Date: Sun, 10 Mar 1996 23:44:40 -0800
From: Blair (blair@air44mail.net)
Subject: Starlost Rant (was Re: Space:1999, Marked Down from 2001)
>Anybody else recall "The Starlost"? Isn't it sort of the same idea as the
>ship in "Mission of the Darians"?
>
>Robert
"The Starlost", a botched attempt to make a series out of Harlan Ellison's
"Phoenix Without Ashes". one night in summer '90, my friendly neighborhood
indie TV station (same one currently running SPACE: 1999 unaltered) ran the
whole thing in original order. Harlan's account of his involvement in it
was so harrowing and vomit-inducing that i decided to tape it all. i have
since burned those tapes and had a priest perform an exorcism on my VCR! it
makes Dr. Who look like APOLLO 13! (i am, by the way, a Dr. Who fan from
way back.)
there, now. my spleen feels much better!
sincere apologies for off-topic, high vitriol content, etcetera...
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 1996 19:10:13 -0800
From: Sfcafeguy@aol4tag.com
Subject: Mission of the Darians/Starlost Similarities?
In a message dated 96-03-10 19:57:04 EST, Jon D. Balinson wrote:
>Wasn't that the show about a giant flat spaceship hundred of miles across,
>with dozens of cities completeley separated from each other?
Consulting "Fantastic Television" again:
STARLOST (1973, syndicated) was a Canadian videotaped sci-fi series featuring
Keir Dullea [from "2001: A Space Odyssey"]. It was so bad that its creator,
Harlan Ellison, disowned it and signed the pilot with his pen name,
Cordwainer Bird. The premise was that the survivvors of the destroyed planet
Earth are travling on an endless jurney through space in a huge spaceship.
This endless voyage came o an abrupt end after one season.
Well, that description clears up EVERYthing!
I seem to recall there were classes and subclasses of people living on this
ship who may or may not even know about one another, but maybe I'm thinking
of something else. At the risk of straying too far off topic, anybody else
know anything about it?
Robert
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 07:22:21 -0800
From: Mark Eidemiller
Subject: OFF TOPIC: The Starlost
What they were trying to do was capitalize on Roddenberry's Thousand
Worlds Concept, but "indoors".
Yes, each of the domes on the Starlost was a special environment and
thus a special civilization. In that way, the travelers would (theoretically)
never run out of places to go to....and that would (theoretically) keep the
series running indefinitely.
Star Trek was Gene Roddenberry's adaptation of Wagon Train, and his
Thousand Worlds Concept (I think it was Thousand; don't quote me) was
a way of putting the main characters somewhere differently each week,
another place, another world, etc....
Many series have tried this, and failed. Starlost really failed, although it
had a good premise it had bad acting and lousy plots.
But remember, this was post-Star Trek: anyone who lived during that
time would pounce on ANYTHING that even SMELLED of science fiction.
Later,
Pastor Mark Eidemiller
Moonbase Chaplain
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 18:39:47 -0800
From: Tumbleweed Enterprises (labromm@unixg.ubc4tag.ca)
Subject: Re: Mission of the Darians/Starlost Similarities?
Yes, there were many hundreds of biospheres on this ship, which was
called the Ark (go figure). The scripts were absolutely top-notch
sci-fi, but, as you said, the production values were so low as to be
non-existent. Nontheless, "big-name" guest stars included Walter (Star
Trek) Koenig as Oro tha alien, Lloyd (You name it, he's been a bit-part
actor in it) Bochner as someone whose name I can't remember, and John
(Battlestar Galactica) Colicos as some nasty guy whose reclining couch
was covered in that foam rubber that looks like egg cartons.
The deal was that the three main characters, named Devon (Dullea), Garth
(Robin Ward) and Rachel (whose real name I can't remember) are members of
an agrarian society called Cypress Corners, which, unbeknownst to the
people who live there, is but one of many hundreds of distinct biospheres
on a huge ship called the Ark. Devon and Rachel wish to marry, but
Rachel is betrothed to Garth. Devon is thrown in jail for his
persistence, and promptly escapes. He's given a kind of universal
passkey to the rest of the ship by a wierd old hermit, and soon Rachel
and then Garth follow him through the portal which connects Cypress
Corners to the rest of the ship.
