REQUEST: Help with title of an old TV series

MScottM · 06-07-07, 10:52 AM

Okay guys, lets test those memories. Yours as well as mine. This is what I (think) I remeber. Late 70's early 80's. Western type/Sci-Fi tv show. Don't remember much except that it took place in the 1800 and was a western where the good guys found an underground city with bad guys that were really advanced (a futuristic city). The film during the western shots was black and white but when in the underground city, it was shot in color. The series didn't last long and it was run kind of like the old series from the '30 and 40's with a cliff hanger at the end of the episode and a "tune in next week for the exciting conclusion" ending.

Thats it. Please tell me if I dreamed this up or not.

sjrab16 · 06-07-07, 11:05 AM

Here you go:

The Secret Empire, NBC, 27 Feb 1979-1 May 1979
One of the stranger Western/Sci-Fi halfbreeds, this cuts back and
forth between black-and-white 1888 Cheyenne Wyoming and underground
extraterrestrial city Chimera (filmed in color).
Marshall Jim Donner -- Geoffrey Scott
Billy -- Tiger Williams
Millie -- Carlene Watkins
Jess Keller -- Peter Breck
Maya -- Pamela Brull
Princess Tara (Feb-Apr) -- Diane Markoff
Princess Tara (Apr-May) -- Stepfanie Kramer
Eperor Thorval -- Mark Lenard
Roe -- Peter Tomarken
Hator -- David Opatoshu
Yannuck -- Sean Garrison

MScottM · 06-07-07, 11:20 AM

Wow. Thats it. Great find. By the way, how/what did you use to search for this?

GeorgeP · 06-07-07, 11:40 AM

Funny to see the host of "Press Your Luck" on this show.

Are there no whammies in the distant future, Peter?

sjrab16 · 06-07-07, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MScottM

Wow. Thats it. Great find. By the way, how/what did you use to search for this?

I used Google. The search terms were 1970's Sci Fi Western Television show. The results brought up a page that listed most of the scifi television shows in the 1970's. And I was able to find it that way with the info you provided regarding the plot.

Holly Martins · 06-07-07, 12:52 PM

Quote:

In this homage to the cliffhanger serials of the '30s and '40s, 19th Century Wild West Marshal Jim Donner stumbled upon a secret underground city known as Chimera while chasing a gang of robbers. Chimera is lorded over by an evil despot named Thorval. Donner teams up with the resistance rebels in their effort to overthrow Thorval's cruel reign, while simultaneously investigating the gold robberies on the surface.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078684/

Call me a sucker for hokey Sci-Fi but this premise really sounds interesting to me and potentially worth a blind buy (I wasn't even born in '79).

Didn't see it at Amazon does anyone know if it's available somewhere else on DVD?

MScottM · 06-07-07, 12:55 PM

Great. Thanks again. I think I may have been the only one in the world to have watched this show and to remember it so well. I checked out IMDB after you got the name for me and the reveiw is almost exactly what I listed in the original post. Several years ago I tried to convince some people that such a show did exist and that I had watched it but they thought I must have been delusional. Once again, thanks for the help.

Numanoid · 06-07-07, 11:53 PM

This wasn't a show of its own, it was one of three segments in a show called Cliffhangers. The other two were a Dracula story, and a contemporary murder mystery (starring Susan Anton

). Check this out (they have pages for each segment, as well): http://www.tvobscurities.com/article...fhangers_2.php

I actually have a journal from 5th grade where I list Cliffhangers as one of my favorite shows.

06-07-07, 10:52 AM	#1
MScottM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 728	REQUEST: Help with title of an old TV series Okay guys, lets test those memories. Yours as well as mine. This is what I (think) I remeber. Late 70's early 80's. Western type/Sci-Fi tv show. Don't remember much except that it took place in the 1800 and was a western where the good guys found an underground city with bad guys that were really advanced (a futuristic city). The film during the western shots was black and white but when in the underground city, it was shot in color. The series didn't last long and it was run kind of like the old series from the '30 and 40's with a cliff hanger at the end of the episode and a "tune in next week for the exciting conclusion" ending. Thats it. Please tell me if I dreamed this up or not.

06-07-07, 11:05 AM	#2
sjrab16 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 620	Here you go: The Secret Empire, NBC, 27 Feb 1979-1 May 1979 One of the stranger Western/Sci-Fi halfbreeds, this cuts back and forth between black-and-white 1888 Cheyenne Wyoming and underground extraterrestrial city Chimera (filmed in color). Marshall Jim Donner -- Geoffrey Scott Billy -- Tiger Williams Millie -- Carlene Watkins Jess Keller -- Peter Breck Maya -- Pamela Brull Princess Tara (Feb-Apr) -- Diane Markoff Princess Tara (Apr-May) -- Stepfanie Kramer Eperor Thorval -- Mark Lenard Roe -- Peter Tomarken Hator -- David Opatoshu Yannuck -- Sean Garrison

06-07-07, 11:20 AM	#3
MScottM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 728	Wow. Thats it. Great find. By the way, how/what did you use to search for this?

06-07-07, 11:40 AM	#4
GeorgeP Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Phoenix Posts: 319	Funny to see the host of "Press Your Luck" on this show. Are there no whammies in the distant future, Peter?

06-07-07, 12:55 PM	#7
MScottM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 728	Great. Thanks again. I think I may have been the only one in the world to have watched this show and to remember it so well. I checked out IMDB after you got the name for me and the reveiw is almost exactly what I listed in the original post. Several years ago I tried to convince some people that such a show did exist and that I had watched it but they thought I must have been delusional. Once again, thanks for the help.

06-07-07, 11:53 PM	#8
Numanoid DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Down in 'The Park' Posts: 27,065	This wasn't a show of its own, it was one of three segments in a show called Cliffhangers. The other two were a Dracula story, and a contemporary murder mystery (starring Susan Anton ). Check this out (they have pages for each segment, as well): http://www.tvobscurities.com/article...fhangers_2.php I actually have a journal from 5th grade where I list Cliffhangers as one of my favorite shows.