jam@dcl-cs.UUCP (John A. Mariani) (06/11/85)
In article <238@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrdave@ucdavis.UUCP (Lord Kahless) writes: >Sci Fi productions. Lord LOW grade :-) I remember an abominable series >(which I think they got some of the sets for 1999 from) in which the premise >was another bunch of aliens out to conquer earth. The series was named >something like UFO, and was set in the 1980's. The bad taste must be >somewhere in the back of your mind. This is in defence of Lord Lew Grade. May I add this is an action I never thought I'd take! It is easy enough to slander LLG's work, in particular some of the films he has produced i.e "Raise The Titanic". However, let us not forget that it was LLG who bankrolled "The Prisoner" and all of Gerry Anderson's series. This leads us to another argument .. GA's work! Personally, I loved the puppet series and often quote them as the reason I became interested in SF in the first place. Here in Britain, many of the puppet shows are being repeated. "Captain Scarlet", made in 1966 (or thereabouts) and therefore nearly 20 years old, still looks pretty good (a darn sight better than "Terrahawks") and the story line -- Earth under attack by zombies from Mars -- isn't all that bad! If you like seeing puppets bleed, this is for you! Space 1999, discussed several times in this news group, came up to the bat with two strikes against it (is this the right Americanism?). First, the puppet shows which preceded it; second, the "Star Trek" which preceded it! Any show (and as far as I'm aware, there has only been "1999") in which a group of people trek round the stars is right up against it! We can only compare it with "Star Trek" and perhaps I'm being biased in saying it would have to be a damned good show to compete. Still, I would argue that the first season (with Barry Morse as Prof. Bergman) had some pretty good stuff in it. The second season (which Mr. Morse decided to leave -- hey, did they ever explain Prof. Bergman's disappearance? -- stop the Moon, I want to get off?) was "big monster of the week" was really terrible. As for Maya, well, that was too obvious a move by far! ST was a popular show with a popular alien (probably the most popular ever, until ET showed up!) so we'll have one too! But what really caused me to write was the UFO comments. UFO, to my mind, was not that bad a series! It was far superior to "1999" and some of the characterisation (especially Commander Straker) was very good indeed. Here was a commander who was not afraid to make decisions that might be unpopular with his underlings, even if they meant death for some of them. A man so dedicated to his work when forming SHADO he lost his wife and child. I would go so far as to say this is one of the most realistic characters ever presented in TV SF. And as for the special effects! In one particular episode I saw about 2 years ago at a con, featuring George Cole (at one time known as "Flash Harry" in the St. Trinian films but now as "Arfur" in "Minder" -- who is probably "Flash" grown up, now that I think about it!), there was a car - UFO chase. The cuts between live action and models were invisible and the climax of the car being forced to crash at a petrol station drew massive applause from the con audience -- who had clearly forgotten just how good UFO really was. Perhaps we (the people who grew up with GA productions, starting with "Torchy The Battery Boy", "Twizzle", "Four Feather Falls" and "Supercar") were all too young when UFO came out and the adult situations were not what we expected. Perhaps we just wanted to see "Thunderbirds" again. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Let me just finish by saying if LLG is fodder for attack, I think you Americans should consider some of your own producers. Glen Larson isn't as good as he used to be, and as for Irwin Allen ... I'll get out of your way now, thanks for listening! -- NAME: John A Mariani PHONE: +44 524 65201 ext 4467 UUCP: ...!ukc!icdoc!dcl-cs!jam DARPA: jam%lancs.comp@uk.ac.ucl.cs JANET: jam@uk.ac.lancs.comp POST: University of Lancaster, Department of Computing, Engineering Building, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4YR, UK.
