This is for everyone, but I am curious about if it had any impact on Americans.
When I was very young I loved space fiction and futurism, probably as a form of escapism.
When I reached my teens I got into proper Science Fiction, but before that I loved the Futuristic series made by Gerry Anderson with puppets (Super animation everyone).
But later with real humans.
Fireball XL 5
Joe Ninety
Sting ~Ray
UFO
Space 1999
There might be some that I’ve forgotten about, but I’d be glad to hear your impressions/memories.
They brought out a mock newspaper of the future called TV21which I also loved .
There was also another comic called , I think Ranger, named after a space probe, which also tried to get us kids thinking about the future.
I don’t remember Fireball XL 5, but the others (including Thunderbirds) were childhood staples.
We didn’t get the comics.
It was good timing for my brother and I that we were just getting into ‘proper’ science fiction when Space 1999 came out, which seemed like the most factual, realistic, amazing thing ever. Until the shapeshifter lady. Even as a kid the whole conservation of mass thing bugged me, where did the rest of her go or come from when she changed size? And that timeshe turned into a caterpillar and got trapped under a glass? Why didn’t she just change into something big enough to move the freaking glass? Silly bint.
I vaguely remember bits from UFO, but I think it was on past my bedtime.
I am familiar with Thunderbirds but I never really saw any of these shows growing up. There was a Thunderbirds video game for the Commodore 64 way back when that I had where you flew a ship around and rescued people or something, but I didn’t know much else about them other than they were puppets.
Huh. Without those (specifically Thunderbirds), Team America lacks context.
Thunderbirds was the first thing on when I’d get up for cartoons. I thought their ships were F.A.B.! I may have had a toy one, but I don’t remember.
U.F.O. was on pretty late, but somehow I managed to watch it. Scared me as a child. Loved Cdr. Straker’s car, and thought we’d all be driving turbines when I grew up. I didn’t care for the design of the alien craft, but I liked the fighters. One episode featured a Saturn V third stage (‘space junk’) that IIRC the aliens were using for cover. That image stuck in my mind.
Space: 1999 was underwhelming compared to Star Trek, but it quickly grew on me. I was too young for Maya to bother me. (Take that however thou wilt!) I had models of the Eagle ships. Years later, I got a Moonbase Alpha patch (which I still have) at a science fiction convention.
Fireball XL5 and Stingray were before my time.
I have Stingray, Thunderbirds, U.F.O., and Space:1999 on DVD. Haven’t watched much of Stingray yet, as my life situation has changed.
I watched a lot of Stingray and Thunderbirds, also UFO for the live-action side. There was another show with marionettes, Captain Scarlet, but I didn’t watch much of that. I loved these shows; much more entertaining than The Beatles animated series.
Anderson’s most recent live action series was Space Precinct from 1994. (Was a good show.)
He’s done 3 animated series since - Lavender’s Castle (I’ve never heard of it), Firestorm (in partnership with a Japanese production company), and a CGI remake of Captain Scarlet (the puppet version being the best of the SuperMarionation series, even if Thunderbirds is better known).
Thunderbirds was often on the TV, though I never liked it. I liked UFO, and later got into Space: 1999 on video. I don’t remember his other shows ever being on TV here - perhaps they were, but they weren’t popular.