| Today, if you want to find out about a particular episode of a particular television program, chances are you can go online to one of many reference sites - for example imdb.com or wikipedia.com, and find not only an episode guide but also everything else you could ever want to know about that particular program. [Although, it is well to be cautious. Many fine people contribute to Wikipedia but there are no controls, and anyone can go in and change around data. It is best, therefore, to verify Wikipedia data through other sources as well. IMDB should be verified as well.]
However, in the early 1990s, before the Internet really took off, if you wanted to find out the name of an actor from a certain episode of a TV show, you were pretty much out of luck. There were a handful of episode guide books available for the classic shows such as Dr. Who and Star Trek, but most shows were not given the book treatment.
That's why Epi-log: The Television Fanzine of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure was such a great resource. [And a good resource to have to check against what's online.]
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Epi-Log was published by William E. Anchors, Jr., and made its debut in 1990. Each issue featured episode guides to between 8-9 TV series, from both England and the United States.
Epi-log was a fan magazine, so it sometimes had a bit more errors than you might expect to see. In this issue, for example, the third season of Beauty and the Beast is missing. And, advertised on the cover were Galactica: 1980 and Battlestar Galactica, but guides for these were not included.
Back cover of Epi-Log. |
In viewing Epi-Log #2, published in August 1990, you can see episode guides for the following programs:
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea:
First episode aired: September 16, 1964
1st season: 32 episodes
Second season episode aired: September 19, 1965
2nd season: 26 episodes
Third season episode aired: September 18, 1966
3rd season: 26 episodes
Fourth season episode aired: September 17, 1967
4th season: 26 episodes
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Lost in Space:
First episode aired: September 15, 1965
1st season: 29 episodes
Second season began: September 16, 1966
2nd season: 30 episodes
Third season began : September 6, 1967
3rd season: 23 episodes
The Time Tunnel:
First episode aired: September 9, 1966
1st season: 29 episodes
Land of the Giants:
First episode aired: September 22, 1968
1st season: 26 episodes
2nd season began September 21, 1969
2nd season: 25 episodes
Irwin Allen's Swiss Family Robinson:
First episode aired: September 7, 1975
1st season: 21 episodes
Return of Captain Nemo:
First episode aired: March 8, 1978
1st season: 3 episodes
Beauty and the Beast:
Pilot aired Sep 25, 1987
1st season: 22 episodes
2nd season began November 18, 1988
2nd season: 22 episodes
3rd season began December 12, 1989
Apart from episode one, the third season guide is missing.
Innermind.com has a page which lists which episode guides are in which issue. However, they appear to have taken the information from the covers, rather than an actual look at the contents. For example, their description of issue 2 includes the two Galacticas.
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