Forgotten Station


What is Forgotten Station?

In Kracked Moon, many of the characters were involved in a children's television show called Forgotten Station. This show was inspired by the games of pretend Peter Moreno noticed his son and friends playing in the neighborhood, while also trying to maintain some degree of creative control and be cost effective. After finding no interested production companies, and early efforts from an overly eager creative partner, the show was independently produced and shopped around to local stations across the US, some cable networks, and to a few international businesses who would create foreign language dubs of the show.


The Story

In a kingdom ravaged by an ongoing evil threat, four children are given the power to protect their home.

An evil tyrant has been taking over villages and kingdoms, and the greatest kingdom of all now stands in their way. During a typical assault, the kingdom's Prince Rolan and Princess Maizy are in the old wood with their closest friends, Buzzy, the son of the captain of the royal guard, and Lonya, a princess from another kingdom that had been seized. When looking for cover, they found their way into a cave that led to an abandoned defense base. Via instructions from a holographic AI calling herself Estilla, the kids learn how to use this lost technology and become superheroes to protect their kingdom.

Unknown to these kids, their ally called Spess, an otherwise destitute citizen, is actually part of the evil tyrant's family, and has been asked to go undercover and sabotage the kingdom. This may range from ruining a party to discovering weaknesses in the kingdom's defenses. The kids do not know that when they fight the evil monster Asbestos it is actually Spess taking his true form, acting as a general who accompanies the monsters who attack the kingdom. If they knew, would they be able to attack their friend so easily?

By learning to hone their powers, and working together, the kingdom's new protectors are destined to save the kingdom, and perhaps they will save the rest of the world while they are at it! Tune in to hear the story of the Forgotten Station!


What Went Wrong?

Despite successfully producing around 40 episodes across one summer, this was not normally enough for a children's show to last very long, especially when potential buyers had plenty of other options at the time. Very few interested buyers meant very little return on the show itself. Moreno also had difficulty getting a toy deal, despite having the rights to produce toys of the costumes bought and imported from Italy. Some prototype merchandise was produced, but never sold. This resulted in Moreno and his creative partner Schuler taking on incredible volumes of debt.

Attempts to film more episodes on weekends after the summer were difficult, mostly due to the main cast being minors, and not all living local to the set. The two leads, played by twin siblings Emmett and Eve Anderson, had already made filming difficult by bickering and refusing to be on-set together, and were only becoming worse about it as time went on. The remaining cast were doing their best to keep up, but exhaustion was obvious, and none of the new footage would air or be released, though news of upcoming additional footage kept some parties further invested.

The following summer, efforts to film gap footage to make the remaining footage usable came to a quick end. While the biggest factor would be the financial demands of the loans Moreno and Schuler took out, a fear of potential safety risks would cause the cast themselves to abandon the project. The poorly constructed set was falling apart, and while it was often safe for the child actors, it was snapping under the weight of adult actors. The amount of work it took to appease the twins made it nearly impossible to work with them. But the final nail in the coffin was what was described as a costume malfunction, where actress Nai-bu Singh was stuck in the mouth of the costume for Asbestos, and her parents were furious. That incident, combined with the unexpected absence of actor Craith Silson for more than a week lead to the end of production, and the end of the show's viability.


Legacy

The show's lack in visibility made it difficult to leave an impression, but a dedicated fan community did form online. This community acted temporarily as an authority on the show, as very few recordings were available, and none of the known staff were well-known enough to be recognizable online. When a lost media group took an interest in the show, more recordings slowly became available. Most of the reported fascination was over how lifelike the costume for Asbestos looked, as well as the uncanny acting of children being very memeable.

Interest died down quickly once someone's home recording collection of the complete series was uploaded online. Those who were nostalgic for faint memories of the show discovered how unwatchable the production truly was, even if the show was meant for kids. Without nostalgia, the child acting was painful to watch, and the effects were very cheap looking. New members join, chasing the curious story of lost media, but the only known actor to discuss the show is Jason Moreno, who portrayed Buzzy, and was the son of Peter Moreno. His AMAs and occasional responses on reddit are how most of the behind-the-scenes information is confirmed, though Moreno always uses positive language to emphasize how much of undertaking Forgotten Station really was.


Show Credits


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