Space 1999

[Andrew_Kearley]

I believe the planet Meta was meant to be controlling their journey through space. I expect that it would have turned out to be a predestination paradox with the Alphans turning out to be the inhabitants of Meta. Something like that.

The episode "The Testament of Arkadia", which is the last one filmed for season 1 (and really should be the last one watched) explains the whole thing.

Personally, I do believe that the arrival of Meta has something to do with the breakaway happening, but I think it's part of some larger cosmic plan. Guardian of Piri and Collision Course offer some more clues along the way.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I thought the Arkadians were the aliens who guided man thousands of years ago and preordained the breakaway of the Moon somehow. Obviously, I need to rewatch those episodes as I've forgotten the details.

 

[Candlelight]

Journey Through A Dark Sun was intended to be the second episode which would have covered two issues a) that there was some sort of cosmic power influcing the course of the moon and b) how it started coming across alien planets etc etc.

But it ended up being the 10th episode so was to an extent negated by what had been seen already.

I believe the planet Meta was meant to be controlling their journey through space. I expect that it would have turned out to be a predestination paradox with the Alphans turning out to be the inhabitants of Meta. Something like that.

The (year) 1999 special 7" mini-episode with Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes) explained that they'd found a planet and abandoned Alpha, and then at the end of the episode sends the signal of her message back to Earth - which is shown to be the Meta signal detected in the pilot.

Also, Black Sun did air 3rd in some transmissions, which allowed some explanation as to why they're suddenly encountering other planets.

Is this the "remastered" version you are watching?

No, just the stock standard DVDs. I have seen some Blu-Ray remastered footage though and it's far better than the TOS Star Trek clean up jobs.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

The (year) 1999 special 7" mini-episode with Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes) explained that they'd found a planet and abandoned Alpha, and then at the end of the episode sends the signal of her message back to Earth - which is shown to be the Meta signal detected in the pilot.

Or not so special... It's just a fan film, after all. And though some fans got themselves worked up over it, it never really did anything for me. And I really can't see what point they're trying to make with the Meta signal there.

 

[Candlelight]

The (year) 1999 special 7" mini-episode with Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes) explained that they'd found a planet and abandoned Alpha, and then at the end of the episode sends the signal of her message back to Earth - which is shown to be the Meta signal detected in the pilot.

Or not so special... It's just a fan film, after all. And though some fans got themselves worked up over it, it never really did anything for me. And I really can't see what point they're trying to make with the Meta signal there.

It was trying to bring the show full circle and give it closure. The show begins the Meta signal and humanity trying to get people to land there; and "ends" with the Alphans settling there for the rest of their lives.

Although given they've been travelling away from Earth and eventually land on Terra Alpha/Meta (at least six years after Breakaway given the timeline of season 2, or over 20 years given the age/appearance of Benes in the video), all of a sudden Meta is within reach of Earth, is a bit far fetched.

 

[arch101]

I'm one of the old guys who watched this first-run, too. It was a dry run for Star Wars-mania 3 years later. I had all the action figures, the big eagle toy, lunchbox, all kinds of crap. I just went wild for this show. Then it was gone and SW came in to take it's place. More action figures, new lunchbox, etc. etc.
I only own season 1. There are some really great shows here (and a couple of clunkers). Black Sun is one of the best hours of Sci-Fi TV ever. You've gotta love a serious program where the main characters actually ponder "hey, isn't it strange we always seem to pull through? We must have REALLY amazing luck, or..." Barry Gray's score is just the best. Wish the dvds had isolated score. I also loved the "2001"-ish production design. When you watch the show, it's hard to believe it was made only 5 years after the last original Trek show was made. A quantum leap in TV production and special effects.

 

[Silvercrest]

No, just a really good deal on explosives.

 

[Harvey]

No, just the stock standard DVDs. I have seen some Blu-Ray remastered footage though and it's far better than the TOS Star Trek clean up jobs.

Not surprising given the comparative ages of the two shows, as well as the wear and tear that was almost certainly worse for the much wider-seen Star Trek.

I'd like to see this series some time. Is season two (as bad as it is supposed to be) being released on Blu-Ray?

 

[The Lensman]

Barry Gray's score is just the best. Wish the dvds had isolated score.

Or you could just order this:
http://www.amazon.com/Space-1999-Or...EVQS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315460769&sr=8-3

Oddly enough, I just watched "Force Of Life" yesterday!

