Episode 1.01

THE LIGHTS OF MYSTERY MOUNTAIN

TRIVIA
This episode, widely believed to be the first episode recorded, was written by Russell Bates, who Star Trek fans may remember as the co-author of "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth", an episode of Filmation's animated Star Trek series which won an Emmy. On the basis of that story, Bates was asked to submit stories for Filmation's new "Isis" series. The studio bought three episodes outright, but "Lights of Mystery Mountain" is the only one to have been filmed.

On CBS, the opening titles of this episode had slightly different theme music than was used on the rest of the season one episodes. Basically, it's the same music, only toward the end (after the cast members are announced), a previouly-heard section is played back instead of the theme continuing as normal. The version seen in foreign syndication uses the normal music. This alternate version may have only been seen on CBS.

The names for the characters of Art Byron and Chick Jeffers were taken from the names of Arthur Bryon Cover and Jeff "Chick" Dowden, two writer friends of Bates' in L.A.

SPELLS USED
Flight: "Oh Zephyr Winds Which Blow on High, Lift Me Now So I Can Fly."

Intense Heat: "Oh Sun That Changes Day to Night, Help Me Stop This Man from Flight."

Illusion: "Ancient Sphinx, All-Knowing and Wise, Confront This Man with His Own Lies."

GUEST ARTISTS
Kelly Thordsen (Mr. Moss) had a long and varied acting career, spanning three decades. Though he appeared in a lot of cop shows and westerns, Isis viewers might remember him from his TV guest shots in The Invaders and The Time Tunnel. He died in 1978 of cancer.

Hank Brandt (Sherrif Harley) recently played Teri Garr's husband in the Jim Carrey movie "Dumb and Dumber." Genre fans might remember his from "The Aliens Are Coming," his guest turn in The Invaders or as Ivan Becker in "The Secret of Bigfoot" episode of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Ken Wolger (Art) appears to have dropped out of acting, or at least out of television. Apart from a few features, he also made a guest appearance on The Waltons.

Prior to Isis, Mike Maitland (Chick) appeared on a number of soaps, most notably Dark Shadows.