Hard Time on Planet Earth

Hard Time on Planet Earth

1989
Hard Time on Planet Earth
Hard Time on Planet Earth

Hard Time on Planet Earth

7.3 | en | Sci-Fi

Hard Time on Planet Earth is an American science fiction series that aired on CBS as a midseason replacement in 1989. Airing for 13 episodes, the series starred Martin Kove and was created by Jim and John Thomas. Scheduled opposite NBC's Unsolved Mysteries and ABC's Growing Pains on Wednesdays, Hard Time on Planet Earth ranked 65th out of 81 programs upon its premiere. Ratings for the series never improved and the series was canceled by CBS in May 1989. The last episode aired on June 21, 1989.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP13  Wally's Gang
Jun. 21,1989
Wally's Gang

The host of a children's television show tries to kill himself when the show is cancelled. Jesse saves him and gets a job on the show as the fix-it man.

EP12  The All American
Jun. 14,1989
The All American

Jesse met Bill Mitchner, a young man in high school who turned out to be an exiled former member of his world's ruling Council. All leaders of a failed coup attempt had been executed, except this one, whose name was erased from the histories, and he was exiled to Earth in the body of an infant 17 years ago. He now planned to rise to power on Earth, despite the rule against exiles drawing attention to themselves. He was also willing to hurt others in pursuit of his goal. Jesse helped him see the error of his ways, and Bill and his own Control unit were recalled to their homeworld.

EP11  Not In Our Stars
May. 31,1989
Not In Our Stars

Jesse has a dream in which he's told his vice commander ordered the assassination of the Council's Grand Elder. So he wants to send this message home. He reads a book that was written by a professor at a nearby university, goes there, and gets involved in a project to transmit messages to other worlds. He designs a microchip that will enable faster-than-light communications, but the professor steals it, and ultimately Jesse is forced to destroy the chip, because humanity isn't prepared for extra-terrestrial contact.

EP10  Rodeo
May. 10,1989
Rodeo

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP9  Jessie's Fifteen Minutes
May. 03,1989
Jessie's Fifteen Minutes

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EP8  The Hot Dog Man
Apr. 26,1989
The Hot Dog Man

Jesse becomes a professional wrestler and helps fight an crooked real estate developer.

EP7  Death Do Us Part
Apr. 12,1989
Death Do Us Part

While delivering sandwiches to a TV studio, Jesse is asked to fill in as bachelor #3 on The Dating Game, and is chosen by Jane to be her date. It turns out that after she had agreed to be on the show, she had met someone named Michael through a matchmaking magazine ad. But Jane still wanted to be Jesse's friend and help him meet the right woman for him. It turned out that Michael and a partner were behind a string of thefts from single women who'd answered their ads in the magazine, and Jane was their latest target. Jesse thwarted their initial burglary attempt, but when Michael found out a large trust fund of Jane's had just matured, he decided to marry and kill her. He also framed Jesse as the thief, to get rid of him, and was going to blame him for murdering Jane. But of course he failed.

EP6  Battle of the Sexes
Apr. 05,1989
Battle of the Sexes

Jesse is working at a restaurant owned by Frank Russo, which Frank's daughter Connie wants to help run. But Frank refuses to take any of her advice because he feels women aren't as good at business as men. Frank's son Mike isn't interested in the business, as he's a musician. Connie discovers that the sons of an old friend of Frank's named Caretti, who he's done business with for many years, have been cheating them. When Connie threatens to tell their father about this, they threaten her, but Jesse defends her. Frank refuses to believe his friend's sons did what Connie says, and he fires Jesse. Meanwhile, Mike invited Jesse to a club to hear him play and also to meet women. Jesse met a woman named Danielle who later turned out to be from his homeworld, sent to find out where his followers were hiding in exile, and then to terminate him. They fought, Jesse won, and said that on Ondarius he would have killed her, but on Earth he'd learned the value of life. Eventually Frank and Caretti l

EP5  All That You Can Be
Mar. 29,1989
All That You Can Be

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP4  The Way Home
Mar. 22,1989
The Way Home

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EP3  Losing Control
Mar. 15,1989
Losing Control

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP2  Something to Bank On
Mar. 08,1989
Something to Bank On

A hungry Jesse takes some food without paying for it and learns that he needs money. Jesse gets in trouble, however, when he takes and tries to return money that came out an automatic cash machine.