Like some of you, this show had a big impact on me as a kid...although I'd forgotten how much until a few years ago. Several years prior to that, I'd come across an ep, and just couldn't "go home again", although that could've been my choice of eps (it was season 2 two stuff...."Bringers Of Wonder" which scared the crap out of me as a kid...as an adult, not even close)

At any rate, I don't know what prompted me to pick up the Season 1 ep that I did (I don't even recall which one)...maybe it was at a Half Price Books, but when I watched it....it was like being a kid again.

I remembered how as a kid, I had to battle it out with my friends over which show was superior: Trek or 1999, with me defending Trek. However I came to love the show, since it was the first serious challenger to Trek, and it was the first sci-fi show of that caliber that I'd get to watch in first run.

Yes, some of the science is wacked....but the model work, and the atmosphere of Season 1, MORE than make up for it with me. This show could be, and still is, downright spooky! The aforementioned "Force Of Life", and "The Troubled Spirit" still creep me out a bit. There is no show that has created the feeling of being "out there" like this one.

I love how mysterious things just happen, crew may even die, and you never really find out why. Again, "Force Of Life".


Watching it over the last few years, I realized how much the spacescapes in this show also had a big effect on me...they were vast, mysterious and beautiful. Not just some black starfield ala Trek. Looking back, it became how I thought of space as a kid, complete with eerie Barry Gray music.

Like Trek, it had cool costumes, and there was just something about the Comlocks and Stun Guns that had that same timeless "classic" look to them. I looooooved those tiny screens on the Comlocks!! And the model work....as a kid I loved that we got to see alot of exterior shots, and the models had awesome detail! We forget that this show was the shizam in the days between Star Trek and Star Wars.

Now I enjoyed Season 2 as a kid, though I missed the Season 1 theme, the original outfits, Main Mission, Victor, Paul, and Kano...as well as the more mysterious and eerie episode music. The funky jazz was okay, just not what I was used to. And oddly, even though I probably couldn't have explained it....the mood and atmosphere of Season 1 as well.

As an adult, I don't get hung up on any of the science. "Black Sun" explains that away, and I just chalk it all up to the Cosmic Intelligence. I love that this show was done, and loved the idea that these guys were on this big thing that they couldn't control....they just had to go along for the ride and tough it out. I just can't think of a way to recapture that and update it.

The last Stargate series, conceptually, seemed the closest we would get to something like that.

I've since come to own all of Season 1, which I love watching when it starts getting colder, but I've yet to pick up Season 2. Recently I picked up one of the old two packs at yet another Half Price Books, and yeah, the eps are pretty hokey....but I did come to appreciate the changes in Season 2 when I was kid, and I did enjoy the episodes I bought in a nostalgic way. But they don't engage me like the Season 1 episodes do.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

As an adult, I don't get hung up on any of the science. "Black Sun" explains that away, and I just chalk it all up to the Cosmic Intelligence. I love that this show was done, and loved the idea that these guys were on this big thing that they couldn't control....they just had to go along for the ride and tough it out. I just can't think of a way to recapture that and update it.

Despite being old enough around the time it aired I hadn't seen it until a couple of years ago and that was the approach I took with it.

The last Stargate series, conceptually, seemed the closest we would get to something like that.

I agree with that, SG-U was pretty similar to 1999 in many ways which I mentioned a few times while it was still on the air. If anything, they probably should've played up the big picture Cosmic Plan stuff sooner and bigger than they did.

 

[Candlelight]

Is season two (as bad as it is supposed to be) being released on Blu-Ray?

Yup, "Fall 2011":

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Space-1999-Season-2-Blu-ray/21307/

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

It was trying to bring the show full circle and give it closure. The show begins the Meta signal and humanity trying to get people to land there; and "ends" with the Alphans settling there for the rest of their lives.

The thing is, I don't think the show really needed that closure. The Testament of Arkadia already provided the perfect wrap-up. There's also the fact that settling on the planet rather flies in the face of Arra's prophecy in Collision Course. Still, to each their own. Some people seem to have got something positive out of it, so good for them.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Is season two (as bad as it is supposed to be) being released on Blu-Ray?

Yup, "Fall 2011":

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Space-1999-Season-2-Blu-ray/21307/

Excellent news.

 

[Galileo7]

The episode "The Testament of Arkadia", which is the last one filmed for season 1 (and really should be the last one watched) explains the whole thing.

