General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: the 50 greatest sci fi tv shows [View all]aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)The acting was good but the production values left a lot to be desired. I remember some episodes depicting the interior of a futuristic submarine had rectangular wooden doors and hallways that resembled those of an office building. My dad always called the 60s show "the submarine that catches on fire". Every episode seemed to involve flames in the control room coming out of the controls at one point. Also, the biggest special effects (apart from the shots of mini plastic subs in an aquarium meant to be exterior shots) was of the crew going back and forth as one, with the camera angle changing to make it look like the sub was rocking violently back and forth (same effect was used at times in the original Star Trek).
Another interesting series was the 1973 series The Starlost, about an Earth that had been destroyed and the survivors long ago having sealed themselves into gigantic biospheres on board an impossibly large mother ship. Centuries having gone by, the various cultures inside the giant spheres had forgotten they were on board a ship travelling through space and ignored the existence of other spheres. Unfortunately, the maintenance crew had died out after a terrible accident had destroyed some of the controls and the ship was heading into the path of a star. Two men and a woman are the only three who understand the truth and can save what's left of mankind. Keir Dullea, star of 2001: A Space Odyssey had the starring role. The series was created by Harlan Ellison (under the pseudonym Cordwainer Byrd), who wrote the pilot and some of the actors from Star Trek would make guest appearances.. The studio drastically cut the budget, however, greatly pissing Ellison off. The production values didn't turn out very welI but the concept was terrific. It would have worked better as a short mini-series or a single feature film.