From the creative minds of executive producers William Hanna and Joe Barbera, their interpretation of Toho’s Godzilla was born and debuted on Saturday morning NBC in 1978. During its run, the series sparked decidedly mixed opinions from fans of the title character. Some praised the childlike hero quality of the mutant saurian as well as the wide variety of foes littered through out the show; however, others loathed the idea of a actor Ted Cassidy (best known as Lurch of The Addams Family fame) doing Godzilla’s roar along with the addition of laser beam eyes for the Godzilla character.

Plot wise, each episode is easy and simplistic for any age to follow. Right from the first episode, the series jumps right into the action and never fully explains a back-story of how Godzilla, Godzooky and the Calico crew all came together. According to Hanna-Barbera, the crew of the ship found the overweight little Zooky trapped in some coral. Watching the humans free him, Godzilla pledged a sort of devotion on account of their kindness. Whenever trouble aroused, a call from Godzooky, or signal from Captain Majors’ electronic device, would bring Godzilla around to save the day.

The show, simply dubbed Godzilla and first shown in The Godzilla Power Hour, got a few helpful hands from other shows during its two season life span and subsequent reruns. Such pairings would see the program alongside Johnny Quest, Jana of the Jungle, the Super Globetrotters and Dynomutt.