YouTube suggested to me the following video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWTaF1o6TzY

which is an AI-generated montage of steampunk Star Trek, both TNG and TOS,
to the music of the Star Trek theme.
I loved it, and so would Captain Proton.
Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was almost
like an episode of TOS. A reply noted that Star Trek also had other influences... and one of those which was mentioned was the Lensman series.

The author of that post claimed that its author's name was supposed to be
all lowercase.
This was the first I had heard of that.

I replied that I felt he was getting E. E. "Doc" Smith confused with the famous poet e. e. cummings.

John Savard

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi wrote:

I loved it, and so would Captain Proton.

Trying to sound like Vangelis, without his grasp of harmonies.

There have been lots of these AI mishashes on U-Tube, some more
amusing than others. This guy
<https://www.youtube.com/@SynthSaga/videos> has made a real effort to
put together stories with something resembling continuity. Not always successful (e.g. characters changing accents from one scene to the
next), but still with heart.

I replied that I felt he was getting E. E. "Doc" Smith confused with
the famous poet e. e. cummings.

Sounds like that to me, too.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi <quadibloc@ca.invalid>
wrote:

<snip>

Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was almost
like an episode of TOS.

There are rumours that the Enterprise's number "NCC 1701" is a
reference to the C57D's exiting lightspeed at 17:01, hinting at the
influence.

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since
Paramount really wouldn't be able to object.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown wrote:

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own space
opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since Paramount
really wouldn't be able to object.

Given that NBC cancelled Star Trek in the middle of its third season -
this was before demographics would have shown its value to advertisers -
Star Trek wasn't like Star Wars in its success so as to tempt the
equivalent of a Battlestar Galactica.

And did MGM even _do_ television back then? Paramount was a special case because it had bought Desilu.

Nowadays? That's a different story. But for all I know, The Orville might
be by MGM.

Of course, though, MGM was indeed behind another science-fiction project
after Forbidden Planet. If I wasn't paying attention during the credits, I would have noticed because of the label on the album.

You know, the one that contained

Also Sprach Zarathustra.
An der Schonen Blauen Donau (The Blue Danube).
Requiem, Atmospheres, Lux Aeterna by Gyorgy Ligeti...
Gayane Ballet Suite

After that, Forbidden Planet of the Week might have seemed anticlimactic.

But Irwin Allen did put some of the sets to good use... or should I say
props, as those were miniatures.

John Savard


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown wrote:

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe ...

What could be the basis for a multi-episode series?

Maybe the Krell achieved space travel long before that fateful
experiment with the mind-over-matter control. So there might be
colonies of survivors elsewhere.

Maybe the destruction of Altair IV was not complete; maybe fragments
of the matter-control machine survive, and might have fallen (or might
be about to fall) into the hands of certain undesirable parties.

Maybe Altaira carries something of the power of the machine within
her; she was very much the focus of her father?s life, after all,
along with his study of the Krell civilization; there could have been
some interaction between the two.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 4/26/2026 5:55 PM, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown wrote:

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe ...

What could be the basis for a multi-episode series?

Maybe the Krell achieved space travel long before that fateful
experiment with the mind-over-matter control. So there might be
colonies of survivors elsewhere.

Maybe the destruction of Altair IV was not complete; maybe fragments
of the matter-control machine survive, and might have fallen (or might
be about to fall) into the hands of certain undesirable parties.

Maybe Altaira carries something of the power of the machine within
her; she was very much the focus of her father?s life, after all,
along with his study of the Krell civilization; there could have been
some interaction between the two.

Or maybe the ship just goes to different planets every episode....

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:13:32 -0700, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

Or maybe the ship just goes to different planets every episode....

Has anyone already done a series like that? Trying to think ...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:55:50 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D?Oliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown wrote:

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe ...

What could be the basis for a multi-episode series?

Maybe the Krell achieved space travel long before that fateful
experiment with the mind-over-matter control. So there might be
colonies of survivors elsewhere.

I meant the C57D (or another United Planets Cruiser) solving a
different planet's problem each week, a-la the later Star Trek. Maybe
Krell artifacts coiuld have popped up from time to time.

