What Was Your Introduction Into SF TV.

[BSG_Sci_FiPulse]

I thought I would ask this question, basically out of interest to see how many of you were introduced via films as well as TV shows.

You see I was introduced to SF TV at around 4 years old. My mum and dad would sit me in front of shows such as the Six Million Doller Man, Star Trek and many others from that early seventies period. I am the only one out of our family that loves the genre with a passion that could be misconstrued as madness.

But my introduction to SF did not end there. I was always a child gifted with a very rich and fertile imagination, something that children today do not really posses. Basically because they do not have too, because with Video games and what not it is all laid out for them. They no longer have to go out and play with other kids and pretend there a solder or an astronaught, because they can both be a solder and an astronaught by immersing themselves in a video game. Not that video games are a bad thing, I just feel that kids need to learn to do things in moderation so they can get the best that life has to offer.

Anyhow in my day the TV was the equevalent of a video game because at that point in time, there was decent quality shows on the air most of the time. Shows that apealed to everyone and not just the 18 to 35 demograthic.

I used to wake up on a Saturday morning looking foreword to watching Larry Buster Crabbe take on the emporer Ming. Sure it looked cheesy and the acting was really bad, and in spite of the fact that by that point it was close on 40 years old. I didn't care. Of course I still maintained interest in the british shows too such as Thunderbirds, Stingray and all manner of other shows like Dr Who and Blakes 7. In fact the 60's, 70's and Early 80's was a damn good time for British Sci Fi but sadly it is rare if ever to see any new British Sci Fi made for television wether it be a series or just a mini series.

Once I got to 8 years old, I was introduced to the old Sci Fi movies. BBC2 used to play them at 6pm every tuesday and ran a season of Classic Sci Fi movies for what much have been six to 8 months. They showed movies such as The Time Machine, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Just about every 50's Sci Fi Movie ever made was shown during that year and I lapped it all up, and by the end of it wanted more.

The BBC also used to have Seasons where they would devote a month of programming to a particular Actor. They would show four of his or her movies over one day of each week, and it would be accompanied with documentorys about the actor to boot. Sad how times have changed. Now the BBC cannot do this because their schedule is chockerblock with docudramas, realitie TV shows and their soap opera Eastenders which is shown 4 times a week.

So that is that the demise of British television came when Eastenders came into being. The evening line up in the mid eighties would be Wogan, Eastenders followed by a wildlife documentary show. Throughout the mid 80's the Beeb managed to keep veiwers interested many like myself moved over to BBC two and Channel four which was in it's infancy back then. But when Sky Satalite came into being the BBC and our other terrestrial channels began to struggle and to compansate axed DR Who, and uped the auntie on showing more Eastenders and cheap game shows. I stuck to BBC Two which around about this time had perchased the rights to show repeats of Battlestar Galactica off of ITV. But those really were the channels death throws, and in spite of the Beeb not showing too much that I personally and a lot of other SF fans would not be interested in. They still insist on charging us for the privalage. So not only do with pay a subscription to the Cable and Satalite companys, we still have to pay a TV License too which is not cheap, and keeps going up every year. Of course the BEEB will argue that they can charge us because they do not have commercials. But where their arguement falls down is by the mere fact that they are only catering to the lowest comman denominator and haven't thought about the cult status of certain shows such as DR WHO and how much money can be made from that show by bringing it back, produced and made with a British Cast and produced with all the latest techniques this time. No scrimping on sets by using a piece of Card Board and saying, 'Wow do you like our control panel, it's great isn't it'.

However, although DR Who was made on the cheap, it made up for it with sound and ingenious writing. Granted again it could be cheesy and what not. But it was also very very British in as much as it was a very quirky show. It is a real shame that we lost out nations Science Fiction Television Identity. In America, if you mention the words Science Fiction Television, most people will immediately think Star Trek, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica. However when you mention the words Sci Fi Television here in the UK, only someone in their 30's will be able to tell you what it is.

[repcisg]

My earliest memories are of the old '30 serials, which were aired during the 50's. Rocket man and space patrol come to mind. They were great show for 4 & 5 yearolds.

[Charybdis]

Since I was so young, I can't hardly really remember when it was or what shows I really liked.

I remember something about Jason of Star Command?? Was that a real show? He had this little walking robot thing that he carried in his pocket.

Then there was the Six Million Dollar man on TV and I also remember having the big Space: 1999 ship as a toy! It was cool. Came with figures and everything but I can't hardly remember the show.

Star WArs and Battlestar started my intense liking for Sci Fi but I have never really strayed from those two properties.

