UFO Kidnapped
| UFO Kidnapped | |
|---|---|
_title_card.jpg) Title card and scene from the opening | |
| Genre | Adventure/Sci-Fi |
| Created by |
Roger Price Geoffrey Darby |
| Directed by | Geoffrey Darby |
| Starring |
Amber Barry Blake John Caines John William Galt Alasdair Gillis Terry Green Rodney Helal Kevin Kubusheskie Tony Lefebvre Vanessa Lindores Les Lye Doug Ptolemy Greg Saygon Klea Scott Mike Tomicic |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Geoffrey Darby Roger Price |
| Location(s) | Toronto, Ontario |
| Running time | 51 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Carleton Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | 1983 |
UFO Kidnapped is a 1983 Nickelodeon production[1] created by Roger Price and Geoffrey Darby. It was originally going to be a series and although the pilot aired on nickelodeon, the series was not picked up. It used many of the cast members from You Can't Do That on Television[2] including its main character Les Lye,[3][4][5] and was filmed in Toronto, Ontario.
Synopsis
The episode starts when Lye known as Sam Smytme, who is in a house where he was doing a burglary, when the lights start flashing on and off. When he suspects something is very wrong he runs outside in a state of panic. While running he falls on the ground, as he looks up a UFO is hovering over him! Then a giant green ball comes and takes him inside of the UFO. After that when two teenage boys, Alasdair and Kevin were out in their woods after being dropped of by their father with their dog Amber, and planning on how they were going to spend their camping trip. When they heard their dog barking Kevin asks "What is it Amber?", and the Alasdair's flashlight starts going on and off. Kevin then asks Alasdair to stop doing that, but Alasdair claims he is not doing so. Then they both see a UFO come out and the just like Smythe they both run. When they hide, Amber runs out and as Alasdair screams in horror, the same giant green ball that took Smythe then also takes Amber. As this happens Alasdair screams out for the UFO not to take Amber, and then both watch the UFO fly away. While trying to figure out what to do they hear a cop calling them, relieved they run the greet him, and then get into his vehicle. But then they notice that they had seen this cop earlier in morning, and realize he couldn't be this far out where they were. When they find out that the cop car is really a trap, the car becomes the same green ball that took Smythe and Amber, and then takes them in to the UFO. Once aboard the UFO they both wake up in a place that looks identical to their bedroom, but when they find they can't get out, and after Kevin strikes it with a baseball bat, they realize they are not at home. The image of the bedroom them disappears, and becomes the inside of the UFO. While not be able to move they are greeted by the loolis, who welcome, comfort, and hug them. The then are told that the loolis themselves were also abducted, that and their dog is okay, both them then can move, and then Klea Scott and Amber come out to greet them. Klea explains to them that they are inside a UFO, and that it can and will be like anything they imagine it to be. She also tells them they need to meet the Shandrilla's, which are very unattractive. On they way to meet them they encounter the captured Smythe, who since he believes he was arrested for his crime that he is in jail. When he is told that he is in a UFO he thinks Klea is crazy. When they meet the Shandrilla's they are told that they were wanted as pets, and to enjoy their stay. The Shandrilla's then inform them they will be traveling through the sun, but that they will be safe and unharmed. Also the Shandrilla's discuss Black Holes, with Alasdair and that they can enter them. While this is taking place when Klea gives food to Smythe, Sythme holds Klea from the cell, unlocks and escapes, while holding Klea hostage. Smythe and his hostage Klea the go further into the ship where everyone else is. Sythme then realizes he really is in a UFO, and then faints. The Shandrilla then says they will be entering a Black Hole, and when they come out he tells Alasdair that they are many light years away. They then land on a desert planet. Just like before Alasdair then wakes up aboard the UFO that looks his room thinking it was all a dream, but this time Kevin is not with him. Again the room was locked, but Alasdair imagines his way out, then meets Klea and asks "Where's Kevin?" Then Kevin, Smythe, and Amber are beamed out of the UFO, held hostage by the Shandrilla's and sold as slaves. While Kevin and Smythe are being forced into a cell, Amber escapes and then finds Alasdair, Klea, and the Loolis, the looli can understand Amber, and realizes what has happened. The loolis then go and rescue Smythe and Kevin, who also free another prisoner who was there as well, and they all are beamed back aboard the UFO. The Guards who they fought on the way back to their UFO follow out them into space. Alasdair then comes up with the idea to fly through a Black Hole to escape them, and when he does he does he losses sight of the following ship. They then see earth and rejoice, but as Alasdair and Smythe question whether if it is their earth, they then realize they might be in a parallel universe.
Cast and characters
| Performer | Character |
|---|---|
| Amber the dog | Amber |
| Barry Blake | Merkaran Dealer |
| John Caines | Policeman |
| John William Galt | Merkaran Guard |
| Alasdair Gillis | Alasdair |
| Terry Green | Merkaran Guard |
| Rodney Helal | Horney Boy |
| Kevin Kubusheskie | Kevin |
| Tony Lefebvre | Shandrilla #2 |
| Vanessa Lindores | Lalia the Looli |
| Les Lye | Sam Smythe |
| Doug Ptolemy | Looli #2 |
| Greg Saygon | Shandrilla #1 |
| Klea Scott | Klea |
| Mike Tomicic | Merkanan Guard |
Miscellaneous
- Doug Ptolemy name is misspelt in the credits as it is spelt "Doug Ptomeny", as well as Kevin Kubusheskie's name as it is spelt "Keven Kubusheskie".
- Just like You Can't Do That on Television (YCDTOTV), Alasdair Gillis, Kevin Kubusheskie, and Klea Scott had the same names, and used their real names.
- Kevin Kubusheskie used key phrases from YCDTOTV like "I don't know!" and "What is it this time?"
- The Looli's looked exactly like Lance Prevert's old giant living teddy bear character from YCDTOTV except for the glowing red nose, and just like that teddy bear they very were scruffy, and the Looli's also very much like to hug.
- Les Lye as Sam Smythe was dressed the same as a burglar in UFO Kidnapped, as when he played a burglar on YCDTOTV, and laughed the same way as he did on YCDTOTV as well.
- On the 1989 YCDTOTV episode 117 communication, the YCDTOTV cast are invaded by a UFO that looks identical to the UFO from UFO Kidnapped and uses the same giant green ball to abduct, although this ball doesn't abduct people, but instead the green slime!
- It is confusing why the credits of the show said "Amber as herself", and although the looli called her a she, Alasdair referred to Amber as a he.
- UFO Kidnapped is the only Canadian Nickelodeon production by Roger Price from the 1980s not to have Christine McGlade in it.
- UFO Kidnapped seemed to be coping a lot of Star Wars as the UFO that the characters were kidnapped in as it looked somewhat like Millennium Falcon from the outside, and also a planet that they were taken to and sold as slaves was very much like Tatooine and creatures who they were given to resembled Jabba the Hutt's creatures as the sounded like them as well as the sand creatures, and had the same weapons as them. Where they were taken looked like Jabba's Palace. Also UFO Kidnapped was released the same year as Return of the Jedi, in 1983.
- YCDTOTV episode 59 courage makes a reference toward UFO Kidnapped.
- A reason to why UFO Kidnapped did not become a full series may be is because it would take too long too make, would have been too expensive, and it may be like a space knock-off of the TV show Gilligan's Island.
References
- ↑ "Old Nickelodeon Movie: UFO Kidnapped - Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums". www.sitcomsonline.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ "Google Groups". groups.google.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ "Where Are they Now". members.shaw.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ "Les Lye". Metacritic. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ TV.com. "UFO Kidnapped". TV.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.