"Space" (1985) TV mini-series

Directors:

Lee Philips
Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Richard Berg (writer)
James Michener (novel)

Release Date:

14 April 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A 13-hour mini-series detailing James A. Michner's fictional account of the American space program from the years after World War II to the Apollo landings on the moon in the early 1970's.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Moon | Apollo | NASA | Astronaut

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations

Cast

James Garner	...	Sen. Norman Grant
Susan Anspach	...	Elinor Grant
Beau Bridges	...	Randy Claggett
Blair Brown	...	Penny Hardesty Pope
Bruce Dern	...	Stanley Mott
Melinda Dillon	...	Rachel Mott
David Dukes	...	Martin Scorcella / Leopold Strabismus
Harry Hamlin	...	John Pope
Barbara Sukowa	...	Leisel Kolff
Michael York	...	Dieter Kolff
Ralph Bellamy	...	Paul Stidham
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Farquar
Martin Balsam	...	Sen. Glancey
James Sutorius	...	Finnerty
Stephanie Faracy	...	Debbie Dee Claggett

Also Known As:

James A. Michener's Space

Runtime:

120 min (5 parts)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Orfordness, Suffolk, England, UK

Company:

Dick Berg-Stonehenge Productions

Trivia:

Norman Grant (James Garner) was a Republican senator in the book upon which this was based, but the character's political affiliation, along with other factors, were changed to suit Garner's personal (Democratic) politics.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the launch of Apollo 18, several reaction shots in Mission Control show Stanley Mott and Deiter Kolpf in the MCC room, yet at the same time, through several scenes intertwined with the launch, both men are shown as being on a TV stage narrating the launch and explaining things as they happen.

Although fiction, it's a good overview of early spaceflight

Before Tom Hanks took us from the Earth to the moon, the adaptation of Michner's Space ran in the spring of 1985 on the CBS network.

Most movies, TV shows have concentrated on the original seven astronauts, or the Apollo spaceflights, Space shows the early history of rocket development through the work of Michael York's Dieter Kolf is based on Wehrner von Braun, who headed the team which developed the concept and the rockets which lofted American men into space. The mini-series concentrates on Harry Hamlin's John Pope, a Navy aviator, who ends up a Gemni astronaut. Lot's of good stuff on the often overlooked Gemni program, which was used to write the playbook to get us to the moon. Hamlin eventually is part of the Apollo program, and lands on the moon which is where the series diverges -- Hamlin is part of an accident on the moon and ends up dying in an explosion. Great drama, but we know it didn't happen. James Garner is great as a senator who bolsters the space program.

I wish somebody would release this on video. Seems there would be a market for it given all the recent space related programs and movies of late.