MAKING THE CASE FOR 'THE STARLOST'

The small Chicago suburb where I grew up had an independent station that played some obscure television from England, Japan and Canada. That meant at a young age, especially during summer break, I got to watch a lot of Benny Hill, Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot and The Starlost. You probably know the first two, but what’s The Starlost? Well, it wasn’t an action packed Canadian sci-fi show by any means, but the look and the emotions of the series made it a must see for me, even if I had already seen the episode 20 times (repeats were constant on this channel). If you have seen The Starlost it was probably in movie form in the late 1980s when the series had the same thing done to it’s episodes as the Planet Of The Apes TV show did. Myself, I missed the show for 30 years until it finally came out on DVD and I got to relive all those childhood memories. Not only did the series seem as great as it was when I was young, but since I understood the plotline better it convinced me that it was one of the greatest sci-fi series ever made and certainly the most under appreciated.
The setup is somewhat simple, but also quite brilliant. The Earth is doomed so 3 million people get aboard the Earthship Ark to colonize a new world. An accident occurs and knocks the ship off course. This was hundreds of years ago and the people living in the biospheres have long forgotten what the original mission was anyway. They all just live their lives, but like the Earthlings they left behind they too are doomed because the accident steered the ship into a collision with a giant sun. We’re not sure when this will happen, but according to the computers it definitely WILL happen. Introduce Keir Dullea, Robin Ward and Gay Rowan. Three twenty somethings who leave behind their Amish like community to dare to journey out of the biosphere and into certain death. They end up finding out what is wrong with the ship, but being agrarians they need to seek out someone who can help. This is when they begin their journey into other biospheres and all throughout this gigantic spaceship. This premise could have gone on for years in a serial like format, but it was not to be. Critics called the show slow and boring. Granted it’s not full of endless explosions or lightsaber duels, but it is a voyage of discovery. What, do you expect these Amish people to suddenly figure out 28th century science? They do figure things out and action does take place, but it all takes time. The show was really building towards something. Like many sci-fi series the show also had a good liberal attitude. Shunning the religious beliefs of their mothers and fathers and realizing there is more to life than praising some invisible entity. They also tackle subjects such as pollution and Fascism. This was serious stuff and making it more of an action based series would have diminished this.
Now let’s talk fun, let’s talk budget. The budget was miniscule especially once writer Harlan Ellison dropped out, but they did their best. Just use lots of sturdy cardboard, a ton of different colored lights, loads of green foam and plenty of lucite and you’ve got a spaceship of our future. The blue screen is charming in it’s infancy. Granted it doesn’t look amazing, but it’s not like I think all that computerized bullcrap in ‘The Avengers’ movie is real either. Because of the effects and the moderate pacing I’ve read some reviews actually calling this the worst science fiction series of all-time! Of course on those same lists you will also see Space 1999, Lost In Space and Buck Rogers so it shows what those critics know. Luckily these days The Starlost is more appreciated and rated well above average by those who have seen it on DVD. There has even been talk of a Starlost remake either as a movie or a television show. God, I hope not, I would rather just enjoy the original, the classic, The Starlost…

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