{"id":2560,"date":"2005-04-19T23:35:29","date_gmt":"2005-04-20T04:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org\/?p=2560"},"modified":"2018-10-31T20:55:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T00:55:46","slug":"cult-culture-space-1999-season-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/?p=2560","title":{"rendered":"Cult Culture: Space 1999 (Season One)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Now that A&E has been good enough to
\nproduce the bonus disc they promised several years ago, I feel a little
\nbetter about reviewing the series. Since I love to ramble drunkenly
\nabout bikini-clad women being gored by green plant-aliens, I’ll split
\nthe Space:1999<\/em> review into two sections. Part one will cover
\nthe gloriously gothic, dark and moody first season. The second part
\nwill cover the doomed ship of the second season, the final episodes of<\/p>\n

which you watch out of a sort of pity.<\/p>\n

The lights come up. It’s 20 years later with original co-star Zienia
\nMerton addressing the fans, sending a final message from Moonbase Alpha
\nand finally giving us a conclusion to the journey. This is the power of
\nthe show – not only to maintain a fan base for so long, but to enjoy
\nshort fan-produced films. There is talk of reviving the program and,
\ndepending on the success of Battlestar Galactica<\/em> later this year, we’ll see what happens.<\/p>\n

Staring Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse (season one) and
\nCatherine Schell (season two), and with guest stars that included Joan
\nCollins, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Leo McKern and other acting
\ngiants, Space: 1999<\/em> was a sci-fi departure, for the time. 1975-1976, it was the logical good daughter of Star Trek<\/em> and Lost in Space<\/em>.
\nYes, it’s a road traveled, but with a new twist. This crew of 311 souls
\nis not ready for the journey, and they come from an Earth that hasn’t
\nyet encountered alien life and has only once before left the solar
\nsystem, and that mission was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

{mosimage}
\nEven in 2003, it has a fun element that can lend enjoyment to your gin
\nsoaked evenings now that your significant other has left you for her
\nyoga instructor. Unlike the Star Trek<\/em>
\nfranchise and other sci-fi shows, there’s no refuge for this crew. No
\nway out, very little experience and a clumsy sort of paranoia that<\/p>\n

assumes every encounter to be potentially lethal. Oh, and need I
\nmention the best opening sequence in Sci-Fi? 70’s guitar funk, with
\neach title sequence featuring the most exciting clips from the episode.
\nIt’s gets the blood pumping.<\/p>\n

Created and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (who brought us Thunderbirds<\/em>, soon to be a major motion picture), Space: 1999<\/em>
\nhad a rocky beginning. The entire first season was filmed in 73-74 and
\nsold to the studio as a set, which was probably the only thing that
\nkept season one as cohesive and enjoyable as it was. In fact, I rather
\nbelieve season two was destroyed by the studio out of spite. They had
\nno power over the pre-filmed first season, no ability to change
\nanything in the 24 episodes sold to them. The show also sold on the
\npower of husband and wife team Landau and Bain, who were fresh off of
\nthe original Mission: Impossible<\/em>. Based on the strengths of
\npast hits, the Andersons sort of bluffed their way into our prime time
\nliving rooms. Selling a new sci-fi series in the mid-70’s was no easy
\ntask, especially if you were going to deviate from the base formula.<\/p>\n

The story begins on Earth’s first moonbase, Alpha, where a very young
\nworld government akin to the U.N. is disposing of hazardous materials,
\nmost especially nuclear waste. A strange madness is affecting some
\nastronauts assigned to the moonbase, a sickness that has delayed the
\nsecond interstellar mission – a probe designed to follow a recently
\ndetected artificial signal. Though the pilot episode throws the moon on
\nthe same course as this signal, the story arc is immediately dropped in
\nfavor of Space Warps R Us, tell me more of this human thing called
\nkissing, I am Chuck the Brain and I’ll destroy you with giant
\nantibodies.<\/p>\n

