I watched most of the first season of Time Trax and enjoyed it. Andromeda I had a hard time getting into. A show you should check out, I don't know if you've ever watched but I think you may have referenced it in a previous video, is Total Recall 2070. It only got one season but it had some solid world building and episodes and was building to something for a second season. It actually has it's own RU-vid channel, Totalrecall2070, which has all of the episodes except for the premiere which can be found on other RU-vid channels. It's worth watching.
Here's a couple for you to look back on and ponder. Early Edition and Dead like me. I enjoyed both. Off to check out your review of Sliders, another show I really liked up until the departure of JRD.
Don't know if you've already reviewed it buy there was a series called 'Seven Days' starring Jonathan Lapaglia I think. I enjoyed it's first season a lot. Perhaps you could look into that one..
I loved the first two and a half seasons of Andromeda. After those first two and a half seasons, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a writer from TNG, left the show and it went downhill fast. But some great episodes were made before then.
I feel like when I read stuff like this, "Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a writer from TNG, left the show and it went downhill fast" It speaks volumes to poorly run companies. I'm sure from a political saving face stand point, this is true. But, from a realistic or perhaps more honest view. I bet it boiled down to money. A lot of people over value themselves and the typical company response is a good one. However, I find the opposite is true a lot as well. Where company heads don't realize an employees value and lets them go and as a result. They go down hill very quickly.
I had that feeling myself until both the internet, and being bored for a few minutes, let me look it up. Sliders and Andromeda are two shows that come to mind, aside from Heroes, where they had such strong starts and could have been real substantial shows for the sci-fi genre. But it all came down to writing and production changes. Andromeda was the hardest hitting of the lot, if because I loved the idea of what the show was going for.
@@tonyvieson9194 I understand your feeling but it is true for andromeda. Kevin Sorbo was co-producer. He wanted to return to a pure episodic-casual mode whereas R.H. Wolfe wanted to stick true to G. Roddenberry's vision and planned an ongoing arc spanning across seasons very much like DS9.
Yeah, Sorbonne basically fired him because he wanted the show to be more simple like his Hercules show. I liked the Hercules show as a silly goof waste of time, but Andromeda was so much better than that in the first 2 seasons, that it was a truly sad waste.
I've never re-watched the series but as I remember the last couple of seasons really seemed to be marking time to get past the 100 episode mark in order to get the show into syndication.
I like the look, the stories weren't too bad, and back in the late 70's early 80's you were just starved of any scifi, so getting it as reruns was must see TV. But the basic premise of the moon achieving FTL speed to reach other stars and planets is bonkers. Only the 70's could come up with that. Kinda charming, but still bonkers.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 I did like the little details they put in, though. The last transmissions they could pick up from Earth before they moved out of range spoke of terrible environmental chaos, now that there were no longer any ocean tides due to the removal of the Moon. It left me always wondering what happened on Earth after they were gone, and if there was even a place for them to return if it had been possible.
@@Rambletripe1 True, but they made up for that with an epic love story that the girls could like and at times absolutely drugs fueled bonkers insane stories. That worked! That's the amazing part. That show took amazing risks in its writing and storytelling. Splitting the cast into two and follow them alternately, having key characters exist in people's heads, it was just amazing. I'm glad that after it got cancelled they at least managed to kinda wrap it up with Peacekeeper Wars, that S4 cliffhanger was evil to end the show on. Amazing show. I still feel that Farscape was what Star Trek Voyager should have been. A crew being chased and desperate to survive in a crazy part of the Galaxy.
It only looks like the golden era because you now get to enjoy all of it. At the time shows like these were rare and far between. Growing up in the 70's and 80's you only had reruns of Star Trek TOS, Space 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, some places maybe Doctor Who with Tom Baker, the other Doctors never seemed to get much love outside of the UK. Sci-fi only really started to pick up when Babylon 5 came along and proved there was a market for scifi other then Star Trek. That opened some doors to new shows. Even then I still don't think there was a whole glut of scifi shows. If anything these days we get more then any. They're just f***ed from the start being vehicles for THE MESSAGE.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 The late 90's and early 2000's had way more weekly TV show then now or before that. I know because there are so many good Sci-Fi shows that came out during that time. Most of the shows now are fake reality shows that are cheaper to produce.
