

3314

14

Dennis O'Neil
revision pages on Blue=Nov 1 Pink= Nov 2 Yellow=Nov 3 Green=Nov 4

Stargate

?? Was there actually a revised draft or only changes?

3314

14

??

The Peacemakers

??

??

3316

15?

The Peacemakers

??

??

3316

15?

The Peacemakers

??

??

3316

15?

The Playground

First Draft

??

3317

16?

The Playground

??

3317

16?

The Playground

??

3317

16?

The Guardians

The Guardians #3308 (Not Produced) written by Ellis St. Joseph
Our travelers suffer damage to the hovercraft and take refuge with a commune of farmers. They learn of a nearby "fort" has a hovercar, too, and the personnel there also have something the farmers want. They don't know what it is, but it seems to give the fort light, power to run the machines, and other luxuries the farmers do not have. There has been regular skirmishing between the the two factions for some time. A foray into the fort by Logan and Rem reveals it is an old missile base which escaped being hit in the holocaust, and the precious thing the garrison is protecting from "the enemy" is a still-armed nuclear missile which they will defend to the death. When Logan and Rem fail to return on time, Jessica leads the farmers in a raid on the base, casing the base commander to hit the button which starts the launch countdown on a missile that could begin another holocaust. Both factions must work together, led buy out people, to stop the countdown and find a workable peace among themselves.

This episode must have been axed after September 30th 1977 as it was announced as one of the episodes at that convention. Night Visitors was nowhere on the list, so I am assuming that it took the place of this episode at the last minute.

The Thunder Sentinels

I am assuming that this was the treatment written by William F. Nolan and Dennis Etchison called The Thunder Gods I am guessing having the "god" in the title was a bit too much for CBS.

The Peacemakers

I have no information about this episode. i do know that it was not another name form the Thunder Sentinels or the Guardians.

If you have any more information about this please e-mail me!

The Playground

Complete script now online!

In this episdode Logan, Jessica and Rem are shot at by robots when they approach a facility designed to raise children. The only problem is that these children act like seven year olds but look to be almost twenty! Something has gone very wrong in The Playground!

There is a complete script for this episode so it at least made it out of the treatment stage. Sometime between the start of production and September 30th 1977 it must have been axed from the production schedule. It was not in the synopsis announcement made by cast and crew ast Starcon 77 however it did apear on the MGM accounting sheet. Even more annoying is that I can not find the page crediting the author and as a result the date is also missing.

Magazines

This 1978 Belgian TV magazine called "télémoustique" has this interesting cover and an article about the series.

If you have a copy of this could you scan the cover and article pages in color and send them in? There is aperson in Belgum whose mom threw the magazine out back int he late 70's wo would really love to see it in color again! virtviki@pacbell.net

News Flash!

Cinescape magazine has a Logan's Run article in the Jan.Feb 2001 issue! Many pictures form the TV series and info on the new movie. Special thanks to Ken Hay for this tidbit of information!
I ran out and bought the issue but was dissapointed at the choices of photographs (all but 1 are already on this web site) and the overall negative tone of the article. It does mention the new movie end and has some interesting bits about the transition as people who worked on the movie were brought onboard for the TV series then replaced.