I've been looking for this clip for a long time, and thanks to a head's up from Jerome Wybon (of the Forgotten Silver blog), I can now share it here with the rest of you Star Kids!
I dimly recall that I saw this rare Starlog TV commercial just once, and I believe it was during the 1978 airing of the Saturn Awards show. Amazingly, the Saturn Sci-fi Movie Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, actually aired on one of our local television stations (WCSH) for two years during the height of the Space: 1970 era - in 1978 and '79. If I recall correctly, the 1978 awards were co-hosted by Mark Hamill and Caroline Munro! (The '79 show was hosted by William Shatner, and his performance of "Rocket Man" has since become legendary!)
Anyway, here's the great Robby the Robot pitching a subscription to Starlog magazine - the periodic Star Kid bible - in its late 70s prime!
Wow, that really brought back old memories. That commercial worked on this Star Kid, I ordered a subscription! I also remember, having to wait forever, before I received my Robby poster.
ReplyDeleteThat is brilliant-I love the soundtrack to it.
ReplyDeleteI second that Wow! I have never seen that commercial but I did buy somewhat religously Starlog at the news stand. Even though I felt it had diminished in quality the last several years it was published, it was still better than no Starlog at all. This is one Star Kid who really misses it.
ReplyDeleteIs that the voice of the Zarn from Land of the Lost?
ReplyDeleteThat was great, and to see a commercial of that vintage in such pristine condition was a real treat too.
ReplyDeleteStarlog was at its best in those early years. There seemed to be a real, palpable sense of fun and discovery in each issue.
I never bought it as a kid, now I want one
ReplyDeleteIn 1978, I saw this commercial as a boy while watching Lost In Space afterschool. I then got my parents to allow me to subscribe in '78. STARLOG was a great magazine.
ReplyDeleteSGB
I came onboard with issue 3 (possibly the first to make it all the way to Australia). A Space 1999 episode guide and the Six Million Dollar Man stuff the big draw. Crazy, I can still remember standing in the newsagents looking through it.
ReplyDeleteAs an English immigrant I'd been weened on Gerry Anderson, Dr Who and Star Trek but those first issues were chock full of retrospective material. Starlog, along with Famous Monsters, provided an invaluable introduction to the history of SF film and television, and left an indelible impression on me I will always be grateful for.
As others have noted the magazine's quality diminished as the years went by. I eventually stopped buying it myself, I'm guessing around 84 when I found another magazine, Cinefantastique, which offered elaborate coverage of Dune and it's wild haired young director David Lynch. Perhaps it was just me looking for more depth, but honestly I think science fiction had become so mainstream by then the magazine had shifted focus to more fan service.
Yeah, Starlog the early years were very special. There will never be anything else quite like it.
Thanks for helping keep the dream alive mate.
Best, Chris B
I started reading Starlog back in the summer of 1986 (long past the timeline of this blog). I still miss reading it. I just wish they bring it back. The only magazines that cover sci-fi nowadays are published in Britain. If they can bring back Geek magazine, they can bring back Starlog. I didn't know they advertised until I saw the commercial on YouTube.
ReplyDelete1978 awards were co-hosted by Mark Hamill and Caroline Munro!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any video of that!?
I never knew of this TV spot, never knew Starlog even had TV spots! What a find!
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