Ruined TV memories

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Was UFO a spin off from space 1999 ?

Shaun
No, another Andersen series, proving again they were better with puppets than human actors. Predates it by quite a few years. Edit. Only 4 years. It seems much older than that.
 

andyfraser

Über Member
Location
Bristol
I know what you mean. Mark sense cards or worse still, punch cards, and if you dropped a deck of cards it could take days to get them back in the right order. And your program that used to run fine stops working suddenly because a pencil mark got smudged. And the only way of interacting was via a teletyprewriter wasting reams of paper.

That's ignoring the whole world of ascii porn (link NSFW).

Information Technology is much better today with apps and the web and a computer in your pocket more powerful than NASA had, in the bad old days.
I preferred things as they were in the 80s. Software was much easier to code when it was all text. The Borland tools where great (Turbo C and Turbo Pascal where my tools of choice) and you could easily see the flow of the software. Once we had GUIs debugging the UI became so much harder for anything other than the simplest UIs.
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Well, I loved Sapphire and Steel when it was on.
Got the box set recently. Still great.

Spike Milligan's Q stuff is utterly dated. I don't know if it was ever any good, but it sure isn't now. And how did I ever like The A Team? Or 6 Million Dollar Man?
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Remember how they would always lose at least one Eagle an episode, but they seemed to have an infinite supply? Space 1999 should have been about resource management, and making things last, but it's more fun to blow things up. Kaboom! Crash! Kablooie!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BzitMkUCw

(I think about 5 are destroyed in the opening sequence above)


(also remembering my surprise when seeing Crimes and Misdemeanours. What, Martin Landau can act???



Totally. I heard Round the Horn for the first time in 1990s, and it really made me laugh, even the slight racism and strong sexism didn't stop it being funny.


Sandy and Julian are pants wettingly funny, and certainly risque to say the least. Not sure you'd get away with it in today's less censored cljmate
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
No, another Andersen series, proving again they were better with puppets than human actors. Predates it by quite a few years. Edit. Only 4 years. It seems much older than that.

I thought UFO quite good, albeit a thin premise. Quite good stories, looked great, and pretty good cast / acting. Mind you, I was about 12 so maybe not the cinematic sophisticate I am now. 1999 was after wasn't it - and as I said, looked good but otherwise shyte Thunderbirds still the best though.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
More recently.. as in about 15 years ago, I was hooked on Farscape. I thought it was one of the riveting and original sci-fi series we'd had for decades. Bought the DVD box set about 5 years ago so i could relive the adventure... utter sh!te.

I loved farscape. Saw ine or two half-episodes back in the day thinking WTF is this and then bought the box set a few years later. I loved it, though sadly the Mrs was unimpressed when we started again - and she is a fan of Bab5 & Galactica. I still think Farscape is my favourite - with maybe a couple of dud episodes out of a shoebox of dvds Galactica maybe the "best" of the modern intelligent sci fi, but I love all 3. I think Farscape is the only one I could watch again though
 
I thought UFO quite good, albeit a thin premise. Quite good stories, looked great, and pretty good cast / acting. Mind you, I was about 12 so maybe not the cinematic sophisticate I am now. 1999 was after wasn't it - and as I said, looked good but otherwise shyte Thunderbirds still the best though.
No, it was pretty bad. Childish, yet violent. We (my brothers and me) loved it. I remember an episode was morally repugnant. One of the main characters had been captured, or something, so the other main characters tortured an alien to death (increasing doses of truth drug) in an effort to rescue said captured hero.

Why I remember this is my mother (bless her!) knew how much we loved the program, decided to discuss the moral issues with us rather than just ban us watching it. She took us through the implications of the action in a very thorough manner. My baby brother said "yes, I get that, but it's not a catholic program" [ie therefore it doesn't have to adhere to that moral code.] I couldn't fault my mum from stopping us watching it. Torturing aliens to death - in case it needs to be said - doesn't belong in a kiddies series.

Also, you might call it feminist because it had women fighter pilots. But all the fighter pilots (Angels?) were women, so it's obvious that fighter pilot is a woman's job in the future (1984!)
 


Yup. Never dated. As any body would be aware, eyelids and blinking have never been in fashion, so the fact that none of the characters even squints is not at all weird.

Edit: See, totally natural!

Screen Shot 2015-09-27 at 00.23.13.jpg
 

Hitchington

Lovely stuff
Location
That London
I've had flashbacks to a terrifying children's programme for most of my adult life. I thought it was Children of the Stone, so bought the series on DVD. It was (retrospectively) scary but it wasn't the programme. Then with some research and help of cool retro TV websites I worked out it was probably The Changes. Got the boxset from BFI, and it was this one!
I was 5 when it was on. Here's the opening titles and Krautrock theme tune
 

TVC

Guest
I've had flashbacks to a terrifying children's programme for most of my adult life. I thought it was Children of the Stone, so bought the series on DVD. It was (retrospectively) scary but it wasn't the programme. Then with some research and help of cool retro TV websites I worked out it was probably The Changes. Got the boxset from BFI, and it was this one!
I was 5 when it was on. Here's the opening titles and Krautrock theme tune

I think I remember it, did electricity pylons emit strange sounds and scare people?.... Which ever series that was, it was proper scary, it would never be made now.
 

Lullabelle

Banana
Location
Midlands UK
Well, I loved Sapphire and Steel when it was on.
Got the box set recently. Still great.

Spike Milligan's Q stuff is utterly dated. I don't know if it was ever any good, but it sure isn't now. And how did I ever like The A Team? Or 6 Million Dollar Man?

We bought Sapphire and Steel DVD for my brother last Christmas, I remember watching them.
 
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