70's Sci-Fi Appreciation Thread (pre-Star Wars)

In reading up on Space: 1999, that series is a great example of the CHANGING nature of SciFi.

What I mean is this: the first season (or first series, as the Brits say) was very talky and cerebral, and was an attempt to bring intellectual SciFi a la 2001 to the TV screen.

After Gerry Anderson's divorce during (or right after) season one, and Sylvia Anderson's subsequent leaving as producer, the ITC and Lew Grade decided to use this opportunity to make the series more "American," to boost its syndication ratings in the US. They brought onboard Fred Freiberger, an American producer whom many people believe was responsible for "dumbing down" Star Trek's final season when he replaced Gene Roddenberry as executive producer/showrunner.

Anyway, possibly as a result of Freiberger's involvement, the show became cartoonlike and action oriented. As a result, ratings actually plummeted and the series was not renewed for a third season--the change in series direction had the opposite of its intended effect.

However, that "change in direction" typified in Space: 1999's second season persists to this day. How many talky, cerebral SciFi movies and TV shows can you name? How many action oriented ones? To be sure, shows like Lost and the X-Files straddle the line between the two, but they are the exceptions, and not the rule.

 

I'm up WAY too late, just noticed this thread for the first time, and I just KNOW I'm gonna love this topic.

So, I'm leaving this post specifically so I can find this thread later.

-- Rooster (a.k.a., the guy with the Tyrone Washington avatar)

 

You could say he had the same effect on Star Trek as he did on Space: 1999! But Freiberger was brought in for two reasons. The same two reasons he was brought in to executive produce Star Trek:

1. Increase the action/reduce the talkiness (as you said) to increase the appeal of the show to a broader audience.

2. Cut the budget. Space: 1999 cost as much as half a million pounds PER EPISODE back when that was a mind-boggling amount for a TV show. It was the most expensive show ever made up until that time. Although it rated OK, the ratings never seemed to justify the cost of the show. This was exactly the same issue with Star Trek - which was one of the most expensive shows of its era (from $150,000 to $250,000 per ep).

You can see the effects of the cost cutting immediately in the first episode of Season 2: the huge Command Center set from Season 1 has gone and has been replaced by a much smaller set. It didn't help that there was no explanation for the changes on the show.

Originally Gerry and Sylvia Anderson had planned to make a sequel to their earlier show UFO after it had proved to be successful in the US. The idea was to set UFO season 2 in the late nineties (Season 1 had been set in the early eighties). Enthusiasm for the UFO concept waned as ratings slipped but a lot of the pre-production was recyled for Space: 1999. No purple haired chicks though!

 

Couldn't agree more. I have fundamentally similar thoughts about aspects of a recent modern SciFi series too, FarScape.

 

Three Roddenberry '70s projects have been mentioned, GENESIS II, PLANET EARTH, and THE QUESTOR TAPES. There was a fourth called SPECTRE which dabbled in the horror/supernatural genre more than science fiction. It starred Gig Young and Robert Culp, along with the ever-present Majel Barrett in a supporting role.

All were attempts at series, basically serving as pilot episodes. PLANET EARTH is, in fact, virtually episode 2 of the GENESIS II "series", with John Saxon taking over the lead role of Dylan Hunt.

THE QUESTOR TAPES was about artificial intelligence and comes off like an early version of "Data" from STAR TREK: TNG.

Harry

 

"The Final Programme" was released to DVD although I also have never seen the end of the darn thing (although it was a very goofy film from what I recall).

"Phase IV" was a terrific little sci-fi flick that still hasn't seen release on DVD. Nice direction by Saul Bass and performance by Michael Murphy in the lead.

"Starlost" is horrible. Harlan Ellison created the series and wrote the original pilot episode. Promises were made to Ellison and Trumbull about the quality of the show, production values, the fact that they were going to shoot it on film all of which were NOT done. Ellison's script was so rewritten (he wrote the pilot and had the series creation credit under his Cordwainer Bird pseudonym.

Although I personally like the effects work in much of The Black Hole the movie is badly written.

