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Virginia

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Controversial, how do you work that one out ? I've seen every episode, being a huge Gerry Anderson fan, I can't recall anything even remotely controversial about UFO.

Glad you know the series, I don't find many people who remember it other than Gerry Anderson fans.

Controversial because of the 'adult content' you can look up the history of how it became a scheduling hot potato. The TV stations thought it would be like another Gerry Anderson puppet series and therefore scheduled it as a kids show. However it touched on many adult issues of the day, mixed raced relationships, etc and ended up shifted to a late night weekday slot.

I've taken the time to find a typical write up - I actually clearly remember it disappearing from the kids slot and wondering what the hell had happened with my favourite TV show!

Scheduling UFO

The show dealt –admittedly often quite clumsily- with racial and gender issues, as well as drug abuse and the emotional effects of death and loss. This made scheduling it a nightmare for the networks, since in many ways it retained a lot of appeal for the same children who had enjoyed Thunderbirds and other Anderson puppet series: superb special effects and model-work from British effects maestro Derek Meddings; very cool alien and future-tech hardware; fights in space, on earth and in the earth’s atmosphere; and tense and well-written dramatic situations.

In the mid-1970s in the UK, UFO was shown at 11.00pm weeknights; in the nineties, Bravo showed it at 6pm, as did the BBC (who had leased the show from Carlton) a few years later, though the Beeb also showed it on Saturday mornings! The episode The Long Sleep - which dealt with a hippie girl who cannot tell if the alien abduction of her boyfriend was real or an LSD hallucination - has always been excluded from pre-watershed showings, whereas other episodes have either been edited for violence or scheduled diversely for their own problematic content.

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19363/underappreciated-tv-ufo

Edited by osoz
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Glad you know the series, I don't find many people who remember it other than Gerry Anderson fans.

Controversial because of the 'adult content' you can look up the history of how it became a scheduling hot potato. The TV stations thought it would be like another Gerry Anderson puppet series and therefore scheduled it as a kids show. However it touched on many adult issues of the day, mixed raced relationships, etc and ended up shifted to a late night weekday slot.

I've taken the time to find a typical write up - I actually clearly remember it disappearing from the kids slot and wondering what the hell had happened with my favourite TV show!

Scheduling UFO

The show dealt –admittedly often quite clumsily- with racial and gender issues, as well as drug abuse and the emotional effects of death and loss. This made scheduling it a nightmare for the networks, since in many ways it retained a lot of appeal for the same children who had enjoyed Thunderbirds and other Anderson puppet series: superb special effects and model-work from British effects maestro Derek Meddings; very cool alien and future-tech hardware; fights in space, on earth and in the earth’s atmosphere; and tense and well-written dramatic situations.

In the mid-1970s in the UK, UFO was shown at 11.00pm weeknights; in the nineties, Bravo showed it at 6pm, as did the BBC (who had leased the show from Carlton) a few years later, though the Beeb also showed it on Saturday mornings! The episode The Long Sleep - which dealt with a hippie girl who cannot tell if the alien abduction of her boyfriend was real or an LSD hallucination - has always been excluded from pre-watershed showings, whereas other episodes have either been edited for violence or scheduled diversely for their own problematic content.

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19363/underappreciated-tv-ufo

IInteresting, it seems my memory is a little cloudier than I thought but IIRC there were late night showings of UFO in the 80's, looks like it was the 70's.

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It is interesting, I think the Anderson's always touched on a lot of these issues and were very open minded. Dark leading characters like Captain Scarlet, interracial relationships were featured in Thunderbirds, they would explore many things.

It was only when it was transferred to live actors it ruffled a few feathers. Watch out for the episode where Ed Straker clearly wipes away a white powder from his desk at Shado HQ for example! There is a ton of hidden and not so hidden stuff to be found.

I can't think of another TV show in the UK at the time where the main character was not really all that easy to like (though I personally loved Ed Bishop and the way he played the Ed Straker character), he was purposely awkward and at odds with himself. The episode 'A Question of Priorities' where Straker's son dies stayed with me for a lifetime. It might seem tame now, but it was a very hard hitting show for early 1970's kids TV.

Edited by osoz
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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I can't get enough Seinfeld and I've seen all of the episodes dozens of times. I've never seen a comedy show where there is such a high quality of various character actors. From the "soup nazi" to all of the rest who add so much for the central cast to play off of.

