The eightieth TV show: #109 Thunderbirds
I was a fan of Thunderbirds growing up. My father watched it when he was young and the excitement was carried over - probably helped by the mechanical wonders seen (some of which are now, and only now, becoming reality) and the exciting stories they told. The franchise is a kid friendly action show, the Thunderbirds machines from the title used to rescue people who end up in different emergencies (and some other stories). This is done using Supermarionation, advanced marionettes that look impressive. They are not realistic - having oversized heads to focus your attention on where the action is - and it's amazing how much they portray with three different static expressions (done by swapping heads), moving mouths and subtle movements. The wires show - literally - and the tricks don't always work, but a lot of the time it's amazing how much moving eyes and eyelids can tell.
The series moves at a pace that still works today - apparently, short shots were needed because the lack of movement got boring on longer shots - and makes it still fun to watch. It helps that they pay a lot of attention to details - signs work at the small scale, they make deliberate choices on when to use real life substitutes (mostly when a hand double is needed). I got lucky enough to get a studio visit to Thunderbirds 1965 after they finished filming the most recent three episodes (based on audio plays, but matching the episodes seen in this series) and seeing the amount of work and care that goes into it makes it more understandable. It's high pressure, so stuff goes wrong, but while you see the wires on screen, you really can't see them in real life. They are also gorgeous models, even if they look like they're difficult to deal with.
Watching it again, the show is a lot of fun to watch. It's still convincing and the crafsmanship of the creators shows throughout. It avoids interpersonal drama, although there are personal touches in there, but in a way the focus helps the show. The recent part-CGI remake goes for a more modern plot, with more life lessons for kids and all that, but it doesn't work. This show needs the rough edges, the scuffed models showing these vehicles are used in real life, and characters that do make it each time, but are realistic and flawed in subtler ways than the lesson of the day plot requires.