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Space Cadets!
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"Coming up tomorrow, can we successfully convince our contestants that there's a star system called The Hazelnut Cluster?"
Space Cadets was a British television program made by Zeppotron (a division of Endemol UK) for Channel 4. Presented by Johnny Vaughan, it was aired across ten consecutive nights beginning on 7 December 2005, with the final episode aired on the evening of 16 December 2005.
Premise
The series described itself as the most elaborate hoax perpetrated in television history.
A group of twelve contestants (who answered an advert looking for "thrill seekers") were selected to become the first British televised space tourists, including going to Russia to train as cosmonauts at the "Space Tourist Agency of Russia" (STAR) military base, with the series culminating in a group of four embarking on a five-day space mission in low Earth orbit. The show and space mission contained aspects of Reality TV, including hidden cameras, soundproofed 'video diary' rooms and group dormitories.
However, the show was in fact an elaborate practical joke, described by Commissioning Editor Angela Jain as "Candid Camera live in space" and claimed by Channel 4 to have cost roughly five million pounds. Unknown to the "space cadets", they were not in Russia at all, but at Bentwaters Parks (formerly RAF Bentwaters, a USAF airfield from 1951 to 1993) in Suffolk staffed by costumed actors, and the "space trip" was entirely fake, complete with a wooden "shuttle" and actor "pilots".
Indeed, During the shooting of Space Cadets, smokers amongst the production crew were given Russian Cigarettes to smoke in-case any of the cadets discovered the butts. In addition, three of the Cadets were also actors, included to misdirect any suspicious Cadets and to help reinforce the illusion.
Audition Process
In order for the hoax to stand a realistic chance of succeeding, the Cadets would have to remain unaware of the true nature of the show, even given any production mistakes and implausible explanations.
As such, a strict set of criteria were applied to filter out inappropriate applicants:
Eliminating anyone who had ever served in the armed forces, or who already had a significant interest in space travel or science fiction.
Psychological tests used to single out the highly suggestible and those who would conform to groupthink
Physiological tests to determine claustrophobia, including being in restraining jackets and trapped in a full lift
Being asked to dance blindfolded, without music, and with others watching, to gauge inhibition levels
Asking the candidates to nominate a friend or relative they trusted implicitly, to make a vital and important decision for them. These friends or relatives were contacted, and fully let in on the hoax, and given the final say of whether or not the Cadet should be included
The intention was to obtain a group of Cadets who were highly gullible, conformist, and ignorant about the show's subject matter; and also ideally suited to appearing in a Reality TV show (e.g. uninhibited extroverts, "wacky personalities", or characters otherwise able to capture the public's attention).
The Big Take Off
These are the only videos I can find of Space Cadets on Youtube but they do show the pivotal episode where the cadets 'blast off into space'.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Comedic Elements
The show contained moderate amounts of bizarre, surreal, or subversive show elements, in a manner similar to other Zeppotron-related productions (for example, TVGoHome.) Examples include:
Cadet lectures that were "about 80% true", the rest being ludicrous rubbish; many of these lectures were of little practical use to cosmonauts (e.g. memory tests of the planets in the solar system)
Stereotyped characters, including a slow-talking Royal Air Force Squadron Leader with a luxuriant handlebar moustache
Stupid training exercises (e.g. communications training involving reporting ever more implausible emergencies, ending with monkeys rampaging through the spacecraft, and Rambo giving The Fonz a high five)
Nonsense Russian (e.g. having the Cadets salute a 'Russian Poem' which was actually the recipe for toad in the hole or having the Russian pilot wear makeup, place plastic spoons in his hair and insist the Cadets act out Alice in Wonderland)
Nonsensical space experiments, including tests to make balloon animals
The motto of the establishment S.T.A.R. is 'Это не ракетостроение'. The mission commander claimed this means 'We, the adventurers', but it actually means 'It's not rocket science', a phrase meaning that something is very easy, here taking on a double meaning.
