Space:Junk

[Alex]

Sorry if this sounds like a rant but i really have taken a dislike to this series.

I am ploughing through the season one boxset as best I can, but it is just so boring. Every episode is the same. Alpha comes under threat from an alien force that no one understands, especially not Victor Bergman, the so-called scientific genius. His response to everything is to furrow his brow, shrug his shoulders and say "I don't know John...I can't begin to explain it John" etc. Koeing then makes a knee-jerk response which lurches from one extreme to the other, ranging from kill all aliens with extreme prejudice to simply doing nothing.

The remainder of each episode is spent ferrying the main characters back and forth between Alpha and the alien planet/spaceship while I fall asleep, realising exactly why Gerry should have stuck to the puppets.

[Silent Bob]

As much as i love Space 1999, i agree with you to some extent. It has not aged well (apart from the model work)
I think the reason certain die-hard Space fans love it so much is because, simply, there was nothing else like it on TV when it first aired.
I dont know how far through the set you are, but stick with it. There are some brilliant episodes later on, Death's Other Dominion, Infernal Machine and Dragon's Domain.

[tv21tornado]

An interesting thread. I too have often suspected that fandom has a slightly blinkered appreciation of Space. The production values are great - the pinnacle of Gerry's shows - but the performances and story lines just leave me scratching my head Victor Bergman-style. It's not a very dramatic series, because so rarely do you know - or care - what's really going on. The plots are enigmatic in a vague and pretentious way that saps atmosphere and tension.

UFO was a far more conventional sci-fi drama, but also far superior. Space was highly ambitious, but by comparison it is a failure, and I can see why there was this huge (and also unsuccessful) u-turn in season 2.

[kit]

Well I for one love season 1 of Space and thought it was thought provoking. Season 2 had a few good episodes but didn't like the format change.

[shadokp]

Sorry if this sounds like a rant but i really have taken a dislike to this series.

I am ploughing through the season one boxset as best I can, but it is just so boring. Every episode is the same. Alpha comes under threat from an alien force that no one understands, especially not Victor Bergman, the so-called scientific genius. His response to everything is to furrow his brow, shrug his shoulders and say "I don't know John...I can't begin to explain it John" etc. Koeing then makes a knee-jerk response which lurches from one extreme to the other, ranging from kill all aliens with extreme prejudice to simply doing nothing.

The remainder of each episode is spent ferrying the main characters back and forth between Alpha and the alien planet/spaceship while I fall asleep, realising exactly why Gerry should have stuck to the puppets.

Well, you hit on three points that I believe make Space: 1999 my favorite series ever. First off, the human race does not know everything. Bergman and his knowledge of science is often wrong or out of it's league in outer space. Contrast this with Star Trek The Next Generation where the crew always knew or figured things out. For the most part the Space: 1999 universe is so different to what 'earthlings' know that their arrogance and knowledge is no match for it.

Then you have Commander Koenig trying to cope and often making decisions that seem wrong or bad. That is because he is flawed, unlike many other heroes out there on TV and movies. Somehow Alpha gets through it, with help from the Mysterious Unknown force, not with the actions from the Alphans.

Some viewers hate being out of control and helpless like the Alphans.

As for being bored, the editing and pacing is not like today's TV. Is is more deliberate and atmospheric, not for everyone of course.

KP

[Steve Gerard]

shadokp, I agree.:cool:

[Andrew Kearley]

Sorry if this sounds like a rant but i really have taken a dislike to this series.

Fair enough. It's not for everyone. (What would the world be like if we all liked the same things? :)) Personally speaking, I find the first series of Space: 1999 to be the most stunningly brilliant tv series I've ever seen. It's not like any other sci-fi show - it's not really science fiction at all, but more of an existential fantasy, which uses the strange and unfathomable depths of outer space as a metaphor for the mysteries of the human psyche and soul.

[tv21tornado]

It's not like any other sci-fi show - it's not really science fiction at all, but more of an existential fantasy, which uses the strange and unfathomable depths of outer space as a metaphor for the mysteries of the human psyche and soul.

I think 'existential fantasy' is waxing lyrical a bit too far - it sounds like you're describing 'The Prisoner'. Now that was a genuine televisual enigma with metaphors and metaphysics aplenty. Space is very much like Star Trek but with some fuzzy / vague bits in some key parts of the plotlines. :confused:

[Andrew Kearley]

Space is bugger all like Star Trek!:) I think it's great that we can all look at the same tv show and see something different in it. That's cool, because you know, we're all different people - and the same is true of any work of art - it either speaks to you or it doesn't. Space: 1999 speaks to me on an intellectual and a spiritual level like nothing else I have ever seen. It is quite literally mind-expanding.

The Prisoner? Yeah, great show, but effectively it's an ITC action series with some existential angst thrown in. Most of the episodes are pretty straightforward - there's an underlying subtext, but I wouldn't really call it an enigma. It's attracted a lot of controversy because of that final episode, which does leave the meaning and interpretation up to the viewer - but Space did that practically every week.

[DukeDexter]

Space is very much like Star Trek but with some fuzzy / vague bits in some key parts of the plotlines. :confused:

It's not everyone's cup of tea - it may have aged, but for me it's difficult to be objective. I can't see the faults in it! :) IMO Space:1999 isn't much like Star Trek at all. What they have in common is that they're both set in space. In Star Trek, the crew are equipped for their trek and seemingly have all the answers while in 1999 they weren't ready to go that far into space. They encounter unknowns and being inexperienced, they don't have the solutions all the time - they have to learn on the hoof - that's the whole point of the series. Victor does look clueless sometimes but there's no way he could have the answers - they've never been out that way before. It reminds me of a George Harrison song - something like 'the more I learn, the less I know'. Without wanting to get all deep, you could say in Star Trek they're on a physical journey, while in 1999 they're on an internal or intellectual journey.

