September 4, 1975: "Space: 1999" Premieres

Barbara Bain and Martin Landau

September 4, 1975: Space: 1999 debuts on British network ITV. Within days, it will debut on American TV, in syndication, including on WPIX-Channel 11 in New York and WGN-Channel 9 in Chicago. French-speaking countries, plus Quebec in Canada, aired it under the title Cosmos: 1999. In Germany, it was Mondbase Alpha 1.

Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, married at the time, and having previously starred together on Mission: Impossible, starred together again. Landau played the commanding officer of Moonbase Alpha, John Koenig. Bain played its Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Helena Russell.

Barry Morse had previously played Lieutenant Philip Gerard on The Fugitive, and now played the science advisor, Dr. Victor Bergman. It would not be until Season 2 before the show had an emotionally detached alien with unusual abilities, when Catherine Schell, a Hungarian-born British actress, played Maia, who replaced Victor as science officer. Morse had left after Season 1 over low pay, and a single reference was made in Season 2 to Victor having been killed. So Koenig, the show's "Kirk," had a "Doctor McCoy" in the 1st season, and a "Spock" in the 2nd, but never both.

Science fiction master Isaac Asimov punctured the premise by saying that any explosion powerful enough to rip the Moon out of Earth's orbit would also tear the Moon apart, killing everyone on Moonbase Alpha.
 
My father loved this show. I was too young to get it. But it had one of the best theme songs any show has ever had, composed by Barry Gray.

The good news is that, when the real September 13, 1999 came along, nothing like this happened. The bad news is that, 37 years later, we still don't have anything like the space program seen in this alternate 1999.

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September 4, 1975 was a Thursday. British rock musician, songwriter and producer Mark Ronson was born.

The college football season opened on this night, with one game: North Texas State University beat the University of Texas at Arlington, 27-14 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Attendance: 5,000.

The NCAA demoted North Texas State, located in Denton, to Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS) in 1982, but promoted it back to Division I-A (now the Football Bowl Subdivision, of FBS) in 1995. The school was renamed the University of North Texas in 1988. UT-Arlington played in Division I-AA, but suspended its program in 1985.

And these 8 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rudy May went the distance for the win. Thurman Munson went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. But he got hurt, and Ed Herrmann was moved from designated hitter to catcher. So, due to a quirk in the DH, the Yankees lost the DH, and May had to bat for himself, in Munson's spot in the order -- 4th. Since this happened in the bottom of the 8th, May never came to bat.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The unfortunately-named Dick Pole outpitched Mike Torrez. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Johnny Bench went 0-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Paul Splittorff pitched a 7-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew, playing out the string with the Royals, went 0-for-1 with 3 walks. George Brett went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Indians player-manager Frank Robinson put himself in the game as the DH, did not reach base in his 1st at-bat, and replaced himself with Oscar Gamble. Hank Aaron, playing out the string with the Brewers, went 1-for-5. Robin Yount went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* And the California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).