I would like everyone to share with me a moment of respectful silence in honor of those 211 brave men and women on Moonbase Alpha who survived after the moon was blasted out of Earth's orbit on this day back in 1999. Thank you.

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Quote from: jeff37923;991978I would like everyone to share with me a moment of respectful silence in honor of those 211 brave men and women on Moonbase Alpha who survived after the moon was blasted out of Earth's orbit on this day back in 1999. Thank you.

311. By final episode they'd lost somewhere around 50 crew.

On a related note, I was just sadly informed that Space: 1999 is leaving Hulu in less than two weeks.  So, if you have Hulu, watch it now.

I've never seen even a minute of Space: 1999 to this day!

Quote from: Dumarest;993086I've never seen even a minute of Space: 1999 to this day!

You should rectify that.  The first season is brilliant.  Avoid the second season though, IMO.

Quote from: Celestial;993213You should rectify that.  The first season is brilliant.  Avoid the second season though, IMO.

What's the premise and what changed in the second season to make it something to avoid?

I

A base was established on the moon in the late 1980s.  Also, lots and lots of nuclear waste were deposited on the moon.  One day, in 1999, that nuclear waste on the moon goes *BOOM*!  Instead of destroying the moon however, the moon is literally propelled out of Earth orbit, and it just keeps drifting.  The moon keeps going through different star systems via wormholes.  Each week, the crew of Moonbase Alpha explore the star system that the moon is travelling through that week, and seeing if there are any hospitable worlds they can evacuate to.  There's hints throughout the first season that something (whether that be God, The Universe, or what have you),  protected the moon from the nuclear explosion in the first episode, and is guiding the moon and its people through the universe.  If you can get past the premise of the moon leaving Earth's orbit via nuclear explosion and travelling through different star systems each week, the show is actually kind of semi-hard science-fiction.

The show's budget during the second season was massively reduced, more than half of the first season characters/actors were gotten rid of, replaced by two new characters including a shape-shifting alien that was clearly intended to be a riff on Mr. Spock.  Also, there was more of a lighthearted tone, with each episode ending with a joke and the Moonbase Alpha crew laughing.  It just wasn't very good, and destroyed what was special about the first season.  All IMO, mind you.

Here's a very sincere and touching fan tribute that was first played Sept 13 1999.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh4f2Gkee3I

Quote from: Celestial;993281A base was established on the moon in the late 1980s.  Also, lots and lots of nuclear waste were deposited on the moon.  One day, in 1999, that nuclear waste on the moon goes *BOOM*!  Instead of destroying the moon however, the moon is literally propelled out of Earth orbit, and it just keeps drifting.

This is a fallacy that keeps getting repeated.

The waste site goes critical and effectively turns into a huge magnetic engine thrusting the moon away at immense velocities.

QuoteThe show's budget during the second season was massively reduced, more than half of the first season characters/actors were gotten rid of, replaced by two new characters including a shape-shifting alien that was clearly intended to be a riff on Mr. Spock. Also, there was more of a lighthearted tone, with each episode ending with a joke and the Moonbase Alpha crew laughing. It just wasn't very good, and destroyed what was special about the first season. All IMO, mind you.

They lost one main character, one secondary character, and one or two side characters I believe. Not sure if its half. But if you liked those characters it was notable. Part of the problem with 2nd season was they brought in a guy who was known for the oddities of the last season of Star Trek and some weirdness in Lost in Space. They hated the cerebral first season and so we had monster of the week episodes and a shapechanger.

Quote from: Omega;993781Part of the problem with 2nd season was they brought in a guy who was known for the oddities of the last season of Star Trek and some weirdness in Lost in Space. They hated the cerebral first season and so we had monster of the week episodes and a shapechanger.

Now I know what they based Changeling/Beast Boy's Hollywood career on in those old Teen Titans comics!

Watched it the first time, don't need to see it again.