From: owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net (space1999-digest) To: space1999-digest@buffnet4.buffnet.net Subject: space1999-digest V3 #5 Reply-To: Sender: owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net Errors-To: owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net Precedence: bulk space1999-digest Monday, June 7 1999 Volume 03 : Number 005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 00:58:00 -0400 (EDT) From: moonbubba@webtv.net (moon bubba) Subject: Space1999: Re: Space Shuttle - --WebTV-Mail-1007006338-13743 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit I heard that when the pilot section was found,the emergency oxygen supply had been turned on,which means they were still alive after the shuttle hit the water. Visit Moonbubba's Moonbase at http://members.tripod.com/~moonbubba/home.html - --WebTV-Mail-1007006338-13743 Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Message/RFC822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Received: from mailsorter-102-1.iap.bryant.webtv.net (209.240.198.98) by postoffice-223.iap.bryant.webtv.net; Sun, 6 Jun 1999 20:53:20 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: <owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net> Received: from buffnet4.buffnet.net (buffnet4.buffnet.net [205.246.19.13]) by mailsorter-102-1.iap.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with ESMTP id UAA18241; Sun, 6 Jun 1999 20:53:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from majordom@localhost) by buffnet4.buffnet.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) id DAA04994 for space1999-outgoing; Mon, 7 Jun 1999 03:45:49 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net) Received: from buffnet1.buffnet.net (mmdf@buffnet1.buffnet.net [205.246.19.10]) by buffnet4.buffnet.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id DAA04978 for <space1999>; Mon, 7 Jun 1999 03:45:46 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from root@buffnet1.buffnet.net) Received: from buffnet5.buffnet.net(205.246.19.14) by buffnet1.buffnet.net via smap (V2.0) id xma013180; Sun, 6 Jun 99 23:40:22 -0400 Received: from webserv2.buffnet.net(205.247.125.2) by buffnet5.buffnet.net via smap (V2.0) id xma008334; Sun, 6 Jun 99 23:39:28 -0400 Received: from tpsun.taranaki.ac.nz (tpsun.taranaki.ac.nz [203.97.64.132]) by webserv2.buffnet.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id XAA11302 for <space1999@buffnet.net>; Sun, 6 Jun 1999 23:37:22 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from Straker.@taranaki.ac.nz) From: Straker.@taranaki.ac.nz Received: from LOCALNAME (ppp115.tipnet.co.nz [203.97.71.144]) by tpsun.taranaki.ac.nz (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id PAA15174 for <space1999@buffnet.net>; Mon, 7 Jun 1999 15:32:30 +1200 (NZST) Message-Id: <3.0.5.16.19990607171341.26a761b6@mail.taranaki.ac.nz> X-Sender: Utpjst@mail.taranaki.ac.nz X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (16) Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 17:13:41 To: space1999@buffnet.net Subject: Re: Space1999: Clif's Notes/Columbia House Deathmatch In-Reply-To: <003e01beb08f$f13448a0$0200a8c0@srst1.fl.home.com> References: <3.0.1.16.19990606181644.0a27da62@itol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Straker.@taranaki.ac.nz >> That was actually a chilling effect, to think that the pilots may have >> survived the initial blast, only to watch the ground rush up? The effects >> people may not have intended that look, but if not programmed that way, it >> was evidently considered good enough (or even better) to keep in. Neil: >Life imitates art: When the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986, the >crew module was proven to have been intact after the explosion. >Particularly chilling is the fact that some or all of the crew may have >survived the initial explosion, but were killed when the module impacted on >the Atlantic Ocean. That's believed to be the case, yes...the Weekly World News took a ghoulish spin on the tragedy by publishing an 'official' transcript of the crew's last words. It had them spouting a whole lot of melodramatic nonsense, and ended with them all intoning the Lord's Prayer as the shuttle plunged earthwards. An offensive, manipulative load of trash. I daresay that the crew were killed by the shockwave of the explosion...I hope so, because that way they wouldn't have even felt the end when it came. JeffStoat *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** - --WebTV-Mail-1007006338-13743-- *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 01:03:50 -0400 (EDT) From: moonbubba@webtv.net (moon bubba) Subject: Space1999: Fwd: Freddie Frieberger interview - --WebTV-Mail-934929689-5359 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Here's a post that seemed to disappear when On-line Alpha went off-line,after some WebTV garbage... Visit Moonbubba's Moonbase at http://members.tripod.com/~moonbubba/home.html - --WebTV-Mail-934929689-5359 Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Message/RFC822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAsAhR1YUqL7h9IlHoz7VUCw4kmrRCAwQIUPQv5g2L9GsMWh3RwatTC0St1kIo= From: moonbubba@webtv.net (moon bubba) Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 06:21:26 -0400 (EDT) To: space1999@buffnet4.buffnet.net Subject: Freddie Frieberger interview Message-ID: <1152-37565726-3795@postoffice-223.iap.bryant.webtv.net> Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit MIME-Version: 1.0 (WebTV) Here's the Reader's Digest version of the Starlog magazine interview from November 1980. By Mike Clark and Bill Cotter. Starlog:Tell us about your work on Space:1999. How did it come about? Freddie Frieberger:We had meetings with Abe Mandell and Gerry Anderson,and I went over to England for three weeks to discuss the feasibility of continuing the series. We had to generate enough enthusiasm and confidence in Mandell and Lew Grade's