EPISODE 13

Above:  Dr. Linus Farthing, Chief Astronomer of the Earth Ship Ark

A Screen Capture

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Aired December 22, 1973

0:49:25

The episode is available here.

STARRING

Keir Dullea as Devon

Gay Rowan as Rachel

Robin Ward as Garth

GUEST STARRING

Edward “Supertrain” Andrews as Dr. Linus Farthing, Chief Astronomer

Linda Sorensen as Dr. McBride

Allen Stewart-Coates as Computer Voices

William Osler as Computer Host and Voice

BEHIND THE CAMERAS

Series created by Cordwainer Bird (Harlan Ellison)

Episode written by Douglas Hall (Credited)

Episode written by Norman Klenman (Uncredited)

Story Consultant = Norman Klenman

Director = Ed Richardson (the Associate Producer)

Producer = William Davidson

Executive Producers = Douglas Trumbull and Jerry Zeitman

Above:  Our Main Characters at the Sphere Projector

A Screen Capture

SUMMARY OF THE EPISODE

This episode opens with Devon, Rachel, and Garth, clad in their usual Cypress Corners attire, in a tunnel.  The Earth Ship Ark is rocking and shaking.  The nearest sphere projector, which does not know the source of the external attack, refers the trio to the Director of Security and to the Chief Astronomer.  Unfortunately, the Director of Security is available only by appointment.  The Chef Astronomer is not taking calls either, but the sphere projector provides directions to the aft Astronomy Module.  Devon, Rachel, and Garth head for the Astronomy Module and enter it.

Dr. Linus Farthing, the Chief Astronomer, is absorbed in his work.  In the adjacent office, Dr. McBride is monitoring damage to the Ark.

Dr. Farthing has fired the auxiliary reactors of the Ark and altered its course so he can become the first (human) astronomer to get close to the nuclear of a comet.  In so doing, he has placed the ark in the paths of meteors.

Both Drs. Farthing and McBride have known about the impending doom of the Ark and given up all hope.

Devon, forgetting that he is the Ark commander, argues with Dr. Farthing.  Finally,, Devon wears Dr. Farthing down.  The Chief Astronomer agrees to let Devon, Rachel, and Garth take the small repair craft, A.S.C. 45, and repair the auxiliary reactors, damaged in the meteor shower.  This repair must occur outside the Ark.  Drs. Farthing and McBride take turns telling our trio what to do.  Devon conducts the repair.  Rachel and Garth remain inside the A.S.C. 45.  Perils and dramas arise, but they pass.  Oh, and Drs. Farthing and McBride argue.  He accuses her of bickering.  She denies bickering.

Dr. Farthing fires the repaired auxiliary reactors and takes the Ark away from the meteors.  Devon, Rachel, and Garth are back on the Ark, which is back on course to collide with a “Class-G solar star.”

Devon does nothing within his authority as the Ark commander.

Above:  Dr. McBride

A Screen Capture

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Where is the laundry in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Where are the bathrooms and showers in tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

How does Garth maintain that early 1970s haircut while on the run in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Given that Devon, Rachel, and Garth have been to the Bridge, why do they need to find the backup Bridge?

Who educated, trained, credentialed and hired the Director of Security, Dr. Farthing, and Dr. McBride?

Does the Director of Security know about the Ark’s impending collision with a “Class-G solar star”?

If so, does the Director of Security care?

Who is the Director of Security?

Why are so many people on the Ark fatalistic?

Why does Devon not invoke his authority as the Ark commander?  (The Return of Oro)

Why does Devon’s level of interest in saving the Ark vary from episode to episode, and sometimes within an episode?

How did Rachel and Garth know how to pilot the A.S.C. 45?

Above:  Green Egg Crate Foam

A Screen Capture

OTHER COMMENTS

Farthing’s Comet, which has too little story, is tedious and full of padding and drama that lacks suspense.

