Gerry Anderson has Died.

One of TV's greatest innovators, Thunderbirds/Captain Scarelet/Space 1999 creator Gerry Anderson has died aged 83. According to his son, Gerry-who had been suffering from Alzheimer's since 2010-passed away peacefully in his sleep.

tony ingram wrote:One of TV's greatest innovators, Thunderbirds/Captain Scarelet/Space 1999 creator Gerry Anderson has died aged 83

What a year for losing creators. Ugly.
I just bought the full set of season 1 for Space 1999. Looking forward to it, but this is just outright sad.

Well, you can't say the man didn't have a full and F.A.B life.

tony ingram wrote:Well, you can't say the man didn't have a full and F.A.B life.

Maybe I could, if I knew what F.A.B. meant...

You don't wanna know, Mike. You don't wanna know.

Nobody knows what it meant, do they? It was simply a catchphrase.

Everything I've read says it originally meant nothing, but someone retconned it to mean "Fully Advised and Briefed", which is kind of clever, I suppose.

Sam_Vimes wrote:Everything I've read says it originally meant nothing, but someone retconned it to mean "Fully Advised and Briefed", which is kind of clever, I suppose.

I think if Lady Penelope ever used it, it probably meant "Frankly, A Bore".

Sam_Vimes wrote:Everything I've read says it originally meant nothing, but someone retconned it to mean "Fully Advised and Briefed", which is kind of clever, I suppose.

Well, then. Never heard that one before. Interesting.

Don't feel too bad; until just recently I thought "Thunderbirds" was nothing but a terrible movie starring Ben Kingsley. There are just too many things for geeks to keep track of these days. . . .

Sam_Vimes wrote:Don't feel too bad; until just recently I thought "Thunderbirds" was nothing but a terrible movie starring Ben Kingsley. There are just too many things for geeks to keep track of these days. . . .

Seriously? I thought Thunderbirds was a part of the public consciousness the world over!

Then again, I recently had a conversation with someone who'd never heard of The Avengers (the TV show, not the Marvel characters) and that similarly surprised me so what do I know?

Sam_Vimes wrote:Don't feel too bad; until just recently I thought "Thunderbirds" was nothing but a terrible movie starring Ben Kingsley. There are just too many things for geeks to keep track of these days. . . .

Yeah, I am more than a bit cut off from popular culture. I didn't know about Firefly until 2005, and that show was great. I usually find out about stuff after a while, but that doesn't bother me. Too much.

tony ingram wrote:I thought Thunderbirds was a part of the public consciousness the world over!

Oh, I hadn't heard of it until a few years ago. As in ever.

tony ingram wrote:Then again, I recently had a conversation with someone who'd never heard of The Avengers (the TV show, not the Marvel characters) and that similarly surprised me so what do I know?

I saw it once or twice as a kid, thought it was "ok" (I liked the 60's spy stuff on TV, just didn't get into the show) and then I saw the movie... Awful is just not a strong enough word.

Most Avengers fans do not mention the movie. Ever.
It. Did. Not. Happen.

tony ingram wrote:Most Avengers fans do not mention the movie. Ever.
It. Did. Not. Happen.

I bet you've got it on video.

Lucy McGough wrote:

tony ingram wrote:Most Avengers fans do not mention the movie. Ever.
It. Did. Not. Happen.

I bet you've got it on video.

Well, I do, so if Tony doesn't then that's quite remarkable.

I was thinking about buying some Space: 1999 gadget/book. Have you ever bought something from the official Anderson webshop, guys? Any opinion about it?