Shark Bytes

Season 1 and season 2 were two entirely different shows. Season 1 was sort of esoteric hippy space horror with Moonbase Alpha often being a haunted house of sorts. The second season was essentially a kiddie action show. Space 1999 the 1st series never jumped Space 1999 the 2nd series jumped before the opening credits.

Whether I'm watching a first season or second season episode, the thing that always jumps out at me during any episode of Space: 1999 is the anti-chemistry between the actors. It goes beyond "wooden acting," it's more like the actors all hated each other's guts behind the scenes, and it shows up onscreen. It's like they stare ice daggers at each other the whole time they're coldly reciting their lines. Whatever the reason for it, the anti-chemistry makes Space: 1999 unwatchable.

Definitely jumped the shark in season 2, with the episode about anti-matter and the dude in the yellow underpants. Can't think of the name of the episode. I've probably blocked it out, because it was just too horrible.

How to destroy a well-done and interesting science fiction TV show? by Fred Freiberger

1. Throw out the "interesting and deep science fiction show" concept and use the "don't bother me with logic, accuracy and dephts if it is fun and there's a lot of explosions" policy.

2. Replace the beloved old father-figure genius scientist with a 25-year-old 90-60-90 supermodel who can SUPRISE! SUPRISE! transform herself into animals.

3. Throw out all the secondary characters, who cares about them? Let's say they all died suddenly! Who cares? Then replace them with new faces unknown to the audience.

4. Use some really idiotic ideas like a talking brain or space hippies (oh! sorry! that was another show!)

If you do all this you'll probably destroy and kill off a science fiction show for ever! (Do you remember what I've done with Star Trek??)
Yours sincerely,
F. Freiberger

Space:1999 really jumped the shark in the SECOND SEASON.

There was so much wood in the acting on this show that you could rebuild all the damaged homes from hurricane katrina

For when it was made, Space:1999 was very well done as far as effects go. I enjoy the show myself, but in a way it did jump from day one because the acting wasn't so hot, (especially Barbra Bain!), and sometimes the stories
didn't have much logic to them. Second season was far-fetched, but alot more exciting than the first, and it seemed like the acting improved a bit. I think the best episode of the whole series was "Dragon's Domain", it had a rather eerie atmosphere to it, and for the time it was rather gruesome. "Black Sun" was pretty good, but the ending was ridiculous, no rhyme or reason! Not a terrific show, but I give it an A for effort.

The show jumped after the second season, there should be no question. Not all of the second season was a waiste, but they just aren't as watchable as the first season. Anytime I go to my Space:1999 library I regularly pick an season 1 episode to watch over the second season 4 out of 5 times. They lost Victor Bergman and Paul Morrow and replaced them with Maya and Tony. Maya was fine as an addition, but Tony was sometimes too annoying for me and I couldn't get over that hairstyle of his. The relationships seemed too pushed in that season and the plots became unbearable (I find "The Taybor" and "All That Glistens" unwatchable).

I liked both seasons of Space: 1999, but the storylines in season two seemed to be more predictable. The addition of Maya and Tony was not a jumpable event but thankfully the series was ended before Brian the Brain had a chance to tell jokes and become part of the crew--and jump the shark. Dragon's Domain, The Troubled Spirit and The Infernal Machine were the best episodes of season one and A Matter of Balance, The Immunity Syndrome (cool re-entry glider) and Devil's Planet (whip-wielding cat women!!) were the best of season two. Any episodes with Eagles shooting down aliens or crashing got my vote for best episode!!

Somewhere in the deep space void between the cool first series and the corny second, the good ship Space 1999 encountered and sprang unshamedly over the Shark Nebula. No Barry Morse, Maya changed into a mouse far too often, Barbara Bain was even more icily detached than before, and the scripts were of extremely patchy quality. There were no more 'Dragon's Domain' horror-fests, that's for sure. One might get a fine opening to an episode, only for it to deteriorate into farce in the second half. One particularly memorable 'bad' episode from season two was 'The Bringers Of Wonder', a two-part epic in which the Alphans were replaced with big, blobby alien creatures in disguise. Only Cmdr Koenig could see them in their real form. This potentially chilling plotline was stunningly holed below the waterline when the 'revealed' Alphan-disguised blobby creatures were shown moving around the base, slowly and ponderously, in the manner of people wearing big, heavy costumes. Next shot they're in 'Alphan' guise again, and they're moving, talking and gesturing as normal. Shouldn't they at least have been walking very slowly (after 30 years, my brother and I still laugh about this)? Speaking of which, one ever-present Space 1999 howler which always amused was the way astronauts would not only cary out their physical duties painstakingly slowly and deliberately, but turn their heads inside their helmets and even blink with the same careful air of concentration.