{mosimage}
\nThough often criticized as lacking a human element, the opposite seems
\ntrue to me. Knocked out of Earth’s orbit by a massive nuclear explosion
\nin one of the poorly maintained radioactive waste dumping fields, the
\nmoon is hurtled through space at an incredible velocity, causing
\ncataclysmic damage to Earth in the process. The Alphans have no way
\nback, no hope of returning, and so they face a journey through unknown
\nspace. My favorite twist on the old story is that this is an unwilling
\ncrew, not bound by family or the military. These are scientists and
\ntechnicians, none of whom are used to the idea of being under the thumb
\nof a commander, let alone cut off from Earth forever. Martin Landau’s
\nauthority is repeatedly called into question and the crew often bucks
\nthe system, giving us a few episodes where mutinous crew members do
\ninsane things. The psychological toll is briefly explored, with people
\ngoing quietly insane here and there. The crazy crewmember episodes are
\nthe most entertaining. But audiences in the mid 70’s wanted fuzzy space
\naliens who laughed heartily then stole your women. They still want
\nthat, I suppose. Space: 1999<\/em>
\nwas one of the few sci-fi shows that actually took the time to have
\ncrew-related episodes, and not just so they could be nameless
\nfatalities on Bizarro World. Maybe I’m the crazy one, but I think
\nhaving your top officers stranded on Bizarro World threatened by
\nnothing other than Crazy Bill from Reactor Room 2 who misses his wife
\non Earth is a great story line. No groovy aliens, just Crazy Bill and a
\nrifle. Goddamn you, Commander! I said I wanted more mustard for Ham
\nSandwich Thursday’s and you said we couldn’t afford the strain on the
\nfood processing units! AAAAHHH!!<\/p>\n

There’s your human factor.<\/p>\n

Barry Morse (Lt. Gerard from the original Fugitive<\/em> series)
\nis the brain, a brilliant scientist doomed to be replaced by Catherine
\nSchell in the second season, who was a shape-changing alien scientist
\nwith cleavage. Barbara Bain played the chief medical officer and Martin
\nLandau’s love interest (a story arc that played out very well, no doubt
\ndue to her real life marriage with Landau and despite her hideous
\nwooden acting). Surrounded by strong supporting stars that you’ve seen
\nin tons of bit parts, the show will easily take a hold on you once you
\nsit down and get into the groove.<\/p>\n

The tone for the first season was dark, with gothic episodes and
\ninternalized tales about Alpha crewmembers gone wrong. It had alien
\nbabies, parallel universes, guitar solos, crashing spaceships, warriors
\nfrom distant stars, scary old women in robes and nude supermodels. It
\nhad exploding doors, gods and devils, power failures and sickening zoom
\nwork on flashing red alert screens.<\/p>\n

The Alphans, while traveling through the unknown, have one mission – to
\nfind a new home and to leave their dead moon behind. But no matter
\nwhat, they would always encounter an intelligence greater than their
\nown or, ultimately, fuck everything up and miss their chance. Another
\nundeveloped story arc was the idea that Humanity came from a highly
\nadvanced, doomed civilization. As the series progresses, we get a
\nsnoot-load of hints that Humanity’s role in the universe is more than
\nwe imagine. The first season concludes with an episode exploring
\nMankind’s ancient homeworld – Arkadia. Thanks to the actions of
\nMoonbase Alpha, several ancient races are allowed to ascend to a higher
\nplane and new races are given birth. By the second season, our
\nreputation precedes us.<\/p>\n

Again, though, the Humanity as a once great interstellar race (and now
\nreturning to their old power) story arc is dropped for the second
\nseason.<\/p>\n

Though flawed, the series ranks high on my list of quality sci-fi. It’s
\ndaring stuff that you don’t often see today. Many modern sci-fi critics
\nwill begrudgingly admit that, when the Star Trek<\/em> franchise was revived by the Next Generation, it borrowed more from Space: 1999<\/em> than the original Star Trek<\/em>
\nseries. This is a series that aimed high and, on several occasions,
\nfell short… But when you get a show that’s smart and tries to push the
\nenvelope, you can forgive the failures.<\/p>\n

Your episode list:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Breakaway<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two hour pilot is mostly people saying “What are you doing? Are you
\ncrazy! NO! Don’t shoot the window! You fool, you\u2014” WHOOSH! The pilot
\nalso introduces evil Commissioner Simmonds, who could have been the Dr.
\nSmith of the series…again, a story arc not developed. Simmonds
\nreappears in a later episode, but only to suffer a terrible death that
\nwould have meant more if he had been a recurring bad guy. Also, the
\nMoon heading towards the alien signal story arc is dropped. Now, if
\nyou’re making the show before selling it and shooting all the episodes
\ntogether, why would you purposely build in story arcs and then “forget”
\nabout them the next day? Oh well…it’s a beginning.<\/p>\n

