Plot

A group of humans must explore a vast starship in order to find the controls to save it from destruction.

This very low budget TV show (which was shot on video, as opposed to film, as most regular TV shows are) involved a giant spaceship called THE ARK which was composed of hundreds of domes, each of which (supposedly) contained a sample culture from the planet Earth, which had long since died out due to some thing or other (If memory serves, it was pollution). Any way, this giant space ship had an accident somewhere along the way in an asteroid storm which killed the crew that was piloting it, so now it's careening toward -get this- an UNCHARTED SOLAR STAR ! The character played by Keir Dullea (who was DAVE in 2001) gets forced out of his dome and goes roaming around the ship with his 2 friends, trying to set the course correct so that they don't hit this star.—Andrew M. Somers <film@myndex.com>

Harlan Ellison originally created a series to focus on an "enclosed universe" concept that was to focus on an ark one thousand miles long, with hundreds of separate biospheres, each containing its own culture. The secret of the accident that sent the ship onto a collision course with a star wasn't to be revealed until the final episode. The main character, Devon, would have tried to convince the different biospheres to work together to repair the ship. What emerged from this original idea was a disillusioned creator and a television series crippled by a low budget and television executives who didn't understand science fiction.—anonymous

This low budget Canadian sci-fi series from 1973 ran for sixteen episodes before it was cancelled due to low ratings. It was created in Canada by Glen Warren Productions and partially funded by Twentieth Century Fox, who now own the broadcast and syndication rights to the series. It was also compiled down into five movies, each composed of two episodes each, with new credit sequences. The series was written by renowned science fiction author Harlan Ellison under a pseudonym, with additional episodes being written by other sci-fi authors. The plot concerned a giant Noah's Ark-like spaceship, composed of hundreds of huge "domes", each containing a sample culture from the planet Earth, which has long since died out due to an unknown disaster. The Ark, damaged from an asteroid collision, goes off course and heads into the path of a distant sun, its crew dead. Three simple farmers accidentally find their way out of their dome and must find a solution to the predicament The Ark is in or all of humanity will be lost. As each episode progresses, they move from dome to dome, experiencing the fascination and danger of meeting different cultures, as they search for someone who might know how to save The Ark. Often perceived as one of the most low budget, awful sci-fi series ever made, it has a cult following, especially with Canadian sci-fi fans. Known for it's all video, low budget special effects and wooden acting, it has a certain charm, even if the pacing of the show is viciously slow. It's also notable as being the second Canadian sci-fi series ever created.—Jeremy Morrow <tashimon@hotmail.com>