BUCK ROGERS (1979) TV GUIDE Preview

While I try and get myself back into a blogging mode, here's a look at the snarky original TV Guide preview for Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, which dutifully name-checks both Galactica and Salvage 1 (!), and appeared in the September 8, 1979 issue of that esteemed periodical.

Captain's bLog: 1129.11

My apologies for the lack of posts here over the last couple of weeks. Right about the time that I was able to clear up the technical issues that were affecting the site, my wife and I suffered a personal loss that really knocked me down, emotionally. I simply haven't felt up to doing much of anything for weeks, including blogging about old sci-fi TV shows and movies.

I am starting to get myself together now, and hope to resume regular posting here shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #11: THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL (1978)

Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew reprise their Star Wars characters Han Solo & Chewbacca on a cheap mock-up of the Millennium Falcon cockpit (notice that it has no floor!) for the infamous 1978 television spectacular, The Star Wars Holiday Special - which aired on CBS 33 years ago today.

MAN FROM ATLANTIS (1977) Promo Art

Here's an unusual bit of promotional art for the Man from Atlantis television series. I'm not sure where it was used (although I'm guessing it was a magazine cover or interior illustration), nor can I quite make out the signature. Still, it's pretty cool!

If anyone has more information on this piece, please post it in the comments - I always like to know where this stuff comes from!

FLASH GORDON (1980) International Posters

Click for larger view

Here are a few foreign theatrical posters for Mike Hodges' 1980 Flash Gordon that I haven't shown here before. The two variations above are (I believe) from Thailand, and each feature somewhat different artwork from the U.S. and U.K. posters... while the Japanese variant below features a unique collage of painted art and publicity photographs.

As I've said many times, Flash Gordon is one of my favorite movies from the Space: 1970 era, and I love discovering new "artifacts" like these from the film.

Oh, and by the way - when I was replacing missing photos here on the site the other night, I added a new pic of Ornelia Muti's Princess Aura to her "Space Babes" post. Check it out!

Coming Attractions: THE BLACK HOLE (1979) TV Spot

Here's a fun, 30 second TV spot for Disney's 1979 space epic, The Black Hole. Enjoy!

SPACE: 1999 (1977) Original Comic Art By Pat Boyette

Here's the very nice cover painting by veteran comics artist Pat Boyette for the 7th - and final - issue of Charlton Comics' Space: 1999 color comic book, obviously based on the Second Season premiere, "The Metamorph."

Boyette was a Charlton workhorse, drawing countless pages for the Derby, CT publisher for over twenty years. He created the Peacemaker character for the company, and also drew several adventures of the Phantom and Flash Gordon - among dozens of other characters/titles. In addition to being a fine cartoonist, Boyette was also an actor, writer and filmmaker. He passed away in 2000.

LOGAN'S RUN (1977) UK TV Show Tie-Ins

This hardcover Logan's Run "Annual" was released in 1978 by UK publisher Brown Watson, and contained - as these uniquely British publications usually did (Do? Do they still publish these things?) - articles and photographs from the short-lived 1977 television series, as well as a handful of newly-created comic book-styled adventures. I have a couple of these "annual" books from other shows, but I don't have this one.

Another British Logan's Run tie-in from '78 was this issue of Look-In, which sported this attractive cover painting of Gregory Harrison and Heather Menzies as Logan & Jessica, and also contained a two-page Logan's Run comic story. This is yet another treasure from across the Pond that has eluded me, but on the rare occasions that I actually get to attend comic book conventions, I always keep an eye out for it - especially as the cover copy promises "picture strips" for the Man From Atlantis, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman, as well!

New Poll!

I've posted a new poll question in the right-hand sidebar. This Space: 1970 Poll is a little different from previous ones: instead of asking you to choose a favorite program, character, etc., I'm giving you an opportunity to help shape the direction of the blog.

"Should Space: 1970 cover the superhero shows/films of the 1970s, as well as sci-fi?"

For the last year or so, I've been considering this question. There's no doubt that television shows like Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Isis, The Incredible Hulk, and feature films like Superman: The Movie, were big parts of my 70s sci-fi childhood. But I'm also not sure that I want to open up the blog to discussing these titles on a regular basis. It seems like it might be straying a bit too far off topic (or opening a Pandora's Box!). Admittedly, shows like The Six Million Dollar Man and Man From Atlantis are on the cusp anyway; essentially superheroes without capes. And something like The Incredible Hulk was, in its TV incarnation, more sci-fi than superhero. So, I'm looking for some input.

