Being a geek all your life, you see things as a kid, but don’t know why you’re so attracted to it. For me, anything that had to do with spaceships and stars and science automatically caught my attention, even though I might not have understood it at the time. Such were my memories of a TV series that was tucked away in the recesses of my memory, the 1973 Scifi show STARLOST.
Devon, Rachel and Garth are simple quaker folk that practice a peaceful life in a world that never changes. But when Devon’s burning curiosity lets him discover that, instead of living on a planet, he and his kind are on a huge spaceship called The Ark, and that ship happens to be heading towards a star, Devon’s life turns into a mission to find a way to save his people and The Ark. Along with his true love Rachel and good friend Garth, Devon and the others find that there are multiple ‘Domes’ on the giant ship, housing different human civilizations in each one, and maybe the answers he needs to succeed.
With only 16 episodes to this series, it’s probably a vague memory to many people along with myself. I actually didn’t remember the exact title for the longest, until I talked with my long time friend and knowledgable geek Ted. This is another reason why I love Netflix (must start getting paid for giving them props). They had it in stock and I was looking at the first DVD the day after.
Green Screen and Cheap Sets galore, this program that was shot on TV video more like a staged soap opera than a Science Fiction, was a true slice of low-budget, high concept storytelling. But watching the first few episodes over almost thirty years later.. well, I have to say that this was some classic masterpiece of bad acting. I mean, maybe for the time it wasn’t too bad. All of the low-budget qualities did add to the nostalgia of the program. Keir Dullea, Gay Rowan and Robin Ward played Devon, Rachel and Garth (respectively).
For you hard-core Scifi fans, I would say check it out and get a kick out of this classic 70s stuff. The rest of you geeks might be too bored or think it’s too silly to give it any meaningful time to watch. Geek Soul Brother doesn’t blame you, but as for him, STARLOST will be an enjoyable trip down memory lane.
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