What are the chances of a new UFO series?

Hello,

As I understand it, the British media corporation that now has the
rights to UFO, produces many current TV programs. It wouldn't be a
joke to say that UFO was ahead of its time. Perhaps they don't
understand the true potential of UFO. Any comments would be greatly
appreciated.

Stephen

Stephen writes:
>As I understand it, the British media corporation that now has the
>rights to UFO, produces many current TV programs. It wouldn't be a
>joke to say that UFO was ahead of its time. Perhaps they don't
>understand the true potential of UFO. Any comments would be greatly
>appreciated.

Yes, I'm sure that someone *could* take UFO's original premise,
update it, and make a new series. But what are the chances that
it would have the same "magic" that the original series did,
which only came about by having just the right combination of
people working on the series at just the right point in their
careers, combined with being made in an era which had certain
hopes & expectations for the future?

--
Marc Martin, [hidden email]

Marc Martin wrote:

>
> Yes, I'm sure that someone *could* take UFO's original premise,
> update it, and make a new series. But what are the chances that
> it would have the same "magic" that the original series did,
> which only came about by having just the right combination of
> people working on the series at just the right point in their
> careers, combined with being made in an era which had certain
> hopes & expectations for the future?
>

I must agree with Marc. It's gone, and we can't ever get it
back! I'd personally welcome a remade UFO, even with some
of the original cast playing older versions of their original
characters, but, a bit like Star Trek TNG, we'd like it for
different reasons than the first series and there's no
possibility that the flavour of the original would be
recaptured, imho. It would be great to see the old concept
given new life in some way, but I don't think it's very likely
that a new series based on the original UFO will ever be made,
unfortunately.

James

Hi Stephen - I'm a UFO fan from Canada. It's my understanding from some UFO
sites I visited lately that an attempt to resurrect the series took place in
'96 - but the Aussie film-maker couldn't get the required $$ together to do
it. I also love Star Trek, and figure if they could bring it back to the big
screen (i.e. movies) and then create 3 more "incarnations" of Trek, than UFO
is definitely a worthy successor. Since the original UFO was supposed to
take place in the 1980's, place the new series in the 2010's, and update
everything. I understand Ed Bishop was interested in "coming aboard" the
project as General Straker (guess he got Henderson's job?) in '96. E-mail me
at [hidden email] with your comments - I'd love to hear from another UFO
fan.

Pam McCaughey, editor
Atlantic, Brunswick and New England Business Journals


----------
>From: "Stephen Greaney" <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Sat, Oct 28, 2000, 12:20 AM
>

Hi Marc - I'm a Canadian UFO fan - wanted to comment on your view written
below. While I agree that The Original UFO is probably like the Original
Trek, I still see the show having merit, and if it has survived in fan
memory and enthusiasm for 30 yrs (this yr in fact), then it deserves its
chance, like Trek to find new incarnations. I agree that we fans will likely
prefer the original, and a new and improved series won't be the same, BUT
the idea of UFO, like Trek, is one that captured people's imagination -
oddly for widely divergent reasons. An updated UFO has possibilities, such
as an uneasy truce with the aliens, an all out war, etc. There have been
many SF series which have come and gone on less of a premise than UFO (i.e.
Cattlecar Elaxative - aka Battlestar Galactica, Roddenberry's Earth: Final
Conflict, War of the Worlds, et al). I'd welcome some commentary back on
this, I am,
Pamela McCaughey, editor, Atlantic, Brunswick and New England Business
Journals

----------
>From: James Gibbon <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Sat, Oct 28, 2000, 1:58 PM
>

"Pam McCaughey" wrote:
> Hi Marc - I'm a Canadian UFO fan - wanted to comment on your view written
> below. While I agree that The Original UFO is probably like the Original
> Trek, I still see the show having merit, and if it has survived in fan
> memory and enthusiasm for 30 yrs (this yr in fact), then it deserves its
> chance, like Trek to find new incarnations. I agree that we fans will likely
> prefer the original, and a new and improved series won't be the same, BUT
> the idea of UFO, like Trek, is one that captured people's imagination -
> oddly for widely divergent reasons.

Hi Pam,

I totally agree, personally that a new series of UFO in some form
would be great. I don't think it's likely to happen because of
the relatively low commercial appeal - UFO being a 'cult classic'
rather than a household name like Star Trek - and because the
premise of the series, being set in 1980 creates a problem. If
the new series of UFO were to be set 30 years later than the
original - ie 2010, then we have the problem that the intervening
thirty years have to closely follow real life, because most of
the
audience will have lived through twenty of them! And of course
we also know that real life 1980 wasn't very much like UFO's
version of 1980, and not only because of the absence of invaders
from another world. No widespread adoption of nehru jackets
as business clothes, no jet-powered futuristic cars, etc etc,
not to mention some of the technology like the mobile rocket
launcher seen in The Long Sleep. Of course this vision of 1980
is one of the things that makes UFO so much fun thirty years
later, but it does also present a rather intractable problem in
terms of any production of a sequel. At best you'd have to
have an 'alternative universe' scenario which would take the edge
off the drama a bit (imo), and which a lot of the potential
audience would find a bit hard to swallow.

