The Fantastic Journey is an American science fiction television series that was originally aired on NBC from February 3 through June 16, 1977. Intended to run 13 episodes, as a mid-season replacement, NBC cancelled the series in April, after the ninth episode aired. A tenth episode, already produced, was burned off two months later.
Premise
The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the Caribbean for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle with an unnatural luminous green cloud accompanied by the eerie disembodied sound of ship's bells, the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape. as Gwenith, with Jared Martin as Varian, in "An Act of Love" They encounter Varian, initially disguised as an Arawak native, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230. A 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer, Varian explains to the travelers that, like he and many before them, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of "Time Zones". The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland", which lies "far to the rising sun". The only way to travel between Time Zones is via invisible gateways that instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode, "Beyond the Mountain", the group also encounters a second cloud, which has much the same effect, but which also splits up the group. After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many Time Zones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored; however, the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series following pressure from the network. They also dropped three characters after the pilot, as they wanted a more exotic group of travelers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappears from the last two episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill.
Cast
Varian : "A man from the 23rd century possessing awesome powers", Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline "tuning fork" device called the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device is completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks, from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device. Following the departure of Professor Paul Jordan at the end of the pilot film, Varian takes over as de facto leader to the travelers and adopts a parental role over Paul's teenage son, Scott.
Scott Jordan : "The 13-year-old son of a famous scientist", Scott has an excellent knowledge of Earth history and events, but is still young and has much to learn.
Dr. Fred Walters : "A young doctor just out of medical school" whose impulsive and rather hot-headed nature acts as a counterpoint to the calm, pacifistic Varian. A friend of Scott's father and the only other member of the group from the same time period, the athletic black physician takes the role of protective "older brother" with the young teen.
Liana : "Daughter of an Atlantean father and an extraterrestrial mother", the beautiful blonde Liana possessed greater than human physical strength and powerful psychic abilities which allow her to, among other things, telepathically communicate with animals. Saylor left the show after the episode "Turnabout" due to illness. In the next episode "Riddles" the reason for her not being present with the group was given that she opted to stay a few days at Coriel to help the inhabitants work out their new government and would catch up with the group later.
Dr. Jonathan Willoway : "Rebel scientist from the 1960s" who has a mastery of computers, robotics and scientific knowledge which is quite useful to the group. He is something of a never entirely trustworthy black sheep, basically a cooler version of Doctor Smith from Lost in Space without the congenital cowardice, who often tends to do things for his own mysterious reasons. Over the course of the episodes, however, the black-clad Willoway comes to care about Scott and his fellow travelers and becomes more integrated into the group, although Fred makes no secret about still not trusting him which leads to a bickering Spock/McCoy-style relationship between the two.
Sil-El : Liana's companion and pet, a "tuxedo cat" with which she can communicate telepathically and who sometimes scouts ahead for her, acting as an extra set of eyes and ears.
Production
recalled that once the show had been commissioned, she and the producers had a very short period of time to develop and produce the show before filming commenced. Additional scenes were filmed and inserted into the pilot which introduces the Atlanteans who are the focus of Episode 2, but this new material also quickly moves off-screen the characters Paul, Eve and Jill, as the network wanted a more diverse group of travelers. Also, a subplot involving the travelers finding a 1940s Air Force pilot held prisoner by 16th century pirates was removed from the first episode. The show benefited from a larger than normal amount of location filming, with familiar sites such as the Hollywood Hills, Zuma Beach, the Bonaventure Hotel in LA and Griffith Park Observatory all appearing in various episodes. The character Willoway was created specifically with Roddy McDowall in mind. Fortunately the actor was interested and took the role when approached. Although airing in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs and fantasy was at a height, the show failed to last beyond the ten episodes, having been scheduled as a mid-season replacement against The Waltons and Welcome Back, Kotter, both very popular family shows. NBC ordered 12 episodes to follow the revised pilot, but production ended early when it was apparent that the ratings were low. The show was either pre-empted or its time-slot changed several times during its short run. By its tenth episode, its ratings had dropped, and it was cancelled. The script for an unproduced eleventh episode, "Romulus", was once available on the Internet. Within a few months of its abrupt ending, several of the production team would be producing the thematically similar Logan's Run for the Fall 1977 season.