Zardoz is still a goofy gem mixing (unintentional) camp humor with a nice strong element of satire. Not Boorman's best film but interesting. The Genesis II and Planet Earth movies by Roddenberry are also unintentionally campy and demonstrate his limitations as a writer. They're both pretty bad even though Alex Cord tries to do a decent job in the first and John Saxon in the "remake".

The Andromeda Strain is in the process of being remade. Don't know how they could improve on Wise's film except maybe to update it. I loved Colossos: The Forbin Project as a kid. Great performance from Eric Braedon ("Rat Patrol" and many soaps) it's a pity it never has had a widescreen DVD release. It almost didn't get released theatrically but the success of other sci-fi projects encouraged Universal to pull it off the shelf.

Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth is still a classic although you really have to wonder if, indeed, the surreal story makes sense at all.

A Boy and His Dog is probably the closest anyone has gotten to doing a decent translation of one of Harlan Ellison's stories (outside of The Outer Limits episode Demon With A Glass Hand) to film.

Logan's Run is also being remade with the original premise intact (in the original novel the characters die at 21 not 30 and there is, indeed, a real sanctuary). It has its moments although I still think that the ending is insanely bad.

Finally Invasion of the Body Snatchers--great remake (although the original is still more powerful to me) being remade...again (after a 90's update as well). Hope Jack Finney's estate is making some money off of all this.

 

I saw this as a kid and rented it recently. While the styles certainly haven't aged that well (we all know what the 80's really looked like...nothing at all like the early 70's). You're right about that creepy story angle though. There was one episode where it was revealed that the reason they were coming to Earth was to harvest us for our organs.

I'm sure Carter probably saw it and combined it with Twin Peaks (which The X-Files most closely resembled right down to Ducovny...he played the cross dressing FBI agent in the second season of Peaks) in his mind (speaking Peaks the second season is coming in April).

Flawed as Space:1999 was, I still enjoy it even though the first season was a bit...stuffy. The second season moved into sillyville when they hired hack writer/producer Fred Frieberger to come in and revamp the series.

A bit of trivia...Ark II used the same vehicle built for Fox's Damnation Alley (a fascinating idea...a road movie after the end of the world in a kick A$$ RV..that turned really bad. Not one of sci-fi writer Roger Zealzny's better novels but if it had been adapted faithfully it would have been a much, much better movie. The killer cockroaches and George Peppard's bad accent push it into camp territory. Coming just after "Star Wars" is showed that Hollywood still didn't really get it.

Solaris is a great movie. Andre Tarkovsky wrote and directed it as a response to Kubrick's 2001 which he hated. He felt that Kubrick totally missed the boat with 2001 in his focus on the dehumanizing aspect of technology and not focusing on the people in the story.

 

The Martian Chronicles! Horrible version of Bradbury's novel. Richard Matheson was very unhappy with the rewrites of his script AND the poor FX (not to mention the wooden acting). The only highlight is Darren McGavin chewing the scenery in the early episodes and the "Mars is Heaven!" segment of the show.

What a waste of potential. I'm surprised that Ray Bradbury would sell any of his books after this awful production.

 

Yes, that's the particular episode I was thinking of.

The show has dated in some ways, and yet in other ways it stands up pretty well. Although, when we see the aliens in their spacesuits they look a bit too much like Power Rangers

 

I must disagree. I thought it was a great adaptation, picking most of the best chronicles (as it wasn't really a novel, per se) and unifying them through Weaver. The version of the short story The Martian is incredible!

 

Ah to each their own. Having watched it again recently I felt that my original impression was correct. I recall being very disappointed with it.

That was a nice narrative touch that Matheson came up with. I'm glad you enjoy it. One aspect I thought was cool was shooting the sequences set on Mars on the island of Malta with the unusual production design. The first segment where the Martian kills the first crew was kind of cool looking.

I doubt that they would go back and do the visual effects because of the cost...still they DID do that with the original "Star Trek" and some of the CGI work in that is quite stunning looking (although it STILL looks like CGI of course) and is true to much of the look of the original show.

I also recall that Roddy McDowell gave a very good performance in the show.

 

Funny you should say that...I watched it with my kids (who were big power ranger fans at one time) and they said the same thing! So who knows, perhaps it DID predict the look of the future as least for children's programming...

