Hello

I've joined this group, and would like to say hello to my new fellow
members! I've been a fan of 'U.F.O.' since it aired on BBC2 in the U.K.
some years ago. I hadn't seen the show until then and was hooked, even
though I only saw most of the second half. I bought some of the videotapes,
and all the DVDs when those came out.

'U.F.O.' has become one of my favourite science-fiction TV series. Unlike
other favourite series, however, I'm not influenced by childhood or teenage
nostalgia. (I admit that this influences my liking of the present 'Dr. Who'.)


Murray Smith

Hello Murry, welcome.

I must admit that when I saw it here in Oz, back in the eighties, I had
to laugh, that was their vision of the future? BWHAHAHHAH, it kills me,
but I absolutely love the show, especially Michael.

So you like The new Dr, or don't like him? Me, not to sure on the
Scottish fella or the fact that their only 45 minute eps, but I totally
fell for Christopher E, he was good.

Nat

Murray Smith wrote:

Nat,

Thanks for your welcome. I'd like to give a few reasons, both serious and
amusing, for why I like the show:

1. The idea of a government organisation covering up alien activity, as in
'The X-Files', but this time genuinely done for the good of people, is a
refreshing change. I enjoy the efforts by those working for SHADO, from Ed
Straker down, to keep the rest of the population from knowing the truth,
including the use of an amnesia drug (anticipating 'Men in Black' by nearly
two decades), and the resulting serious moral dilemmas that need to be
confronted. (I like 'The Square Triangle' because of this, though the
acting isn't up to much.)

2. The realistic portrayal of leadership in a large organisation like
SHADO. Ed Straker is an obsessive workaholic, whose dedication to his duty
cost him his marriage and his son's life. He is quite unlike the womanising
James T. Kirk, who is almost always in the field, and gets away with such
tactics because the writers make sure that he is always right.

Compared to Kirk, Straker is unpleasant; but he is far more effective as a
leader. He is quite prepared to stay in headquarters, letting his field
commanders do the actual fighting; and, when he leaves for a break, he lets
his second-in-command run things. (This is why 'The Responsibility Seat' is
one of my favourite episodes.) It is this loyalty and trust that Straker
not only demands from his people, but which he gives to them in return that
establishes him as an effective leader. We also see him having to deal with
bureaucratic and financial constraints, including the hostility of General
Henderson, a former mentor now hostile to him for reasons never given.

3. The question of who the aliens are and what they want. This is something
we're not sure about. We're not even sure what they really look like. Are
they different aliens, who want different things from the Earth, or do they
just change their minds a lot? As you need to properly know your enemy to
properly defeat him, this lack of real knowledge is understandably
frustrating for SHADO, and is shown in the series.

4. SID: I liked that computer and how it sounds like Zen in 'Blake's 7',
another favourite sci-fi series of mine.

5. The clothes: Like other sci-fi series, 'U.F.O.' seemed to go for the
'nightclub' school of uniform design. I've laughed a lot at the wearing of
purple wigs by female Moonbase personnel, and the string tops worn on board
Skydiver! (That said, I like the Neru jackets on the men, and wouldn't mind
wearing one myself.)

>So you like The new Dr, or don't like him? Me, not to sure on the
>Scottish fella or the fact that their only 45 minute eps, but I totally
>fell for Christopher E, he was good.

I like the new fellow so far, though I agree that his predecessor was good;
it was a real pity they weren't able to keep him on. (I loved his
explanation to Rose of why he spoke in a Northern accent!) When I said that
my watching 'Dr. Who' was prejudiced by childhood nostalgia, I meant that,
for a long time, I compared all the other Doctors to Tom Baker. Since
watching other recorded episodes, I can be fairer to those others.


Murray

On Wed, 10 May 2006 19:16:58 +0100
Murray Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:


> I enjoy the efforts by those working for SHADO, from Ed Straker down,
> to keep the rest of the population from knowing the truth, including
> the use of an amnesia drug (anticipating 'Men in Black' by nearly
> two decades)

Nearly three!

Nice to have you here Murray.

James


--
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Murray Smith wrote:

Haven't seen the Square Triangle yet, but I hope to watch it later this
afternoon. A Question of Priorities was a good one, I'm sorry he had to
loose his son though.
He is a true leader in that respect, and I think that that
'abrasiveness' is what makes him a more believable character myself. I
have yet to watch the Resposiibility Seat, I have the videos, curtesy of
a friend of my boyfriends. Kirk was too goody/goody, very much the
Americian ideal of a hero.

