The Worst Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Ongoing series looking at sci fi and fantasy entries that can be considered among of the biggest misfires and losers of the genre.
What Is It?
This 1973 series follows a generational colony ship built by the last surviving members of humanity that goes off course from its mission to find them a new home. Following is the opening narration:
The giant Earth ship ARK… drifting through deep space over 800 years into the far future. Its passengers, descendants of the last survivors of the dead planet Earth, locked in separate worlds heading for destruction… unless three young people can save… The Starlost.
The ship consists of multiple domes that have been cut off from each other following an accident that occurred 400 years prior, and the societies in each dome have mostly forgotten that they are traveling through space. Three people stumble upon the truth and discover that the ship is on a collision course with a star, and they must find a way to avert the impending disaster.
Aired: 1973-74, Syndicated, 1 Season Totaling 16 Episodes
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gay Rowan, Robin Ward
Created By: Harlan Ellison
Where Did It Go Wrong?
This Canadian-made series was created by sci fi legend Harlan Ellison, and his original script for the pilot received a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. In addition, special effects expert Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey) was brought on board to work on the visuals. But then production moved forward, and things went downhill from there. It was pitched to the BBC, but they were not interested, and the focus shifted to the syndication market. That resulted in a slashing of the budget, and the decision was made to film it on videotape (like classic Doctor Who). Also, the scripts were “dumbed down,” and changes were made to the show that resulted in Ellison taking his name off the production (substituting his pseudonym Cordwainer Bird). The resulting series delivered stiff acting, stilted direction, and mundane dialogue, and it looked very much like the low-budget production it was.
A Closer Look:
This series started out with much promise but sadly never succeeded in realizing its early ambitions. It had an award-winning script from Harlan Ellison, and he also worked on the series bible as well as some of the story ideas. But tinkering from studio 20th Century Fox derailed it after it was not picked up by a major network and instead targeted at syndication. It could have actually done well there because Star Trek reruns were at the peak of their popularity at that time, and The Starlost offered a similar society-of-the-week format that likely could have drawn over Trek fans. But the cheap production values hurt the show, and it ended up not having wide exposure in syndication in the U.S., ultimately getting cancelled after 16 episodes.
The show actually had a decent cast, led by 2001: A Space Odyssey alum Keir Dullea. But the scripts proved so bad that the actors appeared to just be going through the motions. They even brought in Star Trek‘s Walter Koenig as an alien character for a few episodes, but that was not enough to breathe some life into the show. What started out as a strong concept driven by a well-known science fiction writer unraveled during production, and more often than not, the episodes delivered bad camp instead of good sci fi TV.
This one has been mostly forgotten in the years since it first aired, and for good reason. It is worth a look at the pilot episode for a glimpse of what could have been, but diminishing returns set in quickly after that.
Would a Reboot Help?
Absolutely, and that has been considered several times. Ellison’s pilot script was adapted into the novel Phoenix Without Ashes (the original name for the screenplay) in 1975 and later into a comic book series by IDW in 2010. Those may be the best ways to encounter this story, as they give a better idea of the direction Ellison wanted the television series to follow. There were talks of a feature film reboot around the turn of the century to be titled Generation Ship, with David Goyer writing the screenplay and Rob Bowman directing, but that never happened. And since then, there have been rumors of a revival based on Ellison’s original concept, but nothing has come of that.
A reboot could certainly work, and it might fit well in the current streaming environment. It could do dome-of-the-week stories, which would give it somewhat of an episodic feel while also working in an overall story arc that taps into the grand space-based epic the original series teased. And it could be done without spending a ton of money on the production if they focus on story and not sfx-overload, which would make it more attractive to the streamers as they try to keep costs down. The Starlost does not have much name recognition, though, so it is probably not high in the current reboot queue. But if the right creative team were to run with this one, it could turn into a decent sci fi TV entry.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series has been released on DVD and it is currently selling at a very economical price. There is also a Starlost streaming channel on Roku that has all episodes available to watch for free, though it does not have the best interface.
Do you consider The Starlost to be one of the worst sci fi/fantasy TV shows of all time, or is it a forgotten genre treasure? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments below.
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