TOS 80's Novel Continuity Read Through

[Christopher]

Oh, I love that old War of the World's TV show! It was so terrifying when I was a kid, though. JM Dillard's novelization of the first story is one of my favorites. The special effects are terrible, glad we got out of that visual cul-de-sac of video effects.

I liked the characters in the first season, though the revamped second season was irredeemably awful. But when I rewatched the first season on DVD a few years ago, I was surprised by how really, really bad it was. Even the cast wasn't as good as I'd remembered. They still had the good chemistry that I'd liked so much the first time around, but their acting wasn't that great. And the writing was largely incoherent and often quite horrible, probably because much of the season was written during the 1988 Writers' Guild strike, so there's no telling who actually wrote the pseudonymously credited scripts and whether they had any actual writing ability. (I reviewed the whole first season on my blog, if you're curious about my more detailed thoughts.)

 

[Desert Kris]

I liked the characters in the first season, though the revamped second season was irredeemably awful. But when I rewatched the first season on DVD a few years ago, I was surprised by how really, really bad it was. Even the cast wasn't as good as I'd remembered. They still had the good chemistry that I'd liked so much the first time around, but their acting wasn't that great. And the writing was largely incoherent and often quite horrible, probably because much of the season was written during the 1988 Writers' Guild strike, so there's no telling who actually wrote the pseudonymously credited scripts and whether they had any actual writing ability. (I reviewed the whole first season on my blog, if you're curious about my more detailed thoughts.)

I have to admit, part of the appeal of revisiting the show is satisfying my curiosity of a show that was absolutely frightening, and which I had this monster novelization of...and nothing else existed. It dropped off the face of the earth. If I didn't have that book, I probably would have wondered if I imagined the whole thing. Having the DVDs was like confirmation that I wasn't crazy, and an opportunity to resolve something unfinished (finish the story started by the novelization, conquer my fears, see the whole series to its end, ect). You are right that it's terribly flawed, and I enjoyed reading the reviews on your site! I don't regret the opportunity to see it through, even though the second season was a terrible slog. Iron Horse from the first season was such an enjoyable character, funny and awesome, a very likable performance.

 

[Dayton Ward]

I was overseas when WotW premiered. All I had to go on was the novelization of the first episode, which I enjoyed. Then I got home and caught the show itself, and had to wonder what went wrong?

That said and despite a couple of rather insurmoubtable issues I had with the premise, the first season is somewhat enjoyable in that cheesy 80s TV SF way.

 

[Christopher]

I was overseas when WotW premiered. All I had to go on was the novelization of the first episode, which I enjoyed. Then I got home and caught the show itself, and had to wonder what went wrong?

The strike and the subpar writing probably had a lot to do with it, and the low budget and cheesy production values didn't help much. Then there's its odd mix of fidelity to the surface elements of the source film -- recreating the War Machines faithfully, casting Ann Robinson as Sylvia, establishing a continuity that's essentially consistent with the '53 movie as long as you ignore the Chesley Bonestell prologue and assume some of the characters' conclusions about the aliens were wrong -- and lack of fidelity to the film in other ways -- pretending the global alien invasion that devastated the world had been all but forgotten about just 35 years later, reducing Sylvia to a gibbering mental patient, going for a more modern horror/gore approach rather than the sci-fi/horror hybrid of the original. So it had the trappings of a continuation while ultimately being something completely different. Dillard's novelization did a better job reconciling the series premise with the original film.

 

[Damian]

All that reminds me of Buck Rogers (the 1979-81 show). I bought the series a few years back and the first season was actually pretty enjoyable. It had a bit of late 70's cheesiness to it. And obviously they thought disco would survive to the 25th century (though it's not admittedly as taboo as it was in the mid 80s).

Then they too had a strike shortened 2nd season, and they decided to revamp everything, change some characters and the 2nd season, not so good. There were some good episodes there and I liked the character Hawk but they definitely took a step down. Ironic since the 2nd season was actually more Star Trek-esque.

