There was a science fiction TV show that aired in 1973. It was beyond terrible.
And it breaks my heart, because it could’ve been brilliant.
The Starlost began as a bold idea from Harlan Ellison, one of science fiction’s most furious minds. He imagined a high-concept story set on a massive generational starship, centuries after Earth’s destruction. Ben Bova—no slouch himself—signed on as the show’s science advisor. It was supposed to be serious, intelligent sci-fi.
Then it all fell apart.
Ellison quit the project in disgust when he saw what the producers were doing to his scripts. He took his name off the credits and replaced it with “Cordwainer Bird”—his personal middle finger to a creative failure. Bova stuck around a little longer, but didn’t even bother to list it on his résumé.
Originally pitched as an eight-episode BBC miniseries, The Starlost ended up syndicated on CBC and NBC, its budget slashed to nearly nothing. The result?
Disaster.
Forget cardboard sets—cardboard would’ve been a luxury. The producers built tiny tabletop models and blue-screened the actors into them. It looked exactly as bad as that sounds. Shot on bargain-basement videotape that looked like it had already been used for three episodes of The Edge of Night, the show had the production quality of a hostage video.
The acting? Hit and miss. Keir Dullea starred—he of 2001: A Space Odyssey—and did what he could with what he had. Stirling Hayden appeared in the pilot, reading his lines like a pro, but clearly not thrilled to be there. Most scenes feel like they got one or two takes, tops. The rest of the cast delivered their lines with the passion of a seventh-grade book report.
So why bring this mess up now?
Because the idea behind The Starlost still works—and in the right hands, it could be great.
Here’s the pitch:
A massive starship, built to save humanity from a dying Earth, travels through space toward a new solar system. Inside are dozens—maybe hundreds—of domes, each preserving a separate culture. But something went wrong centuries ago. The crew is dead. And most of the people on board have no idea they’re even on a ship.
One man stumbles on the truth. He leaves his backward, agrarian dome and discovers that his “world” is just one part of a much bigger one. He begins a desperate journey to find the bridge, find out what happened to the crew, stop the ship from crashing into a star—and taking the last remnants of humanity with it.
That’s not just a good story. That’s a damn good story.
It’s Snowpiercer in space. It’s Silo, it’s Fallout. It’s timeless.
Apple+ is already investing in science fiction that takes itself seriously—For All Mankind, Foundation. Why not revisit The Starlost? This time, with the budget, brains, and vision it deserves.
Ronald D. Moore comes to mind—he turned Battlestar Galactica into one of the best shows of the 2000s. But if he’s busy, there are plenty of others who could do it justice.
So here’s my question: Is there anyone in Hollywood bold enough to take a crack at Ellison’s original vision?
Not the blue-screened disaster. The real version. The one we never got.
(P.S. Ellison’s pilot script was eventually turned into a graphic novel—Phoenix Without Ashes—with his involvement. It’s out of print, but worth tracking down. There’s also a graphic novel version still available. My own copy sits proudly on my shelf, reminding me of what could’ve been—and what still could be.)