I think this show would be a great one to translate to the big screen although many other shows (and films) have borrowed from it.

I also really liked "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" with Roy Thinnes another Anderson/Anderson production with a great cast and a fascinating if slightly unbelievable premise (although its no less unbelievable than the fact that all those aliens on "Star Trek" spoke English...) It was fun is still a clever concept.

Still like that film quite a bit. A pity its not available on DVD in the US.

 

One more vote for Demon Seed, and minor SF masterpiece. Also, the overlooked Illustrated Man.

 

I saw this a couple of times but all of 25 or more years ago. Larry Cohen films were a staple of the late night and all nighters at the Scala Cinema in London. This one was always billed as "Demon (aka God Told Me To)" and was usually on with the equally strange "It's Alive." Remember it had a great intense performance by Tony Lo Bianco and was a strange cop/horror amalgam. Would be a good one to catch up on.

 

A pity. In the United States the rights are owned by Universal and there was no interest in issuing it the last time I checked with the Home Video Forum from the studio. It's a pity because we see stuff reissued umpteenth times (like CD) when there are minor gems out there that have yet to see the light of day.

I hadn't noticed that the effects shots were reused in UFO but you're right. I do remember that the effects looked very much like that show and its predecessors Thunderbirds, etc. Always liked the music score for the film (and UFO drawing a blank on the composer) had a nice melodramatic quality that worked for the film and shows much like the "Star Trek" music for the original series and "The Outer Limits".

"Demon Seed" was one I always liked. Creepy concept with Robert Vaughn the perfect voice for Proteus. Fritz Weaver and Julie Christie both give nice performances. I was glad this flick finally got a DVD release even though it was relatively bare bones.

Do the extras matter to you folks? I know if it's a great looking transfer I'm less inclined to criticize the lack of extras. On the other hand, Warner has been very good about including vintage extras where possible (The Illustrated Man being a perfect example which also included the original theatrical trailer in addition to a promo featurette produced for TV).

Billy, I'm not sure what happened to the planned DVD release for Damnation Alley but it was on the schedule at one time for Fox and Anchor Bay. I'm not sure if there just wasn't enough interest or if it was cancelled for another reason. I remember seeing that a couple of months after "Star Wars" premiered.

Interesting bit of trivia about the vehicle designed/used for the film. It was recycled (if memory serves) for the TV show Ark II. When I lived in L.A. I used to drive by a spot where they kept it after that show went off the air. It still looked pretty darn cool. Don't know what happened to it. Speaking of which Universal also has one of the Spinner mock-ups that survived from Blade Runner at their Florida studio for display. Ridley Scott had most of them destroyed so they wouldn't end up in other films so this must of been one of the mock ups used for the L.A. or N.Y. premieres.

 

Really? Wow.

So if there really is a sanctuary, then what's the problem?

 

Is the region 1 DVD a single layer disc? I bought it a month ago when it was released in Spain and I was surprised it was a DVD 5, haven't seen a movie released on a single layer disc in a long time.

 

I think it was Barry Grey, who had worked with the Andersons since the 50s. I believe he passed away back in the 80s.

As I recall, the Andersons wanted to start a serious movie production company, but the only gigs they could get were kids shows - with puppets. Being perfectionists they decided to make them look as good as possible so that they could start getting "serious production work" but of course everybody just wanted to see more of those puppet shows!

One thing... their movie "Journey To The Far Side of the Sun" is also known as Doppelgänger, so I guess you could try searching under that title.

 

I did a bit of research. "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" was released on DVD in the US ... in 1998. So it's out of print. It was also released on LaserDisc some years before that.

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Far-Side-Sun-Thinnes/dp/6305081158/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8236970-9744625?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1174355536&sr=8-1

 

Thanks for the info. I don't know if I'm willing to pay $87.00 for it.

 

Getting away from the city without being killed. Also, the outside world is a pretty vicious environment from what I recall and Logan is being pursued as well (don't want to go into too much detail as it would spoil it for those who haven't read the novel).

We'll see how closely they adhere to the basic premise of the novel this time around.

 

So . . . I promised a review of the Space: 1999 DVD's, and here goes . . .