Star Trek gives the viewer the answers to any dilemmas its characters face, in common with a lot of stuff; Space:1999 Yr 1 leaves the viewer to think it through himself - in that respect IMO it has a little in common with The Prisoner. I'd say persevere with it or at least fast forward to Dragon's Domain and give that a go. :)

[kennetzel]

Is there a reason why my posts keep disappearing? There have been several topics I know I posted in, only to come back ans see them gone. I posted here that I was not a fan of Space 1999. I think Anderson should have stuck to the puppets. I watch Sci Fi for the hardware, and I loved the hardware and ships in that show, but that wasn't enough to keep me watching that show. They promoted it as the new Trek, but after four episodes, I didn't see it. Despite that...I am in the process of drawing the Eagle ship from that show. When complete, I will post it.

[TonyB]

Is there a reason why my posts keep disappearing? There have been several topics I know I posted in, only to come back ans see them gone.

How strange, I have not noticed anything like that to be honest, not sure if any other members have spotted anything similar. That is something that can happen when the data base has to be reset for whatever reason, other than that no idea.

[Lord Brett]

Season 2 had a few good episodes but didn't like the format change.

Which year two episodes did you like? I struggle with even the ones I think are better, such as Seance Spectre.

[Andrew Kearley]

...I was not a fan of Space 1999. I think Anderson should have stuck to the puppets. I watch Sci Fi for the hardware, and I loved the hardware and ships in that show, but that wasn't enough to keep me watching that show.

An interesting viewpoint. Personally, I watch television drama for the plots and the characters and the acting. I have no especial interest in science fiction as a genre in and of itself. It's quality I appreciate, wherever I find it. The Andersons' puppet shows, I will admit, have a certain kitsch nostalgia value, but they are alarmingly deficient in terms of the writing. There is that techno-porn side of things, which obviously appeals to some part of the audience, but it's not for me, I'm afraid. Most of the puppet shows lapse into crass plots and juvenile humour. Thunderbirds manages to crank up the tension on some of the rescue sequences - Trapped in the Sky is particularly brilliant in that regard - but generally speaking, the first show I can watch without cringing is Captain Scarlet, precisely because it sets out its stall as a hard-edged cold war thriller - absolutely amazing for a kids puppet series. That said, I also don't mind Joe 90 or The Secret Service, because their humour is more sophisticated and well-played (and just plain surreal) than the earlier shows. But it's UFO and Space: 1999 that crown the Andersons' work for me. UFO is a triumph of substance over style - as mad and late sixties pop-art as it looks, there are some seriously played human dramas in there. And then Space: 1999 is the show where it all comes together: plots, acting, visual design and mind-expanding ideas. And that's what appeals to me - that and the fact that it's so spectacularly unlike any other sci-fi show.

[air terrainean]

The Prisoner? Yeah, great show, but effectively it's an ITC action series with some existential angst thrown in. Most of the episodes are pretty straightforward - there's an underlying subtext, but I wouldn't really call it an enigma. It's attracted a lot of controversy because of that final episode, which does leave the meaning and interpretation up to the viewer - but Space did that practically every week.

I wouldn't say that the 'existential angst' was thrown in to The Prisoner. Although George Markstein's view of the series was as a spy thriller with surreal aspects, from the startMcGoohan was always looking to create something that was more thought provoking, and a cut above a straightforward action adventure series. Although today it may seem straightforward and less of an enigma, at the time it was made it was much more of a challenge to the average viewer, who had really seen nothing like it on TV before. At the outset Space also tried to push the concept of intellectually stimulating drama, but did fall back later in the first season to slightly less challenging, more action orientated stories. I think both shows are equally deserving of critical acclaim, but Space does slightly suffer from less obviously compelling characterisation.

The Andersons' puppet shows, I will admit, have a certain kitsch nostalgia value, but they are alarmingly deficient in terms of the writing. There is that techno-porn side of things, which obviously appeals to some part of the audience, but it's not for me, I'm afraid. Most of the puppet shows lapse into crass plots and juvenile humour. Thunderbirds manages to crank up the tension on some of the rescue sequences - Trapped in the Sky is particularly brilliant in that regard - but generally speaking, the first show I can watch without cringing is Captain Scarlet, precisely because it sets out its stall as a hard-edged cold war thriller - absolutely amazing for a kids puppet series. That said, I also don't mind Joe 90 or The Secret Service, because their humour is more sophisticated and well-played (and just plain surreal) than the earlier shows.

For me even the early Anderson shows, from Supercar onwards at least, have always had more than just Kitsch appeal - yes, I agree that the plots can at times be simplistic and the humour a little childish - but they were being aimed at children ! What they offer though (apart from sexy machinery) is technical and conceptual inventiveness, combined with attractive characters and atmospheric visual and sound design. The story telling does become increasingly sophisticated and the writing more adult as the shows develop, and there are certainly Ballardian elements in Thunderbirds that anticipate the ideas in Scarlet. There are also political subtexts that can be read into nearly all the Anderson shows if you feel like it.