Supercar

Supercar was a British puppet show produced by Gerry Anderson, who would soon gain greater fame with another similar show, Thunderbirds. It was about a fabulous vehicle that could go on land, sea, or in the air. As the title song says, it's "the marvel of the age."

Supercar was built by a pair of scientists, Professor Popkiss and Dr. Beaker, who worked out of a semi-secret laboratory in Black Rock, Nevada. Their test pilot was tall, blue-eyed Mike Mercury, who flew the craft. Rounding out the regular cast were Jimmy Gibson, a regular, curious kid, and his pet monkey Mitch. Mitch was always getting into trouble, and was often the source of a week's adventure because of his shenanigans. The team performed rescues, but they also tended to fight criminals whenever they could; their main enemies in this regard were Masterspy, who wanted to steal the supercar, and his henchman Zarin.

Supercar was an early Anderson effort; it came right after the cancellation of his Western-themed puppet show Four Feather Falls, which wasn't entirely successful financially. Anderson was approached by Lew Grade of ITV (FFF had been done for Grenada Television) to create a half-hour show using the puppetry and effects techniques learned in the previous effort. After a compromise on the budget, the series was a go.

Supercar was the first of Anderson's series to use the technique that would quickly come to be called 'Supermarionation.' The concept was that the puppets' mouths moved in response to silent electronic signals encoded into the show's soundtrack, so that when a certain character's voice was spoken, the corresponding puppet's lips moved in sync with it. Supercar also made use of thinner, less obtrusive wires to hold the puppets and move their limbs than had previous Anderson puppet shows. The technical crew who created this show would for the most part stay with Anderson's productions for years to come.

Supposedly, Anderson got the idea for a vehicle-based show due to the fact that his crew couldn't quite master the art of making the puppets walk realistically; it was reasoned that, the more the characters rode around in a car or plane, the less walking would have to be done onscreen. Besides which, creating a 'launch sequence' would enthrall younger viewers as well as eat up some screen time. Anderson took this lesson to heart: in the future, his shows would be built around a futuristic vehicle or group of vehicles, and most of these would feature an intricate launch sequence showing the technology in action.

Supercar ran for 39 black and white episodes, beginning in 1960. It was shown on ITV in England and in syndication in the U.S. shortly thereafter - the first Anderson puppet series to be seen in America.

Main Characters:
Mike Mercury - The fearless and courageous test pilot who flys Supercar
Dr. Beaker - Eccentric inventor and co-builder of Supercar. "Most Satisfactory."
Professor Popkiss - The other co-builder of Supercar who mans the control panel at the secret laboratory where Supercar resides.
Jimmy Gibson - Rescued by Mike at ten years of age, and now a part of the team
Mitch - Jimmy's pet monkey
Master Spy - The evil villian who is out to steal Supercar and its secrets at any & every opportunity.
Zarin - Master Spy's bungling accomplice

Episode Listing
1. Rescue
2. Amazonian Adventure
3. Talisman of Sargon
4. False Alarm
5. What Goes Up
6. Keep It Cool
7. Grounded
8. Jungle Hazard
9. High Tension
10. A Little Art
11. Ice Fall
12. Island Incident
13. The Tracking of Master Spy
14. Phantom Piper
15. Deep 7
16. Pirate Plunder
17. Flight of Fancy
18. Hostage
19. The Sunken Temple
20. Trapped in the Depths
21. Crash Landing
22. The Dragon of Ho Meng
23. The Lost City
24. Magic Carpet
25. The White Line
26. Supercar Take One
27. The Runaway Train
28. Precious Cargo
29. Operation Super Stork
30. Hi-Jack
31. Calling Charlie Queen
32. Space For Mitch
33. The Sky's The Limit
34. 70 - B - Lo
35. Atomic Witch Hunt
36. Jail Break
37. The Day Time Stood Still
38. Transatlantic Cable
39. King Kool