Created by writer Harlan Ellison for CTV, we follow the Earthship Ark, a massive spacecraft far flung into the universe hundreds of years after fleeing a dying Earth. Presumably inhabited with billions, the Ark is made of many biosphere domes, each their own isolated civilizations fostering some culture, technology, or industry to future generations once the Ark can find a new replacement for the lost Earth. We follow three leads, escapees from a more primitive religious dome as they wander the ship's halls and slowly discover its history and unpredictable future. The format follows a fairly expected framework, with the three generally moving from dome to dome per episode, with each then presenting some dilemma based on the precepts of that dome, a la Twilight Zone mixed with a bit of Star Trek. Harlan Ellison himself, the creator known for much darker sci-fi, namely I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, would have likely hated that description of the final product. He quickly left the show prior to the first even airing due to the network "dumbing down his narrative", which does come through in what we get, but it also was 1973 network television, so what can you expect. The world building and overarching structure of the series was great, and while definitely cheesy and apparently not quite what they'd hoped, the costuming and special effects are all fun and honestly well enough done for the time. The acting isn't always the best, nor is the writing, but none of its necessarily bad. Slow paced, with a tendency to be a bit soapy and overdramatic, its short enough that for sci-fi lovers, especially of this era's sci-fi, would recommend. This show can certainly be... of assistance.
Review of The Starlost