As always, feel free to discuss your your choice - or make your arguments, pro or con - in the comments!

STAR WARS (1977) Italian Poster

I can't believe I never saw this gorgeous Italian Star Wars one-sheet before today. I truly love this comic book-styled artwork by Michelangelo Papuzza. It reminds me somewhat of Russ Manning's work on the early Star Wars newspaper strips... and that's a very good thing. Enjoy!

THE STARLOST (1973) TV Guide Ads

More vintage TV Guide ads! Here are a couple of advertisements for the syndicated, Canadian-produced 1973 series, The Starlost, starring 2001: A Space Odyssey's Keir Dullea and Gay Rowan. One of the most derided genre series of the Space: 1970 era, I'll admit that it's not a very good show. Still, I find the characters likable and the premise is certainly intriguing - even if rather poorly executed on a microscopic budget.

In fact, I may have to pull the DVD set down off the shelf again someday soon....

November's Space Babe: Grace Lee Whitney

November's Space Babe is the lovely Grace Lee Whitney as Captain's Yeoman Janice Rand from the original, classic Star Trek. Beautiful in a beehive and short skirt, competent and professional, Janice Rand's tenure on the U.S.S. Enterprise was comparatively brief, but undeniably memorable.

Born Mary Ann Chase in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1930, Whitney was a talented singer and actress who brought some sex appeal and glamor to the first season of the seminal sci-fi series. She left the show during the first year, but returned to the franchise several times, appearing in most of the "classic cast" films, including Star Trek - The Motion Picture. She also appeared on the spin-off series Star Trek: Voyager, reprising the Rand role. 

In 1998, she published her autobiography, and she appears regularly at Star Trek conventions and autograph show.

Captain's bLog: Supplemental

I spent four and a half hours early this morning going through each and every Space: 1970 post from the last two years, replacing images that were lost in last month's hacker attack on one of my online accounts. In the early days of this blog, I hosted most of my pix on that server, because I thought it would be more secure than uploading them directly to Blogger.

Silly me.

Anyway, it looks like everything was recoverable, thank goodness, and I'm pretty sure I found everything. I did notice that a number of YouTube videos have gone dead because the accounts associated with them have disabled embedding or have simply disappeared. Not much I can do about that, unfortunately. If I get some spare time, I may go through those and see if I can replace the missing vids, but I don't hold out much hope for many of them.

Anyway, now that I've gotten the repairs and maintenance out of the way, I can start focusing on putting some new stuff together, beginning with November's "Space Babe" - and get back to work finishing up some long-promised reviews and features. Stay tuned!

SPACE: 1970 - Year Three Begins

Today marks the second anniversary of the Space: 1970 blog. Over the past two years, I've written around 450 posts (give or take a few) about the science fiction films and television shows - and related memorabilia - of the 1970s and early 80s. It's been an interesting experience - especially discovering so many other people out there with the same sort of affection and nostalgia for those programs.

I'm also amazed at how many 70s sci-fi treasures have been unearthed since I launched this blog. Starcrash and Battle Beyond The Stars on Blu-ray disc. The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman on DVD. The Gene Roddenberry "Pax" pilots, the Man From Atlantis, Message From Space, Thundarr the Barbarian - all of these have only just become available in the last couple of years on authorized DVDs. When I started this site, I only wished that I could see most of those again, and now I have them on my shelves.

I've wondered, on occasion, just how long I could keep this site going. But, as there are still so many topics I want to discuss, articles and reviews that I want to write - and so many new (to me) 70s genre artifacts that I keep stumbling upon - I'm sure I'll be able to keep it going for a good while yet.

Well, at least another year, anyway.

So, thanks to everyone who stops by Space: 1970 on a regular basis, for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and good manners. It's nice to have a place on the 'net where material like Far Out Space Nuts, Quark, Jason Of Star Command, Buck Rogers and even Starcrash, can be discussed without condescension and snark. I greatly appreciate it.

(Now, I'll be spending the night hunting down and replacing - if possible - each of the missing images from early blog posts that were lost in last month's hacker assault. Sigh.)