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TV Guide - February 26, 1976
Space: 1999 Review by Cleveland Amory
TV Guide
February 26, 1976
Page 21
REVIEW
by Cleveland Amory
SPACE: 1999
This program is the product of a British company called ITC, which puts out a press kit that is 2 feet by 2 feet--to start with. When we opened the kit up it grew to 6 feet by 2 feet, and before we could wrestle it to the ground, it screamed "THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE SERIES! THE HIGHEST BUDGET FOR AN HOUR SERIES ITC HAS EVER COMMITTED!" Well, they got one thing right: this series wasn't produced--it was committed, like a crime. It is a science-fiction concoction that according to the 12-square-foot press kit, goes like this: "September, 1999...The most devastating explosion in the history of mankind blasts the moon out of orbit...on it are 311 men and women...pitted against forces of nature so extraordinary...life forms so strange...environments so hostile...their space odyssey is beyond the grasp of human comprehension."
Space: 1999 has been syndicated to over 150 stations in the U.S. It has also been sold to 101 other countries, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Mauritius, where it should be popular--because language is no barrier. In the first episode, for example, there was practically no dialogue for quite a while, which, in view of what was to come, was a terrific idea. Then came lines like "People are dying out there, John," and even "We're sitting on the biggest bomb ever made." In a show like this, that's one line they should have avoided at any price. Finally, our hero turns, Hamlet-like, to address his fellow castaways. "As you know," he says, "we have been totally cut off from Earth. If we try to go back to Earth, we may fail. Therefore, in my judgment, we do not try." Well, it's lonely at the top--but you don't know the meaning of loneliness until you've seen it here. After all, there are people out there--not only dying, but watching.
The special effects are good, but the actors are awful, even Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, whom you will remember from Mission: Impossible; and Barry Morse, of The Fugitive. Miss Bain's part is the zombiest, which is some distinction, as the cast is huge. The clothes are by Rudi Gernreich, who is best known for the topless and bottomless bathing suits. We think a man should stick to what he knows best--his costumes here are mostly gray things that look like tailored sweatsuits. In our favorite episode so far, the castaways went to another planet. It was called Ultima Thule, and it was supposed to be a paradise, but--as so often happens in science fiction--it was no picnic. For one thing, it was 200 degrees below zero at night, and not much better in the daytime. The planet was inhabited by another group of lost space travelers, including some terrific-looking girls who, despite the temperature, wore very little. The first group of spacemen had discovered the secret to eternal life, but there was a catch to it: although nobody got any older, everybody was impotent. Also, they had been stuck there for 880 years, and frankly, they were too fed up with television not getting any better.
February 26, 1976
Page 21
REVIEW
by Cleveland Amory
SPACE: 1999
This program is the product of a British company called ITC, which puts out a press kit that is 2 feet by 2 feet--to start with. When we opened the kit up it grew to 6 feet by 2 feet, and before we could wrestle it to the ground, it screamed "THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE SERIES! THE HIGHEST BUDGET FOR AN HOUR SERIES ITC HAS EVER COMMITTED!" Well, they got one thing right: this series wasn't produced--it was committed, like a crime. It is a science-fiction concoction that according to the 12-square-foot press kit, goes like this: "September, 1999...The most devastating explosion in the history of mankind blasts the moon out of orbit...on it are 311 men and women...pitted against forces of nature so extraordinary...life forms so strange...environments so hostile...their space odyssey is beyond the grasp of human comprehension."
Space: 1999 has been syndicated to over 150 stations in the U.S. It has also been sold to 101 other countries, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Mauritius, where it should be popular--because language is no barrier. In the first episode, for example, there was practically no dialogue for quite a while, which, in view of what was to come, was a terrific idea. Then came lines like "People are dying out there, John," and even "We're sitting on the biggest bomb ever made." In a show like this, that's one line they should have avoided at any price. Finally, our hero turns, Hamlet-like, to address his fellow castaways. "As you know," he says, "we have been totally cut off from Earth. If we try to go back to Earth, we may fail. Therefore, in my judgment, we do not try." Well, it's lonely at the top--but you don't know the meaning of loneliness until you've seen it here. After all, there are people out there--not only dying, but watching.
The special effects are good, but the actors are awful, even Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, whom you will remember from Mission: Impossible; and Barry Morse, of The Fugitive. Miss Bain's part is the zombiest, which is some distinction, as the cast is huge. The clothes are by Rudi Gernreich, who is best known for the topless and bottomless bathing suits. We think a man should stick to what he knows best--his costumes here are mostly gray things that look like tailored sweatsuits. In our favorite episode so far, the castaways went to another planet. It was called Ultima Thule, and it was supposed to be a paradise, but--as so often happens in science fiction--it was no picnic. For one thing, it was 200 degrees below zero at night, and not much better in the daytime. The planet was inhabited by another group of lost space travelers, including some terrific-looking girls who, despite the temperature, wore very little. The first group of spacemen had discovered the secret to eternal life, but there was a catch to it: although nobody got any older, everybody was impotent. Also, they had been stuck there for 880 years, and frankly, they were too fed up with television not getting any better.
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Article courtesy Bill Adkins
