Logan's Run (TV Series) Logan's Run (1977) User Reviews

"Carousel Is Death!"

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 16 October 2006]

The television version of 'Logan's Run' begins in much the same fashion as the 1976 movie of the same name; we open with an aerial shot of a fantastic city of domes, decades after nuclear wars have ravaged our planet. The year is 2319. It is a perfect world of pleasure - but only if you're under 30. Then, on 'Lastday', citizens must subject themselves to the ghoulish ritual of 'Carousel', believing it to be renewal.

Logan and Francis are Sandmen - security officers whose task it is to hunt and kill 'runners' - people who have realised 'Carousel' is in fact population control. Logan is under surveillance as he has been overheard questioning authority. We are therefore unsurprised when he throws in his lot with runner Jessica. After a chase through the city, Logan and Jessica venture outside, finding the air to be clean and the water and soil uncontaminated, the exact opposite of what they'd believed to be true.

Now the plot ventures in a different direction from the movie; Francis goes before the Council Of Elders, a group of wizened men who hold the real power in the city. He is offered a place on the Council if he brings Logan back for reprogramming.

Finding a solar-powered craft, Logan and Jessica begin searching for 'Sanctuary' - a mythical refuge for runners - only to find a community living in a fallout shelter, which is constantly under threat from 'riders' - warriors on horseback, kidnapping people to use as slave labour. Logan and Jessica may be free of the city, but haven't escaped from danger yet...

I prefer the 'Logan's Run' television series to the movie. Gregory Harrison and Heather Menzies make an attractive couple as 'Logan' and 'Jessica' respectively, and British actor Donald Moffat adds a welcome touch of humour as the lovable cyborg 'Rem'. Hiring the co-author of the original novel as one of the pilot's writers was a smart move. Quite a bit of recycled movie footage, most notably the 'Carousel' sequence, but not as much as there would have been if this were an Irwin Allen series. The pilot barely sketches in the characters before they start running. Logan seems to have quite a lot of ammo about his person; perhaps he knew in advance he was going to run? How come Francis is always one step behind Logan and Jessica even though he's on foot and they're not? How come Jessica's hair always looks great? Don't question - just enjoy. A decent series opener.

Prime example of why movies don't make good TV shows

[mhorg2018 · 2/10 · 16 February 2022]

Logan's Run might have been a better idea if they'd called it Logan's World, and had it take place after the domes collapsed at the end of the movie. Instead we have two likeable leads in Harrison and Menzies, caught in a lame, bottom of the barrel, dollar an episode show. Another of the endless chase/fugitive type shows (much like Planet of the Apes), the writers thought it was a great idea to drag in a council of old people who are really the bosses. Francis is taken right in (unlike the fanatic from the movie who likely would have shot them all), and becomes their agent. Throw in a comic relief 'android' and this show is really a major league bust.

Not Bad for a Television Pilot

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 23 March 2023]

Based on the popular film produced a year earlier, this television pilot essentially rehashes the initial movie storyline with two young men named "Logan" (Gregory Harrison) and "Francis" (Randy Powell) gathering in a coliseum within their domed city to watch the event known as "Carousel" in which those who have just turned 30 are given the opportunity for "rebirth." It is during this event that Logan is notified that a person has failed to show up for Carousel and--since it is his job as a "Sandman" to enforce this rule--he is subsequently tasked to track down and kill the offender now designated as a "Runner." To that effect, he tracks the Runner to a small room where he observes him talking to a young woman named "Jessica" (Heather Menzies-Urich). Upon approaching them, he is told by Jessica that Carousel isn't what it seems and that nobody ever lives through it--and that "rebirth" is just a myth. Having been wondering about that exact same thing for quite some time, Logan continues to listen and doesn't see that Francis has now entered the scene as well. Although Logan tries to convince Francis to listen to what Jessica has to say, Frances refuses and shoots the Runner--killing him instantly. He then turns to shoot Jessica but she is saved when Logan knocks him unconscious. Realizing that his actions were in complete violation of the law, he now has no choice but to join Jessica and become a Runner himself. And the only place either of them can go is outside of the domed city--where nobody has gone for over 200 years. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay television pilot which expands the overall story by incorporating more of the outside world. Obviously, it lacks the originality of the movie and as a result it doesn't quite have the same impact or effect. That being said, however, it wasn't a bad television pilot by any means, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.