I don’t watch network TV anymore. Actually, considering what a TV junkie I used to be, I don’t watch much of anything anymore. I cut the cord with cable TV about eighteen months ago and have been a semi-dedicated Sling TV viewer ever since. I have access to Hulu and Netflix and some other apps. (I downloaded PBS so I could watch Poldark because, holy smokes, have you seen Aiden Turner in that show?)
I am completely happy that network television is failing. I’ve had a serious burr up my butt since Jericho was cancelled (even though we and thousands of our closest friends express-sent tons, and I do mean tons, of peanuts to the CBS headquarters in NY and LA and managed to save a second season). I’ve even been skipping Wicked Tuna and Pillow Talk and my other reality TV binges, have not watched a single Hallmark movie, and have gone days without turning on the television at all.
This morning for some reason, though, I decide to see what’s on the telly. I skip past my usual favorites and head on down the list of obscure Sling TV channels. I am passing the grid-view listings at record pace when my fingers suddenly come to a dead standstill.
My God. For real? Are my eyes truly seeing this? It cannot be. It must be some terrible remake. There is no way on this wonderful Earth that Sling TV could possibly be privy to this. And yet … I turn to the channel it states, click on, and …
It’s the original Thunderbirds.
As I type this blog entry, I am suffering from déjà vu because I seriously think this scenario has played out before. But, I cannot help myself. I am entranced and watch the show. It’s full of intrigue and clever writing and sass and mystery and suspense and humor. I actually laugh out loud at the plot line at a point where it is supposed to be funny, not because it’s cheesy bad.
Best of all, it has MARIONETTES. That’s right. This is a doll show.
That being said, the show was one of the best animated series to ever hit the airwaves. It’s all about a guy and his five sons who live on an island, I think, with a rich London agent lady and her strange manservant, and each of the sons is responsible for a different Thunderbird specialty air/space machine. The animator (or marionator?) later worked on Bond films and two Superman flicks, so this is no small-potatoes outfit. He is also quoted as calling the 2004 remake “a load of crap.”
Regardless, watching this show has been a wonderful throwback to some of my youngest, fondest memories. The show ran for one year, 1965-1966. It’s absolutely campiness at its finest, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone with a television. But, you won’t get it if you only watch network TV – another reason right there why I hope the Big 3 fail.
