The Flipper TV series featured more oceanographers per episode than any other TV show - in all around 10 different characters could claim this or a similar title. But Ulla Norstrand (played by Swedish actress Ulla Stromstedt) was a cut above them all. Elegant and beautiful and always with an eye for the handsome Porter Ricks, she appears in a number of episodes and always seemed on the verge of something romantic with Porter - I guess the script writers wanted the attention mostly on Flipper and the boys.
Ulla bursts onto the scene in dramatic fashion arriving being towed by Flipper after a scary solo dive. Whilst her beauty transfixes the more mature now 16 year old Sandy (the 18 year old Luke Halpin), her folly provokes a rebuke from Porter that Ulla brushes off with such confident panache earning Porter some ribbing from Bud. To add insult to injury, Porter's boss orders him to cordon off the park for Ulla's research. In a hilarious scene where Porter meets the recently surfaced oceanographer in her mini sub and lets his frustration at having to do her bidding show, his teenage son stands smiling clearly captivated by her beauty and jumps at the chance to go aboard her sub and even aboard, Porter is uncomfortable while Sandy is loving it. Ulla seems to have commandeered Flipper's help much to Bud's chagrin.
The standoff changes when Ulla gets trapped under an old buoy she sinks. Flipper alerts Porter and Sandy who are still marking the bay off and they follow Flipper. Both attempt to release Ulla with no tanks, masks or flippers - a pretty bold attempt given the weight of the buoy and the depth of the water which makes for some excellent underwater scenes. After getting an extra tank to relieve Ulla and properly kitting out to dive, Porter and Sandy lift the very heavy old metal buoy off her leg enough to free her. The editors mess up a little splicing footage of Sandy's earlier attempt without gear in between scenes of he and Porter finishing the rescue with full diving gear - a rare production error. Ulla is grateful and apologetic to Porter and recognizes she needs help which Sandy so willingly offers that Porter has to calm him down!
Season 2 began against the backdrop of the Flipper TV series' considerable ratings success in Season 1 making it to the Top 25 of all shows and matching the Saturday night viewer-ship of its time slot rival the hugely popular Jackie Gleason Show. Sandy and Bud's growing maturity enabled the script writers to explore bolder story lines that had particularly Sandy taking on more of Porter's Park Ranger responsibilities. Flipper's ratings held up well in Season 2 and with "Get Smart" following, helped NBC to dominate the Saturday night ratings of the 1965/66 season. Luke Halpin's mop of blond hair (in Season 2 it seems a little less natural as older teenagers, he was by now 18, sometimes lose their natural blond hair), his model quality looks and routine exposure of his now even more ripped tanned swimmer's physique in his little cut off jean shorts launched him into the stratosphere of teen idols which helped keep ratings high.
Ulla bursts onto the scene in dramatic fashion arriving being towed by Flipper after a scary solo dive. Whilst her beauty transfixes the more mature now 16 year old Sandy (the 18 year old Luke Halpin), her folly provokes a rebuke from Porter that Ulla brushes off with such confident panache earning Porter some ribbing from Bud. To add insult to injury, Porter's boss orders him to cordon off the park for Ulla's research. In a hilarious scene where Porter meets the recently surfaced oceanographer in her mini sub and lets his frustration at having to do her bidding show, his teenage son stands smiling clearly captivated by her beauty and jumps at the chance to go aboard her sub and even aboard, Porter is uncomfortable while Sandy is loving it. Ulla seems to have commandeered Flipper's help much to Bud's chagrin.
The standoff changes when Ulla gets trapped under an old buoy she sinks. Flipper alerts Porter and Sandy who are still marking the bay off and they follow Flipper. Both attempt to release Ulla with no tanks, masks or flippers - a pretty bold attempt given the weight of the buoy and the depth of the water which makes for some excellent underwater scenes. After getting an extra tank to relieve Ulla and properly kitting out to dive, Porter and Sandy lift the very heavy old metal buoy off her leg enough to free her. The editors mess up a little splicing footage of Sandy's earlier attempt without gear in between scenes of he and Porter finishing the rescue with full diving gear - a rare production error. Ulla is grateful and apologetic to Porter and recognizes she needs help which Sandy so willingly offers that Porter has to calm him down!
Season 2 began against the backdrop of the Flipper TV series' considerable ratings success in Season 1 making it to the Top 25 of all shows and matching the Saturday night viewer-ship of its time slot rival the hugely popular Jackie Gleason Show. Sandy and Bud's growing maturity enabled the script writers to explore bolder story lines that had particularly Sandy taking on more of Porter's Park Ranger responsibilities. Flipper's ratings held up well in Season 2 and with "Get Smart" following, helped NBC to dominate the Saturday night ratings of the 1965/66 season. Luke Halpin's mop of blond hair (in Season 2 it seems a little less natural as older teenagers, he was by now 18, sometimes lose their natural blond hair), his model quality looks and routine exposure of his now even more ripped tanned swimmer's physique in his little cut off jean shorts launched him into the stratosphere of teen idols which helped keep ratings high.
