Gerry Anderson General

I'm sure at least somebody here grew up with the classic puppet (and later live-action) series of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, whether it be the endless reruns of Thunderbirds or through one's parents who watched it on the original broadcasts (like me). What's your favorite series? Was Terrahawks a mistake? Did Gerry ever make a decent movie? Sperg about your childhood here.

 

I'm old enough to recall re-runs of Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 during my primary school days in the 1970s. To answer your questions quickly (almost bed time), I'd put UFO down as my favourite series: Terrahawks struck me as a bit of an embarrassment at the time, but I'm quite fond of it these days - its main flaws are that Zelda and her ever-expanding family got just that bit too silly, and that the show as a whole went on for far too long; I'd say that Doppelganger/Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun isn't the most original idea for an SF film, but I love its look, its sound, and its acting - and the ending is nicely melancholy/wistful. I'd also add that Sylvia Anderson deserves at least as much credit as Gerry for most of the classic series, and that the recent CGI re-imagining Thunderbirds Are Go is surprisingly good once you get past the initial shock at the animation. It's certainly a rather better re-working than the New Captain Scarlet.

(Also: no The Adventures Of Twizzle, Torchy The Battery Boy, Four Feather Falls, The Protectors, Dick Spanner, Space Precinct, or New Captain Scarlet in the poll? Probably none of them are many Anderson fan's favourite, but it takes all sorts...and I'd happily include Thunderbirds Are Go, but it's purely based on previous Anderson series, with no actual Anderson involvement other than Sylvia providing a guest voice.)

 

Hard decision between Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds.
Also, I remember watching the Thunderbirds live action movie as a kid and having fun. Bill Paxton did a pretty good job as Jeff Tracy.