Before I started watching the DVD's, my memories of Space: 1999 were sketchy at best. When they show originally aired, 1975-1978, I was in preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade. I do remember watching the show back then, and mostly associate images with my memories rather than plot lines. For example, I remember Helena wearing the funky-looking pajama jumpsuit uniform with the one white sleeve. I remember the computer font used for lettering and numbers. I especially remember the barreless laser pistols--and the Eagle spaceships--as friends of mine had toys of these which I would play with. I remember Maya, although in my memories, she seemed older, witchlike, and unattractive (unattractive???). And, as mentioned earlier, I remember the episode "The Beta Cloud"--that is, until I walked out of the room, too scared to finish watching it.

So, fast forward to 2007, when I have a kid of my own who is not quite old enough to be scared of television shows . . .

I have watched the first two DVD's--6 episodes in season 1, presented in their production--but not broadcast--order. The first episode, Breakaway, was a good introduction to the show, although it was obvious the series did not quite have its "feet" yet. I was impressed by much of the SFX work--the nuclear explosion at waste dump two, with Alpha in the foreground--still looks fantastic, as does the shot of the moon being pushed away from the earth. Yet, some SFX shots did not look too hot, and seemed as if they would not be out of place in a 1960's grade-z Italian space opera. Plus, some of the dark muddiness of the plot (as if too much had been left on the cutting room floor) and some of the visuals and sound effects reminded me of those 60's Italian space operas. But, on the whole, an entertaining show.

The next few episodes got better and better. These epsiodes have involved encounters with strange natural (or unnatural) phenomina which bend the rules of time and space. Sure, the science is not fully explained--or explained badly, and it still seems as if pieces of the plot have been left on the cutting room floor--but on the whole it has been great! The moral parables and philosophical musings which subtly underpin some of the shows are presented in a way which gives the episode a little extra meaning, but does not weigh it down.

The highlights of the first two discs were "Dark Sun" and "Another Time, Another Place."

With my appetite whetted, I had the urge to delve into Season Two (I still plan on Netflixing the rest of season one). So, on YouTube, I found the episode The Dorcons--the last episode of the entire series, filmed in 1976 but for some reason not broadcast until 1978.

This episode was, well, not too hot. First, something I did not remember from my childhood--the new uniforms are terrible--very un-Sci-Fi. 1970's style windbreakers? They just look out of place. The plot of the show was OK, but riddled with terrible dialog. Plus, the production values of the show suffered. The SFX and space scenes were very, very good, but the interior of the Dorcon ship looked like it was essentially painted plywood. The advanced devices onboard ("meson convertor," whatever that is, shield controls, control panels in the surgical room, etc.) look like they are made out of paper. I'm not kidding. Very little detail on the props--like they just don't care anymore. Did I already say the dialog was horrendous in places? The production looked somewhat rushed, and the plot came to a quick, uneffective conclusion. Martin Landau seemed wasted in this role--he didn't get to act at all, he just got to run around red-painted plywood corridors.

But the worst part was the end denouement. Instead of something befitting a Sci Fi show, we get the following set to the beat of 70's era sitcom music: Koenig stating that the Dorcon Consul was "quite a lady," Alan offering coffee to Koenig and Maya (WTF???), Helena and Koening engaging in some lame, cutesy sexual-innuendo banter, and a tilted-head-while-laughing freeze frame over credits--just like something from Happy Days. What gives???

 

I am up to DVD 3 of the Space: 1999 set and, so far, many of the episodes have been about "doom and gloom." Maybe Freiberger's attempt to lighten up the second season was not THAT misplaced . . . just poorly executed. More to come . . .

 

Oooh yes it was Absolutely horrendous what happened to the creative standards in series 2, and evidently done with cynical intentions. Just about as bad as possible. I do agree a bit more humor (and a less zombie-like Bain ) would've helped, among other things, but done is done, and S1 was all the best we'd get. The best suggestion I can make is to stagger your viewing of the episodes with something of a less gloomy but still somewhat simpatico note, like the Eccleston Dr Who, perhaps?

Perhaps my favorite Space: 1999 moment is in Dark Sun, with Victor looking out of the frosted window and "just wondering..."