THE IMPLANT PEOPLE

I wrote a couple of blog entries a few weeks ago entitled "The Lost Starlost", and "The Last Starlost". My dear friend, Mark, suggested out of the blue that I write something on the old Canadian-produced television science fiction series, The Starlost. Mark's request was not rehearsed and he caught me off guard. I was writing about the show solely from memory.

Two days ago I rented a couple of episodes of The Starlost. These are in fact not individual episodes but tv movies that were compiled back in the early 1980s in order to release something of the series to television; as it was very short lived at 16 episodes in total. (Two episodes were stuck together, with no rhyme or reason, to make a movie. This was done for ten episodes; leaving six orphans.)

Watching this disc allowed me to revisit the doomed Earthship Ark, not to forget the doomed series... and some would argue, doomed from the start. I'm coming clean here when I say this: I watched the episodes last night and didn't think they were too bad. One of these episodes, "The Implant People", became part of the geek lexicon back in the '70s; a running gag with a couple of friends. We would joke about having a half sphere stuck to our temples so that someone could control us (or something silly like that). Veteran Canadian actor, Donnelly Rhodes (pictured above with Robin Ward), was quite good in playing his role and did so with enough of a creep-factor that we sympathized even more with his 'subjects'. The production design was interesting; especially considering the always tight television budget.

In order to save a lot of money, in addition to facilitating the ability to do a lot of superimpositions, or mattes, the series was shot on videotape. Unfortunately, this also works against it as there is that 'tv news' look. (I have always thought that video makes everything look like plastic.) Film would have been nice but, then again, Doctor Who was done on tape... it becomes part of the look, and perhaps part of the nostalgia.

All in all, an earnest attempt to do a television science fiction series with some brains, and up here in Toronto, Canada.

It is always fun going back and seeing something we remember from our childhoods. Some are good; most are bad. I'd have to see more The Starlost to judge more accurately, if it is really that important.

The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos is on tonight, you say? That's okay, I'll be watching something else.

... anything else!