Back in the 1960s, Japanese based television shows were dubbed into
English and tried out on syndicated U.S. networks. With that the
Japanese invasion of American pop culture had begun.
First Up:
SPEED RACER! You all know the story. Speed is a young hot shot race
car driver with a souped up speedster called the Mach 5. Usually,
wherever he’s entering a race, some sinister mastermind is at work using
robot death machines and he has to save the day. This time, a
mysterious force is causing all cars to drive by themselves toward a
secret smelting factory so that they can be used as raw materials for a
metal utopia.
THEN: STAR BLAZERS! The invasion continued into
the 1980s as American networks began a practice of playing episodic
cartoons DAILY, after school to grab those young, pre-teen eyes right
after they threw off their back packs and grabbed cookies and punch. So
here came STAR BLAZERS! The Star Blazers have one year to reach a
distant planet and return to Earth or we’re all doomed. Like the show
24, except that each episode is ONE DAY in the Star Blazers mission,
counting down to success or total destruction.
THEN: ULTRA MAN!
From the same effects magician behind Godzilla, came this weekly series
about a team of super advanced scientist / air force types who defend
the Earth from titanic monster invasions that now occur on a regular
basis, laying massive destruction to major cities. Unknown to all, one
of them has the power to turn into a giant alien metal man and battle
these monsters in hand to hand combat. This time we’re playing one of
the strangest episodes ever!
PLUS! Vintage Toy Ads from different decades!