Look up into the sky. Is there a round, silvery shape there? No, of course not. As we all know, the Moon left the Earth's orbit back in 1999 following a cataclysmic nuclear explosion caused by waste from Moonbase Alpha going into chain reaction.
That, at least, was the scenario painted in Space: 1999, even if it - obviously - never came to pass. Made by Gerry Anderson, originally to be the second season of his earlier live action show UFO, Space: 1999 was a mix of many elements, some good, some bad. On the one hand, it did have some fantastic model work, cinematography and sets, the likes of which probably haven't been bettered.
On the other hand, the acting was dreadful, and the plots… oh, the plots. They were concept sci-fi: great big ideas about philosophy, the universe, etc, but handled so badly, and usually with a plastic-looking monster, that it was impossible to regard them with any seriousness, particularly since the science part of the science-fiction was so ineptly handled.
The show was also hampered by having husband and wife team Martin Landau and Barbara Bain as the two leads. Okay, they'd been fine on Mission: Impossible but their marriage was now breaking down and they could barely stand the sight of each other. Therefore, zero chemistry between the leads.
After a first, not terribly successful series, a new producer was brought on board to help boost the ratings. Unfortunately, they brought on board Fred Freiberger, the US TV producer responsible for the changes made to season 3 of Star Trek that got it cancelled, and who went on to make the changes to The Six Million Dollar Man that got it cancelled. So despite the introduction of hot, shape-changing alien Maya, and an Italian lothario, guess what happened to the proposed season three.
During this time, Space: 1999 went through a couple of title sequences. For the first season, we got the funky disco theme coupled with the "This episode" (did you miss that? We said "This episode", loser!) montage of highlights that Ronald D Moore copied for Battlestar Galactica. It also (weirdly enough) had Barbara Bain on a turntable.
Season two grabbed itself a whole new set of titles and a new theme. It wasn't as cool, didn't have Barbara Bain on a turntable, and it had a stupid "Red alert" on it. But it was more action packed and it did explain the plot.
These, however, were not the weirdest title sequences for Space: 1999. In overseas markets, there were completely different sets of titles that pioneered whole new areas of weird. The Japanese set was perhaps the least weird, since all they did was add a really odd new electronic/lounge theme to the first season titles.
No, for absolute weirdness, you had to go to Italy and watch Spazio: 1999's second season titles.
Bit of Trekkie? Got three hours to spare? Then how about watching this interview with Rick Berman, one of the exec producers of ST:TNG, ST:DS9, ST:Voyager, ST:Enterprise and all the TNG movies.
In it, he gives a relatively no-holds-barred discussion of all the various things that happened on the shows, what he thinks were the high and low points, why various casting decisions were made and let's slip that he spent most of the time begging Paramount to let Trek rest for a while to stop people getting bored of it.
If you want a list of the highlights, you can read them over at TrekWeb.
I was going to write a review of Star Trek. But then I couldn't be bothered. Lovely wife loves it and wants to see it again in IMAX; I thought it was good, but all that time travel made it feel too geeky and continuity-ridden for my liking. But it's definitely one of the best, if not the best of the Trek movies, and I did love the fact they showed Christopher Pike (who was the captain of the Enterprise in the show's original pilot) as a decent captain, on a par with Kirk, rather than a simple placeholder, waiting for Kirk to come along. Plus Karl Urban as Bones was spooky.
Thing is, it's supposed to be a movie that sheds the Star Trek universe of geekiness and makes it accessible to non-fans. However, while preparing to write said review of Star Trek, I went to its IMDB page to do some research. Turns out the geeks hadn't got the message.
First thing to make me roll my eyes and laugh was the cast list. See if you can see what I mean:
After that, I checked out the goofs page. I did so love this one, not just for being wrong, but because someone cared enough to add it:
Continuity: In the final "Spock on Spock" scene, you can see the obvious height difference between the two. Young Spock should be the same height as old Spock.
I won't even delve into the forums. They're busy complaining about promotion-speed.
Still, if it makes them happy and it's a good film: an enjoyable romp, but not an absolute must-see.
Most people hate Star Trek: Voyager. That's because it was awful. Thing is, it could have been more awful, because originally Geneviève Bujold played Captain Nicole Janeway instead of Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway in the series itself.
Bujold turned up for work, couldn't cope with the technobabble, and left. Here's some of the only footage surviving with her in it. See if you can tell why she had to leave.
Time, once again, to let the rest of the world know what you'd (un)recommend from the tele this week.
I didn't bother with Ashes to Ashes series two, which started this week, and at some point I'm going to have to play catch-up on The Unusuals, Southland, Sit Down Shut Up and Parks and Recreation – should I bother, guys?
I did love CSI and its fake Star Trek/BSG last week (which I only got round to watching yesterday) – nice cameo from Ronald D Moore, too, and the episode was quite poignant in its own geeky way.
BTW lovely wife, after giving up on Heroes during volume three on grounds of its general painfulness to watch, is playing catch-up and finding volume four to be "okay to good", although the dullness of Building 26 sapped the joy out of things a little for her – I blame Mohinder and Matt. So it's not just me who thinks everyone should be watching it, just in case you were wondering.
As always, no spoilers unless you're going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please? Ta!
About the blog
This is a UK media blog with daily news, views, exclusive reviews and good conversation. There's a bit of a bias towards the latest and greatest US TV, but we also cover British TV ranging from new Doctor Who to old Z Cars, Property Ladder to Big Brother, and BBC4 to S4C – yes, this blog is firmly part of the conspiracy to promote all things Welsh where possible, particularly Caerdydd.
Add in film, theatre, art, books, events and media journalism and you've (hopefully) got one of the best places on the web for media lovers. Oh yes, and there's The Carusometer, the ultimate guide to quality TV.
About me
I'm Rob Buckley, a freelance journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of. I've edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for trade magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and contributed sarcastic articles about television to the blink-and-you-missed-it "web site for urban hedonists" The Tribe. I'm freelance now and have contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly and TV Scoop. Have pity on me.
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