Agree, it is the perfect end to the first season.

 

[AJBryant]

Of course, the second season suffered from the Fred Freiberger problem. I read somewhere that he was responsible for the laughable title of the 2nd season episode - "The Rules of Luton" - after seeing a sign to Luton while driving on the M1.

TO be fair, as an American, when I see that title I immediately read it "LOO-TAHN" --- not "LOO-tn". That might be part of the problem...

I loved Barry Morse (and still wonder where he went -- they explained his character's "death" as due to a faulty spacesuit seal -- but why was he written out?) and was really annoyed at the sudden introduction of this hot young guy Tony (oh, great, appeal to the KIDS!).

Mind you, when Maya came along, I *loved* her, but I had to keep that love hidden from my secret darling Sandra Benes....

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Plus they replaced the outstanding Main Mission set with the Command Centre. I don't know if we ever got an on-screen explanation for that.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I loved Barry Morse (and still wonder where he went -- they explained his character's "death" as due to a faulty spacesuit seal -- but why was he written out?) and was really annoyed at the sudden introduction of this hot young guy Tony (oh, great, appeal to the KIDS!).

The line about the faulty spacesuit seal was originally scripted, but cut from the final version of The Metamorph, so we never get any explanation about what happened to Victor. (It basically came down to the fact that they offered Morse significantly less money to do season 2 - his agent tried to negotiate, but the producers were apparently intractable and wouldn't offer more. Morse tried to speak to Gerry Anderson direct to work something out, but Anderson never called him back. Then Morse told his agent to accept the offer, hoping they could re-negotiate terms as they went along. But the producers basically told him "too late, no thanks, we're doing something else now" and that was that.)

They also got rid of Paul Morrow and David Kano, so the whole infrastructure of the base, and the core of their community, vanished overnight without any explanation. And it's really weird that Tony tuns up and effectively replaces Paul, when we've never so much as heard of him before.

 

[Galileo7]

Plus they replaced the outstanding Main Mission set with the Command Centre. I don't know if we ever got an on-screen explanation for that.

There was no onscreen explanation for the move from the large Main Mission( with abundant lunar windows to see out) to small Command Center( without any lunar windows to look out). Alpha Moonbase Main Mission is to Command Center what in STAR TREK the Starship Bridge is the BattleBridge.

In SPACE:1999, season 1 with the majority of the sets having lunar windows to see out because of their respective location at upper levels of the Alpha Moonbase. However, in season 2 had all but a few sets without lunar windows at all due to their respective locations below the lunar surface on the lower levels of the Alpha Moonbase.

 

[Candlelight]

I loved Barry Morse (and still wonder where he went -- they explained his character's "death" as due to a faulty spacesuit seal -- but why was he written out?) and was really annoyed at the sudden introduction of this hot young guy Tony (oh, great, appeal to the KIDS!).

The line about the faulty spacesuit seal was originally scripted, but cut from the final version of The Metamorph, so we never get any explanation about what happened to Victor. (It basically came down to the fact that they offered Morse significantly less money to do season 2 - his agent tried to negotiate, but the producers were apparently intractable and wouldn't offer more. Morse tried to speak to Gerry Anderson direct to work something out, but Anderson never called him back. Then Morse told his agent to accept the offer, hoping they could re-negotiate terms as they went along. But the producers basically told him "too late, no thanks, we're doing something else now" and that was that.)

There's also the often quoted line from Morse regarding his departure, who later claimed he was happy to leave and said "I would rather play with grown-ups for a while."

 

[Marc]

Plus they replaced the outstanding Main Mission set with the Command Centre. I don't know if we ever got an on-screen explanation for that.

There was no onscreen explanation for the move from the large Main Mission( with abundant lunar windows to see out) to small Command Center( without any lunar windows to look out). Alpha Moonbase Main Mission is to Command Center what in STAR TREK the Starship Bridge is the BattleBridge.

In SPACE:1999, season 1 with the majority of the sets having lunar windows to see out because of their respective location at upper levels of the Alpha Moonbase. However, in season 2 had all but a few sets without lunar windows at all due to their respective locations below the lunar surface on the lower levels of the Alpha Moonbase.

Read somewhere that the supposed reason for the change (but as you say nothing onscreen so it's apocrphal) was the main mission was located at a high point on Alpha and was was a tad too exposed when the alien nasties were around so it was abandoned).