Home  Episode Summaries Season 1 The Great Alaskan Land Rush - Notes
Credits: written by David Bennett Carren
Production Number: 600-56
Original Airdate: December 3, 1985
When the last surviving heir of the Russian Imperial Alaskan Colony Company shows up and claims to own Alaska, the Joes suspect it is a Cobra plot to wrench away America’s largest state. The only way to disapprove the claim is for the Joes to go to Alaska and find the colony’s Imperial Seal. Three problems: the seal has been missing for over a hundred years, the Russians are looking for the seal so they can reclaim Alaska, and Cobra is determined to stop them both!
| THE PERSONNEL |
| G.I.Joe: Duke,
Scarlett, Gung Ho, Roadblock, Shipwreck*, Dusty*, Joe grunts, Snake Eyes,
Dusty*, Recondo*, Ace, Oktober Guard: Daina, Horrorshow, Col. Brekhov |
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Cobra: Baroness, Tele-Viper, Tomax, Xamot, Wild Weasel |
| THE GEAR |
| G.I.Joe: Snow Cat, Skystriker |
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Cobra: Rattler, HISS |
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* indicates the character was silent during the episode
Gerky Potemkin's last name is the same as a Russian statesman (1739 to 1791) who was favored by Catherine II.
Tomax and Xamot burst through the glass door of the Gerber Landsford, the governor of Alaska, and the first name "Gerber" was more than likely a tribute to the first season's story editor, Steve Gerber (Matthew Pak's 3 3/4" G.I.Joe Collector Guide - Volume Two: The Television Episodes).
The sign over Gerky's head states, "All you canus takus," a twisted version of e pluribus unum (Latin for "from many, one").
Unlike the episode "The Invaders," Col. Brekhov refers to his team as Red Oktober and not the Oktober Guard.
The episode's title could be a combination of two historical moments in the United States: the Oklahoma land rush and the California gold rush (1849). During the Oklahoma land rush, people lined up and ran out into a large area of land and attempted to stake out their lot after a cannon was fired. The cannon shot in the episode was Gerky's broadcast in which he thundered his proclamation that everyone must leave and the land-hungry group was composed of members from the Joe and Oktober Guard teams attempting to lay claim to Alaska by finding the true seal of Alaska. And because the seal was created with gold, the California gold rush is also mirrored in the episode since a large group of people are traveling to a far off land
to find gold, like the prospectors who journeyed to California.
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| Roadblock speaks with Gung Ho's voice while the Joes ride on dogsleds (Matthew Pak's 3 3/4" G.I.Joe Collector Guide - Volume Two: The Television Episodes). |
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| As the Baroness attacks, the viewer can hear her laugh, however, her lips are not moving. |
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I
Time: 9 seconds
II
Dialogue:
Scarlett: And there’s no legal way to stop him.
Time: 2.5 seconds
Commentary: Was it really worth the time and trouble to carve out 2.5 seconds?
III
Dialogue:
Gung Ho: Call your bet and raise five.
Scarlett: Sure, Potemkin and Cobra are working together, Duke?
I call your bet.
Duke: Wherever Extensive Enterprises is, so’s Cobra. They want
Alaska for its resources and as a permanent base. Call. All we gotta do
is search a millions acres of freeze dried real estate to find one tiny
Russian knick-knack.
Gung Ho: Will you guys shut up and play!
Time: 29 seconds
IV
Dialogue:
Duke: Air defense - to your stations!
Time: 3 seconds
V
Dialogue:
Potemkin: Six Rolls Royces, a few mink robes, a couple dozen
diamond rings, and toss in a platinum bathtub while you’re at it. Been
wanting to make that call to Neimen Marcus all my life!
Time: 14 seconds
Note: Potmekin's question to Tomax and Xamot (last image) was a voice-over while the exterior shot of the building was on the screen during the USA episode (third image). As a result, the phone call to Neimen Marcus was cut out.
VI
Dialogue:
Potemkin: Smooth as sticking a country rube with a '59 Edsel.
Time: 5 seconds
VII
Dialogue:
Tomax: Repeat again, Baroness.
Xamot: Isn’t that redundant, dear brother?
Time: 3.5 seconds
VIII
Dialogue:
Scarlett: Now I know how a TV dinner feels.
Time: 3.5 seconds
Dusty
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Original:
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If you must ride your bicycle at night, Dusty suggests that you should
have reflectors on your bike so that cars will see you. |
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USA:
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Same as above |
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Music Clip: After Lucrof orders the Joes to be silent, the guards lead the Joes to the cells where they meet the Oktober Guard. [271 kb]
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