THE STARLOST (1973) Rare TV Guide Ads

It's tough to find any vintage advertising or promotional material for 1973's The Starlost, the Canadian-produced, syndicated science fiction series created by Harlan "Cordwainer Bird" Ellison. Every once in a while, though, I stumble across something.... like this, for instance: This odd, Biblical-inspired, hand-drawn ad (presumably by someone at WMAQ) appeared in the Northern Indiana edition of TV Guide for the week of September 22-28, 1973.

And then, there's this one, featuring pen 'n ink portraits of lead Keir Dullea and his co-stars, Robin Ward and Gay Rowan. I'm not entirely certain of its provenance, but it clearly ran in a Canadian television listing magazine (did they have TV Guide in Canada in '73?).

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #23: THE STARLOST

Not the most exciting or dramatic of Behind-The-Scenes photos, I admit, but considering it's from the 1973 Canadian series, The Starlost, I was amazed to find it. I believe this is from the "Space Precinct" episode, and the cramped set really shows what limited resources the low budget production had at its disposal.

I've admitted before that I actually enjoy The Starlost for what it is. Sure, it's not the show it should have or could have been; Harlan Ellison's concept (while not especially original) had tons of potential for a thoughtful, episodic science fiction series. Unfortunately, the bitter reality of economics left that potential unfulfilled, though I'm not sure that any TV production company in '73 could have really pulled it off to Ellison's satisfaction. It is a shame that the Canadian producers couldn't find more writers with actual experience in sci-fi, or secure a bigger budget - but as nonsensical and cheap as it may be, I still enjoy watching episodes on DVD every once in a while.

THE STARLOST (1973) That Never Was

I frequently embark on Google safaris, looking for cool stuff to post on the site or images to illustrate the posts I write. In a recent search for material relating to the 1973 television series The Starlost (a show that I still possess an inexplicable affection toward), the image above turned up. Now, I was pretty sure that there had been no Starlost TV novelizations, but that image looked friggin' authentic, so I dug deeper into the labyrinthine depths of the interwebs.

I still haven't determined exactly where this faux book cover originated, but it is definitely a hoax. Still, as a graphic designer myself, I have to give the unknown Photoshop artist his props. The fonts, layout and cover copy text are all delightfully true to the publishing styles of the Seventies. The careful "distressing" of the image works really well, too, adding to the illusion that this is a scan of a vintage paperback cover.

And it's because it is so well done that I decided to share it here. I like to think of it as a glimpse into an alternate universe, where The Starlost was a "runaway hit television series," instead of the creative and commercial disappointment that it turned out to be in this reality....

THE STARLOST (1973) TV Guide Ads

More vintage TV Guide ads! Here are a couple of advertisements for the syndicated, Canadian-produced 1973 series, The Starlost, starring 2001: A Space Odyssey's Keir Dullea and Gay Rowan. One of the most derided genre series of the Space: 1970 era, I'll admit that it's not a very good show. Still, I find the characters likable and the premise is certainly intriguing - even if rather poorly executed on a microscopic budget.

In fact, I may have to pull the DVD set down off the shelf again someday soon....