Part of that I heard was Gil Gerard. He wanted to play a more serious character and didn't like all the 'humor' from the 1st season. I also heard he could be a pain to work with. Nowadays in interviews he basically said he was wrong to push the character in that direction.

TV was also a much different animal back them. The 2nd season jettisoned some characters, like Dr Huer and Dr Theopolis with nary a work. Gerard said he thought there should have been a transition episode but I guess that's not how they did things. I remember seeing the episode where Buck was accused of treason and of starting the nuclear war and the Searcher had to return to Earth. I had thought maybe they'd at least mention Huer and Theo--you know sending their support or something (since it was unlikely they'd bring the actual characters back for an episode). But it was like they never existed.

Anyway I digress, but reading about WOTW reminded me of Buck Rogers.

 

[Christopher]

All that reminds me of Buck Rogers (the 1979-81 show). I bought the series a few years back and the first season was actually pretty enjoyable. It had a bit of late 70's cheesiness to it. And obviously they thought disco would survive to the 25th century (though it's not admittedly as taboo as it was in the mid 80s).

Then they too had a strike shortened 2nd season, and they decided to revamp everything, change some characters and the 2nd season, not so good. There were some good episodes there and I liked the character Hawk but they definitely took a step down. Ironic since the 2nd season was actually more Star Trek-esque.

I recently reviewed Buck Rogers on my blog too. I agree the first season was moderately entertaining, in a very shallow and unambitious way. Its showrunner Bruce Lansbury believed mass audiences were "alienated" by anything like the kind of intelligent, idea-driven science fiction that Star Trek did, and thus strove to keep it "basic," telling routine TV action-adventure stories with a few superficial sci-fi trappings and no trace of any social commentary or thought-provoking message. Meanwhile, story editor Alan Brennert was doing his damnedest to turn the show into Star Trek lite, down to establishing that Earth was part of a "Federation," and it actually managed to make a quiet statement with its largely non-sexist and inclusive treatment of women (for the time), and fairly ethnically diverse casting as well. Although its quality and egalitarianism diminished late in the season after Brennert was gone.

The second season actually started out surprisingly good. New producer John Mantley (Gunsmoke) did want to tell smart stories with social commentary, and the season premiere "Time of the Hawk" is a damned good TV movie with some powerful acting and drama and very Trek-like moral allegory, though the SF concepts are quite fanciful. And Thom Christopher is terrific as Hawk. Unfortunately, the season was rapidly dumbed down, probably by network interference. The second episode (with Mark Lenard as an alien whose head came off) made a good try at telling an effective story about intolerance and mistrust leading to unnecessary war, but it was damaged by the goofy Lost in Space-ish action that dominated much of the episode. And things rapidly got much, much dumber and worse after that. Yet the final few episodes started to get somewhat better again, and the very last episode, "The Dorian Secret," is another genuinely good story with a real message and powerful acting. The season's quality is basically a very steep inverse bell curve, high on both ends but plummeting toward the middle.

However, the entire second season was very misogynistic compared to the first, with Wilma Deering being treated much worse as a character and often being the only speaking female character in the show.

TV was also a much different animal back them. The 2nd season jettisoned some characters, like Dr Huer and Dr Theopolis with nary a work. Gerard said he thought there should have been a transition episode but I guess that's not how they did things.

John Mantley wanted to open with a transitional episode, but the network insisted on starting cold with the new format.

I remember seeing the episode where Buck was accused of treason and of starting the nuclear war and the Searcher had to return to Earth. I had thought maybe they'd at least mention Huer and Theo--you know sending their support or something (since it was unlikely they'd bring the actual characters back for an episode). But it was like they never existed.

That episode also retconned the date of the nuclear holocaust to mere months after Buck left Earth in 1987. The first-season episode "Cosmic Whiz Kid" with Gary Coleman established that Coleman's character had been born in 1998 (though you had to do a little arithmetic to work it out) and the holocaust had happened when he was 10.


