I just finished episode i and so far it’s really good and the spaceship flying scenes are surprisingly good and the acting is also really good for something made in the 70s/80s
First time watching space 1999
- Thread starter picards bald cap fitter
- Start date
Episode one
You'll probably enjoy the first season quite a bit.
The second season not so much as they really changed the tone of the show. You can thank the man responsible as he was the same man responsible for Star Trek TOS season 3, Fred Freiburger.
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Why how did he get another job on a show after ruining Star Trek season 3
People who do the hiring didn't give a flip about Star Trek.
That’s true either way I’m gonna be finishing it all
Because he had far more success than failure.
People only remember him as the guy who ruined Star Trek.
He produced the first season of The Wild Wild West, he produced The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, he produced the final season of The Six Million Dollar Man.
He wrote for All in the Family, Ironside, Starsky and Hutch, Emergency!, Scooby Doo and the Super Friends.
Wow I didn’t know he made all that thanks for telling me
I don't care a great deal for Year 2, but it does have its fans. The "Bringers of Wonder" two-parter seems reasonably popular, and Catherine Schell's Maya has her moments. Never hurts to let someone figure out for themselves whether they'll like something.
Freiberger gets an unfair rap for Star Trek, but I've posted about that in other threads. Honestly, though, he's not to blame for all of it.
Space:1999 also had some things factoring in.
Year one started out strong in the ratings (it was widely syndicated) but lost ground as it went on. There was doubt that ITC would fund a second year - but when they did, ITC insisted that it be tailored more towards the American Audience
Gerry split with his wife, co-producer Sylvia. ITC wanted an American to take her place (this, BTW, is not without precedent as a few ITC shows had American producers).
They hired Freiberger precisely because he had produced a season of Star Trek. As the series was tremendously popular in 1975, nobody cared whether or not it was a less accomplished season. Every episode was a hit at that time.
ITC was still on the fence, but Freiberger proposed changes to humanize the characters, add more action and humor, and be straightforward (i.e., no metaphysical open-ended stories). He created Maya (and thank God for that) and she was the selling point that got a second year greenlit - for less money and with shorter shooting schedules (sound familiar?).
As the series was getting some new episodes in the can, ITC New York insisted they incorporate monsters into the series because "monsters are all the rage in the states." So they hastily did so. Once the NY office saw the episodes, they insisted the cease with the monsters because "that's all changed, monsters are out now!"
While radically different in tone, cast and feel, the first few episodes of the second year were really quite good. Then it got really "miss or hit" and then, once the "monsters were out" the show got good again. (and yes "The Bringers of Wonder" is a really fun two-parter with a great concept).
Because of the shorter shooting schedule (and the two leads going on holiday), there were a couple of "double up" episodes shot simultaneously with the stars split and the supporting cast being showcased.
Still and all, Freiberger wrote three episodes of Space: 1999 - and they were mostly lousy. Excuses for running and action but little story.
"The Rules of Luton"
" The Beta Cloud"
"Space Warp"
He treated 1999 like a cartoon and on a Saturday morning TV show level, they were successful. However, plenty of episodes written by others are still quite good. It's just not the same show.
Space:1999 also had some things factoring in.
Year one started out strong in the ratings (it was widely syndicated) but lost ground as it went on. There was doubt that ITC would fund a second year - but when they did, ITC insisted that it be tailored more towards the American Audience
Gerry split with his wife, co-producer Sylvia. ITC wanted an American to take her place (this, BTW, is not without precedent as a few ITC shows had American producers).
They hired Freiberger precisely because he had produced a season of Star Trek. As the series was tremendously popular in 1975, nobody cared whether or not it was a less accomplished season. Every episode was a hit at that time.
ITC was still on the fence, but Freiberger proposed changes to humanize the characters, add more action and humor, and be straightforward (i.e., no metaphysical open-ended stories). He created Maya (and thank God for that) and she was the selling point that got a second year greenlit - for less money and with shorter shooting schedules (sound familiar?).
As the series was getting some new episodes in the can, ITC New York insisted they incorporate monsters into the series because "monsters are all the rage in the states." So they hastily did so. Once the NY office saw the episodes, they insisted the cease with the monsters because "that's all changed, monsters are out now!"
While radically different in tone, cast and feel, the first few episodes of the second year were really quite good. Then it got really "miss or hit" and then, once the "monsters were out" the show got good again. (and yes "The Bringers of Wonder" is a really fun two-parter with a great concept).
Because of the shorter shooting schedule (and the two leads going on holiday), there were a couple of "double up" episodes shot simultaneously with the stars split and the supporting cast being showcased.
Still and all, Freiberger wrote three episodes of Space: 1999 - and they were mostly lousy. Excuses for running and action but little story.
"The Rules of Luton"
" The Beta Cloud"
"Space Warp"
He treated 1999 like a cartoon and on a Saturday morning TV show level, they were successful. However, plenty of episodes written by others are still quite good. It's just not the same show.
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Ok this all sounds to familiar but i will still finish it and hopefully i will like it
Space 1999 is a fun show. Try to lower your expectations on the science part of SF and you'll be fine. I watched it as a kid and I remember a particular episode that gave me nightmares for years. The costume change was the best part of the second season if you don't stop to wonder how they managed to get new uniforms. In my head, even as a kid, I believed the moon was traveling through some kind of warp speed to reach different planets. I still think that with some kind of mystical reasoning to explain the moon's travels that the show could still work today.
By the sounds of it i think I will like season 2 maybe not as much as season one but I think it will still be enjoyable and on the costume change difference maybe they had sewing machines and extra materials
Freiberger also produced the dreadful first half-season of the 1988 Superboy syndicated series, which got somewhat better midway through season 1 when they brought in Carey Bates and other Superman comics authors/editors to handle the writing. Freiberger may have been a competent TV producer overall, but when it came to SF/fantasy, he seemed to have no respect for it and approached it as something dumb and cheesy. (Although The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms isn't bad.)
One thing that annoyed me about Freiberger's seasons of both Star Trek and Space: 1999 was his tendency to give aliens random, gratuitous superpowers, with teleportation being a particularly common one in the latter show.
One thing that annoyed me about Freiberger's seasons of both Star Trek and Space: 1999 was his tendency to give aliens random, gratuitous superpowers, with teleportation being a particularly common one in the latter show.
I would also say the addition of Tony Anholt as Tony Verdeschi in the second season was also an improvement over a first season cast member like Paul Morrow. He was more animated in a way that I don't think Prentis Hancock could be. However, that could be down to the first season's scripts and direction where no one seemed particularly animated.
Yeah he didn’t really care much about sf shows that’s probably the reason why all the sf stuff that he did wasn’t very good
There were also a couple of times in the first season where the Alphan's had equipment and uniforms that weren't necessary for living on the moon. I'm thinking of the snowsuits in the episode 'Death's Other Dominion'.
I was more bothered by how the Eagle miniatures had docking tunnels extending from the cargo pods when the interior cargo-pod sets had no such things inside them. There was no way to reconcile inside and out. The dimensions of the set interiors and miniature exteriors didn't line up either.
Wow I had not noticed that now that you’ve pointed it out it’s going to annoy me
Wow I had not noticed that now that you’ve pointed it out it’s going to annoy me
Then my work here is done...
