From: " Tom Miller" (tmiller@north44net.org) Subject: Space1999: episode guide book Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 17:06:05 -0400 Has anyone any comment or seen anything about a book byJohn Kenneth Muir "Exploring Space:1999"? It is listed at Amazon.com, but is net yet availible. It retails for $36.00. Tom
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 16:56:33 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book On his web site Martin Willey describes the book as "academic" as opposed to other guides, mainly because it focuses so much on comparing episodes with STAR TREK, I suppose. Muir arguments how the second season was greatly influenced by the original STAR TREK series, and speculates about SPACE:1999 being an influence on the revived series. Personally I found Muir okay, but unless one is very interested in comparing the two different series, I don't think there is very much information in the book apart from a few nice points such as comparing DRAGON'S DOMAIN with Melville and the interview with Catherine Schell where she talks about how it was being directed by Crichton during THE GUARDIAN OF PIRI and how she approached her Servant of the Guardian character. She also made interesting points about the filming of ALL THAT GLISTERS, apparently an episode that everybody (except Freiberger perhaps) found totally ridiculous. I'm impressed, though, by how much though provoking discussion this episode has caused on this list. Chris Hadley's speculations were absolutely magnificent. I probably have to watch the episode once again because of his supreme contribution to the discussion. By the way, I'm just home from Paris where I happened to stumble upon Fageolle's "COSMOS:1999. L'epopee de la blancheur" (augmented and revised version, 1996). This appears to me at least to be a much more intelligent and enjoyable work than Muir's effort, although Muir has some good points too. Fageolle takes a much more "European" approach, one could perhaps say, quoting people like French philosopher Michel Butor, digress into the world of Herge, quoting Kandinsky on his teory of colour and meaning and so on. There are also interesting bits about the three main writers, Penfold, Byrne and di Lorenzo on how they in a way represent Protestant, Catholic and humanist-psychological input to the first series. Fageolle focuses mostly on the first series, as one would perhaps expect, the second series being tailored for the American marked and not being much of a success in Europe, I understand. Fageolle's book is a masterpiece, the way I see it. I those who read French manage to find it on the internet or contacting the bookstores. Petter
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 01:53:15 -0500 From: Chris Hlady (chlady@escape4tag.ca) Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book Petter, Thank you for the compliment: >Chris Hadley's speculations were absolutely magnificent. I probably have >to watch the episode once again because of his supreme contribution to the >discussion. Although I spell my last name Hlady (Hah-lay-dee) or Holiday with an Australian accent if you please ;-), it's humbling for you to applaud my contribution. Now to the meat: Petter, excellent comments on John Kenneth Muir's "Exloring Space: 1999." I can barely wait to read the book. Particularly, the interview with Catherine Schell. I enjoyed the reference to "All That Glisters." With so much talent and ego on the set, it was probably mayhem on the set, as everyone's expectations of the state of the series were in flux. No doubt, there was second guessing, "did we make a mistake with...?" "is this high concept or stupidity?" "aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh." Truly, I believe that it's not the end result, but the journey that's the fun. >Fageolle's "COSMOS:1999. L'epopee de la blancheur" (augmented and revised >version, 1996). >Fageolle's book is a masterpiece, the way I see it. I those who read >French manage to find it on the internet or contacting the bookstores. Is this only in french, or do I need to "breakaway" my English/French dictionaries from storage? >Fageolle: theory of colour and meaning and so on. The first season was delightful with its "guest artists" and "moon costumes" and the spacious Main Mission/Commander's office. The emphasis on God, also, or understanding what can't be understood, begs serious contemplation and theories. As well, the "colour" of the series sparkled in beautiful contrasts and variations. I believe much credit is owed to Sylvia Anderson for bringing forth the beautiful journey of the first season. >There are also interesting bits about the three main writers, Penfold, >Byrne and di Lorenzo on how they in a way represent Protestant, Catholic >and humanist-psychological input to the first series. In the second season, Freddie Freiberger, as writer, brought us "David Prowse (later the body of Darth Vader)," the creature from the Beta Cloud. I'm going to have to rack my brain coming up with positive feedback for that episode. >Fageolle focuses mostly on the first series, as one would perhaps expect, >the second series being tailored for the American market and not being >much of a success in Europe, I understand. Hmm. With all the hype about the second series shift, I don't think it was tailored so much for the story, rather as a cynical exploitation of marketing expectations. I was glad it failed. That said, the resonances of the first season do exist in the second. The creatives must have been scratching their heads wondering what to expect or to do. Fortunately, their energy still showed through the final print. With great respect, Chris
