Conference noted::sf

That's strange. The Picnic should have one or more issues of a fanzine about
the Anderson shows called SUPERMARIONATION IS GO! I'm sure that I've seen
it there. At any rate, you could probably also find it at SUPERHERO UNIVERSE,
which is also in Harvard Square, on Mass Ave where it intersects with Mt.
Auburn St. (going toward Central Sq.).

I enjoyed the supermarionation shows (FIREBALL XL-5 was my favorite), but
I am not a super fan of them.

--- jerry

What ?

Care to give those of us who only know of "Thunderbirds 2086"
a little info on what you're talking about ?  Might be fun to
get aquainted with the series...

Dwight

Many moons ago, there was a whole family of puppet (marionette) shows with
an SF flavour put out by Gerry Anderson Productions in the UK.

The series' had as a gimmick a technique called SUPERMARIONATION; this involved
a solenoid in the puppet's head connected to the jaw flap. The solenoid was
driven directly from the vocal sound-track, thus the puppet's lips moved
in time to the speech (anyone who has ever seen a Bo Derek movie understands
the principle).

There were a number of these series;
Supercar	- a flying/submersible vehicle piloted by "Mike Mercury",
                  based in the middle of a desert in a secret hideaway.  Bad
                  guys, villans, etc

Fireball XL5	- a spaceship (part of "Starfleet") piloted by Steve Zodiac,
                  based on an island (space City); outer space adventure.

Stingray	- a submersible vehicle piloted by (??) with a whole slew
                  of underwater adventures based in the city of Marineville.

Thunderbirds	- The Tracy brothers and International Rescue

Joe 90		- A nine-year old boy whose father had built a brain-wave
		  encoder (known as the "Big Rat"); small boy could be 
		  programmed with the brain patterns of anyone and had most
		  remarkable adventures

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons -
		- International Peacekeeping force fighting off alien life
		  form detected on Mars. Aliens attack by killing and
		  re-animating members of governments, etc. The hero has
		  somehow been killed, and revived, and is now indestructible
		  but not under alien control. (better than it sounds)


I can't help feeling I've missed a couple. Gerry Anderson then went from
puppet shows to live action showslike UFO and SPACE-1999. 

Hope this helps
Nigel

Just remembered: STINGRAY was piloted by Troy Tempest.

Also, Thunderbirds was based on the exploits of five brothers and their
(one assumes) fantastically rich father who had founded a secret organisation
caled "International Rescue" based on an island in the pacific. The boys
flew around the world rescuing people from all manner of disaster.

TB 2086 (which I have only seen twice) seems to be a japanese animation cartoon
(of fairly high qualiy) based on the premise that this initially secret small
operation has become in some manner public, with a much larger staff amd
much wider scope.

I believe I've also seen some discussion of these shows in BISON::TV.NOT.
"Supercar" is the only one I remember actually seeing on the tube, and
of that the only line I can recall is Dr. Whats-his-name pronouncing it
"Syoo-puh-cah"...

-b

	Didn't we discuss this topic (at length) in Trivia a couple of
	years ago Nigel?  I think it would be around notes 1500-1700..

	I loved TB and Supercar.. I wish they had them on videotape.. I'd
	be interested in buying some..

							mike

	I just checked Trivia and it's at note 1516.0-.29.  And Nigel,
	you used the same Bo Derek line way back then!! :-)

	There's a whole bunch of trivia on the SuperMarionation shows
	in that particular note...

						mike

re:.6

I believe that there exist videotapes of "feature length" cartoons of
both CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS and THUNDERBIRDS. These "feature
length" cartoons were basicly two or three episodes strung together in
a way to make it seem like one long story. Your best bet if you want to
buy copies, Mike, is to check out Lechmere's in Framingham (the other
branches --- except maybe Cambridge, I haven't been there in a while ---
don't have anywhere near the selection of tapes for sale).


