Thursday, November 3, 2011

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....
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5 comments:

  1. RavenFeastNovember 3, 2011 at 7:28 AM

    The Starlost had such potential: gigantic space ark way off course and headed towards destruction, the crew dead, the multi-generational passengers isolated and many totally ignorant of these facts. This really needs to be remade with talent and a budget. And, yes, I have the DVDs.

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  2. Will PerezNovember 3, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    The show had some great concepts (on paper) and real talent between the cast, guest actors and Harlan Ellison. However since the Magicam for special effects didn't work out, the budget cuts and the writer's strike which meant most of the scripts were poorly rewritten, it was doomed to failure. The original pilot script, "Phoenix Without Ashes" (not the one that aired: Voyage of Discovery) won an award and is now available as a graphic novel.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 4, 2011 at 6:00 PM

    This was, to me, as a kid an American version of Dr.Who (not time travel), just the way it was filmed with video cameras. I never knew it was a Canadian made show back then. And for some reason I though it was on PBS. I watched a lot of weired stuff when I was a kid and this was one of them. It's still burned into my synapses.
    Love your blog, been stocking it for awhile. Great work !

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  4. AnonymousNovember 24, 2011 at 8:16 PM

    If there was ever a show that cries out for Syfy to remake as a closed-end mini series, this is it.

    Also, if you ever run across a copy, the novel version of 'Phoenix Without Ashes' by Mr. Ellison and Edward Bryant (I'm not sure it counts as an actual novelization) is surprisingly good, and illustrates the squandered potential of the series.

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  5. RobinAugust 9, 2012 at 6:43 AM

    Thanks for highlighting this show, I'd never heard of it before. I purchased the DVDs of the complete series and am currently ploughing my way through it ... slowly.

    I agree that it's an imaginative concept undermined by a lack of budget but it's still rather engaging. I enjoy the leisurely pace of the show but I don't think I could manage more than one episode in a sitting!

    It's great to have some 'new' old sci-fi to enjoy. Congrats on the blog and for spreading the word about shows such as The Starlost.

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