We’re diving into a wild ride with “Starflight: The Space Plane That Couldn't Land,” where the stakes are as high as the orbit! This episode's main highlight is the chaotic journey of a commercial space plane that gets stuck in a dangerously high orbit, leaving the crew scrambling for survival with dwindling oxygen and malfunctioning systems. As we unpack the hilariously absurd moments, from a coffin rescue to the questionable logic behind sending a dead guy to save the day, we reflect on the film’s blend of Cold War anxieties and sci-fi thrills. Our banter takes you through the ups and downs of 1980s television movie magic, and we can’t help but sprinkle in some playful critiques and nostalgic references. So, grab your favorite snack, sit back, and join us as we navigate through this space adventure that’s more entertaining than educational! The lively banter between hosts takes listeners on a whimsical journey through the often absurd but entertaining world of the 1983 television movie *Starflight: The Space Plane That Couldn't Land*. As they dive into the plot, which features a space plane stranded in orbit, the hosts share their comedic takes, playful jabs at the film's science, and nostalgic reflections on 80s pop culture. They dissect character dynamics, especially the love triangle involving the charming pilot played by Lee Majors, his supportive wife, and a flight attendant who is more than she seems. The hosts don’t shy away from poking fun at the film’s budget constraints and the over-the-top drama, all while weaving in relatable anecdotes that resonate with anyone who's ever watched a cheesy TV movie. Through their light-hearted commentary, they highlight how the film mirrors the era's fascination with both space travel and melodrama, inviting listeners to laugh along as they reminisce about a time when TV movies were a staple of weekend entertainment.

Takeaways:

• In this episode, we explored the chaotic world of space travel through the lens of the 1983 TV movie 'Starflight: The Space Plane That Couldn't Land' and its hilarious mishaps.
• We learned how the film mixes humor with suspense, featuring a wild cast of characters and a plot that kept us on the edge of our seats—well, sort of!
• The dialogue was filled with playful banter, showcasing the chemistry between characters while tackling serious themes like corporate greed and the risks of pushing technological boundaries.
• Despite its cheesy nature, the movie is a nostalgic trip that highlights the quirks of 80s television while reminding us of the real dangers of space travel.
• The characters faced absurd situations, but ultimately, the film wrapped up with a neat bow, leaving us questioning the reality of their survival—did they really make it back?
• We also touched on how the film reflects Cold War anxieties about space technology and corporate recklessness, a topic still relevant today.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Amazon
• Pizza Hut

Oh, shut the door.

April showers.

And eventually something else, I hear.

But I.

At least it's washed the graffiti off the side of the building.

Hector and his friends have discovered the stockpile of the spray cans.

Oh, spray cans?

I thought that was chalk.

Okay, never mind.

Bad children.

Cooter Jack was collecting something out back there.

But you know, you can't roadkill.

You can't always encourage good behavior.

When it's Lula May's kiddos, I still.

Wonder if they're actually hers.

Just saying.

It's not like she's getting support payments.

I've seen the bills.

She's a billionaire.

She's a millionaire many times over.

She doesn't need support payments.

Woman, she's the cheapest rich person I know.

Well, look around.

Look at our paychecks.

Yep, pretty much.

I see sandwich bags laying on the.

The sink in the break room there.

She's been rinsing them out.

That's probably how.

She's a billionaire.

Cheap ass woman.

Anyway.

Yeah.

Well, it's definitely no longer the early days of spring.

It's gotten nice out.

Although I'm probably shooting myself in the foot because whenever I about how nice it is out, it tends to get colder again.

I did that here.

It.

It went from, like, a heat wave to cold rain and then wind.

It's, like, super windy.

Yeah, we had to put the.

We had to put the.

The supports up over the windows the last few days.

Otherwise the.

Probably would have blown out and the videos would have been lost to the wind.

Hmm.

I'm just.

I'm just excited because I got a replacement part for my bike.

It.

It went kerplunk.

Not the whole bike.

Know that you're old when a computer.

When a part for your bike gets you excited.

Well, we won't talk about how excited, but I'm gonna be able to be outside and not have to have my feet on the ground for too long.

Oh, that.

Well, your feet hardly on the ground at all, from what I understand.

What got me excited was I got some ceramic glue from Amazon that day, and I was like, oh, so excited.

Yeah, you got a lot of heirlooms you have to fix because you're clumsy.

Yeah, actually, this a little.

Little dish.

I. I got it from a secondhand shop for, like, $2 or something like that.

Got out of the car, got out of the truck at home, dropped it.

It's fixed now.

It's.

It's very cool.

It's very.

Well, as Rosie o' Donnell used to say, have nice things.

It's True.

It's very, very true.

Because she was talking about Pizza Hut glasses at the time.

There are still.

There are some of those in the back there.

I, I think there used to be a Pizza Hut in this up in Plaza.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Yeah, well, we have a thing that we gotta do here because the, the people don't tune in just to hear us gibber about the, the movie Returns there.

Speaking of returns, play this.

Alrighty.

Well, go ahead and pop that in the VCR for us.

No matter how many times that happens, it still tingles a little bit.

Yeah.

Oh, my.

Do you smell?

I, I smell Aqua Nat and secondhand smoke.

And, yeah, I, I could project.

I think the 80s might be upon us.

Let's see.

Good afternoon, time travelers.

Told you.

A year when the world felt tense with Cold War anxieties which dominated headlines as President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative.

US Forces invaded Grenada and the tragic Beirut barracks bombing shocked the nation.

Science and culture also surged forward when Sally Ride became the first American woman in space and the very first commercial cell phone was approved.

The year also marked poignant losses, including playwright Tennessee Williams and classic film icon David Niven.

It was a year of endings, beginnings, and history in the making.

Back in 83, that was the first cell phone.

I can only imagine it had its own zip code because it was probably about 20 years before I had my first cell phone.

After that, whoever, how big, like, even the car phones were.

I remember my father was so happy to get, like, a knockoff car phone and it, like, basically took up the back seat.

And I'm like, what does it hook up to?

I don't get it.

Yeah, yeah.

And they are called bag back then because eventually they got small enough that you carried around.

It looked like you were going to go ride horses because you had this big thing you were carrying on your shoulder.

Okay, well, I hear the kid with their.

Is it PC to call it a ghetto blaster?

Is it a boom box?

I don't know.

I, I, we always called it a boom box.

I never heard the other term.

Oh, yeah.

Well, maybe I may, maybe I've been hanging.

Maybe I did.

Maybe it's just been a long time.

Maybe I've been hanging out with Lula May too long.

After the, after my shift was over there, I do hear some music in the alley.

Rewind through time into movie night blockbusters.

In these in black and white.

From 80s thrills to silver screen dreams trapped in the past by a time machine.

Each time the door for DJ and Matt to expl of the Lord.

The past is present and you're gonna want more.

Aquanet.

Reagan's in office.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, yeah, there was carpet everywhere, including people's bathrooms.

