Ghost of a Flea posts about The Starlost, an sf show from 1973-74 that should have been truly fabulous -- great "Bible," high-powered special effects talent, premier sf writers in its creation and lined up to write stories about it.
It turned out to be one of the most famous sf flops on record, largely because its Canadian production company took the cheap-ass route, Nobody can tell it as well as Harlan Ellison himself, in the intro to the novelization of the pilot story, Phoenix Without Ashes (written with Edward Bryant). The intro, in fact, is worth digging up a copy of the book (and it's worth noting Ellison got a WGA award for his original version of the pilot script).
My own memories of the show are spotty. It was on Saturday evenings, which meant I rarely got to watch it, except when the folks were headed out somewhere and John and I had a sitter. Nonetheless, I gobbled it up whenever the stars aligned (for the brief time it was on) for me to be able to see it. Yes, the effects were cheesy even for the period, and I could tell, even as a 12-year-old sf geek in a TV wasteland, that the writing, as put up on the screen, was not only sub-par, but more like quadruple-bogie-pick-up-your-ball-and-head-for-the-next-tee.
Still ... May I ... help you? May I be of ... assistance? The story, even to (or perhaps because of) the extent it borrowed heavily from other "lost/decadent generation ships" novels like Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky, still had a profound impact on me, and I always remember elements of it when I write or GM. Which elements, I decline to say.
I even have a horrible, horrible desire to watch a few episodes again. I mean, it can't be as terrible as I remember it being, right?
Right?
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I dunno. Even back then, I thought it was dreck. I doubt I could force myself to watch more than three minutes of it now.
Same goes for Space: 1999.
Hmmmm. If I mentioned that I have VHS and DVD of Space: 1999 Season 1, would I lose my cool factor?
(Season 2, of course, was just silly. Brian Blessed notwithstanding.)
Lose your what?
I'll bet that time has smoothed the edges off your memory of the Starlost. It's probably much, much worse than you remember. It certainly stinks as bad as The Time Tunnel in my memory. The acting was on par with Plan 9 From Outer Space. They did spend three or four times as much on the sets though.
As for Space: 1999, I couldn't get past the premise. Even more idiotic than Waterworld's. Brian Blessed was in Season 2? I shudder to ask, but what was his role?
He was, as I recall, the father of the shapeshifter, Maya. Just a one-shot appearance, in the season premiere.
Oh, man, The Starlost... I remember Walter Koenig playing an alien on the show, trying to gain control of the Ark.
Horrible, horrible show, excellent premise.
Another reason why the geeky-lad in me thought it was so cool ...
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