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Discussion about Space:1999.
Who is your favorite character?
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| Validus 07 Feb 2003 07:34:14 |
CaptPhil- I've always felt that if S1999 has been able to go on for at least 3-4 seasons we might have seen much deeper character development. Looking at a later show, Star Trek-The Next Generation, I was pleased that in 7 seasons they were able to give the characters much more depth (especially Worf- my personnal favorite although not until about Season-3....). Like the original Star Trek I feel that Space:1999 died an early and unfortunate death. I've often speculated tha if it had made it to a third season much of what made season two so unsatisfactory might've been addressed at the script level. It would have certainly been interesting to see the relationship between Tony and Miya develop. I'd have liked to have seen them eventually break up and maybe see Miya end up with Alan, who seems more her type anyway. That could have made for some interesting characterizations (like was done with Riker/Diana/Worf). I also wish that they could have done a "final episode" of Space:1999 the same way they did with shows like MASH and more recently LEXX. I can easily visualize Koenig dying tragically, almost Hamlet-like, just as the Moon reaches a world suitable for the Alphans to settle on and live out their remaining years in peace.....perhaps start a second human race. I bare no malice towards Koenig as a character.....I just feel that a great character deserves a great death. Oh well....... |
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| captphil 07 Feb 2003 14:58:36 |
Validus I keep replying to your posts! Do I know you from any other lists? Wondering as I don't have the hang of this forum BB type thingie we have here and I don't recognize your name. Anyway, I suspect if Season Two had been successful enough season three would have been more of the same but without the participation of Byrne and Penfold (Limited as it was during season 2) I loved Star Trek TNG as well but for me Star Trek...in all it's incarnations had the habit of grabbing defeat out of the jaws of victory. So many places over all the years they had opportunities to use the rich resource of Star Trek history and in so many places they blew it. That really spoiled the show for me. Star Trek TOS has the excuse of when it was made but TNG onward (Not counting the films) ought to have tried to make more sense of the whole Star Trek universe. To have the type of character development we all crave Space would have been a different show. So many places in Season one we're all reading inbetween the lines to look for the connections from the previous adventures. Koenig/Martin Landau would have made a great death scene at the end of the series. I imagine it could have been along the lines of his speech in War Games which I love. (97 minutes of life) Martin has quite the talent for these type of voiceovers. I wonder if he's ever done any books on tape because I find his voice very engaging, moreso than any other character on Space. Barbara was just too quiet for me and while i do like Morse/Bergman in his reflective mode (This empty vessel of Alpha) it's Landau who really makes me stop and listen. I'm not an actor or director and don't know too much about TV production but in this threasd of favorite character who do you think is the best actor? To limit it, use the list provided for favorite character. John Koenig Helena Russel Victor Bergman Maya Alan Carter Tony Sondra Paul Out of this, and using my totally non professional opinion I lean towards a three way tie of Nick Tate, Martin Landau and Barry Morse. Nick certainly when given the opportunity to chew the scenery in Space was great. Barry has so much experiance and history behind him and Martin is Martin. I probably would lean towards Martin just for the movies Tucker and Ed Wood. I thought he was also great in Ed TV (Is that the right one? Martin was in a wheelchair for the whole movie) |
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| Validus 07 Feb 2003 16:19:27 |
For me the true measure of an actor is the Bard, Shakespeare. I can easily imagine Martin Landau or Barry Morse speaking in that wonderful Elizabethan language and pulling it off flawlessly. I'm not so sure about Nick Tate, but that could just be my prejudice against his accent. In many ways Nick Tate makes me think of an Australian Burt Reynolds......certainly likable and with a great sense of humor- but a good actor, not a great actor. I will say that Nick Tate takes a punch in the gut at least as good as Shatner used too. If I had ever had the chance to see him in anything else my opinion might change. I've always felt that Barbara Bain was far too sedate for my tastes- ironically in Season 2 she was allowed to show more range, but because the dialogue was often insipid it didn't really matter. I did like her in "A Moment of Humanity" because she was allowed to be sexy for once.....but for me Barbara was forever doused in the shadow of Catherine Schell. | ||
| tgarnett25 07 Feb 2003 17:50:04 |
"Bodily penance is but short and little at regard of the pains of hell." --Geoffrey Chaucer |
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| Validus 08 Feb 2003 04:07:12 |
".....................................?" |
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| MBA99 10 Feb 2003 20:36:08 |
