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space1999-digest Wednesday, January 21 1998 Volume 01 : Number 409
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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 14:54:08 -0800
From: South Central <Tamazunchale@webtv.net>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Zenno and Piri
Was Landau actually quoted as saying that? When and where?
Thanks,
Mateo
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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 19:50:55 +0000
From: "Robert Ashley Ruiz" <espresso@dnai.com>
Subject: Space1999: New in the Cybrary
Thanks to a reference photo from Martin Willey, Roberto was
able to authenticate the text for the Travel Tube schedules
that appear in the Roberto Baldassari Alphan Graphics Exhibit
in the Cybrary (second exhibit in the exhibits section). Have
a look to see what the schedule on the show really says.
(Original British spellings retained.)
Somehow I doubt the schedule that was actually on the show is
going to conform to the ideas of the writers of the Moonbase
Alpha Technical Notebook.
Also funny that the schedule still said "Main Mission" during
Series 2, but then again, why not?
Nice work on this by Roberto, and nice of Martin to share his
reference photo.
Robert
Robert Ruiz (cybrarian@cybrary1999.com)
San Francisco, California USA
Cybrarian of the Space: 1999 Cybrary at:
http://www.cybrary1999.com
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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 19:50:55 +0000
From: "Robert Ashley Ruiz" <espresso@dnai.com>
Subject: Space1999: New Versions of Merchandise Guide in Cybrary
Message to Thomas Magee and all concerned:
Thomas:
I responded again to "Thomas McGee" <thomcg@bconnex.net> and
again my mail was returned. So to answer your question for you
and all concerned, I have replaced the sometimes problematic
self-extracting ZIP file of Martin Willey's merchandise guide
with two files so you can take your pick. One is a regular ZIP
file (not a self-extracting one) and the other is a UUencoded
version of the file.
Hope this helps and sorry Thomas that I can't communicate with
you directly for whatever reason. Do you have a filter set up
in your e-mail program for mail from DNAI perhaps? No need to
answer that. I won't be able to respond anyway.
Best,
Robert
Robert Ruiz (cybrarian@cybrary1999.com)
San Francisco, California USA
Cybrarian of the Space: 1999 Cybrary at:
http://www.cybrary1999.com
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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 19:56:51 +0000
From: "Robert Ashley Ruiz" <espresso@dnai.com>
Subject: Space1999: Episode Order
Apparently (I haven't verified this, I was just told this)
there are a couple texts that have a different episode order
from the one in the Cybrary, reversing The Rules of Luton and
The Mark of Archanon (which were shot simultaneously). I asked
Chris Bentley of Fanderson to verify, and it appears the order
in the Cybrary (unlike in Muir's [excellent] and Drake's [ho
hum] Space: 1999 books) is correct.
I WROTE:
>Can you confirm which came first in the production order? The
>Rules of Luton or The Mark of Archanon?
CHRIS WROTE:
Difficult to say really. As you probably know, both episodes were
filmed at the same time: Archanon with Barbara Bain, Nick Tate
and Tony Anholt on the Alpha sets at Pinewood, Luton with Martin
Landau and Catherine Schell on location in Black Park.
Strictly speaking, we can't place one episode before the other,
just as we can't with the other episodes that were filmed
simultaneously: The AB Chrysalis/Catacombs Of The Moon, A Matter
Of Balance/Space Warp, and Dorzak/Devil's Planet. However,
production documentation identifies Luton as Year Two episode 7
with Archanon as episode 8 - these were the production numbers
assigned to the episodes, so in production order listings Luton
should appear before Archanon (and the other 'double-up' episodes
- - as they were called - should be listed in the order that I have
written them above.
Robert Ruiz (cybrarian@cybrary1999.com)
San Francisco, California USA
Cybrarian of the Space: 1999 Cybrary at:
http://www.cybrary1999.com
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 00:46:00 EST
From: djlerda@juno.com
Subject: Re: Space1999: Zenno and Piri
On Tue, 20 Jan 1998 14:54:08 -0800 Tamazunchale@webtv.net (South Central)
writes:
>Was Landau actually quoted as saying that? When and where?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mateo
>
No, he never said that. It was a joke. In 1987 (I think) William Shatner
was the guest host of Saturday Night Live and they did a sketch of him
appearing at a Star Trek Convention. A guy in the audience wearing
rubber Spock ears and a T-shirt that said, "I Grok Spock" asked Shatner
some inane trivia question. Shatner responded, "C'mon. It was just a TV
show, etc., etc." Kind of Shatner's way of poking fun at the EXTREME
Star Trek fans - you know the ones who just want to escape from reality
and totally wrap themselves up in Star Trek and shut out the outside
world. I thought it was hilarious but it apparently pissed off a lot of
people. I am not aware of any instance of Landau ever saying anything
negative about the fans. In fact, I am not aware of Landau saying much
about the show, period.
