captain@spock.UUCP (John Griffin '87 cc) (04/24/85)
Regarding that "TV show with Keir Dullea on an Ark...", the Starlog
TV episode guides book vol. 1 says the following about _T_h_e _S_t_a_r_l_o_s_t:
"Premise: In the year 2790 A.D., a giant Earthship, _A_r_k, drifts
through deep space, out of control, its crew having been killed
five-hundred years earlier. When the accident that killed the crew
occured, the airlocks connecting the ship's domes that housed the last
survivors of the dead planet Earth, were sealed. Cut off from the
"outside world", many communities simply forgot that they were on a
spacecraft. They accepted that their world was fifty miles in diameter
and the sky was metal. Content with their lot, no one knew that their
world was in grave danger. Without a crew at the helm, the _A_r_k
was on a collision course with a sun.
Major Characters:
Devon: Orphaned when his parents' farm burned, he is somewhat of a
dreamer. He has also had to teach himself by asking questions.
Unfortunately, he asks the wrong questions which causes his banishment
from Cypress Corners. He is naive about some things, but learns quickly
when he discovers the truth.
Rachel: She is in love with Devon and, because of this love,
follows him into the depths of the _A_r_k. Raised to be nothing
more than the servant of the man she is promised to at birth, she soon
learns to enjoy the control over her own destiny her departure from
Cypress Corners gives her.
Garth: Rachel was promised to Garth for marriage. Garth, a
blacksmith by trade, does not love Rachel and wishes the elders would
give Devon permission to marry Rachel. When Devon and Rachel escape,
Garth is forced by a code of honor to bring Rachel back and kill Devon.
About the show: _T_h_e _S_t_a_r_l_o_s_t
premiered on television loosely based on a concept created by Harlan
Ellison. Meticulously and lovingly devised by Ellison and brought to
perfection by scientific advisor Ben Bova, the series promised to be a
monumental step for SF television. Ellison had contracted great SF
writers such as A.E. Van Vogt, Frank Herbert, Joanna Russ, Thomas M.
Disch, Alexei Panshin, Phillip K. Dick, and Ursula K. LeGuin to write
storylines that would be scripted by the best Canadian writers
available. Douglas Trumbull would be executive Producer and create the
special effects via the Magicam system.
It looked good. It sounded good. It fell apart.
_T_h_e _S_t_a_r_l_o_s_t regressed into a
low-budget, syndicated show with all the SFX being accomplished
ineffectively through croma-key, the method used in TV newscasts to put
pictures behind the commentators. Trumbull left before production
began, as did Ellison, who used his pen name as series creator and
writer of episode one. Only Ursula K. LeGuin's storyline made it into
production. The end product was a dismal reflection of the glories
promised. After only 14 episodes, _T_h_e _S_t_a_r_l_o_s_t
vanished into the void.
Cast: Devon.............Keir Dullea
Rachel..............Gay Rowen
Garth..............Robin Ward
Computer Host...William Osler
Principle Credits: Exec. Producers...Douglas Trumbull
Jerry Zeitman
Producer..........William Davidson
Creator............Cordwainer Bird
Production Designer....Jack McAdam
Technical Advisor.........Ben Bova
Music............Score Productions
Episodes (Paraphrased):
"Voyage of Discovery": Pilot--the group escapes their dome and
discovers the impending danger to the ship.
They begin their quest for someone who still
knows how to pilot the ship.
"Lazarus from the Mist": The group finds technical crews in suspended
animation, but are captured by mutated
former security forces.
"The Goddess Calabra": The group finds a Rome-like society, and
Rachel is mistaked for the goddess of this
all-male militaristic society.
"The Pisces": The crew of the scoutship Pisces returns to the Ark
409 years after they left, but they cannot board the
Ark, because the atmosphere ages them.
"Children of Methuselah": A group of intelligent children live in
the flight training center, and Devon tries
to get them to repair the ship.
"And Only Man is Vile": The group become involved in bizarre
scientific experiments in a dome.
"The Alien Oro": An alien has taken up residence in one of the domes
since his ship crashed, and he tries to trick the
group into helping him repair it.
"Mr. Smith of Manchester": The group enter an heavily industrialized
dome, whose ruler refuses to stop the
pollutive machinery.
"Circuit of death": Aware of the impending doom, electronics engineer
Sakharov tries to activate the self-destruct of
the Ark.
"The Ancient Woods": The group seeks help for Devon's radiation
sickness from the Astro Medics from a nearby
Shuttle clinic.
"People of the Dark": The group enters a dome where people live
without any light or laws whatsoever.
"Laboratory of Fear": The group wanders into the lair of an autonomous
computer, who has absolute power over reality
there. They hope he can re-create the captain.
"The Return of Oro": Oro returns, planning to bring the Ark's people
to safety on his planet. Devon discovers,
however, that they could not survive there, and
must convince Oro of that.
"God that died": The group discovers a paradise in a dome, but a
vaperous alien rules it.
Notes of Interest: Ursula K. LeGuin wrote "The Goddess Calabra"
Walter "Chekov" Koenig played Oro in both episodes.
_T_h_e _S_t_a_r_l_o_s_t sounds very intersting,
but doesn't seem to be frequently syndicated in the Tri-state area.