Space 1999

[Andrew_Kearley]

That's all as may be but... as an answer to the OP's question, why are people fans of Space: 1999, I'm finding it a bit disheartening that the majority of answers seem to be based on 35 year old recollections that "there was nothing better on at the time". I know if I was seeing the show for the first time today, I would still be a fan, because it speaks to me in a way that nothing else ever has.

 

[diankra]

That's all as may be but... as an answer to the OP's question, why are people fans of Space: 1999, I'm finding it a bit disheartening that the majority of answers seem to be based on 35 year old recollections that "there was nothing better on at the time". I know if I was seeing the show for the first time today, I would still be a fan, because it speaks to me in a way that nothing else ever has.

It's a combination, and I should have stressed that: you watched it in 1975 because it was the only option, and that nostalgia is why people came back to it later and spotted the aspects of it that are genuinely great.
The flip side to that is that, without that child-bred goodwill towards it, I can understand why someone tuning in to check it out might not stick around long enough to be impressed.

 

[Candlelight]

I loved it. Pure escapism.

Plus great 70's opening titles. So good in fact that NuBSG ripped them off.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I loved it. Pure escapism.

Plus great 70's opening titles. So good in fact that NuBSG ripped them off.

And Space: 1999 ripped it off from Landau and Bain's previous series, Mission: Impossible.

 

[diankra]

I loved it. Pure escapism.

Plus great 70's opening titles. So good in fact that NuBSG ripped them off.

And Space: 1999 ripped it off from Landau and Bain's previous series, Mission: Impossible.

Ahhh... Gerry Anderson was doing the 'This episode' highlights show on Thunderbirds two years before M:I sold. And I bet it was a standard long before that...

 

[Klaus]

^^And GA even updated the credits during the show's production break to include shots from the episodes made after the original one, such as adding Paul Foster.

And I've noticed the same age-related issues with oBSG... people who watched about age 14 or younger have a far higher opinion of it than cynical old coots of age 16 or over like me [at the time].

 

[ronny]

maybe it was just the separation but I'm pretty sure I read that their family life wasn't crash hot at the time (Bain/Landau) though I gather Anderson & Anderson wasn't that pleasant either (as you say that'w when they got divorced and Sylvia was gone from Space:1999).

I don't know anything about the Bain/Landau divorce but I'm guessing the Andeson divorce must have been pretty unpleasant. While watching the commentaries for UFO, Gerry Anderson can't even bring himself to mention Sylvia's name or mention her in any way and that's something like 20 years after the divorce.

 

[payndz201]

Screw the haters, I enjoyed season 2! Well, parts of it. ('All That Glisters', 'The Taybor' and 'The Beta Cloud' were utter shit, and there were a fair few mediocre stories as well.)

But 'The Metamorph', 'The AB Chrysalis', 'Seed Of Destruction' and the final eight episodes (bar 'The Immunity Syndrome', which was so-so rather than actually bad) are all solid and entertaining space adventure tales. Sure, they don't exactly engender a great deal of philosophical debate, but then nor did the majority of Doctor Who's stories.

 

[diankra]

maybe it was just the separation but I'm pretty sure I read that their family life wasn't crash hot at the time (Bain/Landau) though I gather Anderson & Anderson wasn't that pleasant either (as you say that'w when they got divorced and Sylvia was gone from Space:1999).

I don't know anything about the Bain/Landau divorce but I'm guessing the Andeson divorce must have been pretty unpleasant. While watching the commentaries for UFO, Gerry Anderson can't even bring himself to mention Sylvia's name or mention her in any way and that's something like 20 years after the divorce.

I've interviewed Gerry Anderson a couple of times, and believe me, you do not mention her. It's like asking Harlan Ellison what he thinks of Paramount's lawyers.

 

[WillsBabe]

^ It's generally a crap episode, but there's some dialogue between Maya and Koenig in Rules of Lutan about the war and his wife dying that's a nice touch in season two.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I loved it. Pure escapism.

Plus great 70's opening titles. So good in fact that NuBSG ripped them off.

And Space: 1999 ripped it off from Landau and Bain's previous series, Mission: Impossible.

Ahhh... Gerry Anderson was doing the 'This episode' highlights show on Thunderbirds two years before M:I sold. And I bet it was a standard long before that...

Didn't know that.

Screw the haters, I enjoyed season 2! Well, parts of it. ('All That Glisters', 'The Taybor' and 'The Beta Cloud' were utter shit, and there were a fair few mediocre stories as well.)

Two things I liked about season two:

1) The uniforms weren't so antiseptic.
2) An attempt was made to make the characters more human by giving them many more shades. However, it didn't always come across well and seemed often forced.

 

[ronny]

maybe it was just the separation but I'm pretty sure I read that their family life wasn't crash hot at the time (Bain/Landau) though I gather Anderson & Anderson wasn't that pleasant either (as you say that'w when they got divorced and Sylvia was gone from Space:1999).

I don't know anything about the Bain/Landau divorce but I'm guessing the Andeson divorce must have been pretty unpleasant. While watching the commentaries for UFO, Gerry Anderson can't even bring himself to mention Sylvia's name or mention her in any way and that's something like 20 years after the divorce.

I've interviewed Gerry Anderson a couple of times, and believe me, you do not mention her. It's like asking Harlan Ellison what he thinks of Paramount's lawyers.

Thanks for confirming something I was kind of guessing at. In Sylvia's commentaries she talks about division of work, who did what, etc. With Gerry he doesn't even talk about the aspects of the show she dealt with which I think is kind of lame. If you look at the quality of work he did while they were together vs. after, she definitely had a positive impact.

