Space 1999 - TV Series - Why the show was cancelled.

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1. Because every episode is like a bad acid trip. I watched this show and liked it when I was 7. Looking back, I have no idea how. This show is fucking terrible.
2. It was cancelled because it was shite. It just took them a long time to realize.
3. The show bored me to tears when it was first out. Dunno why it is showing up in my feed.
4. The show was cancelled because Fred Freiberger was a dick.
5. superb show! sad end!
6. Really appreciate the show as a kid.
7. I am happy to own the complete A & E Dvd set. There was one episode about the return of a space probe that accidently destroyed an alien planet I thought compared very favorably to a ST; Voyager episode also about a space probe sent to make contact with alien species. Actually I thought the S1999 episode was better.
8. gerry and sylvia made a huge contribution to television.thanks to both of them
9. As a fan of the series from day one, and a veteran of the American conventions, I can tell you how this went down.
   Space:1999 premiered in September, 1975 worldwide (except for Chicago, where WGN's program director held the show until October after the Cubs' baseball season was over). The show premiered strong in some markets, weak in others. In Chicago, the show aired Sundays at 5:30p and did well. Some markets airadered it in late-night weekend slots. The ratings declined, and Lord Lew Grade made a decision around the end of October/beginning of November to cancel. Gerry and ITC-New York president Abe Mandell started scrambling to save Gerry's magnum opus. Gerry made the suggestion to hire Fred Freiberger as a consultant and prepare a pitch for Grade. Freiberger decided the show needed to go in a more action-driven direction and it was Abe Mandell who suggested monsters. Monsters were "in" in the U.S. according to him. Gerry gave Freiberger a wide berth to do what he thought he needed to, but Gerry never "stepped down." His input was diminished comparatively, but he never left his exec prod office.
   Then, after Grade bought Freiberger's pitch, there was another scramble. The show had to begin production in January to make a fall premiere. Keith Wilson dragged his sets out of storage, but had to make Alpha more compact, since Freiberger didn't want to take up as much studio space as the first series. (For a good example of how compact the sets had to be, look at the Eagle Transporter interior set. The walkway between the Command Module and the Passenger Module doesn't exist anymore.) Wilson and Emma Porteous took out the Alpha duty uniforms from storage and started modifying them. The main cast received new uniforms, everybody else old ones modified. Brian Johnson had to refurbish the Eagle models and it was decided a third 44" Eagle was needed for crash scenes, made from steel frame and silver solder rather than brass frame and lead-tin solder.
   There were no scripts prepared, so Freiberger re-worked two scripts left over from the first season...Johnny Byrne's "The Biological Computer" became "The Metamorph"and Donald James' "The Exiles."
   By the time the fourth episode, "All That Glisters" went into production, Martin Landau and Freiberger were at loggerheads. Landau HATED the script and hated Koenig' behavior and decisions. He pushed Freiberger and Freiberger pushed back; when Landau had an issue with a script, Freiberger didn't want to hear it. Then, Abe Mandell visited the set and became apopleptic over the monsters. Why were there monsters? Monsters were "out!" Gerry had to remind Mandell that the monsters were HIS idea in the first place!
   The second series premiered high (like the first season), but the ratings fell off sharply. The audience found the new direction disappointing. If they wanted Lost In Space, they could tune in any rerun. Stations in the U.S. didn't exactly flood ITC-New York's headquarters with requests for another season. (Which was how it was done back then. A station would take their local ratings and determine whether they wanted more.) By episode 21, Grade decided to cancel and his decision was final.
   As for the debate over the departure of Barry Morse, Freiberger was in negotiations with Barry's agent. Barry's agent kept asking for more money. When Freiberger refused to budge, Barry's agent said Barry was out. Freiberger put a finalization on that statement by saying "Fine. He's out." According to Freiberger, the agent should've said "He's out...but I have to check with him first." Barry said it was alright, he wanted to go "play with the big boys" (taking a jab at Landau and Bain). A scene explaining Victor Bergman's absence was written into The Metamorph and filmed but cut from the final print.
   Tony Verdesci: I only wish Victor were here.
   Sahn Benes: But he isn't.
   TV: One lousy spacesuit with a faulty helmet, and Victor had to be in it.
   SB: We can't bring him back, Tony.
10. It's a shame that Space:1999 was commisioned instead of the planned second series of UFO. IMHO.
11. I remember S1999 used to be on Saturday afternoons in NY in the late 70's. I always found it kind of boring and strange as a kid. Being used to other American scifi shows of the time, like Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Jason Star Command, Battle Of the Planets, and Battlestar Galactica, It just seemed very slow and talky. As an adult I stumbled on UFO a few years back by accident, and loved it. I then rented a couple discs of S1999, it still couldn't grab me. It just has a very odd pace.
12. The show was flawed with good episodes an I won't get into a discussion of the bad ones to me its worth a reboot of the series.
13. The science was so bad
14. LOL. I have to laugh. Gerry isn't the one who left, it was Sylvia. And for the next 40+ years he stayed angry and refused to let the people who created documentaries or books about their series interview her. What a jerk.
15. I never could stand that show. Stupid ships, stupid effects a poor choice of main actors and horrible story lines.
16. I remember that series from when I was way younger and it appeared like fascinating. I recently viewed back the series and I now think that the scenarios were very poor and there where no more magic. There were no science facts or scientific consultant on that series for sure... Si everything was so naive and on a total unreliability.  Yeah it's true that when the series was on at the end of the 70's, my knowledge of science was way not as developed it is now. But it was kind of fun anyway to see it again even it was so unwell written. The special effects and budget were there, but good scriptwriters were missing somewhere outer space lol.
17. A little context, please. Who's failing relationship is being spoken of here? The Andersons'? The Landaus'?
    Space: 1999 Year One had a good mysterious vibe but lots of clunky little flaws.
    Space: 1999 Year Two tried to address and correct those flaws but gained a juvenile tone and ended up with bigger flaws.
    
    If I had to pick just one episode of the series to showcase it would be The Infernal Machine. It's suspenseful, well-paced, with exciting action and FX sequences, Most importantly, it lacks any significant plot flaws and tells a good character-driven science fiction story. It compares favorably to the finest efforts of Star Trek and other well done science fiction plays.
18. Jews muck up everything. The show took a dive when Fred Freiburger got involved.
19. When I was young I preferred season 2 but as I grew older I appreciated season 1 more. Slightly more mature in it's approach as opposed to pure sensationalism and I loved the little philosophical anecdotes scattered here and there.