Oh my gosh, that was horrible.

Right,.

So I up for.

I've had enough of the wall to wall carpeting.

Let's maybe blow this popsicle stand and see what the other folks are doing for good time out there.

What are we doing 83 Matt to get out?

Well, actually where we actually watched it, I think we're gonna watch a TV movie.

I don't know.

I just have a feeling what I did is I, I, I looked in the, of the, the paper.

Yeah.

So we have the day after, which was a massive cultural event about nuclear war and its aftermath.

And I remember the commercials.

I did not actually watch it because it scared the pee pee out of me.

I think Jack Lemmon was in that.

One probably at least until things happened.

Anyway.

Then there was a movie called Sadat which was a biographical drama about the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, which starred Louis.

Gossett Jr. Oh, he was the guy in the Iron Maiden movies.

Yes.

He was not Iron Man.

Iron Eagle.

Okay.

Oh yeah, yeah.

Okay, that makes a little more sense.

I was like, wait, what?

He was also in this show that maybe we'll get to watch next season called the Powers of Matthew Starr.

Oh yeah, there's also, there was, there's this one movie here called Princess Daisy and basically it's a two part miniseries with lavish soap style drama starring Judith Krantz.

Oh.

Based on a new Judas Krantz novel.

I don't know.

I 80s were like many miniseries and.

With that, with a title like that though, Princess Daisy, we have to remind our listeners, especially our younger crowd that might be trying to sneak in without paying a ticket, that that Nintendo was not even in stores in 83.

Princess Daisy was nothing to do with the Mario brothers.

Oh, was her name Daisy?

I don't know.

She was always the annoying little brat at the end going, oh yeah, princesses is another castle.

Oh, I mean, isn't, isn't that what they used to say to you when you were out going out with friends, your princess is in another castle?

Yeah, be like girl, I am the princess.

Okay, then there's one here called Love is Forever.

And it started Michael Landon, based on a true story of A journalist rescuing his wife from Laos.

We really got around the world back then.

I bet you there was at least one shirtless scene in that.

I hope so.

I mean, he.

He looked.

He looked good.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

But anyway, then the.

The Thornbirds, which was another miniseries, and this was actually one of the biggest TV events of the entire decade, and it starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, and got awards, including Walt.

Won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes.

And my.

My grandmother was a huge Richard Chamberlain fan.

She also was unknowingly kind of a.

A fruit.

We'll.

We'll go with fruit fly because I don't want to say the other term.

Right.

On.

On our show.

Anyway, she.

She took.

She.

She.

And she.

It was like our den mother in the club.

Yeah, we'll go with that.

She had no idea.

And she never had any idea.

She had crushes.

If she had crush on Liberace.

No clue.

No clue.

He even shook his hands in the Girl.

A lot of people will say that about.

Oh, gosh, 70s Richard Simmons.

No, he's saying the theme to the David Bowie.

The.

The movie that we just talked about with Goldie Hawn.

I'm forgetting it right now.

Anyways.

Yeah, the Thornton Birds.

That was.

That was.

You don't own me.

No.

I don't know.

Barry Manilow.

Okay.

Oh, yes.

People had a hard time believing that he wasn't straight.

Barbara was.

That Babs was at his wedding.

Anyways, the Thornbirds, that was a thing.

My big sister loved that.

She read the book or books or whatever it was.

And I remember she used to have this thing where she would, like, watch it.

The TV movie.

It was a miniseries.

She would watch miniseries regularly, like the same time every year.

It was like a summer thing for her.

We should also all remember that Richard Chamberlain, while he came out later on on, he gave people in the industry some bad advice in his career, and he told them to stay in the closet.

Yeah.

And that kind of tainted him a bit.

Carl.

I'm.

Yeah, that.

That's a very precarious thing to do.

I mean, maybe Jonathan.

Jonathan Bailey can.

Has been able to have the success being open.

And Matt Bomer has done real well.

There's.

There's some.

There's some gays out there who are.

Are just kicking it and doing great back then.

I mean, Richard Chamberlain is the love interest in this huge miniseries in the 80s.

He's not.

It's not because he's gonna be out and gay.

I mean, although he did play a priest, and that was a little.

Hey, Whatever.

Whatever get you there.

Yeah.

Bad advice.

Also for the times.

Understandable advice.

Right.

Well, speaking of kicking it, that light on the VCR is blinking.

I guess we ought to figure out what we're going to talk about today, huh?

Fingers crossed.

I hope it's not some cheesy TV movie.

Right.

And I hope I have a sense of smell left after this.

Here.

Today, you're watching a television movie named Starflight.

A space plane that couldn't land.

A routine test flight turns catastrophic when a commercial space plane is hurled into a deadly high orbit after a freak accident.

With systems failing and oxygen running low, a desperate ground crew races against time to save the stranded passengers.

Gee, that sounds fun.

Right?

Well, the space plane that couldn't land.

Okay, I know that this is a TV movie because just on that premise, it sounds like we've got a movie.

We don't know who we want to put in the cast.

We've got a sitcom star that wants to break out on their own.

I know.

We'll see if Shirley or Balki can land the plane.

Balky wasn't even balky yet.

No, he wasn't.

Yeah, it would be more like.

It would be more like, oh, Laverne and Shirley at the helm.

That would have been fun, right?

I mean, I could see Laverne trying to be the flight attendant.

Shirley could try to be a pilot in training, maybe.

Maybe.

I could see Laverne being like.

When somebody gets up, she'd be like, sit down.

Right.

And.

And in the beginning of the movie, Sheen's seen outside the.

The flight hangar with a can of spray paint doing her.

Her monogram.

L.

We sure we need some more pizza.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Pop order it from Pop's restaurant.

Pop is running the catering on this flight.

Yeah.

Mrs. Babish is handing out the drinks.

Oh.

Lenny and Squiggy are, like, hiding in the.

In the cargo container in back.

And they're the ones.

I was gonna say spoiler.

Maybe if Lenny and Squiggy were on the plane, we wouldn't be.

We wouldn't be disappointed.

Yeah, I could just see.

I could just see them being like, let's go look at the storage locker and see if everything's okay.

And then all of a sudden, they pop out.

Hello.

Right.

Somebody goes to use the lavatory and they pop out instead.

Yeah.

Oh, all right, we've got our assignment year Starflight.

Okay.

Doesn't it remind you of, doesn't it remind you of that, what was it?

The, the Little Engine that could.

Right.

Space train.

The Little Engine that Couldn't.

And I looked it up.

This was a Sunday night movie.

Now, despite, right, despite perceptions from modern day, because when you watch this, there are some moments where you ask yourself, are they serious?

Do they really think people are going to believe this?

People waited all week long to see this movie on Sunday night.

Now I'm sorry though, if the network is promising me that I'm gonna wind down my weekend before heading to work on Monday.

I think I want to watch something a little bit happier.

Well, not only that, something that actually makes like sense in the world because there were things that they were doing and saying that I'm like, that's, that's not right.

