Rich Morris' Comics - YAFGC and The ComixBlog

Taking the cue from Dungeon Master, little witch, Morgana and Maark, I am starting a thread on that notoriously wonderfully bad SF drama series of the 70's, Space:1999, of which I was(am!) a huge fan since catching its first run as a little kid.

It still LOOKS gorgeous, using large scale models and designer props. It's one of the few shows that makes outer space look really big and cold.

Unfortunately they flagrantly threw science out of the window for the most part, figuring that the viewers would be more interested in the cool monsters, the models, and the scantily clad guest stars to notice that they didn't understand a thing about radiation, engineering, physics or astronomy.

Also check out (and feel free to discuss) the series U.F.O. which I only recently discovered was actually a related series of which Space:1999 was originally meant to be the continuation. You can almost see it as a lost first season if you're coming at it the way I did. And it's not half bad! Even if it is a little more juvenile.

OK, now I've gotta see this. I'm going to have to disconnect a certain part of my brain in order to watch it, though (that master's in astrophysics is sure to ruin my enjoyment otherwise)... Having the forewarning that the science is gawdawful, however, I should be able to manage.

It's at the top of my Netflix queue now; I look forward to chatting about yet another weird and wonderful series with all of you folks!

By the by, thanks to Hilary for inspiring Rich to write Forever Janette and thereby introducing me to Forever Knight...

There were a few tv movies done from Space 1999 episodes, and reallllllly early (KTMA era) Mystery Science Theatre actually did one of them - Cosmic Princess, if anyone's ever seen it. It's two episodes from second season, focussed on the shapeshifter character Maya (she was always my favourite).

(And you're more than welcome - it was awesome watching Rich go from 'yeah, cheesy vampires, whatever...' to 'Oooh, this has potential' to 'argh, look at all the bad vampire shows that can't hold a candle to FK who did it best and first arglbarglegahhhhh!')

What have I done???? I brought my guilty pleasures back into focus. I am guessing that I also found out about U.F.O.'s secret the same way that Rich did (I spend way too much time searching the web for inane trivia about shows).

P.S. There is an article that Asimov penned during the first season that he addressed his bad science feelings toward the show. It is a cute little rant.

Ooops, I forgot to add the link to the article I mentioned from Issac Asimov.

I hope you enjoy it

As far as I'm concerned the best work by the Andersons involved puppets. The acting was less wooden for a start. And, even with some of the costumes, no one in Space 1999 could match the glamour of Lady Penelope.

I was only about 5 when this was on, but I'll never forget how cool I thought it was. Orange spacesuits, for the love of God! Orange! And the spaceships were so un-Apollo-rocketish. I wonder how it would hold up if I watched it today.

This also reminded me of another space show I remember. I think it was likely a little more obscure (if I'm not mistaken it was a Canadian production), and it actually scared me to watch (much like Doctor Who). Does anyone remember the Starlost?

Oh, how i remember 1999. I was a child and the thought that by 1999 everything would be that cold and... sciency gave me chills. I actually believed we would be forced to wear these awful clothes and travel to space by then .
And the fleshy eyebrows. Who had these awful things? It was in the starting scene...

"Fleshy"?

I am fairly certain one character had eyebrows made of flesh, not hair.

Maya's the only one I can think of with funny eyebrows, but they were sort of beaded, not flesh. She's a shapeshifter, and showed up in second season - she was always my favourite character.



Hm. I suppose they're "fleshy" in the sense that they're not hair, but that term implies something soft and squishy/flabby, to me.

Eeeep! Indeed, these are the eyebrows i was looking for . As creepy as i remember them, by the way. I remembered that the woman who had them was coldly beautiful, and the picture is exactly that.
It had some pompous beginnining credits, didn't it?