Hello,

My name is Colleen and I am new to this board. A few days ago, a friend and I were reminiscing about shows we enjoyed in our childhood (the early 80s) and both of us remembered a show about a boy named Chris who lived on Earth and his friend Ingrid who lived in space. It was obviously set in the future, and I think there may even have been some twist where she was in the future and he wasn't -- they may have been communicating through radio waves sent through a black hole (I may be imagining this part). I know the opening and closing credits rolled to Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" from The Planets.

Does anyone have any idea what this show was called or are my friend and I the only ones who ever saw it?? Any help or ideas would be appreciated -- it's driving us nuts.

Thank you!
Colleen

Hello and welcome to the boards!  :)

I have never seen the show myself, but apparently it was called Starstuff.

Here's some info I ripped from another website (TVparty):

Chris is a 10 year old boy with his own homemade computer, which he discovers through some fluke of physics can communicate with a computer which will exist thirty years in the future on a space station, that computer being owned by a 10 year old girl named Ingrid.

They treat it as their secret and develop a close friendship even though they can never meet face to face. We meet both their families, with Chris's more "down to Earth" problems and Ingrid's exciting futuristic world.

It's all very educational, full of astronomy information as well as ideas of how space stations might realistically be run. In the last episode, Chris's family prepares to move, and he knows the link between their computers won't work in a new location.

Their farewell is so terribly sad. They promise to meet again, but of course Chris will have to wait for decades. I remember the moment when he pulls the plug out of the wall with tears in his eyes and the connection is lost forever. The show also had a puppet segment called "The Edge of Space," about a pair of aliens (Commanders Krickles and Zornad from the twin planets of Corg-Vanok, and their robot Giz), who have come to explore Earth.

Commander Krickles's panic when he winds up in the middle of the Mummers Parade with no idea what's going on is priceless. There were also segments of old Laurel and Hardy film shorts, the rationale being that Chris was a big fan and had all the films on tape, and he liked to share them with Ingrid. The show's theme was Gustav Holst's "The Planets," which remains one of my favorite pieces of music.

The whole series was clearly produced for very little money (Ingrid's futuristic computer disks were obviously 45 LP's), but it was brilliantly done. Could you please post some info about these shows? (I certainly don't mind if you reproduce this letter or portions of it, although please give my name if you do.) I've looked on the web, and there seems to be no record of them at all.

I wish tapes of them were commercially available for my nephews. The shows originally aired in 1979 and 1980, but were rerun on Saturday mornings one season several years later (1986-87, I think).

Stumped.  I'm going to need more information.  I didn't see a credit for any such thing in Holst's filmography, and other web searches have turned up fruitless.  Just a wee bit more information--and actor's full name, a character's full name, or something like that--would do the trick?  Can you come up with anything more?
???

Stumped.  I'm going to need more information.  I didn't see a credit for any such thing in Holst's filmography, and other web searches have turned up fruitless.  Just a wee bit more information--and actor's full name, a character's full name, or something like that--would do the trick?  Can you come up with anything more?
???


Try this link - it will take you to the Starstuff site. Note that it hasn't been updated for quite some time.
What I did find out was that the show was only aired in Philadelphia area in 1980 (with reruns in later years), so that might explain.

Well, not having anything better to do I decided to dig a little deeper...

I've tried to find out a little more about the actors Todd Porter and Johanna Hickey. Here's what I've come up with:

Todd Porter also played a major part in the movie Earthbound (1981) and the tv series Whiz Kids (1983). Plenty of information about him to be found on the net (I haven't checked it all out).

Johanna Hickey remains a mystery. Apparently, she hasn't pursued a career in acting. The only reference to acting I could find was one prior to StarStuff: in 1979, she played a part in the Broadway musical Evita as one of the children. There are no further starting-points, unless you want to try one of the Hickey family sites (there's quite a few of them). Somebody out there must know her!

Hope I have been helpful enough. :-\\

WTF?  I swear to God almighty I replied before FaultyDog.  No that it matters....

WTF?  I swear to God almighty I replied before FaultyDog.  No that it matters....


There appears to be an error with the boards sometimes where you don't get the red message telling you someone has replied while you are submitting  :(

Wow! You all are fantastic -- thank you so much! My friend and I were beginning to think we were the only people who had seen this show! Now to find it on video or DVD...

Thank you again!

Colleen

OMG!!! I swore I was the only one who remembered this show!!!!!!!  I wish I knew the name and have been searching for it for years!  I remember watching it at around 5:30 AM on TV in PA around 1984 or 85!
What I do remember was she was going to get to visit earth when she turned 16, is that correct?  NEVER found out if she did!  WOW!!!  I have always loved "Jupiter" by Holst ever since watching this...THANK YOU!  Thought I was the only one who watched this ;-)



Hello,

My name is Colleen and I am new to this board. A few days ago, a friend and I were reminiscing about shows we enjoyed in our childhood (the early 80s) and both of us remembered a show about a boy named Chris who lived on Earth and his friend Ingrid who lived in space. It was obviously set in the future, and I think there may even have been some twist where she was in the future and he wasn't -- they may have been communicating through radio waves sent through a black hole (I may be imagining this part). I know the opening and closing credits rolled to Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" from The Planets.

Does anyone have any idea what this show was called or are my friend and I the only ones who ever saw it?? Any help or ideas would be appreciated -- it's driving us nuts.

Thank you!
Colleen

Starstuff - Opening Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOhNQzwO-34


Starstuff - Closing Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Ov8SYwpPs



Dan