Galidor

infobox Television
show_name = Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension""'
format = Science fiction
Adventure
Mystery
Action
Drama
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Thomas W. Lynch
starring = Matthew Ewald
Marie-Marguerite Sabongui
country = USA
network = FOX
first_aired = February 92002
num_seasons = 2
num_episodes = 26

"Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension", also known simply as "Galidor", is a show that ran on Fox Kids in 2002 with a total of 26 half-hour episodes. The series was created by Thomas W. Lynch, the creator of "The Secret World of Alex Mack" and "The Journey of Allen Strange".

Plot

The show is centered around the journey of Nicholas Bluetooth, a 15 year old whose life is turned upside-down after receiving a strange floating alien map over his bed on the eve of his 15th birthday. The map leads Nicholas and his best (and only) friend, Allegra Zane, to a hidden Dimensional Transport Vehicle nicknamed the Egg. Nicholas unknowingly activates the egg and sends himself and Allegra into the Outer Dimension, where they find themselves as part of an intrepid group attempting to save Galidor, which is being targeted by the sinister Gorm.

Characters

* Nick Bluetooth: A boy of 15 years in age. He has a special power called "glinching" (verb: glinch) which enables him to transform his body's matter into different kinds of matter; usually, he turns his limbs into limbs of other species or specialized machines. A brash and foolish hero, he will usually act first and think later, usually getting himself into more trouble than necessary. At times can be self-centered and obnoxious, is certain he is the leader and knows what's best. Despite his failings, he has a pure heart and desires feverishly to do the right thing despite any odds. Nicholas spends a good deal of the first season not realizing that he is descended from the Stranger (Sam Bluetooth) and Queen Riana.

* Allegra Zane: 14 year old alleged computer genius (though only once do we see her use a computer). Nicholas's only friend, a karate expert. She is dragged into the Outer Dimension against her will and desires only to go home, until an encounter in Dreejal-Vin in episode 6 ("Belonging") with tunnel-dwellers makes her realize what is at stake. She is Nicholas's calm voice, where he is brash and foolish, she is calm and sedated.

* Jens: The Chief Scientist of the Royal Court of Galidor. Originally a Wexar, a plant-like creature, his body was burned by Gorm, and he downloaded his mind into a robot body in order to complete his mission and recover "The Warrior," not realizing at first that it is Nick. Jens was also not fond of Allegra when the series began, whining that she is a complainer and "not supposed to be here." Usually acts nervous and panicky, and speaks with an odd high-pitched voice. Halfway through the show his "claw hands" are replaced with more articulate gloves.

* Euripides: Scholar of the Royal Court of Galidor. He is an Amphibib (a large anthropomorphic frog). He is from the Realm of Arbo and the last of his kind. Philosopher and Nicholas's spiritual advisor. He carries a staff and has psychic powers which include telekinesis and limited heat generation.

* Nepol: A Siktari warrior from the frozen realm of Elta Siktar, originally a tall Siktari warrior and leader of Galidor's army, was compacted by Gorm into a small Siktari. Visually impaired, needs glasses. He wields a luka (an icy-looking spear), runs extremely fast and can project freezing blasts.

* Lind: A mysterious character who shows up in a few episodes at the end. She is a native Galidorian who can dissolve into a purple gel. Like Nick, she is certain she knows what's best and clashes with Nick and company at every opportunity. She and Nicholas begin to connect after rescuing Euripides from Earth.

* Sam Bluetooth (AKA The Stranger): he is adventure and scientist, he met Queen Rhiana (Nicholas's mother), presumably 16 years back (?, left for Galidor in mid-1985)). Sam Bluetooth constructed the Egg (most likely in the Outer Dimension, having used his house to go there in the first place). In the beginning of the series he is seen falling into a chasm, but at the end of the series he is shown as Gorm's captive.

* Queen Riana: The Queen of Galidor. Appears in the series mostly as a mental hologram that only Nicholas can see, offering cryptic advice and warnings.