organization to make it a viable series the second year. Gerry and I sold them on continuing the series based on this new character,Maya. One of the reasons I was able to come up with Maya was part of my science fiction background. I worked for three years with Hanna-Barbera on their Saturday morning shows. Working in kid's television sparks your imagination;you can do some wild things. SL:Some viewers have expressed the thought that Maya was a "token alien" FF:Nobody was thinking token anything. Star Trek did a lot of moralty plays. That wasnt my concern here. I was there to get a show back on the air again that would get ratings and would be entertaining in the American sense. SL: Was Catherine Shell your original chice for the maya part? FF:No. We went with Teresa Graves to be Maya. We wanted her but we heard that she was deep in religion and had gone into retreat somewhere...had left acting.The original Maya was to have been a black girl.We did test a lot of black girls in England.We would have loved Teresa Graves,but we couldnt get her.Abe Mandell recommended Catherine Shell;we looked at that Pink Panther film she did and were quite impressed. The character of Maya was a tough concept to sell to the Americans.I knew that science fiction fans would accept this character if we did it right. SL:Were you considering major cast changes for year two? FF:When I went over to England,Barry Morse played a scientist on the series. I said "Gerry,if youre going to have anybody as a professor,he should be a young kid with a beard. Do something different. Another problem with the show is that you can't have people standing around and talking and being philosophical wih these long speeches...nobody will hold still for it.Let's do some switches on the characters." There was a big question of the budget. We made several trans-atlantic calls to Martin Landau and Barbara Bain...would they take a salary cut? They wouldnt take a cut.People assume when you're making an offer that you're lying and that they're in the drivers seat.This show was on the edge for weeks...it looked like we were finished. I stayed an extra week,and then it looked like 1999 had a life when I came up with Maya. SL:What happened to Barry Morse? FF:Barry Morse's agent came in demanding a big raise.Gerry made him a counter offer. Morse's agent made a bad tactical error which was sheer insanity for an agent. He said "No. If it's not going to be that amount,we're finished. We're out." So immediately Gerry said,"Okay,you're out." What an agent should say is,"He's out...except...I'll have to check with him." We had big discussions about how to explain the disappearance of Professor Bergman,that he had a disease or something,and they asked us to take it out. Barry Morse is an excellent actor ,but I felt his part was all wrong. SL:How did the changes in Barbara Bain's character come about? FF:When I had spoken on the phone to Barbara,whom I had never met,she was charming and delightful. I said "Barbara,why don't you do that in the series?" Her training at the Actor's Studio in New York told her:Be economical,which was all wrong for this type of show. I tried to give her some sense of humor because she's a natural in social situations. She's sharp. She knows story and character very well. Marty (Landau) was a delight,an excellent actor and fun on the set...he tells beautiful stories. I have a great respect for Marty and Barbara,but I think science fiction should have young faces. SL: Why was the character of Sandra seen sporadically in year two? FF: Zienia Merton,who played Sandra,wanted more to do and was offered a job somewhere else,so we lent her out for several episodes and brought in the character of Yasko,director Ray Austin's wife. We kept Nick Tate. Nick was very nervous when Tony Anholt came in,and always had his agent on us. We tried to use everybody. The New York office told us to drop Tate;I said no,it would be wrong. SL: Tell us about other changes for 1999's second year. FF: We cut down the whole vast control center...cut down the loss of Eagles. I felt if we were going to use violence of that sort...use it meaningfully. The English, when they did these shows,desperately wanted to reach the American market, since that's where all the money is. And they would interpret "action" literally as action-shooting down a million eagles...blasting away and doing wild physical things...instead of dramatic action...conflict. These are tough concepts for them to be able to understand and accept. SL: Overall,what were the problems with 1999 as you saw them? FF: They were doing the show as an English show where there was no story,with the people standing around and talking. They had good concepts,they have wonderful characters,but they kept talking about the same thing and there was no plot development. 1999 opened extremely well in the United States and then went right down the tubes. There was nobody you cared about in the show. Nobody at all. The people themselves didn't care about each other. I did a whole thing where I at least had a scene where somebody said,"My God! He's gonna be hurt! Is he dead? Is he alive?" They just didn't do that. In the first show I did that,I stressed action as well as character development,along with strong story content,to prove that 1999 could stand up to the American concept of what an action-adventure show should be. Abe Mandell was pretty nervous,but we were well received by the reviewers. A few of them said,"Gee,the show is vastly improved,but it's too late to save it." SL: Why were there no American guest stars on 1999? FF: British Union Rules. Marty and Barbara are both Americans. Even when I came over,they had to get special dispensation for me. For there to be an American guest star,I think there would have been big problems with the unions. SL: Were you able to use any American writers? FF: I was allowed six American writers,but in answer to your question,no. I didn't want to work from 