Fireball xl5 reference?
- Thread starter PCz911
- Start date
Is there going to be any actual discussion of the topic in this thread, or will it just consist of links to peoples' videos?
Well, this is a fun little fact. I never noticed that XL5 on the pipe before, because I never saw that Anderson series, but it's really there. And it probably was a deliberate hat tip.
In full, it says "784 XL5" on the pipe. And the other pipes have other seemingly random letters and numbers. How do we know it's not a coincidence made from the assembly of random letters and numbers? What does 784 have to do with the Anderson show? Nothing, or, if something, then what?
Good point. I'd say there are three possibilities:
• It could be a deliberate nod to the Anderson show that had just been on NBC.
• It could be a total coincidence.
• It could fall between the two: "XL5" could come out of someone's head if he saw the show listed in TV Guide, forgot all about it, and then produced what he thought were random characters through a process called cryptomnesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptomnesia
The same channel has a video where they show some craft flying overhead that they claim could be an inspiration for the “Planet of the Titans“ Enterprise because Derek Meddings, completely missing the fact that was Ken Adam’s design.
Caveat emptor.
Huh. Fab Facts indeed.
I can't see the XL5 being any more than a random jumbling of letters TBH.
''
It is a less obvious crib than, say, Kirk's theme sounding like Savage's theme from 12 O'Clock High
But it is a fun link, unconscious or no.
Not everything is connected.
Oddly enough, I'm getting to watch "Enterprise" all the way through for the first time in the UK, on the Horror Freeview channel (I lost track of it on its first UK showing, and never got around to catching up). Recently saw "First Flight" for the first time, and smiled when I saw the launch of the NX-Beta!
Last edited:
I dunno. No one ever takes down a video even if it's factually incorrect.
I'd rather Fact Trek devote their time into something more interesting than this.
Knocking down every stupid claim on the internet does get tedious after a while. I’m more interested in the ones that are a gateway to a broader conversation, and this sort of thing seems like a dead end to me.
The POTT looking saucer ships does show how Trekdom and saucers in general shaped spacecraft designs in fiction. Now, CGI fluidity has opened avenues up. Physical modeling took a hit. There will never be another Cygnus outside of fandom. Starlog alone did nice work on the ships of fiction in print, outside of some mags here and there.
There's are links between that episode of Fireball XL5 which featured ships that look an awful lot like Ken Adam's Enterprise design for POTT. First, the FX designer for Fireball XL5 was Derek Meddings. Meddings produced concept art of the Enterprise for created Planet Of The Titans (I'd post it if I could easily embed an image). Since POTT was intended to be filmed in England then Ken Adams was likely working with a British crew. Meddings eventually did the effects for Moonraker, which Adams designed. It's certainly possible that Adams and Meddings might have collaborated on the POTT design together and perhaps drew inspiration from those ships featured in Fireball XL5.
Possible doesn't mean likely. The follow who put together the Ralph McQuarrie books told me that McQuarrie said the Enterprise shapes he painted came from Adam. He mentioned Meddings not at all. So make of that what you will.
Ken Adam sketch
A Derek Meddings take on this design
The Fireball XL5 episode "Invasion Earth" with the ships in question. They first appear at 13:18 (link to this time).
Discussed in the article Fireball XL5 meets Star Trek! (link). They come to the same conclusion I did: The alien ships appear to be built largely from B-58 Hustler kits. Not sure if they sawed off the fuselage or attached the wings to something else. In either case, they left the outboard two of the four engine nacelles attached to their usual spots but inverted the wings so they were on top. They mounted the other two at the top centerline facing backwards, and placed two more on either side of and below the nose, and stuck saucers to the top front of the fuselage. Roughly like this:
If we want to get silly about influences, the aliens approach and arrive on Earth shrouded in a mysterious cloud that destroys ships on contact. When the cloud reaches earth, all communications are down and all the ray guns are disabled. Chekov: "All planetary systems have just gone inoperative."
Are we next to suggest the V'ger cloud comes from Fireball XL5 as well?
Ken Adam sketchA Derek Meddings take on this design
The Fireball XL5 episode "Invasion Earth" with the ships in question. They first appear at 13:18 (link to this time).
Discussed in the article Fireball XL5 meets Star Trek! (link). They come to the same conclusion I did: The alien ships appear to be built largely from B-58 Hustler kits. Not sure if they sawed off the fuselage or attached the wings to something else. In either case, they left the outboard two of the four engine nacelles attached to their usual spots but inverted the wings so they were on top. They mounted the other two at the top centerline facing backwards, and placed two more on either side of and below the nose, and stuck saucers to the top front of the fuselage. Roughly like this:
If we want to get silly about influences, the aliens approach and arrive on Earth shrouded in a mysterious cloud that destroys ships on contact. When the cloud reaches earth, all communications are down and all the ray guns are disabled. Chekov: "All planetary systems have just gone inoperative."
Are we next to suggest the V'ger cloud comes from Fireball XL5 as well?
Last edited:
Similar threads
