God, I Loved This Show As A Kid
...and as an adult, and a model maker, I still find it engaging but for different reasons.
I couldn't be separated for years from my Corgi model of Thunderbird 2.
Postscript: Plus, I vaguely remember watching this show religiously but had entirely blocked it out of my mind for nearly 50 years until I saw it in the side panel of videos on YouTube next to the one above.
Eau de Javelina:
What about Super Car?? "Travels on land and in the air. It can travel anywhere".
August 17, 2017, 12:13 pmEarl Wertheimer:
Before Thunderbirds was Fireball XL-5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ifS2nP53Zs
Then Stingray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD96RQ1-wnY
I once used the Fireball XL5 theme to stump the radio announcer when he offered a prize for a TV theme song that he couldn't identify...
August 17, 2017, 1:15 pmErikTheRed:
And most importantly, without Thunderbirds there's no Team America: World Police.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIPljGWGNt4
August 17, 2017, 1:23 pmTym Stegner:
There was a remake/update to the series using the original studio last year; three new episodes were produced. Promos are likely still on YouTube. Amazon has also done an animated reboot, two season's worth; it was reasonable; not solely targeted at 10year olds.
August 18, 2017, 8:17 ammarque2:
Though they admit modelling World police action after the Thunderbirds, apparently Matt Stone and Trey Parker weren't fans of the show. Not sure why they tried to emulate their action that way. I found world police to be mildly funny, with several scenes I really wouldn't want to watch again.
August 18, 2017, 8:21 pmJeff Melcher:
I never saw _Thunderbirds_ though I was a huge fan of _Fireball XL5_.
The cited/linked documentary makes a big deal of how the puppets' equipment had to be "dirty" to be interpreted as "realistic". I remember early reviews of the first _Star Wars_ movie also making a big deal about how the Rebel Fleets ships and gear seemed dirty, well used, worn, patched, etc. (No credit to the Super-Marionation team). Dirt=Real. A point perhaps useful in the "clean energy" debates.
Mr (?) Stegner -- any entertainment TARGETING 10-year-olds will likely miss. As far as I can tell from having been ten, taught tens, and parented tens, they all want to be and think of themselves as being at least 14 and usually older.
August 20, 2017, 8:15 amDan Wendlick:
UFO and Space:1999 were also done by the same studio. Same special effects but live actors, and surprisingly adult plotlines. The B-plot of one episode of UFO, for instance, centered around the having to tell his ex and his son that he wouldn't be able to pick him up and take him to an amusement park as he had promised, since the very existence of the aliens and the agency established to fight them were secret.
August 22, 2017, 5:31 am