David J Lerda, djlerda@juno.com
"Just because we haven't experienced something
doesn't mean it doesn't exist" - John Koenig
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 08:22:16 +0000
From: "Petter Ogland" <petter.ogland@dnmi.no>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Episode by episode THE GUARDIAN OF PIRI
Hi all,
Andre Beauchamp wrote:
> At 28 min. 12 sec. from the beginning of the episode, something funny
> is happening. At this point John Koenig is leaving medical center and
> Bob Mathias who was offering a drink to the commander.
> John is walking in a corridor and you can see many persons packing
> stuff around him, then a women comes from left to right with a white
> case supported by a clear strap, then (now that's the blooper) the clear
> strap brokes and the case hits the floor doing some noise and this
> noise seems to disturb Martin Landau who is turning himself around to
> see what happened.
>
> FYI : the white plastic case who hits the floor is in fact a
> 2 inches videotape reel case. I had many of them at my job years ago.
> Now today we are using 1 inch reels, they are much thinner and compact.
It's interesting to get production insights. As I see it, sometimes
the story of the making of SPACE: 1999 can be as interesting as
the series by itself.
Petter
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 09:51:14 +0000
From: Petter Ogland <petter.ogland@dnmi.no>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
Hi all,
Quintin wrote:
> "Guardian of Piri" is really a smashing episode. Without delving into all of
> the technical things that make this episode so grand, I would say only that
> the moral of the story is quite profound. Namely, that there is something
> intrinsically human about failure, pain, death, struggle and labor. Yes,
> Guardian of Piri is an indictment of the principial escapism of the drug
> culture. But more than that, it shows in high resolution that without the
> existential struggles of work, pain, death, etc., we humans are worthless.
I suspected you liked GUARDIAN OF PIRI, Quintin, lots of possibilities for
theological and philosophical interpretations in this one.
>From what I've heard Johnny Byrne is an Irish Catholic. This makes
sense to me, watching episodes like ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE and
THE TESTAMENT OF ARKADIA with people dressed like monks and shepards talking
about hope and guilt.
I don't know much about Penfolds religious or philosophical preferances,
but scripts like GUARDIAN OF PIRI, THE LAST SUNSET, WAR GAMES, SPACE
BRAIN and DRAGON'S DOMAIN do seem to have some religious aspects to them.
Many of the Penfold episodes seem to dwell on philosophical
ideas.
The scenario of GUARDIAN OF PIRI is, as David Acheson has pointed out, not a
terribly original concept in itself. When discussing man vs. machine, Mary
Shelly's novel "Frankenstein" (1817) is often quoted. If not the first to
deal with men, science and consequences of science running wild, creating
a "monster", the novel was written during the early stages of the industrial
revolution, and is as such an interesting comment on problems that have
grown no less during the elapse of time.
The issue of Man vs. Machine seems to be quite prominent in SPACE: 1999. At
times it is a rather central point with episodes like RING AROUND THE MOON,
GUARDIAN OF PIRI, THE INFERNAL MACHINE perhaps in particular, but also more
indirectly in episodes like BREAKAWAY ("human decision required"),
BLACK SUN (Victor's comments to Computer while making mathematical formulae),
EARTHBOUND (Zantor showing a not-too-impressed attitude towards human made
computers), VOYAGER'S RETURN (human hybris and science with fatal
consequences),
WAR GAMES (the MISSING LINK like dialogue between the Landaus and the Aliens
on the computer like planet with interior which resembles computer hardware),
and SPACE BRAIN that draws a parallell between the universe and a computer or
a biological organism.
For me GUARDIAN OF PIRI seems to be written as a warning against adapting
too quickly to the technological advance without considering the change of
values that a technological development may induce. In some ways it seems
quite fit, I think, that Victor is the first to accept the ideas of the
Guardian, being the one that embrases everything that might improve science
and technology. Helena behaving like she is drunk, later on, is also a
fine idea, I think, her being the most controlled, seemingly totally
adapted to the "brave new world" style of life on Moonbase Alpha, that
might easily evolve into apathy and death, like it does on Piri.
I don't know if Penfold's warning about computers taking over physical and
mental work, drugging society, makes sense today. The world is certainly much
more digitalised than it was in 1975, but it would be difficult to say whether
people feel more or less alienated than they did then.
Quintin often quotes French existensialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre when
discussing some of these episodes, emphasizing the necessety of be in
control over ones own decisions. "We are doomed to choose", Sartre says
in one of his plays, meaning, it seems, that we are nothing more than
machines if we accept everything, or refuse to accept anything, without
giving though to which direction our actions and believes may lead us.
The existensialim of Sartre, Beauvoir, Heidegger etc. was particulary
resonent in the fifties and sixties, I believe, when people had time to
reflect about what had caused the second world war, and how the military
turned humans into machines, willingly letting others take control of their
lives as they perceived this as the only possibility for collective survival.
