Supercar (TV series)

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Supercar
Region 2 DVD release
Genre	Sci-Fi Adventure
Running time	30 min.
Creator(s)	Gerry Anderson
Starring	Graydon Gould Sylvia Anderson
Country of origin	UK
Original channel	ITV
Original run	January 28, 1961–April 29, 1962
No. of episodes	39

Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication (the first Anderson series to be shown overseas). The format utilizes puppets in a technique called supermarionation, a name that was first seen in the closing titles of the last 13 episodes.

[edit] Story

The series is set in the early 1960's and features an experimental all-purpose vehicle, based at Black Rock Laboratory in the Nevada desert, which can travel on land, fly through the air, and deep-sea dive. Characters include pilot Mike Mercury, inventor Professor Rudolph Popkiss, his associate Dr. Horatio Beaker, child Jimmy Gibson, and Jimmy's pet chimp named Mitch. Stories revolve around crime solving and rescue, with occasional science fiction elements.

Some criticism might be made, in the vein of political correctness, over the characterisation employed, which is extremely clichéd by 21st century standards. This includes the stereotyping of both scientists: Popkiss as a Austro-German with a heavy accent and thick "coke-bottle" spectacles, and Beaker (who is no relation to the Muppet character) as an Englishman with a very circumlocutory manner, and a love of tea. Both men are (initially, at least) slightly dismissive of Mike Mercury, addressing him as "pilot" rather than by name. Mike himself is cut very much in the idiom of 1950s "heroic" leading men, and shows few if any weakenesses. Jimmy Gibson is, in hindsight, exactly the sort of Wesley Crusher-type character who may have engaged the intended viewer at the time, but now arguably irritates rather than informs, and the chimpanzee is a classic example of a "comic animal".^{[citation needed]}

Supercar was a vertical takeoff and landing craft. On land it rode on a cushion of air rather than wheels. Jets in the rear allowed it to fly like a jet and retractable wings were incorporated in the back of car. Retrorockets on the side of the car slowed the vehicle. The car used "Clear-Vu" which had an inside television monitor that allowed the occupant to see through fog and smoke.

The series inaugurates what would become an Anderson trademark, the launch sequence. Every series through to Space 1999 would include these -- in Supercar's case, the charging of port and starboard engines, the activation of an interlock, the opening of (overhead) hangar doors, and finally the vertical take-off.

[edit] History

After Granada Television failed to renew Four Feather Falls, Anderson was approached by Lew Grade of ATV, who asked him to make a half-hour puppet show along similar lines. After developing the format and budgeting the series Anderson returned to Grade, who approved it but demanded a budget cut. Fortunately Anderson was able to make the necessary economies and brought the show in on budget.

The first 26 scripts for Supercar were written by brothers Martin and Hugh Woodhouse, at the rate of one complete 'shooting (camera-ready) script' per week, in order to fit Anderson and Grade's cost and production schedule.

Anderson always claimed that he invented a futuristic vehicle as an excuse to reduce the amount of walking the puppets had to do, which could never be made to look realistic. This was finally taken to its logical conclusion in Captain Scarlet, in which the puppets are almost never seen walking.

The complete series is available on DVD in the United Kingdom and North America.

The series name was used in Italy in the Eighties for the local airing of Knight Rider, as the original Supercar series was practically unknown.

Big Bang Comics paid tribute to the show with their character Mike Merlin, in honour of Supercars' leading hero, Mike Mercury.

See also: Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5.

[edit] External links

• Gerry Anderson's Supercar
• Yahoo Supercar Group "Black Rock 1"
• Supercar Club 2000
• The Unofficial Supercar Screensaver and Desktop Themes Homepage
• Supercar at the Internet Movie Database

Gerry Anderson
Television
The Adventures of Twizzle | Torchy the Battery Boy | Four Feather Falls | Supercar | Fireball XL5 | Stingray | Thunderbirds | Captain Scarlet | Joe 90 | The Secret Service | UFO | The Protectors | Space: 1999 | Terrahawks | Dick Spanner, P.I. | Space Precinct | Lavender Castle | New Captain Scarlet
Feature Films
Crossroads to Crime | Thunderbirds Are GO | Thunderbird 6 | Doppelgänger
Companies/Techniques
AP Films | Century 21 Productions | Supermarionation
Notable Collaborators
Sylvia Anderson | David Lane | Barry Gray | Reg Hill | Derek Meddings | John Read | Shane Rimmer