Tag: Review

Ultra Q Ep. 2: Goro and Goro

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Jan. 7, 1966.

If you have Godzilla in disguise in the first episode of your monster TV show, why not have King Kong in disguise in the second? It must have made sense for the Tokyo Broadcasting Service, who picked “Goro and Goro” for Ultra Q’s second aired episode. The monster star, one of the two Goros of the title, is a slightly modified King Kong costume built for the movie King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). 

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Ultraman Ep. 1: Ultra Operation No. 1

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Testuo Kinjo and Shinichi Sekizawa. Airdate July 17, 1966.

Unlike Ultra Q, which has no introductory episode and drops viewers into the middle of its premise, Ultraman begins with an episode that establishes its formula and explains its alien hero, the Science Special Search Party, and their various tools of the trade. It fits this all in the space of a half-hour span while still finding enough time for action and a fight with a big monster. That’s a lot to do, and while “Ultra Operation No. 1” isn’t the strongest episode of the series, it checks off all the boxes it needs to and leaves viewers ready to see more. 

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Ultraman Ep. 0: The Birth of Ultraman

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate July 10, 1966.

We have to start here — I write with some embarrassment for the poor Tsuburaya Productions team. This “pilot” episode for Ultraman is just a live stage show taped in black-and-white to promote the actual show debuting the next week. “The Birth of Ultraman” exists because Tsuburaya Pro desperately needed more time to finish episodes before the premiere date of Ultraman, and this was the quickest way for the Tokyo Broadcasting System to get something on the air to create a buffer. TBS could have gone ahead and broadcast the last remaining episode of Ultra Q, but because it wasn’t a monster-centered episode, they delayed it for over a year and a half to leap right into … this.

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Ultra Q Ep. 1: Defeat Gomess!

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Toshihiro Ijima (writing as Kitao Senzoku). Airdate Jan. 2, 1966.

It’s the first Sunday night of a new year. You switch on the TV at 7 p.m. to the Tokyo Broadcasting System to check out the premiere of a new program from that special effects guy who does those monster flicks. You hear the sounds of eerie groaning and metallic squealing as mysterious swirls coalesce into the title “Ultra Q.” Then comes the deep, Serling-esque voice of Koji Ishizaka…

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