«Lafftrak» | |
Tales from a Parallel Universe | |
Episode of series LEXX | |
Title | Lafftrak |
Season | 2 |
Episode | 05 |
Aired | Jan 8, 1999 |
Directed by | Paul Donovan |
Written by | Lex Gigeroff |
Actors | Cast and Crew |
Watch online | Episode 2.05 |
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«Luvliner» | «Stan's Trial» |
"Lafftrak" is the 5 episode of 2 season of the TV series "Lexx".
The episode aired on Jan 8, 1999 on the TV channel Space The Imagination Station in Canada.
The script for the episode was written by Lex Gigeroff. The director of the episode were Paul Donovan.
Summary[]
The crew of the Lexx encounters an automated TV production facility (see TV World) that makes game shows about people competing in game shows. Each is given a part in a program and their success is linked directly to the ratings the show can produce. Everyone has fun till they discover the consequences of having your show canceled.
Plot[]
Two planets, Liber and Leester, long ago destroyed each other in a ratings war. The crew discover a small, automated planetoid that is still producing TV programs and operated by CG, the automated vice president of the planetoid.
In their decrepit one-man spacecrafts, the last two surviving soldiers of a genocidal war between the twin planets of Lister and Leiber are engaged in a battle to the death near an asteroid housing a television-themed amusement park. The Listerian pilot succeeds in shooting down the Leiberian, who nonetheless survives his ship's crash landing on the asteroid. While the Listerian circles back, the Leiberian is able to salvage one of the cannons from the wreckage and downs the Listerian's ship before he can deliver the fatal strike. As the Liberian attempts to shoot his enemy with the cannon (no easy task given the weapon's prodigious recoil) the two men hurl calumnies at each other concerning their respective planet's guilt in starting the war, which apparently grew out of a dispute over the ratings of one of Leiber's poetry channels. In the end the Listerian is killed, but not before mortally wounding the Leiberian soldier, who proclaims that he can die happily now that his world's last surviving enemy is slain. Then, to his horror, he discovers that the dying Listerian has programmed the asteroid to broadcast a repeating message, forever proclaiming the high quality of Lister's television programming and Leiber's gulit in starting the war.
Thousands of years later, detected by the Lexx. Xev flies out to the asteroid in a Moth to investigates, with 790 and a dubious Stan in tow. Walking nervously past the skeletal remains of the two pilots, the three discover that the amusement park is still apparently in working order when a video screen displays a message from the "C.E.O." of the park welcoming them to "Televisionland", a theme park in which anyone can have the experience of starring in a prime-time series, with a cursory warning that those whose ratings fall short will become "permanent members" of the studio audience.
Stan is captured on the planet and forced to take part in various shows, and when he consistently fails to amuse the macabre audience he is demoted to increasingly less dignified positions. Eventually, it is discovered that when contestants fail, they are decapitated and their heads are kept alive to be part of the studio audience for all eternity. Stan fires Kai's brace, destroying the security robots, and proceeds to free Xev from the guillotine. Stan locates the room housing the heads, where they reassemble Kai and free 790.
The TV programs they are forced to become a part of include:
- New Roommate with Slinka & Yoyo
- Medical Drama with Slinka & Yoyo
- Daytime Talk Show with Slinka
- A children's program with Farty the Clown
- Spin the wheel game show with Yoyo
- Specialty Show with Liggum and Slinka & Yoyo
Trivia[]
- 790 meets "award-winning author Noch Einmal" in a game show. "Noch einmal" is German and means "once again"
Characters[]
- Main characters
- All characters
Production[]
- See Second season
See also[]
- IMDb Lafftrak
- English transcript Lafftrak (transcript)
- Images from episode Category:Lafftrak/images
Gallery[]
- Add images and descriptions:
Season 1 | ||
---|---|---|
•1 | I Worship His Shadow • Super Nova • Eating Pattern • Giga Shadow | 1• |
Season 2 | ||
•2 | Mantrid • Terminal • Lyekka • Luvliner • Lafftrak • Stan's Trial • Love Grows • White Trash • 791 • Wake the Dead • Nook • Norb • Twilight • Patches in the Sky • Woz • The Web • The Net • Brigadoom • Brizon • End of the Universe | 2• |
Season 3 | ||
•3 | Fire and Water • May • Gametown • Boomtown • Gondola • K-Town • Tunnels • The Key • Garden • Battle • Girltown • The Beach • Heaven and Hell | 3• |
Season 4 | ||
•4 | Little Blue Planet • Texx Lexx • P4X • Stan Down • Xevivor • The Rock • Walpurgis Night • Vlad • Fluff Daddy • Magic Baby • A Midsummer's Nightmare • Bad Carrot • 769 • Prime Ridge • Mort • Moss • Dutch Treat • The Game • Haley's Comet • Apocalexx Now • Viva Lexx Vegas • Trip • Lyekka vs Japan • Yo Way Yo | 4• |
••• | EN Transcripts • RU Transcripts • DE Transcripts • FR Transcripts • | ••• |