During the training lectures, the cadets were told that Russia's first cosmonaut to successfully orbit and return to earth was a monkey called Minsky (who is supposedly stuffed and kept on display at S.T.A.R.), and that the city of Minsk is named in her honour.
According to one of the "pilots", if the shuttle was unable to land at the S.T.A.R. base in Russia, one of the back-up sites was at Woodbridge, UK. This is an in-joke as, unknown to the cadets, RAF Woodbridge was the 'twin' airbase to RAF Bentwaters. Woodbridge is also the nearest town to the actual Space Cadets production site in Suffolk.
The cadets were also told the segments of Mission Control, referred to by acronyms, some of which are made up - CAPCOM, FlDO, LIDO, DIDO, NACAS and MUMI (only CAPCOM and FlDO are genuine positions).
The Big Reveal
Psychological Aspect
The show consistently raised the issue of how an immersive illusion can convince average people over a period of time, especially when reinforced as part of a group of believers - especially when this includes men in white coats and other authority figures. Outsiders (in this case, the viewers) see the hoax as laughable, yet 'inside' the Cadets have been slowly lulled into (as Vaughan stated) "what is, in effect, an alternative universe". The actor Cadet on the 'mission' stated that it was easier to let himself believe the experience was genuine; trying to consciously remind himself of the hoax left him disoriented and "30% convinced, despite everything I know, that I am actually in space".
Parallels can be drawn to the supposed 'group experiment' element of Big Brother which Space Cadets draws on, and in wider terms propaganda, subliminal advertising, and the consensus nature of reality.
All of the above was from the Space Cadets Wikipedia page. I didn't put it in quotes to make it a bit easier on the eye
I remember watching this when it was originally aired and thought it was fantastical. I was studying psychology at the time and was fascinated by the whole set up. Especially when the 'double hoax' theory was conceived, with some questioning if all those involved, including the Space Cadets themselves, were actors and the ones being fooled where the unsuspecting general public. A really unique piece of television and probably the only decent reality show ever made
Does anyone else remember this piece of epic television?
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b5062d168273.png[/atsimg]
[edit on 05/08/2009 by LiveForever8]
Space Cadets was a British television program made by Zeppotron (a division of Endemol UK) for Channel 4. Presented by Johnny Vaughan, it was aired across ten consecutive nights beginning on 7 December 2005, with the final episode aired on the evening of 16 December 2005.
Premise
The series described itself as the most elaborate hoax perpetrated in television history.
A group of twelve contestants (who answered an advert looking for "thrill seekers") were selected to become the first British televised space tourists, including going to Russia to train as cosmonauts at the "Space Tourist Agency of Russia" (STAR) military base, with the series culminating in a group of four embarking on a five-day space mission in low Earth orbit. The show and space mission contained aspects of Reality TV, including hidden cameras, soundproofed 'video diary' rooms and group dormitories.
However, the show was in fact an elaborate practical joke, described by Commissioning Editor Angela Jain as "Candid Camera live in space" and claimed by Channel 4 to have cost roughly five million pounds. Unknown to the "space cadets", they were not in Russia at all, but at Bentwaters Parks (formerly RAF Bentwaters, a USAF airfield from 1951 to 1993) in Suffolk staffed by costumed actors, and the "space trip" was entirely fake, complete with a wooden "shuttle" and actor "pilots".
Indeed, During the shooting of Space Cadets, smokers amongst the production crew were given Russian Cigarettes to smoke in-case any of the cadets discovered the butts. In addition, three of the Cadets were also actors, included to misdirect any suspicious Cadets and to help reinforce the illusion.
Audition Process
In order for the hoax to stand a realistic chance of succeeding, the Cadets would have to remain unaware of the true nature of the show, even given any production mistakes and implausible explanations.
As such, a strict set of criteria were applied to filter out inappropriate applicants:
Eliminating anyone who had ever served in the armed forces, or who already had a significant interest in space travel or science fiction.
