Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds. No, not the cars. The TV show from the 1960s which used puppets, specifically something called Supermarionation, in the stories. 

As a kid I loved the show. It's a mix of science fiction and adventure clearly designed for rugrats like I was, well, in the middle 1960s. There were rockets and submarines and good guys and bad. I honestly recall drawing the spaceships back in the day, imagining myself one of the Thunderbirds, the flying wizards who were the heroes of the series.

A few weeks ago I discovered that repeats were being shown on MeTV Sunday mornings at 6. As we should never allow ourselves to outgrow good children's books or entertainment, I decided to watch.

Um, well, yes. What I said applies to the good stuff. Thunderbirds aren't the good stuff. They've clunky and cloying, indeed far too stereotypical in all sorts of manners, and the puppets simply look and move weird. I know they're puppets but these moved in a way which was downright bizarre. Eerie, even. It was disappointing.

I gave it a fair shot: I watched several shows over several weeks. But, alas, some things are probably better left to our childhood memories.