Want to re-watch 1970s classic Space 1999, but afraid to slog through those gooey plots full of woo-woo and aliens with eyeliner on their foreheads? Now you can see the show's best bits, with updated effects, in Space 2099.
A Space 1999 fan named Eric Bernard has boiled down most episodes of the first three seasons of the show into easy-to-watch chunks of 2-3 minutes each. And he's added more effects, attempted to create better continuity, and even edited dialogue so that everybody says they're in 2099 instead of 1999. Essentially, he's made the show addictively watchable again.
Bernard has even given the preposterous premise of the series a slightly-less-preposterous explanation. If you recall, the original series begins when radioactive garbage on the Moon explodes and sends the Moon hurtling out of orbit into space - along with Moonbase Alpha and its over 200 inhabitants. Bernard has changed the first episode's title from "Breakaway" to "The Void Ahead," and added into the storyline a mysterious "void" that opens and sucks the Moon through rapidly. Yes, this actually makes slightly more sense than what happens in the show, where the Moon goes so fast that within three episodes, the characters discuss how it would take 70 years to get back to Earth from the rogue satellite. OK maybe the void thing makes just as much sense. But the point is, it sounds cooler.
You can see Bernard's re-imagining of the pilot above. Here is the original pilot's final 10 minutes:
For each episode, Bernard supplies a short, helpful plot summary and explains what he's changed to modernize it. For the pilot, he writes:
This episode contains several modifications the major one being at the crucial moment when the second nuclear waste dump explodes. This event now creates a rupture in the fabric of space sucking the moon into its void and propulsing it into an uncharted area of the universe. At the end, the decision to stay on Moonbase Alpha is now a more obvious one and John Koenig alone assumes responsibility. Fans will also notice that the travel tube has been adapted to look more accurate with the actual studio set and that the Meta signal has been removed to be re-used in another context later in the series.
If you liked the original show but can't bear to rewatch it due to the pain, or if you think it's still a damn fine show but you'd like to see it modernized, you must check out the Space 2099 series.
via Space 2099
Thanks, Avery Battles!