UP FROM THE ASHES: BAD Sci-Fi TV and BIG Sci-Fi Ideas!!!

It’s the FINAL episode of The Starlost! And . . . what a note to go out on. In other words: it’s bad. Ben is joined by Alexandra Gilchrist, author of Song of the Stars and Baptism by Fire to talk about the series finale and how it ends not on a note of finality, but more like the scene was cut off in the middle by the editor. LOOKS FOR JS EARLS’ WORK HERE: Alexandra Gilchrist on Substa...

It’s another episode of The Starlost, and this time we are joined by comic book writer, musician, and podcaster J.S. Earls! “The Beehive” earned an apology from Ben to J.S. Earls because he felt bad about subjecting a friend to this atrocity of televisual terribleness. . . This episode is, possibly, one of the worst hours of television ever put to film or video or whatever they s...

It’s another episode of The Starlost, and this time we are joined by SyFy tv movie writer and novelist Greg Mitchell! “Farthing’s Comet” is full of drama! (Difused drama, but still drama!) It’s full of action! (Poorly paced, but still action!) It’s full of music! (Inapropriately toned, but still music!) It’s full of outer space special effects! ( In this e...

It’s the return of Walter Koenig! It’s the return of Oro! AND . . . it’s the return of Parker J. Cole!!! Our favorite historical romance writer is back to talk about the one true recurring character, Oro, AND the one character who wasn’t even needed in this episode and had us scratching our heads, Williams. In this episode we talk about: * Columbo * Shatner * Babylon 5 * Be...

Join Ben Avery and guest host Rob Southgate as they explore an episode of The Starlost that starts out feeling par for The Starlost, takes a turn toward interesting, and then fumbles the ending in spectacular fashion! In this episode we talk about: * Lord of the Rings * Metropolis * Babylon 5 * J. Michael Straczynski * Harlon Ellison’s connection to JMS . . . and JMS’s connection to Th...

Join Ben Avery and guest host Allan Reini as they talk about a terrible hour of television. Just awful. In this episode we talk about: * Ringo Starr * How Astro-Medics COULD be a better show * How this episode is the worst we’ve seen so far * It is. It really, really is . . . Please support our guest by going to their website: http://flightoftheangels.com https://www.facebook.com/FlightOfThe...

Join Ben Avery and guest host John Harju as they talk about an hour of television that’s . . . actually not bad??? Social commentary and pathos and character development are actually present??? What’s this? In this episode we talk about: * Envoronmentalism * The Cold War * The Vietnam War * The benefits of a Ben Bova * Monty Python and the Holy Grail * And the littlest hobo . . . Pleas...

Join Ben Avery and guest host Kerry Nietz, author of AMISH VAMPIRES IN SPACE , as they talk about a rogue computer that wants to use our trio of heroes to become a “real boy”. This unusual episode of THE STARLOST has some interesting ideas and some poor execution . . . which perhaps means it’s not all that unusual. In this episode we talk about: * The Littlest Hobo (of course) *...

Join Ben Avery and gust host Dave Goulet, a screenwriter friend of Ben’s from Toronto, as they talk about psychic shrinking and telekinesis so our heroes can fix a computer. Because that’s truly the only way to fix a computer. Right? Right??? They also take some tiem to chat about Canadian children’s television . . . but not Mr. Dressup. In this episode we talk about: * The Littl...

Join Ben Avery and returning guest host Nathan Marchand for a conversation about the seventh episode of THE STARLOST, in which our heroes meet Checkov! Or is it Spock? It’s Walter Koenig, anyway, Harlan Ellison’s first choice to play Devon! He’s the alien. The alien Oro. In this episode we talk about: * Casablanca * The only The Starlost cast member Ben and Nathan have both met!...

On October 12, 1973, THE STARLOST’s 5th episode hit the airwaves. In it, our intripid heroes come across a group of centuries-old children who seem to be piloting the ark? Can they pilot he ark to safety? It’s only the 5th episode, so probably not. But can they learn about life from Devon, Garth, and Rachel? Of course they can. This week, Ben is joined by sco-fi publisher Winston Crutc...

On October 12, 1973, THE STARLOST’s 5th episode hit the airwaves. In it, our intripid heroes come across a group of centuries-old children who seem to be piloting the ark? Can they pilot he ark to safety? It’s only the 5th episode, so probably not. But can they learn about life from Devon, Garth, and Rachel? Of course they can. This week, Ben is joined by fellow writer Mike Poteet to t...

On October 5, 1973, THE STARLOST’s 4th episode hit the airwaves. In it, our intripid heroes witness the return of a lost shuttle, The Pisces. But does the Pisces bring help? Or does it bring a trio of space-sick people who think they’ve been gone for ten years only to find they’ve been gone for a few centuries? (Spoiler, they don’t help much.) This week, Ben is joined by Al...

This week, Ben is joined by Parker J. Cole ( http://parkerjcole.com ), a prolific historical romance fiction writer who has also dabbled in science fiction on occasion, to talk about “The Goddess Calabra”. As our trio of heroes continue their exploration of the Earthship Ark, they come across a dome of people who have experienced a disastor that destroyed all the women and the genetic...

Join Ben Avery and special guest host Nathan Marchand for a conversation about the second episode of THE STARLOST, in which our heroes wake up someone from a 500-year-long sleep. He’s from the days when they built the ship, but can he help? And why do they need to put him back? In this episode we talk about: * Cryogenics * Cramped sets * Cockeyed logic * Crossbow malfunctions We also talk ab...

Ben is joined by sci-fi novelist and podcaster Adam David Collings to talk about the pilot episode of THE STARLOST, “Voyage of Discovery” by Cordwainer Bird (which was intended to be called “Pheonix Without Ashes” by Harlan Ellison). Along the way, they chat about Robert Heinlein’s book UNIVERSE, Red Dwarf, some Star Trek, and a little Doctor Who. This episode’s...

UP FROM THE ASHES is a podcast about . . . * THE STARLOST, a TV show from fifty years ago, and we’re talking about it exactly fifty years after its episodes aired… * SCI-FI IDEAS from THE STARLOST that engage the imagination, even if the budget and the abilities of the people behind the show couldn’t quite produce what they were imagining… * BAD SCI-FI TV, BIG SCI-FI IDEAS&...

What is Up from the Ashes ? It’s a new podcast from Ben Avery and Onward and Upward Media! It’s a podcast that’s a TV after show . . . FIFTY YEARS after! It’s a podcast about THE STARLOST , a show some call the worst sci-fi show of all time! It’s a podcast about a BAD sci-fi TV show that tackled BIG sci-fi ideas with plucky enthusiasm . . . and very little budget. It&...