Well, they're trying anyway...hasn't been sold to a network yet, so who knows if this will ever happen. This news story calls it a "reimagining," but I know that reboot/re-whatever can be very slippery terms. Do they dare keep the part about the moon leaving Earth's orbit?
I'm afraid it would simply be too ridiculous today, assuming the series is meant to be taken seriously. Here's their problem, they need to appeal to some existing audience. There's the SyFy lightweight romantic comedy audience, but Space: 1999 really doesn't fit that mold at all. There's the serious-sci-fi nuBSG audience, and they're the ones most likely to scoff at an absurd premise. Not sure who they hope to make this series for. Lost in Space probably would be a better target for revival - that one could go either lightweight or serious, and there's nothing inherently ridiculous about the setup.
They could. Just have the Moon whisked away via a wormhole or something. Or get rid of that angle altogether and set the new series aboard a space station. As for a remake: I'd be all for it. This might actually work with a RDM-style downbeat outlook. Have Space: 2099 be as deadly serious and unrelentingly depressing as nuBSG.
I've got a couple of ideas on you could do Space: 2099 in an interesting way without having the moon go anywhere. I think it is entirely possible for this show to be done in a very realistic manner and still have it be engaging and entertaining.
It seems that they've already settled on calling it Space: 2099, which I think is good. Keeping the Eagles and Moonbase Alpha would also be good. But I'd wouldn't cry if they ditch the Moon being blasted out of Earth orbit at lightspeed velocities and falling into a nearby black hole thing...
The earlier Space 2099 effects update proposal mentioned a wormhole created by the massive nuclear/magnetic explosion from the waste dumps [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPTZaSv9Bxk[/yt]
If the Moon leaves Earth's orbit, I'd be more interested in seeing the effects on Earth, which of course would be catastrophic. That probably was not something they realized when the original series was produced.
^They realized it, and simply ignored it, along with all the other nonsensities of science necessitated by the premise.
Hmm... One remains cautiously optimistic, but we're already lived through one disastrous reboot of the concept. I'm not sure my nerves could take any more. If the Moon isn't sent off on its odyssey, then I can't see what the point is. The journey is the story.
^^^ That's some pretty impressive work in the video, there. Which reboot was that? As for the moon staying put - there's more than one sort of journey that the characters can be set off upon.
I would enjoy watching an updated version of the Season 1 episode "Dragon's Domain" . Although I don't know who they would cast in the "seasoned astronaut Toni Cellini" role. An updated version of the Season 1 episode "War Games" would be nice too. As for the moon leaving Earth orbit, what about a large rogue planet (or small black hole) passing close enough to disrupt Earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around Earth? Then have the moon pass through a black hole like they did in the Season 1 episode "Black Sun". That would at least get the moon out of our solar system quickly and in another part of the galaxy or in another galaxy. I don't know how they would explain the moon traveling great distances to other star systems between episodes though. Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente /\
That would be the second series, 1976-1977. The story of the humans fulfilling a new destiny as they move out into the universe is what the series is all about. Take that away, and what's the point of trading on the name of the original series? You might as well call it something else.
I've often thought of ideas for a new Lost in Space series. One thing I know is, it wouldn't be as campy as the original, but still maintain a fun action-adventure vibe. Re: Space: 1999 revival- One idea I've heard over the years, and that would be the least scientifically ludicrous, could be that the Moon is broken up by whatever, and the piece with Moonbase Alpha on it is the part of the Moon that goes hurtling off into space. That's an idea I can get behind.
The name might be the only worthwhile thing to come out of the series. ( okay, the ships were pretty cool).
Well they're going to have to change the title? Loved this series when I was a kid and if it's half as good as the BSG remake I'm all for it
Simple. Have the moon blow up into chunks, and one of these chunks is flung off far into deep space. That way, it looks a lot less stupid than the freakin' moon flying through the air, and you've got an awesome, even more action packed premiere and premise. Or they go the space station route, abandonning all ties to the moon completely.
I think they should have the Moon blown out of orbit as before, and specifically note that Earth is wiped out by the absence of the Moon. So the Alphans (and maybe some inhabitants of other colonies in our solar system) are the last surviving humans.
Wasn't there one episode where the Moon briefly finds itself back in Earth orbit to find that the entire planet has been laid waste (except for a small patch of land which still supported life), implicitly because of what happened when the Moon originally left orbit?