''Plymouth'' is a 1991

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television film that was shown on ABC Network in the same year, as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for a planned series. It was created by

Lee David Zlotoff Lee David Zlotoff (born July 10, 1954) is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series ''MacGyver''. He started as a screenwriter for ''Hill Street Blues'' in 1981. He then became a producer of ''Remington Stee ...

and funded by the American Broadcasting Corporation,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

and Rai uno radiotelevisione, with Lockheed acting as

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director on the convincing portrayal of a subject. The advisor's expertise adds realism both to the acting and to the setting of a movie. Nipo T. Strongheart Nipo T. Stronghear ...

Plot synopsis

Plymouth, a small timber and mining town in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, was contaminated by radiation from a nearby factory run by multinational corporation UNIDAC. All the residents left in a hurried evacuation in the middle of the night. UNIDAC offered financial compensation, but what the town really wanted was to be a community again. UNIDAC also had a mining operation on the Moon extracting

helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...

, but it was financially failing. The townspeople offer to take over the operation and become the first permanent settlement on the Moon on a trial basis. Five years later, a shuttle carrying the final group of emigres approaches the Moon. Town doctor Addy Mathewson, already on the Moon, is apprehensive as she finds her

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

failed and she is in the early stages of a pregnancy. She is a widowed single mother raising eldest son Jed, leaving for his first day on a mining crew the next day, daughter Hannah, adopted daughter April and youngest son Eugene. UNIDAC technical advisor Gil Eaton and an enthusiastically rowdy crew of miners hold a celebration as he is scheduled to finish his stay and return to Earth before joining a mission to build a space station between Earth and Mars. One of Addy’s assistants accidentally finds her sonogram and word of Addy’s pregnancy soon spreads. Gil confronts Addy, who felt Gil wants to move on rather than stay as a father. Gil finds himself ostracized by the townspeople. The town’s residents assemble to watch and welcome the arrival of the final Plymouth residents who accepted UNIDAC’s relocation offer. Among the arrivals are Eugene’s best friend, Simon, and Addy’s uncle, Wendell, who is also the mayor of Plymouth. Young technician Nathan Litchfield shows Hannah a “hot rod” lunar vehicle he handbuilt, with a high-speed electric drive and a rocket assist salvaged from a lander. The town council holds a meeting to discuss the uncertainties of Addy’s pregnancy. The fetus may not survive the

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the I ...

or reentry on the trip back to Earth and they don't want to endanger its or Addy's life. But if the child is born on the Moon, its body will never be strong enough to return to Earth, even if UNIDAC’s mining fails. The town would lose its option to return to Earth as it would be unethical to abandon the child on the Moon. Earth controllers inform Plymouth that a very strong

solar flare A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phe ...

is en route. The residents leave the colony on the surface and head to shelters in deep lunar caverns. Eugene had been showing Simon around in shallower caverns and the boys find themselves trapped when the doors automatically seal because of the alert. Eugene reasons out that they can be shielded from the radiation by large tanks of water used for irrigation. The mining crew is unaware of the flare because of a damaged transceiver. Gil volunteers to take a lunar rover to try to warn them and take them to a semi-buried module for oxygen and shielding. Worried for her brother, Hannah tells Gil about Nathan’s “hot rod” so he can make the trip faster. He contacts the crew in time. After the flare passes, the colony anxiously waits for the crew to return, by that time critically low on oxygen. Examination of the crew shows most are unaffected, but Gil’s friend Jimmy received a severe dose of radiation, ending his hopes of working with Gil on the space station. Wendell talks to Gil privately. Gil wants to quit UNIDAC and stay as part of the town to raise his child with Addy. Wendell suggests he run for mayor because of his technical experience and renewed popularity due to his heroic rescue.

Production

The film had a reported $8 million budget, with $3.5 million coming from ABC. After production was finished in 1990, it remained unaired for a year. Despite apparent enthusiasm from ABC executives and Walt Disney chairman

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CE ...

, ABC declined to purchase the series, saying only, "It just didn’t meet our needs."

Cast

Dale Midkiff Dale Alan Midkiff (born July 1, 1959) is an American actor, best known for playing Louis Creed in the horror film ''Pet Sematary'' (1989) and Captain Darien Lambert in the TV series ''Time Trax''. Career Midkiff acted in off-Broadway plays lik ...

as Gil Eaton *

Cindy Pickett Cindy Pickett is an American actress. She is known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap ''Guiding Light'' and Dr. Carol Novino on the television drama '' St. Elsewhere'' in the 1980s. Pickett, however, is best known to au ...

as Addy Mathewson *

Lindsay Price Lindsay Jaylyn Price Stone (born December 6, 1976) is an American television actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Janet Sosna on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' and as Victory Ford on '' Lipstick Jungle''. She is also known for her wor ...

as April Mathewson *

Perrey Reeves Perrey Reeves (born ) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Melissa Gold on the television series ''Entourage'' from 2004 to 2011 and Frank the Tank's wife in the 2003 comedy '' Old School''. E ...

as Hannah Mathewson *

Jerry Hardin Jerry Hardin (born November 20, 1929) is an American actor. Hardin has appeared in film and television roles, including the character nicknamed Deep Throat in ''The X-Files''. Hardin was born in Texas and studied acting at London's Royal Academ ...

as Lowell * Richard Hamilton as Mayor Wendell Mackenzies *

James Rebhorn James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 – March 21, 2014) was an American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays. At the time of his death, he had recurring roles in the series '' White Collar'' and ''Hom ...

as Ezra *

Fran Bennett Fran Bennett (August 14, 1937 – September 11, 2021) was an American actress, known for her works in theater and on television. She portrayed the role of Mother Olivia Jefferson in a re-creation of the pilot episode of ''The Jeffersons'' in ' ...

as Debra *

Sab Shimono is a Japanese-American actor. He began his career on stage on Broadway and in regional theaters, starring in musicals like ''Mame'', ''Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'', and ''Pacific Overtures''. He has appeared in dozens of movies and television ...

as Hiro *

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

as Simon *

Pete Conrad Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer and aviator, and test pilot, and commanded the Apollo 12 space mission, on which he became the third person to ...

(

Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Pete Conra ...

Mission Commander) in a

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

References

External links

*
''Plymouth'' opening
- Youtube clip
Say; Hello Spaceman blog
- Some images of the Lunar EVA suits designed for Plymouth, and information on their reuse in later productions. {{Authority control 1991 television films 1991 films Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series Hard science fiction films American Broadcasting Company television specials Disney television films RAI original programming Lockheed Corporation Television series about the Moon