My favourite character is definately Commander John Koenig with Victor Bergman a very close second! | ||
| F-9000 11 Feb 2003 07:23:17 |
 I must admit Balor has something fascinating because he's invincible. Thers's no kryptonnit to stop him!I love his black dress and his foolish glare. he's megalomaniac and cruel but he can heal you when you are dead! Rumor has said Johnny Byrne thinks balor is too monolithic but that's the good aspect of that! Dorzak, for example, wants to be a bad guy but he's nothing but a chicken!  F-9000 PS : Balor us Superman in a Street-fighter like. Who's the winner?  |
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| Validus 11 Feb 2003 16:17:19 |
Well- if it's the "Christopher Reeve" Superman I think he'd win. If it was the "Dean Kane" Superman I think he'd lose big time. | ||
| Cindy 11 Feb 2003 22:44:59 |
I prefere Helena, because she's "the first lady" of the moonbase. And she must suppot Koenig when he's not well. It's my opinion: perhaps because I'm a girl and I think women are the strongest when all is badly!!! |
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| tombrock 12 Feb 2003 17:31:25 |
My personal opinion is that Barbara Bain gets one big bad rap. The critics were merciless in their evaluation of her performance in the series and I honestly think it was completely unwarranted. Her work in the series really has to be judged in the COLLECTIVE sense--the overall strength of the performance over the run of the series, rather than in one episode or another [I'm referring to the first season because, like Validus states, the dialog she was given in the second season totally negated the broader, more open, revamped characterisation she was offered in Year 2]. Barbara Bain's character in Space: 1999 was truly a first in science fiction...a female personality on par with the strongest men's roles. I thought she handled it beautifully. With her talents, Helena emerged as a strong, strong-willed, in-control female professional. She had strength and composure, but she also exhibited a softer side from time to time. In other words, she was cool and collected, with great personal strength, but she was also a woman. You could also see, over the run of the first year, how she sort of "broke out" into the role. I think in the very beginning, the actors had very little to go on in terms of creating a character. Indeed, the scripts as a whole throughout Year One offered scant characterisation, and I think the performers ultimately created their own characters, reading between the lines, so to speak since the writers gave them so little to work with. To be frank, while I would not call her "bad" in the early episodes, there were a few scenes here and there where you were left wondering what exactly Barbara was thinking--and I think it was those scenes the critics seemed to concentrate on. In particular, her performance in Breakaway was strangely, almost eerily, stiff. Same too in Matter of Life and Death. But in later works--particularly episodes like Dragon's Domain and Death's Other Dominion and Infernal Machine--she delivers a wonderful performance. I think so many people got hung up on her conservative approach to the character--but there is a significant difference between a strong, measured performance and bad or "non" acting. Just look at Linda Evans in Dynasty. Now THERE was NON ACTING. She seemed to be under the influence of a major tranquilizer...ALL the time. I have always felt that Barbara Bain's performance was one of the best in the series because it so perfectly fitted the overall atmosphere and "feel" the creators were looking for...an austere, almost clinical environment very much in the same vein as Kubrick's 2001. The scenary-chewing theatrics of someone like, well, William Shatner, would have been completely out of place in the world of Space: 1999. Rather, it was much more ideally suited to the restrained work of Barbara Bain. Just one other thought...because of specifics in their contract, both Barbara Bain and Martin Landau were guaranteed a certain percentage of screen time in relation to the other performers and I think that was responsible for much of Barbara's "problems" with the critics. Because she was supposed to be on-screen for a certain amount of time, the directors/editors frequently resorted to what I call dumb cutaways--a quick cut to a reaction shot in order to get a particular character on screen as much as possible. The problem with that was, for the most part, they would cut to Barbara when there really WASN'T a reaction to a particular situation warranted--or even the need for a reaction. Just look at any first season episode and count the number of times they cut to Helena when there is really very little going on. Many times she isn't really even actively involved in what had been going on--and there'd be little reason to have cut to her. But they did anyway. So she emerges from the scene looking, well, sort of stupid...just staring rather blankly ahead. |
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| Validus 12 Feb 2003 18:06:38 |
