Ultimately, "Joe 90" has proven to be less successful than earlier Anderson productions. The authors of "Supermarionation Classics" praise the writing and model work but add that the series "failed to arouse more than a passing interest" with some fans. Stephen Hulse refers to "Joe 90" as "technically accomplished" and "clearly the most child-oriented" of the Andersons' later puppet productions, but also calls it one of their "lesser series". The series' spy-fi theme was further developed in the following Supermarionation series, "The Secret Service", which like "Joe 90" features an unconventional secret agent (a vicar – Father Stanley Unwin) and an intelligence agency with an acronym for a name (BISHOP – short for "British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest").