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Space: 1999 (1975 - 1977)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well that's a big gyp.

Last edited by Pow on Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is one of some shows that I hope can be completed by fans, i.e., finish the main story arc, and hopefully to make up for the second season. The other two are Sapphire and Steel and UFO. Maybe Doomwatch, too, i.e., re-do the missing episodes.
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I loved it in the seventies and eighties and still do today! Brilliant series and superb special effects! Laughing
JB
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wonder how it would have worked out if instead of going with Space:1999,Lew Grade and the Andersons had produced Harlan Ellison's "The Starlost?''

The lavish budget would have vastly enhanced TS. The problem would have been letting Ellison develop the series according to his vision & not having him walk out on the show as he did.
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PumamanRedux
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Space: 1999: The Complete Series [plus a limited edition Snowglobe] will be getting released on dvd and bluray on JULY 16, 2019 via Shout Factory in the US and Canada

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/space-1999-the-complete-series?product_id=7103
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Robert (Butch) Day
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:

That's the Sascha Brastoff statue under the stairs in Forbidden Planet!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

The first time I saw that statue I thought it might be the Brastoff statue, too!

But I noticed the winged helmet and the winged feet, and I realized it was a statue of Mercury, the messenger of the Greek gods.

The Brastoff statue (which is called "Mankind Triumphant" according to a post Eadie made on page 4 of the Forbidden Planet thread) is a very stylized figure — an almost skeletal figure with a very rough surface. The massive stand is about three feet tall with trapezoids on all four sides.

We never see the full statue in the movie, only the feet, the stand, and the shadow of the legs.





Remember, Butch, that several years ago I spent about four hours looking for a Brastoff decoration you said you'd read about that was used in the Morbius house, and I finally realized that it was that statue, even though the full figure was never shown! Very Happy

Here's Sascha Brastoff and Anne Francis with the full statue. Notice the difference between it and this shot of the "Bronze Figure of Mercury" by Giambologna.



Perhaps you were thinking of the statue over the small pool located at the "core" of the house. But as the comparison photo below illustrates, it isn't Mercury the Messenger either. The version of Mercury in the Barbara Bain photo (the third one on the right below) has the same base as the one shown in the photo above next to the one of Sasha and Anne, but there are a difference in the figure itself.

The one next to the leggy Miss Bain has a piece broken off. The ornate object in Mercury's right hand is not on the one next to Barbara. (The cropped image on the right.) Shocked



I suspect that the "Bronze Figure of Mercury" by Giambologna is a mass produced piece sold as home decor.

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Maurice
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was a review or comment somewhere back in the day that went something like, "Space:1999 borrowed more than just the colon from 2001:A Space Odyssey".

Just an aside here, but a number of people over the years have pointed out that Space:1999's first season has a very Lovecraftian sense of horror and the unknown about it, and that it might best be viewed through that lens rather than as any sort of scifi adventure. The "mysterious unknown force" yanks them through time and space with all these weird results and they find themselves tested again and again.

Season 2 tried to make the show into action adventure with very mixed results.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Until recently, I wasn't aware of that aspect of the series. I haven't watched very many episodes, and even those were back when the show first aired. But the metaphysical aspect of the premise explains the things I objected to about the series because I didn't understand them.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Originally the series was to have had the episode Testament of Arkadia as it's final instalment but the TV stations didn't quite get the feel of the show or the fact that there was another scene still to be shot on The Last Enemy! Arkadia reveals that all human life began on that planet and the moon's arrival in the area of said dead planet is what the entire first series was all about! Unseen entities stopping the moon in space and guiding the Alphans to begin life again on Arkadia, but for some reason the cloaked figures only wanted two people to settle there, Anna Davis and Luke Ferro! Together they have enough supplies for a few months and an eagle for protection while starting life anew and then afterwards the force releases the satellite to continue it's journey on into space! A very creepy episode indeed with the skeletal forms hiding out in the cave and the weird music preventing us hearing what the spirits are telling the two chosen Alphans as Operation Exodus becomes a great possibility!
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

If I watched this episode without being very familiar with all the background provided by previous episodes, would it make sense or would I be hopelessly lost? Confused

All the things I've read on this thread about how there was more to the movements of the Moon than random chance (which seemed ridiculous, so I lost interest in the series when it first aired) has convinced me that I did the series an injustice.

What do you think Space: 1999 fans? Should I give it another go? Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, the visual effects, sets, props for the series are second to none, but the storytelling rarely measured up to the production values.

So if you want to just gander at the show, you'll be impressed.

There were issues that affected the series negatively which contributed to its not being as good as it might have been.

While the cast liked the Landaus well enough, they also admitted that Martin & Barbara came with the American attitude regarding acting. The British believe that whatever the format be it stage, film, or television, it is a team effort by everyone.

Many American actors are known to make it all about themselves first and foremost.

There is a saying about how there are 2 ways of looking at a script. One is the actor asking how it serves him? The other is how can the actor serve the script.

You can guess which camp many English actors are in as opposed to American actors.

The Space: 1999 cast would tell stories on how a script that was devoted to one of the supporting cast members would get hijacked by the Landaus. Suddenly the commander or Dr. Russell had the focus of the story, the better lines.

Catherine Schell spoke of how Bain insisted that if the final freeze shot at the end of an episode involved the doctor, it was to never have have Maya in the same shot.

I think such attitudes can damage a show. Instead of an intriguing ensemble that might have been with the cast, the series only focuses upon the lead actors every week. That can get dull.

And while I loved Mission: Impossible (1966~'73) and the Landaus on the classic espionage show, they came off as rather flat & boring on Space: 1999.

Another issue affecting the atmosphere of the set was that the producers Gerry & Sylvia Anderson were going through the end of their marriage.

The second season of the series saw significant cuts to its budget (shades of ST:TOS) by Lew Grade. Grade was producing some expensive films. He took Space: 1999 funding and put it into his movies, which unfortunately flopped badly at the box office.

Producer Fred Frieberger came in to produce the second season of the show. Many excoriate his efforts just as they do on his producing the third season of ST: TOS. I've read enough about his producing on both shows to feel he was, generally speaking, unjustly condemned by fans.

At the heart of it all has to be the writing, as it is with all television shows. The scripting just was not strong or original.

Add it all together & you come up with a show that was doomed from the beginning.

The show remains awesome to look at, terribly disappointing with the writing for the majority of its episodes.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another thing about the second series is that along with the reduced budget they were moved to smaller spaces. All the sets had to be shoehorned into a much smaller sound stage, so they lost many of the Moonbase sets, and all of the large sets. The impressive Main Mission the Nuclear power station, they had to reduce the size of the Eagle set.

They brought in Fred Frieberger to make it more of an action series and it just didn't work.

David.
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The last eight episodes were great and the show was finally coming into it's own before the axe came down!
JB
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just watched an episode of "The Greatest American Hero" which was written and directed by Robert Culp who played F.B.I. Agent Bill Maxwell on the show.

The episode was very good.

I'm mentioning this on the "Space:1999" site for a reason.

Robert Culp was up for the role of John Koenig when they were casting for the series.

During the course of the interview with Gerry Anderson, Culp told Gerry that he (Culp) was also a writer and director.

So if the Andersons hired him they would not only get an actor for the lead, but they would also have someone who could also write and direct "Space:1999."

Anderson said that when Culp brought that up in the interview that ended Culp's chances of getting hired for the Koenig role.

Anderson did not elaborate beyond that statement.

All I can surmise is that Anderson was afraid of hiring an actor that might want too much control over the series by getting in the act with writing scripts and directing.

Perhaps Anderson feared some kind of power struggle.

Culp was considered a fine script writer and director, so he might have actually produced some good material for the series.

Culp was also a decent leading man and would have been better than Martin Landau on the show.

I admire Landau. Graduate of the prestigious Actor's Studio School in NYC under instructor Lee Strasberg. Marty also became an acting teacher.

Landau was terrific on "Mission:Impossible" as agent Rolland Hand. But as good an actor as he was, I feel he was always great in a supporting role, not as a lead.

Some actors can be the head of a cast on a television series, but some are best suited in supporting roles only.

Harvey Korman (The Carrol Burnett Show) & MaClean Stevenson (M*A*S*H) were wonderful supporting players on their respective shows, but they failed to make it as leads when they struck out on their own.

I'm not sure exactly what it is that makes one individual a natural lead while another person can't cut it, even if they are well trained and talented?

But it's just the way it seems to be.

The supporting cast for ST:TOS vilify Bill Shatner for hogging the spotlight during the run of the show.

And I have no doubt that he did just that.

However, as splendid as the supporting cast was on the series, I doubt strongly that any of 'em was leading man or woman material.

Yes, they should have and could have had their roles on ST:TOS expanded substantially . . . and they would have been great.

I just do not envision any of them being able to carry a series on their own.
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