Tombrock- On many of your points I think I have to agree. I sometimes wonder how much Barbara's performance was hurt by being married to the leading man. After all it's hard to have "sexual tension" with your own husband- of course I'm divorced so what do I know?  You made a facinating observation re: William Shatner that was confirmed by no less then Leonard Nimoy. I recently bought Star Trek III: The Search for Spock on DVD and on that disc there is an audio commentary by Nimoy in which he talks about Shatner's acting. He points out that while many people make fun of "Bill's performance" he also points out that the whole point of Star Trek was to be melodramatic. Nimoy compared Star Trek to Opera in it's grandiosity and said that a sedate actor would have been totally wrong for Captain Kirk, or McCoy for that matter. Space:1999 on the other hand is far more "realistic" I think in style.....at least until the unfortunate Season 2 came along. In Season 1 when Koenig shows strong emotion it carries real power because it's rare.....by Season 2 I felt bad for Martin Landau for all the times he had to scream "MAYA!!" and "HELENA!!" at the top of his lungs. Also I think the loss of Barry Morse, an actor of great dignity and skill, was another blow to Season 2. |
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| Eagle One 17 Feb 2003 05:00:51 |
While I'm not a big fan of Helena in S1999. The opening in season one sets her up for ridicule due to the robot like pivot....almost like a manician. The opening in season two shows her more as a dynamic person. The status report while clearly borrowed from Star Trek, worked well at times for Bain's character. I do think this could have been used more effectively at times, but log had the potential to add depth to her by allowing her to open up to her diary etc. One thing that would have greatly helped Bain would have been a little coaching by a real MD about mannerism's and hand movements, many times this sort of thing distracts from her performance. In this regard the fault is not so much Bain's as it is probably a producer or time issue. Many times, MD's come off as being a little aloof and Helena is no exception, actually this is sort of in character in a way. Also Helena's probably a little more introverted and focued on research and a little preoccupied at times. Seemed to me that in the interview on the DVD that Bain had an nice voice with a good range but in Helen's role her voice is pretty monotone. I think part of this goes to the way Bain may have been instructed to play the character. She easily could have been directed to use her voice to better effect to make her seem more interesting to the viewers. As for William Shatner, he would have worked fine in S1999 in Alan role and maybe have been passible in Tony's, otherwise no way. |
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| Cindy 17 Feb 2003 18:36:56 |
Good remark eagle one: Voice of helena is too monotone. So, I prefere French dubbing. For exemple, in Dragon's domain, we can see in French that Helena is very irritated. | ||
| Loveclassics 06 Mar 2003 01:43:49 |
New to this forum a long time Space 1999 fan. I voted for Tony I was around 14 or 15 when I saw season two and boy did I have a crush on Tony. Back in those days I was only interested in horses and to have a crush on tv star was a novelty. Well nearly 27 years later I think he's still cute and I'm a middle aged house wife, happily married. |
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| gba_cmdr 08 Mar 2003 16:31:29 |
Welcome, Loveclassics! Tombrock - I agree with you about Helena. I find her fascinating and I actually LOVE her cold clinical portrayal in Breakaway. I think a lot of people skim over Matter of Life & Death -- but I find as I watch it more to be a great Helena episode. She says quite clearly that when she lost Lee the first time she didn't think she could survive -- but yet she DID! We don't know if she was head of Medical at that point or not, but either she worked her way up or hung on to her job. Either case, she's a SURVIVOR! Perhaps she is "cold" and "clinical" because she was afraid to become attached to another man and become vulnerable again? Perhaps she didn't think she could handle losing another love?? Also, I think Barbara's portrayal of Helena does come closest to bringing "2001:ASO" to the small screen in terms of a cold, clinical portrayal. The actors on 2001 were not SCREAMERS! |
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| Validus 08 Mar 2003 22:36:55 |
Of course I am a screamer, but only with the right person.  |
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| Eagle One 09 Mar 2003 02:27:06 |
Isn't there something mentioned about Helena had lot's of Psyco-Analysis? I've always assumed this was probably to help after Lee died, in getting her live back together. Also she's do psy profiles at one point as mentioned in Dragons Domain. I was unsure but assumed this was after Lee's death. I always think she didn't like the astronaut in Dragons Domain because deep down she resented the fact he came back from his mission and Lee didn't come back from Astro 7. |
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| Cindy 10 Mar 2003 18:25:40 |
I think Helena is very strong because she can't show her emotion. Fortunatly, she has friends: Victor Bergman and Koenig (and Maya in second season). | ||
| gba_cmdr 10 Mar 2003 18:58:55 |
Hey -- great connection. Never thought of that myself!  |
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| AntonGorski 17 Mar 2003 22:10:52 |
I'll take season 1 Alan Carter. He had the passion. I prefer when he called Koenig "Commander" in season 1 over "John" in season 2. |
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