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Originally, the show was to be filmed with a special effects camera system developed by Doug Trumbull called Magicam. The system comprised two cameras, the motion of which was controlled by servos. One camera would film actors against a blue screen, while the other would shoot a model background. The motion of both cameras was synchronized and scaled appropriately, allowing both the camera and the actors to move through model sets. The technology did not work reliably. In the end, simple blue screen effects were used, forcing static camera shots.
The failure of the Magicam system was a major blow — as the Canadian studio space that had been rented was too small to build the required sets. In the end, partial sets were built, but the lack of space hampered production.
As the filming went on, Ellison grew disenchanted with the budget cuts, details that were changed, and what he characterized as a progressive
''The Starlost'' is a
as a co-production in February 1973."Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto", essay in The BBC rejected the idea. Unable to sell ''The Starlost'' for prime time, Kline decided to pursue a low budget approach and produce it for syndication. By May, Kline had sold the idea to 48 Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
-produced science fiction television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
series created by writer Harlan Ellison and broadcast in 1973 on CTV in Canada and syndicated to local stations in the United States. The show's setting is a huge generational colony spacecraft called ''Earthship Ark'', which has gone off course. Many of the descendants of the original crew and colonists are unaware, however, that they are aboard a ship. The series experienced a number of production difficulties, and Ellison broke with the project before the airing of its first episode.
Premise
Foreseeing the destruction of Earth, humanity builds a multi-generational starship called ''Earthship Ark'', wide and long. The ship contains dozens ofbiosphere
The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...
s, each kilometres across and housing people of different cultures; their goal is to find and seed a new world of a distant star. In 2385, more than 100 years into the voyage, an unexplained accident occurs, and the ship goes into emergency mode, whereby each biosphere is sealed off from the others.
In 2790, 405 years after the accident, Devon (Keir Dullea
Keir Atwood Dullea (; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and its 1984 sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact''. His other film roles include '' David and Lisa ...
) a resident of Cypress Corners, an agrarian community with a culture resembling that of the Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...
, discovers that his world is far larger and more mysterious than he had realized. Considered an outcast because of his questioning of the way things are, especially his refusal to accept the arranged marriage of his love Rachel (Gay Rowan) to his friend Garth ( Robin Ward), Devon finds out that the Cypress Corners elders have been deliberately manipulating the local computer terminal, which they call "The Voice of The Creator". The congregation pursues Devon for attacking the elders and stealing a computer cassette on which they have recorded their orders, and its leaders plot to execute him, but the elderly Abraham, who also questions the elders, gives Devon a key to a dark, mysterious doorway, which Abraham himself is afraid to enter. The frightened Devon escapes into the service areas of the ship and accesses a computer data station that explains the nature and purpose of the Ark and hints at its problems.
When Devon returns to Cypress Corners to tell his community what he has learned, he is put on trial for heresy and condemned to death by stoning. Escaping on the night before his execution with the aid of Garth, Devon convinces Rachel to come with him, and Garth pursues them. When Rachel refuses to return with Garth, he joins her and Devon. Eventually they make their way to the ship's bridge, containing the skeletal remains of its crew. It is badly damaged and its control systems are inoperative. The three discover that the Ark is on a collision course with a Class G star similar to the Sun, and realize that the only way to save the Ark and its passengers is to find the backup bridge at the other end of the Ark, and reactivate the navigation and propulsion systems.
Getting to the other end of the Ark, which is potentially hundreds of miles away, involves traveling through the many disparate communities on the starship—some of which are hostile to outsiders, and all of which have different social customs, belief systems and law enforcement practices. Generally, each episode will have Devon, Rachel and Garth encountering a new society or group as they work their way through the ship. Occasionally, they are aided (or hindered) in their travels by the ship's frustrating and only partially functioning computer system interface, known as Mu Lambda 165 (portrayed by William Osler, who also provided the opening narration for each episode).
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
was involved in the project with Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters ...
as executive producer. Science fiction writer and editor Ben Bova was brought in as science advisor.
Development and production
Harlan Ellison was approached by Robert Kline, a20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
television producer, to come up with an idea for a science fiction TV series consisting of eight episodes, to pitch to the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
stations and the Canadian CTV network.
Ellison claimed that to get Canadian government subsidies, the production was shot in Canada and Canadian writers produced the scripts from story outlines by Ellison. However, several produced episodes were written entirely by American writers.
Before Ellison could begin work on the show's production bible, a writers' strike began, running from March 6 to June 24. Kline negotiated an exception with the Writer's Guild, on the grounds that the production was wholly Canadian — and Ellison went to work on a bible for the series.
Originally, the show was to be filmed with a special effects camera system developed by Doug Trumbull called Magicam. The system comprised two cameras, the motion of which was controlled by servos. One camera would film actors against a blue screen, while the other would shoot a model background. The motion of both cameras was synchronized and scaled appropriately, allowing both the camera and the actors to move through model sets. The technology did not work reliably. In the end, simple blue screen effects were used, forcing static camera shots.
The failure of the Magicam system was a major blow — as the Canadian studio space that had been rented was too small to build the required sets. In the end, partial sets were built, but the lack of space hampered production.
