An amazing show that really did a lot with very little. A ton of imagination and Mr Anderson was a visionary. He went on to create Space 1999. Just check this out if you have never seen it before. Mr Anderson died today at 83

Edited December 28, 201212 yr by quartermainefan

I loved the Thunderbirds and Space 1999 which I saw as repeats a child. The technology has not aged well, but his ideas do. Brillant stuff.

Rest in peace, Gerry.

I loved the Thunderbirds and Space 1999 which I saw as repeats a child. The technology has not aged well, but his ideas do. Brillant stuff.

Rest in peace, Gerry.

Yeah, the technology of the puppet shows were pretty cheap, but very entertaining with great writing. Space:1999 showed his true briliance because he was given the largest budget in TV history and he made a show that still looks good even by today's standards. Actually, in most ways, it looks BETTER than today's sci-fi shows ( season1, at least)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZb8ACy-ZUs

I don't think a show since has been so dark, ponderous, and metaphysical.

Edited December 28, 201212 yr by alphanguy74

The first season of Space:1999 looked good. The second season, thanks in large part to the addition of the metamorph Maya...well, let's say the main things I remember about that are how cheesy the monster constumes were and how dark the command center got.

I liked the show (bought tapes from someone years ago just to have it) but I think it could have had so much more potential if it had stayed more in the vein of the first season. But I guess maybe they felt the need to switch from the more cerebral (Victor, Paul, Kano) type characters to those more action-oriented and more physically appealing (Maya, Tony).

And Sandra was annoying in both seasons.

Edited December 28, 201212 yr by applcin

I loved Maya and Tony. I think that they were my first 'ship.

I love Lady Penelope and Parker. Lady Penelope and her ultra feminine wardrobe and gadgets with stuff like secret radios in her lipstick mirror was just cute beyond compare. I love in this clip she has a secret radio in the case she keeps her pearls.

 

 

Thunderbirds was a lot of fun, especially Lady Penelope, and all those uber-closeups of the constipated looking puppets, contrasted with the terrifying manic grins they sported at other times. There was also a hilarious, "Please spare us, we're British!" type of joke in one episode that I can't remember now. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.

I was obsessed with Thunderbirds and Stingray and the other Supermarionation shows that used to air on the Sci-Fi channel. Such fun. Lady Penelope and that crazy souped-up pink Rolls was so OTT, and her Cockney driver, Parker. It was always so creepy when they'd do a closeup of a human hand doing what a marionette was incapable of doing.

May he rest in peace.

OMG, how could I forget Stingray? I loved that show too. Marina was my favorite. Didn't she and Troy have a romance?

UFO also had a such a cool look. That CAR... the chicks with metallic purple hair, hunks in a submarine with fishnet uniforms.