* Gorm: The show's main villain. Once the chief advisor of the Royal Court of Galidor, Gorm has become a menace throughout the Outer Dimension. He conquered many realms, wiped out some species (like the Amphibibs), and made a virus in the Maps. As such he is known as the Conqueror of a Thousand Worlds. He has Sam Bluetooth in his clutches and plans to conquer Galidor. He has the ability to glinch at a much weaker level than Nick (he stole a small part of Nick's power when Nick was a baby) but amplifies it to a great degree through a device on his chest. Among Gorm's other skills are his immense strength and his extremely cunning intellect.

* Tager: One of Gorm's main minions, Tager is the master of Mind Control and interrogated Allegra in the second season.

* Bala: A bounty hunter working for Gorm, he attacks with an energy bolt that turns into a claw upon impact.

* Caliphonic: Leader of the Aquarts, Caliphonic is a minion of Gorm.

The Egg

The Egg (or more appropriately, the Trans-Dimensional Module, TDN) is a blue egg-shaped vehicle that stands on four legs and is capable of flight. On the outside, it is barely bigger than a trailer, but on the inside comprises several stories, many of which are unexplored. The four seen in the run of the show were

* The Pilot House, essentially the cockpit. Contains pilot and copilot controls. The front windscreen has a blast screen that can be closed.

* The Main Level contains a circular table in the center with a port for the map to plug in. The map doubles as the Egg's navigational computer, and is incapable of functioning without it (in Episode 7 "A Crack In The Map", Nepal attempts to fly the egg without the map with erratic results).

* The Reactor Room, which houses the powerhouse of the egg.

* The Garbage Chute, a long compactor room that decimates garbage and fires it off into the Viniculum. Not a place one wants to fall into accidentally.

Nicholas and Allegra both mention lockers, meaning that there is a locker room somewhere on the Egg. The Sandwich Simulator, which apparenly does not work very well, is presumably on this level as well.

Outer Dimension Realms

Here are the known realms in the Outer Dimension:

* Arbo - Formerly a forest realm until Gorm set large sectors of it ablaze. There are some forest havens in this realm (inhabited by dangerous creatures), but the inhospitable desert dominates (the Aquarts reside in the caverns underneath). This is also the home-realm of the Arbonians.
* Dreejal-Vin - A crowded city realm and home-realm to the Vinics. A Gorm-created computer virus destroyed their maps and cut them off from the rest of the Outer Dimension.
* Elta-Siktar - A frozen realm roaming with Eltaans, Siktaris, and Shimels (transportational pack creatures which are only referred to in passing by Nepal).
* Kek - Formerly a prison realm and now Gorm's stronghold. His powers of illusion are strongest there, which means he is in total control of the environment and those in it.
* Wex - The home-realm of the Wexers. Not seen in the series.
* Galidor - Capital Realm in the Outer Dimension. Seen only briefly in one episode, resembling a city of sculptures found in a fishbowl or snowglobe (appropriate for a realm that spent the entirety of the series in containment).

Key Props

* The Map: A circular gray device with two large grips on the sides with finger-shaped grooves and an old TV-set-shaped monitor in the middle that is capable of presenting a three-dimensional globe (acting as the equator) or a radar-like short range tracker. The map is also capable of floating by itself and is capable of plugging into the center console and acting as the guidance system for the egg, as well as showing data for both Earth as well as the Outer Dimension.
* The Communicator Watch: self-explantory. Nicholas wears the watch with the face on the inside of his wrist, a character trait provided by actor Ewald.
* The Journal: The stranger's journal, which was hidden in the Monument of Knowledge on Dreejal-Vin. It contains schematics, diagrams, and diary entries of the Stranger's journey through the Outer Dimension. Nick continues writing in the journal when he receives it. While the book appears to be a regular leather and paper book, it is in fact made out of hyperglinch energy (like the Keyfrags) meaning it can be reconstituted if destroyed, and may also mean it has an inexhaustible supply of paper (not confirmed).
* The Pack: A three-strapped backpack that Nicholas finds in Arbo. Originally belonged to the Stranger, and was found full of notes, pens, and other "junk."
* Keyfrags: Parts of the key to Galidor, shards of metal that can be combined into the shape of an egg. They are usually found in a plastic container with fingerprint identifiers to keep them safe. The key is capable of putting itself together (presumably some sort of magnetism) to make sure that it is put together properly.

