Gatchaman (TV)

1972-10-01 to 1974-09-29

1978-09-18 (USA)

1979 (México - TV Azteca)

1999 (Latin America - Locomotion)

2005-11-07 (Spain, Cuatroº)

"Comando G" by Parchis

#1: "Taosozu! Galactor" ("Destroy Galactor!") by Columbia Yurikago-kai (eps 1-23)

#2: "Gatchaman no Uta" ("Gatchaman Song") by Masato Shimon (eps 24-105)

In 1978, when game show producer Sandy Frank licensed Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, he took 85 of the 105 episodes and rebadged the series Battle of the Planets to capitalize on the '70s sci-fi craze (all thanks to 1977's Star Wars). To meet U.S. TV standards, Sandy Frank had nearly all of the series' most violent parts edited out. To fill in the gaps, Hanna-Barbera was commissioned to produce new animated footage featuring 7-Zark-7, the team's mascot robot and the show's narrator. Sandy Frank reportedly spent US$1 million on bringing the series to U.S. television.

When BOTP stopped airing in reruns in the mid-1980s, Sandy Frank collaborated with Ted Turner in revamping the series and renamed it G-Force: Guardians of Space. Like BOTP, G-Force ran for 85 episodes, only that BOTP's 7-Zark-7 footage was omitted and replaced by original footage previously deleted by Sandy Frank. G-Force was superior to BOTP in terms of interpreting the original Gatchaman series in English, but suffered from a lackluster dub and a horrible disco soundtrack.

As of February 2007, Sandy Frank's 30-year license to Battle of the Planets expired.