Handlink confusion...

Sad Professor

Project QL Intern
Nov 1, 2009
7
0
0
Ireland
Hi all. I've been watching series 2 and 3 recently and a few episodes into series 3 (********* with the "evil" Al) the handlink changes from the calculator looking thing to the wine gum looking one that there are repilcas of.

How many were there in all and how come they changed so much? :\
 
There were 'officially' two main versions of the handlink throughout the series: the "calculator" handlink and "gummi bear" handlink, as you mentioned.

However, there were different versions of each of these throughout the series, both because of Don Bellisario's request for an unrecognizable handlink and because it's been said Dean Stockwell frequently broke the handlink props during filming.

The first version of the handlink is in "Genesis" and is basically a thin, clear, acrylic, pad with no lights or electronics at all, making version 1.0.

GenesisHandlink.jpg


GenesisHandlink2.jpg


Throughout the rest of Season 1, more and more L.E.D.s and electronics were added to this, making version 1.1.

Handlink6.jpg


Season 2 had a larger budget since the show was officially picked up for a full season, and the 'complete' version 1.2 became the "calculator" version.

Season2Handlink.jpg


Season 3 had some episodes whose air dates were out of sequence with the order in which the episodes were actually filmed, so in "The Boogiem@n," (version 2.1) the gummi handlink first appeared despite the fact that it doesn't get officially introduced until "The Great Spontini." The gummi handlink in "The Great Spontini" has a slightly more crude look to it, as it was probably still being perfected at the time, creating version 2.0. As mentioned earlier, these episodes were aired out of filiming sequence, so the final version appeared before the more crude version.

("The Great Spontini" screenshot not available.)

Handlink5.jpg


Finally, one last version with barely noticeable differences can be seen in other episodes, namely "Lee Harvey Oswald" (version 2.2), with only some colored cubes' edges slightly different from the most used version.

Handlink3.jpg
 
Great job, thanks! I can see Dean Stockwell whacking a few props into the trash pail - he really did seem to take out his character's frustration and anger on them, lol.