Sci Fi TV Genre Gems: Forgotten magic and hidden treasures from the worlds of sci fi TV

What Is It? A young woman named Melodye Amerson goes to an isolated community to take over as teacher for the children. Despite it being the 1970’s, the people here live a very basic, Amish-like existence with little in the way of modern conveniences. Melodye finds her students to be secretive and odd, refusing to participate in any fun activities. She meets and befriends another outsider–Dr. Curtis, who comes from time to time to assist with medical needs–and he also has taken note of the odd behavior of these people. But they will soon discover that the secret that The People hide is much deeper than either could expect.

Aired: ABC, January 22, 1972

Created By: Zenna Henderson, James M. Miller

Starring: Kim Darby, William Shatner, Diane Varsi, Dan O’Herlihy

Why It Stands Out: This TV movie offers and interesting tale that has twists and turns and avoids many of the standard television tropes while emerging as a standout sci fi entry.

Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi TV? Possibly. Among TV sci fi and fantasy movies, I would definitely say this counts as a much-watch film.

The Skinny: (Warning, mild spoilers ahead) The People came out back in the day of the TV movie-of-the-week, but sadly it never garnered the attention that it deserves. Based on the Zenna Henderson sci fi stories, the film starts out with a Children of the Corn vibe and certainly seems to be headed into standard TV horror movie territory early on. But it takes turn when we learn that the people of this small village are

Aliens

Spoiler

and that because of their tragic past they live a very reclusive life. The film could have gone in any of a number of directions with its story, but the creative team apparently decided not to crank out yet another by-the-numbers TV movie. Most interesting is the fact that there is no violence and no predicaments to force drama, and ultimately the conflict is resolved by the differing sides learning to work together. The film is really somewhat of a breath of fresh air and it still holds up today, with even the modest special effects still looking rather good.

William Shatner had a co-starring role in the film, but his onscreen time is rather limited (he was pretty much taking any part he could get at this post-Star Trek low-point in his career). Whether he would have played more of a part if this had gone to series (more on that below) is uncertain. Kim Darby does a good job with the lead role and sadly was never able to establish herself as much more than a supporting actress throughout her career. The always enjoyable Dan O’Herlihy adds some creepiness at first but also enough substance to indicate that there is more going on with his character. And the rest of the cast do a stand up job as well. Sadly, this movie has been mostly forgotten and it is rare for it to make the rounds these days. But it was a very good piece of sci fi TV that had potential to carry on into a series, and it is definitely worth searching out.

Cancelled Before It Began? Perhaps. I have not seen a confirmation that this was definitely intended as a pilot for a TV series, but it certainly was open-ended enough that the story could have carried on. And the source material definitely provided plenty more to work with. But the broadcast networks had soured on sci fi at that point, and this one would not be a clean fit on the Prime Time schedule. If done right, it actually could have turned into a stand-out sci fi drama and perhaps been a game-changer for genre TV at the time. Alas, network television was not interested in taking those type of risks then (even today), and this excellent film faded into TV obscurity.

Should It Be Rebooted? Yes. The original movie provides the perfect template and the additional stories by Henderson offer further direction. They could remake the film with new actors, or approach it as a sequel, checking in on how The People have progressed into modern times. There is plenty of substance here and this could still become an excellent sci fi drama. But since the 1972 film never attracted much of a following and Henderson’s stories are not well-known either, it is unlikely this one would be added to the reboot rotation.

Interesting Fact: If you feel a sense of deja vu in the scenes where William Shatner and Kim Karby are together, it is not just a glitch in the Matrix. These two previously teamed up on the first season Star Trek episode “Miri” with Darby playing the title character. It’s doubtful that the casting team were trying to pay homage to the Gene Roddenberry series, both actors just happened to be available for the parts. But it is nice seeing the two together again in the film.

Where Can You Watch It? This has been released on DVD by Video Yesteryear, but the Amazon reviewers take exception to the poor transfer, claiming it is bootleg quality. You can find it on YouTube, but the quality of those videos is not the best either.

Read More About the Movie: Wikipedia | IMDb.com

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