M.I.S. - Jason Of Star Command

Once again, we delve into the unexplained mysteries of the Space: 1970 era - specifically, the mysteries of sci-fi shows of the Seventies. When I wrote one of these articles about Space: 1999 a few months ago, people kept bringing up stuff from novelizations and other non-canonical media to explain things away, but I'd rather try and figure things out using only the evidence presented on-air. The idea is to have some fun indulging in some fannish speculation and mining the shows themselves for clues. This time, we're looking at Filmation Studios' 1978-70 Saturday morning adventure serial, Jason of Star Command.

The first - and biggest - question, of course, is: what the hell is Star Command?

We're told that it operates "out of a secret section of the Space Academy," but what is never made clear is what exactly the relationship between Star Command - which certainly sounds like a vast galactic military, or at least, peacekeeping organization - and the Academy actually is. The mundane reality is that Filmation simply re-used the preexisting (and already paid for) sets, costumes, and many of the effects from the previous season's Space Academy series in order to reduce costs on the later show, allowing them to spend more of their Jason budget on new effects shots and sets (the interior of Dragos' Dragonship, for example). But what we're talking about here is the universe of the show, not real-world economics.

As a kid, I actually wondered about this stuff, trying to reconcile the storylines and characters of the two shows, and make sense of their shared universe.The creators may not have thought it was important, or just treated the two series as independent of each other, but I was 14-15 years old, and it was pretty damned clear to me that the shows were - or should have been - taking place in the same fictional "world." The appearance of Space Academy characters Matt Prentice and the robot Peepo in the later show, only reinforced that conviction.

So, was Star Command the authority under which the Space Academy operated? Were its cadets being trained to serve in the Command? And if so, who was in charge of the school facility itself? SC's Commander Carnarvin and/or his unnamed, blue-skinned successor? Or Commander Gampu? For that matter, was Gampu a Star Command officer? The uniform was the same... so I'd say "yes."

And if Star Command operated out of the Academy, was there more than one control room? Where was Gampu when the SC crew was running the show during Jason, flying that built-up asteroid all over the galaxy and engaging in battles with Dragos' drone ships?

Of course, we never saw very many adult Star Command officers stationed on the Academy asteroid. Just Canarvin (and his ill-tempered successor), Captain Nicole Davidoff (who wore a distinctively different uniform from that of the cadets that swarmed the Academy corridors), and Professor Parsafoot, who, like Jason (and later, Samantha), may have actually been a civilian only working with the Command.  This suggests that Star Command itself was a bigger organization based elsewhere, and that Canarvin's operation at the Academy was simply a small task force assigned there to protect the educational institution and monitor the sector of space in which the school was located.

If that was the case, then it may have been standard procedure for the Star Command contingent to take control of the institution during combat situations, and Gampu simply stepped aside (off camera) on those occasions.

Another big question - just who was Jason? It's clearly established that he is a civilian, and that, while trusted, he has a reputation for not following Star Command protocols. Being a kid's show, no backstory is provided for the character, nor is any personal history ever revealed or even hinted at.

Obviously, he's valued for his piloting abilities, and as a civilian, perhaps he has some use as a secret agent, operating in areas and/or situations where uniformed Star Command officers cannot. This may explain why Canarvin's azure successor was so distrustful of Jason and his loyalties when he assumed command of the operation in Season 2.

His outfit suggested a swashbuckling nature (and Han Solo, of course), so maybe he was a reformed space pirate? I'd like to think so; it would explain a lot.

Dragos is no mystery - he's portrayed as an ambitious galactic warlord. He's even shown building alliances with alien races (witness his council of aliens in S2) and other powerful leaders, like Queen Medusa. We're never told what his home planet is, but that's not really a big deal. He's clearly a threat to galactic peace and his motivations aren't very hard to determine. Greed and a thirst for power are pretty universal motives.

For once, there's no real narrative questions regarding second season cast changes, either. As Canarvin and Davidoff were both Star Command officers, it's logical to assume that they were given new assignments (in Canarvin's case, on the U.S.S. Enterprise) and transferred to other posts. Nicole was cute, and I missed her, but Samantha was a much stronger female regular. The actual name of Season 2's commander and his race are unexplained mysteries, but as neither question really impacts the narrative, I'm not particularly concerned. It's sloppy world-building, but not critical in this case.

In fact, the only other major question I have about the Space Academy/Jason of Star Command universe is how Tamara Dobson (Samantha) ever managed to get into those pants!

M.I.S. - Space:1999

Quite often, due to the vagaries of television production, a series will make substantial changes in its format and cast as it goes along. Nowadays, producers are likely to try and explain these changes within the context of the show itself, often building whole stories and arcs around them. But back in the 1970s, these changes were just made, and loyal viewers were left to wonder just what the hell happened. Especially on science fiction shows, which had a tendency to burn out fast on the networks and often experienced game-changing behind-the-scenes shifts in personnel and dramatic mid-course re-toolings.

The "Second Season Curse" is extremely familiar to those of us that grew up during the Space: 1970 era. It was rare enough for a genre show to even get a second season, and for the few that somehow managed that feat, drastic changes were almost inevitable. Thing is, back then, the people who made these shows seemed to think that no one would really notice the changes, or wouldn't care. And, frankly, most people probably didn't.

But those of us who really followed the shows - and not just watch them casually - usually did care, and when characters disappeared without explanation, or whole formats suddenly, inexplicably changed, it left us with questions. And being fans, we wanted explanations that made sense within the context of the show itself.

For example: what ever happened to Victor Bergman?

When Space: 1999 returned for its second season, there were a great many changes in look and overall tone of the show. As a kid, I could roll with the new costumes, Maya, and the newly-open (and kinda disturbing) romantic relationship between Koenig and Dr. Russell. What I couldn't just roll with - and desperately wanted an explanation of - was what happened to Victor, hot-headed Paul and creepy cyber-worshiping Kono, and why everyone was hiding in a tiny, windowless closet underground instead of running things from the gorgeous Main Mission set.

Since no one was offering said explanations, I had to make one up myself. The simplest and most logical one was that Main Mission had been destroyed (presumably in an attack by hostile aliens - on Space: 1999, there was pretty much no other kind), while the aforementioned characters were on duty. While this was logical, I still wondered why nobody ever mentioned them again or discussed their reasons for moving their control operations downstairs. And, of course, the exterior shots of Moonbase Alpha didn't exhibit any evident damage of the sort, either.

Of course, while this is among the biggest of the Space: 1999 mysteries, there are plenty of others; questions that bugged me even when I was a kid.

How did Victor Bergman always know the names of the strange new planets they encountered? (And he was always right!)

While still living on Psychon, Maya transformed herself into several Terran animals. How did she know about creatures like lions, anyway?

Why did they start wearing jackets indoors in the second year? I presume that they were keeping the temperatures in the base lower to conserve energy, but it was never actually stated on the show.

Where was Tony locked away during the first year, and why did they let him out?

And, of course, the big one: how come they never ran out of Eagles? Those things were blowing up all the time. Surely Alpha wasn't equipped with a manufacturing plant? Hell, in "Space Warp," the rampaging Maya-beast trashed a bunch of them - and the hangar! Of course, nobody seemed to care afterward.

Is it sad that I still ponder these questions?