SF Obscure: Hard Time on Planet Earth/Chaos on the Bridge

Hard Time on Planet Earth was an American series broadcast for 13 episodes in 1989 starring Martin Kove. An elite alien military officer is sentenced to earth as his penalty for rebellion. He is given human form-much weaker than his older form-and sent to Earth to improve his violent behavior. (Or maybe curb his violent instincts or learn about goodness, it all gets a bit murky.) Anyway, he’s banished to Earth with an AI system called Control to monitor him. He’s given the name Jesse. Control  is a giant, floating mechanical eye. Jesse has to help people in need to get back into the Ruling Council’s favor.

Hard Time on Planet Earth is an adventure-of-the-week type of show. Jesse has to learn to survive on Earth. Most of the information he and Control rely on comes from television shows, so its not entirely accurate. There’s a heavy dose of comedy with commentary on modern (1989) consumer America.  In one episode he steals money from an ATM then turns himself in when he finds out its a crime. In another, he goes to Disneyworld. In yet another, Jesse joins the US Army. Along the way, he meets new people and becomes involved in their daily lives. The also spend a lot of time trying to think up ways to hid an giant floating AI eyeball.

Critics trashed it. It didn’t get much of an audience which is why it was canceled so quickly. Watching it again, it’s not nearly as bad as I remembered it. The floating eyeball is still dreadful; but some of the episodes are kind of charming and its has sort of a goofy but endearing element to it. There were actually quite a few well-known writers. Micheal Piller of Star Trek fame wrote a few episodes.  I won’t lie and pretend like it’s a hidden classic. Thirteen episodes pretty much covered the possibilities  of the “alien super soldiers in human bodies with floating eyeball partner” genre.

I also got a chance to see Chaos on the Bridge on Netflix. It covers the backstory of the making of Star Trek: The Next Generation and all the controversy that surrounded it. The infighting. The studio conflicts. The fans who were sure it was the end of the franchise. (Sound familiar) It’s only about a hour and worth the watch. If you haven’t already, watch it along with The Captains, which are William Shatner’s interviews with all the  actors who played captains in Star Trek, how they felt the role impacted their lives and careers.  (Sir Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine) or if you prefer, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Archer, and Kirk 2.0. It’s a Shatner production and very Shatner-centered, but still a lot of fun.

I plan to see Black Panther when it premieres in Japan this weekend. And apparently a reboot of Lost in Space is coming to Netflix. I’m not sure if it’ll be on Netflix Asia, but I might give it a watch.