I think it was in the Space: 1999 extra's disk where she did commentary for an episode where she talked about almost having lunch with Stanley Kubrick. He calls her up asking her to lunch because he wants them to do special effects for one of his projects. She says they are not a special effects for hire shop, they do effects for their own shows. There's a long pause and she asks "Do you still want to have lunch?" and there's an even longer pause and he says "No" and hangs up. She says she wished she had waited to say no until lunch so at least she could say she had lunch with Stanly Kubrick. Off topic but I just thought that was pretty funny.

 

[QuasarVM]

I don't give a fuck about the scientific implausibility of Space: 1999. I know it's implausible. But then I also know that telephone boxes can't travel through time, and I love Doctor Who. Go figure. It is in no way a hard science fiction show. The analysis of the show in terms of existential horror is an interesting insight actually.

It's also a fable about a spiritual odyssey. The journey is what's important, not the practicalities of how it would work. I'm a confirmed atheist, but that doesn't mean I don't have a spiritual side, and Space: 1999 speaks to that part of me. God may not exist, but there's a sense that there is some sort of greater cosmic intelligence at work in the universe. The Alphans are being guided on their voyage. Indeed, it's revealed later on that there is a purpose to the whole thing. So that has to make us question whether in fact it was really an accident that propelled the Moon from its orbit, or some sort of divine intervention right from the off. I'm also quite reminded of the work of Olaf Stapledon in a lot of the more far-reaching ideas the series presents.

Space: 1999 is an astonishingly different series from any other sci-fi show before or since, and for that reason alone, I think it's worthy of my attention. It's breath-taking, spell-binding, and awe-inspiring. And that's why I'm a fan.

The second series is mostly shit though.

I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY!!!

It's a wonderful series -- the first season anyway. I can't really top what you said, Andrew, so...therefore it is in my judgement I do not try.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Space: 1999 was a great show when I watched it first run in the seventies. As a sci-fi fan always looking for televised content I appreciated any new weekly series. Of course, today it looks rather dated, even silly, but I have fond memories none the less.

 

[QuasarVM]

What did people find entertaining about this show?

It was 1975. I was 12. I knew the premise was ludicrous, but there wasn't a lot of other SF to watch. And when I did watch, I was hooked. The special effects were outstanding. The sets were well designed. The spacecraft designs were really cool. There was an interesting mix of characters. And the music! Barry Gray's work on the first season is some of my all time favourite SF TV music.

I'm not blind to the show's flaws, certainly, but I've enjoyed watching the show as an adult, which is more than I can say for the original Battlestar Galactica. The business with the Mysterious Unknown Force guiding the moon on its journey and the whole cosmic horror rather than science fiction feel of the show make Space: 1999 really unlike anything else on TV. I can see how they can make the show a frustrating experience for some viewers, though.

The second season is a lot tougher to defend. Maya and Verdeschi were interesting enough characters, but the show's budget appeared to have taken a major hit, so the special effects weren't nearly as good. The stories were a lot weaker, thanks to the decision to bring in Freddie Freiberger to Americanize the show, though there were a few memorable moments. And Derek Wadsworth's music just didn't have the same atmospheric feel that Gray's had. It's almost a different TV series altogether.

Freiburglar tried to turn a unique and interesting series into a Star Trek and added a bunch of stupid humor that just came off as forced.

That's what killed the show.

PS: Barry Gray was an EXCELLENT composer!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The fact that Fred's efforts didn't save the series he trashed makes it even worse.

 

[QuasarVM]

That's all as may be but... as an answer to the OP's question, why are people fans of Space: 1999, I'm finding it a bit disheartening that the majority of answers seem to be based on 35 year old recollections that "there was nothing better on at the time". I know if I was seeing the show for the first time today, I would still be a fan, because it speaks to me in a way that nothing else ever has.

AMEN TO THAT!!!

This little panty-wastes who grew up on NuBSG, Stargate and these CGI fests have no idea what good sci-fi TV is! While 1999 is NOT a perfect show (then again, what is?), it at least was unique. It was shot like a movie. It didn't have that generic "TV feel" of the time. It had creative camera work; special effects that inspired George Lucas when he was making Star Wars (He said the special effects have to be at least as good as Space 1999 at one point); excellent production design; and a cinematic movie style musical score!

The first season stories were cutting edge at the time and the series tried to do its own thing...not copy Star Trek.

Even today, science fiction TV has a hard time not copying Star Trek, but the first season of Space 1999 managed to do that and be captivating genre entertainment.

 

[QuasarVM]

The fact that Fred's efforts didn't save the series he trashed makes it even worse.

You can't save something that doesn't NEED saving (and it didn't). The show had very good ratings the first year. It was ITC telling Gerry Anderson to "make it more American...and add more monsters to it" that caused him to bring Freiburglar aboard.

I think if they had left well enough alone, it would have become huge. But it's all hindsight now...

 

[Candlelight]

There is even a remastered DVD edition on the cards with tons of unseen and behind the scenes stuff never seen before........Space 1999 edition

We even get to see the unused ending of the original pilot that was filmed just in case space 1999 was not commissioned.

That was brilliant... I loved the unused ending and the japanese titles. The sitcom wasn't half bad either.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

In Sylvia's commentaries she talks about division of work, who did what, etc. With Gerry he doesn't even talk about the aspects of the show she dealt with which I think is kind of lame. If you look at the quality of work he did while they were together vs. after, she definitely had a positive impact.

There's some truth in that, although of course Gerry hasn't done that much work since splitting with Sylvia. (And actually I have something of a soft spot for Terrahawks, Dick Spanner and Lavender Castle - and New Captain Scarlet was passable enough - it's only really Space Precinct I've got problems with.) But the shows were definitely better when Sylvia is around - I think she had a lot of creative input which Gerry just won't acknowledge these days. Although I can understand that he still feels bitter towards her.