New UFO series

> I think it's getting pretty obvious
> that the biggest concern of the
> production team so far is that the
> show not be too expensive.

In FAB they wrote about "the new big-budget UFO series".

> Sounds a lot like The Invaders ..

>Another statement from Trilogy's Neil Kaplan:
>"UFO is a title and subject matter that my partners and I felt very
>close to, and we jumped at the opportunity when we found that the
>rights were available. We have an understanding of how we can do it
>and do a good job of it."

I got my issue of FAB yesterday, and I noticed that all the quotes from
Neil Kaplan seemed to have been taken from an issue of DREAMWATCH magazine.
Has anyone seen this particular issue of DREAMWATCH?

Marc

It is unfortunate but it seems that this new UFO is falling under the
category of 'let's remake a series but keep it really cheap.'
Present day technology (okay, that will be easy and cheap - very few
models need to be made) and the aliens already live among us (Yes,
and they look just like us and the whole series will be trying to
find out who is an alien like in most invasion series (First Wave,
etc) of late. Like Battlestar Galactica, making the Cylons human
will save tons of money and now the aliens will probably look normal,
hence no make-up or costumes needed.

KP

KP is right - by cheapening the remake, UFO will be 'just like' BG in cost
effectiveness, no models or prosthetics, alien makeup needed, et al. Star
Trek this is NOT going to be apparently....Pam

Pamela McCaughey wrote:
> KP is right - by cheapening the remake, UFO will be 'just like' BG
> in cost effectiveness, no models or prosthetics, alien makeup
> needed, et al. Star Trek this is NOT going to be apparently...

We do not know that they are going to be 'cheapening the remake'.
It's frankly something of a remarkable conclusion from the
available information, in my opinion. Anyway, alien makeup would
be cheap if they were to follow the original series - a bit of
green slap and some contact lenses.

It is the nature of TV series to try to create the most inexpensive
product and make the most money. After hearing what the series was
to be like, there is fear that the show will not have scale that UFO
did and that we will see SHADO agents (dressed in three piece suits)
chasing human looking aliens through warehouses and the SHADO mobiles
in the form of grey mini vans with numbers 1 - 3 painted on them.

Of all of Anderson's shows, I think UFO is one of the most Re-makable
of them all and I visualize a bigger budget look with all of the
vehicles and scope of the original and beyond and hopefully the show
will try to capture that.

KP



--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:

The thing I can't understand is that the producers of the new series have
chosen to license the UFO brand. This has will cost them a significant
amount of money. There must be a reason they have chosen to pay this. I
don't think that they are buying the UFO name just to appeal to us fans
(because 30 years on, that's not an economic business plan). If they wanted
to make a series with little or no relation to UFO they could call it
"Flying Saucers" and have men in black suits under the command of Ed Striker
and his second in command Alec Freebush driving around in vans.

There must be a good commercial reason for them choosing to pay Carlton for
the licence. I hope that there is more of a link to the UFO I know and love
than the few words we have seen seem to imply. The new series sounds as
though it will have more in common with "The Invaders" than UFO. I suppose
it's possible that the licence for UFO was cheaper and they really wanted
"The Invaders" or maybe somebody is planning another re-make of "The
Invaders" and that licence was already taken.

Regarding CGI; yes, we could duplicate the effects of the original show in
CG and there are things (actions, camera moves and angles) that would be
possible that were not before. However, CGI is still viewed as expensive by
TV producers. There are several good reasons for this (notably the amount
most CG studios charge!) Even though I'm a CG artist, I still favour using
scale models where possible, but I think that a mix of both will always be
best.

Kevin

"Ken Parker" wrote:
> It is the nature of TV series to try to create the most inexpensive
> product and make the most money. After hearing what the series was
> to be like, there is fear that the show will not have scale that UFO
> did and that we will see SHADO agents (dressed in three piece suits)
> chasing human looking aliens through warehouses and the SHADO mobiles
> in the form of grey mini vans with numbers 1 - 3 painted on them.

If I may say so, I really think people have inferred a bit too much
from the idea that the aliens are going to be human-looking, and
anyway UFO never did have a "big-budget" feel in the first place.

