{"id":11996,"date":"2007-12-17T07:31:05","date_gmt":"2007-12-17T14:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/12\/17\/starlost.html"},"modified":"2007-12-17T07:31:05","modified_gmt":"2007-12-17T14:31:05","slug":"starlost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/17\/starlost.html","title":{"rendered":"Starlost<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

This early 70s Canadian TV SF series was an almost textbook example how to take a cool concept and ruin it through interference from cost-cutting, non-SF-understanding suits.  Harlan Ellison wrote an extensive essay on the debacle to the novelization of the first episode (Phoenix from the Ashes<\/a>)<\/em> — he was one of the creators on the show, and insisted on having is Cordwainer Bird<\/a> pseudonym used instead.<\/p>\n

The idea behind Starlost <\/em>was great — a huge “ark” ship, fleeing a doomed Earth with different pods containing various Earth cultures and groups.  Then a disaster strikes — the different domes lose touch with each other, even lose the idea over generations that they are living on a starship (cf. Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky<\/em>) — until a young couple from a primitive dome discover the truth, and discover the ship itself is doomed if there isn’t a concerted effort to unite the vessel and bring it back under control.  So each episode would, in theory, involved visiting a new dome, meeting a new strange culture and dangers and so forth.  If it were done today — and done right — it could be a great hit.<\/p>\n

The story of the show is described here<\/a>, and I wrote about the series previously<\/a>.  So why raise it again now?  It’s finally making it to DVD in North America<\/a> … and I have no idea whether I’m thrilled or appalled … or how low the price point would need to be set to make me want to pick up a copy (for nostalgia’s sake, at the very least).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This early 70s Canadian TV SF series was an almost textbook example how to take a cool concept and ruin it through interference from cost-cutting, non-SF-understanding suits.  Harlan Ellison…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-tv"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/13\/lost.html","url_meta":{"origin":11996,"position":0},"title":"Lost","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 13-Jun-03 4:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ghost of a Flea posts about The Starlost, an sf show from 1973-74 that should have been truly fabulous -- great \"Bible,\" high-powered special effects talent, premier sf writers in...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18189,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/08\/19\/unblogged-bits-thu-19-aug-10-0600.html","url_meta":{"origin":11996,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Thu. 19-Aug-10 0600)","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 19-Aug-10 12:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Beyond Toleration: The Enduring Message Of Washington\u2019s Letter To The Touro Synagogue \u00ab The Wall of Separation - I'm quite familiar with Washington's letter. I wish more of the Islamophobic brouhahaistas were. Gabrielle Bell's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Church & State"","block_context":{"text":"Church & State","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/church-state"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128344,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/18\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows-kinda-sorta-more-or-less-redux.html","url_meta":{"origin":11996,"position":2},"title":"The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows (kinda-sorta more-or-less) (Redux)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 18-Oct-15 11:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"So this is based on an article from a Popular Mechanics (!) article on \"The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi Shows Ever\" [http:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/culture\/movies\/g156\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows]. See here [https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/17\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows-kinda-sorta-more-or-less.html] for caveats and comments on that list. I've decided to do my own force ranking (thanks +Stan Pedzick), working within the same list (to do otherwise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/TV%2BGuide%2BSF.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":131455,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/08\/a-golden-anniversary-for-the-show-that-changed-sf.html","url_meta":{"origin":11996,"position":3},"title":"A Golden Anniversary for the show that changed SF","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Sep-16 8:06am","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to believe, but it was 50 years ago today that the first episode of Star Trek aired on NBC television. Presaging airing order weirdness for future SF shows, the first episode was \"The Man-Trap,\" not the (second) pilot that had sold the series.The article below tries to speculate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13018,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/08\/15\/potpourri_of_happy_things.html","url_meta":{"origin":11996,"position":4},"title":"Potpourri of Happy Things","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 15-Aug-08 2:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Taking a minute or three off to pull together a few Shared items. Hopefully this makes up a bit for the paucity of actual posts of late. 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