Space Cases

Wow, this is amazing. I adored the show from day one - wasn't it part of "Snick"? - and eagerly tuned in until they killed off Catalina, my favorite character . . . from then on I lost interest. Bearing in mind that I lacked a good deal of perspective four years ago, I still remember a very good show, and I'd love to see reruns now to know if I was right.

Despite bad a few bad choices by the higher-ups at Nickelodeon, the show managed to do well the during couple years it aired, and still maintained a rather large fan following in the years after its cancellation.

Space Cases had diverse characters and an extensive background story. The show itself was co-written by a comic book writer, and it shows in the direction and set designs. If you could ignore the special effects and make up designs that occasionally borderlined into downright cheesiness (Catalina's rainbow wig being the most memorable) it had a cute, campy flavor to it that made it very enjoyable. It's a shame it was canceled so early on, there was a lot of questions left unanswered and development we never got to see.

Overall, I would group "Space Cases" in with other Nick cult-hits of the 1990s like "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" and "Are You Afraid Of the Dark?". You've got pop-culture in the Petes, the horror following for "Are You Afraid..." and we sci-fi geeks got this.

The feel of how this show was filmed reminds me of "the tomorrow people". Group of young cadets let curiosity get the better of them and sneak aboard a strange alien space cruiser. Suddenly, they find themselves in unknown space, trying to get home while battling a race called the "spung". Like most good shows however, it died too soon because most viewers prefer "stupid-vision"(aka "reality shows").

I at least would very much like to see this series released on DVD, or for some other station(COUGH~independent~COUGH)to broacast this show on the air again. Barring that, if I could gain permission to do so - I would start a LPTV and broadcast it myself! Shows like this should NOT be allowed to drift into obscurity!

This show was one of my favorites from when I was a kid. I haven't thought of it for a long time, but I stumbled across an online writer who does the most amazing fan fiction about the characters, and so I've recently been seized by renewed interest in the show. I felt it had so much potential, and I think the time is ripe for it to make a comeback, if not on television, then in novels, or comic books, or something! The saga was left so unfinished, the cadets never even got close to getting home, Cat was still trapped in Yensid, there was so much of the story left to tell! Peter David, if you read this, please consider writing some Space Cases novels, or allow other writers to take up the cause!

"Space Cases" was obviously aimed at a younger audience than the Star Trek generation (both 1 and 2), and I think it hit the mark very well. Not only did it let younger actors in on the space race, the writing and character development was much better than some of the so-called adult Sci-Fi TV of the same period. It was written somewhat tongue in cheek, but always involved a morality lesson of some sort that I suppose an older viewer might see as banal. But let's face it; just about all TV (and movie) Sci-Fi has done the same, usually to a greater than necessary degree. I was sorry that the series was canceled, as I thought the second season showed definite improvement over the first. There were also unresolved issues that I wanted to see wrapped up. I became quite fond of the characters, and thought they interacted well and were quite believable. I would like to see both seasons released on DVD to add to my collection.

I think Bill Mumy should be proud of his writing on "Space Cases".