TheBallPit
kiwifarms.net
- Registrado
- 26 de Sep, 2019
I'm not quite sure it belongs in this thread, but here's an example of a show that radically morphed into something many people hated - Space 1999.
The first season was a bit of a slow burn, with introspective stories, a few of which stirred some pretty hellacious existential horror for the viewer. It had an expansiveness that was fairly rare for a TV series entirely reliant on sets, the most impressive of which being the cavernous Main Mission.
And the effects were incredible, most of which were done in-camera via superb model work and a love of pyrotechnics, many of which hold up today. The Eagle remains an icon of spaceship design (and probably one of the most abused due to how many were destroyed during the course of the series).
However, TPTB including its stars, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, ordered a DRASTIC reworking for series 2. Fred Freiberger, who some may recognize from Star Trek, was brought onboard to jazz-up affairs as producer and scriptwriter. Gone was Main Mission, as it was now renamed Command Centre and looked like it could comfortably fit inside a middle-class living room. Several season 1 regulars were jettisoned, including Barry Morse's Victor Bergman who wanted nothing to do with this "bold new show direction". Several new characters were introduced as replacements, the most memorable being the bombshell Catherine Schell as the shapeshifting Maya.
Maya could - and I'm not kidding - transform into virtually anything organic, including PLANTS, in the span of a second or two. This gave the writers a Chekhov's Gun that had infinite ammo, as it was only a matter of time before Maya transformed into a tiger, vine, cockroach, or the galactic version of Bigfoot, which she often did multiple times per episode. Schell was actually featured in the last episode of season 1 as a totally different character and made such an impact that she was offered the role of Maya as a main actress, sometimes even eclipsing Landau and Bain.
So, season 2 became the archetypical monster-of-the-week show. Gone were cosmic consternations and considerations. Instead, it was a race for who could design the coolest or most disgusting space critter to appear in each episode. Some installments of season 2 were highly praised, like the Lovecraftian Dragon's Domain, but even it featured a gory space octopus/squid hybrid as the monster antagonist.
Reportedly, the showrunners had such faith in season 2's more "audience-appealing" direction that season 3 was on the drawing board. However, 1999's primary viewing demographic who carried the flame for the more muted and brainy first season wanted none of it, so the show was canceled without even a series finale story.
Watching season 1 and 2 back-to-back is a real Jekyll and Hyde whiplash experience, as almost everything was changed for the worse in an effort to make the show more breezy and action-oriented. Even the title sequence was altered with a completely new opening score which made it clear that this was NOT your father's Space 1999. In that, it (unfortunately) wildly succeeded.
To give credit where it's due, the effects remained top-notch throughout and the rejiggered season 2 score had several standouts. Schell was actually a really good actress and her exoticness was tremendously captivating. It's really a shame, as the ingredients for a successful show were still there, just botched in execution.
As is usually the case in these situations, a remake is in constant development hell, with too many names and production companies to count at this point. Perhaps such conceptual gridlock is a mercy, though, as a "modernized" revamp might make season 2 look ike Shakespeare.
The first season was a bit of a slow burn, with introspective stories, a few of which stirred some pretty hellacious existential horror for the viewer. It had an expansiveness that was fairly rare for a TV series entirely reliant on sets, the most impressive of which being the cavernous Main Mission.
And the effects were incredible, most of which were done in-camera via superb model work and a love of pyrotechnics, many of which hold up today. The Eagle remains an icon of spaceship design (and probably one of the most abused due to how many were destroyed during the course of the series).
However, TPTB including its stars, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, ordered a DRASTIC reworking for series 2. Fred Freiberger, who some may recognize from Star Trek, was brought onboard to jazz-up affairs as producer and scriptwriter. Gone was Main Mission, as it was now renamed Command Centre and looked like it could comfortably fit inside a middle-class living room. Several season 1 regulars were jettisoned, including Barry Morse's Victor Bergman who wanted nothing to do with this "bold new show direction". Several new characters were introduced as replacements, the most memorable being the bombshell Catherine Schell as the shapeshifting Maya.
Maya could - and I'm not kidding - transform into virtually anything organic, including PLANTS, in the span of a second or two. This gave the writers a Chekhov's Gun that had infinite ammo, as it was only a matter of time before Maya transformed into a tiger, vine, cockroach, or the galactic version of Bigfoot, which she often did multiple times per episode. Schell was actually featured in the last episode of season 1 as a totally different character and made such an impact that she was offered the role of Maya as a main actress, sometimes even eclipsing Landau and Bain.
So, season 2 became the archetypical monster-of-the-week show. Gone were cosmic consternations and considerations. Instead, it was a race for who could design the coolest or most disgusting space critter to appear in each episode. Some installments of season 2 were highly praised, like the Lovecraftian Dragon's Domain, but even it featured a gory space octopus/squid hybrid as the monster antagonist.
Reportedly, the showrunners had such faith in season 2's more "audience-appealing" direction that season 3 was on the drawing board. However, 1999's primary viewing demographic who carried the flame for the more muted and brainy first season wanted none of it, so the show was canceled without even a series finale story.
Watching season 1 and 2 back-to-back is a real Jekyll and Hyde whiplash experience, as almost everything was changed for the worse in an effort to make the show more breezy and action-oriented. Even the title sequence was altered with a completely new opening score which made it clear that this was NOT your father's Space 1999. In that, it (unfortunately) wildly succeeded.
To give credit where it's due, the effects remained top-notch throughout and the rejiggered season 2 score had several standouts. Schell was actually a really good actress and her exoticness was tremendously captivating. It's really a shame, as the ingredients for a successful show were still there, just botched in execution.
As is usually the case in these situations, a remake is in constant development hell, with too many names and production companies to count at this point. Perhaps such conceptual gridlock is a mercy, though, as a "modernized" revamp might make season 2 look ike Shakespeare.
