Monday, June 20, 2011

The Cult-TV Faces of: The Computer


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: The Twilight Zone: "The Old Man in the Cave"


Identified by Brian: The Twilight Zone: "From Agnes with Love"


Identified by Brian: WOTAN in Doctor Who "The War Machines."


Identified by Brian, Batman (1966-1969): The Bat Computer


Identified by Brian: Landru in Star Trek's "Return of the Archons"


Identified by Brian: The M-5 in Star Trek "The Ultimate Computer"


Identified by Brian: The Oracle in Star Trek's "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky."


Identified by Brian: The General in "The Prisoner, "The General"


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: S.I.D. in Gerry Anderson's UFO.


Identified by Brian: The Starlost: "Voyage of Discovery"


Identified by Greg Melli Jone: The G.E.E.C. in The Super Friends.


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: Planet of the Apes: "The Legacy."


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: Space:1999 "The Black Sun"


Identified by Brian: Space:1999 "Brian the Brain."


Identified by Brian: Ark II: "Omega."


Identified by Brian: "Logan's Run" (The TV series)


Identified by Brian: The Bionic Woman (1977): "Doomsday is Tomorrow."



Identified by Brian: Vanessa in Quark: "Vanessa 38-24-36."



Identified by Brian: Orace in Blake's 7: "Orac."


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: C.O.R.A. in Battlestar Galactica: "The Long Patrol"


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: Dr. Theopolis in Buck Rogers: "Awakening."


Identified by Greg Melli Jones: KITT in Knight Rider.


Identified by Dr. Howard Margolin: The C.O.S. in The X-Files: "Ghost in the Machine"


Not identified: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "I Robot, You Jane"



Identified by Le0pard13: The X-Files: "Kill Switch"
 

Identified by Dr. Howard Margolin: Gene Roddenbery's Andromeda.


Not identified: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: "The Turk."


30 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:03 AM

    1. Twilight Zone. The computer helped the survivors. Don't eat radioactive food no matter who tells you it's safe.

    9. UFO

    11. Meanwhile at the hall of justice. Super Friends Justice League Computer

    12. I may be reaching here but I think it's the computer our astronauts were looking for from the live action Planet of the Apes series.

    13. Space 1999

    15. Deep Thought from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

    20. You have to make room for CORA by taking out the weapon systems. Starbucks new girlfriend. Battlestar Galactica

    21. Dr. Theopolis . Twiki's best pal. Computer Council. Buck Rogers

    22. KITT Knight Rider

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  2. Wow, quite a list this time! And lots of stumpers too, for me.

    1. Twilight Zone (The Old Man In The Cave)
    2. Twilight Zone (From Agnus With Love)
    3.
    4. The Batcomputer, duh.
    5. Star Trek ("Landru! Guide Us!")
    6. Star Trek (The Ultimate Computer)
    7. Star Trek (For The World Is Hollow And This Title Is Way Too Long)
    8. The Prisoner (The General)
    9. U.F.O. (S.I.D.!)
    10. I'm going to guess The Starlost
    11. hmmm... Super Friends?
    12.
    13. Space: 1999 (Kano's pride and joy)
    14. Space: 1999 (Brian The Brain)
    15. Ark II
    16. I'll hazard a guess it's... Logan's Run?
    17.
    18.
    19. Blake's 7 (Orac)
    20. Battlestar Galactica
    21. Buck Rogers (Dr. Theo!)
    22. Knight Rider (K.I.T.T.)
    23.
    24.
    25.
    26.
    27.

    Wow, some look really familiar but I can't place them. I'm going to feel really dumb when they are revealed...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Greg and Brian,

    You both did an extraordinary job recognizing the computers of various tv programs across the years.

    The ones still on the table, so-to-speak are # 3, #17, #18, and 23 through 27!

    Great job!!!