Episode list

eason one

* 1. 1-1 101 Fed 9, 02 : "Identity"
* 2. 1-2 102 Feb 16, 02 : "Euripides, Please"
* 3. 1-3 103 Feb 23, 02 : "All For One, One For Nepol"
* 4. 1-4 104 Mar 2, 02 : "Bouncing Off The Walls"
* 5. 1-5 105 Mar 9, 02 : "Dust Til Dawn"
* 6. 1-6 106 Mar 16, 02 : "Belonging"
* 7. 1-7 107 Mar 23, 02 : "A Crack In The Map"
* 8. 1-8 108 Mar 30, 02 : "Seeing Is Just Seeing"
* 9. 1-9 109 Apr 6, 02 : "Truth, Lies and Videotape"
* 10. 1-10 110 Apr 27, 02 : "Just Because You're Paranoid"
* 11. 1-11 111 May 4, 02 : "Frozen Feud"
* 12. 1-12 112 May 11, 02 : "Relativity"
* 13. 1-13 113 May 18, 02 : "It's Déjà Vu All Over Again"

eason two

* 14. 2-1 201 May 25, 02 : "The Road To Kek"
* 15. 2-2 202 Jun 1, 02 : "A Room With No View -- Part One"
* 16. 2-3 203 Jun 8, 02 : "Escape From Kek -- Part Two"
* 17. 2-4 204 Jun 22, 02 : "Pieces Of Nick"
* 18. 2-5 205 Jun 29, 02 : "A Tale Of Two Nicks"
* 19. 2-6 206 Jul 6, 02 : "Go For The Bronze"
* 20. 2-7 207 Jul 13, 02 : "State Of The Art"
* 21. 2-8 208 Jul 20, 02 : "The Great Glinch Switch"
* 22. 2-9 209 Jul 27, 02 : "Mr. Tager Goes To Earth"
* 23. 2-10 210 Aug 3, 02 : "Area 51 -- A.k.a. : Area Delta"
* 24. 2-11 211 Aug 10, 02 : "Recalling The Past -- A.k.a. : Remember"
* 25. 2-12 212 Aug 17, 02 : "The Gates Of Galidor -- Part One : The Gauntlet"
* 26. 2-13 213 Aug 24, 02 : "The Gates Of Galidor -- Part Two"

Cast List

* Matthew Ewald : Nicholas "Nick" Bluetooth
* Marie-Marguerite Sabongui : Allegra Zane
* Sam Magdi : Jens
* Michael O'Reilly : Jens (Voice)
* Jeff Hall : Euripides
* Georges Morris : Euripides (Voice)
* Claude Girous : Nepol
* Walter Massey : Nepol (Voice)
* Derrick Damon Reeve / Steven P. Park : Gorm
* Ian Finlay : Gorm (Voice)
* Karen Cliche : Lind
* Tara Leigh : Queen Riana
* Randy Thomas : Samual "The Stranger" Bluetooth

Notes

* The show was completely filmed digitally, reducing the time required in compositing the computer-generated imagery. The series was also shot in 16x9/1.85:1 but was never released in that format (previews for the show, however, were presented in the "letterbox" format).

* The actor who plays Nicholas (Matthew Ewald) is on a wire rig in almost every single episode. He cracked a rib performing a wire stunt in Episode 11, but did not tell anyone because he wanted to continue doing stunt work.

* Allegra Zane leaves her backpack and camera behind in the sewer in the first episode. Additionally, the hooded sweatshirts the characters wear never reappear in later episodes.

* In the same vein, Nicholas and Allegra have hoodies in the first episode, bring them with them into the Outer Dimension, but never wear them again. Even when they are in the frozen realm of Elka Siktar.

* The legs on the Egg are the same as Jens'. The ones on the toys are interchangeable, but Jens' fit loosely in the Egg and the Egg's legs don't fit on Jens.