Ok so physics says that its start point was absured, and classic peice of nuclear phoba, and that speed of travel was laughable. the space ships acted like space ships they made sense. Plus great scripts in season one such as the one with homosidal robot that is mooroned in space for all time I was really sad about that.

So it wasn't just me...new to the world of bit torrents, I've been searching for an episode of Space 1999 that scared the crap out of me when I was eight years old. A bit of googling reveals it was 'Dragon's Domain', and I'm glad to read it wasn't just me that couldn't sleep after seeing it. It's downloading now - I'll be very interested to see how it bears up 30 years later.

Season Two. I remember watching this show as a kid and being really confused by Season Two. WTF?! Where did the cool old father figure go and who is the silly woman with side burns?! The only episode I remember watching as a child is "Mission of the Darians". I remember being really creeped out by that episode... As an adult, I have re-watched all of the season I episodes and don't think there was a stinker in the bunch; except for Dragons Dominion, blech.... Alot of people seem to like it but I think it was the worst episode of season I. Far and away the best episode was "Death's Own Domain". Man, I love that episode! Brian Blessed at his best.....

As others have said, the 2 seasons really comprise two different shows, both of which had good and bad things about them. I too was hooked on this show as a kid and watching them on DVD almost 30 years later reminds me of how little I needed to entertain myself. One of the things I loved about both seasons was their unique opening music sequences, which also represented the different flavors of the two seasons: that timpani drum-roll and brass fanfare in Season 1, and the upbeat percussion, brass and strings of Season 2 (and I was just enough of a geek to make up lyrics, of which the only bit I remember were the first opening notes: "Space...nineteen-ninety-NINE!" etc.). The music that ended each episode also typified the different seasons: the (dark and sad) minor chord of Season 1 and the (upbeat but goofy) major chord of Season 2. On the DVD there's a promo included in which Catherine Schell is described as "the Wonder Woman of science fiction" which tickled me considering that Wonder Woman was also one of my favorite shows at the time. Finally, count me in as another 10-year-old who was traumatized by "Dragon's Domain."

Not sure if it jumped or not. Maybe it did in the episode where the Moon "received" an atmosphere and they were outside having picnics and playing volleyball or whatever. (Am I making that up? I'm SURE I remember that but maybe I have the details wrong.) I think all of the posters who mentioned the "Dragon's Domain" episode with the corpse-spitting monster really started to dredge up some repressed memories. I was 9 at the time and I'm sure I saw it. The one episode I DO remember is the one with a frozen planet called "Ultima Thule". I never forgot that name - even after 30 years! It sounded like a "Star Trek" name. The one part that scared the crap out of me in that episode was when the one guy turned into this burned-looking corpse in one of the Eagle ships because he lost his immortality. At age 9, that one did a number on me! That body was terrifying to me!

Monochromatic Italian-designed sets were too cool in season one. I remember the Dr. (Bain) with perfectly coifed hair (not a hint of the 70's) walking down the steps of the medical lab, stunned at the reality of what happened with a harsh moonscape behind, and the windows even had skeletal models backlit by the harsh lighting. Criticized for having subdued "wooden" acting, I liked it; it somehow fit with the show. Then season two, white light panels replaced by yellow, the set never looked right again. Inexplicably they "moved underground" to account for the set changes. Barbara Bain now had feathered 70's hair and a big goofy snow coat. They even had her smile and act more casual. It was her job to use a giant 200 lb rolling "recording device" to try and narrate, as opposed to skilled writers using exposition dialog to tell the story. Gone was the theme music recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, replaced by generic "space tv show" music. Someone got ahold of a bubble machine so they decided to write a script around it...bleh. It sucked after season one.