Was that a flying robot I just saw on TV?

I couldn’t sleep.  This happens a lot to me of late.  So I started playing Time Warner Cable Roulette and started cycling through channels I never knew existed.  And lo and behold, I found a station called Comet TV.

No, it’s not a station devoted to kitchen cleansers.

Apparently Comet TV shows limited-run science fiction TV shows and does quite well for itself.  In fact, on Sunday nights they show classic Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes, so I was stoked to watch Joel / Mike and Crow and Tom Servo once again.

But after the MST3K episode, I still couldn’t sleep.

Oh look, coming up is a TV show I’ve never seen before … something called Johnny Socko and His Flying Robot.

Ah, what the hell.  Maybe it’ll help kick in the sonambulism.

But instead … I got what looks like this.

What in the holy …

Apparently this was a Japanese live-action 1960’s children’s show called Giant Robo or ジャイアントロボ or something… apparently this kid has the ability to control a robot to do whatever the kid wants – which is mostly to destroy other monsters or evildoers.

Now of course, I’m watching this in a 1960’s Americanized children’s dub of the series.  Because yeah, nothing screams “American children’s TV show” like a poorly dubbed 1960’s Japanese tokusatsu robot fighting show.

Okay, I’ll give the program a chance.  Mostly because at this point in time, I’m too lazy to change the channel.

So as I’m watching this show, I’m noticing the same patterns and pacing that would be standard for any Japanese children’s show dubbed for the American market.  Yep, fanciful monsters, wacky bad guys, kids put in danger (and some of the kids are packing GUNS – AND USING THEM), and eventually the grade-school boy with the fancy wristwatch communicator summons the Giant Robot to come and do his beset deus ex machina and wrap up the story before the closing credits.

Um… yeah.

And I’m sitting here and watching this, with its cheezy 1960’s TV special effects – yes, I know fully well these are actors in rubber suits, waving their arms and threatening to tear down skyscrapers, yeah yeah yeah… but there’s something here that catches my attention.

And that’s the fact that somehow this show made it to American broadcast…

It’s only then that I realize how it happened.

The American distributor for this show was American International Pictures, one of the cheapest movie studios in history.  When they weren’t making “beach party” movies or “car racing” movies, they were importing TV shows and movies from overseas and pushing them as wholesome cinematic fare.  You laugh?  The last film AIP distributed in America was the Australian hit film Mad Max – and they even re-dubbed Mel Gibson’s voice because he didn’t sound “American” enough…

And you know what’s even scarier than this…

Someone has decided to put the entire Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot series on DVD.

Ow my eyes…

Mental note.

Next time I can’t sleep on a Sunday night…

I’ll play Time Warner Cable Roulette with another TV station.

Heck, I’ll even watch one of those Lifetime TV movies.  You know the one, where the woman is being chased by the deranged neighbor / abusive boyfriend / vindictive husband / fill in the blank…