We know that that's not how that work.

I mean they might as well have been doing like things about like the fluons and the flux capacitor.

We didn't know.

Nobody really knows how it all works.

So we'll get down to brass tacks here in Starflight, the space plane that couldn't land.

The story begins with the maiden voyage.

It's got to be maiden voyage because who wants to hear about the snot nosed brat boy Maiden voyage of a futuristic commercial space plane designed to make rapid suborbital travel routine.

And what starts as a groundbreaking test flight quickly goes wrong when an unexpected accident sends the craft far beyond its intended altitude.

The central problem, the ship is stuck in a dangerously high orbit with limited oxygen and no safe way to bring it back to Earth.

We are making the idea of future travel attainable to people.

So it's kind of like the Concord, the Next generation.

Although in 83 the Concord was still going strong.

It didn't get grounded, if you will, until after September 11th.

But.

Well, I don't forget.

I, well, first off, I was looking for Katy Perry in this.

She wasn't there.

Okay, don't forget, one of the reasons that the, the takeoff was delayed was for some reason they just had to have somebody in a casket.

So there's like some, some dead political person and they have to put a casket in there for some reason.

Oh, and as we get to it, do you remember the wife's reaction during that one part that we'll talk about later?

I was like, really, girl?

Really?

That's just not right.

Oh, shut up.

Well, we're trying to say we're trying to save the lives of 50 people, and you're all like, no, please don't do that.

I mean, we haven't gotten to that point in the discussion yet.

It should be no surprise that of course we have an all American hero who's gonna play the leading man in this, or at least somebody.

Hell yes.

Not to mention gorgeous.

Somebody who's played many parts like that.

Of course, this moment that Matt's teasing towards involves a special favor on behalf of the White House.

Yeah.

And let's just say, without giving too much away, it's interesting that they made that part a widow because she was speechless.

And that's a good thing because she didn't have to put on a fake accent because she's supposed to be from Australia.

Oh, my gosh.

Okay, the one guy in the beginning is in the beginning so we can talk about it.

The one guy who is, like, supposed to be in Australia launching the.

The rocket.

Oh, his accent was painful.

It was like, literally like, oh, please just stop talking, dude.

Because he had to.

He had to finish everything with mate.

He's like, my accent might be shite.

Well.

Oh, that's.

That's Irish.

Sorry.

Maybe horrible.

At least I'm okay, mate.

Have another shrimp on the barbie.

As we're launching this rocket into space.

Mate.

I mean, it had the production value of daytime drama.

Yeah.

Here's the setup.

As we just mentioned, it wasn't meant to go that high.

Something happens.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, and they end up having to put the pedal to the metal because suddenly there's a little bit of debris in the road, if you will.

That's the problem.

And I'm going to ask you that first question, sir.

How effectively does this film establish the space plane as a routine, safe innovation before introducing the crisis?

Does it look like it's part of daily travel?

No, it absolutely doesn't.

And the thing is, it's like, okay, they go from, like, the very first scene, like, I don't think it's ready, we should cancel, to, like, saying.

Basically saying, well, there's nothing wrong.

There's, like, all the instruments, everything else, like.

And.

And they did.

They got into space just fine.

Like, it looked like it was going to be the perfect flight, and everything was fine.

The Only thing that sounded bad was, like, how Linden's character.

Well, yeah, Hal Linden's character was all like, I don't know.

It's a gut feeling.

And actually, technologically, there was nothing wrong with what happened if that.

If the.

Basically, let's just say that the quote unquote bad guy who didn't want to lose money, who also happened to be on this plane for some dang reason, he launched his company.

He had.

Even though it was not cleared to launch, he had his company launch a rocket that was supposed to put a.

Or like a satellite into orbit.

Right.

And space isn't big enough for, like, two things to be flying around at the same time.

Apparently the.

They launched the rocket with the painful accent guy and he said, and then it got up there and then there, and then they're like, it wasn't supposed to be launched.

Oh, my gosh, it's gonna run in.

They're gonna run into each other somehow.

I don't know.

And then they blow up the rocket.

Well, of course they blow up the rocket and they put like thousands of pieces of debris and metal and stuff like that into the.

The flight path because there's no way to thrust up a little bit and avoid it.

And then the plane get.

Or the.

The plane gets damaged and then has to go up.

And that's.

That's why there's the.

The issue saying all that.

No, I think that if that hadn't happened, the space plane flight would have been fine.

It didn't seem like there was anything off and.

And it would just be what it is.

Well, what do you think?

I.

It's interesting because they've.

I thought.

And it's not true.

I thought that the space plane, which they didn't really have any other name for it, at least the.

The major plane producers of the world, like Airbus and Boeing, they have project names or code names for their crafts.

This is just the space plane.

The.

The look of it was based upon, like, the Concord, and they did some streamlining and made it futuristic.

I.

It was only loosely based on concepts.

Anyways, somebody who was involved with the.

The special effects industry was involved with this movie and designed that plane.

I think his name was Michael Dykstra.

Anyways, the.

How effective were they in making it look like everyday travel?

Well, some of the sets were pretty cheap.

They were like, well, we can't actually afford airplane seating.

Let's just get a bunch of old.

Lazy Boys, I know they could have done.

Possibly rented out a flight school from an airline or something and made it on at least an existing craft.

The seating areas on the plane looked like it was I.

A diamond.

Somebody's basement, like during.

During a reunion.

It looked like a dining car, like an old diner.

Like there had.

There were.

They were missing bar stools and boots and tables.

Yeah.

Other than that, the.

The airport itself, I mean, was probably a real airport, and they did their best to make it look like it was normal.

They put their logos all over the place.

The logo of the airline, though, it just sort of looked like a mesh between Pan Am and Continental Airlines logos.

I. I'm.

I wasn't quite sure that they made it look like it was routine because there was a lot of hype.

They had a camera crew there and everything.

It's like, okay, I guess this is the first flight.

Right.

Well, and they had, like, an entire room and everything, like, set up for, like, the media.

Like, I don't.

I don't think about that.

It would be routine for maiden voyage.

I understood.

Yeah.

They could have done something with that weird room I love.

Like.

Okay.

Because, like, they had this big open room with all those chairs and everything.

Then the cockpit was like this tiny little cockpit where everybody was kind of crammed in there.

The cockpit looked real.

That was neat.

Hey, what specific event triggers the central problem?

And how clearly is that moment explained to the audience?

Well, we know what triggers it.

So what.

I was triggered.

I was waiting for a commercial break.

Yeah, right.

That never comes.

How clearly is that moment explained to the audience?

Do you think it was.

Was pretty clear?

Gosh, I mean, maybe it's just me and my attention span squirrel.

It wasn't really until I had watched the second time that I paid enough attention to realize there are things going on at the same time.

There happens to be a guy who we call him the bad guy.

He's a.

He's a aspiring entrepreneur.

He's a selfish space dude.

