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Space Precinct (1994 - 1995)
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Randy
Space Ranger


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 127
Location: Ohio

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 4:45 pm    Post subject: Space Precinct (1994 - 1995) Reply with quote



Gerry Anderson's live action Sci-Fi police series.
Starring Ted Shackelford as Lieutenant Patrick Brogan.

It is the year 2040 and ex-NYPD detective Patrick Brogan has been promoted to Lieutenant and has transferred to Demeter City on the planet Altor in the Epsilon Eridani system. This police force is made up of Humans, Creons and Tarns working together to fight Human and alien crime in Demeter City.

This is one of the highest budgeted shows that Gerry Anderson ever created. The makeup of the aliens is amazingly life-like!
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Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've enjoyed a number of the Gerry & Sylvia Anderson TV series; have several books about his productions.

The model work & design by the legendary Derek Meddings remains fantastic to this day.

Some of his shows I've enjoyed, some I have not.

Never could really warm up to SP. A mix of sf, police procedural, humor that never came together for me.
As always I appreciated the production values put into the show.


Last edited by Pow on Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:04 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Randy sent me a DVD-R set of this series when I mentioned that I'd enjoyed it on TV years old. It's just one of many such gifts from that generous fellow.

What a guy! Very Happy

Here's the sixth episode, and there are many of them available on YouTube.

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_____________Space Precinct s01e06 Body and Soul


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_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:43 am; edited 6 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Wikipedia has this item about why the series didn't do well here in America. Typical bad judgement by studio executives.
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The series was one of the highest-budgeted shows Anderson produced, and was relatively popular in Europe. However, in a repeat of the situation that UFO encountered 25 years earlier, American broadcasters were uncertain what to make of the series that looked on the surface to be aimed at children, yet featured adult-oriented storylines and was usually played straight despite the bizarre storylines and make-up.

As a result, Space Precinct was often scheduled in late-night/early morning time slots. The subsequent low ratings led to its cancellation after just one season.

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
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orzel-w
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Joined: 19 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 3:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where do they find people to work as TV execs? Are they the same species as us viewers?
_________________
...or not...

WayneO
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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A sub species perhaps, lower on the evolutionary scale.

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Brent Gair
Mission Specialist


Joined: 21 Nov 2014
Posts: 465

PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Wikipedia has this item about why the series didn't do well here in America. Typical bad judgement by studio executives.

I don't like to thread crap but, in defense of studio execs, I thought this series really stunk. Now I appreciate that every series has it's fans and god knows that I've loved some really bad shows over the years. I can't imagine that this series could have maintained an audience outside of a tiny cult group.

I love Anderson stuff and I have almost every available Anderson show on DVD and/or Blu-ray but you couldn't give me this one.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I must agree that the show was badly flawed, and I was never a fan of it. The aliens were just actors in rubber masks, and the vehicles were just miniatures on strings.

With today's FX, the idea could have been done well. But the concept was way beyond it's time.

Oh well . . . Sad

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2020 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some Fun Facts for SP.

Pre~production for SP began at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghampshire in March 1994.

Revolutionary animatronic head appliances were developed there for the alien characters. They were able to fully make-up actors in just 20 minutes.

Pinewood's L & M soundstages were revamped with split-level stages which enabled them to accommodate permanent sets for Brogan's apartment and the two~tier Station House and still leave space for sets that would be required on an episode-by-episode basis.

The show's visual effects were scenes were shot by a separate crew that worked at Shepperton Studios located in Surrey.

Working on a ten-day shooting schedule for each episode, filming began on May 09, 1994 with a crew of over 350 until April 28th, 1995.

Space Precinct was the first Gerry Anderson production in which all 24 episodes were screened on American television prior to British television.


Last edited by Pow on Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Krel.
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2020 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Part of the problem the show had in the U.S., is that it came at the end of the independent station, when they were all having to joined up with networks. That cut down on the market for syndicated shows, which were relegated to late night/early morning time slots.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB only has 7 trivia items for this movie. Here’s the two I found interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
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~ The series was shot 16:9 on Super 16 film to "future-proof" it, but then entirely post-produced in 4:3 "centre cut-out", effectively chopping off vast chunks from the edges of the image. No widescreen versions, or even letterbox versions, were ever made.

Note from me: This is just plain sad. The studios and the public realized that TVs needed to be wider, and the show runners of Space Precinct made plans to be ready for the future — but somebody dropped the ball. Sad

~ Several times during this series, when a cast member disembarks from a spaceship, it is obvious that the prop used as a "ship" is simply a car, down to the dome light turning on and off as the door opens and closes.

Note from me: This sounds bogus. I'll key an eye out for this next time I watch an episode. Rolling Eyes

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
Space Ranger


Joined: 19 Feb 2023
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was common for them to use conventional cars as the space cars. Sometimes they would dress them up, and sometimes they just used camera angles to hide it. They constructed one, maybe two Police Cruisers, and I believe they also made flat mockups for distance shots were they needed more Police Cruisers with actors around them. They did build a car for the Brogan space car.

According to Mojo from Foundation Imaging, "Babylon 5" was filmed in wide screen but the effects were rendered in conventional TV ratio to save time on rendering the SPFX to complete them in time. They intended to go back and fix the ratio, but then they got canned. So if you see B5 in wide screen, then the SPFX are cropped to look wide screen.

David.
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Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wikipedia.

The idea for Space Precinct was predated by nearly a decade. In 1986 Gerry Anderson produced Space Police, a 55-minute pilot film. It failed to sell and was never broadcast.

It was more comedic in nature than Space Precinct would be. It combined live action, full-sized prosthetics, puppetry, and Supermacronation techniques.

Sidebar: Have you ever noticed like I do that American produced science fiction television series generally avoid employing puppetry and full-sized prosthetics in their productions? It seems to come down to actors in makeup or CGI for depicting alien lifeforms. Rarely are sophisticated puppetry or animatronics utilized.

I don't know if that is a budgetary and time issue, or a bias against such visuals as coming off as too much like something the little kiddies would like but not adults.

It's a shame because the fabulous Farscape TV series which debuted in 1999 proved that incredible looking animatronics and puppetry, thanks to the awesome Jim Henson Company, can create phenomenal looking aliens and creatures.

There were differences between Space Police and Space Precinct.

The lead human police officer, Brogan, was an older man than his Space Police counterpoint.

Sgt. Cathy Costello was his partner on that pilot. She is a gynoid who is capable from shifting between her human form and into a robotic look on dangerous missions. She would not appear on Space Precinct.

The aliens on Space Police are catlike in appearance rather than exotic looking as they would be on Space Precinct.

The only character to make the leap from Space Police to Space Precinct was the robot Slo-Mo.
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

The opening credits for Space Precinct are awesome, and the theme is dynamic and beautiful. Cool


________ SPACE PRECINCT opening credits in 4K


___________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
Space Ranger


Joined: 19 Feb 2023
Posts: 190

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Originally "Farscape" was to be on the Fox channel under the name "Space Race", but it never happened. Several years later it became "Farscape", which was filmed in Australia due to it's expense. As it is the show wouldn't have been possible without the Henson Company doing their fantastic work for cut-rate. They considered it to be advertising for their work. At first it was considered to be a kiddie show. They cut off Pilot's arm. Shocked People started taking them seriously after that.

David.
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