space 1999 pic 

Space: 1999 was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Space: 1999 Trademark & Copyright © by Granada International Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.The first science fiction of any kind that made an impression on me is the 1970s British/American television show Space: 1999. In many ways the show was awful and poorly done, especially compared to succeeding science fiction television shows, but it remains a “guilty pleasure” for me.   After years of being embarrassed of being a fan, I’ve come to appreciate the good qualities and potential of Space:1999.  Why do some of our earliest obsessions stick with us, while others don’t?

The science behind Space:1999 was laughable, at best. The premise of the show was that our Moon was propelled out of Earth’s orbit due to a series of nuclear explosions on the dark side of the moon (i.e. the side that always faces away from Earth).

So instead of:

  • destroying the Moon, or
  • slamming the Moon into the Earth

these explosions caused it to accelerate to the point where it literally flew out of our solar system and traveled through deep space to… lots of other places. The Moon may even have been moving faster than the speed of light at some point.

Writers like Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison seemed to take delight in trashing the show for the scientific errors. TV critics were also harsh in their reviews. The show was cancelled after its second season, at least in part due to poor ratings.

The plots, the writing, and the acting of Space: 1999 was often sub-standard, or inconsistent, although there were occasional flashes of brilliance.  The second season was a bit of a disaster, where the producers changed the sets and costumes, introduced new characters, and got rid of established characters with no explanation. Many of the special effects, which looked pretty cool in the days before Star Wars, don’t look so great now.

And so on. There’s always ways to find fault with something that’s not perfect.

But here’s the thing: Space: 1999 continues to be popular, at least among a niche of fans.

  • The series is occasionally rerun on cable networks (I remember seeing it on Canada’s YTV a number of years ago).
  • A&E released the entire series on DVD and VHS a few years ago.
  • Every few years there’s a convention devoted to Space: 1999.
  • There are a number of successful websites devoted to the show.
  • New Space: 1999 novels were written during the past few years.
  • There are several Web-based groups about the show.
    Heck, I started a Facebook group a number of months ago called “Space:1999 – A Guilty Pleasure). It’s now at 279 members strong and I haven’t done a thing to promote it.

When I think about TV series like this that manage to maintain a “cult” following for over thirty years, I really have to believe in the “long tail” and the potential for social media (an extremely useful medium for fandom in general) to bring people together. I firmly believe that the Web groups, forums, and websites kept the spark of interest alive for many years. Even though the subject material was disliked or derided by many people, it meant enough to others that it’s probably worth keeping alive.

Look at what’s happened with Battlestar Galactica during the past few years. Sometimes the seeds of greatness, be they covered by crap, just need the right conditions and the right treatment to blossom.

Food for thought, especially if you have a secret or embarrassing obsession that most people might not care for. You might not be alone and you might find other people who think it’s cool.

More jamming on this riff tomorrow coming soon (ED:  temporary misplacement of thought, sorry.)

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