Catacombs Reference LibraryTrade Press
Space: 1999 in The Hollywood Reporter
Catacombs Reference LibraryThe Hollywood Reporter is an American trade journal for the TV industry, published daily since 1930. The issues below were Martin Landau's personal copies, with his annotations.
A prominent front page story (overflowing to page 4) about ITC's "tentatively called Space 1999". Note there are still 26 hour long episodes, not 24, aiming for the 1974-1975 season (not 1975-1976). Mandell makes clear the strong influences of UFO and Star Trek
This is before Landau and Bain had been cast, but they had casting interviews the following week. As mentioned in the story, Abe Mandell and Gerry and Sylvia Anderson would arrive in Hollywood on Sunday 29th July, and over the next two weeks would interview the Landaus as well as other actors, writers and directors. The contract between ITC and the Landaus was dated 10th August.
With an eye on crashing the U.S. market ploughed by Star Trek, Independent Television Corp., western hemisphere production subsidiary of Sir Lew Grade's ATV in London, has set a $3.2 million budget for 26 hour-long segments of a new space-science fiction series to go before British cameras in November.
Abe Mandell, New York based president of ITC, and the new show's producers. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. arrive in Hollywood next week to close a deal for one or more American stars to topllne the production, and to shop for a Hollywood head writer and story editor of the stature of nod Serling.
A prior ITC space-sc-fi series, UFO, now in prime time access in 140 U.S. TV stations. inspired the new series which will seek a wider audience with improved American oriented scripts and a cast enhanced with top Hollywood name power. Ed Bishop, an American actor, stars in UFO, but his fame did not precede him when he was originally cast.
Mandell disclosed yesterday that he screened 30 to 40 episodes of Star Trek before reaching a determination on the elements essential to secure comparable penetration of the U.S. market for the new series, tentatively called, Space 1999.
"Star Trek was the most successful science fiction show ever to play American television," he granted. "But I discovered a strange thing. In every category, in my opinion, we were superior. We had better sets. We had better costumes. We had better special effects. We had better music.
"But there were two areas in which we weren't better. That was in the areas of the leading actors (Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner). and in the area of scripts. Their scripts were infinitely better than ours, and that made all the difference in the world. With that in mind I want to hire the best American story editor and head writer in science fiction that I can put my hands on. And I'm going to hire a top, top, top American star - one or several."
Mandell said he has opened discussions with several performers "with tremendously successful track records" on U.S. television, and that he hopes to sign his leads on his visit to Hollywood with his husband and wife producing team, who also wrote the concept for Space 1999.
The entire series - costing $200,000 an episode - will be filmed in London. either at Shepperton or Pinewood studios. Mandell indicated. Shooting starts in November, and the full series will be in the can before it is offered for U.S. syndication for the 1974-75 season.
"You couldn't do this kind of series, in my opinion, In the United States for $300,000 an episode," Mandell volunteered. "l base that on the special effects and the kinds of sets and the number of sets. and the number Of people we're going to use."
Mandell said the American head wrlter will be asked to turn in as many scripts as are permitted under the British quota, and that he would oversee offerings of British writers.
- Will Tusher
Another prominent front page feature about ITC, now headlined by Landau and Bain. The article overflows on page 9.
A record television and theatrical film production outlay of $55 million has been set for the next 12 months by New York based Independent Television Corp., western hemisphere subsidiary of Sir Lew Grade's Associated TeleVlsion Ltd. in London.
Most expensive single entry in the whopping budget is the 26 episode hour long series, Space: 1999, whose all-American look was consummated yesterday by ITC president Abe Mandell with official announcement of the signing of the two leads, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, husband and wife team which topllned Mission: Impossible at the height of its popularity.
Many properties included in the $55 million ITC production allocation have been previously announced, including the $250,000-a-segment Space: 1999 (Hollywood Reporter exclusive 7/27/73).
ITC, which has prime time shows on all three networks - some in access time periods, others in regular scheduling - anticipates little difficulty in closing a sale on the new Landau- Bain series to be filmed In England. albeit tooled for U.S. as the primary market, with spinoff sales world wide along established ATV releasing patterns.
ITC's $55 million commitment, however, is not conditional upon prior sales. The company is adhering to its previously established policy of bypassing pilots and filming series in their entirety before offering them for sale. Numerous ITC shows in U.S. syndication are aired on prime time access over network owned and operated stations.
No U.S. sales thus far have been made on a number of expensive ITC projects, including The Origin of the Mafia, an hour long series; Offenbach, another hour musical drama series in the genre of ITC's The Strauss Family on ABC: the Edward VII series, The Count of Monte Cristo, a half hour animated series; The Life of William Shakespeare, an hour series; Father Brown, a one hour series based on G. K. Chesterton's detective priest; and Carry On Laughing, a half hour comedy series bringing to TV an adaptation Of the successful British Carry On theatrical films.
Acknowledged target of the new $55 million production push is the U.S. television market, with a mix of deals. including client sponsored programs for station and advertiser syndication, some aimed at prime time access, straight syndication and outright network sales.
Involved is an equally diversified programming mix including. in addition to series and specials (comedy, dramatic and musical), documentaries, operas and ballets, and motion pictures produced for television. Numerous co-production deals are reflected in the overall budget, Mandell noted.
ITC-ATV partners in various projects Include Radiotelevisione Italianes, Italy, Office Radiodifusion Television Francaise, France; National Theatre Company (Old Vic), England; Royal Shakespeare Company, England; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, England; D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, England.
