Decent show, full of good ideas, and worked hard to overcome budget constraints, but there's a obvious downhill progression in the scripts. Would be interesting to see someone bring it back.
I remember watching this show as a kid; I was lucky enough to get the full series on DVD. They were able to get some (relatively) well-known actors at the time to take guest roles. John Colicos was the Governor of Omicron in one of the episode clips. Later in the series, Walter Koenig (Mr. Chekov in the original 'Star Trek') appears in two episodes as an alien named Oro. If you want to see him running around in a gold jumpsuit and matching boots, this is must-watch TV.😅
I only discovered "The Starlost" about 11, 12 years back. I was renting the disks by mail from Netflix. Sure, It wasn't the greatest Sci-Fi series ever, but I really enjoyed it quite a bit. The low budget nature, sets, costumes and FX reminded me of Doctor Who from the 70's.
Yes, I learned about this TV show by watching old episode re-post on UA-cam. Told several of my co-workers, it is just like watching 1970's and 1980's classic "Dr. Who" (smile...smile).
@@christiancampagna2229 There is an episode (sorry, I cannot remember the name of it) that, I would walk around and show a 5-minute clip of to my fellow Dr Who fans at my office. In this episode their is a team of scientist that know the end is near because their equipment lets them look outside the ship into space: they have a working space shuttle and booster jets on their section of the space ship. Yet, they never thought about using them to slightly move the space ship to avoid a collision. The dialog in this episode is 90 percent Dr. Who and, it is truly priceless (smile...smile).
Did Harlan Ellison ever get an adequate budget for anything he wrote? The Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" probably came closest to having one, except that Harlan would say that what was produced wasn't really his script, and in truth, no science fiction TV show from the 'sixties had an adequate budget.
I love all ages of scifi and had never heard of The Starlost before this vide - so thanks for posting this! I agree that the story/plot arc seems very interesting. almost worthy of a reboot. The camera system you mentioned sounds very very similar to the one which was successfully used on the original Star Wars series (Ep 4-6) for filming the space and ship miniatures (tracking and scaling camera movements).
I only saw a few episodes of this show back in the 70s. It never seemed to air in a consistent timeslot, so I would just occasionally spot it listed in the TV Guide. I liked it. I was 7-8 when it aired, so I wasn't too critical of the special effects, I just knew it was a space show, and I loved space shows. It's too bad it wasn't allowed to follow its story to a conclusion.
It wasn't for all the reasons and a few others mentioned here. It was a good idea but too grand a project for the budget allotted. Not uncommon in showbiz. You want a three-ring circus on a budget of a box of Animal Crackers.
The Rick and Morty theme was obviously inspired and influenced by the Starlost theme, check them out and compare. I first read about the show in the early '80s in a Starlog photo guidebook. Picked up a DVD collection of the series at a convention In the very late '90s or early 2000s. I found it to be an original creative and interesting series that despite its limitations was quite fun to watch.
I was 11 or 12 when this aired originally. Hard to believe Keir Dullea went from the greatest SF movie of all time--if not the greatest movie PERIOD of all time--to this...
C'mon now! It was a neat concept, but didn't have time to find it's voice. I stopped watching TNG after a few episodes of that first plodding season, but grew to like it in syndication.
@RoyCyberPunk let's try it this way. Logan's Run FX looked like crap, and it is a big budget theatrical release from the same era. My point is 70's FX were hit and miss due to budgets and technology. It was more about characters and stories.
@captlazer5509 It's still a very low budget Saturday morning live action show. Regardless of technical limitations they didn't have even a third of the budget of Logan's run let alone Star Wars and Star Wars pioneered a lot of visual and sound FX unseen nor unheard until that time. So much that by 1981 there's an explosion of revolutionary practical FX and even first generation CGI. The point is there's no comparison besides the video explains how they were short changed in the visual effects department much to Harlan Elisson's chagrin. He wanted lobster 🦞 and ended up having bargain fried chicken 🍗 instead.
Extremely very low budget Canadian produced POS. With all the failures in production they slashed the budget and changed a lot of the story. I remember when it first came out, Saw the first two episodes, whin one was horror enough. They even got Walter Keonig to appear in a couple of episodes to try and sell it.