Matter of Life and Death<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helena Russell (Barbara Bain) had a husband, lost on a mission to
\nJupiter. Now, in unknown space, he reappears. Except he’s an anti
\nmatter alien dude and everyone’s going to die unless Barbara Bain can
\nsave the day. Can she do it? Will she survive being caught in a
\nromantic love triangle with her commander and her dead husband? Will
\nAlpha survive?<\/p>\n

Black Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, they will. But only to face a black hole that will not only propel
\nthem halfway across the universe, but give them a chance to meet a
\nbeing that may or may not be our creator. (A woman, by the way. Try and
\nfind another female God in 1975 prime time TV.) Keeping with the
\nmystical, metaphysical attitude of the first season, this episode is
\nthe first step towards the idea that Mankind is something more than we
\nthink, something far more powerful. It’s also a much needed character
\ndevelopment story, which is what you should do before you introduce
\ndead husbands and love triangles.<\/p>\n

Ring around the Moon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi, remember Star Trek: The Motion Picture<\/strong>? Good, you’ll
\nrecognize this story, then. An alien Voyager probe takes the moon
\nhostage, possesses people and attempts to download files from the
\ncomputer. In what should have been a half hour episode, Martin Landau
\nhas to convince the probe that its masters are dead and its mission is<\/p>\n

meaningless. Will he succeed? Will they survive? Oh my god! I don’t –
\noh, okay, everything’s okay now.<\/p>\n

Earthbound<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christopher Lee and the last survivors of his race, the Kaldorians, are
\nheaded to Earth for refuge (you and I know why, because I’ve just spent
\n20 pages telling you how Mankind turns out to be a superior, ancient
\nrace). They have room for one Alphan, though their journey will take
\nthousands of years. Evil Commissioner Simmonds returns (I guess he’s
\nbeen asleep for the months that the moon has been traveling in space)
\nand hijacks the ship, forcing the Kaldorians to take him along. Ho, ho,
\nho. Joke’s on Simmonds, and his unrealized character is written out
\nhorrifically.<\/p>\n

Another Time, Another Place<\/strong><\/p>\n

A rift in space returns the Moon to Earth’s orbit – along with a second
\nMoon! It’s a parallel universe, bitch, and the Earth is a wasteland.
\nThe other Alpha crew has resettled on the now barren Earth, and the
\nparallel Alphans can either live with each other or await their death
\nwhen the two Moons collide. Or will the collision return our Moon to
\nthe normal dimension? Yeah, that sounds like a better plan. Who wants
\nto live on a wasteland with only our parallel selves for company, let’s
\nget back to bashing some alien heads! An accomplished episode in terms
\nof spooky atmosphere (exploring the ruins of parallel Alpha).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Missing Link<\/strong><\/p>\n

After his ship crashes, Martin Landau’s soul is stolen by a curious
\nanthropologist who wants to study him… Which is fine, except Martin is
\ntoo busy fucking his daughter. So, tell me more about this Human thing
\ncalled – What? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!<\/p>\n

Guardian of Piri<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note to self: Piri doesn’t like visitors.<\/p>\n

Force of Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Classic first season gothic horror story stuff. A technician is
\npossessed by an angry spirit and kills women in skimpy bikinis. Creepy
\nmurder spree in space? Oh, yes.<\/p>\n

Alpha Child<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a plot line stolen by a Star Trek: TNG episode, we got ourselves an
\nevil alien reborn in the body of the first child delivered on Alpha. He
\nages 30 years in a few hours, turns his mother into a host for his long
\ndead lover and plans to take over the rest of Alpha because, of course,
\nit’s just about time to destroy the universe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Last Sunset<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aliens fearing the Alphans give the moon an artificial atmosphere in
\nthe hopes that they’ll stay the fuck away. Unfortunately, that means
\nAlpha’s going to corrode and the Alphans will lose their ability to
\nmake enough food to survive, so the aliens send psychedelic mushrooms
\nto eat. Our co-stars all go on a bad trip as the moon drifts away from
\nthe alien planet, the inhabitants of which apologize for causing such a
\nruckus.<\/p>\n

Voyager’s Return<\/strong><\/p>\n

The now insane Voyager probe returns to find its master. The big
\nproblem is that its star drive uses a fuel that’s killed everything
\nit’s came across. Voyager has inadvertently wiped out countless
\ncivilizations, the survivors of which are now in hot pursuit to find
\nand destroy the Human race. To make matters worse, the creator of the
\nstar drive is on Moonbase Alpha. Oh, he doesn’t handle the idea that
\nhe’s responsible for the deaths of billions of innocents very well.<\/p>\n

