Operation: Spoilsport



OPERATION: SPOILSPORT

Episode 9

Air Date: November 11, 1981

Written By: Frank Lupo

Directed By: Rod Holcomb

At Twin Palms Missile Base a group of soldiers are in a room studying monitors when suddenly an alarm sounds signaling that the missiles are readying. After the commanding officer puts in a call to General Storker the clock resets it’s self to twenty four hours; the launch time.

Meanwhile, Ralph is on a payphone talking with Pam who is on a case. After he gets off the phone rings and the operator tells him he owes fifty cents for a call to Palmdale.

After Ralph get in to his car and starts driving Tony, who is driving another car in which his fellow students are riding in, crashes in to him. After getting out the students tell him that Tony has supped up the car, which he calls the Villicana Pirhanha, and they plan to take part in a series of races where the winner gets to keep the loser’s car. They plan to take the cars they win and open up a used car lot. The radio suddenly plays a different station where the announcer plays a request for Ralph from “ his star admirers” from Palmdale.

Ralph calls Bill and tells him about the strange events that are happening which are connected to Palmdale. Bill states he can not go because there is a meeting being held by Carlisle and it is not because, as Ralph states, that he is afraid of the aliens.

Bill arrives at the meeting as Carlisle goes over the dress code he has initiated. He focuses on Bill because he does not like his white socks with brown shoes, his haircut, and that he is playing battleship during the meeting. He also tells Bill that military intelligence is taking over the kidnapping case of Charles W. Ratner; a computer genius. Bill’s protests fall on deaf ears.

An army sergeant named Jensen is working on an electronic panel when he is electrocuted.

Meanwhile, Ralph and Bill are driving down a road in Palmdale. They pass by Jansen whose discoloration leads Ralph to call him dead. They pass him again and Bill, in fear, slams on the gas only to come across Jensen again, this time in the middle of the road.

They stop and Jensen tells them that Operation: Spoilsport has been activated and if it is not stopped then the world will be doomed. Jensen is then beamed aboard the ship. Ralph flies after it wanting more information and to tell them that he has lost the instruction book. A light flashes from the ship causing Ralph to crash to the ground. Bill tells him about Spoilsport which is a computer program designed to fire thirty nuclear missiles at Russia in the case that U.S. lost the war with them.

The car will not start so Ralph tries to flies him out of the desert but crashes repeatedly. They try to hitch a ride but the car will not stop.

Later, Tony is racing a man and loses. As Tony is handing over the pink slip Ralph and Bill are arriving via a truck they hitchhiked on. The race is taking place outside Ralph’s house where Rhonda is suppose to be watching Kevin. Bill approaches the man who won while Ralph sneaks inside to get a change of clothes. Bill gets the pink slip back and takes the Villicana Piranha and Ralph comes out and gets in the passenger’s seat.

Meanwhile, several generals and politicians were having a meeting about the situation. One general suggests telling the Russians about the missiles so their planes can shoot them out of the sky but General Starker states since they do not know which missiles are firing then that will not do any good. He also states that once those missiles hit Russia it will be World War III. He suggest that they launch a preemptive strike and not only stop that but win their current conflict with them.

They go to the federal building where Bill plans to do a search on Ratner to get flagged by the computer system and get in contact with those investigating his kidnapping. He goes in while Ralph waits by the car.

Bill does the search and several soldiers come and arrest him. Ralph flies to the roof but by the time he gets there the chopper they took off in is gone.

Ralph heads to the house where Nancy Benson; Ratner’s girlfriend, lives. He terrifies her with his strange appearance and after looking through several of Ratner’s things holographs on him at Twin Palms Military Base. Ralph drives over there.

Meanwhile, General Starker interrogates Bill and have one of his men inject him with truth serum. As it begins to take it’s effect General Starker reveals that he is the one who kidnapped Ratner and used him to activate Operation Spoilsport. He did this because seeing Communism’s recent gains around the world believe that the U.S. is losing the conflict and it can survive the launching of missiles from both sides. The serum begins to take effect and Bill tells them about the aliens, Ralph and his suit, and everything else but they don’t believe him.

Ralph sneaks in to the base and frees Bill. He fights and defeats several soldier. Soon they encounter more soldiers and Bill, still groggy, fires wildly with a gun he has found to keep them back.

Ralph crashes through a wall and in to the control room. He smashes a terminal limiting the launching to only of one missile. Ralph races outside and prevents the missile from taking off, saving the world.

Later, Bill returns the Villicana Piranha to the class and an officer comes over and gives him a ticket for the noise the car makes.

Ralph hears another program from his “ star admirers” on the radio saying thank you.