From: Petter Ogland (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 09:26:54 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book > Is "Cosmos: 1999" just a dubbed version of Space: 1999 or is it something > completely new? COSMOS:1999 is SPACE:1999 dubbed into French, and very well done too, from my point of view. Dubbing is not an easy thing to do, I suppose, and sometimes the meaning of sentences get altered. I noted this especially with the German version of the series, MONDBASIS ALPHA 1, where episodes where edited down to 40 minutes run. Much of the metaphysical angle in "Die schwartze Sonne" (BLACK SUN) was left out or made less mystical. The episodes I have in French I don't have in English, so I can't compare, but I've noticed that Brian the Brain was given the name Marcel and that Eagle One is constantly called Aigle Noir (Black Eagle). The latter phenomenon is explained by Fageolle having to do with phonetical difficulties of getting "Un" to sound like "One". Generally I'm not much in favour of dubbing, but in the case of the second season of SPACE:1999 I think at least the French and German versions of the show were quite good. As Freiberger apparently wanted the actors to shout their lines rather than speaking normally as they did in Year One, the dubbed versions are less irritating in this manner. On the other hand, the subtlties of Dave Reily's accent as an Irish cowboy in ALL THE GLISTERS is totally lost along with word play and other phenomena I suspect will get mentioned as we continue our analysis of the second series. Petter
From: Petter Ogland (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 10:38:32 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book / All that Glisters [The "All That Glisters" part was moved to that thread.] > Is this only in french, or do I need to "breakaway" my English/French > dictionaries from storage? The book is only in French, I believe, but it is written in a very simple language although it contains an astounding amount of deep though about things like SPACE:1999 and Kandinsky's theory of colour, Bettlheim's theory of psychology of fairytales, Michel Butor, ecology, religion, etc. given substantial space for people like Johnny Byrne and Chris Penfold to explain their ideas. Most of the Byrne/Penfold material is based on interviews available in the Cybrary, but Fageolle's interpretation of what they say is very good and illuminating, I think. Kandinsky's theory of colour and Ulysses' original Odyssey of the Mediterainian is perhaps the main perspective of Fageolle, a viable translation of his book "L'epopee de la blancheur" would perhaps be something like "Epic of whiteness". The book contains some of the best material I've ever read about the series. Magnificent! > In the second season, Freddie Freiberger, as writer, brought us "David > Prowse (later the body of Darth Vader)," the creature from the Beta Cloud. > I'm going to have to rack my brain coming up with positive feedback for > that episode. He-he. I look very much forward to this, Chris! Petter
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi.no) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 09:30:35 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book > Marcel Le? No. Brain = cerveau, computer = ordinateur. I suspect they tried to find a French name that would give similar emotional effect as naming the computer Brian would get on an English audience. Naming the computer Brian is very different from naming it Gwent, I suppose, believing Brian to be a very common name in the UK. I think it is the same type effect the Monty Python team tried to create in LIFE OF BRIAN (1979), having a completely ordinary person being treated as a prophet. Petter
From: "Brian Dowling" (brian@hellion.prestel4tag.co.uk) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 21:49:14 +0100 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book > Naming the computer Brian is very different from naming it Gwent, I > suppose, believing Brian to be a very common name in the UK. Not that common! And for the record, Delmer Powys Plebus Gwent, as it said in the novelisation (and probably in the episode as well) has two names which are counties in Wales - Powys and Gwent. > the same type effect the Monty Python team tried to create in LIFE OF > BRIAN (1979), having a completely ordinary person being treated as a > prophet. Whilst I *was* called Brian The Brain at school, nobody has yet greeted me with "Morning, Saviour"... :-) Brian Dowling - Online Alphan #144 - Birmingham, England
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 19:02:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Apprich (psapp@terra4m.cnct.com) Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book > Whilst I *was* called Brian The Brain at school, nobody has yet > greeted me with "Morning, Saviour"... :-) How about "Crazy hijacking slot machine"? PA - WHO ARE YOU CALLING SLOT MACHINE YOU PLASTIC PINBRAIN YOU, ARRGH!
