Why did UFO only last a single season? Was it poorly received?
Most of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s series only lasted 39 episodes or less, as financier Lew Grade was more interested in making a brand new series than continuing old ones. So when UFO finished filming 26 episodes in the fall of 1970, it wasn’t even expected that there would be a second season. And sure enough, Lew asked Gerry to start filming the detective/crime-fighting series “The Protectors”. UFO began broadcasting in England as the final episodes were being finished, and the local stations didn’t quite know how to schedule it, as they were expecting another Gerry Anderson children’s program, but instead got something that had a lot of adult content. As a result, stations showed it at various times, and moved some episodes to late night or refused to show them at all. As one might expect, ratings were not very good. In America, ITC syndicated UFO over 136 TV stations during the 1972-73 season, two years after filming had been completed. This was not part of a network showing, althou