By the way (quoting from my blog here): I realized a while back, even before my rewatch, that Buck Rogers season 2 was the closest thing in real life to the series within the movie Galaxy Quest. Within the film’s reality, the Galaxy Quest series ran from 1979-82, while Buck Rogers ran from 1979-81. Both GQ and BR S2 were Star Trek-like starship adventure series with a macho male lead whose actor tended to hog the spotlight (Taggart/Buck), his stoic alien warrior best friend who’s the last survivor of a slaughtered people (Dr. Lazarus/Hawk), and a somewhat marginalized token female lead/love interest with a vaguely defined shipboard role (Tawny/Wilma). Meanwhile, Laredo, the child prodigy navigator of the Protector, has always strongly reminded me of Gary Coleman’s Hieronymous Fox from Buck season 1. Everyone assumes that Galaxy Quest is just a Star Trek parody, and to a large extent it obviously is; but if it isn’t deliberately based on Buck Rogers as well, then it’s a staggering coincidence, given the sheer number of strong parallels.

 

[Damian]

I recently reviewed Buck Rogers on my blog too. I agree the first season was moderately entertaining, in a very shallow and unambitious way. Its showrunner Bruce Lansbury believed mass audiences were "alienated" by anything like the kind of intelligent, idea-driven science fiction that Star Trek did, and thus strove to keep it "basic," telling routine TV action-adventure stories with a few superficial sci-fi trappings and no trace of any social commentary or thought-provoking message. Meanwhile, story editor Alan Brennert was doing his damnedest to turn the show into Star Trek lite, down to establishing that Earth was part of a "Federation," and it actually managed to make a quiet statement with its largely non-sexist and inclusive treatment of women (for the time), and fairly ethnically diverse casting as well. Although its quality and egalitarianism diminished late in the season after Brennert was gone.

The second season actually started out surprisingly good. New producer John Mantley (Gunsmoke) did want to tell smart stories with social commentary, and the season premiere "Time of the Hawk" is a damned good TV movie with some powerful acting and drama and very Trek-like moral allegory, though the SF concepts are quite fanciful. And Thom Christopher is terrific as Hawk. Unfortunately, the season was rapidly dumbed down, probably by network interference. The second episode (with Mark Lenard as an alien whose head came off) made a good try at telling an effective story about intolerance and mistrust leading to unnecessary war, but it was damaged by the goofy Lost in Space-ish action that dominated much of the episode. And things rapidly got much, much dumber and worse after that. Yet the final few episodes started to get somewhat better again, and the very last episode, "The Dorian Secret," is another genuinely good story with a real message and powerful acting. The season's quality is basically a very steep inverse bell curve, high on both ends but plummeting toward the middle.

However, the entire second season was very misogynistic compared to the first, with Wilma Deering being treated much worse as a character and often being the only speaking female character in the show.




John Mantley wanted to open with a transitional episode, but the network insisted on starting cold with the new format.




That episode also retconned the date of the nuclear holocaust to mere months after Buck left Earth in 1987. The first-season episode "Cosmic Whiz Kid" with Gary Coleman established that Coleman's character had been born in 1998 (though you had to do a little arithmetic to work it out) and the holocaust had happened when he was 10.


By the way (quoting from my blog here): I realized a while back, even before my rewatch, that Buck Rogers season 2 was the closest thing in real life to the series within the movie Galaxy Quest. Within the film’s reality, the Galaxy Quest series ran from 1979-82, while Buck Rogers ran from 1979-81. Both GQ and BR S2 were Star Trek-like starship adventure series with a macho male lead whose actor tended to hog the spotlight (Taggart/Buck), his stoic alien warrior best friend who’s the last survivor of a slaughtered people (Dr. Lazarus/Hawk), and a somewhat marginalized token female lead/love interest with a vaguely defined shipboard role (Tawny/Wilma). Meanwhile, Laredo, the child prodigy navigator of the Protector, has always strongly reminded me of Gary Coleman’s Hieronymous Fox from Buck season 1. Everyone assumes that Galaxy Quest is just a Star Trek parody, and to a large extent it obviously is; but if it isn’t deliberately based on Buck Rogers as well, then it’s a staggering coincidence, given the sheer number of strong parallels.