I discovered this series a month or so before you posted this video. It’s not as bad as its reputation says. I agree that it had potential. It would be cool if someone could give it another go and update the original scripts.
I remember this series well. I wanted it to be good but no such luck. It was syndicated here in the U.S and shot in Canada where they always seemed to have budget problems. It had some good ideas (if not very original). Sci-fi shot on videotape never looked very good. The chroma effects of Green Screen always visible. Doug Trumball reused parts of his model ships from Silent Running. Keir Dullea looked like a 70's porn star. I think I've seen all full episodes available on UA-cam. ua-cam.com/video/l_Kv0VlJvNQ/v-deo.html
It's possible that human will not survive another ice age (Sun goes to rest cycle) because they don't care, because they only think about heir short life... when I talk about space travel my parents look.at me with cold Dying eyes so same problem with Politics
I suffered through a few episodes during the original telecasts. Dreadful. Even more boring than Space 1999. More like a 1930s serial than science fiction. Given participation by preachy, self-important POS Harlan Ellison it's no wonder there was nothing original about it.
Decent show, full of good ideas, and worked hard to overcome budget constraints, but there's a obvious downhill progression in the scripts.
Would be interesting to see someone bring it back.
Man, it really seems like Garth is the MVP here. Also, it seems like this show is _packed_ with genuinely original ideas.
I remember watching this show as a kid; I was lucky enough to get the full series on DVD.
They were able to get some (relatively) well-known actors at the time to take guest roles. John Colicos was the Governor of Omicron in one of the episode clips. Later in the series, Walter Koenig (Mr. Chekov in the original 'Star Trek') appears in two episodes as an alien named Oro. If you want to see him running around in a gold jumpsuit and matching boots, this is must-watch TV.😅
Silly show disappeared so quickly that I had no chance to form an opinion! Keir Dullea's presence had me hoping...
I was 13 when this was first broadcast on CTV (CFTO Channel 9, Toronto). I still pine for Gay Rowan.
I remember I was 15 when this was on in 1974. Even with all of the problems this was a good show.
I used to love that show. Yeah I'm old.
I saw a couple of episodes of The Starlost back in the day. It made me think of a community college production of Tom Baker-era Dr. Who.
I only discovered "The Starlost" about 11, 12 years back. I was renting the disks by mail from Netflix. Sure, It wasn't the greatest Sci-Fi series ever, but I really enjoyed it quite a bit. The low budget nature, sets, costumes and FX reminded me of Doctor Who from the 70's.
Yes, I learned about this TV show by watching old episode re-post on UA-cam. Told several of my co-workers, it is just like watching 1970's and 1980's classic "Dr. Who" (smile...smile).
@transitengineer Starlost really has that Tom Baker era Doctor Who look to it.
@@christiancampagna2229 There is an episode (sorry, I cannot remember the name of it) that, I would walk around and show a 5-minute clip of to my fellow Dr Who fans at my office. In this episode their is a team of scientist that know the end is near because their equipment lets them look outside the ship into space: they have a working space shuttle and booster jets on their section of the space ship. Yet, they never thought about using them to slightly move the space ship to avoid a collision. The dialog in this episode is 90 percent Dr. Who and, it is truly priceless (smile...smile).
Man, such a cool idea. Too bad it was doomed to fail due to all the production issues.
Did Harlan Ellison ever get an adequate budget for anything he wrote? The Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" probably came closest to having one, except that Harlan would say that what was produced wasn't really his script, and in truth, no science fiction TV show from the 'sixties had an adequate budget.
Hmmm I actually genuinely enjoyed the stories here. I'm sure the scripts were excellent even if the execution was great.
Thanks for the video!
It was a cool series, just have to understand what it is.
Magicam worked fine, but they didn't have the money for a studio large enough to use it properly.
It's oddly bizarre and intriguing enough to endure watching
I love all ages of scifi and had never heard of The Starlost before this vide - so thanks for posting this! I agree that the story/plot arc seems very interesting. almost worthy of a reboot. The camera system you mentioned sounds very very similar to the one which was successfully used on the original Star Wars series (Ep 4-6) for filming the space and ship miniatures (tracking and scaling camera movements).
