When in Doubt, Take It To the Outer Space (Opera)

Letterboxd's The Poetic Critic and I examine the who/what/why/how the late 70's and early 80's fell in love with the concept of Jack Sparrow in space. Okay, the answer is "Star Wars" but lets give Stanley Kubrick some credit for "2001: A Space Odyssey" and more importantly "Silent Running" for setting the stage.

The biggest question we address is how did anyone think that creating galaxies could be done in 90 minutes. How much raping and pillaging can the "Ice Pirates" commit? Do all of Roger Corman's knock off count as a cinematic universe? How many space TV shows did the 70's have to offer? Should this genre have disappeared?