[Dawg]

I dimly remember shows like Thunderbirds, Ultraman, and a few of the old serials shown on Saturday morning TV in the early 60s. Then came Star Trek and Invaders and Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and I was hooked.

My brothers and I would take over the living room as the bridge of our starship.

BSG is the first sci-fi franchise, though, that I ever got creative with - see my fanfic over at BSGClub, it's the same story I came up with 25 years ago, a bit updated and written a whole lot better.

It stuck with me as much as Star Wars or Star Trek ever did.

I am
Dawg

[Stevew]

LOL I started with War of The Worlds in 53 hehe and became a love of mine from then on. Rocket man and space patrol come to mind as well but i can't remember when. Flash Gordon reruns from the 30's were great
S

[jewels]

My mom used to watch Lost in Space: I think she liked June Lockhart. The robot scared me though (hey, I was little!) Flash Gordon serials rerun on a local station in the mid-70s was my first try at following a story along. I just never hit it off with the original trek until later. Then Star Wars blew my socks off when it finally came to my town. Galactica had the more compelling story for me though.

One of 3 very strong cinematic sequences I considered mind blowing: the Imperial cruiser that flies overhead just after all that opening text in Star Wars.

The others: just for sheer size and power: the first instance that the Galactica rumbles onto the screen in Saga of a Star World (so glad I saw it in the theatre in 79) and in the first Trek Movie when they fly the Enterprise into that "collection" that the Voyager probe has made--some of that sequence was just breathtaking and gorgeous. Interesting how much I remember considering some of these things I've not seen for 20 yrs.

And for the sheer wonder of it: the viper launch is still outstanding.

[PlaidSquadron]

How did I get into Sci Fi TV?

Don't really remember how. Star Trek reruns probably but there were a few key others. Most of them are pretty goofy when I think of them now, but I still remeber them!

They are (in no real order):

Jason of Star Command - Saturday mornings on CBS. DOn't remember much about it, except Jason was some kind of space cop. I think James Doohan played the Star Command lead. This show lead into

Star Acadamey - Kids learning to be space cops. Jason wasn't in it (that I remember) but it used the same props and FX. It was kids saving the day with the help of a goofy robot.

Ark II - Years after the collapse of civilization, scientists travel the country in a converted Winnebago teaching people not to litter.

Six Million Dollar Man - Until Bigfoot became an alien.

Quark - A comedy loosely based on Star Wars about a space garbage man, his first office (a plant), his weapons officer (a half man/half woman) and the clones (the Bettys - aka the doublemint twins)

and of course

Battlestar Galactica

[LadyImmortal]

While I seem to remember seeing an early episode of Star Trek (in reruns!) my first serious 'love' of all things Sci-Fi came with BG. At first I didn't quite 'get it' and then I met my friend Elaine and after that, I got it. And I got very hooked. Totally addicted!

And then there were cartoons. And, yes, Jason of Star Command was a real show but you remember more about it than I do, lol. I watched Blackstar... Thundercats... Voltron... in other words, lots of Saturday Morning cartoons, back when Saturday Morning cartoons were actually good and worth watching!

--Rhonda

lost in space
when i was 8 years old
today i turned 39
i loved the first season
of lost in space
then star trek
and space 1999
and starwars
and the mighty galactica

funny how little my taste have changed

XANATOS

[peter noble]

For me it was Thunderbirds, then I think Dr Who, and like generations of British kids that scared the crap out of me!

Regards,

Peter

[BST]

My original exposure to Science-Fiction/Fantasy was by watching re-runs of Superman (with George Reeves). As a kid, I used to think it was so cool how he just stood there, literally, on top of the world. LOL!!!

Then, at the urging of a friend, I watched Star Trek. The first episode that I ever saw, of ST, was "Mirror, Mirror" (the one set in the parallel universe where Spock had a goatee). From that point, I was hooked. I used to watch it every afternoon at either 4:00 or 5:00, depending on which station it was on. Since we usually had dinner at 5:30, I managed to convince my folks to let me watch it (promised to high heaven that I wouldn't spill anything!!) They agreed, and from that point on, I had a nightly dinner date with ST.

I couldn't seem to get enough...I used to watch UFO. Gawd, how I loved the how the doors opened on the car (what model it was, I can't remember) but, when both doors were opened, they looked like wings and I kept hoping the car would just "take off"!! Also, Space:1999 was a favorite although, it was hokey -- the Moon rips out of orbit and goes on its merry way through the galaxy, never running into anything! Must have had one heck of a guidance system..hehehe

I also watched Lost In Space, the Six-Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman -- the eps with Bigfoot were my favorite (sorry, PlaidSquadron). Star Wars was also a big influence on me.

