This 1970 British-produced television series from Gerry Anderson (best known for his Supermarionation shows like Thunderbirds as well as the cult sci fi series Space: 1999) brought us a covert war between a secret organization known as SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization) and an alien race from a dying planet.
Some may consider it a campy relic of its time because the look and feel of the show has not dated very well. But if you can get past the cheesy (though good for their time) special effects, outlandish costumes, laughable 70’s music, corny dialog, and exceptionally wooden acting, you will find that this show is actually a decent little sci fi sleeper. Instead of following a formulaic alien-encounter-of-the-week format, UFO actually delved into the implications of its interstellar conflict and showed the consequences of the war. It delivered moral quandaries and downbeat endings–not a typical thing for ’70s television–that helped it transcend its visual campiness. Not every episode was a classic, but the show had more than its fair share of good stories over its short run and is definitely worth checking out. (You can read more about UFO at this link).
The Roku Channel is Roku’s own streaming channel that offers ad-supported content. The selection is not large at the moment, but they are building up their inventory of movies and shows (they recently purchased the Quibi originals to stream on the channel). FilmRise is a content provider and they may be the source of some of the shows on The Roku Channel. They have their own streaming channel as well that should be available on non-Roku platforms. That is also ad-supported and UFO is available on both. You may have to power through the first episode of that series to get past the cheesiness, but it is worth the effort because the show delivers some hard-hitting episodes and some good sci fi TV.
See our comprehenisve list of past sci fi and fantasy shows available for streaming at this link
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