Cheers
James

Hi James:

You do have some tetchy probs there with the last 20 yrs technology thingy -
but I've been working on a fanfiction story which not only incorporates much
of the last 20 yrs technology, but gives us legitimate reasons for how SHADO
adapted and improved much of that real technology to keep them miles ahead
of NASA, ESA, and of course the aliens. Remember, this is s-f, and in that
realm, we can make just about anything happen! As for the clothing, etc -
well, there was alot of weird thread in the 80's and since the story took
place in Britain, we can gloss over that issue entirely. As for the cars,
Straker and Foster's vehicles looked suspiciously like a limited edition car
called a DeLorean which was made in North America gullwing doors and all.
Rocket launchers? Don't kid yourself, they've been in usage by the Russians
in Afghanistan and the Americans in Saudi Arabia. Don't you think SHADO
could afford to buy that kind of hardware? No alternate universes are
necessary! If you're interested in how I handle some of these issues, I can
e-mail you my story draft when I get further along.

Ciao for now! Pam

----------
>From: James Gibbon <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Mon, Oct 30, 2000, 3:51 PM
>

Hi Pam,

> Straker and Foster's vehicles looked suspiciously like a limited edition car
> called a DeLorean which was made in North America gullwing doors and all.
> Rocket launchers? Don't kid yourself, they've been in usage by the Russians
> in Afghanistan and the Americans in Saudi Arabia. Don't you think SHADO
> could afford to buy that kind of hardware? No alternate universes are
> necessary! If you're interested in how I handle some of these issues, I can
> e-mail you my story draft when I get further along.
>

Perhaps I used the wrong expression when I said 'rocket
launcher'! I'm
not referring to the ubiquitous shoulder-fired weapon widely
used in
various conflicts ever since the 1960s, but the thing which
Straker
has delivered to the farm house to launch the alien bomb safely
out
of the atmosphere in The Long Sleep. Sort of a 'portable Cape
Canaveral' .. :)

You have a point about the DeLorean (I think it was actually
made in
the UK at one point!) and there have been other gull-wing door
cars,
but the overall impression of UFO with the cars, the cordless
phones, the clothes and everything else is a bit overwhelming to
gloss over successfully in a credible TV production in my
opinion.
Not that I wouldn't LOVE to see it attempted anyway, just that I
don't
think it would happen, sadly!

I'd love to read a draft of your story, and in fact Deborah
Rorabaugh
maintains a 'SHADO library' - details & link on Marc's site -
which
you might submit it to when it's complete.

Regards from London
James

Hi Pam,

Perhaps I used the wrong expression when I said 'rocket
launcher'! I'm not referring to the ubiquitous shoulder-fired
weapon widely used in various conflicts ever since the 1960s,
but the thing which Straker has delivered to the farm house
to launch the alien bomb safely out of the atmosphere in The
Long Sleep. Sort of a 'portable Cape Canaveral' .. :)

You have a point about the DeLorean (I think it was actually
made in the UK at one point!) and there have been other
gull-wing door cars, but the overall impression of UFO with
the cars, the cordless phones, the clothes and everything
else is a bit overwhelming to gloss over successfully in a
credible TV production in my opinion. Not that I wouldn't
LOVE to see it attempted anyway, just that I don't think it
would happen, sadly!

I'd love to read a draft of your story, and in fact Deborah
Rorabaugh maintains a 'SHADO library' - details & link on
Marc's site - which you might submit it to when it's complete.

Regards from London James

"Pam McCaughey" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> As for the clothing, etc -
> well, there was alot of weird thread in the 80's and since the story took
> place in Britain, we can gloss over that issue entirely.

???

> As for the cars,
> Straker and Foster's vehicles looked suspiciously like a limited edition car
> called a DeLorean which was made in North America gullwing doors and all.

The DeLorean factory was in Northern Ireland although I think a few
were assembled in the USA.

Jez
--

> An updated UFO has possibilities, such as an uneasy truce with the aliens,

See http://www.buckrogers.demon.co.uk/ufo/end.txt
and http://www.buckrogers.demon.co.uk/ufo/end2.txt
for one possible outcome.

See Batz Goodfortune ([hidden email])'s UFO2005 series in the SHADO
Library for another.

But preferably not Gerry Anderson's unrealistic original idea of SHADO trying
to continue the war on the Moon after it has got blown fer away from Earth and
therefore out of reach of supply craft, and anyway the aliens wouldn't have to
go near the Moon to reach Earth.

> ... War of the Worlds ...

What was this? H.G.Wells's idea of an attack from Mars? Or what?

> ... And of course we also know that real life 1980 wasn't very much like UFO's
> version of 1980, and not only because of the absence of invaders
> from another world. ...

If the UFO series scenario was reality, we still would think that there were
no invaders from another world, because SHADO would keep such events hidden.

> but the overall impression of UFO with the cars, the cordless phones, the
> clothes and everything else is a bit overwhelming to gloss over successfully
> in a credible TV production in my opinion.

But there ARE cordless (= mobile) phones now!!!

