How Gerry Anderson’s “UFO” Became “Space: 1999”

Back in late 1969 & early 1970, the then married couple of Gerry Anderson & Sylvia Anderson produced their first ever live-action #SciFi TV series called #UFO, whose premise was that an unknown race of extraterrestrial aliens were clandestinely visiting Earth to use human beings as spare parts for their dying race.

While the first season of “UFO” did well when it finally premiered 2 years later in 1972 in the United States, ITC Entertainment later pulled the plug not long after ordering a 2nd season when ratings for the series when it went into reruns began to falter.

Gerry Anderson then proposed an alternate show that eventually morphed into what became #Space1999.

The following documentary on YouTube produced by Gerry Anderson Productions is rather interesting to watch.

Series Star Ruby Rose Quits Batwoman after First Season Finale

Following a dismal first season, the star of CW’s #DCComics-based TV show #Batwoman has very unexepectedly quit the show. Ruby Rose made the surprise announcement with a written statement:

“I have made the very difficult decision to not return to Batwoman next season. This was not a decision I made lightly as I have the utmost respect for the cast, crew and everyone involved with the show in both Vancouver and in Los Angeles. I am beyond appreciative to Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Caroline Dries for not only giving me this incredible opportunity, but for welcoming me into the DC universe they have so beautifully created. Thank you Peter Roth and Mark Pedowitz and the teams at Warner Bros. and The CW who put so much into the show and always believed in me. Thank you to everyone who made season one a success – I am truly grateful.”

CW had already announced that there would be a second season for the beleaguered series, which saw its meager viewership drop from a high of 1.8 million for the show’s premier episode to a paltry 739,000 viewers for the first season finale episode, which was only barely better than the episode that aired 3 weeks earlier that only had 634,000 viewers.

Following Ruby Rose’s unexpected departure from the series, the studios released the following joint statement:

“Warner Bros. Television, The CW and Berlanti Productions thank Ruby for her contributions to the success of our first season and wish her all the best. The studio and network are firmly committed to Batwoman’s second season and long-term future, and we — along with the show’s talented creative team — look forward to sharing its new direction, including the casting of a new lead actress and member of the LGBTQ community, in the coming months.”

References

• ‘Batwoman’ Star Ruby Rose Exits Series Ahead of Season 2
• Batwoman: Season One Ratings

No New “Doctor Who” in 2019; Show on Hiatus until 2020

The #BBC announced several hours ago that the very popular #DoctorWho TV series will not have a new season in 2019. Instead, it won’t return until 2020. The apparent reason for this was reported by Lizo Mzimba, the BBC’s entertainment correspondent, who said that while there was “a recognition that fans might want a series every single year, Doctor Who has almost uniquely complex filming requirements and a lengthy post-production period”.

Also, instead of a Christmas special as has been done since the show returned in 2005, a New Years Day show will be broadcast instead.

Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor Who

References

• Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker won’t return for a new series until 2020

Video Formats and Region Codes for DVD & Blu-Ray Discs

DVD and blu-ray distributors utilize two primary methods of applying digital rights management (DRM) when it comes to international distribution:

• Video formats, which vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Different countries use different broadcast standards that apply different video formats, which include both analog and digital formats. Analog video formats were carried over to DVD’s.
• Region codes, which is a DRM technique designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD & blu-ray releases, including their content, release dates, and prices, all according to the appropriate region.

Analog Video Formats Applied to DVD’s

The main types of video formats that are used in different countries based upon their broadcasting standards are as follows:

• NTSC was named after the National Television System Committee and is the analog television color system that was used in North America from 1954 until digital conversion. It was also used in most of the Americas (except Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and French Guiana), Myanmar, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, and some Pacific island nations and territories.
• SECAM, which stands for Séquentiel couleur à mémoire, (or “Sequential colour with memory”), is an analogue color television system first used in France beginning in 1956. It was then adopted by the former Soviet Union and used in client states and colonies.
• PAL, which stands for Phase Alternating Line, is a color encoding system for analog television that is used by broadcast television systems in most countries that broadcast at 625-line / 50 field (25 frame) per second (576i), but variants occur due to how the audio carrier frequency is handled:
  • Standards B/G are used in most of Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand
  • Standard I in the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Macau
  • Standards D/K (along with SECAM) in most of Central and Eastern Europe
  • Standard D in mainland China. Most analogue CCTV cameras are Standard D.
• Other PAL Variants
  • PAL-M in Brazil.
  • PAL-N in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Vido Format Usage Map

Region Codes

Region codes work because the vast majority of DVD and blu-ray players sold around the world are region-locked, which means that they won’t play discs that are meant for regions outside of the intended region. Regions devised for DVD’s are not the same as regions devised for blu-rays.

DVD Region Codes

There are a total of 10 region codes for DVD’s. DVDs may use one code, a combination of codes (multi-region), every code (all region) or no codes (region free).

DVD Region codes 1 through 8 are defined as follows:

1. Canada, United States, Puerto Rico.
2. Europe (as of 2020 will include Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the 3 Caucasus countries), Egypt, West Asia, Japan, South Africa, Greenland, and French Guiana.
3. Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
4. Latin America (the Americas except Canada, French Guiana, Puerto Rico and the United States) and Oceania.
5. Africa (except Egypt and South Africa), Russia, Central Asia, South Asia, Mongolia, and North Korea.
6. Mainland China.
7. Reserved for future use, MPAA-related DVDs and “media copies” of pre-releases in Asia.
8. International venues such as aircraft, cruise ships and spacecraft.

DVD Region 0 include regions 1 through 6, but do not necessarily take the video format into account. DVD Region ALL means all 1-8 flags are set, allowing the disc to be played in any location, on any player.

DVD Region Codes Map

Blu-ray Region Codes

Blu-ray discs use a region-code system that is much simpler than the for DVD’s as it only has three regions, labeled A, B and C. As with DVDs many Blu-rays are encoded region 0 (region free), making them suitable for players worldwide.

• Region A: The Americas and their dependencies, East Asia (except mainland China and Mongolia), and Southeast Asia; excludes instances that fall under Region C.
• Region B: Africa, Middle East, Europe (except Russia), Australia, New Zealand, and their dependencies; excludes instances that fall under Region C.
• Region C: Central Asia, mainland China, Mongolia, South Asia, Russia.

Blu-ray Region Codes Map

References

• Video Formats
• Display Resolution
• Aspect Ratio
• Refresh Rate
• NTSC
• SECAM
• PAL
• Region Codes
• Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• Region Locked