stu3@mhuxh.UUCP (Mark Modig) (10/04/84)
>Now I'll up the ante... on UFO, what were the different defense systems that >were used to repel aliens? > > OK, the name of the organization was SHADO (I've forgotten what the initials stood for; I have not been able to find the show on anywhere for years) It used a movie studio as a front and the head of SHADO (the character's name was Ed Straker) was supposedly a movie producer or something. There were several defense mechanisms. The only ones I can remember are: SID (initials for ??? something about Satellite Detector and Interceptor?)- this was a satellite orbitting out around the Moon (tho it might have been the earth). This was the early warning device. The stupid aliens never really bothered to porperly attack this; the one time I remember they did they had a cakewalk in to Earth; they tried to jam it or something. They did OK, but still lost in the end anyway. Moonbase- Moonbase had little trucks they could send out to shoot at UFOs on the moon. They also used Interceptors that were vectored to the approaching UFO by SID. Interceptors mounted one missile only in the front of the vehicle; it just detached and blasted away. Somehow, the pilot never got fried by this. Interceptors were either a waste of time or unerringly accurate, depending on how critical the situation was and the requirements of the plot. Skydiver- Skydiver was a combination air/sea vehicle. It was a sub (the crew were fishnet shirts, including the women) that had a small plane that could be detached and then would shoot thru the surface and into the air to shoot down UFOs. They had several of these units, I believe, since one could hardly reattach the plane to the sub at sea. These were fairly accurate. SHADO also had little trucks to use on Earth, too, in case they had to attack a UFO that had managed to make it down. I think the name of the guy who played Straker was Ed Bishop. He also drove a neat sports car with gull-winged doors. Now we know what John DeLorean watched on TV in the early '70s. All in all, the series was usually fairly trashy, and its look and style are often similar to Space:1999. Whew! That's about it, how did I do? \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Mark Modig ..ihnp4!btlunix!mom
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (10/05/84)
On the money -- SHADO is Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization,
and SID was Space Intruder Detector. God, I'd like to see this series
again! Is it on video anywhere?
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer, FOOLS (Finder Of Old Lovable Series)
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAeich@uiucdcsb.UUCP (10/07/84)
/* Written 7:09 pm Oct 4, 1984 by stu3@mhuxh in uiucdcsb:net.tv */ > OK, the name of the organization was SHADO (I've forgotten what the > initials stood for; Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defense Organization a multifariously bogus acronym. > SID (initials for ??? something about Satellite Detector and Interceptor?)- > this was a satellite orbitting out around the Moon (tho it might > have been the earth). Space Intruder Detector I think. It was in Earth orbit. Brendan Eich uiucdcs!eich
jimc@haddock.UUCP (10/13/84)
Also let us not forget the immutable name of the aircraft Skydiver launched -- Sky One. They also had van-like vehicles with an amazingly impressive interior -- I do not remember the name of them (Crawlers, maybe?). OK, gang, I have a question for all you buffs -- what was Straker's wife's first name?
jimc@haddock.UUCP (10/18/84)
I received a written request to blab away, so I am posting the answer here:
Helen
Now the interesting thing is that Straker was once in a terrible
hurry in his beautiful gull wing car, so much so that he
accidentally ran down his son who was crossing the street.
Helen, who was on his case over and over again about not spending
enough time with his family, hated him from that moment; and
walked out on the marriage when the kid finally died of the
injuries he sustained. In a later episode, Straker was beginning
to suffocate in an abandoned Skydiver, thought she was in the
room with him and started talking to her, telling her he still
loved her and that he has never forgiven himself.
Perhaps this was one of the most poignant though soap operatic
dramas in TV sci-fi history.