Sandra watch re-runs of John Cleese to relieve the boredom.
"Dear God, please heal me of my eyebrow warts and cheek fluff"
The commander undergoes a 21st century lobotomy.
"I've received a communication from the future! Our show is going to be cancelled!"
This man is evil. He is actually a space alien using telepathy to control our minds and make us think he looks like a human. We know this because of his evil moustache.
"You gotta purty behind, mister"
While the women engage in low-level psychological warfare, Tony keeps an eye on.... things.
Tony's Spaghetti Marinara recipe is a monumental failure.
"At this present moment in time I am exceptionally distressed to the point where mere words cannot adequately convey the depth of emotions that I am experiencing." (Reminds me of Arnie in Total Recall)
Dr Russell, whose brain is tilted 45 degrees forward, has a brilliant idea .
"The humans are beginning to see through our fake moustaches, beards, boobs and personality!"
In order to rescue a man trapped in a room, Moonbase Alpha recruits the talents of experienced cavers.
Frank pays the price for eating 25 cans of baked beans near an open flame.
Moonbase Alpha's muzak choice for the day cheers all Kyuss fans.
Count Rugen encourages Prince Humperdink to murder Buttercup.
Don't argue with a woman wielding a 10cm perspex rod. (or even a katana)
Maya reluctantly agrees to join in.
Meanwhile, Tony's Spaghetti Marinara begins to take over Moonbase Alpha.
Maya can't get the Spaghetti Marinara out of her mind... literally.
"The computer's calculations are correct! Blake's Seven is killing us in the ratings!"
Commander Koenig has another bad acid trip.
"Sorry. I don't understand what a 'safety word' is."
"I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. At present I'm writing the definitive work on the subject. So I want you to be totally honest with me on how The Machine makes you feel."
Sandra finally understands the problem of being attracted to emotionally distant men.
Suddenly Alan Carter returns to earth and begins a relationship with Courtney Love.
Suddenly a man in black attacks the dune buggy on earth.
Meanwhile, back on the moon, Commander Koenig (he with web cam on top of helmet) follows the moon buggy's two-stroke smoke.
Meanwhile, back on earth, Courtney Love continues to ride on the coattails of a dead man.
And here's a picture of a guy cutting his hedge.
And here's a picture of the same guy holding a canister of atomic fuel.
Greco-Roman wrestling in the future requires space suits, not oil.
The cast laugh at the producer's ideas for the next story.
9 comments:
Tony's Spaghetti Marinara recipe is a monumental failure.
Classic... and then they take over the moonbase. I also liked Koenig's "extreme emotions" moment... and acid trip... ha ha ha! Oh those were the days.
But now for some other flashbacks, the other day I showed Harry some of "hands up who likes me!"
A worthy post Neil, my favourite episode. At least in the so bad that is good file. It encapsulates why Freddy Frieberger was considered the worst producer in the original series of Star Trek.
One items also worth noting (I think it is in this episode. One of teh two men getting the nuclear fuel rods from the storage facility was using a newtonian telescope to ccut open the door. No wonder the aliens were foiled, Perhaps they would have been better using Bartlett's electric hedge trimmer....
I was pleasantly surprised - this was the first time I had seen it. (I have owned the whole series for a number of years and have been watching them only occasionally).
It certainly was the best episode/s of series 2. There was a level of consistency in the story that was missing in others. Maya was also very good and I think they used her character quite well - she was a more involved female character than the chicks in Blake's Seven, and I had to rewind the bit where she turns into the Kendo fighter because she did it so well. Catherine Schell and Tony Alholt obviously tried really hard to get their characters into the show despite the discontinuity with season one.
Having said that, I still miss Victor, Kano and Paul.
Additionally, Koenig has a plausible reason for acting the way he did throughout the episode, though I was rather confused as to reason why he went crazy at the beginning and how that linked to the Spaghetti Marinara aliens turning up.
There also needed to be more footage of the fantasy experienced by Alan and the other two. The illusion they experienced and the temptation of remaining in it was reminiscent of the reason for Cypher's betrayal in The Matrix, which means that the episode touched on some good, solid sci-fi themes.
Series two is generally considered very weak. It does have some good moments. In one episode Maya has some sort of fever and keeps turning into different monsters and going on the rampage through Moonbase Alpha. Honestly the monsters are dreadful, fiberglass and rubber monstrosities (pun intended) with big fangs and gaping maws that in one scene you can see the bloke's face inside it. That having been said there is a scene when the Maya/Monster hops in an Eagle in the hanger. You see a whole bunch of eagles together - some I guess are cardboard cutouts, some are "real" models but the effects are superb, the explosions look great. All in all though I do believe series two is incredibly weak. Series one is not perfect but it does seem to explore bigger themes in the human condition and the existence of a providential force guiding them to a conclusion that series two does not explore.
And we may laugh at Martin Landau's earnest haminess as Koenig, but if you have ever seen him in anything else he is a superb actor (Crimes and Misdemeanors anyone?). He was also Gene Rodenberry's first choice as Mr Spock a role he would have excelled at.
Oh there is so much more I could say about 1999 may favourite teenage sci-fi (Barry Gray's series one music- pure tour de force! One thing that the extras on the DVD make me chuckle is that every interview that was done at the time (in 1975/76) that they show (Interviews with Gerry Anderson, Marty Landau, Babara Bain and Catherine Schell - every one of them is sitting in front of the camera being interviewed and puffing away on a Rothmans! The Simpsons couldn't parody that any better!
Oh I also bought the novel serialisation paperback of this episode as a 15 year old. I still have it somewhere.
I remember watching a few eps in your loungeroom back in 1993. Good memories.
They were Neil, UFO is tremendous as well on DVD.
I remember loving the theme music with the heavy guitar. Is it online anywhere?
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