Then, the night of September 17, 1978 rolled around. Do I need to say anymore?

As much I liked the other shows (AND LOVE STAR TREK), the story that was begun with the ORIGINAL BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is at the TOP of my list. I just can't say enough about it. The tidbits that we got with the original series just whetted my appetite for more. The story has so much potential, in the hands of the right person. Had the show been allowed to grow and live, I am absolutely positive that phrases like "Launch When Ready" would have become as much a part of the cultural fabric of this country as "Beam Me Up, Scotty".

Well, folks, that's how I got started. It's been a helluva ride ever since and IT AIN'T OVER YET!!!

BST

[Flamingo Girl]

You know, I really feel out of place here. I'm not a huge sci-fi fanatic, in fact, the first time I saw the term used in a Donald Duck comic book in the late 70's, I had no clue what it meant, even after someone gave me an explaination.
My father has always been a sci-fi fan, however, and he is the one who usually introduced me to it. In fact, there were only two sci-fi TV shows I was ever eager to see without his (or someone else's) influence, Galactica 1980, and Enterprise.
I was, and still am, interested in shows that entertain me, and that is not something limited by a genre. It also means that I tend to like stuff that ultimately proves to be unpopular, because I don't make many demands of my entertainment. I don't ask that it be realistic, or teach me morals, or even have large ammounts of continuity. I just ask it be....entertaining.

So, to answer the original question, the first sci-fi show I remember seeing was Star Trek. I would sneak out of bed and sit in the hall to watch TV that was on past my bedtime, and one night I got caught. Instead of a spanking and rebannishment to the bed, Dad let me sit on the sofa and watch it with him. It was the episode with the couple who created illusion around them with a sceptor, and when it was broken, everything vanished and they turned out to be bug-like creatures.

[Gemini1999]

Ian -

My very first sci-fi TV show was before I could even remember it! My mom told me that when they used to watch the original Outer Limits in the early 60's, I used to sit in front of the telly at the age of 3 with wide eyes and I was completely transfixed - I guess that the "control voice" at the beginning of the show got to me....

The show I remember most at an early age was the first season of Lost in Space - I was 5 years old then and I remember having to take a bath and get into my pajamas (with the "feet" in them no less!) and then I would get to "stay up" to watch it and then straight off to bed immediately after.

My father was casually interested in Sci Fi TV, but I remember watching pretty much all of it: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel, The Invaders and Star Trek(TOS). From there, I went on to The Starlost, UFO, Space:1999 and so on...

I guess that I watched it all - I guess that I didn't get discriminating about it until reaching my mid 30's and now in my 40's, I look for quality in the telling of the story in addition to good character development and first rate SFX (in that order).

When it comes to older Sci Fi TV, I am quite forgiving in it's quality as there are lots of wonderful memories there!

Best regards,
Bryan
________
Marijuana vaporizers

My very first exposure to Scifi of any kind was when I went to see my first movie in a theater.
STAR WARS.
I was 9.
I got chills during the opening sequence. That great score by John Williams and the scrolling intro to me were just the most amazing thing I'd ever seen ( not to mention the movie ). It's still one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever seen IMHO.
I wanted to see more..

When Galactica debuted, I couldn't wait to see it because of all the media hype that summer. In every magazine, newspaper there were blurbs.

The night it aired, there I sat. Fresh off the Star Wars magnetism. And I wasn't disappointed. Galactica, when viewing it as it was in 1978 was way ahead of it's time for television. The special effects actually made it look like they were in outer space. I was hooked.

I get the same joy watching Galactica today than I did the first time I saw it when I was 10. The great thing for me is my 11 year old loves scifi in general and watches it with me. And he loves it.



Tracy

[Senmut]

My initial exposure was the original Trek, and a few eps of "The Invaders", although my parents didn't like me watching that stuff. From then on, I devoured it. Space:1999 was fab. Charybdis, e-mail me, and I'll tell you more.

[thomas7g]

I think I watched anything scifi when I was a young boy. But I remember being really into the original Star Trek. But I was too young to remember whether or not I saw the original airing.

[shiningstar]

My earliest introduction to scifi TV was Lost in Space in GERMAN.
I was and we were stationed in Germany .........EVERYTHING was in
German ......Only I couldn't understand it :p ..........But being all
of 3 years old and even though LIS was Black and White I loved
watching it