Gerry Anderson reported dead

Gerry Anderson reported dead

“Anything can happen in the next half hour.”
–from the opening of Stingray
produced by Gerry Anderson

While a lot of people in entertainment may claim to give you the unprecedented, Gerry Anderson, did just that.

Not only did he tell you new and bizarre stories (A mermaid on a submarine that leaps out of the water like a dolphin! The moon ripped from its orbit…and hurtling through space with a still active moonbase onboard!), he did it in a brand new language…supermarionation.

For the uninitiated, that means that means that we watched dramatic television…with a cast of marionettes.

In the case of Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons, one could even argue that it was puppet noir.

I remember watching Stingray and Fireball XL5 (with its rocking theme song) when I think they were first broadcast in the USA. Oddly, Thunderbirds, which is huge in the UK and recently spawned a feature with Ben Kingsley, never seemed to me to be that big here.

Lest you think Gerry Anderson was satisfied pulling the strings, there was also UFO (take a look at the picture on the cover of the DVD set…do you think Niki Minaj and/or Katy Perry were fans?), and Space:1999.

The latter starred Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell, and Barry Morse. There’s still quite a bit of fandom for this odd duck of a show.

There’s no question that Gerry Anderson filled many hours of tube time for geeks…and we were intrigued both by the ideas and the execution.

Good-bye, Gerry Anderson…the world is a little less original without you.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle.

Jerry Nelson reported dead

Jerry Nelson reported dead

Jerry Nelson had one of the most imitated voices on television…and it was, itself, an imitation.

You’ve probably done it yourself:

“One…ah, ha, ha, ha…two…ah, ha, ha, ha”

Yes, Jerry, an integral part of the Muppet team, was the voice of “Count von Count”.

You can see how that slow voice could trace a path to the laid back bassist Floyd Pepper in Dr. Teeth’s band, the Electric Mayhem.

However, Nelson also voiced young characters. I particularly remember Robin the Frog in the Muppet version of the Frog Prince (“The call me Sir Robin, the Brave…”). The legions of Fraggle Rock fans, though, may first think of Gobo, a chance for Jerry Nelson to really take the lead.

Oh, and we can’t forget Snuffleupagus!

While there were a number of Muppet voices, oddly, one of the few face (onscreen) acting jobs for Jerry Nelson was in Robocop 2.

Good-bye, Jerry Nelson…childhood won’t sound the same without you.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle.

Puppet porn? Avenue Q ad too sexy for Colorado Springs

Okay, let’s start with the basics.

Avenue Q is a Tony Award-winning Best Musical that features puppets as main characters.  It is undeniably intended for adults, and the most popular song is called The Internet is for Porn.

Colorado Springs is the home of the US Olympic Committee, and is famously politically conservative.

So, when Avenue Q was coming to the area, they bought advertising space.  The ad was first approved, and then rejected. 

Why?

It showed too much…um…cloth, I guess.

Yep, the ad shows too much puppet cleavage. 

Puppet cleavage.

Are they concerned that, I don’t know, Mortimer Snerd is going to get too excited? 

I love this quote from this article:

“If I have to explain it to my 4-year-old or my grandmother, we don’t put it up.”

I assume that lets out any ads for confusing things like curling, or, you know, political ads about health care reform.  Although, I suppose a 4-year old in Colorado might understand curling…

One last time…

Puppet cleavage.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog.  If you are reading this blog for free and would like to support it, just click here and then shop at Amazon.