Sometimes one wonders if techonolgy is building a Guardian of Piri today.
Personally I believe, in fact, we do, but I don't think it is necessary that we
suffer the same fate as the Pirians. Technological evolution so far has mostly
illustrated that one problem solved means the introduction of two new ones.
I agree with the moral of the episode, however, human perception, human
emotions and human thinking is the think that is important for humans as
Koenig illustrates by crashing his hand through a monitor to remind himself
that he is human. By respecting human values even Piri seems to be able to
support human life, if too late for the Alphans perhaps not too late for us.
Petter
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 12:02:56 -0500
From: jcg@vh.net
Subject: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
Not much on this one...either they're getting better, or I am getting tired
of writing these reviews.
Two minutes into the episode and I already want to slap Kano silly. Last
night my computer started going haywire. Did I go into denial about it?
No. I started using every profane word and expression I could think of as
I ripped the thing apart and found the problem and fixed it. It was
supposed to be a cute personality quirk for Kano, but I don't think it
works. I find Mr. Scott more believable who is just as obsessed with his
engines, but is the first to tear into them when they are not working (and
in one episode could feel something wrong with the ship before the
technology could verify it.)
There are two points in this episode where we see something on the main
screen that could not possibly be on the main screen. The first is where
the eagle in the teaser is flying out of control above the surface and we
see the ship itself on the main screen. The second time is when Koenig is
investigating the planet, he's talking into his commlock, and we see him
and the commlock on the big screen, when we should see only a closeup of
his face, as being picked up from the commlock.
This sounds stupid even to me, but I have an easier time believing that all
aliens in the Universe speak english, than that the Alphans call the planet
by the same name as do the residents of that planet (or in this case the
machines of the planet.)
It looked visually interesting, but I was surprised Alan would not have
checked the eagle systems to see what was holding it up in the air, and if
he could power it up and land it. I also wanted to see the thing crash at
the end of the episode when time resumed.
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 13:59:56 -0400
From: eagle1@mb.sympatico.ca
Subject: Re: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
Hi everyone!
jcg@vh.net wrote:
> There are two points in this episode where we see something on the main
> screen that could not possibly be on the main screen. The first is where
> the eagle in the teaser is flying out of control above the surface and we
> see the ship itself on the main screen. The second time is when Koenig is
> investigating the planet, he's talking into his commlock, and we see him
> and the commlock on the big screen, when we should see only a closeup of
> his face, as being picked up from the commlock.
I know what you mean. This kind of thing is done all the time on all
kinds of shows that involve the "viewscreen technology" idea, and it's
kind of a pet peeve of mine. Where the heck do these cameras come from?
Also, on another note, I think this episode represents one of the best
matchups between the full size stage sets with the actors and the
miniature sets where the Eagles are playing around. VERY well done in
this case.
I think the whole set concept of the white balloons and bubbles was very
imaginative as, I guess, kind of tree like plants or whatever, and the
way the bubbles blowing around at the end signified the life coming back
to the dead planet. I think Piri has the best alien landscape created
for the entire series! Very eerie and interesting indeed! I also really
liked the kind of echoing ratchety sound we hear when referring to these
landscapes!
All in all, despite it's flaws, a very enjoyable episode!
- --
It's not the time it takes to take the takes,
it's the time it takes between the takes that take the time to take!
__| _ \
| | / |
__| _` | _ | | _ \ | | _ \ _ \
| ( | ( | | __/ | | | | __/
___| \__,_|\__ | _|\___| ____/ _| _|\___|
|__/
E. James Small eagle1@mb.sympatico.ca
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 14:44:07 -0800
From: South Central <Tamazunchale@webtv.net>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
The name Piri was implanted in his mind by the Guardian, which was
already exerting its influence on his mind.
You are right about the suspended Eagle.
Mateo
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 18:21:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Barry Schwartz <godzilla@panix.com>
Subject: Space1999: Publisher's addresses?
Does anyone have the addresses, in the U.K., of Paper Tiger Books, Titan
Books, and Virgin Books? Thanks.
Barry A. Schwartz | Postmaster, MONSTER ISLAND LOCAL POST | ARMY MARS |
Flushing, NY USA | Amateur Radio Operator N2SHP | ARES, RACES, SKYWARN
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 18:26:14 -0500
From: jcg@vh.net
Subject: Re: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
But then why didn't Koenig or someone else go "Where did you get that name
from?" the way he did about the name Terra Nova
At 02:44 PM 1/21/98 -0800, you wrote:
>The name Piri was implanted in his mind by the Guardian, which was
>already exerting its influence on his mind.
>
>You are right about the suspended Eagle.
>
>Mateo
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End of space1999-digest V1 #409
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