The Starlost was a series that really could have been much more than it was. The main writer, at least at the start, was sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison and it starred Keir Dullea who is best known as Dave Bowman from the classic "2001: A Space Odyssey". And numerous well known character actors as guest stars, specially from Star Trek. So what went wrong? Well... everything.
Originally the series was to employ a new kind of blue screen technology in which the characters could interact in front of a blue screen which would then track their movements. Unfortunately this didn't work out and any blue screen effects had to be static. Secondly the show was on a shoestring budget meaning that the effects they did have were cheap and looked it. The show, originally supposed to be filmed in London England, was then transferred to Toronto Canada. The budget was slashed and finally there was a falling out with head writer Harlan Ellison and, from what I understand, a writer's strike during that time. This mean that some of the episodes were actually penned by nearby high school students. Add this all up and you're looking at a disaster.
The show itself had an interesting premise. The Earth had been destroyed and the survivors were put on board a giant ark with biodomes all along the length. An accident early on killed the crew, the biodomes were sealed and the people living in those domes forgot they were on a spaceship. Unfortunately without a crew to pilot the massive ship, it's now off course and heading towards a star which will eventually kill everybody. So it's up to our heroes to get to the command deck and somehow figure out how to save everybody.
While there were some good episodes, most of them are rather forgettable and, let's be honest, it really hasn't aged very well. The special effects are pretty sub par and the episodes written by the high schoolers are pretty bad.
Originally the series was to employ a new kind of blue screen technology in which the characters could interact in front of a blue screen which would then track their movements. Unfortunately this didn't work out and any blue screen effects had to be static. Secondly the show was on a shoestring budget meaning that the effects they did have were cheap and looked it. The show, originally supposed to be filmed in London England, was then transferred to Toronto Canada. The budget was slashed and finally there was a falling out with head writer Harlan Ellison and, from what I understand, a writer's strike during that time. This mean that some of the episodes were actually penned by nearby high school students. Add this all up and you're looking at a disaster.
The show itself had an interesting premise. The Earth had been destroyed and the survivors were put on board a giant ark with biodomes all along the length. An accident early on killed the crew, the biodomes were sealed and the people living in those domes forgot they were on a spaceship. Unfortunately without a crew to pilot the massive ship, it's now off course and heading towards a star which will eventually kill everybody. So it's up to our heroes to get to the command deck and somehow figure out how to save everybody.
While there were some good episodes, most of them are rather forgettable and, let's be honest, it really hasn't aged very well. The special effects are pretty sub par and the episodes written by the high schoolers are pretty bad.