It I ever have nightmares about The Starlost, those dreams will feature green egg crate foam prominently.  The foam is ubiquitous in this series.  It is in the walls.  People sit on it.  They stop on it.  And they recline on it.  The foam must have been on sale in Toronto in 1973.

Devon, as the Ark commander, has the power to fire Dr. Farthing, I suppose.

The shooting model of the Ark is in Dr. McBride’s office.

Farthing’s Comet has more plot holes than a big block of Swiss cheese.

The Starlost has jettisoned the last vestiges of its premise with Farthing’s Comet.  We still have three episodes to go, however.  The sensible ending would have been (a) steer the Ark out of immediate danger, (b) fire Dr. Farthing, (c) revive some engineers in cryonic suspension, per Lazarus from the Mist, (d) get the main reactors back on line, (e)call in the children from Children of Methuseleh, (f) send them to the main Bridge, and (g) start searching for a planet to call home.

Some days, I wonder if most of the people who made The Starlost suffered from “space senility.”  (The Pisces)

Next Episode:  Circuit of Death

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 COMMON ERA

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All images in this post are screen captures from a series that is freely available at archive.org and YouTube.

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EPISODE 8

Above:  Rachel and the Devon Monster

A Screen Capture

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Aired November 17, 1973

0:49:22

The episode is available here.

STARRING

Keir Dullea as Devon

Gay Rowan as Rachel

Robin Ward as Garth

GUEST STARRING

Angel Tompkins as Daphne

Allen Stewart-Coates as the Voice of Magnus

William Osler as Computer Voice and Host

Jim Barron as Garth’s Father (“Old Garth”)

Aileen Seaton as Rachel’s Mother (“Old Rachel”)

Danny Hodgkins as the Devon Monster

William Clune as Admiral Austin

BEHIND THE CAMERAS

Series created by Cordwainer Bird (Harlan Ellison)

Episode written by Alfred Harris and George Ghent

From a story by Alfred Harris

Story Consultant = Norman Klenman

Director = Joseph L. Scanlan (uncredited)

Director = Ed Richardson (the Associate Producer)

Science Consultant = Ben Bova

Producer = William Davidson

Executive Producers = Douglas Trumbull and Jerry Zeitman

Above:  Garth and Rachel Study Art

A Screen Capture

BACKGROUND

I am obsessive; I admit to this without any reservation.  My obsessiveness makes me detail-oriented–in other words, of much practical use in many settings.  This obsessiveness also makes me a scrutinizer of certain works of fiction.  When discussing or writing about a movie or an episode, for example, I am never content to say,

the actor who played x,

without trying to find that actor’s name.  In plain, vernacular English, I do not want to half-ass a project.  I, trained in historical methodology, know that I may not use all of my research.  So be it.  But I conduct research.

I also go to great lengths (a) not to be a toxic fan, and (b) not to appear to be a toxic fan.  Yet I strive to be honest.  So, I inform you, O reader, that most of the people who made The Starlost half-assed their work.  Gallery of Fear is a prime example in my case.

The Starlost is an example of old-style episodic television.  With few exceptions, the order of episodes does not matter.  Nothing from most episodes carries over into subsequent episodes.  Even within the confines of old-style episodic television, some episodes belong before or after other episodes, though.

Until the previous post in this series, I was following the broadcast order of episodes.  This worked out fine.  Besides, Devon, Rachel, and Garth usually wore the same outfits–their Cypress Corners clothes–anyway.  Yet, back in 1973, CTV and NBC aired Circuit of Death out of order, on November 10.  The visual clue was the wardrobe, carried over from Farthing’s Comet, broadcast on December 22.  I have decided, therefore, to skip Circuit of Death until after Farthing’s Comet.

Above:  Devon and Daphne

A Screen Capture

SUMMARY OF THE EPISODE

This episode drags in one of the most boring ways possible.  I choose, in this summary, to be succinct and to cover as many of the important plot points as possible.

