From the Earth to the Moon was a twelve part HBO television miniseries (1998) co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick detailing the landmark Apollo expeditions to the Moon during the 1960s and early 1970s. Largely based on Andrew Chaikin's book, A Man on the Moon, the series is known for its superbly accurate telling of the story of Apollo and outstanding special effects.
The series takes its title from, but is not based upon, the famous Jules Verne science fiction novel, From the Earth to the Moon. One episode of the series begins with a look at the making of Georges Méliès' film based upon the book.
The series has only one small segment on the Mercury program and does not recap any of the material shown in The Right Stuff. Hanks, Howard and Grazer had produced Apollo 13 only recently and did not reproduce any of that movie's scenes in this series, concentrating instead on the media reaction to Apollo 13.
The episodes of the series are:
- Can We Do This? tells the story of the decision to go to the moon and covers the Mercury and Gemini programs.
- Apollo 1 is the story of the fire and subsequent investigation of the Apollo 1 accident.
- We Have Cleared the Tower tells the story of the recovery and preparation for the flight of Apollo 7.
- 1968 reminds us of the events of the year 1968 which culminated in Man's first flight to the Moon during Apollo 8.
- Spider tells the story of the development of the Lunar Module and of its first manned flight during Apollo 9.
- Mare Tranquilitatis is the story of the first Moonlanding during Apollo 11.
- That's All There Is tells the story of a flight to the Moon from the point of view of Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean on Apollo 12.
- We Interrupt This Program shows the reporters' view of the 'successful failure' of Apollo 13.
- For Miles and Miles details the return to flight of Alan Shepard and his mission to the moon on Apollo 14.
- Galileo Was Right shows the scientific side of the Apollo program and the training the Apollo astronauts went through to become geologists on the Moon's surface, culminating in the Apollo 15 mission.
- The Original Wives Club tells the story of Apollo from the point of view of the wives who had to endure the dangers of spaceflight at home, framed by the Apollo 16 mission.
- La Voyage Dans La Lune mixes the story of the last Apollo flight to the Moon on Apollo 17 with the 19th century vision of a trip to the moon by French film maker Georges Méliès.
Cast
| Actor
|
| Role
|
| Krista Adair | | Jo Schirra
|
| Mason Adams |
| Clinton P. Anderson, U.S. Senator
|
| Tom Amandes |
| Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt, Astronaut
|
| Brandon Ambrose | | Edwin Borman
|
| Jo Anderson | | Pat White
|
| Sam Anderson | | Thomas O. Paine
|
| David Andrews | | Frank Borman, Astronaut
|
| Katie Austin | | Susan Lovell
|
| Dylan Baker | | Bruce McCoy
|
| Adam Baldwin | | Fred Haise, Astronaut
|
| George Bartenieff |
| Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator
|
| Jay T. Becker | | Jim Lewis
|
| Barry Bell |
| Rocco Petrone, Apollo Program Director
|
| Janis Benson |
| Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator
|
| Reed Birney | | John Houbolt
|
| Rus Blackwell | | Joel Kruger
|
| Betsy Brantley | | Jan Armstrong
|
| Bart Braverman | | Sahjid
|
| David Brisbin | | Allyn B. Hazard
|
| Tom Brooks | | Jack Garman
|
| Jimmy Buffett | | journalist (fictional character)
|
| Robert John Burke |
| William 'Bill' Anders, Astronaut
|
| Dan Butler | | Eugene Kranz, Flight Director
|
| David Clyde Carr | | Gerry Griffin, Flight Director
|
| Andrew Chaikin |
| Meet The Press host (fictional character)
|
| David Clennon | | Lee Silver, geologist
|
| George Colangelo | | 'Buck' Willoughby
|
| Gary Cole | | Edgar Mitchell, Astronaut
|
| Ronny Cox |
| Lee Atwood, CEO North American Aviation
|
| Bryan Cranston |
| Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Astronaut
|
| Matt Craven |
| Tom Kelly, LM Engineer
|
| Wendy Crewson | | Faye Stafford
|
| Brett Cullen | | David Scott, Astronaut
|
| Robert Curtis-Brown | | Gavin O'Rourke
|
| Ann Cusack | | Jan Armstrong
|
| Timothy Daly | | James Lovell, Astronaut
|
| Blythe Danner | | Narrator (Episode 12)
|
| J. Downing | | Charles Duke, Astronaut
|
| Chris Ellis | | Bob Parker, Apollo 17 CAPCOM
|
| Cary Elwes |
| Michael Collins, Astronaut
|
| Joe Farago | | Dr. Fred Kelly
|
| Lowell Fenner | | Russ Lawrence
|
| J. Don Ferguson | | Stephen M. Young, U.S. Senator
|
| Sally Field | | Trudy Cooper
|
| Keith Flippen | | Ken Jason
|
| Dann Florek | | Robert Seamans
|
| Dave Foley | | Alan Bean, Astronaut
|
| Don Fowler | | Harrison Storms Jr.