There are still good sci-fi shows today. Not as much like it used to 😂. shows like foundation, the expanse, raised by wolves, doctor who (before Jodie) I would say s3 Picard but that was just a movie cut up in parts and it was ok at best…well that’s I can think of on the top of my head, how sad 😂
I don't know how well known it is, but Space 1999 was born out of the cancellation of another scifi show from the Anderson's called U.F.O. Particularly the idea of having a base on the moon, which they expanded on. U.F.O. was another Scifi show I enjoyed from my childhood. It had a catchy earworm of an intro that stuck in my mind to this day.
First two season of Andromeda, with setup by Roddenberrys and under writing of later fired Robert Hewitt Wolfe was AWESOME SMART SERIES. Don't get eluded by 90s aesthetics and campy Lead. Even later ,scene with Magogs storming Andromeda was giving us chills. Name of ships, great cast and terrific episode with prision camp for starships.
Wasn't so much an upgrade as a costume change to help hide how much her body changed as a result of her pregnancy. She was just a head for a full season to hide the belly! :)
One of Andromeda's problems is they lost one of the more interesting characters halfway through. The actor who played Tyr got cast on the soap opera, The Young and the Restless. A network show with millions of loyal fans and a regular time slot was simply a better job than a syndicated sci-fi show.
One show that I never missed an episode of was _Alien Nation._ I liked the James Caan film, but I liked how the series was able to explore the dynamic between Sikes and Frar better since it had the advantage of having more time to do so.
one of my all time favourites too. One of my first 'internet' fandoms - bulletin boards & user groups. I've read all the novels and even went to a fan convention in someone's small house!
The problems with Andromeda become even worst when you remember that its original conception was as a Star Trek series set in the distant future of the period we're used to.
Lexa Doig was absolutely on top of her career in "Continuum". What do you think of that show by the way? One of rare Canadian gems I think, if we don't count almost all American SciFi made in Canada.
Space1999 still looks good. I wonder if I watched it again if I would keep waiting for a man with a long scarf in a blue box to show up with his companion.
I wouldn't go that far. They were certainly an interesting concept but they tended to be overacted and, like much of the rest of the show, descended into scooby doo villains. If only that pesky Captain Hunt hadn't interfered they'd have gotten away with it.
@@PaoloPatrassi the Magog were a great plot point and underused. Definitely similar in feeling to The Borg in that... they probably wouldn't just kill you... Although, I think they ended up like Doctor Who's Weeping Angels. A great character (as a whole), but then their mystery was removed and they were written in such a way, over time, that they were no longer scary and kind of useless.
Was a great concept. The idea of a long forgotten 'Golden Age' where worlds came together with the same optimistic and altruistic values of the Federation, and as such even in the far future, resources and technology have taken a back step as no-one is cooperating and collaborating anymore, and old relics like the Andromeda Ascendant can re-emerge and become a defining power in the region - as ships are no longer built to this level of scale and technology among all the disparate and quarreling factions, who in isolation lack the resources to build them. With Dylan Hunt as the physical embodiment of those lost ideals, trying to reassert them in a long jaded and burned-out future.
Funny enough Lexa Doig and Lisa Ryder from Andromeda both appeared in Jason X. I still have all 6 issues of the Space Precient Manga comic and it had a bit of darker tone than the series
In fact, seasons 1 and 2 were the best of Andromeda. Seasons 3-5 we're pale shadows of what S1-2 had. There's a large backstory from the original show runner about what went wrong. If you weren't impressed with season 1, then you probably didn't understand the subtext and philosophy of what was going on with the overall story arc.
I remember reruns of Space 1999 being on TV when I was a teenager - about 6 years before the show was supposed to take place. I always wanted to watch Andromeda when it was on TV, but my favorite show Stargate SG-1 always won out.
I watched every season and episode of Andromeda, they were all on RU-vid. I liked it. It kept me coming back for more. The characters like Trance etc developed hugely across the 5 seasons and the direction of the show was consistent. The Magog as an adversary were excellent as they were animals controlled by a an outside demonic force, Like locusts, unstoppable. The more human adversaries, the Nicheans were at first a bit cardboard but again over the 5 seasons did develop and their world view was explored, and quite frankly, seemed more attractive than the commonwealth that Hunt was so desperate to rebuild. In my view the series kept building on it's best aspects and did finish in a very satisfying way. Also I agree about Lexa Doig, great character acting.
Not sure if it’s still available but there was a document floating around years ago titled CODA that explained Trance and her origin, who she was to become and where her character was leading the rest.