Yeah, I tend to agree. It's not the smartest sci-fi entertainment. I liked it in the sense of it being sort of a cult classic, but Star Trek is far and away a much better franchise. Buck Rogers is more 'fun' entertainment. Elements were there like you noted. At times it wanted to be smarter. And I agree "Time of the Hawk" was a highlight of season 2. It's a bit jarring in the sense that there's no transition. Suddenly they're on the Searcher with a bunch of new characters, a bunch of old characters are suddenly gone and Twiki's voice suddenly sounds like a Munchkin. I actually kind of liked the Satyr episode in Season 2. I always loved Hitchcock movies and the ending had a twist to it. The episode with the Golden child was interesting in retrospect because of it's similarities to Voyager's "Innocence". And The Dorian Secret was one of the better episodes too...in some ways it reminded me of the first season of the show.

I do think Gerard was a bit off in his wanting to make his role more serious. Part of his 'charm' was his sense of humor in the 1st season. I think he mistakened playing his role more seriously with serious storytelling. I think he could have retained that relaxed, more humorous attitude but still had serious storytelling.

And yeah, Wilma Deering was changed from a pretty strong role in season 1 with a tough backbone, to a much weaker, fawning over Buck character in 2. At times I wondered what the point was in keeping her was if that's what they were going to do.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, I tend to agree. It's not the smartest sci-fi entertainment. I liked it in the sense of it being sort of a cult classic, but Star Trek is far and away a much better franchise. Buck Rogers is more 'fun' entertainment. Elements were there like you noted. At times it wanted to be smarter.

The '79 show was the network's second attempt at a Buck Rogers series. Unfortunately, they rejected a much smarter, more science-fictional take that David Gerrold had developed a couple of years earlier, and which got as far as having scripts commissioned. There's a page about it here:

http://space1970.blogspot.com/2012/02/buck-rogers-lost-tv-series.html

I actually kind of liked the Satyr episode in Season 2.

Wow, I found it absolutely horrible. I think I listed it in my blog overview as my least favorite episode of the season, though that was a tough call.

And yeah, Wilma Deering was changed from a pretty strong role in season 1 with a tough backbone, to a much weaker, fawning over Buck character in 2. At times I wondered what the point was in keeping her was if that's what they were going to do.

Also, how did she go from being the leader of Earth's entire military to being the nominal second-in-command of a single ship?

But what I liked about season 1 Wilma was that she was strong and capable without needing to be "tough." The pilot portrayed her in a very old-fashioned, sexist way as someone who had to be cold and aloof and deny her femininity in order to be capable, but the rest of the season showed her in a surprisingly modern way, as someone who could be warm and feminine and caring without losing any of her strength and competence and ability. And yet to 1979-80 audiences, she was still seen as "overbearing" and insufficiently feminine, which is why she was "softened" so much in season 2 (evidently at Erin Gray's request as much as the executives'). It's surprising sometimes to realize how recently that kind of sexism was still around.

 

[Damian]

Wow, I found it absolutely horrible. I think I listed it in my blog overview as my least favorite episode of the season, though that was a tough call.

Ha-ha. I had a feeling you wouldn't like it. I think I'm probably in the minority on that one. I love horror movies too and it has a bit of that horror feel to it. My brain told me I should hate it, but I couldn't help it. I guess we all have that one show, episode or movie that we like that people give us crazy looks for. I have a couple. After all, I always joke that I'm one of the 10 people that liked Nemesis.

But what I liked about season 1 Wilma was that she was strong and capable without needing to be "tough."

Yeah, I could go with that. I thought she was tough in season 1, but in a good way. She was still very feminine and wasn't an ice cube. She was sensitive and caring, but you always knew if you pushed her she'd kick your ass.

For season 2 it's just like they decided to ignore season 1. With the exception of Buck being found 'lost in space' and retaining Wilma (almost in name only) and Twiki (probably the only character that seemed to retain his season 1 characteristics--well except the voice until about halfway through) it was almost a totally new show.