There are a lot of things in the original UFO that probably won't
wash with a modern TV audience anyway - a secret headquarters under
a film studio? Secret military vehicles with the name of the
secret military organisation painted on their side? Aliens in
shiny bright red spacesuits with bling-bling silver chains?

Now I know that all of those things add to its charm but let's be
honest, it all seems camper than a row of pink tents in 2004. In
fact when Bravo ran UFO about ten years ago in the UK, their
trailers deliberately poked fun at it.

The new series is bound to be a lot more realistic and down-to
-earth in tone, and probably a lot duller as well. I think that
anyone hoping for a taste of the original look and feel is going to
be disappointed to be honest - but I'm looking forward to it
anyway.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Bulmer" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 9:09 AM
Subject: RE: [SHADO] Re: New UFO series


>
> The thing I can't understand is that the producers of the new series have
> chosen to license the UFO brand. This has will cost them a significant
> amount of money. There must be a reason they have chosen to pay this. I
> don't think that they are buying the UFO name just to appeal to us fans
> (because 30 years on, that's not an economic business plan). If they
wanted
> to make a series with little or no relation to UFO they could call it
> "Flying Saucers" and have men in black suits under the command of Ed
Striker
> and his second in command Alec Freebush driving around in vans.
>
> There must be a good commercial reason for them choosing to pay Carlton
for
> the licence. I hope that there is more of a link to the UFO I know and
love
> than the few words we have seen seem to imply. The new series sounds
as.....


----------------------------------------------------------


Every few years, automakers put the same name on a totally new and
different car, and try to market it as the same vehicle....witness the Ford
Mustangs, Chevy Camaros, Impalas, Novas, Monte Carlos, Toyota Celicas,
Supras, etc.
It's probably the same reasoning here; it is a bewildering, but proven
effective marketing tool.

Dave H.

I thought the secret base under a film studio was a great idea. Wierd people
or wierd costumes. Has to be a film still in productions. I had a dream once
where SHADO was located under a ranch next to a lake. I was 8 yrs old when
UFO was on and it seemed high tech to me. The UFO's were well done. Yes there
is plenty to make fun of , especially the one missile launch but it was still
done well enough for me and thousands of others to enjoy. In the original
Star Trek W. shatners double did not look right from the back. That did not stop
me from enjoying it. Star TRek is the only sf franchise that made a sequel
that worked and that was because G. Rodenberry had control until he died.
Maybe we should write G. Anderson and ask him why did he let them change so many
of the great details. scott


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

It's all about the money. I can't speak directly for Gerry Anderson (of
course) but it seems to me that a lot of the stuff done was simply for the
money - I don't think/feel Gerry had (has) any close attachment to these
various TV series. If it made money, great - keep producing it. If it didn't,
stop production and start something new.

So in short -- since Gerry doesn't own the rights to his properties any more
he probably doesn't care much what they do with UFO.

Anthony
----- Original Message -----
From: <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: [SHADO] Re: New UFO series


<snip>
> Maybe we should write G. Anderson and ask him why did he let them change so
many
> of the great details. scott

"Anthony D" wrote:
As I understand it he doesn't have the power to stop them
changing the details anyway, since (as you say) he doesn't have
the rights.

--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:
> The new series is bound to be a lot more realistic and down-to
> -earth in tone, and probably a lot duller as well. I think that
> anyone hoping for a taste of the original look and feel is going to
> be disappointed to be honest - but I'm looking forward to it
> anyway.

James,
I agree. We won't find that coool look in a 2000+ TV show.
Unfortunately, great art isn't wasted on TV shows these days. In
fact, it's even hard to find it in the movies! We can only wait and
hope that the new show is somewhat bearable to watch as sci-fi.
Comparing it to the old series would probably make watching the new
one impossible.
Yours,
Denise

--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:
Yes -- most of his shows only ran for two years because after that
Lew Grade thought the general public would bore of the same old stuff
and move on, or make feature films that would flop spectaculary at
the movies. UFO did well in Japan though -- they're just bringing out
the DVD box set over there.