Growing up a child of 1960s television in New York meant you had more choices than anywhere else in America. In addition to the three major networks, there were three independent stations (WNEW, WOR, and WPIX), each offering their own brand of programming.
WPIX was the king, offering up Chuck McCann’s Sunday morning show, which featured episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Weekday afternoons were filled with the classic Fleischer Popeye, Adventures of Superman, Abbott & Costello, and the Three Stooges.
WNEW had the afternoon Sandy Becker show, with Looney Tunes and other programming, and by the mid-1960s had Thunderbirds and Stingray (Supercar and Captain Scarlet were on PIX).
WOR was considered the lesser of the three, filling their hours with stuff kids like me weren’t interested in. In 1966, they won Romper Room from WNEW, and their afternoons tended to be filled with movies from the RKO library since their parent company bought RKO in the late 1950s. That said, every Thanksgiving, you could count on King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, and the day after always featured Godzilla films.
So, WOR imported a show that debuted in Japan on this date in 1966 that shook things up for young me. Here was something brand new, colorful, and no doubt imported to compete with the rise of Batmania in America.
We were treated to the arrival of Ultraman, the large silver alien, who had merged with Science Patrolman Shin Hayata. Using the Beta Capsule, he switched places with Ultraman to fight the kaiju of the week. And, inevitably, when things got tough, his color timing blinked red, warning the alien he was running out of energy.
Across 39 episodes, which aired in 1966-67, Hayata, his colleagues, and Ultraman kept Japan and the world safe. The whole main-in-the-suit became an honorable profession for stuntmen in Japan, beginning with the first Gojira film, and increased with the addition of this series. What I didn’t pick up at the time, being eight and all, was that the head went through three iterations as they perfected the costuming with fiberglass.
Created by Eiji Tsuburaya, Godzilla’s father, it was lively and imaginative, especially with all the martial arts moves that, at the time, were unique on American TV. So, aliens, superpowers, kaiju, and fights. What’s not to love?
The show ran its course in America and vanished, but elsewhere it spawned an empire, making it something like the world’s third-largest franchise. There are now countless Ultras, all in silvery variations that put the rainbow Power Rangers to shame. There are endless series and films, tons of toys, manga, games, apparel, etc. More recently, thanks to my pal Jeff Gomez at Starlight Runner, the OG Ultraman has been hanging around the Marvel Universe.
I’ve seen none of it and didn’t realize most of it existed until the early 1980s while working at Starlog, where we covered some of this.