I recall a friend of mine saying he would have liked a series set in
the Event Horizon universe, but about the Space Search and Rescue
Service portrayed in that film. I reckoned it would have been like
Thunderbirds but with more swearing.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown
<jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi <quadibloc@ca.invalid>
wrote:

<snip>

Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was almost

like an episode of TOS.

There are rumours that the Enterprise's number "NCC 1701" is a
reference to the C57D's exiting lightspeed at 17:01, hinting at the >influence.

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since
Paramount really wouldn't be able to object.

In the 1950s?

There was a sequel: /The Invisible Boy/. Based on Robby the Robot.

I streamed a few years back. My take: the boy was not invisible
enough. Otherwise it was OK.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:17:56 -0700, Paul S Person
<psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown
<jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi <quadibloc@ca.invalid> >>wrote:

<snip>

Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was almost >>>like an episode of TOS.

There are rumours that the Enterprise's number "NCC 1701" is a
reference to the C57D's exiting lightspeed at 17:01, hinting at the >>influence.

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since
Paramount really wouldn't be able to object.

In the 1950s?

I meant that MGM could have done their own Star Trek-like show
post-Trek set in the same continuity as FP (likely with less Brycreem)
and Paramount wouldn't really be able to object.

Now that I think about it, at the time of Trek they would have been
pinning their hopes on 2001, with its ever moving release date, which
might have put them off SF for a while.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 4/27/2026 10:17 AM, Paul S Person wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown
<jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi <quadibloc@ca.invalid>
wrote:

<snip>

Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was almost
like an episode of TOS.

There are rumours that the Enterprise's number "NCC 1701" is a
reference to the C57D's exiting lightspeed at 17:01, hinting at the
influence.

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since
Paramount really wouldn't be able to object.

In the 1950s?

There was a sequel: /The Invisible Boy/. Based on Robby the Robot.

I streamed a few years back. My take: the boy was not invisible
enough. Otherwise it was OK.

Robby the Robot was wildly popular and appeared in all kinds of movies
and shows. Doesn't make all of those productions sequels IMO.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 27 Apr 2026 17:21:09 -0700, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

Robby the Robot was wildly popular and appeared in all kinds of
movies and shows.

I would say that was a business decision. The props from ?Forbidden
Planet? were so expensive to build, the studio tried to squeeze as
much revenue out of them as possible, by reusing them in new
productions.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 27 Apr 2026 17:21:09 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 4/27/2026 10:17 AM, Paul S Person wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:25:54 +0100, Jerry Brown
<jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:55:14 -0000 (UTC), quadi

<quadibloc@ca.invalid>

wrote:

<snip>

Anyways, in the comments, someone noted how Forbidden Planet was

almost

like an episode of TOS.

There are rumours that the Enterprise's number "NCC 1701" is a
reference to the C57D's exiting lightspeed at 17:01, hinting at the
influence.

I've wondered why MGM didn't take the opportunity to do their own
space opera series set in the Forbidden Planet universe, since
Paramount really wouldn't be able to object.

In the 1950s?

There was a sequel: /The Invisible Boy/. Based on Robby the Robot.

I streamed a few years back. My take: the boy was not invisible
enough. Otherwise it was OK.

Robby the Robot was wildly popular and appeared in all kinds of movies
and shows. Doesn't make all of those productions sequels IMO.

Mostly TV shows. A /lot/ of TV shows -- wildly popular indeed!

Very few movies, at least twice "uncredited".

/The Invisible Boy/ was released in 1957. /Forbidden Planet/ came out
in 1956.

Hence being regarded as a sequel.

These tenuous sequels occur from time to time. Consider /Children of
the Damned/ as a sequel to /Village of the Damned/. Or the TV movie I
mostly think of as /Arrival II/ (other titles exist) as a sequal to
/The Arrival/ (the one with the /very/ obnoxious radio astronomer in
it). Both are basically the outstanding feature of the first film used
in what is really (despite the efforts in /Arrival II/) an otherwise
unrelated movie.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)