* The Egg's wings on the toys are the same as those of Deluxe Nicolas, but with different joints.

* Jens originally had claw hands, but switched to gloves so he could hold props and tools.

* Nicholas was originally named Christian, and is referred to such in Tom Lynch's original story. The name was changed at the last minute, and is rumoured to have been accidentally included in a few pages of the pilot script.

* Nicholas's last name, Bluetooth, is not named after the computer technology. Bluetooth is Danish royalty. The technology was just taking off when the show premiered. And the heart of the Bluetooth brand identity is the name, which refers to the Danish king Harald "Bluetooth" Blaatand. He unified Denmark and Norway. In the beginning of the Bluetooth wireless technology era, Bluetooth was aimed at unifying the telecom and computing industries.

* There is an article on the wall in Sam Bluetooth's lab that mentions a part of his house disappearing. The article originally appeared on the Galidor web page before the series began as a teaser.

* CGI seat belts were designed for the Egg's chairs, but were never used in the series.

* Allegra glinches in Episode 21 "The Great Glinch Switch," and it appears as a red flash rather than blue.

* The show had an extensive product tie-in with Lego (which helped fund the series). Despite high ratings and fan enthusiasm from the United States and outside (the show is broadcast in Europe on the SciFi Channel), disputes over funding and copyright ownership prevented a planned third season from being produced.

* Because of armour, wire rigging, and most likely the required absence of noticeable brand clothing, the human costumes were all made custom for the actors.

* In "Mr Tager Goes To Earth," the name of the principal of Nick and Allegra's school is Ms Boudrais, a reference to series producer Mychele Boudrais.

References to other media

* In Episode 1, "Identity," Nick has a book called "Chariots of the Gods" on his bedside table. The book is about aliens visiting Earth and is a big influence on the film Stargate.

* Additionally in Episode 1 "Identity," Nicholas suggests Earth may have had or been in contact with advanced civilizations in the past, similar to Dr Daniel Jackson in Stargate. While the comments were never followed-up in the run of the series, it is conceivable that Earth may have had contact with the Outer Dimension but have been cut off somehow, and that the Stranger merely re-opened this link. This suspicion is also hinted at by Galidorian devices being in a warehouse on Earth in a later episode.

* The character Gorm wears body armor to protect his own battered and destroyed form, similar to Darth Vader or Doctor Doom. It is not explained how he came to have this armor, but the little skin we see is green and scaly, implying he is some sort of lizard.

* Queen Riana appears as a mental hologram that only Nicholas can see, similar to the holographic character of Al in "Quantum Leap".

* In Episode 7 "A Crack in the Map," a judge who had sentenced Nicholas to community service tells him "what we have here is a failure to communicate," a line directly taken from Cool Hand Luke.

* In Episode 13 "It's Like Déjà Vu All Over Again," Nicholas comments on a powerful energy signal being like "his boombox cranked up to 11." This is a clear reference to Spinal Tap with the amplifier that can be turned up to 11.

* In the same episode, Allegra arrives with sandwiches that are "Simulated ham and simulated cheese, or simulated peanut butter and simulated jelly... I think." This mirrors a scene in "The Odd Couple", where Walter Matthau offers "Brown sandwiches or green sandwiches. It's either really new cheese or really old meat."

* In Episode 26 "The Gates of Galidor Part 2," Nicholas jumps into Gorm's body and destroys him from within, almost completely mirroring the death of Agent Smith from The Matrix.

* Much like the TARDIS from the long-running series "Doctor Who", the Egg, while appearing to be relatively small from the outside, is in fact much larger within.

*The series ended with a cliffhanger, which implied that, somehow, Gorm survived his destruction at the hands of Nick, and had his father captive. With this in mind, it is possible that more new episodes were planned; to this day, none have surfaced.

External links

*imdb title|id=0310457
* [http://www.galidor.com Galidor.com] now redirects to the Lego site.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040925061606/http://www.galidor.com/ Galidor.com] old web site, courtesy of the Internet Archive.
* [http://epguides.com/Galidor/ Episode Guide]