It's not like I'm going to lose money if I don't get my space.

Yes.

He.

He was doing the Rich Boy Fit.

The guy that played the dead man on Weekend at Bernie's is in.

This is the.

The sort of villain guy wasn't the.

One in the coffin.

No.

Which luckily.

Oh, wait, we did see him.

I was like, luckily, we didn't see him.

And I'm like, oh, wait, no, they.

They moved him.

Him.

That one guy was, like, freaking out over it.

Anyways, the.

The specific event that triggered it was the launch, the unauthorized launch of the satellite, which, okay, space, whether or not it's big enough for everything out there.

We have government organizations that are in charge, right, Tracking our airplanes.

The fact that there's going to be another launch taking place, that's government controlled.

And that's why they weren't authorized to launch because they knew darn well there was something else that was going to be in the path.

I'm not sure it would even be possible for someone to press the button if some government types were hanging over your shoulder ready to chop your arm off.

So the satellite is attempted to be launched.

And that's where it gets confusing because I'm not sure that anybody has the ability to self destruct their toys in space just because things didn't go their way that would have, that would have actually continued to launch and they would have collided with it in one piece.

Yeah, exactly.

I don't think it's very clear that what's going on is that it's a satellite launch.

We just hear them talk about a rocket and you're kind of left to wonder, is this some form of a terrorist effort?

Why would they want to prevent the space plane from having a successful mission?

Unless there may be some competition?

Possibly.

Yeah, absolutely.

How do the early scenes build tension around the main problem of being stranded in orbit with limited resources?

How did the early scenes build tension?

You ask about the main problem being stranded in.

I think it does a decent job.

No more so than any other movie of the same thing.

Oh, look at us, we're doing this thing.

We don't have much oxygen.

Oh yeah, okay.

I could have predicted all this.

I could have predicted that your ship's gonna get hit by something.

And especially if you're out there in that part of think.

I mean, you could get hit by all sorts of things, right?

I, I loved the use of rope.

Oh yeah.

Like the rope to like, oh, we're just gonna tie a tether for.

And then.

Oh, and, and didn't you love how since they didn't have anything to make you weightless during that big tube that they connected to the, to the other, the spacecraft, like people were just like, like falling all over, being knocked around and I'm like, girl, you're weightless.

That's not how it works.

Yeah, those early scenes there, I mean they, they, they had a fair amount of people talking about, oh, this is the first time we're doing this sort of thing.

And then they talked about how, how long the flight's going to Be, I think they mentioned, the captain was mentioning that it was, it was supposed to be like a two hour flight or something.

And they were flying from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, which there are time zones and all that.

I personally have not done a lot of traveling outside of the country.

I've been out of the country and had my passport stamped once I went to Ireland.

That was an eight hour flight.

Okay.

Yeah, I, I looked it up.

In order for you to travel from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, that is 19 hours by traditional air flight these days.

Right.

Well, the whole premise of this was it was supposed to go like straight up to the.

I don't know if that was stratosphere.

It was supposed to go up, just center where space was and then come right back down.

And it would be like different somehow.

The Earth's still spinning whether or not you're on it.

Right.

Because it's supposed to be like a rocket.

Like if we, like when we put the moon thing up, if they had gotten up to a certain point and said, no, we're not going to go all the way to the moon, they could have turned right back around and they could have come down, I think more than two hours.

We'll have all this technology, you know.

Well, and, and it should be noted that obviously they get stuck because there, there's a fair amount of talk that this is a commercial airline craft.

It's not, it's not meant to go into upper orbit.

This is a plane that we need to keep in a influence of gravity because these are not astronauts and maybe we have limited resources.

Maybe we've only got enough air for our flight.

Well, and not to mention that they did have thrusters they couldn't have.

Like something went wrong with the thrusters if they couldn't use it because of something or other.

I forget what.

Oh, they didn't have enough fuel, which is why they had to send Columbia up there four or five times.

Like in, in like the span of like two hours or something like that.

It was like.

This is pure TV movie comedy gold, folks, because the event of the week involves throwing out all of the rules in the book.

Yeah.

Because we are just gonna send up another shuttle.

Like you've missed the city bus.

There'll be another one along in an hour.

And they don't even like alternate.

Like the shuttles that they send up, they don't even alternate.

It's the same one.

It's just like, up and down, up and down.

And then.

Oh, and the hysterical thing is that one point, they actually try to make it sound like we don't have enough space shuttles and they're looking for anything that might be out in space that could help them.

And they're like, well, we're not supposed to know about this.

We have a craft in orbit that is doing maintenance on a military satellite.

It's like, right.

Who are you kidding?

That's not even a.

A problem.

That's the same shuttle you used in the last.

It's called stock footage.

Right?

Not to mention, like after, after Columbia has already been up there like three times, then the, the person that's in charge of it's like, I'm not sending it again.

It will cost me $93 million.

My.

Exactly, girl.

Yeah, it should be noted two important facts that would make anybody who has a high school education right.

Question how accurate the science is in this show.

Okay, Just a handful of years later, from the Starflight, the space plane that couldn't land, we had a wonderful movie with Leah Thompson in it.

The.

The girlfriend for.

Well, the mom from Back to the Future.

It was called Space Camp.

And they had a problem because the space shuttle wasn't prepared for a mission.

They got up there and they didn't have enough air.

And the problem that they very much would have run into on Starflight was that Starflight is not meant for orbit.

It's meant for travel in Earth's atmosphere where there's air and they don't have the equipment to recycle air on a ship like a commercial airliner.

They call them scrubbers, CO2 carbon dioxide scrubbers.

And there's.

Okay, that's the first problem.

The other one is if you look it up, even in the heyday of the space shuttle program, it took four to five months for them to prepare another craft for a launch.

The thing is, like with any of these movies in the, the 80s, 80s or 70s, 80s 90s that were space movies, the first thing that's going to happen is you're gonna be running low on oxygen.

It's the same way that if you were on Earth, you would, no matter what you were doing, you would somehow run into quicksand.

In fact, during my childhood, I, I thought that I would run into a lot more quicksand in, in my life.

Thankfully, I Have not.

Yeah.

What was, what, what was the other thing that was on Gilligan's island all the time?

The coconuts?

Well, no, the, the explosive stuff that we use in medication for people with heart problems nowadays.

Nitroglycerin.

Yes.

That was like everywhere.

Right.

You just randomly, like find some stick of dynamite somewhere and you'd be like, oh, look, it's dynamite.

Like, oh, yeah, I, I have not run into any of that thankfully either.

Right, okay.

There was enough tension in the early scenes there and they certainly had limited resources.

And you know what?

Yeah.

Before we go on real quick, the other thing that we should mention in the first part of this is that Lee Majors and his wife are, are like just a very unhappy couple because Lee Majors has eyes for one of the, the, the stewardesses, the older stewardess, mind you, who has a child that she brings on the ship.

Whatever.

Anyway, yeah, that, that whole thing was,.