I only saw a few episodes of this show back in the 70s. It never seemed to air in a consistent timeslot, so I would just occasionally spot it listed in the TV Guide. I liked it. I was 7-8 when it aired, so I wasn't too critical of the special effects, I just knew it was a space show, and I loved space shows.
It's too bad it wasn't allowed to follow its story to a conclusion.
I love this show... A premonition of so much to come decades later with SF in Canada...
That seems like a good show , I'd probably watch it.
It wasn't for all the reasons and a few others mentioned here. It was a good idea but too grand a project for the budget allotted. Not uncommon in showbiz. You want a three-ring circus on a budget of a box of Animal Crackers.
The Rick and Morty theme was obviously inspired and influenced by the Starlost theme, check them out and compare.
I first read about the show in the early '80s in a Starlog photo guidebook. Picked up a DVD collection of the series at a convention In the very late '90s or early 2000s. I found it to be an original creative and interesting series that despite its limitations was quite fun to watch.
This show sounds great I wish they would remake it
So both DS9 and Orville ripped off this show, and more shows probably.
I was 11 or 12 when this aired originally. Hard to believe Keir Dullea went from the greatest SF movie of all time--if not the greatest movie PERIOD of all time--to this...
C'mon now! It was a neat concept, but didn't have time to find it's voice. I stopped watching TNG after a few episodes of that first plodding season, but grew to like it in syndication.
Racheal was a lovely actress for The Starlost.
People bitchen about the low budget effects have no problem with Land Of The Lost. 😂
Land Of The Lost was a Saturday Morning Cartoon block live action Kiddie show not a serious sci-fi TV show project.
@RoyCyberPunk Star Wars in 1977 was written kids, and it had groundbreaking FX. See any early interview with George Lucas.
@captlazer5509
Are you seriously comparing a low budget live action Saturday morning cartoon block show to a theatrical release movie?
@RoyCyberPunk let's try it this way. Logan's Run FX looked like crap, and it is a big budget theatrical release from the same era. My point is 70's FX were hit and miss due to budgets and technology. It was more about characters and stories.
@captlazer5509
It's still a very low budget Saturday morning live action show. Regardless of technical limitations they didn't have even a third of the budget of Logan's run let alone Star Wars and Star Wars pioneered a lot of visual and sound FX unseen nor unheard until that time. So much that by 1981 there's an explosion of revolutionary practical FX and even first generation CGI. The point is there's no comparison besides the video explains how they were short changed in the visual effects department much to Harlan Elisson's chagrin. He wanted lobster 🦞 and ended up having bargain fried chicken 🍗 instead.
Extremely very low budget Canadian produced POS. With all the failures in production they slashed the budget and changed a lot of the story. I remember when it first came out, Saw the first two episodes, whin one was horror enough. They even got Walter Keonig to appear in a couple of episodes to try and sell it.
I discovered this series a month or so before you posted this video. It’s not as bad as its reputation says. I agree that it had potential. It would be cool if someone could give it another go and update the original scripts.
I remember this series well. I wanted it to be good but no such luck. It was syndicated here in the U.S and shot in Canada where they always seemed to have budget problems. It had some good ideas (if not very original).
Sci-fi shot on videotape never looked very good. The chroma effects of Green Screen always visible. Doug Trumball reused parts of his model ships from Silent Running. Keir Dullea looked like a 70's porn star. I think I've seen all full episodes available on UA-cam.
ua-cam.com/video/l_Kv0VlJvNQ/v-deo.html
I watched this when it first aired, and enjoyed it, even though I thought it pretty bad.
Is this a Dr remake?¿¿?? Oh Battlestar clonee??
i like it a lot its great
It's possible that human will not survive another ice age (Sun goes to rest cycle) because they don't care, because they only think about heir short life... when I talk about space travel my parents look.at me with cold Dying eyes so same problem with Politics
I suffered through a few episodes during the original telecasts. Dreadful. Even more boring than Space 1999. More like a 1930s serial than science fiction. Given participation by preachy, self-important POS Harlan Ellison it's no wonder there was nothing original about it.
Well, considering he essentially "borrowed" Robert A. Heinlein's "Orphans of the Sky", what can you expect.