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice selections. I'm thinking the new Battlestar Galactica for #26. I could be wrong. Best, sff

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi SFF:

    Great guess on # 26, but it isn't the new BSG. Certainly looks like it could be. In my opinion, this is the most difficult to recognize image in the bunch...

    Thanks, my friend,
    jKM

    ReplyDelete
  6. #25 I's say Stargate SG-1, S4E20: Entity.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Claudiu:

    Another great guess, and maybe that's one I should have included! :) Wish I had more familiarity with the original Stargate. One of these days...full re-watch.

    But no, #25 is not Stargate SG-1. But, I promise, the truth is out there...

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  8. #17 Title character in Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mike:

    The episode featured in image #17 is no doubt inspired, at least partially, by Colossus the Forbidden. But to quote Alex Trebek, remember the category. This is CULT TV (not movies). :)

    But spiritually, you are right on with the vibe, definitely. It is very...Colossus-like!

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  10. #26 isn't the computer from MOON is it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. J.D: A great guess, my friend, but like Mike, remember the category, to quote Jeopardy. :)

    This is just CULT TV images, so no, #26 is not from the (excellent) movie Moon (2009). It does look like it could be, however...

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the "look" of the sleek, wall-sized computers circa 1970 (or what people circa 1970 thought computers would look like in "the future")....I'm sure they'd be disappointed to an extent at how pedesterian a "computer" looks today.

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  13. indianhoop:

    I am right there with you, buddy. I love the look of retro-futuristic computers, particularly of the UFO - Space:1999 variety.

    I know I'm disappointed with the pedestrian look of today's computers, myself: basically a typewriter keyboard hooked by wires into a big clunky box, and connected to a TV-set styled monitor. Not very imaginative. Not very elegant.

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is #25 the A.I. computer from Kill Switch season 5, episode 11 from X-FILES?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Le0pard13:

    Yes! #25 is indeed the A.I. computer from "Kill Switch," on the X-Files (season 5). Great identification, my friend!

    Whoo-hoo!

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  16. With all due respect to Greg (who scooped me on several shows, good job!), he didn't guess #14. (I suppose I'm kind of sensitive about my namesake ;) )

    Thanks for the clue to #17, John ("Colossus the Forbidden?" Surely you meant "Colossus: The Forbin Project" :) ) as it jarred a loose synapse in my brain. It's the Doomsday computer from "The Bionic Woman", isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Brian,

    Sorry if I made an error there, bud. I'll correct it after I type this response! :)

    And yes, # 17 is from The Bionic Woman, "Doomsday is Tomorrow."

    And yes, I meant Colossus The Forbin Project. Wow, apparently my brain isn't working at peak performance this Monday...

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  18. Aha! Got #3 : it is WOTAN from Doctor Who (The War Machines).

    ReplyDelete
  19. Brian:

    AMAZING identification there on #3. You are indeed correct. That is an image of WOTAN from Doctor Who's serial "The War Machines."

    Great job!

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  20. Is 18 I.R.A.C. from "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman?"
    23. X-Files: "Ghost in the Machine"
    26. Data and the Enterprise computer from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

    ReplyDelete
  21. Howard:

    Great guesses, my fiend. #23 is indeed from the first season X-Files episode "Ghost in the Machine."

    #18 is not I.R.A.C. however (couldn't find a good picture on the net, and didn't have the DVD set, alas...) and #26 is not Data. But still, great job!!!

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  22. IS 26 Babylon 5?

    Gosh, this one is brutal.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi SFF:

    26 is damn near impossible to guess, I agree. It's from a series that ended a few years back, and which starred a man who had been a Conqueror and Demi-God.

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  24. John, based on your clue, 26 has to be from "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda."
    Is 18 a closeup of K-9's chest from "Doctor Who?"

    ReplyDelete
  25. Howard:

    Yes, #26 is indeed from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda; the pilot episode. Great deduction.

    #18 is not a close-up of K-9's chest from Doctor Who, but now that you mention it, it does look a hell of a lot like it, doesn't it?