Wandering the ship, they discover a whacky computer which tells them that
the main bridge of the Ark was destroyed by a collision with an asteroid
some years (the computer has lost count - it could be centuries or
decades, but we know it's a while, since they find skeletons in lots of
nooks and crannies)before. The computer (whose user interface looks like
the demon spawn offspring of Max Headroom's marriage to Patrick McGoohan
as he appeared in 'Scanners") does remember that the Ark is now on a
collision course with a planet, but it doesn't know how far away this
planet might be (it's apparently forgotten the date).
The various episodes, of which there are a surprising number, follow the
trio's efforts to locate the Auxiliary bridge, where they hope to be able
to change the course of the Ark and thereby save the lives of the
millions of humans who live on, each culture unaware of the others, in
the Ark's hundreds of biospheres.
The special effects were terrible, most of the backgrounds being
blue-screened in behind the actors. The exterior shots of the Ark were
quite convincing, and remain the technical highlight of the show. As I
said, though, the scripts were great, and for this reason the show is
definitely worth a look if anyone has the opportunity to see it. Also,
the involvement of two sci-fi giants Ellison and Ben Bova make it a
noteworthy failure.
If anyone is interested, I can post an episode guide.
The Littl Shynin Man
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 19:20:28 -0800
From: jflmgcnp@capital44net.com (John Fleming @ COLD NORTH Publishing)
Subject: Re: OFF TOPIC: The Starlost - Tapes????????
The ship was damaged and off course. Each Dome was not a 'special
civilization', but evolved due to it's isolation. It was several hundred
years after the accident, so there was several generations later in each
dome, now sealed off from each other. Interesting idea, bad production. Then
again, the book is always better than the movie!!
>Many series have tried this, and failed. Starlost really failed, although it
>had a good premise it had bad acting and lousy plots.
As I said, the book thing. The plots had a good base, but by the time
they could film them, they where chopped to hell to fit the budget. And yes,
the acting is still some of the worst I've ever seen to date, and I whatch
too much TV!!!! :-)
>[....]
I asked this before, but lost the info. Does anyone out there have any
Starlost on NTSC video, and how do I get them from you???? I know, I know,
WHY? Well, its a long story, a ridiculous project, and, and, I have nothing
better to do!!! Yeah, Thats it! Thats my story and I'm stinking to it!
Later...
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 23:59:28 -0800
From: NicStepro@aol4tag.com
Subject: Re: OFF TOPIC: The Starlost
>Many series have tried this, and failed. Starlost really failed, although it
>had a good premise it had bad acting and lousy plots.
- And a TOTAL LACK OF BACKGROUND MUSIC! I have a few epis on tape, and its
kind of eerie. There is no background music. Its noticable by its absense. It
probably would of helped if it had had any background noise at all. With the
actors, Keir Dullea(sp) (from 2001) among them, speaking in a monotone
voices, with little to no emoting whatsoever (Al Gore school of acting). Or
maybe it just SEEMED that way. You can't really tell, as TV and movies rely
on BGM to set mood and tone to a program. Watch anything, anything at all,
and then imagine it with no music. Or watch a scene being filmed. Its dull,
as involving as watching someone read a book. IMHO because of BGM. In fact
you can more often than not recognize a show by its music...
Some of the plots were pretty good though. One was about a dome based on
militaristic oppression, kind of 1984-esque. A false war created to keep the
people from figuring they were oppressed. People dropping like flies creating
munitionsin a heavily polluted atmosphere. Good I thought, or maybe I'm just
REAL easy to please (must be, 'cause I kind of liked 'Star Command', except
for the mini-skirts, and over-acting)
Yours Truly,
Nicolette
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 16:54:41 -0800
From: Tumbleweed Enterprises (labromm@unixg.ubc4tag.ca)
Subject: More on "the Starlost"
Here's the (crappy) episode guide I promised to post, but i'm afraid that
There isn't much info here.
