Frakes and Thunderbirds

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't know that Thunderbirds is supposed to
be a worldwide phenom. I haven't seen the show on TV since I was in grade
school, and I don't know of any kids that I've canvassed locally who've even
heard of it. When I describe it, they all wrinkle their noses and say
"PUPPETS!" Ewwwww!

While I think the comments about Sept 11 may have some validity, the real
heroes of Sept 11 were the police and firefighters, not some dudes in space
age aircraft (remember - the guys in the aircraft were the BAD guys?). Maybe
we Canucks are isolated from GA's shows or something, but Thunderbirds is
just NOT popular or watched here. Truth to tell, I think today's kids want
something more sophisticated - state of the art CGI, etc. Thunderbirds was
made in the early 60's without the kind of special effects kids today have
taken for granted. I showed Forbidden Planet to my cousin's 13 yr old last
year and he knew in an instant it was a "prehistoric" film. So I can't see
the original making much of a splash with the child audience of today.

Maybe if Frakes updates the show, uses different characters, etc he can
gather some interest. But, reproducing the show as it was originally, with
the Tracy family and their simplistic stories, won't get the kids into the
theatre. At least IMHO..........

Pam


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Pity you don’t get Sky /NTL digital TV in the UK both UFO and
Thunderbirds are on, Thunderbirds is on every night

Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: Pam McCaughey [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: 01 August 2002 21:15
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [SHADO] Frakes and Thunderbirds

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't know that Thunderbirds is supposed
to be a worldwide phenom.

I think of the Supermarionation shows, THUNDERBIRDS is the best known, but
it still is more of a cult following than anything else. When I was MUCH
younger, I watched episodes of CAPTAIN SCARLET on a local station in
Columbia, South Carolina, but the closest I came to the other shows were
THUDERBIRDS and STINGRAY coloring books.

To increase awareness of the series (and the movie) Carlton should really
try and get it back on a network or a "big" cable channel, like Sci-Fi,
perhaps even A&E.

Brian


_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com

Ah well SKY/NTL again starting Saturday 6pm Sky One Captain Scarlet is
showing double eps

Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Lindstrand [mailto:[hidden email]]

I think of the Supermarionation shows, THUNDERBIRDS is the best known,
but it still is more of a cult following than anything else. When I was MUCH
younger, I watched episodes of CAPTAIN SCARLET on a local station in
Columbia, South Carolina,

"Brian Lindstrand" wrote:
>
> I think of the Supermarionation shows, THUNDERBIRDS is the best
> known, but it still is more of a cult following than anything
> else.

That's interesting, it's way beyond a cult following here in the
UK - go into any toy shop and you'll find various versions of
Thunderbirds 1-5, and 'Action Man' style models of Scott, Virgil,
Alan & co. In fact 'Tracy Island' is usually one of the most
sought after Christmas presents .. It's very popular whenever
it's on TV, and has been for decades now.

I'd be fascinated to see a human version .. reckon John Travolta
would make a good John Tracy. I'm sure Lucy Liu would be a
stunning Tin Tin as well. Mmmmmm.

James

--- In SHADO@y..., "Brian Lindstrand" <brianlindstrand@h...> wrote:
>
<SNIP!>
>
> To increase awareness of the series (and the movie) Carlton should really
> try and get it back on a network or a "big" cable channel, like Sci-Fi, > perhaps even A&E.
>
> Brian


FYI- The cable channel, TechTV, will begin broadcasting 'Thuderbirds' starting on Aug. 5th. OK, it's not a major network, but better than nothing.

So as to be on-topic :-), if UFO was to be done as a new CGI show too, how much will it cost to make? Is it financially feasible versus doing a live-action movie?


Nelson Sarmiento