I mean, that they were unhappy because it was a conversation at the breakfast table.

Right, exactly.

And he's all like, don't start this now, not today.

And she's like, well, when you ignore me, you don't love me.

You love her, don't you?

And he doesn't.

And the thing is, is though that he doesn't actually say.

And when they get to the airport, he and the, the other woman like make eyes at each other and then all the wife does is look at her and go, well, she's pretty.

I've never had much use for pretty women or something like that.

Right.

And I'm like, honey, your husband's pretty.

Okay.

Yeah.

The Lee Majors.

Speaking of limited resources and possibly somebody who, who wish they had more resources, we have the man behind the camera, the director, the person who sold this vehicle, if you will, to the network for a Sunday movie.

And Matt, who might that have been?

Well, it was the man who wanted to torture Saul.

His name was Jerry Jamerson.

Yeah, he would not be able to operate his cell phone, I don't think.

Anyway, he grew up with an early interest in storytelling and built a long career directing for television and film and helmed episodes of Gunsmoke, the Six Million Dollar man, and directed the disaster film Airport 77, which was actually pretty cool.

And basically, I mean, he was really loved, well known, had a strong work ethic when it came to his projects and he kept his personal life kind of largely private though, really focusing on his family and decades long career.

He.

He was a fan of the disaster.

Genre there because, well, he certainly made disasters anyway.

Yeah.

Actually, I know somewhere out there, there's.

There's a whole following of people that want to see the original program and the commercials, because maybe Lee Majors did a commercial for a Happy Meal that was a tie in.

What kind of toys would it have come with?

I know.

It would have been the laughable gold bricks that were in the cargo bag.

Okay.

That's the other thing I was actually gonna mention a little bit ago.

Like, what was with the gold bricks?

Like, you just see gold, like, floating up and then they float off.

And that's the thing.

Okay?

They floated outside the ship.

They've, like, floated out into space.

And I'm like, the hole ain't that big.

How the hell did all these gold bars just float off into space?

And then all they all.

When the captain.

When the pilots and stuff saw them, all they said was, they're both a million dollars more money than it would.

Have cost to save us or something like that.

Right.

And they're like, our lives are worth more than that gold.

Well, the funny thing is, is that with the focus on the cargo, because.

Spoiler, of course, with all of the debris in space from that satellite.

All the debris in space from that satellite, they had a collision, and they actually have what we call in sci Fi.

Nerd.

Dumb.

A hull breach.

There's a hole in the plane.

Some of the wires are poking out and barking.

Yeah.

Sparking.

They don't know how bad the damage is until we'll get further into the story.

Point of fact, they do show that there's a payload of gold bars.

And I thought at some point, maybe the.

Maybe the gold bars are going to be the bobby pins of this movie.

That's what I thought, too.

Like, why show it to us other than, oh, look, we're gonna make gold bars float.

Or maybe the gold was gonna save the day by melting and keeping the hull together.

I don't know.

Right.

Which.

Okay, then that's another thing.

It's a.

It's a space.

It's.

It's a flight that is not.

The hall is not made for, like, actual space yet.

There is space and there's a hole.

Part of the ship does not collapse for some reason.

Then, like, okay, they.

After they got most of the people off, which we'll talk about in a bit, they had.

They made.

He made that one person stay behind, get in a suit, and go out of the ship to fix the wiring and seal the breach.

And I'm like.

And nobody thought about this like in the first place.

Well, it's like that old adage, is there a doctor in the house?

Whenever somebody is choking or whatever in a restaurant, is there a doctor in the house?

Okay, is there an electrician on board the plane?

Because it doesn't matter if you not had training on how to work in space, you're an electrician.

We're gonna put the fishbowl on your head and wrap you up with a shower curtain.

Oh, and then of course, when they send the first guy over and he takes his time putting on his suit, remember they're like, oh, poor Paul.

Yeah, because he got sucked down into space because he didn't put his damn helmet on.

Yep.

There.

There's one thing that we should point out.

In horror movies there's a trope of the person who talks the most and it's usually the air headed, pardon me, blonde, who's supposed to be the first one that gets killed.

Okay.

In Starflight, the space plane that couldn't land, there was one poor man in the crew of the aircraft who basically got voted off the island because he admitted that he's the only person who's on his resume, said that he wanted to be an astronaut.

Suddenly, because he wanted to be an astronaut, they gave, they gave him the mission of walking the plank.

Here you go.

You want to do it so bad, go ahead and help with this.

Right, exactly.

And he's the one that dies.

And you see it happen in slow motion.

He's in this chamber that's like an airlock.

And they tell him, make sure you close the door.

Right.

And instead of actually doing it or holding it or putting on his helmet, he just stands there watching it, it come undone.

And then it's like, ah, I actually expected.

Okay, in, in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, there's a scene where the Jeff or the, the guy that plays her boyfriend, the one you remember in Greece, the guy that plays like Kaniki.

Oh yeah, yeah.

Okay, he's in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

And he's like basically trying to stab her, beat her up, something like that.

And she throws leeches on his face.

Space.

Yeah.

And then he, and then he lets out this ah, like this fake sounding scream.

And I actually expected this guy to like, just to hear that as he's going out into space.

Well, of course that brings us back to the in space no one can hear you scream thing.

Right.

Well, but also we should remind folks that people assume that because it's dark that space is Cold?

No, it's actually just the opposite.

It's freaking boiling because you have radiation.

Okay, alrighty.

We have a carnival.

That's what I'll call it because we got a TV movie, a carnival of talent here.

And of course the leading man, as we mentioned, is somebody who's played the all American hero type, Mr. Lee Majors.

He was born back there in 39s before the war was over.

He was born April 23 and 39 in Michigan.

Wyandotte.

It's like a Wyandot.

It's Wyandotte, Michigan.

He was raised in Kentucky down there with him horses.

And he rose to famous Colonel Steve Austin in the Six Million Dollar man, becoming one of television's biggest stars.

And he continued his success with the Fall Guy who.

Which was basically a stunt.

And while also headlining TV movies like Starflight, the space plane that couldn't land off screen.

Majors high profile marriage to Farrah Fawcett.

One of those Charlie's Angels drew public attention.

He remained focused on a long, steady acting career.

And Today he is 86 years old.

That's pretty close in age to George Takei.

And we'll talk about more Star Trek in a little bit.

And he continues make occasional public appearances including fan conventions and reunions with former co stars.

I think that's awesome.

I think he's really neat.

Oh yeah.

And Mr. Lee Majors has kept himself busy over the years and he's had more than 90 acting credits as.

As you heard me say, he was in the Six Million Dollar man and the Fall Guy.

Bet you didn't know know that before he got his rise to fame in the Six Million Dollar man, he was in Big Valley.

What's one of those western shows he played Heath like.

Yeah.

Was it.

Was that the same show that had Michael Landon on it?

No, that was.

That was.

Oh, Bonanza, I think.

Yes.

