Written by Linda
November 15, 2009
A foxy moustachioed scientist wakes up 150 years in the future to find that the chicks are still hot, even though they have two navels and wear ridiculously complicated underwear.
In the early 1970s, Star Trek creator tried to kick start a new futuristic series with a series of TV films that were essentially pilots to a series that never got off the ground. The first was Genesis II (which is curious, considering the "Genesis" idea was investigated again in the later feature Star Trek films). In this 1973 TV movie, however, Genesis II is about a futuristic society, who, of course, reflect values and cultures of the past. The moral is that "modern" 20th century values essentially blew up the world, and humanity had to start from scratch, hoping to not repeat the same mistakes. It's back to the basics, kids.
In the future (aka 1979), scientist Dylan Hunt (foxy moustachioed Alex Cord) decides to test his theory of pressurization as a sort of deep-freeze for sleeping through long space journeys. The top secret laboratory is deep under the surface of the Earth in a series of caves, and of course just as shirtless Dylan goes to sleep, the caves collapse, leaving him in a 150-year snooze, but aging only hours instead of years.
Back to the future, some humans find him still passed out in his chamber, perfectly preserved and breathing, though just a little hairier. When Dylan regains consciousness, he is a bit startled to find out that he has pulled a Rumplestiltskin, but quickly gets over it when he sees that one of his rescuers is a totally hot chick with the very sci-fi name of Lyra-a (which the actors uncomfortably pronounce as "Lira-Uhhhh," as though they are trailing off in confusion). Lyra-a is played by the young, hot Mariette Hartley, who erases all memory of her famous Polaroid commercials by immediately dropping her robe for Dylan. She not only shows him that she has two navels, but is also wearing a bizarrely complicated bikini made of a whole bunch of sci-fi geometrical shapes.
With her two navels, Lira-a is not human, but is a mutant of Terrainia. She is under cover in this human world (called PAX), where people have "unisex beliefs" (way back in Dylan's time, see, humans blew themselves up because of lust for power, and, well, lust in general). So, Lira-a escapes with Dylan up to the enemy surface society where mutants live (and everyone dresses like extras from Caligula), and where humans are kept as... slaves! Turns out neither the mutants' nor the humans' societies are perfect in Dylan's eyes, so he is torn over who to align with in this strange war that he has been thrown into.
Considering this TV movie is from 1973, it is impressive to see how forward-thinking Gene Roddenberry was, especially in his casting. In Roddenberry's future, there are whites, blacks, Asians, and even Hindi folks, plus there are women in roles of power. Heck, even the beloved Majel Barrett, who would be welcome in any time period, shows up for a couple scenes. Multi-racial depiction to this extent is still rare even these days on television. Sure, the plot of Genesis II plays like a Saturday afternoon popcorn matinee—and it has more than its share of cheese—but it is still watchable for sci-fi fans who are interested in Roddenberry's other work.
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