ALL SCI-FI

Pow · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 3:05 pm Post subject:

Late in 1972, Lew Grade commissioned Gerry Anderson to produce a second season of UFO following promising ratings for syndicated screenings of the series on American television that autumn. After months of design and research which focused on developing SHADO Moonbase as a much larger complex, ITC ultimately abandoned the project, but Anderson re-developed the UFO second season pre-production work into a brand new television series which would combine serious science-fiction concepts with realistic human-interest drama and spectacular visual effects.
The Complete Gerry Anderson by Chris Bentley.

I'm assuming that with so much time and money invested into SHADO Moonbase that it would have become much more the focus for the episodes of UFO if the series had been renewed for season #2. And I think that might have been a mistake. Just how many storylines can be conjured up about the Moonbase detecting incoming invading alien starships? The show worked best when it was able to move between SHADO HQ, Skydiver & Sky One, Mobiles, the Moonbase, and various incidents on the Earth. Zeroing in on the majority of the show taking place in any one locale would have severely limited the latitude of plots available.

mach7 · Mission Specialist Joined: 23 Apr 2015 Posts: 416

Damn!
I missed the obvious September 13th post yesterday.

Sept 5th was the 50th anniversary of the shows broadcast.

Gord Green · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2025 9:04 pm Post subject:

I binge watched both seasons of SPACE 1999 a few months ago, I was very disappointed by the second season. It seemed like a bad imitation of the third season of STtng !

The sets were revamped for the worse. The control room seemed to have shrunk to claustrophobic dimensions, but worse was the changes in the prime characters. Some major characters disappeared while some new ones magickly appeared.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

mach7 · Mission Specialist Joined: 23 Apr 2015 Posts: 416

Yah, Fred Frieberger (the guy who produced season 3 of TOS) was called in to "fix" the show.

So Prof. Bergman and Paul were axed

Tony and Maya were added.

Maya so they could have more monster suits and she was prettier than Prof Bergman.
Tony because he was his actor cost less than Pauls.

Frieberger also wanted more action.

Main Mission had to go because it took up the entire soundstage. When it was used all the other sets had to be
removed. It was deemed too costly.

Overall it was just a shadow of season 1.