"UFO"

1970-1971
UFO was producer Gerry (THUNDERBIRDS, SPACE: 1999) Anderson's first non-puppet series. An adult sci fi show, there are elements of the childlike simplicity found in his previous shows, like the stock footage vehicle launches repeated in full. And whenever a UFO explodes, you might experience an unintended giggle. And you can sometimes see the strings on the ships. But generally, being pulled into the show's universe is easy. It aired the year after STAR TREK ended. It's set in the wild future (ten years, to be precise...you might chuckle as "1980" repeatedly flashes through the opening credits). UFO is pronounced "you-foe". The look is psychedelic...men in nehru jackets and women in minis. Earth is under attack, and the public is unaware. A secret military organization, S.H.A.D.O, defends the planet. There's a moonbase armed with interceptors, a submarine which launches an attack fighter, and earthside ATVs. The first episode aired fourteen months after Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The headquarters is under a film studio, and Commander Ed Straker (Ted Striker?) leads a double life as a studio chief. Straker, flintily played by Ed Bishop, is one of the earliest bona fide TV hardasses. George Sewell is lovely as Col. Alex Freeman, his cynical, womanizing right-hand man. When the producers began selling the show to America, George was cut because he wasn't handsome enough...you may now be ashamed of your species. Michael Billington (a contender for the role of James Bond) plays the suave Col. Foster, and he's as good as his material. There's a tendency to think of England as less cowboyishly moronic than the U.S., but the truth is not so simple. UFO is often flawed, with outdated morality and bad writing. Yet there's also an occasional burst of gratifying intelligence. The most egregious shortcoming is its treatment of women. They're glorified secretaries, mostly in the 18-23 range and wearing skin-tight costumes. There's more than one workplace scene of a woman walking away from a man whose eyes very obviously follow her ass, and he's in no way portrayed negatively (an attitude that comes from the top...the opening credits flash a walking woman's body twice, one posterior and one anterior, and in each flash, the head is out of shot). It's so noxious that this show should NOT be viewed by impressionable minds. Anderson may have received a studio memo about this, for three quarters of the way through the run Col. Virginia Lake becomes a regular. But the writers bungled her, having no idea how to write a strong female character. Scarier yet, Anderson considered the show progressively feminist. But even classic STAR TREK, with its embarrassing treatment of women, comes off as enlightened compared to UFO. And that said, i shamelessly aver that Lt. Ellis (Gabrielle Drake) is one of the most achingly beautiful sci fi characters ever. She moved on to other things midway through the run, and you never stop wishing she hadn't.
FOUR STAR EPISODES
-Survival
How many iterations of this episode exist in the sci fi universe? Foster and a lone alien are stranded in a life-threatening situation, and must work together to survive. This recycled idea always seems to yield a stellar product. And just so here, with a non-Hollywood ending wherein Foster is unable to keep his moonbase rescuers from killing the alien.
-Sub-Smash
All the best elements of the show, in one episode. A submerged UFO damages the sub Skydiver, stranding the crew on a ledge. Oxygen is running out, and they can only get out one at a time at ninety-minute intervals. It's finally down to Straker and Nina, facing death together. She starts to reveal her feelings for him. Later, in the hospital, she starts to apologize, and he responds with the greatest line of the series: "That's what life's all about, I guess...the things we never say."
-Mindbender
A surreal experience, as a UFO fragment induces paranoid hallucinations in all who come in contact with it. A moonbase lieutenant sees all his mates as menacing Mexican bandidos, and kills several. An earth captain thinks everyone around him is an alien. Straker imagines that his entire life is just a movie. The lush silliness of the bandidos plus the normally buttoned-down General (Grant Taylor) Henderson's sheep calls push this one over the top.
NOTEWORTHY
-A Question of Priorities **
Straker's son is injured in a car accident, and only experimental drugs from the U.S. can save him. He orders a S.H.A.D.O. jet to England with the drugs, but the jet must be diverted to combat an alien incursion. The son dies. What, no alternate U.S. happy ending?
-Ordeal **
It starts off with a bang, as Foster hits a wild earthside party. The images of futuristic ultra-hip 1980 are tooooo rich. And they got permission to play "Get Back" as the party music! How the heck? In 1970?? The episode spins into wretchedness.
-The Square Triangle ***
An adulterous couple kill an alien who falls into a murderous trap they'd set for the husband. S.H.A.D.O. wipes out twelve hours of their memory before uncovering their true intent, and must then address their moral obligation to the husband.
-Confetti Check A-OK ***
There's an unintentionally hysterical moment. A new father is passing out cigars. Three men gather around a woman, and light her cigar. She goes into a coughing fit, and they go into a laughing fit. You'd never see such a jovial attitude (or any attitude) about smoking on TV today, of course. But beyond that, it made me appreciate one facet of STAR TREK i'd never thought of before - the fact that no one smokes. Can you name another television product of the sixties that was smoke-free? In UFO, people smoke on virtually every episode. (they even designed wacky lighters that seem to double as TV remotes). Obviously, non-smoking was a conscious choice by Roddenberry. Mind you, i'm not one of those who approve of smoking being "edited out" of old shows. But imagine Kirk smoking. I suppose we'd still love TREK, but i'm eternally grateful we never had to find out.