No, no, this was the one that had Barbara Stanwick in it.

And she.

Or she sounded.

She.

She was a.

She was like when she wake wood with a barn caught fire with her in it.

And she was all like trying to yell for help and it just came out help.

Her and Bea Arthur are like baritone women.

Oh, yeah.

They could remove wallpaper without much effort.

Of course.

Starflight, the space plane that couldn't land in 83.

And then later on he did something called the Norseman, like up there in the Scandinavia Norseman.

And well, he described that as more of a curiosity.

So.

Yeah, like it's.

It seems like people like watch it.

If they like him, they watch it's.

Mainly because they're like really?

Really.

It's interesting what people find out.

Others hobbies are.

It's like I really want to see Lee Majors in a leading role.

Wait, this is a documentary about him doing origami?

Pretty much, yeah.

Did I tell you that I had, I had his doll when I was a kid?

Yeah.

Oh yeah, I think hubby had one too.

Yeah, the Six Million Dollar man doll.

I, I, I, they gave it to me and I took his clothes off and found nothing interesting and I popped his head off and carried it around in my pocket.

It because it had a bionic eye, so they had a little magnifying glass you could see.

Oh, the things he saw.

There was nothing to see.

That's the reason I carried his head around in my pocket.

I was gonna say some, some fan has created a YouTube series about their action figures head and that travels in their pocket.

Exactly.

So of Lee Major's films or his acting career of all those 90.

Well, I mean, to my credit, I was just a wee one when he was in the heyday of his rise to fame there.

So I've only seen three.

My favorites were the crossover episodes of Six Million Dollar man and the Bionic Woman.

Because it's no secret knowing which side my bread's buttered on.

I actually like the Bionic Woman more because kind of like Playgirl back or Play.

Yeah, See where I'm going now?

Playboy.

Back in the day, I used to read it for the articles.

I, I just found that the stories on this on Bionic Woman were more interesting because.

Well, especially because she had Max.

Right, Max the Bionic dog.

And she was a tennis star.

Right.

Well, and that's the thing too is that she was also an astronaut and, and stuff like that.

She was like, she was a, a kick ass woman when she had her bionic hearing.

She just pulled her hair back.

I can't, I can't hear.

I can't hear 10 miles away with my hair in front of my ear.

Let's be clear.

It's all that aquanet in the 70s.

She couldn't hear you until she pulled.

Her wig back, apparently.

Yeah.

Really.

This was the modern interpretation of Christmas Carol Scrooged with Bill Murray and like all of his Other roles to this point in his career.

Lee Major saves the day because Santa is about to be taken out by the bad guys.

And Lee Majors comes to the rescue in this fake TV movie.

In the movie Scrooged with Bill Murray.

So, yes.

Anyways, those are my favorite moments where the crossovers with Bionic Woman and that was three of them.

How many have you seen?

Well, the crossovers, probably all of them.

Don't remember hardly any of them.

I've seen about eight in the.

His projects.

My favorites are probably $6 million man and the Fall Guy.

I, I remember.

I mean, I wasn't like a super huge fan of the Fall Guy.

It was one of those things that like, it was on when family was there.

I ended up watching it.

Yeah, the, the Six Million Dollar man, probably my favorite of his.

I mean, because of the, the time frame that I grew up in.

I didn't see it when it was in its initial run.

Yeah.

For me, my introduction to the Six Million Dollar man and the Bionic Woman was that magical moment in early 90s history when cable television got its own dedicated genre channel, the Sci Fi Channel.

They weren't, they weren't making their own shows yet, so they bought everything that wasn't nailed down.

That there was, was a library of reruns.

You got to see things like Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar man and I think the original series of Star Treks.

That's in how I ended up watching Farscape for the first time.

That was lit much later, huh?

Here we get to the meat in the sandwich here.

Oh, yes, please.

Speaking of Lee Majors with the.

Actually that should have been a drinking game.

We should have seen how many buttons were undone on the pilot there.

Oh, not.

The central conflict.

Sounds like a building.

In the airline there.

Central conflict emerges once the space plane is thrown in into an uncontrollable high orbit.

Kind of like that church going old lady sitting next to the girl on the plane after she had a few cocktails.

She was an uncontrollable high orbit.

Oh, and didn't you love how when they, when the, the mother sat her down to basically babysit her, her child, which she had nothing to do with the whole flight for some reason.

She, when she sat the woman down, the woman's like talking about her Christian, her Christian like book or something.

Oh yes, I'm a good Christian.

And it's like, really, you have to do that when you explode A few minutes later we'll be like, oh, did.

You notice the expression on the little Girl's face, how thrilled she was to be sitting next.

Right.

I'm like, that would have been my.

That would have been.

Been my.

That would have been my expression as well.

Like really.

The funny thing is, while it wasn't her, the character or the actress playing her reminded me of the first housekeeper on Different Strokes.

Save the world.

You mean before Mrs. Garrett?

Yes.

Her name was like Abilene or something like that.

And she had her hair up in a bunch of all gray.

Oh, and of course, if you notice that, that little old lady, like when she does get blown up a little bit later, if you notice like her legs, when her legs are going up in the air, I'm like, oh, girl, you don't have a wrinkle on those legs that you are fake.

Yeah.

It's not you playing that role.

Yeah.

Just like Kim Cattrall.

It was a mannequin.

So the, the passengers and crew were stranded and there was rapidly depleting oxygen and failing systems.

The rising action builds as multiple rescue attempts and solutions are proposed.

Like we said, it's like the city bus.

Don't worry, you'll miss that one.

We'll get another shuttle up in a few minutes here.

So there's multiple rescue attempts that are proposed and each more desperate than the last.

Tensions escalate between those on board and mission control While mechanical failures worsen.

Time runs out and the crew must confront impossible choices to survive.

Whereas in the beginning of the the movie and they're getting ready to go up, the captain gets on the air and says to the cabin that there's a slight delay because we've got a new passenger that's joining us.

We're gonna send around the beverage cart so the time flies by.

Oh, I know.

I was like, we're just gonna get everyone drunke care.

Yeah.

And realistically we would have had drunk people in space, which for some reason sounds like a skit on In Living.

Color or a Suno song.

Drunk people in space.

Coming to you soon.

Oh, get a whiff of that Aqua Net and that secondhand smoke.

It must be time for a brief break.

We're going to take a moment for some nostalgia, some ads, some jingles, something from the early to mid-80s that makes you wonder.

Will you get back to your seat in time to listen to the rest of the conversation?

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Where will we fly to next?

Well, we've been thinking be the experience.

In a world of fun, fantasy and ever changing views and computer terminology, Commodore is used.

Are you keeping up with the Commodore?

Cuz the Commodore is keeping up with you?

Are you keeping up with the Commodore?

Cuz the Commodore is keeping up with you.

Are you keeping up?

Cuz the Commodore is keeping up with you?

Are you keeping up?

Cuz the Commodore is keeping up with you?

