Ultimatum (18 Nov. 1972)

Rogue physicist Dr. Jerome Cooper informs the government that he has planted a 50-megaton bomb in a major American city, which he will detonate unless various members of Congress are ... See full summary »

Director:

Barry Crane

Writers:

Bruce Geller (created by), Shirl Hendryx (story),

Stars:

Peter Graves, Greg Morris, Lynda Day George

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Peter Graves	...	James Phelps
Greg Morris	...	Barney Collier
Lynda Day George	...	Lisa Casey (credit only)
Peter Lupus	...	Willy Armitage
Murray Hamilton	...	Dr. Jerome Cooper
Barbara Anderson	...	Mimi Davis
Madlyn Rhue	...	Adele Cooper
Donnelly Rhodes	...	Joel Morgan
Vince Howard	...	Patrolman Frank Dagget
Fred Holliday	...	Carl
Judith Brown	...	Lisa (as Judy Brown)
Bob Legionaire	...	Police Sergeant
Dale Tarter	...	Jack
Vic Vallaro	...	Frederick Rogers

Storyline

Rogue physicist Dr. Jerome Cooper informs the government that he has planted a 50-megaton bomb in a major American city, which he will detonate unless various members of Congress are replaced and American foreign policy changed to suit his wishes. With less than a day to locate the bomb, the IMF attempts to isolate Dr. Cooper in a rural area, hoping to convince him that the government is acceding to his demands in time to get him to reveal the location of the bomb.

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Plot Keywords:

assembling gun | fireplace poker | ambush | knocked out | faked death | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1972 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Dr. Cooper (Murray Hamilton) is getting into the helicopter near the end of the episode, several crew members are briefly reflected in the helicopter's swinging door.

User Reviews

It was FIFTY megatons, but it doesn't make much difference...

Either a 15 or 50 megaton thermonuclear bomb planted in the sewers of LA would TOTALLY wipe out the whole city and likely trigger the San Andreas fault, destroying much of Calif, in the process.

But all in all- a pretty good mission. (though somewhat of a "rehash" of "Operation Rogosh".) It does leave a number of questions though--what exactly did Dr. Cooper want "changed" about American foreign policy in the first place? And--destroying a WHOLE LOT of ones own country(and irradiating a lot of the rest in the process) is NO WAY to gain favor with foreign nations!! The Bomb hardware looked a bit hokey too--a clock, with what appeared to be a long, mechanical rotary switch (presumably to set in motion the triggering of the various bomb systems), and a variable potentiometer to "arm or disarm" the bomb according to the correct resistance being dialed into it (theoretacally possible I guess),and just HOW would the good Dr. get that bomb down into the sewer under city hall in the FIRST place(since it was about the size of a small water heater) without SOMEONE asking "what is this?" as it was being lowered into the sewer!! It HAD to be VERY heavy, probably over a ton, more likely many tons, to be a 50 meg hydrogen device!! Even having a "Q" level clearance would NOT make one immune to questions from city workers, police, etc, curious as to why a heavy, cylindrical object is being placed in a sewer access port under city hall, would it??

As expected, the bomb is NOT disarmed until the final few seconds on the timer are counting down, along with some VERY tension-building music to go with it. The terrorist thinks he has "conqured the world" , after it has been disarmed, thinking his demands have been met--when the police and others come and take him away for his crimes.

FYI-- on 7-11,I have JUST seen this episode for the first time since 1990. I HAD it on tape, but it got erased by accident(by someone else). Thanks to AMlife--I now have it again.

A couple of OTHER technical things now catch my attention. A true 50 Megaton bomb would have certainly destroyed all of LA, and most likely EVERYTHING within 100 miles would have been either destroyed or severely damaged and CERTAINLY uninhabitable for a LONG time!!.I do think the writers went a "bit" overboard, in having such a huge yield when 1-5 MT would have taken care of LA pretty well in reality. Remember..in 24 a couple of years ago, they were worried about those "suitcase nukes" destroying downtown LA and they were only 1 KILOTON yield!!

Also, the "bomb",that was supposed to be a 50 MT device was WAY too small to really be of that yield. It looked like it was a cylinder of MAYBE 2 feet or so wide and MAYBE 4 foot long. As such it could NOT have weighed more than maybe 2 tons or so. It is a FLAT OUT impossibility that a nuke could deliver a 50 MT yield from only 2 tons or less!! EVEN IF it had a MAXIMUM amount of secondary fission after the fusion stage lit off and EVEN IF it was a 3 stage device with a tertiary stage with full secondary fission, it would STILL be MUCH more than 2 tons and a LOT bigger. The maximum theoretical nuclear explosive yield given size and weight (known as Y/W ratio) is from 6 to 10 MT/T, with current maximum efficiency ratios.(And NO actual device produced has EVER exceeded about 6MT/T Y/W.) Therefore, EVEN IF it was at the MAXIMUM Y/W ratio, of 10 MT/T, it would STILL have weighed about 5 tons, and be MUCH larger!! And keeping in mind that this was a HOMEMADE bomb--well it is VERY unlikely that Dr. cooper would have the necessary equipment and data to produce even 6 MT/T Y/W... I know..IT IS JUST A TV SHOW...