In 1987 there was a British Scifi show that was a very good series called STAR COPS Which found a fan base in the US on PBS on late Sat nights especially in the south in the 90s where some PBS station aired Scifi series including Doctor Who,Blake7,red dwarf and even Dark Shadows and ended the night with a movie of the week which had a scifi or horror theme
Andromeda has very high highs, and very low lows. Half the time the show didn't know what it wanted to be. Most of season one, is basically a set up for the rest of the show, and the highest points are all post season one for the most part. If the show had a better focus on what it did well, it would of been a fantastic show. It's definitely worth watching all the way through if you have the time, and are a fan of sci-fi.
*FYI: Space Precinct was based on a p0rn-film casting sheet that Gerry Anderson saw at a restaurant. A friend of his did adult-casting and modeling and when told about the premise for an adult film, he wrote the pilot. He told this story in interview.*
Nicely done. I always found Time Trax and Timecop as similar since they were pretty much concurrent. Also Mia Sara was in the premiere of Trax and starred in Cop. I hope you will continue and give your thoughts on War of the Worlds. Have a good afternoon.
Fun fact between season 1 and 2 of Space 1999 some of the cast did "The Day After Tomorrow" (Into Infinity UK) traveling to Alpha Centuri. Brian Blessed guest starred in Space 1999 when he held Helena's hand as he decomposed....🤣 Before he did Flash Gordon as Prince Vultan of the Hawk men.
Oh snap, Time Trax! One of only 3 PTEN shows I can remember. After going this deep into the barrel I can only hope Space Precinct is around the bend. EDIT: Nevermind, so glad someone else remembered it.
Space: 1999 season 1 was great. The episode "Dragon's Domain" stood out for me. There was another episode that guest-starred Christopher Lee (can't recall the title) that was also excellent.
Andromeda started strong in the Roddenberry manner; a hero rides out the apocalypse with a piece of super tech. But by season 2.5 it had degenerated into Sorbo's romance of the week.
Will u be reviewing Buck Rogers & Battlestar Galactica (70s & 80s version)? Both i loved as a kid, season 1 was solid but they wrecked both of them in season 2.
Space 1999 was one of my favorites. I was young, I was a Star Trek fan, and at the time, Star Trek was only on Sundays. Space 1999 got me through five days of the week!
Keep in mind, Dave, that there were video games of a lot of these shows as well. Time Trax, TekWar, and SeaQuest in particular were memorable for me. It's worth checking out.
While there are a lot of great classic sci-fi shows from that area, we're living in a golden era of great content right now. Dark, 1899, Severance, Silo, Foundation, Shining Girls, Russian Doll, Stranger Things. And this list keeps growing...
I just finished rewatching UFO, the series that was retooled to become Space 1999. It's sad that it was cancelled because it is much better than I remembered. It was an intelligent show. I did really like Space 1999 but the second season was really bad overall. What really bugged me was the fact the we never really got an ending to the the testament of Arcadia. I was hoping season 2 would explore this mystery further but no, we got something really bad that even Martin Landau didn't like.
I loved Space 1999, the eagles were awesome and still look like they would work on the moon today. I agree season 2 wasn't the best. I couldn't get into Space Precinct either. I don't remember time trax, Andromeda I watched a few episodes but I didn't stick with it. Great video as always
If you don't plan on finishing Andromeda I at least recommend episode 20 of season 2 because it guest stars Michael Hurst. There's actually a few "wink, wink" Hercules jokes sprinkled throughout the show. My husband and I have our own headcanon that Dylan Hunt is either a reincarnation of Hercules or Hercules himself assuming a new identity 😆
Love these videos, Dave. An underrated sci-fi series that should’ve been the template for everything else on the air was “Earth 2”. Yes, the scripts were melodramatic, but it showed an industrial futurist aesthetic that was believable, filming on location rather than sets got everyone away from the “planet hell” soundstage approach, and if you take out the mysticism, the show worked better than any other sci-fi series at the time as “Wagon Train” in space. The fact the same concept has been rebooted multiple times, including with Fox’s “Terra Nova” shows that the concept is attractive.
We had a hard time not mixing and not getting our wires crossed with Quantum Leap (which signed with the firm name of "Zurück in die Gegenwart" ("Back to the Present Time") and the formidable three-part-film-series (or trilogy) "Zurück in die Zukunft" ("Back to the Future"), so it was all in all funny time travel. In that big great country in the middle of Europe we love damn brillant time travel stories.
