Animation Block: Fireball XL5

Since we’re putting stuff on the blog again, I felt it was a good time to post a review on a series I recently watched:  FireballXL5. The series was produced in 1962 and ran on NBC in 1963. I always had a long admiration for the works of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, having watched Thunderbirds on TechTV and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons on the Sci-Fi Channel. FireballXL5, however, was utterly unknown to me. After watching the series in its entirety I am now wondering if I was better off not knowing.

Set in the far off year of 2062, the World Space Patrol safeguards Earth and all civilized planets with its XL spaceships. The XL5, captained by Colonel Steve Zodiac (Paul Maxwell) zooms through space with his trusty crew at his side. Dr. Venus (Sylvia Anderson) is second in command and medical officer, while Professor Matthew Matic (David Graham) handles the science and upkeep on Robert the Robot (Gerry Anderson) the robotic co-pilot and occasional radio. 

The episodes were science fiction, although more Star Trek inspired than Isaac Asimov. Characters could survive in hard vacuum thanks to ‘oxygen pills’, travel to the far side of the galaxy was a trip of hours thanks to really fast rockets, and nearly every alien spoke English. There is also Zoonie (David Graham) which may very well be the single most irritating character I’ve ever seen in any medium. This unholy patriarch of Pauley Shore and Jar-Jar Binks looks like a shaved and partially melted monkey. His voice is a nails on the blackboard screech with the words “welcome home” drawn out in the most annoying manner possible. The thing that really did it though was the character’s actions. In five random watched episodes Zoonie flooded the ship with methane gas, destroyed the crew's oxygen’s supply, sabotaged Robert the Robot by deliberately blowing a whistle into the robot’s ears while the crew was stranded on a hostile world, slipped away from the ship while the crew was lost in a strange galaxy, forcing them to use up precious supplies to rescue him and somehow attracted a giant space buzzard to attack the ship. 

At some point, one has to question if Zoonie was a spy sent from a hostile world, because he does more damage to the ship than any actual enemies. His role also changes between episodes; in some he’s treated like a pet while in others the crew views him like a child.

Also, as this was made in the 1960's, the casual sexism is so over the top one would think it trying to parody the shows from the same period. Dr. Venus is told point blank that as a woman she can't do much. She's the second in command and a doctor, but I guess in the future that only qualifies her to take care of Zoonie.

Another issue with the show is the puppets. The Andersons were pioneers in the medium of Supermarionation, but the limitations are apparent here. Characters never walk and no one’s expression ever changes. Dr. Venus always has a coy smile on her face even her house is burning down, she’s at a party, or even as she nearly drowns in scalding water. Later series corrected this problem, but it’s still unnerving.

The entire series is on DVD, but I would only recommend for hardcore Anderson fans.