>3. The question of who the aliens are and what they want. This is something
>we're not sure about. We're not even sure what they really look like. Are
>they different aliens, who want different things from the Earth, or do they
>just change their minds a lot? As you need to properly know your enemy to
>properly defeat him, this lack of real knowledge is understandably
>frustrating for SHADO, and is shown in the series.
>
>
Yes, it a pity that they weren't able to more fully realise this. The
aliens, I felt, could have been a little more different, I suppose,
there was definately something missing in their make up (no pun intended).

>4. SID: I liked that computer and how it sounds like Zen in 'Blake's 7',
>another favourite sci-fi series of mine.
>
>
Yes, Peter Tuddenham did the voices for all the computers in both
series. I think he did a good job.

>5. The clothes: Like other sci-fi series, 'U.F.O.' seemed to go for the
>'nightclub' school of uniform design. I've laughed a lot at the wearing of
>purple wigs by female Moonbase personnel, and the string tops worn on board
>Skydiver! (That said, I like the Neru jackets on the men, and wouldn't mind
>wearing one myself.)
>
>
Personally, I like those wigs, I don't have the figure for the uniforms,
but the wigs are cool. I to like their fashiom sense, who says that a
uniform has to be drab and boring. As for the fishnet shirts, they look
sort of all right on men, but on the women, *cringe* I think that Sylvia
should go back to fashion school for that one.

Nat

I think the costuming had a definite Italian Sci-Fi
flavor to the more exotic fare ... <g>

Oh yeah, years of bad Italian Sci-Fi LOL. But then,
even with bad effects and "night club" costuming, they
were at least trying ....... <g> and were never at
loss for plots and snappy lines --- which probably
suffered badly in translation <laughter>.

Personally, I always had a problem with the
Responsibility Seat ... (weakness for happy endings
and why weren't Mary's current husband and the doctor
moving heaven and earth to help the kid???? I mean,
movie moguls have more medical pull than doctors????
OK, the writers missed several good ways of making the
aliens more evil here <laughter>) Even at 18 I knew
there was something intrinsically wrong with leaving
it all in Straker's capable but sometimes constrained
hands. Logic loopholes!

Still, it was a refreshingly dark little show with
highlights of light (unlike one of my other favorite
shows where the humans could not win the first season
... LOL ... War of the Worlds)

back to lurkerdom (semester is finished, brain
recuperating)

dragon

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James and Nat,

Thanks for your replies. You're right, James; 'Men in Black' was nearly
_three_ decades later. :)

Nat, I'll be interested in reading what you have to say about 'The Square
Triangle'; because I think that the plot is excellent, particularly the
conclusion, which I won't give away. :) I don't rate it as high as I could,
however, because of the guest stars' acting.

I'd certainly urge you to watch 'The Responsibility Seat', because it
encapsulates the SHADO idea of 'realistic' leadership, Alec Freeman and
Paul Foster having to deal with a crisis while Straker is away. In terms of
the Kirk idea of leadership, when 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' began,
the idea was to have Jean-Luc Picard stay on board ship, while Will Riker
would do the heroic stuff on the relevant planet, something that didn't
last long.

I agree that it was a pity there was not more time to find out about the
aliens and what they wanted. It reminded me of the series 'Odyssey 5',
which stopped after one season, at the end of which things were starting to
make sense.

I saw Peter Tuddenham at a convention some years ago. He was very nice, and
gave us all a taste of his computer voice. :)

I know the purple wigs are silly; but I suppose they're no more silly than
horsehair wigs on the heads of some judges. How does one try to explain
that strange Earth custom to an alien? :)


Murray

hi i think that's why i like U.F.O i like the idea of
an organisation set up to combat alien threats. One of
my friends got me into watching U.F.O. So glad i
bought the Carlton boxsets. the first episode of U.F.O
i ever saw was Sub-Smash. Great story. on the carlton
boxset i watched Sub Smash with the commentary on.
very entertaining commentary by the late Ed Bishop
Andrew

--- Murray Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:




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Sallie and Andrew,

First, hello to you both!