    But this computer (in #18) wasn't a loyal pup; it helped to take out the trash.

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  26. > it helped to take out the trash.

    Ha! Should have known! Quark (Vanessa).

    Is the game over yet? I'm still stumped on the remaining computers.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Brian,

    Great pick up on "Quark's" Vanessa.

    I have to say, everyone did an amazing job on what was a very hard and intense game this week. Some of the image (particularly #26) were TOUGH.

    The last two images were:

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "I Robot, You Jane"

    and

    #27: The Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: "The Turk." That's an early build of Skynet!

    Again, fantastic job to all who participated.

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  28. I totally agree about the disappointment in where computers have wound up. They should look like NASA's Mission Control, or BW's Doomsday is Tomorrow, or in Westworld. (Although the control room style wouldn't fit in my smallish apartment...LOL).

    (Stream of consciousness entries the rest of the way...)

    I haven't seen any of the computers in the black and white photos at the top.

    Of course I know the Bat-Computer, and Landru, the M-5 and the Oracle, OOO the Starlost (I vaguely recall an episode with a giant beehive on a screen...)!, the Super Friends computer, Space: 1999's Computer (too bad it didn't have a good name, especially considering Kano's attachment to it), the Omega from Ark II (Filmation did great by me with its three 70s live-action SF series Ark II, Space Academy, and Jason of Star Command!), my mom and I loved Logan's Run: The Series but unfortunately missed the final episode, my wife and I both loved Quark even though we never met until 2006, O.R.A.C.--one wonders if the Blake's Seven writer ripped off CORA's name (I loved her personality!), Theo was a very cool part of Buck Rogers and I wish they'd kept him for Year Two, oh yeah The Ghost in the Machine good episode of the X-files as was Kill Switch, and Andromeda didn't keep my interest (but the Andromeda character was the most interesting part of the series to me, and not because of the actress' outfit, because the computer had a real personality, just like CORA).

    Haven't seen The General from the Prisoner, or UFO, or Knight Rider, or Buffy, or the Sarah Connor-cles.

    I have thought for a long time that the IRAC computer prop from the Wonder Woman series was reused to be the computer shown in a couple of episodes of Galactica in a small room (one scene in The Gun On Ice Planet Zero where Starbuck tricks the computer tech, played by a guy who was in Magnum PI and Tales of the Gold Monkey, so he could reprogram it to add his name to a list of personnel who'd worked on ice planets; and a few shots in a small room just off the Cylon basestar command throne room with Balter and Lucifer on occasion as well as in The Hand of God). Or maybe the BSG usage came first. I think it might have shown up somewhere else too... possibly in an episode of Fantasy Island where they were trying to contact the other side. Maybe on Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl as well? I liked IRAC; he had a good personality like CORA or Theo (can't recall ORAC's, though, only saw about three or 4 episodes).

    Anyway, you know how many fans would like to have props (like guns) from various tv shows; I'd love to have that computer bank prop, even if was just a boxed version of Christmas lights. That, and 1999's Eagles (oh, okay, and their stapler-stun gun, too).

    Gordon Long

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi Gordon,

    Another nostalgic and wonderful comment. And one much appreciated.

    I agree with you about the computers of today: they like the fanciful nature of these computers. Keyboard and screens...nothing more. Personally, I'd love an interface that resembles M-5. Or a desk like Kano's...

    I have begun a re-watch of Andromeda, because I lost track of it around season two originally. The quality is quite variable: some episodes are good, and some are terrible. The alien designs, in general, are awful. But like you, I find myself drawn to the Andromeda character (Lexa Doig's). She is gorgeous, but as you said, she also seems to have a "personality."

    Great comment!

    best,
    John

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous7:42 PM

    Must have these computer images in the Computer Museum in San Jose, Silicon Valley CA alone,\
    Awesome & some Media & TV Museum for So CA

    ReplyDelete

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