Yes, I remembered. For years I would think back on my turdler days (perhaps the best, as well as worst, of times for me whilst other stratas in my existence were usually worse, as well as worser times) and the fun times I had watching SUPERCAR on Saturday nights and then FIREBALL XL-5 Saturday mornings, part of a real wild youth that suddenly VANISHED when I began to enter into those not-so-hallowed halls of learning and hadda put up with psycho teachers and equally nutzoid classmates. By then it all vanished like those LITTLE RASCALS shorts, a long gone memory of a time I sure wish woulda lasted longer but eh, these era's ends in my life just hadda stop somewhere even if they did way too prematurely. Unfortunately none of the local tee-vee stations dared pick up on the later Supermarionation series like STINGRAY or THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO (channel 8 in Cle was running that 'un but alas we didn't have a VHF antenna) which is sad because hey, maybe if I was watching 'em those glorious pre-stool day feelings woulda lingered on just a li'l bit...
The SUPERCAR cravings never did leave me...in fact during my later-single digits days when my dad 'n I would drive by channel 33 in Youngstown, they who ran SUPERCAR for a few years on/off, I would envision that they had the ENTIRE SERIES on film stashed away in their basement just waiting to be shown to a new generation of kiddoids who coulda used it in the face of GROOVY GHOULIES saturation. If I had any sorta courage about these things I woulda asked dad to let me stop into the station in order to make an impassioned plea for them to dig 'em out and start airin' 'em the same way they were milking the fifties-era BUGS BUNNY cartoons and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND for all they were worth. I'm sure my begging woulda fallen on deaf ears, but just think of the story that station cameraman "Uncle Hal" coulda told his fambly that night if I only had...
Little did I know that I wasn't the only one hungry for the Supermarionation talents of Gerry Anderson, the brain behind the above and many other shows both of a puppet and human nature! Unbeknownst to me there were societies and fan clubs springing up across England (and undoubtedly elsewhere) where equally stunted suburban slob types would discuss such shows and maybe even watch a few not-so-pristine prints while soaking up all that lost goodtime feeling that came from early-sixties television. Yeah, I know that someone stranded in nowheresville like myself wouldn't be able to attend, but think of all the chills I coulda gotten knowing that somewhere on this sphere there were people JUST LIKE MYSELF (sorta) who had way better tastes in tee-vee than whoever it is that hacks away for THE NEW YORK TIMES these days!
I'm sure there are a millyun more, but THE COMPLETE GERRY ANDERSON is one definitive piece of information and homage to a guy who knew what the throbbing kiddoid public kinda/sorta wanted, and not only that but the man also put it in front of the entire world thanks to the sideline savvy of Lew Grade. Yes, within the softcovers of this book the entire Gerry Anderson output is detailed from those fifties cheapo shows for the li'l sissyboys up through the Sci-Fi oriented adventure shows right into the live action ones that (other'n the overblitzed SPACE 1999) seemed to pop up at weird hours on stations that were well outside the reach of my corner-reflector roof top antenna. Not that I'd particularly care to watch THE PROTECTORS with Robert Vaughn but if it were on up against CHAMPIONSHIP FELCHING maybe I would!
Great pix and neat capsuled rundowns of all the goodies from SUPERCAR (sure brings back memories such as the time I first saw "Flight of Fancy" which was undoubtedly the first ever "It's only a DREAM" saga I ever experienced!) and of course FIREBALL XL-5 into the late-sixties biggies which like I said never did get much attention here so it's all new 'n FRESH to me. Some of the live stuff such as UFO rings a slight bell since I remember walking in on my one cousin while she was watching it some Saturday afternoon (the gal with the weird hair kinda creeped me out) and while a good portion of what eventually came probably would appeal as much to me as a lecture on Greek Culture from Dan Savage at least it's there for posterity. I mean, if anyone were to drag me to see DICK SPANNER PI (which from the description seems like an eighties-styled spoof complete with all of the bad taste accouterments such productions entailed not only then but now) I'd only watch under penalty of death!
After my time, Chris! I'm from the Clutch Cargo generation.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Actually, SUPERCAR was being broadcast around the same time as CLUTCH CARGO...my guess is that it bypassed your television market or was on up against another program that was big in your household. As for FIREBALL XL5...that was on Saturday AM on NBC...you had NO reason not to be watching unless you were a fan of Casper who was on up against it on ABC.
ReplyDelete"Greek Culture" refers to fraternity life. Don't be confused by Stigs and his personailty, uh, quirks.
ReplyDeleteSome people just let double entendres slip right past 'em...
ReplyDeleteMy bad as a Caspar fan, Chris! The ghost of a baby? Odd that!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Who cares about all this friggin' BS, man! What about rock n' roll, man! I'm an artist, man! An American artist and an American Moslem! Frig Trump, man!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm a rock n' roll n-word, man! Are you a rock n' roll n-word?! Baby got bigger! She was a rock n' roll n-word! Rock n' roll n-words take it over the edge, man! We're edgy!
PS: (((Danny Fields))) pulled a Cosby on Pete Townshend.
PPS: I was married to one of The MC5, man! And I bore his child. Or his children. I can't remember which. Regardless, I gave birth, man! And I'm a poet, a rock n' roll poet! Just like Dylan and Little Richard, man!
Sheesh.
ReplyDelete