Karen: How about this short-lived series that dramatized the USAF's Project Bluebook, which investigated UFO sightings in the 50s and 60s. Anybody remember seeing it? I know I watched it but can't remember anything, except the cool Jack Webb voiceover at the start.
It was on too short a span for me to really watch, although I'm a huge Jack Webb fan now.. Terrible intro music, but Jack's opening narration's always great. I do like Edward Winter being added the 2nd year, fresh from MASH.
ReplyDeleteThere's a few folks who have classic 'narrative voices', like Jack, Lorne Greene, James Earl Jones, etc.. Just wonderful voices you can trust.
OK, I guess I know better now than to include really obscure TV shows!Thanks for filling the huge void David, so I'm not too embarrassed. We'll be back to something more suitable next week, I promise.
ReplyDeleteKaren, DO include obscure TV shows. It's educational for those of us who aren't familiar with them.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard of the show before but never seen any of it, so it was interesting to see the opening titles.
I agree with David about the theme tune. After the anticipation of the voice-over, it seemed weird to suddenly get that generic 1970s romanticised TV sci-fi-show music.
I vaguely remember the show. As I recall, the episodes in the first season usually had a rational explanation, although a significant minority did not have enough evidence to prove anything one way or the other (which was apparently the case with Project Blue Book IRL). The second season seemed to follow a conscious decision to focus on the unexplained cases. It became a cliche' that they would find a logical explanation for the sighting, then evidence would turn up at the very end to debunk their explanation. For example, in one episode, the recovered UFO turned out to be a downed Russian satellite. But then it was reported that the satellite crashed after a collision with some object in space that they could not positively identify. The show has been called a forerunner of The X-Files and I guess the two shows had a similar premise. But Project UFO did not have the later show's cynicism or paranoia. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing probably depends on your personal taste (and maybe your politics).
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. I'll continue to pull an odd one out now and then after all!
ReplyDeleteI remember that the first few episodes were better than I expected when I saw it in the 70's, but I gradually lost interest. THe only thing I really remember is a scene in a small town where the protagonist put on a pair of sunglasses, and then bashed a windshield in. I guess the pressures of Hickville finally got to him.
ReplyDeleteJames Chatterton