thornton@kcl-cs.UUCP (06/12/85)
Prof Bergman's disapearance was never explained in any episode but in the book,'THE MAKING OF SPACE 1999',it is said that lines were cut out explaining what had happened. His space suit malfunctioned. True enough ,the second season was pretty bad at times, but the first season is at least watchable. UFO was the direct ancestor of 1999 but with better stories and not as many scientific 'clangers'. This could have easily gone in to another series and its a pity it didn't. Also a final deciding episode for both shows would have been great. As for the characters, they were never fully developed though I thought that SPACE 1999 had a great family feel to it. Andy T. (..HE'S HUMANOID..) Doc (..YOU MEAN, LIKE US?....) Straker (UFO had bad lines too!)
demillo@uwmacc.UUCP (Rob DeMillo) (06/21/85)
> > Space 1999, discussed several times in this news group, > came up to the bat with two strikes against it (is this the > right Americanism?). > First, the puppet shows which > preceded it; second, the "Star Trek" which preceded it! Any show (and > as far as I'm aware, there has > only been "1999") in which a group of people trek round the stars > is right up against it! We can only compare it with "Star Trek" and perhaps > I'm being biased in saying it would have to be a damned good show to > compete. What? That's ridiculous? Who said anything about Star Trek, or comparing Space:1999 with Star Trek. (There are plenty of SF books, movies, tv shows that have "space voyages" that can stand on their OWN merits without comparing them against anything.) Although I admit that Space:1999 was compared against StarTrek when it first came out, but that's mostly due to the producers. I remember all the blurbs that came out with the promotional crap: "..the first realistic science-fiction drame shwo since Star Trek..." etc. And the bit about getting some of the Star Trek make-up, costume and production crew and then telling everyone about it...they were inviting comparisons. But, putting all that aside, Space:1999 was just silly. Nuclear waste dumps that ignite (?) and thrust the moon out of earth's orbit (?) with Martin Landau (?) and Barbara Bain (?) at the helm. > But what really caused me to write was the UFO comments. > > UFO, to my mind, was not that bad a series! It was far superior to "1999" > and some of the characterisation (especially Commander Straker) was > very good indeed. Here was a commander who was not afraid to make > decisions that might be unpopular with his underlings, even if > they meant death for some of them. A man so dedicated to his work > when forming SHADO he lost his wife and child. I would go so far as > to say this is one of the most realistic characters ever presented in TV SF. * sigh * > > And as for the special effects! In one particular episode I saw about > 2 years ago at a con, featuring George Cole (at one time known as "Flash > Harry" in the St. Trinian films but now as "Arfur" in "Minder" -- who > is probably "Flash" grown up, now that I think about it!), > there was a car - UFO chase. The cuts between live action and models > were invisible and the climax of the car being forced to crash at > a petrol station drew massive applause from the con audience -- who had > clearly forgotten [editor's note: *sigh* ] > just how good UFO really was. Perhaps we > (the people who grew up with GA productions, starting with "Torchy > The Battery Boy", "Twizzle", "Four Feather Falls" and "Supercar") > were all too > young when UFO came out and the adult situations were not what we expected. > Perhaps we just wanted to see "Thunderbirds" again. * sigh * > > Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Let me just finish by saying if > LLG is fodder for attack, I think you Americans should consider some > of your own producers. Glen Larson isn't as good as he used to be, > and as for Irwin Allen ... Oh, I get it..."...I'm British, and there is someone out there who doesn't like something British...we can't have that...." I was commenting on Space:1999 because it "t'ain't funny McGee..." Of course America has bad producers (we have this thing called "Hollywood mentality") but so does the UK and Austrailia and Russia and... Face it, can you REALLY like a show that has Barbara Bain sayin wonderful dialogue like: "John, I'm scared." with as much emotion as saying: "John, you're tie is in the blender." ? > > I'll get out of your way now, thanks for listening! > Me too... > > -- > NAME: John A Mariani PHONE: +44 524 65201 ext 4467 > POST: University of Lancaster, Department of Computing, > Engineering Building, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4YR, UK. -- --- Rob DeMillo Madison Academic Computer Center ...seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!demillo / =|-- = \ = [][][] "...I don't know what this thing does, but it's pointing in your direction."