Gene Roddenberry was frustrated. After Star Trek was axed, the man who envisioned a "Wagon Train to the Stars" found himself stuck on solid ground, trying to capture lightning in a bottle for the second time. Most people think Star Trek was his only major swing at high-concept television, but that's just not true. In the early seventies, he was churning out pilots like a man possessed. One of those strange, forgotten artifacts is the planet earth film 1974, a made-for-TV movie that served as a pilot for a series that never actually happened.
It's a bizarre piece of media.
If you stumble across it on a late-night broadcast or a grainy YouTube upload, you might think you’ve walked into a fever dream involving 1970s gender politics and post-apocalyptic spandex. This wasn't a nature documentary. There were no soothing voices talking over footage of lions. Instead, we got John Saxon waking up in a cryogenic chamber centuries after the "D-Decade" blew the world to pieces.
The Weird Origins of the Planet Earth Film 1974
To understand why this movie exists, you have to look at Genesis II. That was Roddenberry’s first attempt at this specific story, produced just a year earlier in 1973. CBS passed on it. But ABC saw potential in the "frozen man wakes up in the future" trope and decided to give it another go, albeit with a massive overhaul. They swapped out the lead actor, Alex Cord, for John Saxon, who played Dylan Hunt.
Hunt is a scientist from our time. He’s the ultimate fish out of water.
In the planet earth film 1974, Hunt belongs to PAX, a subterranean society of scientists dedicated to rebuilding civilization through peaceful means. They wear these colorful, slightly tight uniforms that scream mid-seventies aesthetic. The conflict kicks off when Hunt and his team venture into the "Mutant" territories to find a doctor who can save one of their leaders. What they find instead is a society called the Confederacy of Chenania.
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Honestly, the "Chenania" plot is where the movie gets truly controversial and, frankly, a bit dated. It’s a matriarchal society where men are kept as "Dinks"—basically enslaved labor. The film tries to be a commentary on the burgeoning feminist movement of the era, but it does so with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It’s clunky. It’s weird. It’s fascinatingly awkward.
John Saxon and the Cast Dynamics
John Saxon brings a certain rugged, leading-man energy that was very different from William Shatner’s Kirk. He’s more grounded, maybe a little more cynical. Opposite him is Janet Margolin as Lyra-a, a member of the Dinks who isn't quite what she seems. Then you have Diana Muldaur, a Star Trek veteran who would later appear in The Next Generation as Dr. Pulaski. Seeing her here, playing a high-ranking leader in a post-nuclear wasteland, is a treat for sci-fi nerds.
The acting is surprisingly earnest. Despite the goofy costumes and the recycled sets, the cast treats the material with respect. They aren't winking at the camera.
Why Did It Fail to Become a Series?
Network executives are a fickle bunch. ABC looked at the planet earth film 1974 and saw a lot of "what if" scenarios but didn't see a sustainable weekly show. They were worried it was too intellectual or perhaps too provocative for a prime-time slot. It’s a shame, really. PAX could have been a proto-Federation, and the show could have explored different "fragmented" societies across the ruined United States.
Instead, the project was shelved.
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A few years later, the same basic concept was recycled again for a TV movie called Strange New World (1975), which also failed to go to series. It seems Roddenberry was obsessed with the idea of a 20th-century man fixing a broken future, but he couldn't quite find the right formula until he went back to the stars.
Production Design: A Time Capsule of the Seventies
If you watch the movie today, the production design is the first thing that hits you. It’s peak 74. You’ve got wood paneling in high-tech bunkers. There are massive computers with spinning reels of tape that supposedly run the entire world.
The outdoor locations—mostly Southern California scrubland—give it that classic "backlot" feel. You've seen these hills in MASH*, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes. It feels familiar and alien at the same time. The music, composed by Lalo Schifrin, adds a layer of funk-infused tension that you just don't get in modern sci-fi.
The Legacy of PAX and Dylan Hunt
Dylan Hunt didn't die with the planet earth film 1974. The name was eventually resurrected decades later for the series Andromeda, which was based on other unused notes from Gene Roddenberry. In a way, the 1974 film is a spiritual ancestor to a lot of modern sci-fi. It explored the idea of a "soft" apocalypse—one where humanity isn't extinct, just reorganized into strange, unrecognizable cultures.
The movie deals with themes of:
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- The ethics of genetic engineering.
- The danger of absolute power, regardless of who holds it.
- The struggle to maintain scientific integrity in a world ruled by superstition.
- The tension between isolationism and global (or regional) cooperation.
It wasn't just a "women rule the world" story. It was a "how do we not blow ourselves up again" story.
Finding a Copy Today
For the longest time, the planet earth film 1974 was a white whale for collectors. It would pop up on VHS bootlegs at conventions, usually labeled as "Roddenberry's Lost Movie." Eventually, Warner Archive released it on DVD, giving it a much-needed clean-up. The colors are surprisingly vibrant for a TV movie of its age.
Is it a masterpiece? No. But it is a vital piece of television history for anyone interested in how the creator of Star Trek viewed the future of our own world.
How to Approach Watching Planet Earth (1974)
If you're going to dive into this, you need to set your expectations. Don't go in looking for Interstellar. Go in looking for a smart, albeit dated, social commentary wrapped in a pulp adventure.
- Look for the Trek DNA: Notice the way characters debate philosophy in the middle of a crisis. That’s pure Roddenberry.
- Appreciate the Practical Effects: There's no CGI here. Everything you see—the "subshuttle," the futuristic gadgets—was built by hand.
- Contrast it with Genesis II: If you can find the 1973 pilot, watch them back-to-back. It’s a masterclass in how a studio can take the same premise and tweak it for different audiences.
The planet earth film 1974 serves as a reminder that the path to success is often paved with "failed" experiments. Without the lessons learned from these pilots, we might never have gotten the refined storytelling found in later iterations of the Star Trek franchise or the darker, more complex sci-fi of the 1990s.
To get the most out of this obscure gem, track down the Warner Archive DVD or look for high-quality digital rentals. Pay close attention to the dialogue regarding the "Great Conflict" and how it mirrors the Cold War anxieties of the 1970s. For students of film and television history, it is an essential case study in pilot development and the evolution of the post-apocalyptic subgenre. Use it as a jumping-off point to explore the other "lost" Roddenberry pilots like The Questor Tapes, which offers a similarly fascinating look at what could have been.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
- Compare Pilots: Watch Genesis II (1973) alongside Planet Earth (1974) to see how John Saxon’s portrayal of Dylan Hunt differs from Alex Cord’s.
- Research PAX: Look into Gene Roddenberry's original notes for the PAX organization to see how much of the "Earth-based Federation" concept was planned for a full series.
- Explore the Era: Check out The Questor Tapes (1974) for another example of Roddenberry’s mid-seventies output that shares similar themes of technology and human evolution.