Thunderbirds 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition Megaset courtesy A&E Home Video
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s...Supermarionation!
Yes, yes, childrens, the weirdest show we all totally dig now is out in a brand spanking new set and I, for one, am both thrilled and a little bit ascared. See, when I was a kid, I remember stumbling upon repeats of Thunderbirds, the 1965 oddity from Space: 1999 guru Gerry Anderson, and thinking ‘oh my sweet holy shizz, what on God's green Earth are those?!’
Puppets. They were puppets. And they freaked me the hell out. They also drew me in with their massive eyes and action-packed tales, but I couldn’t explain that then. No, back then it was just strangeness. Sweet, captivating strangeness.
Some years later, I can happily report that the new 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition box set is more fun to watch now than the show ever could have been then to my as-yet-uninformed mind. Maybe it’s because I can now appreciate the ingenuity Anderson employed to make main (wooden) man Jeff Tracy and his International Rescue Team family as cool as possible while barely hiding their strings. Or perhaps it’s because anything that inspired the South Park crew’s "Team America" flick should be praised. Either way, I look at Thunderbirds today, as reality show after cookie-cutter reality show slides across my screen, and marvel at how ahead of its time it really was. Honestly, puppets in space? Set four decades in the future? Sure, the Muppets did it too, but that wasn’t until the ’70s when pigs in space were almost expected.
And the coolest thing about the set, aside from packing all 32 episodes onto 12 discs, is the never-before-seen bonus chat with creator Anderson, who shares some of the secrets of his James Bond-ish brood for anyone wondering how the frak he did it. Remember, this is the guy who also gave us Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Fireball XL5, so just seeing him discuss his inhuman oeuvre is nifty. He’s like the Aaron Spelling of handcrafted adventure stars! Check it out and impress your friends.
On a far less exciting note, Tuesday’s passing of Heath Ledger is indeed a horrific tragedy. Regardless of the circumstances, he will surely be remembered as a true talent, one we first saw here in the states on Fox’s short-lived 1997 action-drama Roar. Available on DVD for the last year, the set is a shining example of a young star just starting to take shape. As Conor, the orphaned Irish prince battling the Romans in 400 AD, Ledger simply commands the screen, which is no small feat, considering he was going up against legions of warring Celts and some funky Christian-Druid mythology. But honestly, nobody could set their jaw like that kid.
Fox only aired 8 of the 13 episodes, so the box set is a perfect for anyone in need of new programming during this godforsaken strike. And while it may seem a bit of downer to some, I like to think of it as a chance to honor what Ledger obviously loved to do and did so well.
Next Week: Cable shows that kick ass!
Until then, don’t hog the remote. —Damian Holbrook
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