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 of Cordwainer Bird, 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.Foreseeing the destruction of the Earth, humanity builds a multi-generational starship called Earthship Ark, 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide and 320 kilometres (200 mi) long. The ship contains dozens of biospheres, each kilometres across and housing people of different cultures; their goal is to find and seed a new world of a distant star. More than one hundred years into the voyage, an unexplained accident occurs, and the ship goes into emergency mode, whereby each biosphere is sealed off from the others.Four hundred and five years after the accident, Devon (Keir Dullea) a resident of Cypress Corners, a conservative agrarian community with a culture resembling that of the Amish, discovers that his world is far larger and more mysterious than he had realized. Considered an outcast because of his questioning of the way things are, especially his refusal to accept the arranged marriage of his love Rachel (Gay Rowan) to his friend Garth (Robin Ward), Devon finds the Cypress Corners elders have been deliberately manipulating the local computer terminal, which they call "The Voice of The Creator". The congregation pursues Devon for attacking the elders and stealing a computer cassette on which they have recorded their orders, and its leaders plot to execute him, but the elderly Abraham, who also questions the elders, gives Devon a key to a dark, mysterious doorway, which Abraham himself is afraid to enter. The frightened Devon escapes into the service areas of the ship and accesses a computer data station that explains the nature and purpose of the Ark and hints at its problems.When Devon returns to Cypress Corners to tell his community what he has learned, he is put on trial for heresy and condemned to death by stoning. Escaping on the night before his execution with the aid of Garth, Devon convinces Rachel to come with him, and Garth pursues them. When Rachel refuses to return with Garth, he joins her and Devon. Eventually they make their way to the ship's bridge, containing the skeletal remains of its crew. It is badly damaged and its control systems are inoperative. The three discover that the Ark is on a collision course with a Class G star similar to the Sun, and realize that the only way to save The Ark and its passengers is to find the backup bridge and reactivate the navigation and propulsion systems. Occasionally, they are aided by the ship's partially functioning computer system.
Condemned to be stoned to death for heresy (daring to question the Elders), Devon escapes Cypress Corners with his love Rachel. Her betrothed, Garth, follows to bring her back. They find they're on the Earthship Ark, headed for destruction.
Escaping from the savage descendants of the security crew, the three waken a technician from cryosleep to help them repair the ship and prevent the coming collision. But he is dying, and the wrong sort of specialist.
Searching for a way to repair the Ark, Devon, Rachel and Garth arrive at the Omicron biosphere, which may have some ancient technical books. All the women died long ago, and Rachel is mistaken for the goddess the men worship.
Ark craft Pisces has been searching for habitable planets for ten years - their time. On the Ark 409 years have passed, proving Einstein correct. But there are penalties to suffer for travelling that fast.
Kept young by an anti-aging serum, a group of almost machine-like human children believe they have been piloting the Ark since it left earth. Rachel tries to introduce the idea of 'playing' to them.
The trio discover an empty 'leisure' biosphere. Behind the scenes a ruthless scientist works to produce humans strong and savage enough to survive anything they may find on their new home - at the expense of friendship and trust.
The angry, embittered Dr Richards tries to escape the Ark with his daughter after triggering the ship's self-destruct mechanism. His capsule fails to launch, and the self-destruct can't be overridden. But there is a very dangerous fix.
A mysterious, bewitching art gallery proves to be the creation of Magnus, said to be the greatest mind in the universe. But who - or what - is he, and how can he help correct the course deviation that threatens the Ark with destruction?
The trio blunder into a sealed, highly industrialised biosphere, where outcasts die in the toxic air outside a sealed city ruled by a paranoid, self-deceiving leader who is preparing for war - if he could find a way out.
A year ago Oro of planet Exar crashed into the Ark, and with the help of Idona has been cannibalising Ark components to make repairs to his scoutship. Oro plans to take Idona back home with him - but then she meets, and falls for, Garth.
With Devon seriously injured, Rachel's call for help reaches the Astro-medic ship. At the same time an alien spacecraft is also appealing for assistance. The two main doctors - father and son - are at loggerheads: who do they try to save?
Unknown to the monarch, her power-hungry servant plots to rule the biosphere where the elite are forced to have implants that inflict pain, while the poor starve. Can the elite find their courage when he takes Rachel and Garth hostage?
Oro returns, offering to repair the Ark's faulty systems and fly them all to settle on Exar, which he claims is much like earth. Devon discovers he's lying, but can only prove it in a debate in which the loser will be killed.
The Ark's chief astronomer altered its course so he could study a comet: now the debris is seriously damaging the Ark. The thrusters that can move it to safety need to be fixed manually, and Devon volunteers for EVA to do the work.
A dome containing only a tropical garden, a lab, and millions of bees to pollinate the plants on humanity's new homeworld sounds perfect - but not when the leading scientist is breeding mutant bees with the ability to take over human minds.
Garth leaves his friends and heads back home, only to find himself recruited into the Ark's police, who are working with the police of an alien system to avert an interplanetary war. But their efforts are being thwarted from within.
Complete episode guide for The Starlost with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in United States.
This episode guide is organized by seasons, making it easy to track your viewing progress or find specific episodes. Use the episode information to plan your binge-watching sessions or catch up on missed episodes.