SkylarksMAX

Sex, drugs, shoulderpads. Welcome to the 80s, Skylarks style. SkylarksMAX debuted in 1986, after the commercial success of Skylarks II: The Damocles Gambit and a renewed interest in the franchise prompted producers to rush a new series into production. The indomitable Commodore Flechette (veteran soap star Kendra Dunham in the pilot, followed by Alison Leopold for the duration of the series) and her feisty second in command Dallas Kodiak (whose 21st Century origin would be revealed during the events of Skylarks: The Damocles Gambit: Part II) would go on to explore.

Summary
"DESIGNATION: StarlingMAX. MANDATE: Chart, Guard, Seek, Destroy. HEADING: Skyward FAILSTATE: Falteration."

Starring

 * Allison Leopold as Commodore Maggs Flechette
 * Suzanne Tanner-Jerome as XO Dallas Kodiak

Also starring
And featuring
 * Axel “The Hube” Hopkins as Midshipman “Jammer” Jenkins
 * Dana Thompson as Star Hussar Yvette Okoro
 * Clement Angelos as M.A.R.L.O. (Season 3-4)
 * Thierry Stavros as Leftenant Clem Shooter
 * Alex Dubois Mechanist Jan Jennks
 * Lorelai Bruderlin as Chief MC Laxmi Arora

Production crew

 * [ENTRY MISSING] – Creator, Writer, Producer, Executive Producer
 * Lars Crem – Writer, Producer
 * Pendis Enat – Writer, Producer, Director

Season 1
The first season of SkylarksMAX had distinctly adult flair, with many episodes featuring a trip to the ship's Star Bar, and the numerous ill-advised romantic entanglements which resulted.

Despite a few cringe-worthy entries (“Hip Hop Esplanade” and “The VCR Murders”) the new show was generally well received, and “Tip of the Spear”, “Bury Me With My Boots On” and the 2 part finale “Wars of the Worlds” are considered some of the best written in the franchise (although the early green screen techniques employed haven’t aged as well). Other notable episodes include “The Huguenot Chronicler” which laid the groundwork for what would become MARLApedia and “Victorian Video Vacation” which introduced hard light technology to the Skylarks universe.​

Season 2
Widely agreed as the high water mark for the show, season 2 introduced the maniacal mandroid M.A.R.L.O (counterpart to MARLA, and one of the franchise’s enduring villain) as well as featuring Flechette’s groundbreaking divorce (begun in “Everything but the Moonlight” and concluded in “A Question of Sex Griffons”). With a slightly more serialized format than either of the earlier series, SkylarksMAX soon became prime time watercooler TV, and as the standup career of Axel “Huber” Hopkins began to take off his role was expanded to match.

Notable episodes include the Western-themed “Kodiak vs. the Iron Horse” (and it’s unusually piquant ending) and the harrowing “99 Zuftbaloons”. “Jammer Jenkins, Private Eyes” was seen as naked fan service following so closely on the heels of its predecessor (and perhaps a backdoor pilot for a solo Jammer series) but the episode's central, and ultimately unsolved murder proved one of the franchise's enduring mysteries. But the most enduring contribution was the Star Hussars, an elite cadre of female commandos introduced in “Blazing Chromium” to combat the threat of Cyber Mantoids, a new twist on an old foe created by M.A.R.L.O. in the previous episode.

Season 3
Season 3 was distinctly a mixed bag, and heralded a general decline in quality for the show. While the show’s flirtation with cyberpunk and new wave themes appealed to younger viewers and genre fans, the many ongoing plot threads proved difficult to resolve to the satisfaction of the show’s mainstream audience. Gay rights advocates initially praised the “will they/won’t they” dynamic between Flechette and Kodiak (perhaps most notable in “Rubicon Tetrahedron”) but the network balked at actually showing a same sex relationship on screen and the writers gradually reduced the sapphic undertones. Meanwhile Jammer Jenkins was largely absent the last half of the season (excepting the 2 part finale “Ajaxian Turmoil”) due to Axel Hopkins burgeoning film career. The character would be written off the show entirely in Season 4, to the dismay of his devoted subset of fans.

Season 4
The writing unquestionably on the wall going into season 4, the show employed a series of increasingly transparent gambits to regain its former audience share. “Soviet Suzerain”, “Our Fine Feathered Flechette” and “The Caveman Conspiracy” all pushed established characters well outside audience comfort-zones, and "The Megabyte Computer" represented a naked attempt to reuse an old Indigo Trident script.

Concept
SkylarksMAX was created by [ENTRY MISSING]

Background information

 * [ENTRY MISSING] wrote lyrics for the opening theme (entitled "Chart the Stars in Her Eyes") in order to secure a partial writer's credit for the song. These lyrics were never recorded as part of the original theme song, and thus were never aired.

Related topics

 * SkylarksMAX performers
 * SkylarksMAX recurring characters
 * Character crossover appearances
 * SkylarksMAX directors
 * Undeveloped SkylarksMAX episodes

Media

 * SkylarksMAX on VHS
 * SkylarksMAX on LaserDisc
 * SkylarksMAX on DVD
 * SkylarksMAX on Blu-ray
 * SkylarksMAX soundtracks