@@brodriguez11000 True. I guess it could work as a generation-ship, but that doesn't really work that well for TV when actors need to be replaced every episode. On the other hand, it works for shows like the Twilight Zone to change cast for every episode.
Time Trax sounds like a good concept for a TV show. I'm amazed that I had never heard of it before. It would be a cool idea to have a series where People do the opposite - go into the future to try and bring back technology or learn about how "history" played out in that timeline. Having a ensemble cast trying to blend into a futuristic society or survive the post-apocalypse while unravelling what went wrong could have worked well in the 80s or 90s.
Do Total Recall 2070 already! Most underrated and overlooked Sci fi show of its time and the best on screen adaption of Philip K Dick we ever got. Its the benchmark by which many of us judge what kind of SciFi fan one is. Also Brisco County Jr and the original Nikita
I don't blame your Dad for laughing at Space Precinct, that's exactly the reason I and my friends at school did; we watched it so we could laugh at it, not being mean, but it was silly and therefore enjoyable. Nice to see some appreciation for Time Trax as well. Yes it does have similarities to Quantum Leap in its premise, but actually a very different beast which I also enjoyed as a youngster (but then I'm a sucker for anything with time travel in) - hadn't really thought about it before but Knight Rider with time travel really is a good way to sum it up. These Nostalgia trips are great Dave, makes me smile to think of all that we once had that was great in the realm of sci-fi (even if it was sometimes a bit cheese).
I have been a huge Space 1999 fan since a kid. I named my old German shepherd Maya. I have both seasons on DVD. I celebrate Breakaway Day every year. Dave, I’d like your thoughts on the original Battlestar Galactica 1978-79.
Space: 1999, I tried to get into, but, I was getting older and less involved with TV at the time, plus, I compared everything to my gold standard of Star Trek, and of course everything fell short of my imagined "perfection" as a child. On the other hand, Space Precinct, although very campy, was also very enjoyable to me. I guess this is effective suspension of disbelief, because it worked (also I didn't see it until about 2008). Andromeda, I know I watched a lot of it, but I don't really remember a lot of it. Finally, you mentioned in the beginning about making changes to a show. One thing I very much enjoy about my favorite RU-vid channels is when they are consistent, regular, repeatable, and predictable. What I mean is, for example, you almost always end your video with the same music, which now, to me, is "Dave Cullen" music. I could say this about many good channels. When I tune in, and see "the same thing" every time, it makes the video comfortable and familiar to me. Not saying this is right all the time, but I know that Scotty Kilmer will always begin his videos with "Rev up your engines!" and end his videos with "Remember to ring that bell!" and this cements the channel in my head.
Hard to imagine how you can take a concept so absurd as blasting the moon out of orbit and make it good. I had to double check I didnt miss something as I couldn't get past all the reasons its insane.
I saw all 5 season of Andromeda. I enjoyed it at the time, but it is not a show I could watch over and over like Stargate SG1 or DS9 for example. The one Thing I took from the Andromeda show was Dylan Hunt quote "It's Never Easy" Now space 1999 came out when I was 6 1/2 year old and I like watching it. (6 year old is easy to please). I remembering like it so much that my mom bought me the toy of the eagle 1 when it came out and I had a lot of fun with it. Was a fun toy. Well at least until the Millennium Falcon came out.
I think there was a lot you missed on Andromeda. I think at times it was too much Kevin Sorbo Hercules in it but there were some interesting things: genetically enhanced humans, sentient beings (magogs) created to be biological weapons, time travel, etc.
I saw Space 99 on satellite TV, young child and without any knowledge of English! Never understood the plot, but loved the spaceships and the whole atmosphere
Andromeda was a decent sci-fi show for the first 2 seasons, and then it inexplicably changed genres and became a magical space fantasy. The craziest thing I've ever seen a show do. I've seen the whole show twice, and it still makes no sense to me. I recognize Time Trax. I really enjoyed the show back in the day.
I would rather be a red-shirt on Star Trek than one on Space 1999. The security guys and "extra" characters in S-1999 usually died in far more horrifying and disgusting ways than they did on Trek.