Hi Anthony - the key to "glossing over" some of these techno-wonders is to
accept that SHADO had them BEFORE the rest of the world did! - As for Space:
1999 - let's not even go there - I bet Martin Landau never puts it on his
resume..........echh.

Pam McCaughey
----------
>From: "Anthony Appleyard" <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: [SHADO] Re: What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Tue, Oct 31, 2000, 4:49 AM
>

Hey Jez - thanks for letting me know where the DeLorean plant was - that
makes it even easier to "say" Straker's car was a prototype or something of
DeLorean's. I was nmot aware of the plant being in N. Ireland! See what we
can learn from the Net?

Thanks, Pam
----------
>From: Jeremy Rogers <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Mon, Oct 30, 2000, 5:41 PM
>

Hi James: I discovered via another UFO fan this am that the DeLoreans were
made in a plant in N. Ireland! Talk about convenience for a storyline! As
for the other techno-wonders, cordless phones, et al - very easy - SHADO had
techno items YEARS before the general public - makes sense, doesn't it?
After all, their research people were supposed to be a cut above regular
industry. I'll certainly send along a draft of my little story once I get it
more fully fleshed out. Because the techo-issue seems to be uppermost in UFO
fan minds vis a vis a series renewal, I am really making sure I
address/explain these things.

Regards, Pam
----------
>From: [hidden email]
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Mon, Oct 30, 2000, 4:46 PM
>

----------
>From: "Pam McCaughey" <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] Re: What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Tue, Oct 31, 2000, 8:43 AM
>

----------
>From: "Pam McCaughey" <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Tue, Oct 31, 2000, 8:49 AM
>

----------
>From: "Pam McCaughey" <[hidden email]>
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: [SHADO] What are the chances of a new UFO series?
>Date: Tue, Oct 31, 2000, 8:54 AM
>

"Anthony Appleyard" wrote:

> But there ARE cordless (= mobile) phones now!!!
>

Hi Anthony, yes there are NOW, but my point is that there
weren't in 1980.

James

"Pam McCaughey" wrote:
> Hi James: I discovered via another UFO fan this am that the DeLoreans were
> made in a plant in N. Ireland! Talk about convenience for a storyline! As
> for the other techno-wonders, cordless phones, et al - very easy - SHADO had
> techno items YEARS before the general public - makes sense, doesn't it?

It does, and it's certainly in keeping with the original series
where
it's obvious that SHADO's hardware is way ahead of that of other
military organisations (remember the 'what the devil's that!!?'
exclamation from the British Naval captain in 'Destruction' when
he sees Sky One burst from the surface of the ocean for example).

BUT.. it's evident that a lot of the futuristic hardware was in
general use. As an example there's a scene where Straker goes
to a bar and uses a rather natty looking compact cordless phone
with no antenna. I think Miss Ealand has one on her desk as
well,
and ostensibly she's the secretary to a film studio head.


Cheers
James

James Gibbon wrote:

> "Pam McCaughey" wrote:
> > Hi Marc - I'm a Canadian UFO fan - wanted to comment on your view written
> > below. While I agree that The Original UFO is probably like the Original
> > Trek, I still see the show having merit, and if it has survived in fan
> > memory and enthusiasm for 30 yrs (this yr in fact), then it deserves its
> > chance, like Trek to find new incarnations. I agree that we fans will likely
> > prefer the original, and a new and improved series won't be the same, BUT
> > the idea of UFO, like Trek, is one that captured people's imagination -
> > oddly for widely divergent reasons.

I totally agree with Pams comments above. I still see the show having merit,
seeing as it has survived in fan memory. andenthusiasm for 30 years. When I
recently joined this fantastic site, I said I wish someone would do a new U.F.O,
using
all the old stars etc. As I said before, I felt totally cheated when U.F.O
disappeared off of our screens, and was replaced
with Space 1999, still o.k viewing, but a poor replacement for U.F.O. I longed
to see Ed Bishop, Michael Billington and
the old cast back. They made my child hood.

I would like to see U.F.O back on our screens, but mainly as a tribute to Ed
Bishop and remaining cast members, without
them it wouldn't be the same. They deserve it. The fantastic acting, the
excitement, etc. made you feel you were watching
a more expensive program. Imagine what they could come up with now, with effects
etc.

I have been looking frantically for as many films with dear Ed in. Although he
appears with big stars in many films, he's
hardly there at all. The only film I've seen him, in with more than a don't
blink, or you'll miss him, is The Amazing Mrs Pollifax,
Highly entertaining. I would love Ed to have the recognition he deserves, from
the rest of the public. We know he's brilliant,
that's why we have been fans all these years. Let's see if we can get him on our
T.V screens again. Chase up the people who
made Pollifax. etc. Let's get together and write to all concerned. Get him in
more dramas, comedys etc. We have more
power these days. We let U.F.O slip away all those years ago. Think how many
other U.F.O fans out there, who don't have
the Internet etc. who don't know sites like this are operating. We need to reach
them. Has anyone wrote to their T.V
magazines, books etc. or Mr. Anderson asking for more of Ed Bishop etc? I'm new
to all this, you may have done this before!

Let me know, Best Wishes Teresa.