Blast off to the 60s with Fireball XL5: Saturday Morning Nostalgia!
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Out of all the Gerry Anderson TV shows from the 1960s, the one I have the fondest memories of has to be Fireball XL-5. For a child of eight, it was the best show on television!
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🤷🏻♂️ WHO AM I?
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My name is Rich, and I'm dedicated to preserving and celebrating our cherished memories from the past. That includes classic TV shows, cartoons, movies, and pop culture. Although I specialize in content from the 1960s, I occasionally venture into other decades to explore timeless gems.
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*All of the information in this video is readily available to the public on the internet
#classictv #classiccartoons #cancelledtvshows
![Fireball XL5: Century 21 Tech Talk [1.4] | Hosted by Brains [Thunderbirds] and Prof Matic](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_3Jwe8s4Nww/mqdefault.jpg)
1. I was 6 years old in 1965 in LA
2. My parents bought me a toy model of the XL-5.
3. The nose cockpit detached from the body of the ship.
4. And there were small plastic figurines of the characters on their scooters.
6. I played the heck out of it.
7. For some reason, I have no memory of what happened to it.
8. I guess I grew out of it and lost interest in where it was.
9. Wish I had it today! 🚀
Ditto-ditto-ditto!
I had one too ! 👍👍👍
@@drrobert2120
1. Really?
2. Do you remember what happened to it?
3. When the children of today eventually look back on their toys, it will be video games.
4. We of the past, now look back at the ingeniously-designed physical toys we held in our hands and used our imagination to enjoy.
5. “Hardware”-no software!
@Nellos Nook...my Mom gave it away to her friends daughter for her son.
@@drrobert2120
1. I’m glad to hear that!
2. At least it was donated to another child to enjoy.
3. Thanks for responding! 👍
Fireball XL5 was my *second* most favorite of the Anderson's SuperMarionation shows. My first most favorite, of all time? Supercar! (And I'm still annoyed that we don't yet have flying cars!)
1. Mine too, Doug! 👍
2. My parents bought me the toy model of it too.
3. It was orange in color, and was motorized.
4. It moved around on the floor and was “programmed” by a variety of disks that determined the patterns of movement.
5. My friend’s older brother was so jealous he threw a basketball at it and destroyed it.
6. Have you watched episodes of it now?
7. I’m amazed at how slow the pacing was!
8. Back then, it didn’t take much to fascinate a child with anything related to science fiction! 🚀
Yes! I, too, loved Supercar, Doug, and Colonel Bleep!
Currently rewatching Supercar right now. Loved these 2 series!
I had an XL5 lunchbox that, along with a Super car one, were my favorites of my youth.
My favorite Anderson show was Stingray. Heck, who am I kidding? I loved all of them. I even loved UFO, with nary a puppet in sight.
Oh yah - UFO if for nothing else but the girls - I had to buy the dvd set
From Supercar to UFO, the best of the 60's was Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
I loved this show as one of the baby boomers of the day! Thanks for the warm memories!❤👍!
Love all the Gerry anderson shows 🍪
With you all the way...I remember it well...especially that theme song...lives in my memory along with Diver Dan....who remembers that one?
I don't remember too much about Diver Dan but how about Clutch Cargo?
@@RerunZone clutch cargo fun to watch but diver dan was cheesy though🍪
I saw the whole series when it originally ran on Saturday mornings.
These creeped me out as a kid
Catching year before (1962) glimpses of Supercar and the saturation of news about the U.S vs. Soviet 'Space Race' had more than primed this impressionable and excitable six year old in the first grade when Fireball XL5 began on airing Saturday mornings on NBC.
My lifelong fascination and passion science fiction was now underway...
Oh, to be 8 again. I loved Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Stingray etc.wonderful entertainment. What a perfect combination , Mr & Mrs Anderson.
long before political correctness was heard of and it blahed everything to death and made sure that we knew what and who to hate for no good reason
As a kid watching the show in the UK on 405 line TV transmission we hardly noticed the strings!
I seem to remember the show. Those cigarettes were everywhere even on the Flintstones. 😮
I was six years old in 1962.
I loved every episode of Fireball xl5.
I would love it if someone would make a feature film of the series.
