I recently found a YouTube channel that had tons of episodes of old, weird, Canadian Sci-Fi on it so I took an afternoon and just browsed through some of the shows. One in particular I can remember loving as a kid was called The Star Lost. This show was conceived by Harlan Ellison and I am only now just reading about the fascinating history behind his involvement and how much of a disaster the show ended up being when compared to his original ideas (which you can read about here). The first part of the first episode is here, and the guy who put it up has the whole run of the series there.
But it got me thinking about some of the other shows I used to watch. With many of them readily available on YouTube or other forums, are there any shows you remember that you’ve looked up? Any favourites that you wish would come out on DVD or could be found? And I am not talking about cartoons, there’s already been a thread for those
I just got into The Starlost, never saw it during its original run, but caught up with it on DVD recently. I really like it, as-is. It’s so cheap and weird and silly and gloomy. Also, I have Ellison’s original script, and it’s not incredibly different from the pilot as shot. Most of the differences are in complicated camera moves and sets that Ellison wrote in which they clearly didn’t have the budget for (I think Douglas Trumbull got Ellison hyped up about the special greenscreen video technology and Ellison imagined it could do more than it actually could).
Also, for all that Ellison (who I do admire as a writer) talked about this being a new kind of science fiction television, a “novel for television” a la The Prisoner, his “series bible” sure does describe storylines that could’ve easily been Star Trek episodes (and some that were).
(for those unfamiliar with the show, the premise is that it’s a generation ship in deep space with dozens of domed societies, cut off from each other)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harlan Ellison In another dome they might find children who had been made immortal, frozen at the age of their adolescence, the remnants of a crèche, forced by survival to build a children’s fantasy world. In another they might find a rigidly militaristic culture. Patterned after the armies of Charlemagne, or Attilla, or even Hitler. In another they may find that the deckplates between two domes have been broken through and the societies of one have been waging a feud with the other for six hundred years, in a Hatfield-McCoy parallel. … In another they might be worshipped as Gods who came from the sky. In another they might be in a society ruled by the robots who had been originally set to the menial chores of loading supplies, but who took over from their human masters.
Sorry to hijack this as a Starlost thread, but it’s a subject that so rarely comes up!
Wishbone on PBS was great
Legends of the Hidden Temple on nick was great
“Hey Dude” on nick
“Salute Your Shorts”
Pete and Pete
The weird:
Gulla Gulla Island- A show about a giant orange frog who lives with a family of black people
“Cowboys of Moo-Mesa” was fucking strange (a cartoon I remember from when I was like 5 or so, about cowboys who were actual cows hahaha)
Oh, and “Swat Cats”, a show about fighter pilot cats. (A really good show actually, it had a good collection of villans)
Cartoon about fantasy Pirates whose oceans are slowly getting clogged up by evil water (not kidding). The main hero is on a quest to avenge his dad, and there is a monkey-lizard side kick thing
Originally Posted by LudwigView Post This. Is the best thing. I’ve ever seen. Monkey is an ASSHOLE, I LOVE him!
Monkey travelled around on a cloud, his best friends were an androgynous Buddhist monk, a horny werepig, and Sandy the water demon. Thanks youtube, for proving I didn’t dream this show!
Judas Booth, I watched…The Phoenix (Richard Lynch was the…EEEEEEEvil Villain), Automan, Wizards and Warriors and Jason Of Star Command. The Phoenix was the better (just less successful) version of Highway To Heaven. Although, how does series lead take his name off the credits of…Star Trek II. Automan was another fun Glen A. Larson series, with a hero and a sidekick that could create anything he needed. It was the more action oriented…Harold And The Purple Crayon as, Cursor could create any vehicle needed. I do not remember much of WAW except for Julia Duffy as a princess. JOSC was a fun live action space opera.
Jason of Star Command/Space Academy Ark II
Ultraman (when I was young, I didn’t realize it was an imported Japanese show. It just fascinated me)
Blackstar - Just a bizarre concept. Sort of a combo of Buck Rogers and Thundarr
And so help me, I just didn’t “get” Space:1999, not that it was a Sat. Morning show.
Judas Booth, I never liked D&D (my sister did), But Thundarr is one of my fave cartoons. Blackstar was good, but not anywhere as great as Thundarr! Ariel Ookla…RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIde!