>Oh yeah, years of bad Italian Sci-Fi LOL. But then,
>even with bad effects and "night club" costuming, they
>were at least trying ....... <g> and were never at
>loss for plots and snappy lines --- which probably
>suffered badly in translation <laughter>.

I can't make any judgement about bad Italian sci-fi, I'm afraid. :) But I
do agree that 'U.F.O.' was 'never at a loss for plots and snappy lines'. I
also can't offer any comment about the quality of the translation into
Italian. :)

I think you mean the episode 'A Question of Priorities'. Like you, I
wondered when I saw it why Mary's second husband and the doctor weren't
pulling more strings. Also, why weren't the U.K.'s tabloid newspapers
having a field day: MOVIE MOGUL LETS SON DIE!

>Still, it was a refreshingly dark little show with
>highlights of light (unlike one of my other favorite
>shows where the humans could not win the first season
>... LOL ... War of the Worlds)

The series ended in the middle of a war, with the humans fighting back. But
there still was a lack of intelligence in terms of who the aliens were and
what they wanted. Without proper intelligence, I don't see how the humans
can really defeat them.

>back to lurkerdom (semester is finished, brain
>recuperating)

Good luck with the recuperation!

Andrew, like you 'Sub-Smash' was the first 'U.F.O.' episode I saw. :)



Murray

As far as UFO episodes are concerned - apart from some lines such as "these
clouds give as much cover as a g-string on a belly dancer" whose literal
translation in Italian wouldn't make sense - the Italian dubbers did a good
job (as they usually do, I'm told).

If you could speak Italian and could compare the original UFO episodes
dialogues with the Italian dubbing of the five Italian UFO film-compilations
(see www.isoshado.org , Historical Researches, From TV to Cinema)
you would find it funny sometimes.
The Italian dubbing of UFO episode A Cat With Ten Lives, for example, does
not literally translates "sitting duck" while one of the movie-compilations
does ("anatra seduta") and this is nonsense in Italian.

teresa
ISOSHADO

----- Original Message -----
> I can't make any judgement about bad Italian sci-fi, I'm afraid. :) But I
> do agree that 'U.F.O.' was 'never at a loss for plots and snappy lines'. I
> also can't offer any comment about the quality of the translation into
> Italian. :)

Teressa Babel Fish translates Anatra Seduta as duck seated not nonsense.
Translations never some out exactly as the original because the ideas and
concepts of difference languages and cultures differ so.

James K.


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

> I think you mean the episode 'A Question of
> Priorities'.

LOL --- ep titles tend to elude me <g>

<<Like you, I
> wondered when I saw it why Mary's second husband and
> the doctor weren't
> pulling more strings. Also, why weren't the U.K.'s
> tabloid newspapers
> having a field day: MOVIE MOGUL LETS SON DIE!>>

Oh, yeah ... well, yeah ... Mary, tabloid ... could
have milked it for all it was worth .... mind you, the
fact that they wouldn't be able to trace the shipment
past the pick up point, if there .... oh, my heavens
.. . <claps hand to forehead> I feel a fan fic coming
on! eeeek!

> The series ended in the middle of a war, with the
> humans fighting back. But
> there still was a lack of intelligence in terms of
> who the aliens were and
> what they wanted. Without proper intelligence, I
> don't see how the humans
> can really defeat them.

UFO did, WotW actually ended with a truce. Although
how the US was gonna recover ...... <g>. As far as UFO
went, attrition could possibly take out the aliens if
our idea that they were an aging and headed for
extinction race.

> Good luck with the recuperation!

Recuperation working. Wrapped "100MPG" Wednesday night
and pulled A's in both my other classes ....... I am
done until August! <dragon doing handsprings> LOL
("100MPG" is a short film my class was doing for
submission to the Sundance Film Festival. <g>)


laters

dragon

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<chuckle>

Mind you, this brings to mind the experiment they did
back in the 70's attempting to promote understanding
between the USSR and the US.

Out of sight, out of mind translated into russian and
then back became: Invisible insanity. <g>

Idiom does not really translate unless you understand
the meaning of the terms to begin with which even the
Babel Fish translator doesn't. "duck seated" to which
one logically replies: so? huh? what?

dragon

--- Teresa - ISOSHADO <[hidden email]>
wrote:


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That's exactly what I meant.
teresa

----- Original Message -----
> Translations never some out exactly as the original because the ideas and
> concepts of difference languages and cultures differ so.
>
> James K.