As for THUNDERBIRDS 2086, it is produced by ITC Japan. Since ITC (in
England) produced the supermarionation shows, one presumes that TB 2086
is an authorized adaptation, despite the fact that it does not credit
the original show (at least, the American translations don't). Other
than the group being known as the International Rescue Organization and
having various flavors of Thunderbirds, there seems to be almost no
relation between the puppet show and the cartoon.
	I second the comment that it is a *very* well done cartoon. One
of the better ones I've ever seen. Fortunately, I have all of the episodes
on tape from when they were on Showtime.

--- jerry

	Thanks Jerry.. I'll check them out next time I'm in that area..
	(I'll also try Woburn for the hell of it and let you know..)


							mike

My first Super-M show was "Supercar".  (Dr. Beaker & Professor Popkiss, I
believe.)   "Fireball XL-5" remains my favorite.  If pressed, I could maybe
remember the theme song!  "On our way home, Robert!"   I'll have to check
out the Trivia file.
      
							Don

P.S.  I saw BOLERO a few nights ago on cable.  Nigel's comment is immortal.

Read TRIVIA 1516 & wrote a reply & the node "unreachable"d itself & I lost
it and V 4 won't allow me to "Include" a VMS file (which is the rewritten
reply) like V 3 did & damn-damn-damn.

Does *anyone* know how to "include" in VNOTES?  I intended to post it here
after sticking it in TRIVIA 'cause it's an old note and besides it polite. 
(I'll write it the 3rd & 4th time if I have to but I'd rather not.)

							Don

	The way *I* know of including a file in TPU/EVE/VNOTES is hit
	the Do key (or PF4 on VT100s) and type EDT and that gives you
	the (crappy) EDT emulator.. You can the use the PF1 7 key combo 
	to get "Command:" and here is where you can type	
	"INC filename.bullshit"..  Hope that helps!

				mike (Still trying to get to the Picnic JM!)

  re .11, .12

  To include a file when you are in the default EVE editor when using VNOTES,
  press the Do key (or the PF4 key on VT100 terminals).  At the Command: prompt
  type:
         INCLUDE filename
  and press the Return key.

This reply is a dupie (kinda-sorta) of the one in TRIVIA note 1516:
===============================================================================
Better-late-than-never Dept.

Sic'd onto this note by SF.NOT on the THUNDERBIRDS.

*I* remember Supercar!  Dr Beeker ("Well, *now* who's the fool!) and Professor 
Popkiss.  Jimmy and Mitch, his monkey.  And the pilot with nerves of hardwood:
Mike Mercury.  '62.  "...It travels on land, and roams the skies,
                     Through the heavens' stormy rage.
                     Its Mercury-manned, and everyone cries,
                     'Its the marvel of the Age!' ...."

International Rescue (the uninitiated calls it the THUNDERBIRDS) was on in 
'66.  Never saw Joe 90, I was workin' for Uncle Sam in '68.  Captain Scarlet's
Spectra fought the Mysterons in '67.  (A very colorful group.)  STINGRAY was
on in '65.

FIREBALL XL-5 (my favorite.)  Televised in '62, my imagination has given it
Living Color.  Having a plastic model of the XL-5 helped.  In retrospect,  
this may be the final push into SF started by SUPERMAN.  Zodiac sang the
theme song "Fireball".  Anyone remember it?  (*I* do!)

Continueing down memory lane, who remembers Scott McCloud, the SPACE ANGEL,
(in Syncro-Vox) and his ship, the __________?  What was the other show done
in Syncro-Vox?  

Who was McCloud's--Stop-Don-stop!--(O.K.)

     						Don

P.S.  I'm afraid to dive into *this* notesfile. I may never come out!
===============================================================================
P.P.S  Thanks for all the "Help!" responses.  V 4 is new to Troll & I don't
       have the time to wade through the Help files.  I'm lucky I get the
       time to enter anything, let alone *read* notes.  (Sound of soft violin
       music and muted sobbing in the background.)
                                          

    Wow! I remember all that stuff from my childhood in England so well!
    
    My favourite was Fireball XL-5, too. There was even a pop song in
    the hit parade in England about Fireball XL-5.
    