In a world of high technology and ever changing modes, In a world that's full of fake belief and changing attitudes, Are you keeping up with the Commodore?

Cause the Commodore is keeping up with you.

Are you keeping up with the Commodore?

Cause the Commodore's keeping up with you.

Oh, of that.

Did you find yourself agreeing with the risky decisions being made or were you thinking, why would they do that?

Okay, well, let's start with the first one.

So they end up sending up the spaceship Columbia, which somehow is ready in five minutes and gets there in 20 minutes.

I mean, it's a pizza delivery.

Yeah, apparently it's like an Uber or something.

Yeah, they end up getting there and, and they, they're like, okay, well what's the one thing we can do?

Okay, we have to get Hal Linden, who is the only person who apparently knows how to operate or figure out the problem.

Right.

We have to get him back down on the ground in the next 20 minutes.

They send up the spaceship Columbia and they're like, oh, how are we going to get him over?

Okay, well, for other people, they've been using these tubes and stuff, right?

Well, for him, they're like, hey, I got an idea.

Let's take the dead guy out of the coffin and put Hal Linden inside the coffin and see if it's sealed up and then throw it out into space across to the other ship.

And they do that.

And then he gets there and, and what happened?

What.

How did.

They're like, how did you make it?

Oh, oh, that was the most horrible joke I know.

And it's like, oh, well, what they said about the little boy, they stuck his finger in the dike and, and.

It's like I was waiting for the, the, the woman astronaut to say, you got anywhere else to put Those fingers.

I was just like, oh, that wouldn't fly today.

There'd be, like, lesbian writing campaigns.

Well, not only that, his fingers would be black from the lack of oxygen.

Okay, that's the other thing that I was thinking.

I'm like, literally, you put your finger over the hole.

That would have sucked your.

Your skin right off or something.

Yeah, I mean, it would.

I mean, I watched Mr. Wizard.

I saw him dip the hot dog in liquid nitrogen.

His hand would have broken off like a cheap statue.

Yeah, that was like.

That wouldn't work, sir.

Not to mention they're like, oh, well, if he runs out of.

If he runs out of oxygen in this big thing, halfway through the four minutes that it took to get to the other shoot ship, he can just hold his breath.

Right.

Just because if you work in aerospace, it suddenly makes you an Olympic swimmer.

Exactly, exactly.

They get him in the coffin, they get him over there, they get him back down, and then he doesn't really help much with the solutions.

I mean, he kind of does or whatever, but then they send the ship back up 20 minutes later for another rescue.

Well, more importantly, though, because this is a TV movie, he probably quite literally was back on Earth after the commercial break, right?

Yes.

Yes, he was.

It's like, even when they're like, okay, we're gonna send the.

The ship Columbia up to get him or whatever, and like the next scene, they're there.

I was like, wow, that didn't take any time at all.

Right.

Because when Astronau home for.

To Earth, they're not put through decompression or anything or.

Not to mention, they land in a different spot.

And then they have the.

And then all the.

What happens to the ship debris?

That happens when they release that?

When they send the ship up there.

Yeah.

Is the.

Is the plane gonna run into that too?

Anyway, they.

They do that.

Then they have the second rescue attempt where they're like, we can take 5 passenger.

Was it 20 passengers?

5 Passengers at a time?

Something like that?

Yeah.

I think it was like they took five passengers through this tube that they connected to the thing.

And that's after they blew up the.

The one with the.

The one astronaut and he.

Right.

Mr.

Walk the plank.

Right.

They're like, well, that didn't work.

And the coffin works.

Let's try again with the tube.

They have that big.

Big rope going all the way through the tube.

God, the tube.

The tube looked like an amusement park ride.

It looked like somebody went to the play palace at McDonald's.

Well, I think they said that they could take like 25 people or 20 people or something.

Five people at a time through the tube.

They got five people through the tube and they're like, oh, this is really great.

Right?

And let's send the next five people through.

And of course, it has to be the one guy who caused the whole thing in the first place because it was his rocket.

Something's gonna happen because he's got to be punished in movie lore, right?

And then they also send off the little old Christian lady, and the two of them are like, going through this tube, bumping and banging.

Like there's like.

It's a.

It's a carnival ride.

And they.

They get halfway out there and then like, somehow this tube is bouncing all over and bounces into the thing that's sparking, like.

And I'm like, how are you guys.

Next to this hole in the breach that was actually on the other side of the ship when.

Anyway, there was a commercial break.

They switched sides, apparently.

And.

And what happened to the gold?

Anyways, it.

Then it.

It ends up sparking the tube and the entire tube.

Tube blows up.

And like, there's no real reaction from anybody at all except that.

And.

And then I'm like, okay, you just had the.

The tube exploded.

Both the doors are still open on both spaceships.

Nothing happens.

They're just like, okay, well, we got five people.

We're going back to Earth.

Bye bye.

Yeah.

And at one point, because we're talking about the rising action, they're.

They're.

They're getting their minds together on how we're going to get the passengers.

And there was actually the plane.

Right?

That's another movie.

Yeah, that's some rising action right there.

Brought to you by the Pillsbury Doughboy and Yeast.

Where was I going with that?

I don't know.

Oh, the, the rising action.

And oh, at one point they got it in their heads because Al Lyndon's character says, well, we can't keep just taking a handful people off and on.

All that would take forever.

And his wife, of course, saves the day and she's like, well, you need a bus.

Oh, that's.

They decide that they're going to use a fuel tank, which they probably haven't even had time to clean.

It's gonna stink a little bit.

We're gonna put you in this tight hole.

You're all gonna have to be in there together.

Other.

I'm sorry.

As huge as they talked up this tank, it's supposed.

It was supposed to fit like 50 people or whatever.

When they were shown Transferring that tank up to the space plane.

It was small enough that you could see one astronaut on each side of it.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

How is that gonna fit 50 people?

I know, I know.

And then.

And then they're like, oh, and then when they do send the bus part up, right?

They're.

They.

They send that big thing up.

They're like, we can take 35 of your.

I don't know, 50 people or something like that.

And they're like, we did volunteers to stay behind.

And.

And then.

And then they're all, like, packed in their, like, little sardines.

And I'm like, there's enough room there.

There.

You could have just shoved everyone in there and been like, oh,.

Speaking of the man whose wife came up with the idea of the space bus.

Yes.

Who was the man who played the.

The aerospace guy in this movie that was the expert on the plane?

Oh, okay.

You mean Mr. Hal Linden?

Yeah.

Okay.

And he actually is more than just an actor.

He's also a musician.

And he rose to fame on Broadway before joining the cast of Barney Miller, which made him literally a household name back in the 70s and 80s.

And he appeared in television films, including, well, this one and off screen, though he was known for his warm personality, long marriage, and love of music.

And he is 95 years old and still living.

And he has done a lot of stuff and a lot more theater than he has done film projects.

He's had over 60 acting credits for on television and film.

Film.

