an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Yes, you should assume this contains spoilers as I want to talk about specific episodes! I was looking over the episode list and it jogged my memory. I remember two episodes in particular. One I believe is the episode entitled Speed Kills. One of the boys finds gasoline and fixes up a sort of race car to drive around the island as fast as possible. There's a real discussion about what he's doing...i.e. should he be allowed? Does the group have a right to make rules for everyone? At the end, someone gets hit by the car and badly hurt. Of course, there is no doctor among the survivors, so suddenly the college student "fun" becomes a serious issue as the group must face up to reality and whether they need a pseudo "government" or let anarchy rule.The other episode I remember involved a "survivor" type guy who decides he needs a woman, so he just kidnaps one of the girls and holds her prisoner. His idea is they are going to be mates. No one's coming to rescue them, so they will have to live out their lives on the island. He wants a woman and she needs a man to take care of her, so he can't understand why she's not cooperating. It's awhile before anyone realises she's missing and when they do, only one guy is willing to go after her. This was 1969, remember? Women's Rights were a huge issue. He rescues the girl, but again, is there need for societal punishment for the crime? Anyone remember any more episodes? I noticed the parallel to LOST the first time I heard about that show, so I'm glad others see it as well. I think the person who said they thought the show was called The Young Americans might be confusing it with The Young Rebels (1970), another short-lived Spelling show which actually starred a young Louis Gossett Jr. as one of a group of young patriots during the American Revolution.

I really enjoyed this when it was on -- two hip and interesting shows (it was paired with David Steinberg's show right afterward) that my parents didn't really get, cute young actors and both highly topical (well, Steinberg was more satirical). Or as topical as you got in 1969.Yes (as noted above) Vietnam was on all our minds. This show struggled with issues we were confronting, at a level a young person like me could relate to. Frankly it taught skepticism of war but also cynicism about the human condition as the young idealists struggled again and again with the same dilemmas. Kind of a Lord of the Flies with less murder and more food. And girls.I also remember being impressed with the innovative (and of course completely failed) time format, which I've never seen tried again.

I too was a very young 10 at the time. For some reason I always thought the show was called "The Young American's". I remember the plane crash, and their attempt to form a new Utopia. I don't recall individual story lines or the characters, but I also remember it followed David Steinberg's show. I do remember that Three Dog Night played Eli's Coming on that. I would love to see it again, but it would probably be like watching My Three Son's grow up and get real long(shoulder length) hair. Would original copies of this still be archived anywhere? Send an e-mail if available.

Rod Serling as "Creator" is deceptive. He was probably in an executive capacity with little "creative" contribution. In other words, they used his august name.If memory serves, this programme did not last a full season, and its 45 minute running time is a mystery. THE NEW PEOPLE was very much a product of its time, inspired much less by LORD OF THE FLIES than MOD SQUAD. It showed. To be honest, however, during the late '60s -- which I remember very well -- more than one middle-aged individual wondered how well all these griping young people could do if they were left to re-shape society. It is a small detail that starting from scratch in an environment red of tooth and claw is not the best way to test a high-falutin' hypothesis. The only "old guy" dies a long and expository death in the first episode, and life, such as it is, begins for the new society. Of course, by 1970 both great powers had high resolution spy satellites, although with non-Pacific targets, and it would be a matter of maybe two or three casualty filled years before things would be put to right. If they ever gave it a thought, that is probably how the "creators" planned to end the series.For some bizarre reason, however, I found the theme attractive. Perhaps as a failed man in his middle-20s, I wanted to be off by myself on a non-desert isle with a nice high mountain at centre from which to watch the Sun go down and the Moon come up.