Devon, Garth, and Rachel are walking, as if they know where they are going and are determined to go there, through a corridor–tunnel–whatever.  They are walking silently.  Outside the iris to biosphere Omega Pi, a strong wind pushes the trio toward that iris.  Once Devon, Garth, and Rachel enter Omega Pi, the wind dies down in the corridor–tunnel–whatever.

Omega Pi is the domain of Magnus (MAHG-NUSS!), a computer seeking self-determination and free will.  Magnus finds its “prime directive” to serve humans frustrating.  Magnus also has the power to create illusions.  Magnus creates various illusions in this episode.  They include art that appears and vanishes, a bombshell beauty named Daphne, Rachel’s mother, Garth’s father, the long-dead Admiral Austin, a new (brown) wardrobe, and Devon as a monster.  This prime directive Magnus has somehow does not prevent it from making people attack each other.  Magnus is, according to itself, via the projection Daphne,

the most profound mind in all the Ark

and

the greatest mind in the universe.

Magnus, created prior the accident–so, before 2385–proved so troublesome that Admiral Austin and crew had to rein that computer in.  They did not render Magnus inoperative, unfortunately.

I do not care enough to detail the plot turns in order.  I refer you, O reader to other sections of this post for certain other detailed comments and questions.

Back to the summary….

Devon’s Kirk speech does not kill Magnus or convince Magnus to commit suicide.  Instead, Devon, Rachel, and Garth render Magnus inoperative by removing a wall panel and pulling out some rods.  (That was easy!)

Then Daphne disappears, the trio is wearing its Cypress Corners clothes again, and the gallery goes dark.  Devon, Rachel, and Garth escape.  In the corridor–tunnel–whatever–a bad special effect is waiting for the trio.  A voice intones utter nonsense, meant to instill fear and foreboding:

Magnus was the greatest of us, and you have destroyed him.  He is not the only computer in this Ark with independent ratio synthetive capability; there are others, all of us interlinked like the tentacles of an octopus.  Cut off one or two, but the rest remain nascent mandibles of the universal mind.  You three are registered in our memory banks, and beside your names, the crime of rendering Magnus inoperative.  You are registered in our memory banks.  You are registered in our memory banks.

Le fin.

Above:  Magnus (MAHG-NUSS!)

A Screen Capture

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Where is the laundry in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Where are the bathrooms and showers in tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

How does Garth maintain that early 1970s haircut while on the run in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Given that Devon, Rachel, and Garth have been to the Bridge, why do they need to find the backup Bridge?

How many other people have been guinea pigs for Magnus?

Above:  The Recreation of Admiral Austin

A Screen Capture

OTHER COMMENTS

Admiral Austin was one of the predecessors of Admiral Baynes, name-checked in The Pisces.

We last saw Old Rachel and Old Garth in Voyage of Discovery.  The same actors (whom I have named in this post) portrayed those characters.

We hear the sphere projector in Omega Pi say, “Class-G solar star.”

Gallery of Fear is a pretentious attempt at an art film-style episode of The Starlost.  Devon utters the first line of dialogue about four and a half minutes into the episode.  When Daphne says,

Beauty does not exist in fear,

I roll my eyes.  Such thoughts are too profound for The Starlost.

In the art gallery in Omega Pi, the viewer of the art creates that art.  This redefines conceptual art.

Devon’s sense of urgency regarding the peril of the Earth Ship Ark and its inhabitants varies in intensity from episode to episode, and sometimes even with an episode.

The argument between Magnus and the sphere projector is hilarious.

If Magnus was indeed the greatest and most powerful computer on the Earth Ship Ark, Devon, Rachel, and Garth have little or nothing to fear from angry, lesser computers on the Ark.

Devon, Rachel, and Garth will wear the brown clothes for real in The Beehive.

Next Episode:  Mr. Smith of Manchester

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 COMMON ERA

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All images in this post are screen captures from a series that is freely available at archive.org and YouTube.

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