 

[Mysterion]

The '79 show was the network's second attempt at a Buck Rogers series. Unfortunately, they rejected a much smarter, more science-fictional take that David Gerrold had developed a couple of years earlier, and which got as far as having scripts commissioned. There's a page about it here:

http://space1970.blogspot.com/2012/02/buck-rogers-lost-tv-series.html

I remember the issue of Starlog (issue 17, IIRC) that had some of McCall's art on the cover and a big article about the development of this version of BR. I also remember how freakin' disappointed I was when we got the BR we eventually got.

 

[Christopher]

For season 2 it's just like they decided to ignore season 1. With the exception of Buck being found 'lost in space' and retaining Wilma (almost in name only) and Twiki (probably the only character that seemed to retain his season 1 characteristics--well except the voice until about halfway through) it was almost a totally new show.

Oh, I can't agree about Twiki. He had a totally different personality in season 2. In season 1, the reason he was so annoying and pointless as a character is that he never had anything to say but random sarcastic wisecracks and anachronistic slang. In season 2, his dialogue was more substantive and less irritating. He had ideas and opinions to contribute beyond just "Attaboy, Buck" and "Oh, brother" and that sort of thing. He also became less of a wiseass and more of a helpful, cooperative crew member. And while in season 1, Twiki had been Buck's constant sidekick, with little connection to anyone else save Dr. Theopolis, in season 2 he was more separate from Buck and tended to be either an aide to Admiral Asimov or paired with the ship's other robot Crichton, sort of the Laurel to his Hardy.

So yes, it was pretty much an entirely new show aside from Buck's backstory. And even that rarely came up except in "The Guardian" and "Testimony of a Traitor." In the first season, the contrast between Buck and the 25th-century characters in their culture and knowledge and attitudes was a constant thread, with Buck's old-time knowledge and values constantly giving him a special edge in a future that had forgotten much of what humanity used to know and become too dependent on computers. (I realized after a while that it was basically The Six Million Dollar Man in reverse -- a show a charming, wisecracking Air Force pilot going on classified missions for a government agency, except here the pilot was the normal guy surrounded by people with superpowers, yet it was his very normality by our standards that gave him a special edge.) Yet in the second season, the culture around Buck was changed so that it was no longer as sterile, mechanized, and clueless about the past, so there was no meaningful contrast anymore between Buck and the others around him. He was just this guy who had no clearly defined rank or role on the ship yet was always the one who led the missions.

 

[Christopher]

I remember the issue of Starlog (issue 17, IIRC) that had some of McCall's art on the cover and a big article about the development of this version of BR. I also remember how freakin' disappointed I was when we got the BR we eventually got.

Issue 16, actually: http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylongallery/thumbnails.php?album=1315

 

[Mysterion]

^^^^
Thanks. I've got it in a box somewhere. Really need to dig it out.

 

[Damian]

Oh, I can't agree about Twiki. He had a totally different personality in season 2.

It's been a while since I watched the show. I just started watching it again so when I get to season 2 I'll keep an eye on Twiki. I was glad when they got Mel Blanc back in the fold to do the voice. Twiki is not Twiki without the 'biddi biddi biddi.' That's like Dr. McCoy without his 'you green blooded..."

I think you hit the differences on the head though between season 1 and 2. I didn't have a problem with the ideas behind season 2, but they almost made it unrecognizable and took away almost everything that made Buck Rogers entertaining. They could have dealt with more serious issues but retained Bucks edge in knowledge and skills, just as an example.

 

[Christopher]

Twiki is not Twiki without the 'biddi biddi biddi.' That's like Dr. McCoy without his 'you green blooded..."

I think the "bidi bidi" is a large part of the reason Twiki just didn't work in season 1. As I mentioned before, his exclusive function most of the time was to spew random sarcastic wisecracks and 20th-century slang, to be the comedy relief -- but the need to preface every single line with "bidi bidi bidi" threw off the comic timing, and so the jokes didn't land.

