The year was 1975. I was
twelve. A science fiction show, touted as the next Star Trek,
had its American premiere. We approached it with some suspicion:
we were jealous devotees of Star Trek and were wary of possible
knockoffs and heresies. But it was a rather drab offering to start with and
devolved more into Lost in Space in the second season. We never watched
much of it. The show was soon washed away with the advent of Star Wars
in 1977.
“Space: 1999 is
a British science fiction television program that ran for two series from 1975
to 1977. The program, set in the year 1999 [that far-flung time!], follows the 311 inhabitants of
Moonbase Alpha, which is hurtling uncontrollably into space due to an explosion
of nuclear waste stored on the far side of the Moon. The runaway Moon, in
effect, becomes the "spacecraft" on which the protagonists travel,
searching for a new home. Several episodes of the first season (more scientific
and serious) hinted that the Moon's journey was influenced (and perhaps
initiated) by a "mysterious unknown force", which was guiding the
Alphans toward an ultimate destiny. The second season used simpler
action-oriented plots.” – Extracted from Wikipedia
Our one indulgence in its
heyday was to get a Dr. Bergman ‘action figure’ doll. We liked the more scientific
types; it may also have been deeply discounted by then. Hovering somewhere in
size between the 12-inch GI Joes and the 8-inch MEGO dolls, it was never quite
a good fit. It was soon dubbed ‘Sandman’ after the characters in Logan’s Run,
which gave rise to the immortal satiric phrase ‘Sandman has a nice poo-poo.’ I
think he’s still somewhere in the Toy Box, in relatively good condition as he
was never used much in playings.
Years later, from a garage
sale, we also bought the ship Eagle-1; there were also two primitive
action figures which also didn’t fit any format. But the ship could be
adaptable for playings with the Kenner figures until we could get REAL Star
Wars ships. M-m-maybe we still have the battered hulk somewhere, somewhat the
worse for wear from its years of storage out in the garage. We definitely have some
mismatched remnants of the figures. So not quite completely 'Lost in the Toybox.'
Anyway, this was all brought
to mind by watching an episode of Movies, Music and Monsters by Dan
Monroe on Youtube, a peppy little show on pop culture with great production
values. It strikes right in the sweet spot of my nostalgia, and considers
phenomena themselves, the fate of their props, and their effects on the
Zeitgeist of the genre. It amuses me because Robby the Robot and B-9 from Lost
in Space are co-hosts and Dan himself looks kinda like my friend Alan Peschke.
Check it out.
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