Collision Course<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Moon is going to collide with a planet. Doing so would allow for
\nthe ascension of an ancient race, as was predicted millions of years
\nago. Nobody believes Martin Landau after a creepy witch woman gives him
\nthe scoop.<\/p>\n

Death’s Other Dominion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The missing astronauts from a mission to Uranus are alive and well on a distant ice planet…and they’re insane!<\/p>\n

The Full Circle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sylvia Anderson: “We will not have people turning into monsters.”<\/p>\n

Full Circle plot: The Alphans turn into cavemen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

End of Eternity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter Bowles guests as an immortal blood drinking ass fucking demon
\nthat the Alphans discover entombed within an asteroid, which they
\ngleefully cut open.<\/p>\n

War Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone is killed by aliens who think Humans are a universal plague,
\nand Alpha is a vanguard force. But, it’s okay, it’s all a dream. OR IS
\nIT? No, it is. OR IS IT?<\/p>\n

The Last Enemy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Moon passes between two worlds at war. One world is populated by
\nwomen and the other by men. So each world lands an atomic launch vessel
\non Alpha. Comedy ensues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Troubled Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n

A high class gothic horror tale that leans more on the crewman guest
\nstars and puts the main characters in a secondary role. The frenetic,
\npowerful guitar music that fills this unusual episode always gives me
\nchills. A group of crewmen raise a vengeful spirit during a s\u00e9ance – a
\nspirit bent on avenging a murder that has not yet taken place.<\/p>\n

Space Brain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Moon passes through a giant brain. Barry Morse and Martin Landau do
\nbattle with antibodies or, to be more accurate, soap suds.<\/p>\n

The Infernal Machine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leo McKern guest stars. Note to self: An immortal, sentient computer
\nwith a strange fixation on your girlfriend makes for a bad dinner
\ncompanion.<\/p>\n

Mission of the Darians<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joan Collins is among the last survivors of an advanced species on a
\ncity-sized spaceship, adrift these 500 years. The ship is plagued by
\nstone age freaks…who come from the same species. Something went wrong,
\nand the two groups of survivors evolved into a Doctor Who episode!
\nObviously, the stone aged folks are the bad guys! I mean, as long as we
\ndon’t discover that the advanced survivors are cannibals. Ha, ha, ha!
\nThat would be crazy, wouldn’t it? Come on, it’s not true, is it Joan?
\nWhy are you looking at me like that?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
{mosimage}<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Dragon’s Domain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of our first interstellar mission to a habitable world,
\ndoomed with only one half-mad survivor returning. His madness returns
\nas Alpha drifts towards the space graveyard where the main ship was
\nlost, years ago. He must again face the giant spider that ate his crew
\nin one of my favorite episodes – genuinely frightening, even today. The
\nspider is a goofy monster with a bright light for an eye, but it’s
\nstill damned scary. Anything like that which gives you chills, 25 years
\nlater, on a sunny Sunday afternoon is a sign of quality.<\/p>\n

The Testament of Arkadia<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final episode has Alpha locating Mankind’s ancient homeworld –
\nArkadia. Our once almighty ancestors destroyed themselves and sent the
\nseed of life off to Earth. Now, two humans have been chosen to bring
\nlife back to our original home.<\/p>\n

The end of the series left us on cool note – the answer to the purpose
\nof our existence. Oh, but the second season would get raped. Gerry and
\nSylvia Anderson divorced, and a new production team took over command.
\nMany of the supporting characters, as well as Barry Morse, were canned
\nand the expansive sets would be changed for tighter sets. So, next
\ntime, we’ll visit doomed season two.<\/p>\n

\n

Nacho’s gin rating:<\/strong> Space 1999 rocks my boxers. It makes my
\nsocks roll up and down. If you haven’t suffered through 24 hours of
\nmadness like me, then you must do it! Or else I’ll free the violent,
\nass fucking demon that your people imprisoned 3000 years ago. See if I
\ndon’t!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,352],"tags":[403,353,347],"class_list":["post-2560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cult-culture","category-gsarchive","tag-cult-culture","tag-gs-archive-2004-2008","tag-space-1999"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2560"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2782,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560\/revisions\/2782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}