Am with U big-time!!
I'd like seeing artists renditions of both Supercar & XL5 to see how they'd pull off a redesign...
More wing is needed on em both...the stub wings on the XL5 & the retractable aft wing arrangement on the Supercar wouldn't have generated enough lift, the way they were pulled off in the shows ..
Supercar kinda made up for that with fuselage fairly flat on bottom, some footage indicating a nose-up kinda flight trim, indicating the most- learned Rudolph Popkiss & Horatio Beeker were thinking far ahead of the norm when they built the Supercar...
Oh man, I loved this show! I used to " walk" around like the puppets.(More like hop and jerk around)
Mota cool I am rewatching every anderson show on tubitv and on UA-cam📼
@@mikesilva3868 great idea
I loved all of these shows, especially this one and the Thunderbirds, so glad I am a Boomer, we had all the best kids shows in the 1960s
grew up loving XL5 and the Thunderbirds. I'm old enough to remember the beginning of the space race, so these shows seemed to be the certain future. So much imagination and creativity. That they were puppets didn't matter at all. The stories and concepts of what space may be like were truly captivating.
Then after this came "The Thunderbirds" in living color!.....the good ole days.
First in Color was 1964 "Stingray".
@@maureencora1 You are correct! By a few months......Stingray.!....Stingray.!...with Troy Tempest....LOL
@@thetraveler2561 Touche' (smile)
I don't remember much about the show, except for watching it fanatically, but I had the lunch box and thermos and was the envy of the boys in my class.
Truly a blast from the past!
Ingenious and ahead of it's time.
I loved watching Fireball XL5 as a kid in the 60s. My wife and I still sing the closing song from time to time.
My dad bought me the single of the theme.......strange how many of the lyrics I still remember.
I watch everything the Anderson did what great shows
Huge Gerry anderson fan 😊
Fireball XL5 was definitely my favorite. My passion was and is science fiction
Thank you for remembering
Wow. What a throwback. I remember this fondly as we had little on TV for us kids in those days. This was so much more exciting than "Watch With Mother". Only 2 TV channels in the early 60's & nothing was in colour until the late 60's. The theme tune was epic. Barry Gray sang it.
Still an all time favorite. I was surprised there were only 39 shows. I was about 10 years old, in the U.S. when this aired. I liked it MUCH better than The Thunderbirds that followed. Thanks 🙂
The theme song still resurfaces from my memory banks every now and then "My heart would be a fireball everytime I look into your starry eyes. "
When I was 7 in 1963, Fireball was the best show I could *imagine* anyone making, and my one must-do for the week was to catch Fireball on Saturday morning. I was not charmed by the Thunderbirds.
Fireball XL5 and Astroboy were two of my earliest favorite shows. Nice post.
I forgot about astroboy.
I loved watching this show when I was a kid! I also was a big fan of Gigantor and The 8 Man too!
I loved all those shows when growing up!
A classic from my childhood. 🚀
I was 7 at the time when this was showed on Saturday mornings and I even had the boxed playset as a kid as well, this too was one of my favorite shows as kid as well 👍
This was my all-time favorite -- I loved that spaceship!
My favorite SuperMarionation show was SuperCar, with Mike Mercury, Jimmy, Mithch the Monkey, Dr. Beaker, et al... But I watched and loved Fireball XL5, Stingray, and the Thunderbirds as well..❤ 👍😎 👌
I was 13, almost 14 when I found this show one Saturday morning. I’ve loved it all my 74 years. This morning, after my alarm went off at 6:00, I fell asleep again, and had a dream about the show.
It was 10:30 on a Saturday morning ( in the present) and I was singing their theme song, remembering every word. It gave me a warm, comforting feeling that I hope will last through my tough day ahead.
I really enjoyed Fireball XL5! It was my favorite show on Saturday morning here in the US, and one of my childhood friends and I would play, pretending a large bush was our ship. Since my name is Steve, I would take command. I can't remember which character my friend was, but we had lots of fun at recess. Thanks for taking me back to that time.
I was a fan when it first came on in 1962. I was 8, also. That really brought me back to get excited to see what Steve Zodiac would be up to!
Right there with you! Best Saturday morning show on TV here in the States!
