... we lost the Moon in a tragic accident involving nuclear waste and a previous unknown form of magnetic radiation. Along with the Moon, all 311 personnel stationed aboard Moonbase Alpha were also lost.
Thanks to my friend and referee, Aaron, for reminding me of this important date.
Really excellent title sequence. I know that prestige viewing(tm) series in this century get all kinds of love for their elaborate ones, but they all seem kind of lumbering and constipated compared to Space: 1999's, I think.
ReplyDeleteGreat freaking theme music too. Loved this BITD. Binge watched for a few hours on TUBi a couple years ago and diddled around learning the guitar parts. I don't have a fuzz pedal though (not a fuzz guy). Never sounds quite right without a fuzz. Maybe I should invest in one for the anniversary.
ReplyDeleteOverall, this was not a good series, even ignoring the brain-crackingly bad physics. There were a couple of good episodes, notably "Dragon's Domain" (IIRC) which featured a monster that was pretty clearly the inspiration for Arduin's star spyder.
ReplyDeleteThe model work was stunning, though. Pretty much peak Anderson, and all done on a TV budget rather than motion picture money.
DeleteI remember this being in the zeitgeist as a kid (born in ‘70), and I think I had some sort of toy based on the series, but I (for some reason) never watched an episode.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I’ll check it out, no doubt to the consternation of my wife, by the looks of it!
Probably an Eagle. Great, iconic
DeleteSF spacecraft design.
I destroyed almost as many Eagle model kits as Martin Landau as a kid, although mine were carved up for parts to kitbash custom ships and space wrecks out of rather than just crashed.
DeleteI watched this in the 70s on Subday afternoons. The title sequence and theme tune were excellent, as we're the Eagle spacecraft. There were excellent Dinky toys for all the spaceships and I had an Airfix kit of an Eagle.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember a single episode in any detail, a couple are fuzzy, but I can remember many Star Trek episodes. That probably tells you the quality!
Nice!
ReplyDeleteI forgot that Martin Landau appeared in *two* series whose opening credits were edited every week to include a sizzle reel of scenes from that episode.
Sheila, they went to the moon...they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, Modiphius is making a Space: 1999 TTRPG. I don't really know why, but I dig it. I was born far too late to catch it naturally, but through the magic of modern streaming I've seen a few episodes. It's fun, if particularly '70s. On Youtube, Shout Factory has a running stream of the series so it's real easy to pop in and catch a few episodes.
ReplyDeleteTrey Causey pointed out on his Discord that the 90's were a rough decade for the moon.
ReplyDeleteJust 5 years earlier it had be cracked by a runaway planet!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9blXQEHyw
I was a Space: 1999 superfan as a kid. Had the action figures, an eagle, the prop toys, and even went as a Moonbase Alpha Officer for Halloween one year.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the RPG. Already pre-ordered.
I am one of the many viewers who is STILL traumatized by "Dragon's Domain" and the Lovecraftian monster it dropped on unsuspecting kids. While the science of the show was definitely hinky, critics missed that Space: 1999 was essentially space horror years before "Alien" made that a thing.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what anyone might have thought of the show, its downbeat mysticism and upbeat disco soundtrack made it the quintessential '70s TV show.
Even as a kid, I couldn't stand the way people dressed in that program. Their fashion choices screamed, "Worst of the 70s."
ReplyDeleteAu contraire mon frere! The uniforms of Moonbase Alpha were created by the stellar Rudi Gernreich, whose work was considered so important to the series that he got top billing in the credits OVER the supporting cast. Rudi was widely seen as one of the most influential and innovative fashion designers of the 20th Century.
DeleteGernreich or not, they still looked really... erm... stupid? But most of '70s fashion did.
DeleteIf you can ignore the ludicrous basic concept (it would take a while for the moon to drift to nearby stars and encounter furry or disturbing aliens at every episode), Space 1999 (known to us communist scum in the Eastern Bloc as Moonbase Alpha) is almost as stupid as Star Trek. Of course we watched it (not much else to watch, commie era again) and got well and truly scarred for life by the monster in Dragon's Domain.
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