EP1  Stranger in a Strange Land
Mar. 01,1989
Stranger in a Strange Land

Jesse is banished from his planet for political crimes. He arrives on earth accompanied by an observer named Control. He quickly gets in trouble with the police and must flee to Los Angeles.

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7.3 | en | Sci-Fi | More Info
Released: 1989-03-01 | Released Producted By: Touchstone Television , Demos-Bard/Shanachie Productions Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

Hard Time on Planet Earth is an American science fiction series that aired on CBS as a midseason replacement in 1989. Airing for 13 episodes, the series starred Martin Kove and was created by Jim and John Thomas. Scheduled opposite NBC's Unsolved Mysteries and ABC's Growing Pains on Wednesdays, Hard Time on Planet Earth ranked 65th out of 81 programs upon its premiere. Ratings for the series never improved and the series was canceled by CBS in May 1989. The last episode aired on June 21, 1989.

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Cast

Martin Kove , Marita Geraghty , Barry Dennen

Director

Roger Duchowny

Producted By

Touchstone Television , Demos-Bard/Shanachie Productions

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Reviews

spooniedrunk i truly can't remember how old i was when this came out. I'm guessing 12. yup....now that i do the math. i was 12. i remember being the biggest fan of this show and then it just not being on anymore. i'm sure that after all the technology that has happened since.....that this show sucks, but back then i was an avid fan.like the dude before me. this should be shown on sci-fi or released as a DVD. it only made it thru one season didn't it? besides that...they never ended or concluded the season it originally started. why can't people at least give the rest of us humans the comfort of an ending?once again, if it ever came down to a cooler show i wouldn't have picked this one back then. and there was another with a midget in a wheelchair that was smart....anyone know that one? the wiz? wiz? something of the sort. spooniedrunk@yahoo.com
hagiadzo1 I was 13 years old when "Hard Time" first appeared on the air. It's understandable that it didn't do so well with the viewing audience in the late '80s. I, however, wasn't a member of that demographic and loved the show.The special effects used to create Control, main character Jesse's floating, orange, orb-like companion, seemed so cutting edge back in "the day." Looking at the Incredibles or Shrek today, the little guy seems to pale in comparison.The show tends to consist of Jesse running around in his leather jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers, jumping long distances, tearing up things and throwing people when he brushes with authorities. He often uses violence. I guess he was just learning how to adapt to life on planet earth, huh?I'm strangely drawn to the show today, 16 years after it was cancelled. What's the appeal? I have no clue what it could be besides pure reminiscence.I have all 13 episodes on DVD, which I bought on goldmonkey.com. They were copied from a less-than-spectacular videocassette. Some even include commercials that weren't cut during the original taping.
slimeball1123 This was such a great show that I watched when I was little. I didn't miss an episode! I wish that there were shows like that still on today instead of all these "reality shows." I have a few of the episodes recorded off of TV when the show was still playing so I still watch them. I wish that I could find all of the episodes.
ufocska When I first seen this show, I was a kid. It was back in 1991 or 1992 when it was aired in a weekly "Walt Disney Hour" with an animated series and some short Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, etc. cartoon. I liked it, it was a series I watched every week. Two years ago one of the TV channels took it back to screen: I watched it again and liked it more than in childhood. The show is not a special effect-full Star Trek or a serious science fiction, but a great comedy. My favorite episode is in which a female from Jesse's race arrives to Earth and tries to kill him. The scenes at the end of this episode are fantastic!