Spectreman

[ctc]

>I wonder why the Krofts never tried to knock off an Ultraman- or Johnny Sokko-type show?

I suspect part of it was perception. The Japanese kaijyu stuff was looked down on by most folks back then. The stations saw it as cheap filler, and I think a lot of other folks thought it was bad 'cos kids liked it so much. The only real attempt to cash in on any of it was some Godzilla stuff. Weird, considering how insanely popular that stuff actually was. Even some cheapie colouring books or rack toys would have gone over.

The animated Japanese stuff seemed to fare a lot better in this regard back in the day.

Don C.

[knight errant00]

>It feels like giant monsters by Sid and Marty Krofft.
Don C.

Y'know, that brings up an interesting point: With all their creature makers and weird sets and storytelling, I wonder why the Krofts never tried to knock off an Ultraman- or Johnny Sokko-type show?

[ctc]

>I'm not familiar with Spectreman or Ultraman, just Johnny Socko.

That's a shame, really. There's a LOT of quality range with these kind of shows. Johnny Sokko is about the middle; cheap, silly but not egregiously insipid and plenty of unique monsters. Spectreman is all around bad. (But SSSOOOOOO weird; which is what makes it so cool.) Ultraman is actually a pretty good show, if you can cut them some slack on the 50 year old effects. Plenty of weird, lots of variety to the stories, decent looking effects, (again, for the time.) and more than a few surprises.

Someone mentioned "Space Giants," which is a nother entertaining one. It's a kids show, so it lacks some of the gravitas of an Ultraman but the trippy look more than makes up for it. (It feels like giant monsters by Sid and Marty Krofft.)

There are lots of other shows.... LOTS of other shows. The Japanese make kailyu tv in the same amounts we make cop shows. Some better than others. I like "Ultraseven" and the original "Ultra-Q" as much as Ultraman. (Ultra7 has better monsters.) "DaiTetsujin 17" is kinda ninfty too; although I've only seen the bizarre English dub movie version. It has a cool, dark, almost steampunk look to it.

Don C.

[PNGwynne]

I'm not familiar with Spectreman or Ultraman, just Johnny Socko.

[fallensaviour]

I remember this show but it was on VHS tapes.
My parents owned a couple of video stores in the 80's-90's when I was growing up.

[ctc]

>Gori is great with his constant dismissal of the human species and his theatrical astro-ape sign language

Heee heeee! Yes he is! There's a scene in one episode where Kharas is imitating him, and he gets cheesed off.... but I couldn't find it on youtube.

The more I watch this show, the more I like it. It's bad; REALLY bad.... but there's so much weird that it sucks you in.

Don C.

[Confessional]

Hmmmm....

NOTE: I was gonna post pics of my Dr Gori custom Mego, but the string I used for his body snapped and I gotta fix it....

Don C.

Post it up, I wanna see!

Gori is great with his constant dismissal of the human species and his theatrical astro-ape sign language. For this, Spectreman has a special place in Ape City.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I've been watching the show lately and noticed something: is it just me, or do Dr Gori and Kharas remind anyone else of Dr Forrester and TV's Frank?

Check out the 7 minute point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nidD3WZiXy0

Don C.

[The Nawd]

Watched it some when I was a kid. Unlike my best friend, I never could get into it. I liked Space Giants better. Go figure.

[cjefferys]

I never saw Spectreman on TV, my first introduction was in the early 90's when my friend showed me a VHS prerecord of the show. Great stuff!

[deputypowell]

Yes! I watched Spectreman and Ultraman both when they aired in TV.

[Thor]

I remember watching it as a child.

[mazinz]

Yeah, I think Spectreman DVD bootlegs are prevalent. At this point, it may even have an official release. I haven't look in a few years.

- Ian

Nada, still no official release, you have to get the bootlegs

[DocDrako]

I used to watch it. I liked it, but not as much as Ultraman.

[thunderbolt]

I never saw this before, looks like its more fun than Ultra Man.