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 17:33:47 +0200 (MET DST) From: Stefano Alpa (reste@mbox.ulisse4tag.it) Subject: Space1999: About dubbing >Dubbing is not an easy thing to do, I suppose, and sometimes the meaning of >sentences get altered. I noted this especially with the German version >of the series, MONDBASIS ALPHA 1, where episodes where edited down to >40 minutes run. Much of the metaphysical angle in "Die schwartze Sonne" >(BLACK SUN) was left out or made less mystical. Hi everyone, I'm new on the list, my name is Stefano from Genoa, Italy. I agree with you, Petter. I think that dubbing is very important, above all for a Sci-Fi series (surely more that for a Disney's film!), even if I understand that for the majority of you, being of English language, this is a secondary problem. In Italy the dubbing is much accurate; it's often made from actors of theater and besides schools of dubbing exist. The Italian tendency is look for the most possible of syncronize the Italian words with the lips of the actors; if this system is good for almost all films, in the Sci-Fi movies it could carry thick incomprehensions because of the complexity of the scripts. In the case of Spazio:1999 I retain that everything has stayed translated the more faithfully possible and without cuts; comparing the episodes with the dialogues transcribed by Mark Willey in the his interesting site "The Catacombs" ([www.geocities.com]/ Area51/ 8722) I have noticed few differences, even in "complex" episodes like Black Sun and Matter of life and of death. In Italy S1999 is still broadcast almost each year and still ... wonderful! OK, thank you for your patience and... bye to all of you. S T E P.S. ABOUT DUBBING.... Giancarlo Preti, the actor that plays Dan Mateo in "The Troubled Spirit" it's now the director of the Italian dubbing of Star Trek The Next Generation... Stefano Alpa
From: Petter Ogland (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 15:08:22 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: About dubbing It's interesting to hear your views on dubbing. I have not seen SPAZIO:1999, but I have seen several episodes of COSMOS 1999 (French dubbed version) and MONDBASIS ALPHA 1 (German dubbed version). In both the French and the German versions the dubbing is done professionally to the core, I think. The language has a lot do to with the mood of the episode as with the language translation there is inevitable also a culture translation. In the case of the Year Two episodes of SPACE:1999 I even prefer the dubbed versions at times although some of the meaning is lost, like the focus on English, American and other accents on the English language. Accoring to Martin J Willey the accents produced by Freddie Jones and Isla Blair in JOURNEY TO WHERE are supposed to be incredibly bizarre. I sadly miss not haveing vitnessed this. There was also a lot of discussion on Dave Reilly's accent in ALL THAT GLISTERS, an interesting phenomenen that didn't carry over to the German version where everybody seemed to speak in normal educated German accent ("Hochdeutsch"). Brian's accent in BRIAN THE BRAIN is reported to be incredibly annoying. In the French version he is quite charming, I think, although silly. There were of course dubbing on the original episodes as well. I think all the three male Italian protagonists where dubbed, but the Englishman who dubbed them made a fake Italian accent that certainly fool me. Excellent work. Johnny Byrne wrote something about watching this process in action when he was writing for the series. His comments are probably in the Cybrary somewhere. > The Italian tendency is look for the most possible of syncronize the Italian > words with the lips of the actors; if this system is good for almost all > films, in the Sci-Fi movies it could carry thick incomprehensions because of > the complexity of the scripts. Complex indeed, I agree very much there. In the case of these two episodes I prefer the original voices, however, mostly because of Barry Morse who uses his voice like Claude Monet uses colour. Impossible to dub this, I think, it would almost be like removing the character. Although less sophisticated of course, Barbara Bain also bases her acting much on the use of voice in Year One, the earlier episodes in particular. In the latter episodes, like DRAGON'S DOMAIN, she changes style, slightly anticipates the style of Year Two. The dubbed version is often equally fine then, I think, if not better. Petter
From: Tamazunchale@web44tv.net (South Central) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 09:43:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book Anthony Terpiloff is dead?? Mateo
From: LKJ1999@aol4tag.com Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 12:53:37 EDT Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book Who told You that??? Chas P. LKJ1999
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 16:56:00 +0000 Subject: Re: Space1999: episode guide book I wonder if somebody else confirm this as well. From my research I had difficulty in finding output from Terpiloff post RETURN OF THE SAINT (1978), but using some search engine on the net I found information on a person called Anthony Terpiloff that was born in Brooklyn, New York 1929, if I remember correctly, and died in Wales 1978. This Anthony Terpiloff was married to a different person than Elisabeth Barrows, but I suppose Terpiloff/Barrows could have divorced. Or am I on the wrong track here? Is this another Anthony Terpiloff? Knowing that Terpiloff was an American writer living in the UK, using references to Wales in THE INFERNAL MACHINE, I wondered if this could be the very same person, but I'm not sure. Petter
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 15:51:39 +0000 Subject: Space1999: Re: Anthony Terpiloff Does anyone know if Terpiloff was terribly ill during 1975-76 fearing he might not have long left to live? All his five contributions seem to concentrate on pacifism, apathy and death. EARTHBOUND: Much focus on death here. The Kaldonians are abandonning a dying planet and plan to take their own lives if they are not accepted on Earth. Very much silimarity between Zantor and Arra, I think. As Simmonds is the most clearly drawn person in this episode, I suppose there is a possiblity of him being Terpiloff's alter ego, seing Moonbase Alpha as some kind of decease and the voyage to Earth as a symbol of getting well. COLLISION COURSE: Terpiloff writes about belief vs. logic. As he sees there is no escape from the desease, focus on belief seems much more meaningful than focus on logic. If he was facing something as sinister as cancer, the metaphor of Alpha on a collision course makes very much sense indeed. DEATH'S OTHER DOMINION: If he was facing death, also this fable of immortality makes more sense, I feel. Was he parafrasing that being kept alive by hospital machines was morally unjust? While strapped to the machine and writing episode scripts, having no prospects of recovering, surely an episode like this does not sound too unreasonable. Perhaps even his doctor was a dr. Rowan Cabot. THE INFERNAL MACHINE: This episode about "a lonely creature seeking it's own death" seems very much like DEATH'S OTHER DOMINION in reprise. THE CATACOMBS OF THE MOON: More morbid stuff here, I suppose, perhaps more influence by Poe like he was in his first episode than the Barrow- episodes that seem to draw influence from the Bard. More on CATACOMBS where we reach up with the episode, however. I just wanted to add a few speculations to the discussion as we were on the topic of Terpiloff. Petter