I have never had a chance to watch this. Growing up, though, Showtime showed, during the day, Thunderbirds, Stingray, and Captain Scarlett. Loved All three.
I must say, this is the first time I ever heard of "Fireball XL5". I was born in 1964, and whenever it first aired, I was too young to remember it being on television. I am familiar with "The Thunderbirds" puppet program that aired in syndication on independent TV stations back in the day.
You can still catch some episodes on UA-cam and archive.org, Michael, if you want to check it out. A lot of the concepts are like Star Trek but years before Trek debuted.
@@RerunZone it's on tubitv 📼
"Puppet programme"? Supermarionation, my good man.
I loved this show. Even though I was a girl it captivated me. But truth be told I had a big crush on Steve, even though he was a puppet. I always say...the heart wants what the heart wants. I was in second grade in 1962. It was a wonderful time to be a kid.
I was 7 years old in 1962,and boy, did I love watching this show. Thanks for sharing the history of Fireball XL5. Brings back many happy memories,Lester
Very similar to Thunderbirds. A series I would run home after school to watch. 😄
In 1963 I was 7 years old and this is the very first tv show I remember watching every week ----- 😂I actually bought the series from amazon as a remembrance. I always wanted one of their flying "motorcycles" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thank-you for the trip down memory lane👍👍
I remember watching this as a kid in the early 80s. This was hands down my favourite show and the XL-5 was my favourite spaceship (and to this day, it still is). Thanks for rekindling some fond memories!
i was five years old when that came out. I loved that show!! Thank You for the memories.
Wow, Rich! I couldn't agree more. My autistic son and I first got into the Gerry Anderson catalog with Fireball XL-5 because that's what I remember as a kid. I was 4 or 5 when I remember seeing it on TV. My older brother was a fan so we always watched it together. Until more recently, in fact, I never saw an episode of a different Gerry Anderson show other than Fireball.
Fast forward to about a dozen years ago when I found the complete DVD set of the show and my son and I were off to those same adventures all over again. He really has enjoyed the show. After watching every episode we moved on to Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Stingray, the Thunderbirds, Joe 90, and others next. While all were good shows, my heart, and my son's too, I might add, plus my brother's, all reside with Fireball XL-5.
The puppetry evolved with every show the Anderson's did. And certainly some of the changes were improvements. But Fireball XL-5 seems to me still to have been a simpler approach that worked very well. Later Anderson puppets, as on Joe 90, may have been improved but I thought they, I don't know, lacked the sincerity of the earlier ones. Or maybe that was the characters. Steve Zodiac was a true hero, good throughout. That drew me into each episode as much as anything. Yeah, there are strings on everything, from the puppets to the XL-5 itself to certain planets, etc. but it didn't matter, as you said. Sometimes they erased them decently. Most of the time not, but it totally didn't matter. I was enamored with the show despite all that.
There's a video online from 2014 of all the voice actors who did Four Feather Falls and many of the same people were involved in Fireball so it was neat to see them.
Thanks for your wonderful video and look back. Fireball XL-5 is my favorite Gerry and Sylvia Anderson production, though they had much more luck with the Thunderbirds later. But I liked all of their shows a lot. They all play well with my son even today.
I want to add that the opening sequence of Fireball XL-5 seems to have been the inspiration for Star Trek a few years later.
I will be 72 this April, and remember that show on Saturday morning, next to never missed it,now how cheezy it looks how time has changed in retirement 🙃
I was four or five years old when this show aired in Brazil in the Sixties. I remember almost nothing of it, except for the perception that the lighting was subdued, so I only recall it was very dark. I also remember that I loved the show.
Most important: thank you very much for this very well produced, instructive, delightful video!
I watched this when I was a wee tot, in the early 60s. Literally a diaper-clad toddler, so around 1964, during its first American run. One of my first memories of watching TV, along with "Beany and Cecil" cartoons. My father watched it too.
I could swear it ran during prime time . . . but again, I was a REALLY little kid.
I watched it now and then during later runs, but it seemed pretty tame compared to Thunderbirds, which I totally loved.