Psychological tests used to single out the highly suggestible and those who would conform to groupthink
Physiological tests to determine claustrophobia, including being in restraining jackets and trapped in a full lift
Being asked to dance blindfolded, without music, and with others watching, to gauge inhibition levels
Asking the candidates to nominate a friend or relative they trusted implicitly, to make a vital and important decision for them. These friends or relatives were contacted, and fully let in on the hoax, and given the final say of whether or not the Cadet should be included
The intention was to obtain a group of Cadets who were highly gullible, conformist, and ignorant about the show's subject matter; and also ideally suited to appearing in a Reality TV show (e.g. uninhibited extroverts, "wacky personalities", or characters otherwise able to capture the public's attention).
The Big Take Off
These are the only videos I can find of Space Cadets on Youtube but they do show the pivotal episode where the cadets 'blast off into space'.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Comedic Elements
The show contained moderate amounts of bizarre, surreal, or subversive show elements, in a manner similar to other Zeppotron-related productions (for example, TVGoHome.) Examples include:
Cadet lectures that were "about 80% true", the rest being ludicrous rubbish; many of these lectures were of little practical use to cosmonauts (e.g. memory tests of the planets in the solar system)
Stereotyped characters, including a slow-talking Royal Air Force Squadron Leader with a luxuriant handlebar moustache
Stupid training exercises (e.g. communications training involving reporting ever more implausible emergencies, ending with monkeys rampaging through the spacecraft, and Rambo giving The Fonz a high five)
Nonsense Russian (e.g. having the Cadets salute a 'Russian Poem' which was actually the recipe for toad in the hole or having the Russian pilot wear makeup, place plastic spoons in his hair and insist the Cadets act out Alice in Wonderland)
Nonsensical space experiments, including tests to make balloon animals
The motto of the establishment S.T.A.R. is 'Это не ракетостроение'. The mission commander claimed this means 'We, the adventurers', but it actually means 'It's not rocket science', a phrase meaning that something is very easy, here taking on a double meaning.
During the training lectures, the cadets were told that Russia's first cosmonaut to successfully orbit and return to earth was a monkey called Minsky (who is supposedly stuffed and kept on display at S.T.A.R.), and that the city of Minsk is named in her honour.
According to one of the "pilots", if the shuttle was unable to land at the S.T.A.R. base in Russia, one of the back-up sites was at Woodbridge, UK. This is an in-joke as, unknown to the cadets, RAF Woodbridge was the 'twin' airbase to RAF Bentwaters. Woodbridge is also the nearest town to the actual Space Cadets production site in Suffolk.
The cadets were also told the segments of Mission Control, referred to by acronyms, some of which are made up - CAPCOM, FlDO, LIDO, DIDO, NACAS and MUMI (only CAPCOM and FlDO are genuine positions).
The Big Reveal
Psychological Aspect
The show consistently raised the issue of how an immersive illusion can convince average people over a period of time, especially when reinforced as part of a group of believers - especially when this includes men in white coats and other authority figures. Outsiders (in this case, the viewers) see the hoax as laughable, yet 'inside' the Cadets have been slowly lulled into (as Vaughan stated) "what is, in effect, an alternative universe". The actor Cadet on the 'mission' stated that it was easier to let himself believe the experience was genuine; trying to consciously remind himself of the hoax left him disoriented and "30% convinced, despite everything I know, that I am actually in space".
Parallels can be drawn to the supposed 'group experiment' element of Big Brother which Space Cadets draws on, and in wider terms propaganda, subliminal advertising, and the consensus nature of reality.
All of the above was from the Space Cadets Wikipedia page. I didn't put it in quotes to make it a bit easier on the eye
I remember watching this when it was originally aired and thought it was fantastical. I was studying psychology at the time and was fascinated by the whole set up. Especially when the 'double hoax' theory was conceived, with some questioning if all those involved, including the Space Cadets themselves, were actors and the ones being fooled where the unsuspecting general public. A really unique piece of television and probably the only decent reality show ever made
Does anyone else remember this piece of epic television?
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b5062d168273.png[/atsimg]
[edit on 05/08/2009 by LiveForever8]
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