|
| Al Franken |
| Jerome Weisner, Presidential Science Advisor
|
| Tracy Frenkel |
| Rocco Petrone, Apollo Program Director
|
| Joanna Garcia | | Julie Shepard
|
| Jack Gilpin |
| Theodore Sorensen, Deputy Counsel to the President
|
| Tony Goldwyn | | Neil Armstrong, Astronaut
|
| Keith Graham | | Skip Chauvin
|
| Rhoda Griffis | | Martha Chaffee
|
| Dan Hagen | | Jay Honeycutt
|
| Tom Hanks | | Jean-Luc Despont; Host/Narrator
|
| Mike Harding | | Dick Thorson
|
| Jerry Hardin | | Ben Taylor
|
| Mark Harmon | | Walter Schirra, Astronaut
|
| Steve Hofvendahl | | Tom Stafford, Astronaut
|
| Chris Hogan | | Don Eyles
|
| Gwen Hollander | | Laura Shepard
|
| Kristie Horton | | Barbara Lovell
|
| Peter Horton | | Frank Burns
|
| John Hostetter | | Ralph Cooper
|
| Clint Howard | | Paul Lucas
|
| Jim Howard | | William Schneider
|
| Joe Inscoe | | Chester Lee
|
| Chris Isaak | | Edward White II, Astronaut
|
| Zeljko Ivanek | | Ken Mattingly, Astronaut
|
| John M. Jackson | | Hal Deacon
|
| Elliot Kachnycz | | Jay Lovell
|
| George Kapetan | | Ed Fendel
|
| Tchéky Karyo | | George Melies
|
| David Kaufman | | Dave Gibson
|
| Daniel Hugh Kelly | | Eugene Cernan, Astronaut
|
| William Larson | | Seymour Rosen
|
| Michael Laskin | | Larry Thompson
|
| Mitchell Laurance | | Mahurin
|
| Dan Lauria | | James E. Webb, NASA Administrator
|
| Jim Leavy |
| Clifton 'C.C.' Williams, Astronaut
|
| Fredric Lehne | | Walt Cunningham, Astronaut
|
| Ted Levine | | Alan Shepard, Astronaut
|
| Matthew Lussier | | Arnold Whitaker
|
| John Carroll Lynch |
| Bob Gilruth, head of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center
|
| Marc Macaulay | | Karl Heinze
|
| Ann Magnuson | | Dee O'Hara, nurse
|
| Joshua Malina | | Tim Messick
|
| Ben Marley | | Roger Chaffee, Astronaut
|
| Phillip Martinez | | John Coursen
|
| Andrew Masset | | Dr. William House
|
| DeLane Matthews | | Pat McDivitt
|
| Deborah May | | Ann Hedges
|
| Paul McCrane | | Pete Conrad, Astronaut
|
| Doug McKeon | | Joe Allen
|
| John Mese | | Donn Eisele, Astronaut
|
| Jay Mohr |
| Brett Hutchins, reporter (fictional character)
|
| Elizabeth Morehead | | Tracy Cernan
|
| John Mountford | | Christopher Conrad
|
| Kieran Mulroney |
| Russell 'Rusty' Schweickart, Astronaut
|
| Geoffrey Nauffts | | Ed Gibson
|
| George Newbern | | Stu Roosa, Astronaut
|
| Tom Nowicki | | David Bell
|
| Deirdre O'Connell | | Barbara Young
|
| Robin O'Dell | | Gaye Alford
|
| Conor O'Farrell | | James McDivitt, Astronaut
|
| Holmes Osborne |
| George Low, NASA Deputy Administrator
|
| Kim Ostrenko | | Louise Shepard
|
| Elizabeth Perkins | | Marilyn Lovell
|
| Ethan Phillips | | Stanley Craig
|
| Kevin Pollak | | Joe Shea, Apollo Program Manager
|
| John Posey | | John W. Young, Astronaut
|
| Robby Preddy | | Phyllis Storms
|
| Steve Purnick | | Clyde Teague
|
| Michael Raynor | | Al Worden, Astronaut
|
| James Rebhorn |
| Harrison Storms, VP North American Aviation
|
| Ruth Reid | | Betty Grissom
|
| Brett Rice | | Sam Langfitt
|
| Mark Rolston | | Gus Grissom, Astronaut
|
| Stephen Root | | Chris Kraft, Flight Director
|
| John Rothman | | Warren Moburg
|
| Andrew Rubin |
| Jules Bergman, ABC Science Editor
|
| Alan Ruck | | Tom Dolan
|
| Debra Jo Rupp | | Marilyn See
|
| Mikki Scanlon | | Pat Collins
|
| Diana Scarwid | | Joan Aldrin
|
| Peter Scolari | | Pete Conrad, Astronaut
|
| Nick Searcy |
| Donald 'Deke' Slayton, Astronaut
|
| Grant Shaud | | Bob Carbee
|
| Brian Shields | | Fred Borman
|
| John Slattery | | Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator
|
| Brandon Smith | | John Healey
|
| Lane Smith |
| Emmett Seaborn, TV reporter (fictional character)
|
| Joe Spano |
| George Mueller, NASA Deputy Administrator
|
| Cynthia Stevenson | | Jane Conrad
|
| Arthur Taxier | | Robert Van Dolah
|
| Lesa Thurman | | Joan Roosa
|
| Isa Totah | | Farouk El-Baz, Geologist
|
| John Travis | | John Aaron
|
| Robert C. Treveiler | | Gordon Cooper, Astronaut
|
| Kristian Truelsen | | Kurt Debus
|
| Tom Verica | | Dick Gordon, Astronaut
|
| Rick Warner | | Julian Bowman
|
| Russell Warner | | John Rigsby
|
| Norbert Weisser | | Wernher von Braun
|
| Gareth Williams | | James Irwin, Astronaut
|
| JoBeth Williams | | Marge Slayton
|
| Rita Wilson | | Susan Borman
|
| Ashleigh Ann Wood | | Alice Shepard
|
| Max Wright | | Guenter Wendt
|
| Steve Zahn | | Elliott See, Astronaut
|
| Steve Zurk | | George Hage
|
| Winona Ryder |
| Susan Borman's party guest (Episode 11) (uncredited)
|
A number of actors who appeared in the movies Apollo 13 (Tom Hanks, Chris Ellis, Brett Cullen, Clint Howard) and The Right Stuff (David Clennon) appear in this series, but as different characters. Some of the NASA flight controllers are played by actors who played similar roles in the film, but because of the large cast of characters this can lead to some confusion in terms of who is who.
External link