    	"I wish I was a spaceman, the fastest guy alive,
    	 I'd fly around the universe, in Fireball XL-5......"
    
    Venus had to be the first SF puppet sex-bomb. 
    
    Then there was the robot ("On our way 'ome").
    
    Remember Thunderbird 1? That came out before the Hawker Harrier
    Jump-Jet. Science fiction obsoleted in about 5 years.
    
    How about the silly "fish" in Stingray?
                                                 
    I also enjoyed Captain Scarlet. They would cream him at the end
    of every episode, yet his bits would grow back on 'till he got up
    again!
          
    Ray_trying_to_get_out_of_memory_lane.

    The Fireball XL-5 theme appears on the LP "Television's Greatest
    Hits" (vol I; there are II) on the TeeVee Toons label.  Great for
    
    TV buffs!
    
    				Don ICEMAN::Rudman

I spent the weekend watching Thunderbirds videos after
not seeing the show for something like 20 years.  Super!

There was another science fiction puppet show that I vaguely
remember which I don't think was produced by Gerry & Sylvia
Anderson (though I may be wrong about that).  A co-worker
I talked to also remembers this show.  It involved "men from
Earth, Mars, and Venus" flying around the solar system in
ships that had a main section shaped like a torus (something
like a smallish '50s-style space-station).  The base of the
ship came to a point which would open up to a tripod for landing,
and the top contained the "meson power" unit which would move
up and down while making bizarre warbling noises.  (I think
the ships were called "galaspheres" or something like that.)

I remember little else about this show except that flying between
the planets was depicted as taking months and the spaceship crews
would go into suspended animation while traveling.  I also remember
it being black-and-white, but that may have been due to my family
not having a color TV at the time.

Anyone remember what this was called, when it was made, or anything 
more about it???

		Bob A.

    Captain Scarlet

>    Captain Scarlet

My memory may be slipping, but I don't think so...  I do remember
Capt. Scarlet and I seem to remember this one being different.  My
friend who also remembers it thinks that "Saturn" was part
of the title.  I remember that when the "galasphere" landed
on earth, it would land on top of a building that had an
extensible platform. (?)  I also think the beginning and
ending titles showed what was supposed to be a very advanced
and mechanzed city with cars going through pnuematic tubes
and stuff like that.  (Once again, this is all *very* hazy!)
I think the Venusians were portrayed as having long, thin
faces with beards and the Martians were sort of heavy-set
and gruff.  When they would go into suspended animation,
the acceleration couches would recline to lay flat and
the chamber would fill with a gas. (We're teetering on the 
edge of very distant stuff now!)

If it wasn't for the fact that someone else I know remembers
it, and even hummed the tune that was played when the ships
where flying, I might think I just dreamed it!

"Boost the Meson Power!..."

		Bob A.

>                               -< Fireball XL5? >-

Nope -- Fireball XL5 had a large rotating building at the
heart of Space City but spacecraft did not land on it.
I'm almost certain this program was not a Gerry and Sylvia
Anderson effort.  I remember being impressed as a kid because
of some kind of "Space Consultants" or some such thing that
were listed in the ending credits.  (Maybe that's why they
seemed to have fairly realistic flight times.  Certainly
by the early 60's any Space Consultant worth his salt would
discount the possibility of Men from Mars or Venus!)


I still remember the tune that was always played while the
ships were shown in flight, it was kind of an electronic
warbling that obviously cannot be reproduced here!  I also
remember the ships being surrounded by what appeared to be
a rotating force field emanating from the Meson Power unit
at the top of the ship.

This is what the ships were like (as close as I can get
on a terminal anyway) from a side view:


		           -----
                           |   |  <-- "Meson Power" unit (moves up and down)
		          -------
			  |     | <-- Cylindrical central hull
			  |     |
		==========================
		|                        |  <-- Torus-shaped main hull
		|                        |
		==========================
			  |     |
			  |     |
			  -------
			  \  |  /
		           \ | /   <-- Landing gear (shown folded up)  
		            \|/

  It's Space Patrol  (See also BOMBE::TV note 68.* on Gerry Anderson)

  The adventures of Captain Larry Dart of Space Patrol - men from Earth
  Mars and Venus who banded together as the United Galactic Guardians of
  Peace.
  The "start" of this forgotten puppet series was Space Captain Larry Dart,
  the commander of Galasphere 347, Space Patrol's main space verhicle
  who, together with Husky the Martian and Slim the Venusian, patrolled
  the solar system in search of adventure.

