I thought I would tell my stories with a common theme. The theme for now is TV shows. I wrote earlier on the joy Land of the Lost brought to my childhood. I thought what about the other shows. I won’t lie; there are a lot of them. So in the effort of not going too crazy I will limit it to those that made and impact on me and those that I still watch today and find enjoyment.
Battle of the Planets (1978) 1979
BOTP was huge when I was only six and seven. I can’t recall the exact day or month I discovered this show but I do know I was in the 2nd grade. How do I know this? I would watch the show after school at Grandma Combs. Oh, she wasn’t my grandmother. Heck, we weren’t even related. She was the lady that watched me and a few other kids after school. Yet she insisted we all call her Grandma Combs, so we did. Today, that might raise some eyebrows but back then, we didn’t care.
TV watching at Grandma Combs was a unique affair. There was only one television and usually it needed to be shared by several children so everyone had to agree on the show. I was lucky that we got to watch BOTP every other day while the in-between days was the Flintstones…or was it the Tom and Jerry. I can never really remember. But I do remember that Travis and I would always demand BOTP in the afternoons. The show was on KCOP out of Los Angeles. Our local cable provider back in those days offered a whopping 13 channels of content. Four of those channels were from the LA market-- KTTV, KTLA, KCOP and KCAL. I still remember all of those channels. KTLA and KCOP were the cool channels as they played afternoon cartoons. KCAL and KTTV played old 50s and 60s sitcoms and old movies. No fun for a boy at 6 years old. Yet, KCOP always had the newer and differnt shows. Please note: this channel will be mentioned again and again. So around 4 pm in the afternoon I would park my body in the floor of Grandma Combs'living room. Sometimes I would lay down with my arms and elbows in a plush pillow. And I'd watch Battle of the Planets. The show would start and I would instinctively hum the theme song. This show was nothing like anything else on television.
The show revolved around five teenage characters that would change from ordinary people into fighting hawk-like ninjas and battle an alien invasion force determined to rule the earth. There was Mark--the pilot and leader; there was Jason--the race car driver; there was Keyop--who talked in stutters and clicks; there was Tiny--the mechanic and pilot of the Phoenix; and then there was Princess--the cute girl of the team. Chief Anderson would alert 7-Zark-7 to gather G-Force. The five members would race back to Center Neptune and if they couldn't, they would rendevous with the Phoenix in flight. The Phoenix was this ultra sleek ship that was heavily armed and could fly at great speeds. And when she did, she would appear like the fiery Phoenix of myth.
Like I mentioned, the show wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. It was a show about teenagers that were like superheroes and part of this super secret team to protect Earth. Even the animation style and look of the show was different than any other shows on at the time: like Challenge of the Super Friends, Johnny Quest, Scooby-Doo or Dastard and Muttley. I couldn’t get enough of it. My eyes were glued to the TV until the end credits would roll. I even remember some of the TV commercials that would air at the same time. Kenner would run Star Wars figure ads and there was always the commercial for a Hot Wheels track.
Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Tiny didn't have powers every day. They would have to transform into their hawk-like persona. They would do this via a wrist device and shouting the word, “Transmute!”. They would lift their arm and bring it in front of their face in a sideways "V". "Transmute!" The screen would shimmer and have a kaleidoscope look and they would turn into the birds of prey. Mark was Eagle, Jason was Condor, Keyop was Sparrow, Princess was Swan and Tiny was Owl. My mother had bought me a Star Wars digital watch sometime around then (which I still have today…ok…I’m a pack rat) and I would pretend my watch was the transmute device that Keith and Jason used. I would contort my arm and make the same sideways "V" and yell “Transmute!”. I begged my mother to sew my a cape and costume that looked like their outfits, but she never did. So my imagination was the only solution. I would ride my bike and pretend it was the jet Mark flew to make the tail of the Phoenix. It would be about another 5-6 years before I would become mesmerized by a cartoon. That show would be Robotech. It would be Robotech that introduced me to what I had no idea of in 1978-79 that BOTP was an import of Japanese animation. Nor did I know that it had a different plot and was re-dubbed. Nor would I know that 7-Zark-7 was not in the original Japanese show, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. 7-Zark-7 was created by the American producers to give the show more of a kids appeal. And he helped hide the edited out violence.
It was the year 2001 and Rhino was releasing BOTP on DVD. I, without hesitation, bought all the DVDs and watch them to this day. They never got around to releasing all 85 episodes. I think they only got about 36 released before Rhino stopped releasing them. Today, the original show Gatchaman is on DVD and I acquired those. I like to watch the original version too. Funny thing is, it has the same theme song just different lyrics.
Memories…..