Another favorite to binge on is Everybody Loves Raymond.

I've caught some episodes recently too and enjoy it just as much as when it first aired :) I'm also having fun watching my daughter work her way through Friends; she loved it! Have you watched Frasier yet? That is one of my favorite shows of all time even now. I enjoyed the characters even more than Seinfeld; very well written and great chemistry among the staff. :)

I need a new series; am all caught up on Game of Thrones, House of Cards & Kimmy Schmidt.

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Breaking Bad, the greatest TV show of all time.

I agree.

But I must also include the Sopranos, Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead as some of the most compelling American television shows EVER!!!

Edited by kingzoso
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Loved the Sopranos and am all caught up on GOT; tried the Walking Dead but it wasn't for me; I like suspense but not monster/zombie suspense. To be honest I am surprised that I liked GOT. How about a good detective or spy series?

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One that doesn't seem to get talked about much is 'The Shield'.

This show about corrupt cops is right up there with the likes of 'The Wire', 'The Sopranos' and 'Breaking Bad' for me.

I'm currently watching it again for the 3rd time. Give it a go, it gets better and better with every season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YiqPv3Ha68

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^ ^ Thanks for the suggestion; that looks good!

In honor of this week's news I wanted to share a clip from The West Wing that was from 1999; I'm going to have to break down and buy my own set of DVDs; this is truly the best series ever (currently streaming on Netflix!):

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^ ^ Thanks for the suggestion; that looks good!

In honor of this week's news I wanted to share a clip from The West Wing that was from 1999; I'm going to have to break down and buy my own set of DVDs; this is truly the best series ever (currently streaming on Netflix!):

I've never watched 'The West Wing'. I might give it a go when I've finished 'House of Cards'.

I put off watching 'The Shield' for a long time and couldn't believe how good it was when I got round to it. It's full of shocks and surprises.

Edited by Ady
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It's actually really interesting to watch the 2 series close together; I had to re-watch season 1 of the West Wing as sort of a cleanse after I finished House of Cards because HOC was so slimy (good, but slimy!)

WW is optimistic; it's about patriotism and duty and governing; the characters are moral and deeply affected by the work they do. It's a very different interpretation of US politics.

(BTW, the original British House of Cards was also very good; that's on Netflix too!)

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It's actually really interesting to watch the 2 series close together; I had to re-watch season 1 of the West Wing as sort of a cleanse after I finished House of Cards because HOC was so slimy (good, but slimy!)

WW is optimistic; it's about patriotism and duty and governing; the characters are moral and deeply affected by the work they do. It's a very different interpretation of US politics.

(BTW, the original British House of Cards was also very good; that's on Netflix too!)

Oh yes, I was planning to watch that too, thanks for reminding me! :)

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  • 1 year later...

Has anyone else watched Stranger Things on Netflix?  I normally avoid scary stuff but started watching with my son and got hooked. It was sort of a love/hate thing...loved the characters and the 80s vibe; hated being scared!! 

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Last week I binge watched Fargo season 1 . Really loved it...I watched season 2 during its original run last year. 

If I had to choose which season was better, I'd take season 2. I really dug the split screen usage, and the music placement was incredible.... Although I must say, the use of cross-fading was very "Kubrick like" in season 1...and it's Billy Bob Thornton's greatest performance to date IMHO

Maybe I just gravitate towards the 1979 time period more than the 2006 setting of the first season.

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On 8/20/2016 at 8:04 PM, Virginia said:

Has anyone else watched Stranger Things on Netflix?  I normally avoid scary stuff but started watching with my son and got hooked. It was sort of a love/hate thing...loved the characters and the 80s vibe; hated being scared!! 

Just started watching it this week. Really like it alot...episode 3 was where it starts to get "Fargoish" . I can't wait to watch episode 4 and maybe 5 tonight.

I too love the '83/'82 vibe... I was born in '69, I remember the 80's fondly.

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On 8/20/2016 at 8:04 PM, Virginia said:

Has anyone else watched Stranger Things on Netflix?  I normally avoid scary stuff but started watching with my son and got hooked. It was sort of a love/hate thing...loved the characters and the 80s vibe; hated being scared!! 

 

Great show.  Can hardly wait for season two.  In the meantime, I'm counting down the days till Luke Cage appears on Netflix.  

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