And the top ones, of course, were Barney Miller, which ran 75 to 82.

And I remember watching that in reruns a lot.

And then Starflight, then Jack's Place, which only ran a year, actually earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

And that was in 92 to 93.

Then he was in this musical theater thing called the Roth the Rothschilds, and it really highlighted his musical abilities.

And then, believe it or not, in his top five acting appearances, one of them was a guest appearance on the Love Boat.

Right, right.

Well, he didn't quite have as many acting credits as Mr. Lee Majors.

Maybe that's because he didn't have as many mistresses.

Let's go with that as the character he played.

By the way, it should be noted that these actors played characters with names.

Lee Majors played Captain Cody Briggs and Hal Linden was Josh Gilliam, the aerospace expert there.

Of all those 60 acting credits that you mentioned, Matt, I'm afraid I'm late to the party.

I've well, technically, I've seen three.

Now that I've seen Space plane or Starflight, rather, I would probably say.

This is very telling.

I know that I prefer Love Boat mostly because it was one of those guests of the week shows.

And you're like, it's Florence.

What is Mrs. Brady doing on a cruise ship without her husband?

Why, she's seducing Lee Majors, of course.

Where's Mr. Brady?

Oh, he's.

He's blown.

He's seducing Gopher, of course.

Right.

Well, how else do you get free drinks?

Yes.

The one theme song that I think everybody can sing.

Almost everybody can sing.

Sing.

Oh, well, I once sang that at a convention to taunt people to join my panel because somebody.

Somebody made the mistake of giving me a live microphone.

I was like, you.

You don't want to hear me sing.

And then I sang Love Bone.

Oh, well, hey, that's at least one.

We all remember it, right?

Okay.

I've seen five of his films or projects, of course, and it seems kind of silly to say, oh, yes, I've seen five of his things when I've seen, like, all the Barney Millers and years of stuff.

Anyway, Barney Miller was probably my favorite of his because I grew up with.

With that and.

And he was.

He was great in it.

And then my second favorite would probably be Black's Magic.

Now, this is a show that was on, I think, in the late 80s ish.

And maybe early 90s 90s, and not many people really paid much attention to it.

It was kind of like here and Gone.

I actually wrote him when he was doing the show and requested an autograph and an autograph picture, and he sent one back.

So I have an autographed picture of Hal Linden.

Oh, yeah.

Anyway, but just.

Just an aside.

I think he's really neat.

Yeah.

Okay, well, you want to take that next one there?

Whoa.

You mean what happens in the end?

Well, guess what?

In this movie, the climax hits as a last ditch rescue plan is put into motion with almost no margin for error.

With oxygen nearly gone.

Now, apparently they started out with like 60 hours of oxygen, and then all this stuff happened and it got, like, less and less and less and less.

They had, like 10 minutes.

It was almost all gone.

The systems are failing, and the crew must attempt a dangerous maneuver to bring the stranded ship back within reach of Earth.

And while the resolution follows as the plan succeeds just in time, allowing the survivors to return safely, the film closes on relief and reflects reflection and emphasizing both ingenuity and the risks of the pushing Technological boundaries.

And of course, in the very end, what happens with the.

The.

The when the.

The mistress meets the.

The wife,.

It's like a high school reunion.

They both fell for the quarterback and they forgive each other.

Right?

And the wife goes, goes tell him I was here until I knew he was safe.

And then she stormed off.

Not before the mistress gives her a kiss on the cheek.

Kind of like consolation prize.

Thank you for your man.

Bye.

Bye.

Right, well.

And then of course, we should note, mention that one of the.

Well, not really a trope.

One of the.

The props in the movie is a lucky charm.

The.

The captain, played by Lee Majors, wears a fishing hat complete with lures on it.

That's supposed to be his.

His lucky charms.

He keeps wearing it in the cockpit for good luck because this is the maiden flight of this ship.

When they're down on the ground and everyone's doing their hugs at the.

At the gate or whatever, he's.

We're trying to figure out whether or not the mistress is going to stay in the picture and Lee Majors gives her his fishing hat.

Yeah, it's kind of like the.

We're going to be married.

Oh, and don't you love.

In the beginning of the.

Actually toward the beginning of the film, when the daughter who's like a teenager asks her mom, like, if they're gonna, like, if they're.

If they're like, having an affair or whatever.

And she and the mother's all like, yes, we are.

And I don't need your judgment.

You have.

You have no right to judge.

Judge me.

Like, wow, who wrote that?

On a very special episode of Facts.

Of Life, apparently, my.

My 12 year old daughter.

You have no right to judge me for having sex with someone who ain't your daddy.

Reagan's in office.

I'll have you locked up for talking to me like that.

Right?

It's the 80s.

I can have an affair if I want to.

In fact, it says so right here in the script.

Right.

And that's why you kind of wonder, is Sleep Majors gonna make it back to Earth, or is he gonna sacrifice himself because he had an affair?

Because that's what happens in movies back then.

Mm.

Yeah.

Hey, I got a question for you.

Yeah.

During the final rescue attempt, were you on the edge of your seat or did it feel a little too convenient?

Oh, geez.

Well, I mean, as I said, that big tank that was supposed to hold 50 people, it didn't look big enough.

Honesty.

That really.

The.

The.

The final rescue was kind of two part.

They had to get the passengers off the aircraft.

Right.

One.

And then of course, the captain always goes down with his ship.

In this case, the captain was going to try to land the aircraft because in reality you break it, you bought it.

And he would have lost his job with the airline if he didn't bring the craft home.

Was I on the edge of my seat or did I feel a little too convenient?

I think it was a little too convenient.

Yeah.

They came up with some solutions that weren't really believable.

And we've got some other questions here.

Maybe I'll leave this to the next part there.

Well, and I was kind of wondering like, why couldn't you, why couldn't you just send that guy out and have him do his little repair part of the ship?

Because they had gas for thrusters and everything.

I don't know why they weren't.

Why you, you had the gas, you had the thruster, why couldn't you just take the ship down?

I don't remember why exactly.

I don't mean to put on my Mr. Wizard hat.

One thing that a earthbound aircraft would not have, that something like a space shuttle would have.

And I don't know if they're called the same thing because I'm a sci fi nerd.

Not that you aren't.

They have these things on the shuttle or whatever we're flying nowadays to help it turn and rotate and all that.

They call them control thrusters.

A regular aircraft that's meant for flying in the Earth's atmosphere, or at least within it, isn't going to have to do fancy maneuvers like that.

It just, oh, that's right, they had to wait till they fell back into orbit.

Wasn't that what it was?

Okay, I remember that now.

Okay, well, actually, to quote Shelley Winters in the Poseidon Adventure in the water, I'm a very skinny lady, remember me?

Oh yeah, there's that.

Okay.

Hey, did you, did you, did the ending feel earned after everything the characters went through or did it wrap things up too neatly?

Oh, well, I mean, there could have been a whole cancel.

It was, it was in the side of the plane.