  Larry Dart - Dick Vosburgh
  Husky/Slim - Ronnie Stevens
  Col. raeburn - Murray Cash
  Prof. Haggerty - Ronnie Stevens
  Female Voices - Libby Morris

  Two seasons (26 + 13 episodes) of 15 minutes each  b/w
  7th april 1963 - 8 feb 1964
  3rd july 1966 - 28th july 1968

  Created and written by Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis (formerly
  associated to Gerry Anderson's AP Films Ltd).
  Director Frank Goulding. Special Effects and animation by Bill Palmer,
  Brian Stevens and Bert Walker.
  A National Interest Pictures Production.

  For episode guide see the ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure.


  Theo
  (a life long THUNDERBIRDS fan and Barry Gray music addict)

RE: Space Patrol

THANK YOU!!   The lingering memories of this show have been
bothering me for years!  Now if someone would only release
these and Fireball XL5 on video, my life can be complete!

    
    	Was it the TB's that had the vehicle with the backward wings that
    	would land on four spindlely legs, its belly (actually its
    	whole center portion) would slid down from the main aircraft.
    	This center portion was a container that would contain some sort
    	of smaller vehicle....
    
    	I in Canada, does anyone know how I can get my hands on the TB
    	tapes?
    
    	Charlie

    
    That was TB 2, the "pod" was selected from a sliding rack that moved
    across the hangar floor, so that the main body could be dropped
    onto prior to launch.  Each pod contained a different selection
    of gadgetry, presumably for different types of disaster.
    Ther was the Mole, a tunnelling machine, and one particular pod
    carried TB 4, the submersible.     
    
    TB2 was the one that emerged from the side of a hill, underneath
    a balcony.  It took off along a road, but only after the palm trees
    had folded down flat to make space for the wings.
    
    Ian (who has this wonderful trash stuck in his head for ever !!)
    
    PS.  Who can remember the FIRST Anderson cartoon ?  (May never have
    made it out of the UK)  Not strictly SF, just a little wierd.
    

    I don't know if anyone still reads this note but.........
    
    My father told me last week thay my (sadly late) Grandfather built
    a lot of the sets for Thunderbirds.
    
    That gets me right here.....
    
    
    Adam L.
    

    He was an artist (particularly if he built the one where they launch
    TB2 and the swimming pool folds back and the palm tree lays flat)!
    
    That was always my favourite (kind of like going through the round
    windown on Playschool).
    
    Good grief - we're talking 20 years ago here - must have left an
    impression!
    
    K

    Wow - I thought I was the only one who watched those series!
    
    Some trivia bits and bytes:
    
    Dr. Beaker's favorite comment: "(adjective)....MOST (adjective)"
    as in: "Satisfactory....MOST satisfactory!"
    
    The tach (?) in Supercar portrayed by an aircraft altimeter!
    
    In XL-5, remember Commander Zero and Lieutenant Ninety?
       "   , wasn't the robot's line:  "Returning to base."?
    
    In Stingray, remember Marina, the mute aquatic girl?
    
    As you can see, I logged a few hours in front of the TV.  ;^)  I
    believe those shows were the genesis of my fascination with fantastic
    vehicles....I was so disappointed when no one released a plastic
    kit of Supercar!
    
    					--Eric--

    I saw a theatrical review in the Edinburgh theatre festival some years
    ago based on all of the Anderson shows.
    
    The highlight was a chase through the audience of Captain Scarlet by
    the evil Captain Black.
    
    Scarlet: "Don't shoot, Black. There are innocent civilians around.
    
    Black: "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn!".
    
    Dave Early 8-)