BLUE LIGHTS Info Pulse

First Issue | July 27, 1999 | Page 8

"The First Photojournalist in Space"

Episode Mini-Focus

The Original Presentation Tape (OPT)

By Bruce R. Jividen

A lot of critics dismissed it. I can't say I blame them. It was a-work-in-progress that led to better things. I'm talking about the first "episode" of STARMAN, the Original Presentation Tape. Its purpose was to pitch the new show to critics, and it was never intended to be shown to a real audience. But, thanks to STARMAN producer/writer John Mason (who co-wrote the OPT script with Mike Gray), we can see—and read—the evolving work that was "half-way" to STARMAN's first episode.

Since sales of the OPT tape and script are a fund-raiser for PROJECT BLUE LIGHT, the effort to return STARMAN to production, we won't do a spoiler or episode guide for this "episode." If you're curious about the OPT, we suggest that you purchase the tape, the script, or both. (See Page 7 for details on how to order.) Here's a morsel: there's a reference in the script for you Eddie fans!

What I will focus on is the part of the OPT you do see: some of its scenes appear in the broadcast episodes' Main Titles. There are more than one version of the Main Titles; the original one has more scenes from the OPT, while the second has a few scenes from the OPT and more scenes from later episodes.

One of the most striking scenes in the Main Titles is a newly-cloned Starman looking over Paul Forrester's body. But in the original scheme of things, Starman came about Forrester's body in a quite different way. The quote at the top of this article and its accompanying picture will be familiar to you if you've seen the OPT; if not, you have some interesting things to look forward to! The "jailbreak" scene from the Main Titles is from the OPT. I find this scenario to be kind of improbable, but it is humorous. It also makes a nice in-joke for the scene in "The System" when Scott urges Starman to use the sphere to break out of jail! (Of course, Scott does break jail in "Blue Lights.")

You might also recall seeing a firetruck and a smoke-smeared Scott saying "You really are my father." Other OPT scenes in the Main Titles include the scene where Scott yells "what do you want from me," the scene where Starman flashes himself with the camera, the scene where Starman says "Your mother was my friend," and the scene where Starman tries to shave off his eyebrows!

The OPT isn't a complete "episode"—it runs about 30 minutes. And it's interspersed with narrative from Michael Douglas, the Executive Producer of the movie and series.

To summarize, if you're curious about those mystery scenes in the Main Titles, or want to know more about the first incarnation of the series, give the OPT a look!


The infamous shaving scene is from the OPT...	As is this scene of Scott and Paul in front of a fire truck...	And the scene were Paul uses the sphere to break out of jail.