Born in 1955, this was one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. The XL-5 was very cool to me and the launch sequence was cool too. Thanks for this reminder of the good ol days. 👍👍
I’m 65 and this brought great memories1
I got the Fireball xl5 toy for Christmas as a kid.
Fireball XL5 was on TV for one only season in my country, Brazil. Maybe it was not the full season because the film rolls were tragically lost in a fire on the broadcasting station, but my 5 years old me could never forget it. The launching with the ship discarding the rocket propelled sled was magical, despite being always the same footage. But I would hate to work in a rotating building. Thank you for the video.
I’m from Australia. I remember watching this show after school. I can remember wishing I had one of those scooters and can vaguely remember the theme song. I would have been 8 years old at that time. Thanks for bringing back this memory. 👏👏👏
Coolest 😊
Excellent vid and thanks for the wonderful memories when we still had a country... I died for XL5 on Saturday mornings and I've been sci-fi crazy ever since. Had the toy, a big XL5 ~18 inches long, real cheap plastic with stickers for the XL5 on the tail. Loved the show!
I was 5 when Fireball XL5 hit, man that takes me back. Extreme fondness for that series here, it was like food and drink to two brothers back then, we'd talk about it for ages after every episode. My brother is older, he was weaned on the long-forgotten Supercar.
It was Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons for me but I was and still am a fan of all gerry Andersons work
For me and my brother, it was the close up of the hands!! which were real! That brought the realism to the show. Yes we knew we were watching puppets, but that was the show stopper for us!
I had the entire toy ensemble and loved it. the song at the end (not the cut version) is still a favorite. I keep a small model in a case in my house.
I first saw this when I was two, maybe three years old and I've been hooked on science fiction ever since
watch it on the reruns in the late sixties early seventies. just loved it then and love it now. good review. totally boss
That show was one of the first Saturday morning children's shows I recall watching when NBC telecast the series from 1963 to '65.
Great memories. We would imitate their bouncy walk!
Loved Fireball, and watched it every Saturday morning. I also loved "Supercar" made by the same producers.
Loved that show! :)
I agree with you, Fireball XL5 was my favourite of the Anderson shows, with Thunderbirds a close second, followed by Supercar. I had a plastic model of the ship that I played with for hours and I used to be the robot when my friend and I played at being the crew.
Thanks for sharing. I don't remember this show but did watch the Thunderbirds. I also watched a couple of shows from the Andersons (I believe) called U.F.O and Space 1999.
after the first 3 episodes Space 1999 goes right on down
at least for me I do have the Space 1999 music LP
Yes I remember watching this when I was a kid back in the 60s, I bought a resin model prototype of the xl5 I never did put together because it's a prototype.
Fireball XL5 was the first Gerry Anderson show I watched when I was a kid way back when.... I moved on Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett in later years and loved the live action UFO and Space 1999 that were produced in the 1970s. Also don't forget the movie "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" or "Doppelganger" (2 titles for the same flick) that was first shown in theaters back in 1968 or 69. All of them were classics.
Fireball XL5 fan here. I watched it all the time. Another good series: Supercar.
I was 8 in 1963..
I was born in 1960 ... this show was my favorite and inspired my own Sci/Fantasy novels.
Fireball XL5 was my favorite Saturday morning TV show. It's funny that this came up as a recommendation at this time as I am working on a CAD drawing that come's close to matching the XL5.
It may not be an exact match but it's a lot better than the cardboard and empty Christmas wrapping tube version I made as a kid.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This makes me seven years old again. I still want a Fireball XL5 model for my display case to add to my robots and ray guns. Oddly, I don't have many memories of watching Thunderbirds, I remember watching Supercar after this show.
I loved both this and Thunderbirds.
#1. Thunderbirds, #2. Stingray and This.
Awesome!! I don't know if I loved this show, because I was a budding Sci-Fi fan, or if I became an ardent Sci-Fi fan, because I watched Fireball XL5 on Saturday mornings as a toddler!! 🚀
As a kid I watched Fireball XL5 every Saturday morning. I loved the ending theme song, I was always a big fan of '60s pop. I have the lunch kit, small playset, Gold Key comic book, Little Golden book & the boxed activity set with the color pic of Steve & Venus. I collect '60s tv show toys that I like. I have Supercar, Stingray & Thunderbirds collectibles too
I grew up watching these shows, Supercar, Fireball, Stingray and Thunderbirds. Fireball XL5 does still hold a special place though, probably because at 7 years old I was crazy about robots, and XL5 had a robot co-pilot Robby. I also loved watching Space Patrol, an earlier and somehow scarier show. 👍
When we're on a trip and turn around for the last leg, we still say, in unison, "On our way home....."