1. Voyage of Discovery
2. Lazarus from the Mist
3. The Goddess Calabra
4. The Pisces
5. Children of Methuselah
6. And Only Man is Vile
7. Alien ORO
8. Circuit of Death
9. Gallery of Fear
10. Mr. Smith of Manchester
11. The Ancient Woods
12. The Return of ORO
13. The God that Died
14. The Implant People
15. Jirthing's Comets
16. Beehive
I have isolated memories of a few of these, and would like to hear from
anyone who can tell me of a way to get them all on tape! Any other
questions, let's talk.
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 23:59:31 -0800
From: NicStepro@aol4tag.com
>John (Battlestar Galactica) Colicos as some nasty guy whose reclining couch
>was covered in that foam rubber that looks like egg cartons.
"The Goddess Calabra" - J. Colicos is the ruler of an all male society,who
were all gestated in artificial wombs, the women having all been killed off
by disease. When the trio entered the sphere, Rachel is presumed to be a
goddess, whom Colicos wishes to wed to secure his authority. Oh, and they
COULD gestate females, but why bother ;O!
What WOULD have made this an interesting episode, would have been an
examination of the consequnces of a female-less society, but THAT was never
touched upon.
Nicolette
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 06:05:36 -0800
From: dbdlee@terra44port.net (Danny Lee)
Subject: Why StarLost?
Egads. The StarLost has got to be one of the worst shows period. The
premise was good, but those awful special effects made Star Trek effect's
look like Industrial Light and Magic. Vaccum formed plastic minatures with
awful editing. And the stories made some of Space's worst episodes look
like classic literature.
At least in Britain and the US, you have plenty of material to make a Sci Fi
channel. Here in Canada, we don't get the Sci Fi channel because of
Canadian content rules. My personal dream (tongue firmly planted in cheek)
is to make the Canadian Sci Fi Channel with 24 hours of Starlost, David
Cronenberg films, and the William Shatner Masterpiece Theatre. All the
episodes of Starlost played everyday and William Shatner's greatest
moments(?) thrown in. Maybe even throw in a few episodes of Battlestar
Galactica (Lorne Greene and John Calicos were Canadians) to boot. Somehow I
don't think it would ever fly.
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 15:48:16 -0800
From: jflmgcnp@capital44net.com (John Fleming @ COLD NORTH Publishing)
Subject: Re: Why StarLost? - Why not!!!
Okay! Okay! I get the point. But, I'm looking for ALL Sci-Fi, good or
bad. The bad ones are the hard ones to get a hold of. Since nobody likes
them, nobody keeps them. They become rare, and lost in the large universe of
'commercial' Sci-Fi. I can get any Star Trek ep I want in a second, but
Starlost, Battlestar, Quark. See what I mean??
Now for the why. I am working on a project that will, like Roberto's
blueprints, take up a good portion of my life. But, I hope it will change
the face of Sci-Fi and help direct the old hands, the new hands, and the
future hands of Sci-Fi writes, artist, actors, etc. I know, what the hell am
I talking about?? At this time I can't realy say. I'm still working up the
framework. Once I have that, I will be able to tell all, and hopefully, you
will all want to help. Credit given where credit is due. So, on that note...
Who out there has 'bad' Sci-Fi on NTSC VHS??? Any Sci-Fi!!! Let me
know. Thanks. Now, back to my pet project, getting a life.
Later...
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 04:06:48 -0800
From: "Phillip C. Merkel" (captphil@unix.asb4tag.com)
Subject: Starlost Tapes Off Topic
Ok for all of you wanting to get Starlost, I have several "Movies" of
Starlost episodes strung together. In total maybe about 6-8 episodes.
Including the first episode with Harlan Ellisons psydonym (Spelling?)
Cordwainer Bird. He uses that name whenever hes working on a project that
gets...terrible.
Anyway, I'm looking to trade for uncut episodes of 1999 or UFO. I'll trade
tape for tape so if you gotta have it, I got it. Email me personally and
we'll work out the details.
Phil M
captphil@unix.asb.com
Unity Intergroup of Suffolk County
Long Island, New York
PO Box 1134
Sound Beach, NY 11789
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