Sci fi nerds love to pick apart stuff they supposedly like, so there's no end of criticizing "poor SFX" or "cheesy writing," and then the same person will turn around and praise Dr. Who or Star Wars without a hint of irony.
UFO was a series made for mainstream kids and adults, many of whom in the 1970s were not looking for programming vetted by physicists for their scientific accuracy. It was a fantasy series, with lots of great toys and a cast that vacillated between serious -- such as Ed Bishop's Straker -- and va-va-voom -- such as just about every female squeezed into her 1980 body suit.
This was a wonderfully imaginative episode, basically a "bottle show" filmed on the lot where real sets and stages were incorporated into the story. Loved the little details, liked the hovercraft and the go-karts, which not only in the 1970s were a big deal but also were meant to show the way the big wigs got around the studio -- you know, like golf carts are used today? That they were able to get so many little moments out of such were part of the fantasy, which by the way, you just don't see anymore in TV or movies, which are produced with a kind of dreadful, expensive self-importance despite their own typical cheesiness.
In this one, Lake and Straker find themselves caught up in a time jumping episode, along with a bitter naracissist who sees helping the aliens as a way to get back at all the important people, including Straker, who never recognized his self-ascribed genius. There's enough sci fi here to make it thoughtful for those who care, but the real joy is in watching Straker tour the studio lot in a grand game of cat and mouse. It's an economical way to film the episode but also a time capsule for what TV and film production was like in the 1970s.
UFO had too short a run given it's wonderful premise and great cast. Too bad, but it probably debuted a year or two too late. Still, this is a compelling episode, marred only by some moments of willing suspension of disbelief (but that are plausible within the framework). I saw it when first broadcast, and the image of one of the characters after being machinegunned -- with bulletholes and blood across his chest -- gave me the willies as a kid, as it wasn't too common in those days. That's how effective it was at the time.
UFO was a series made for mainstream kids and adults, many of whom in the 1970s were not looking for programming vetted by physicists for their scientific accuracy. It was a fantasy series, with lots of great toys and a cast that vacillated between serious -- such as Ed Bishop's Straker -- and va-va-voom -- such as just about every female squeezed into her 1980 body suit.
This was a wonderfully imaginative episode, basically a "bottle show" filmed on the lot where real sets and stages were incorporated into the story. Loved the little details, liked the hovercraft and the go-karts, which not only in the 1970s were a big deal but also were meant to show the way the big wigs got around the studio -- you know, like golf carts are used today? That they were able to get so many little moments out of such were part of the fantasy, which by the way, you just don't see anymore in TV or movies, which are produced with a kind of dreadful, expensive self-importance despite their own typical cheesiness.
In this one, Lake and Straker find themselves caught up in a time jumping episode, along with a bitter naracissist who sees helping the aliens as a way to get back at all the important people, including Straker, who never recognized his self-ascribed genius. There's enough sci fi here to make it thoughtful for those who care, but the real joy is in watching Straker tour the studio lot in a grand game of cat and mouse. It's an economical way to film the episode but also a time capsule for what TV and film production was like in the 1970s.
UFO had too short a run given it's wonderful premise and great cast. Too bad, but it probably debuted a year or two too late. Still, this is a compelling episode, marred only by some moments of willing suspension of disbelief (but that are plausible within the framework). I saw it when first broadcast, and the image of one of the characters after being machinegunned -- with bulletholes and blood across his chest -- gave me the willies as a kid, as it wasn't too common in those days. That's how effective it was at the time.
