Joe 90 was one of those precious shows from the Century 21 stable from the glory days of the swinging sixties. The show depicts the adventures of a young boy who, with the aid of his scientist father (Joe was adopted) is able to assume the brain patterns of any one, provided he wears a special pair glasses.
If you were male, between the ages 9-12, wore spectacles, and attended British schools in the late '60's/early '70's, the chances were you were saddled with the unfortunate nickname 'Joe 90'. Bullies relentlessly taunted poor kids with that moniker, at least until 1975 when the I.
I only watched two episodes of Joe 90 on the DVD release but I was very much entertained! I saw the "origin" episode and I was like wow Joe is killing a lot of people how cool is that for a show featuring a 9 year old boy?!
Actually there's two versions around of the first episode.The original one where the mission was just a scenario, then there was a later compilation of episodes were the 'scenario' elements were taken out and he actually did blow up everything.
I watched a "SuperMarionation" themed day yesterday on the SF TV Channel, comprising episodes of Stingray, Thunderbirds and Joe 90 and it struck me how much Anderson's puppets had evolved from Stingray, through Thunderbirds to Joe 90. Before Joe 90 the puppets looked toy-like with large heads and stunted limbs.
Stingray was good, Thunderbirds were fantastic, and Captain Scarlet was awesome - but for me Joe 90 was the best of all. Maybe because I was about "Joe's" age when I watched it that it seemed all the more wonderful.
This show just doesn't seem to receive the popularity it deserves. It was made after Captain Scarlet and quite a few years after Thunderbirds when the puppet animation had improved considerably.