3,000 miles away. SL: Were you getting acceptable scripts from the British writers? FF: At the begining of the season you're pretty fussy about scripts,but as the year goes on and you reach 18 or 20 episodes,the stuff that looked terrible to you at the begining starts to look like pure gold. If you do 24 episodes,and end up with four clinkers,I think you've got one hell of an average. I wrote three scripts under the table,using the pseudonym "Charles Woodgrove." I took the job and was just paid expenses. My stories were "Space Warp,""The Rules Of Luton," and "The Beta Cloud." SL: Coincidentally,we wanted to ask why Maya's metamorph abilities were changed in "The Rules Of Luton" script. In other stories,Maya could change from one form to another without reverting back to her normal self. In "Luton" she is changed into a bird,captured and held prisoner in a small wire cage,unable to change into something smaller and escape. Why was this done? FF: In this case,I'll just have to claim "writer's license." SL: "Beta Cloud" seemed to be a rehash of the bug-eyed monster type of story FF: What I did was try to get into the situation. How do you defeat the undefeatable? What intrigued me is that the Alphans could not seem to be able to defeat this creature. Finally,Maya becomes a bee and enters the creature's ear,discovering it to be a machine. David Prowse,who of course is now famous as Darth Vader,was in the costume. SL: How many days on the average were you given to shoot an episode of 1999? FF: Ten days,not including our special effects stage;nine hours of shooting a day. In the U.S.,you begin work at 8 a.m. and pull the plug at 6 p.m. In England,it's 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. They shoot more in the U.S. because there's overtime built into the budget. SL: In a press release sent to Starlog,ITC says the second season budget for 1999 was upped from $6 million for year one to $7.2 million for year two. This would break down to $300,000 per episode. Was that your typical working budget? FF: That nonsense! We brought them in for $185,000 per episode,which got them fantastic production values. That $300,000 figure is probably just for publicity. We did a black panther sequence on 1999 (in "The Exiles") ...Catherine Schell made a leap and transformed into this panther...in mid air. We spent the whole day and it cost us $5,000. In America it would have cost us $50,000! SL: Had Space:1999 been renewed for another season,what changes would you foresee? FF: Well,I don't know if I'd make any changes. I think I injected a lot of humor,especially between Tony and Catherine. As for Martin and Barbara,I think I beat the bad relationships. I think if they would have the budget for not only American guest stars,but if they could have really paid for high-class English actors,they would have had a hell of a lot better acting. But,in terms of changes,I think that American guest stars would be appealing for the American audience. Part of an interview with Freddie Frieberger from Starlog magazine issue #40,November 1980 Visit Moonbubba's Moonbase at http://members.tripod.com/~moonbubba/home.html - --WebTV-Mail-934929689-5359-- *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 18:39:24 From: Straker.@taranaki.ac.nz Subject: Re: Space1999: Shuttle Crew's Last Words >My understanding was that one of the crew's last utterances was "uh-oh". Yup...the pilot (Scobee?) said 'uh-oh' and keyed the mike to say something else when the fuel blew up. Jeff *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 01:09:50 -0400 (EDT) From: moonbubba@webtv.net (moon bubba) Subject: Space1999: space shuttle.mpg - --WebTV-Mail-2125176958-9310 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit February 1986 Challenger liftoff Visit Moonbubba's Moonbase at http://members.tripod.com/~moonbubba/home.html - --WebTV-Mail-2125176958-9310 X-URL-Title: sshuttle.mpg Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit http://www.mpeg1.de/movies/space/sshuttle.mpg - --WebTV-Mail-2125176958-9310-- *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 01:15:26 -0400 (EDT) From: moonbubba@webtv.net (moon bubba) Subject: Space1999: Ring Around the Moon - --WebTV-Mail-1194095089-6976 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Did you know there is another Ring Around the Moon? Click on the link below to see. Visit Moonbubba's Moonbase at http://members.tripod.com/~moonbubba/home.html - --WebTV-Mail-1194095089-6976 X-URL-Title: Ring Around the Moon Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit http://nav.webring.com/cgi-bin/navcgi?ring=fullmoongirl;list - --WebTV-Mail-1194095089-6976-- *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 06 Jun 1999 23:55:35 PDT From: Michael Rogers <comlock@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Space1999: Brian Blessed [OT] > >Speaking of Brian Blessed, he has a credit in The Phantom Menace. I can't >say I noticed who it was on screen, and didn't catch the character name in >the credits, but IMDb lists him as playing King Boss Nass. Yup, Boss Nass is a computer generated character and it was modeled after Brian Blessed. To say he did the voice would not be complete enough since he was actually on the set and doing the movements, lines and gestures that would eventually be transformed into a CGI character. In one of the Star Wars magazines there is a picture of Brian Blessed hanging out with George Lucus between takes. His hair is short now and he has no facial hair and he looks to be in terrific health. Mike _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com *********************************************************** Online Alpha - The Space: 1999 Mailing List To unsubscribe: send email to majordomo@buffnet.net and in the body put unsubscribe space1999 (or space1999-digest) *********************************************************** ------------------------------ End of space1999-digest V3 #5 *****************************