On the ITC syndication agenda for 73-74 is a new one hour prime time access series, My Partner the Ghost. Documentaries on the ITC production slate include "Happiness," a one hour "actuality" show produced on world wide locations by Lord Snowdon; and a new offering on life in inaccessible Asia from Adrian Cowell, producer of the award winning, The Tribe that Hides from Man.
Currently before the cameras are Edward VII, a dramatic series not yet sold in the U.S., and The Tamarind Seed, theatrical film co-starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. In pre- production, in addition to Space: 1999, are Carry on Laughing, Father Brown, The Life of William Shakespeare, The Origin of the Mafia, Offenbach, The Count of Monte Cristo, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and H.M.S. Pinafore.
Further penetration of the U.S. market was acknowledged by Mandell yesterday as a prime objective of ITC in planning its new programming expenditures.
"It is our intention," he said, "to become not only the major independent program supplier to world television markets, but the outstanding source source of supply for the American market as well. For years we have produced and distributed major properties to all three U.S. networks.
"This year we will make a major thrust for oven wider exposure of our product through sales directly to sponsors as well as to networks and independent stations."
ITC's network presence looms large in the coming season. The company is producing an hourlong Barbra Streisand special and Moses - the Lawglver, a one hour dramatic series for CBS; The Zoo Gang, a series of Burt Bacharach specials, a Sammy Davis Jr. special, and three Glen Campbell specials for NBC.
It is spreading its mark over ABC with The Merchant Of Venice, a two and a half hour special starring Laurence Olivier; a three hour prime time special, Antony and Cleopatra, five Julie Andrews specials, Tony and Lena, an hour special teaming Tony Bennett and Lena Horne; and Menace/Thriller Movies, a series of original motion pictures for television. ABC's original order of a package of 19 has been expanded with options for more, Mandell stated.
The ITC head disclosed that plans to style Space: 1999 (Hollywood Reporter 7/27/73) for the United States have been enhanced with the hiring of award winning scripter George Bellak as story editor, script supervisor and principal writer of the new series. The original concept by series producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, now is being tailored to the personalities of the husband-and-wife stars.
Rudi Gernreich has been signed to design the costumes for the series, Mandell revealed.
- Will Tusher
Meanwhile in the same issue, Hank Grant's "Rambling Reporter" gossip column on page 2 mentions Landau and Bain renting out their house while they go to film Space: 1999, here given an odd new name.
Martin Landau and his Barbara Bain are seeking to lease out their Benedict Canyon pad for a year, that being the length of time they'll be in Bllghty starring in Sir Lew Grade's new teleserles, Earth: 1999.
After Space: 1999 has been launched, a news article about science fiction films. It quotes Roger Corman and Gene Roddenberry, with mention of plans for The Star Wars by George "Lukas" and Douglas Trumbull's Hiero's Journey (which did not get made).
By John Charnay
The science fiction films are coming! The science fiction films are coming!
Moviemakers are turning from a preoccupation with the past towards a fixation with the future. Almost every studio in town is scheduling a science fiction story on its 1976 slate.
Past threats and present dangers are no longer likely to capture the imagination Of moviegoers who have become jaded in recent months from watching movies revolving around reality, according to the producers of pictures now being framed around fantasy.
"The disaster movies, martial arts films, and animal pictures have, for the time being, pretty well played themselves out," says Roger Corman, president of New World Pictures.
"The next big trend is going to be science fiction," predicts the producer Of the forthcoming futuristic film, Wheel World.
Corman is not alone in expressing the opinion that movies about the future are the present rage in film- making.
Saul David, producer of MGM's forthcoming futuristic film, Logan's Run, explains the science fiction surge by stating that "the reason they are the next big box-office boosters is because they stand in respect to the oncoming generation where the West (and cowboy movies) stood to the previous one. Space is our next frontier; the future is our new world to conquer."
Jerome Zeitman, who is producing Universal's only science fiction film slated thus far, A Cold War in a Country Garden, like nostalgia, science fiction is another form of escape entertainment. Audiences are getting away from today's problems either by turning to the past - which is why nostalgia movies have been so popular recently - or to the future - which is why science fiction movies are about to be.". Zeitman is also doing one for Twentieth Century Fox called Damnation Alley.
The creator, writer and producer of Paramount's Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, offers this explanation for the science fiction craze: "Science fiction is the broadest and most fertile story base imaginable. Literally anything conceivable can become an exciting science fiction story if it is written and directed in such a way that believable characters are created Within an understandable and meaningful story." Roddenberry thus would attribute the sudden slate Of science fiction films scheduled by most of the studios to the growing popularity of the story form itself.
Fortunately, he says, science fiction writing has made some progress in recent years - and so has the attitude of producers towards it. "Cinema and television are at least learning that science fiction means much more than gadgetry and blinking lights."
Producers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lukas also have science fiction films in their plans, Coppola's is about contact with alien intelligence and it's intended for a young audience. Lukas' is called The Star Wars and it is being shot for Twentieth Century Fox in England beginning around March.
A spokesman for Columbia Pictures says his studio has one in the works: Hiero's Journey (scripted by Stirling hant, produced by Henry Cellis and directed by Douglas Trumbull) will be filmed on location in Canada and Hawaii.
Spokesmen for each of the three TV networks told The Hollywood Reporter that science fiction may be the new trend in movies - but only insofar as theatrical films are concerned. Television movies and series, they said, are not likely to follow the trend. They cited Costs and prior ratings of such productions as the reasons.
This, in part, explains why Space: 1999 was not launched on American television and had trouble at first in syndication.
However, science fiction authors, recognizing the demand for their works in moviemaking circles, have in recent years increasingly turned to screenwriting. Among the leading practitioners Of the craft who have turned to writing screenplays or books which were written with movies in mind are Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, and Ben Bova.