As the filming went on, Ellison grew disenchanted with the budget cuts, details that were changed, and what he characterized as a progressive dumbing down
Dumbing down is the deliberate oversimplification of intellectual content in education, literature, and cinema, news, video games, and culture. Originated in 1933, the term "dumbing down" was movie-business slang, used by screenplay writers, mean ...
of the story. Ellison's dissatisfaction extended to the new title of the pilot episode; he had titled it "Phoenix without Ashes" but it was changed to "Voyage of Discovery".
Before the production of the pilot episode was completed, Ellison invoked a clause in his contract to force the producers to use his alternative registered writer's name of " Cordwainer Bird" on the end credits.
Sixteen episodes were made. Fox decided not to pick up the options for the remainder of the series.
Reception and impact
On March 31, 1974, Ellison received a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for the original script (the pilot script as originally written, not the version that was filmed). A novelization of this script byEdward Bryant
Edward Winslow Bryant Jr. (August 27, 1945 – February 10, 2017) was an American science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave. At the time of his death, ...
, ''Phoenix Without Ashes'', was published in 1975; this contained a lengthy foreword by Ellison describing what had gone on in production. In 2010, the novel was adapted into comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
form by IDW Publishing.
Ben Bova, in an editorial in '' Analog Science Fiction'' (June 1974) and in interviews in fanzines, made it clear how disgruntled he had been as science adviser. In 1975, he published a novel entitled ''The Starcrossed'', depicting a scientist taken on as a science adviser for a terrible science fiction series.
''The Starlost'' has generally received a negative reception from historians of science fiction television: ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...
'' described ''The Starlost'' as "dire", while ''The Best of Science Fiction TV'' included ''The Starlost'' in its list of the "Worst Science Fiction Shows of All Time".
Episodes
The '' Starlog Photo Guidebook TV Episode Guides Volume 1'' (1981) lists two unfilmed episodes, "God That Died" and "People in the Dark." The latter episode, written by George Salverson, follows Devon, Rachel, and Garth as they discover a dome in which people have been living in the dark since the accident to the Ark. Episodes of the original series were rebroadcast in 1978 and further in 1982. A number of episodes were also edited together to create movie-length installments that were sold tocable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
broadcasters in the late 1980s.
Commercial releases
All 16 episodes were at one time available in a VHS boxed set. The first DVD release was limited to the five feature-length edited versions. In September/October 2008, the full series was released onDVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by VCI Entertainment. Aside from the digitally remastered episodes, a "presentation reel" created for potential broadcasters is also included. Hosted by Dullea and Trumbull, and predating Ellison's departure as he is credited under his own name with creating the series, the short feature includes sample footage using the later-abandoned Magicam technology, some filmed special effects footage taken from other productions along with model footage from the film '' Silent Running'' to represent the ''Earthship Ark'' concept, and a different series logo.
In early 2019, a Roku
Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services.
The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...
channel began airing ''The Starlost'' as its only program.
Cast
*Keir Dullea
Keir Atwood Dullea (; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and its 1984 sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact''. His other film roles include '' David and Lisa ...
as Devon
*Gay Rowan as Rachel
* Robin Ward as Garth
*William Osler as the voice and image of Mu Lambda 165 (a.k.a. Host Computer)
Notable guest stars
*Sterling Hayden
Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...
as Jeremiah
*Frank Converse
Frank Converse (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor.
Early life
Converse was born in 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in ...
as Dr. Gerald W. Aaron
*John Colicos
John Colicos (December 10, 1928 – March 6, 2000) was a Canadian actor. He performed on stage and television in the United States and Canada.
Career
Colicos was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a Greek father and a Canadian mother.
In 1957 he app ...
as Governor
*Barry Morse
Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...
as Shaliff
*Lloyd Bochner
Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...
as Colonel M. P. Garroway
*Diana Barrington
Diana Barrington (born 6 May 1939) is a British actress. She studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She was married to Canadian actor Ken Pogue until his death in 2015.
Career
Barrington worked at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre ...
as Captain Janice
*Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.
During his career, Oakland performed primarily on television, appearing in over 130 series and made-for-television movies between ...
as Dr. Asgard
*Percy Rodriguez
Percy Rodriguez (born Percy Rodrigues; June 13, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was a Canadian actor who appeared in many television shows and films from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was of Afro-Portuguese heritage and was born in the Saint-Henri neig ...
as I. A. Richards
* Angel Tompkins as Daphne
*Ed Ames
Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick; July 9, 1927), who also recorded as Eddie Ames, is an American singer and actor. He is known for playing Mingo in the television series ''Daniel Boone'', and for his pop hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including " ...
as President Mr. Smith
*Alexandra Bastedo
Alexandra Lendon Bastedo (9 March 1946 – 12 January 2014) was a British actress, best known for her role as secret agent Sharron Macready in the 1968 British espionage/science fiction adventure series ''The Champions''. Bastedo was a vegetar ...
as Egreck 419B2 Idona
*Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid 1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in ''Star Trek: The Original S ...
as Oro of planet Xar
* Antoinette Bower as Dr. Heather Marshall
References
External links
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Starlost, The 1973 Canadian television series debuts 1974 Canadian television series endings 1970s Canadian science fiction television series 1970s Canadian drama television series CTV Television Network original programming English-language television shows Generation ships in fiction Space adventure television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Glen-Warren Productions Television series by Bell Media Fiction set in the 28th century