Battle of the Planets
Entry updated 10 November 2023. Tagged: TV.
Animated tv series (1978-1980). Sandy Frank Entertainment. Syndicated. Produced by Alan Dinehart, David E Hanson. Directors included Dinehart and Hanson. Writers included Peter Germano, Howard Post and Harry Winkler among many others. Animation designers included Alex Toth (see Space Ghost). Cast includes Casey Casem, Alan Oppenheimer, Ronnie Schell, Janet Waldo and Alan Young. 85 30-minute episodes. Colour.
Some time in the future, a group of Superheroes called G-Force – led by Mark (Casem) and Princess (Waldo) – defends Earth and its space colonies against constant attacks from the hostile planet Spectra, whose ruler is the evil Zoltar (Oppenheimer). 7-Zark-7 (Young) is a Robot who assists the team and also introduces each adventure. The defenders use various high-tech items such as Spaceships, Ray Guns and other Robots; they all wear costumes with a bird motif, for reasons never clearly explained.
Battle of the Planets was adapted from the Japanese series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972); though it was fairly faithful to the source material, the violence was toned down considerably for the US juvenile market and all profanity removed. A short-lived Comic version appeared from Gold Key Comics. [GSt]
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