Monday Night Open Thread – No Warhammer but still nerdy

So my new laptop did not arrive early enough to do write a Warhammer posts (the last couple of posts were written on my work laptop and I was told that was no-no), so I decided to do something a little bit different and is about two shows that helped my become the SF nerd I am today (the Python nerdiness needs no explanation).  Looked at through the lens of society today, they definitely could not be made today without some stylistic and character changes.  Those shows are Space: 1999 and UFO, both had interesting characters, costumes, vehicles, and sets.  Those sets were responsible for my continuing disappointment in the interior design trends of today.

Per wikipedia:

Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television programme that ran for two series from 1975 to 1977.^[2] In the premiere episode, set in the year 1999, nuclear waste stored on the Moon’s far side explodes, knocking the Moon out of orbit and sending it, as well as the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, hurtling uncontrollably into space.

Space: 1999 was the final production by the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and was, at the time, the most expensive series produced for British television, with a combined £6.8 million budget.^[3] The first series was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI, while the second was produced solely by ITC.

Space: 1999 was supposed to be a spin off from UFO and would focus on the moonbase, which to me would have been fantastic so we could have more of the moonbase uniforms plus the purple wigs (I cannot get fucking Win11 to allow me to download pics).

Pics : https://greghealeywords.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/img_0236.jpg?w=690

As you may remember, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were top billed and were cast based on the studios wanting big names and both actors had just come from doing Mission Impossible for American television, so they were big names.  To get around some of the science facts, the moon traveled through black holes, worm holes, and any other plot contrivance to get the moon to a new planet.  I was too young to care about how factual the science was (shit I was 9 and had just gotten in trouble for cutting my cousin to see if she was actually made of sugar and spice and everything nice – as she was being a raging bitch at me).  But the show looked cool and even if the plot went a bit over my head at the time, it has given me a new layer of the show to appreciate.  I still love the Eagle transporter, the Hawk fighter – not so much, and have a model I plan on doing as soon the manufacturer finally sends me the instructions.  To me, the Eagle was exactly how a transport vehicle for a low gravity planet would look and feel.  The interiors were amazing and they allowed me to more easily visualize the stories I would make up as I played.

Again, per the impermanent encyclopedia – wikipedia: UFO

UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about the covert efforts of an international defence organisation (under the auspices of the United Nations) to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade‘s Century 21 for Grade’s ITC Entertainment company.

A single series of 26 episodes (including the pilot) was filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. UFO was first broadcast in the UK and Canada from 1970, and in the United States from 1972.^[3]

When you get down to it, UFO is a version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, because that is what the aliens want, they want to steal human bodies for the organs.  It seems the aliens are a dying race due to polluting their planet and just so happen to be humanoid and be genetically compatible, which is a bit more of a stretch than flying saucers.  So, I loved the vehicles and the action scenes as a kid and as I got older I appreciated the costumes more and more.  I would have never believed that fishnet clothing would be all that comfortable, but it sure did a nice job of showing off the women’s figures.  The series too me stands up somewhat, as long as you take the time it was made into, there are levels to the story telling, the plots make sense with the setting.  This show is the only one I saw as a kid that almost scared me as much as Dark Shadows did.  Man, I still remember some of the nightmares I had about that show.  But the thought that a UFO could land in the woods (and as we were on top of a mountain and backed up on the Pisgah National Forest) there were a lot of woods, kidnap me, and steal my organs was scary as hell.  Now, you just have to visit some sketchy places in Asia or Tijuana.

Ugh, lots of words.  Anyway, according to the World Wide Leader in suck – actually I don’t care what sports are on as the Stanley Cup starts Saturday.

Oh, one more thing, Windows 11 is absolute shit, like my new laptop though.