“He hasn’t shot half the people they say he has.” – Jeffrey Jones.
First aired: 10/24/1982
Production Code: 57203
Writer: B.W. Sandefur
Director: Virgil Vogel
Guest Stars
David Cadiente (Sleeping soldier)
Sid Conrad (Sheriff)
Ismael ‘East’ Carlo (Jorge)
Gina Gallego (Rita Dela Rosa)
Gregg Henry (Teddy Roosevelt)
Wilfredo Hernández (Miguel)
Gregory Itzin (Davis)
Lee Kessler (Maggie)
Frank Koppala (Billy the Kid)
Jon Lindstrom (Remington)
Don Maxwell (Bartender)
Robert O’Sullivan (Soldier)
Miguel Sandoval (Ned Dawson)
Alan Stock (Charley)
Fredd Wayne (Ben Franklin)
Historical Figures & Events
Richard Harding Davis
Frederic Remington
Benjamin Franklin
Billy the Kid (William Bonny)
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt
The Spanish-American War
Omni Timeline
1898 – Cuba
1880 – Old West (Possibly New Mexico)
1752 – Philadelphia, PA
Plot
Bogg and Jeffrey land in a small Cuban town amid a bomb attack, and Bogg rescues a beautiful woman named Rita. Rita is desperate to find help for Artist Frederic Remington.
Remington is trapped under a collapsed heavy support beam. Bogg helps Journalist Richard Harding Davis lift the timber.
A short while later, Bogg and Rita share their desires and an intimate kiss.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey looks at Remington’s illustrations. He is appalled that Billy the Kid had killed Teddy Roosevelt in a duel years earlier. Roosevelt never led the charge up San Juan Hill or became President of the United States.
Bogg’s kiss with Rita is disturbed, and Jeffrey invents a new Voyager credo – “No romance while the Omni is red!” He sets the Omni for 1880 before Bogg can say one of his long goodbyes.
The Voyagers make a pitstop in a Philadelphia field in 1752 and find Benjamin Franklin struggling with a kite. Bogg thinks the key is weighing it down. To successfully complete the electricity experiment, Franklin must shorten the kite’s tail. Jeffrey, a self-proclaimed kite expert, gets it airborne. The Voyagers disappear seconds before lightning hits the ground.
Bogg and Jeffrey nearly drown in quicksand, and Billy the Kid comes to their rescue by roping them out like steers.
He gives them dry clothes and allows them to ride along, but Billy and his gang hold up a stagecoach with Teddy Roosevelt inside.
Bogg’s disappointed to learn that Billy, a renowned killer, is Jeffrey’s idol.
Roosevelt heads into town and stubbornly refuses to back down from the duel. The townspeople, including the old Sheriff, are too scared to get involved.
Bogg and Jeffrey argue about Billy’s actions, and Jeffrey rides off with Billy to find Roosevelt.
The gang forcibly keeps Bogg from leaving the campsite. Bogg creates a diversion with alcohol and the campfire and speeds away on horseback to town.
Jeffrey can’t convince Billy to give up his life of crime, and he realizes that his hero worship was misplaced.
Jeffrey tearfully pleads aloud for Bogg to come, and his wish is granted. As the tense showdown begins, Bogg makes it to town just in time.
Bogg rushes between the men without a gun to plead with them to stop their foolishness.
Billy nearly kills them both before spending his bullets, and Bogg gets the upper hand, knocking him down and tossing his gun far away. Jeffrey apologizes to Bogg for nearly getting them all killed and acting stupid.
Bogg learned a good lesson: even though he tries to act grown-up, Jeffrey is still just a pretty good kid after all.
In Cuba, an older Teddy Roosevelt and Rita are prisoners in a barn, and the Voyagers land through the roof and rescue them.
Bogg forces the soldiers to retreat by tossing dynamite from the rooftops and running them out of the village.
No longer scared and lonely, this version of Rita desires to be a revolutionary and join in her people’s cause. She ignores Bogg’s romantic advances and rides away exhilarated. Bogg and Jeffrey proudly watch Roosevelt charge up the San Juan Hill.
Guidebook Entries
1. During the Billy the Kid segment, the mountainous outdoor scenes were filmed at Vasquez Rocks State Park, outside of Los Angeles, California. This location has been used in many TV shows and movies and is instantly recognizable for its unique rock outcroppings. It is most famous as the filming location for the Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) episode, “Arena” (1967), in which Captain James T. Kirk fights the Gorn.
2. Actor Fredd Wayne played Benjamin Franklin twice on Bewitched (1966), Daniel Boone (1969), on Voyagers! (1982) and Simon & Simon (1986). He also did a one-man performance as Benjamin Franklin.
3. Billy the Kid and his gang hold up stagecoaches in this episode. In reality, Billy was a gunfighter, not a bandit that robbed banks, trains, or stagecoaches.
4. Billy shoots at a Western Diamondback rattlesnake in close-up.
The snake that’s hit has different skin colors and patterns.
5. In “The Trial of Phineas Bogg,” two clips from this episode are shown.
6. For film buffs: Bogg puffs on a cigar and lights up dynamite sticks on the village rooftops. He tosses them around to create mini-explosions. This maneuver comes straight out of the Clint Eastwood Western, Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970). This time it wasn’t Jeffrey’s idea from the late show. If Bogg had invented the maneuver, the movie writers might’ve later discovered it while researching the history.