The original idea, by the way, was that Twiki would speak exclusively in "bidi bidi"s and Dr. Theopolis would respond or translate, a la R2-D2 and C-3PO. You can see that in much of the pilot. But they quickly realized it didn't work, and even in the pilot they inserted occasional English words in Twiki's speech, and after that they just had him speak normally but preface every line with the sound, like an electronic version of Porky Pig's stutter.

 

[Desert Kris]

I never understood the point of the "bidi bidi" but comparing it to Porky Pig's stutter makes sense. I really liked season 1 of Buck Rogers as a kid, but the switch in formats to the second season without explanation was too confusing for me. I got the DVD set when it came out, and I still like the Earth Defense star fighters, but I found even the first season stuff unbearably corny or boring, could only get a couple episodes in. I tried the season premier of the second season to see if I could figure it out, it's still feels like an alienating jolt to the system to have so much changed.

One thing that is consistent between now and then is the opening credits for season 1, which is fascinating imagery. I never get tired of watching Buck spinning through the passing ages of time to return to Earth..."5 hundred years later!"

 

[Christopher]

I never understood the point of the "bidi bidi" but comparing it to Porky Pig's stutter makes sense.

As I said, it was originally going to be some incomprehensible machine language, like R2-D2's beeps. In the pilot, he spoke mostly in "Bidi" and occasionally in English, but after that it was just a sound they appended at the start of his lines. Maybe the idea was that he first said the line in his own language and then again in English, but I doubt they really put that much thought into it.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Maybe the idea was that he first said the line in his own language and then again in English, but I doubt they really put that much thought into it.

Beddy beddy beddy, Probably not, Buck.

 

[Desert Kris]

As I said, it was originally going to be some incomprehensible machine language, like R2-D2's beeps. In the pilot, he spoke mostly in "Bidi" and occasionally in English, but after that it was just a sound they appended at the start of his lines. Maybe the idea was that he first said the line in his own language and then again in English, but I doubt they really put that much thought into it.

Sorry, didn't mean to misrepresent/over think what your post actually said.

 

[Damian]

I never understood the point of the "bidi bidi" but comparing it to Porky Pig's stutter makes sense. I really liked season 1 of Buck Rogers as a kid, but the switch in formats to the second season without explanation was too confusing for me. I got the DVD set when it came out, and I still like the Earth Defense star fighters, but I found even the first season stuff unbearably corny or boring, could only get a couple episodes in. I tried the season premier of the second season to see if I could figure it out, it's still feels like an alienating jolt to the system to have so much changed.

One thing that is consistent between now and then is the opening credits for season 1, which is fascinating imagery. I never get tired of watching Buck spinning through the passing ages of time to return to Earth..."5 hundred years later!"

I think that's what the biddi biddi ended up becoming, sort of like a Porky Pig stutter. It got to the point that people were upset in season 2 when Blanc was gone and there was no biddi biddi and they brought him back. By that point it had become a Twiki trademark that you couldn't do away with now.

I like to watch it more from a campy frame of mind. Star Trek is 100 Xs better and more intelligent, but sometimes it's nice just to watch something simple. Buck Rogers is sort of like that--I'm not demeaning it. It had it's moments, but it was not meant to be taken too seriously in initially. That was probably a flaw in the 2nd season, they tried to take things too seriously and people missed the fun of season 1. Maybe if they started that way, from a serious sci-fi standpoint it may have been different.

And while the stories may have been a more serious attempt a sci-fi in the 2nd season, I thought the character development was better in season 1. Wilma, of course, Buck, even Dr Huer were all fleshed out pretty well. In season 2 the only strong new character that I liked was Hawk. Admiral Asimov really wasn't really a well rounded character IMO and I sometimes found the doctor of the ship (his name escapes me at the moment) was actually a bit annoying at times. I guess he was meant to replace Dr Theopolis but it just didn't work for me. Crichton too. While I know he was meant to be snobbish, I just found it to be just that, snobbery to the point I wished he'd go away.