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Title: G-Force, Guardians of Space
Air Dates: September 1986 - Present(?)
Number of Episodes: 85
Released By: Turner Broadcasting
Current Commercial Availability: The Best of G-Force--selected episodes available on Rhino. Other collections of G-Force episodes released in the UK by Hollywood DVD |
G-Force Returns to US Airwaves... Zark-Free!
Left to right: Hoot Owl ("Hooty"), Dirk Daring, PeeWee, Ace Goodheart and Agatha ("Aggie") June. |
In the mid 1980s, TV networks relegated Battle of the Planets to odd hours of the morning, then finally dispensed with the series altogether. However, Sandy Frank continued to push the series wherever he could. Media mogul Ted Turner saw the potential in the Gatchaman series, and G-Force returned to American airwaves... in a slightly different form. In "G-Force, Guardians of Space," five young heroes protect the Earth from the evil alien Computor, his gravel-voiced minion Gallactor, and their legions of green-suited terrorists. Gone were the space battles and 7-Zark-7, replaced by a more accurate translation of the original Gatchaman series--violence and all. Episodes previously left out by Sandy Frank as "too risky" were released as G-Force as well. Some fans who might have recognized the faces from Battle of the Planets were now confused by the new names. It didn't help that the heroic team was called G-Force in both versions--is this the G-Force with Mark and Jason, or is this the G-Force with Ace Goodheart and Dirk Daring?
G-Force went on an initial trial run in 1986, but mysteriously disappeared after three episodes. It wasn't until the 1990s that the show made it onto the Cartoon Network and gained its own fan following. G-Force is said to have a larger fan following in the international market.
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| Due to the relaxed television standards of the Reagan era, more of the original violence was left uncut in "G-Force." |
The Good: Episodes were more complete and less chopped up than Battle of the Planets. There are fewer silly excuses used to cover up violent scenes, giving the audience a little credit for intelligence (nobody gets to die, though--the deaths are covered by added dialogue such as, "Get him to a hospital!"). G-Force fans claim there is better interaction between the characters--especially Ace and Dirk--than there was in Battle of the Planets. And there's no footage replaced by a dippy robot narrator.
The Bad: Voice acting was lackluster, especially compared to what had been done in Battle of the Planets. The "descriptive" character names might have worked in the 1960s or in a less dramatic show, but are out of place in this series ("Dr. Brighthead"?).
The Ugly: Because it was unacceptable at the time to have a no background music behind a scene, new music was created to fill in all the blank spaces in the original Japanese soundtrack. A horrible electronic disco backbeat needles the audience like Chinese water torture. We won't even mention the opening theme.
Diinzumo's Comments: I regret to say that I haven't watched much of the G-Force series. I don't have the patience. The names and the music make me wince, and if I have access to both this and the original Gatchaman series, I'd rather watch Gatchaman. However, I am happy the show was re-released and included more original footage.
G-Force is currently running on The Anime Channel along with episodes of Battle of the Planets and ADV's translated Gatchaman.
Production Notes
 Marketed By: Sandy Frank Syndication (Turner Program Services and Hearst Entertainment returned the rights to Sandy Frank in 2003)
Producer: Fred Ladd
Voice Director: Fred Ladd
Music: Dean Andre
Voice Cast:
- Ace: Sam Fontana
- Dirk: Jimmy Flinders (also Cameron Clarke for 5-7 episodes)
- Aggie: Barbara Goodson
- PeeWee: Barbara Goodson
- Hooty: Jan Rabson/Gregg Berger
- Dr. Brighthead: Jan Rabson
- Galactor: Bill Capizzi
- Computor: Jan Rabson/Gregg Berger
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More G-Force Pages
IMDB: G-Force
Save the Puppy! G-Force MST3K: Science Ninja Team Emergency!
Carolyn Kaufman's take on G-Force
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