Re-Watching Space: 1999

[JD]

Though now that you mention it, I like the idea of it just being a mysterious force...aliens, multidimensional "higher" beings (things we can't understand)...maybe just some "force" that is never explain, like the one that destroyed the Moon in Neil Stephenson's Seveneves

If it were me, I would base the whole potentially multi-season arc around the whole question of who was responsible for the Moon getting shot off into space and why. I'd do as a arc going on alongside planet/alien of the week stories. Season 1's arc would deal with them trying to figure out why the accident happened and who was responsible for it, with the finale having them get those answers. That would lead into Season 2's arc, where they find out that whoever did it had a specific goal in mind for them, and then any seasons after that would be focused on different aspects of that goal.

 

[Marc]

That stuff would not have gone over on the networks. Gerry Anderson didn't know how lucky he was the big 3 passed on his shows. Even UFO had some stark content the nets would have balked at.

I don't know when UFO ran (I can't recall ever seeing in it on Australian tv) but Space:1999 ran on a Sunday night 7:30 timeslot initially and was moved later but not sure what it's rating but I think it would have allowed PG rated material (or A as it was at the time).

Space:1999 and UFO wouldn't have any problems in this day and age but I think a few Thunderbirds episodes would have issues (smoking, terrorism, aircraft crashes).

Any one know what time it aired in the UK?

 

[theenglish]

If that was the one with the swirling light/space dragon, I gotta say as a 10 year old kid, I laughed my ass off as it because that thing looked ludicrously fake to me, even at that age. YMMV.

LOL--I agree. But we all wish effects come down to story. Does the story sell the effect? Unfortunately, effects do break the illusion. The first time my wife saw The Enemy Within with me she couldn't get beyond the dog with sticks on its head (her words)--she was a TNG fan before I met her (not a Trek fan though), but to this day she refers to TOS as the show with the dog that has sticks on its head.

My kids refuse to watch Back to the Future because the machine guns go pew pew like in Star Wars.

 

[flandry84]

/\I’m sure there are plenty of self-professed Doctor Who fans who would have a fit if they were asked to watch any of the early b/w episodes.
I have a feeling that TOS will eventually go the same way..just like 60’s Batman.

 

[Christopher]

/\I’m sure there are plenty of self-professed Doctor Who fans who would have a fit if they were asked to watch any of the early b/w episodes.
I have a feeling that TOS will eventually go the same way..just like 60’s Batman.

Oh, Batman '66 seems more popular than ever these days, now that comics fans have gotten over their insecure need to be self-important and serious and have embraced the idea that it's okay for superheroes to be fun. The rejection of that show was never really about its production values, just its tone.

But I think there are already a lot of people who just aren't interested in TOS because of its backwardness. For that matter, even TNG looks pretty quaint today.

 

[Shawnster]

If it's a UFO sequel, maybe a better approach is that it's the result of an alien attack -- a Pearl Harbor-like assault that strips SHADO of one of its most important defense assets and leaves Earth vulnerable, while leaving the Moonbase personnel warping uncontrollably through space under the influence of a phenomenon they can't begin to understand.

When i floated this idea before, people on here poo pooed and rejected the idea of the ftl "accident" be the result of aliens or alien tech as a tired trope, so i adjusted it some.

Although i do like the idea of the Pearl Harbor or 9/11 attack stealing the moon.

 

[Redfern]

/\I’m sure there are plenty of self-professed Doctor Who fans who would have a fit if they were asked to watch any of the early b/w episodes..

There's a certain irony in that assessment given one of the "holy grails" of DW fandom would be finding lost episodes, most of which date from the 1960s and thus are black and white.

 

[Christopher]

When i floated this idea before, people on here poo pooed and rejected the idea of the ftl "accident" be the result of aliens or alien tech as a tired trope, so i adjusted it some.

By itself, it might be, I guess; but since you said it would be a UFO sequel, it just seems like a natural continuation in that context.

 

[flandry84]

Not the constituency I’m talking about.As well you know.

 

[DEWLine]

This book might be of interest to those not already aware. It's new - just about to go on sale in a week from the day I post this, and it looks to fill some gaps in the original series' technological lore.

https://shop.gerryanderson.com/pages/space-1999-technical-operations-manual#

 

[Christopher]

I have to wonder... if people have trouble experiencing a story in black and white, what must they feel about reading books?