The Starlost: Difference between revisions

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Despite (or perhaps ''because of'') its legendary badness, a ''Starlost'' DVD box set was released in 2008.
Despite (or perhaps ''because of'') its legendary badness, a ''Starlost'' DVD box set was released in 2008.

And if you're morbidly curious about [[What Might Have Been]], a copy of the original [[Series Bible]] can be found [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Misc_Bibles/The_Starlost_Bible.pdf here] (as of early 2017).<ref>[[User:Looney Toons|Looney Toons]] can vouch that at least part of this document is the real thing. A fan letter he wrote to NBC as a child netted him photocopies of several pages from the [[Series Bible]]; he has checked this document against his memories of those pages and confirmed that they match.</ref>


{{tropelist}}
{{tropelist}}
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* [[Follow the Leader]]: The ARK's design is a pretty common one for generation ships in fiction.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: The ARK's design is a pretty common one for generation ships in fiction.
* [[Generation Ships]]
* [[Generation Ships]]
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Devon, Garth and Rachel almost never changed out of the clothes they wore when they left Cypress Corners.
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Devon, Garth and Rachel almost never changed out of the clothes they were wearing when they left Cypress Corners.
* [[Liquid Assets]]: "The Pisces"
* [[Liquid Assets]]: "The Pisces"
* [[Myth Arc]]: The quest to regain control of the ship.
* [[Myth Arc]]: The quest to regain control of the ship.
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** Can't I scream a just a little bit that they missed the whole point of relativity entirely? Thank you. '''''THEY MISSED THE WHOLE POINT OF RELATIVITY ENTIRELY!!!1!!1 AAAAAaAAAuuUUUUggHHH!!11!!1!'''''
** Can't I scream a just a little bit that they missed the whole point of relativity entirely? Thank you. '''''THEY MISSED THE WHOLE POINT OF RELATIVITY ENTIRELY!!!1!!1 AAAAAaAAAuuUUUUggHHH!!11!!1!'''''
* [[Planet of Hats]]: The biospheres, and any other groups encountered outside them.
* [[Planet of Hats]]: The biospheres, and any other groups encountered outside them.
* [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: Every writer but Ellison. The broadcast version of the ARK is allegedly ''13,000 kilometers'' long, although the model ship seen throughout the series didn't look anywhere that big. The Earth itself is only 12,756 kilometers in diameter. Similarly, despite being on a random course, the out-of-control ARK manages to be on a collision course with a star; given the sizes and distances involved, this is practically impossible.
* [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: Every writer but Ellison. The broadcast version of the ARK is allegedly ''13,000 kilometers'' long, although the model ship seen throughout the series didn't look anywhere that big. The Earth itself is only 12,756 kilometers in diameter. (One suspects a couple numbers got swapped somewhere after it left Ellison's hands.) Worse, the domes are repeatedly described as fifty miles across, but as you can see from the image on this page, the domes on the model have diameters about a fifth or sixth of the ship's total length. So either the domes are actually over 2000 km across, or the ship's only about 300 miles (482 km) long.
** Similarly, despite being on a random course, the out-of-control ARK manages to be on a collision course with a star; given the sizes and distances involved, this is practically impossible.
** To be charitable, the gravitational effects make it more likely, if you go near a star then you will be pulled closer to it. If you manage to hit a high fraction of C so time dilation is very high, then the odds go way up since you'll go past a lot more stars. This is, however, being very very very kind.
*** To be charitable, the gravitational effects make it more likely -- if you go near a star then you will be pulled closer to it. If you manage to hit a high fraction of C so time dilation is very high, then the odds go way up since you'll go past a lot more stars. This is, however, being very very ''very'' kind.
⚫
* [[Space Amish]]: The people of Cypress Corners.
* [[Series Bible]]: Available [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Misc_Bibles/The_Starlost_Bible.pdf here] (in early 2017).
⚫
* [[Space Amish]]: The people of Cypress Corners. Literally. They are a Mennonite or pseudo-Mennonite culture.
* [[Universe Bible]]: Written at least in part by SF author Ben Bova, who briefly served as science adviser to the series, and who later wrote a comic novel about the entire disaster.
* [[Universe Bible]]: Written at least in part by SF author Ben Bova, who briefly served as science adviser to the series, and who later wrote a comic novel about the entire disaster.
* [[Writer Revolt]]: After watching the [[Executive Meddling]] get started, Ellison bailed on the project and forced the producers to use his "red flag" pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" for all his credits.
* [[Writer Revolt]]: After watching the [[Executive Meddling]] get started, Ellison bailed on the project and forced the producers to use his "red flag" pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" for all his credits.
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