You had me at both "Andromeda" and "Space: 1999." A few years ago, I stumbled across an episode of "Space: 1999" on RU-vid, and I ended up binge-watching the entire show. Yes, the acting is sometimes over-the-top (especially with the judicious use of screaming) but the first season was excellent. The second season is most likely the reason the show only had two seasons, it was jarring to me, and I'm certain it was jarring to fans back then. Some of my favorite episodes have Helena-centric storylines, allowing Barbara Bain to really shine. "Andromeda" is actually based upon unreleased material from none other than Gene Roddenberry himself. Majel Barret produced the series. It's a bit of a "slow burn," but as she show progresses, there are a few interesting plot twists and some great character development along the way.
Now that I’m 50, this was a nice little recap of old sci-fi shows. I absolutely loved Andromeda! Season 1 was all about working through the growing pains. Seasons 2 & part 1 of 3, allowed R.H.W. to take over. Then it fell off the cliff. I watched every episode during the original run, and I’ve rewatched the entire series about 3 years ago. I don’t think it can be rebooted anymore than Farscape. Battlestar Galactica completely changed the genera (Best Sci-fi ever made!).
I loved Space 1999, the episode with the creature that sucked people in and back out all crispy gave my 10 year old brain nightmares but yeah, season 2 dropped the ball. The Eagles though, what a classic design, they felt like something that could actually exist! Shout out to Blakes 7 as well, another childhood fave. BBC should do a reboot, now that Dr Who is fast going downhill.
Space 1999 completed my trifecta of most favorite SciFi shows of the 70s. Right along side Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. interestingly all three had great first seasons, but lackluster second seasons, ending with cancellation.
Andromeda, season 5 is where it gets unique and downright bonkers. You get hints in the previous seasons, but all the unique stuff starts at the end of Season 4
Re. Andromeda, I got tired of the ship getting boarded/hijacked every other episode. And then there was one episode in which one of Dylan's crew was tortured, and for some inexplicable reason, Dylan wanted to make peace with his captors.
I remember at the time watching an interview where Kevin Sorbo was talking about how Andromeda was moving away from an episodic show to long, multiple-episode story arcs, because that's what television audiences seemed to be wanting increasingly. He said Andromeda was one of the first to be doing this. I kind of got the impression that he didn't really like it, that he preferred episodic. I always remember that interview, because I remember shouting at the TV, "No! No, that's not what I'M wanting!" I never went much beyond the first two seasons of Andromeda, because I didn't like the shift away from episodic TV. Nowadays, episodic TV is rare, when in the past, multi-season story arcs were rare. So if anyone cares, you can place the beginning of the shift away from episodic TV around the time of Andromeda.
Great video. I *loved* Space 1999, or at least the first series. Quantum Leap was itself a rip off of The Time Tunnel from the 1960's. I would love to see your take on other British Sci Fi from the time; Blakes 7, The Survivors, The Tomorrow People (original 1970's version) and Sapphire and Steel.
I've wanted to like Andromeda ever since it came out when I was a kid. I would excitedly sit down to watch an episode and get up not anxious to see the next one.
The changes is *SPACE: 1999* from season/series 1 to 2 were REALLY JARRING. {I was a teenager back then.} Those changes were compounded by the fact that with no Internet back then there was no way to find out WHY the changes were made.
Fan fact: Andromeda was broadcast in a small, state owned tv station here in Greece and had three times the average viewership of station, causing quite a stir in the industry
I kind of agree about Andromeda, it was just something I'd watch if it was on, but I wasn't particularly invested in it. Didn't hate, didn't love. I'd invariably watch it if nothing else was on, and with 5 channels to chose from that was often the case! But I was never enamoured, and honestly I don't remember much other than Kevin Sorbo.
Regarding Andromeda. You have to remember it was created by Gene Roddenberry originally as a sequel to Star Trek. The first season is the build-up of the universe. They already established that the Commonwealth universe collapsed into civil war. All technology was either lost or come to a stand still. That alone made it unique to any other show that came before it. When I first tried it I didn't want to do anything with it. I too only watch the first season. And felt like it was going to go nowhere. But I tried it again years later after my sister bought the autographed the complete series from Kevin Sorbo himself (at a Sci-Fi convention). Three episodes into season two and I was hooked!
It was an amazing era...at the same time, many of these shows had trouble keeping an audience, keeping the producers out of the directors chair, and success seemed to create a need to smash what was succesful. The later Star Trek seemed to be the only show that could maintain a quality over several seasons.
