Imagine
having green skin, for a moment. Sounds
pretty weird, right? In fact, it might
not be easy being green.
And
yet, throughout cult-TV history, producers, writers and make-up artists have
imagined alien and monstrous beings that are, literally, green in the
face. Often times in such programming,
there is a kind of sexual fantasy involved with green-skinned women.
In
Lost
in Space (1965-1968), for example Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) twice
encounters a green-skinned siren named Lorelei/Athena (Vitana Marcus) who finds
him very attractive and lures him into difficult, troublesome situations.
The
very first Star Trek (1966-1969) pilot, “The Cage” sees Captain Pike
(Jeffrey Hunter), seduced by Vina (Susan Oliver), a character who disguises
herself as a green Orion Slave Girl. It
is said that such Orion women are irresistible to human men.
Later
in the series, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) encounters another green-skinned
woman, the very attractive but very mad Marta (Yvonne Craig) in “Whom Gods
Destroy.”
The
green Orion women (and men), returned to the franchise in a 2005 episode of
Enterprise (2001 – 2005), called “Bound.”
The
sinister, humanoid, organ-stealing aliens of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s UFO
(1970) are also green-skinned, though as some episodes point out, this coloration
may be due to the demands of space travel and its stresses.
In
the short-lived sci-fi series set in the Devil’s Triangle -- The
Fantastic Journey (1977) -- weird green beings are discovered to be
living in a bog in the episode “Beyond the Mountain.” They have been forced to live there after
being turned out of their home by an American, Willaway (Roddy McDowall)
trapped in the Bermuda Triangle.
The
most famous green-skinned TV denizen is undoubtedly the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno).
For four seasons, David Banner would get angry and turn into this fearsome
green-skinned being, on The Incredible Hulk (1978-1981).
On
Angel
(1999 – 2005), a friendly green-skinned demon Lorne (Andy Hallett) became a
steadfast ally to the vampire with a soul.
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