I was born in 1960...in Houston. We had everything space associated. But I've never heard of this!!!!
I thought I was crazy?! - There Really was a Fireball XL5!!!!!🎯💥💯💥🎯
When I was a kid this was my favorite show! I'm still a big Gerry Anderson fan. Enjoyed Thunderbirds, but Fireball XL5 was #1!❤
Fireball XL5 is the reason I am a true Sci-Fi fan even today.
I enjoyed this show. I used to get a TV21 comic and remember they had a Fireball XL5 model which could be bought, I think I got one but it was lost a long time ago. I currently have a great model made by Product Enterprise. Having not seen the show since the 1960's, I saw an episode at a Fanderson convention in the 1980's and met Gerry himself. I have since acquired the DVD box collection and the modern colourised versions bring the show to the modern era...a brilliant show.
UA-cam won't acknowledge my thumbs up click, but I, too, loved this show. Even had a toy Fireball XL5 that separated into two pieces as you described.
i had the Fireball XL5 toy set. It costs a fortune to have one now.
Although I don’t specifically remember watching this show, I must have. I do remember my dad buying me a model of the X15 rocket aircraft, and telling me it was the Super Car. I remember playing with the model in the bathtub and trying to get it to sink like the super car was able to do.
I really liked Fireball XL5. Supercar was probably my favorite, though.
1. Mine too, Marvin! 👍
2. My parents bought me the toy model of it too.
3. It was orange in color, and was motorized.
4. It moved around on the floor and was “programmed” by a variety of disks that determined the patterns of movement.
5. My friend’s older brother was so jealous he threw a basketball at it and destroyed it.
6. Have you watched episodes of it now?
7. I’m amazed at how slow the pacing was!
8. Back then, it didn’t take much to fascinate a child with anything related to science fiction! 🚀
I was seven years old when I watched that show, and my parents bought me the XL5 model. I wish I still had it as they are worth about $200 today.
Born in 1953 and having a lifelong fondness for sci-fi I enjoyed Four Feather Falls (cowboy shows were the thing then) and Torchy the Battery Boy (neither of which were the Andersons I think) and then Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds and UFO. Around the same time as Fireball there was another non-Anderson puppet sci-fi show I particularly liked called 'Space Patrol', lower on budget but slightly harder on the sci-fi (space suits required etc). The 'theme' tune was the deep mechanical pulsing of the futuristic city with an occasional hiss of a pneumatic train passing through a clear tube between the buildings. A number of my contemporaries built 'space cities'.
Halcyon days....Supermarionation at its very best- thanks Sylvia and Gerry
I STILL wish I was a spaceman.
There was this incident at my college video arts class. My teacher put on a record. "None of you will know what this is, but listen to it anyway." I heard a familiar revving of engines and screamed, "FIREBALL XL5!" How did you know that? He asked. It was my favorite show as a kid, I said.
This was my iintroduction to sci-fi have been a sci-fi fan ever since.
I must have gotten caught drawing the XL-5 a hundred times in my third grade class. Gerry Anderson also did The Thunderbirds and moved to live action with UFO and Space 1999.
I see I'm not the only one to remember Super Car. To the best of my recollection, it ran in the states before Fireball XL5.
Theme music by Barry Gray and the Spacemakers. I had the 45 record.
Me too.
My older brother (on clarinet & vocals) and his classmate (on vocals) actually performed the Fireball XL5 theme song at one of our elementary school's talent shows/conventions!!!! I remember they really did not know the lyrics exactly because instead of singing "I wish I was a SPACEMAN...," they sang, "I wish I was a SUPERMAN..." 😆I used to watch Fireball XL5, Supercar and Stingray but Fireball was by far my favorite. I had a Fireball XL5 playset but it was the basic playset not the more deluxe "Space City" version.