Turbocharged Thunderbirds

Turbocharged Thunderbirds
Recorded	1994
Dub Country	United States
Original Country	United States United Kingdom
Episodes	13
Year	1994-1995

Turbocharged Thunderbirds is an American television series which aired from 1994 to 1995 on UPN.

The second attempt to modernise the classic Thunderbirds series for an American audience, Turbocharged Thunderbirds is a combination of mixing original Supermarionation footage with specially-filmed live-action inserts. As with the 1994 Fox Kids repackage, all existing audio was removed and redubbed with new voice actors and musical cues.

Background

The Hack Masters, Tripp (left) and Roxette (right)

See also: Thunderbirds

A co-production between Polygram, Bohbot Entertainment Worldwide, Propaganda Films, and ITC Entertainment, this new take on the series came about from ITC America looking to cash in on the Thunderbirds popularity, similar to endeavors seen in other countries, even after the failure of its 'sister' incarnation. As they had the right to edit or modify the source material, the decision was made to attract attention of younger viewers by heavily reworking the show.

In an apparent attempt to imitate the popularity of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, this second re-edit inserted live-action footage of a pair of Californian teenagers from the year 2096 – Tripp (Travis Wester) and Roxette (Johna Stewart), nicknamed the "Hack Masters" – who are pulled into the parallel universe of the planet "Thunder-World". There, they ally themselves with "simulated lifeforms" of International Rescue against the evil "Atrocimator" (Tim Curry) and his "head-honcho", the Hood, serving Jeff Tracy from the orbital listening platform "Hacker Command" (formerly Thunderbird 5). This union of classic and new footage was mixed to give the impression both puppet and human cast were communicating with one-another.

The series made its world premiere on FOX Kids on Sunday, December 18, 1994 at the 'graveyard' time-slot of 5:30am in most areas. A few weeks later, the series began broadcast as part of the Amazin' Adventures lineup on various UPN affiliates, its first episode airing in the 7:30am timeslot during early 1995. The series continued (though later switched to an 8:05am timeslot) until its thirteenth and final episode aired. According to Broadcasting & Cable, the overhaul cost $1.75 million dollars.

The series' reception was largely negative, with the show having gone on to be held largely in contempt by fans of Thunderbirds and Gerry Anderson. After viewing a sample of footage, Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson judged Turbocharged Thunderbirds to be "the most diabolical thing I had ever seen in my life ... absolutely appalling". He held the acting, dialogue, and "gaudily painted set" of Hacker Command in especially low regard and was prepared to initiate legal action against the producers until his name was removed from the credits.

Cast

Image	Character	Original Actor	Dub Actor	Ep(s)
	Jeff Tracy	Peter Dyneley	Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	1-13
	Scott Tracy	Shane Rimmer	Jay Underwood	1
			David Naughton	2-13
	Virgil Tracy	David Holliday Jeremy Wilkin	Jay Underwood	1
			David Naughton	2-13
	Gordon Tracy	David Graham	Dan Castellaneta	1-13
	Alan Tracy	Matt Zimmerman		1-13
	Brains	David Graham	Frank Welker	3-4
			Dan Castellaneta	7
	Lady Penelope	Sylvia Anderson	Sarah-Jane Wylde	1
			Glynis Barber	2
			Barbara Feldman	9
	Parker	David Graham	David Naughton	1-13
	Tin-Tin Kyrano	Christine Finn	Glynis Barber	3-4
			Barbara Feldman	7-9
	The Hood	Ray Barrett	Malachi Throne	1-2
			Michael Sorich	3-6
			Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	7-9

Episodic Characters

Image	Character	Original Name	Original Actor	Dub Actor	Ep(s)
	Tower Commander	Commander Norman	Peter Dyneley	Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	1
	Pilot	Captain Hanson	David Graham	David Naughton
	Fireflash Co-Pilot		Ray Barrett	Malachi Throne
	Morty Goldheimer	Goldheimer		David Naughton	2
	Maguire		David Graham
	Slim		Matt Zimmerman	Dan Castellaneta
	Fletcher	Bletcher	David Graham	Malachi Throne
	Rick O'Shea		Ray Barrett	Frank Welker	4
	Loman		David Graham	Michael Sorich
	Dr. Hornyak	Dr. Orchard	Ray Barrett	David Naughton	5
	Andy	Hector McGill	Matt Zimmerman	Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
	Culp	Blackmer	John Tate	Dan Castellaneta
	Sally Hornyak	Mrs. Files	Sylvia Anderson	Glynis Barber
	José	Culp	David Graham	Michael Sorich
	Dave	Wilson	Ray Barrett	Dan Castellaneta	6
	Paul	Lindsey	Matt Zimmerman	David Naughton
	Host	TV Reporter		Dan Castellaneta	7
	Bobby Lukowski	Harris	Ray Barrett
	George Graceless	Asher	David Graham	David Naughton
	Cyric Mazard	Camp	John Tate	Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
	Professor	Professor Heinz Bodman	Peter Dyneley	David Naughton
	Ocean Pioneer King Captain	Ocean Pioneer II Captain	John Tate	Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	9

Additional Voices

• Dan Castellaneta
• David Naughton
• Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Notes

• Due to the "Hack Masters" taking over his role, John Tracy is no-where to be seen in the series; technically anyhow, his character was merged with Alan when he does appear.
• Contrary to popular belief, Turbocharged Thunderbirds had an entirely new cast of voice actors, as opposed to keeping the audio recorded from the Fox Kids series. It was mandatory to hire (or even rehire) a cast in order for the characters to interact with the Hack Masters.
• Composer Ed Potokar was a fan of the original Thunderbirds as a kid.
• 13 of the 32 Thunderbirds episodes were utilized for the series. In order; the episodes utilized are 1, 10, 17, 31, 24, 5, 4, 16, 22, 11, 20, 19 and 27.

Transmission

Date(s)	Channel	Country
1994-1995	FOX (FOX Kids)	United States
1995	UPN

See Also

• Thunderbirds
• Thunderbirds 2086
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• Star Fleet

External Links

• Turbocharged Thunderbirds at the Internet Movie Database