The Adventures of Pirx

The Adventures of Pirx (Hungarian: Pirx kalandjai) was a television mini-series in Hungary in 1973 based on the 1968 science fiction short story collection Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Polish writer Stanisław Lem. Released by Magyar Televízió, it was directed by István Kazan and András Rajnai. Pirx was played by János Papp. Five episodes were aired.

Episodes

• The diploma exam / A diplomavizsga
  • The episode is inspired by the story The Test, with which it shares only the setup. Pirx takes a space flight exam, not without surprizes, only to learn that the flight was a simulation. In the second part of the episode (absent in the original story) Pirx and his buddies celebrate the graduation on a luxury spaceship, when the captain receives a distress signal from a spaceship with damaged reactor... Pirx saves them all.
• The mystery of the Galileo station / A Galilei-állomás rejtélye
  • Several mysterious tragic acccidents happen at the Galileo station on the Moon.
• Weekend on Mars / Víkend a Marson
  • Loosely based on "The Hunt"
• Terminus, the crown witness / Terminusz, a koronatanú
  • Loosely based on Terminus (short story)
• Action at 127:25 / Akció 127 óra 25-kor
  • Based on "The Inquest"

Reception

Bartosz Staszczyszyn of Culture.pl commented that of all adaptations of Lem, this one is the most comical; however not because the authors decided on a comical interpretation, but due to inept special effects. As Staszczyszyn put it: "The very first scene of the series leaves no doubt: a green pot combined with three skimmers pretends to be... a space station."