Are there American equivalents of tokusatsu TV shows? (1 Viewer)

[Vic Pardo]

Tokusatsu is the Japanese term for live-action special effects superhero TV shows in the Ultraman/Kamen Rider/Sentai (Power Rangers) vein. Japanese TV companies have been making them regularly since "Ultra Q" premiered in 1965 and they're generally full of martial arts action, imaginative monsters (which usually grow giant-size), sci-fi themes, and special effects. The closest American equivalent, of course, would be the Power Rangers franchise, which subsists on action and effects footage from the Japanese originals.


What I'm looking for is a fully homegrown American equivalent--a live-action science fiction show with lots of monsters and action and special effects. "The Outer Limits" comes to mind because it had monsters and aliens, but it was a little more cerebral and less an action show than a sci-fi drama. (It was also a key influence on "Ultra Q.") "Star Trek" comes to mind because it had the occasional space battle and the occasional monster (too occasional for the category I'm trying to create here), but it was more a sci-fi space drama than the kind of thing I'm looking for. The closest thing I can think of in the 1960s is "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," which had monsters and aliens and lots of action. Not as much as the Japanese shows, but more than most American sci-fi/adventure shows of its era. I wonder how much "Voyage" influenced such Japanese shows as "Mighty Jack" and "Ultra Seven."

Was there anything like what I'm describing in the 1970s and '80s--or more recently? Did the British space/sci-fi shows come close to the tokusatsu level of action and effects? I'm thinking of "Space 1999," which I don't recall ever seeing, and that one with UFO in the title. I remember superhero shows of the 1970s like "Spiderman" and "The Incredible Hulk," but those were less about monsters and effects than about crime fighting. Same with the classic "Superman" show. Most American shows I can think of in this vein were way talkier than their Japanese counterparts.

There must be a body of work that I'm completely forgetting about.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Here are some images from Japanese shows that illustrate what I'm talking about:

 

[Ejanss]

I remember back in 1992, when few people had heard of anime or J-culture, mainstream folks LITERALLY didn't know the Power Rangers and Sailor Moon weren't from around here. (Seriously. )
All the jokes about how silly the shows looked were usually, "Who came up with this and what were they on?", as if they had somehow been concocted in LA studio boardrooms.

So to answer the question, yes, USA Network looked at the inserted US Power Rangers segments, thought "Hey, if they (somewhere out in Hollywood) made one, how hard could it be?", and briefly gave us the all-North-American "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills":


...We're culturally smarter nowadays, of course.

Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot

(Its design is non-threatening!)

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Vic Pardo, what's with the first image being cropped? Was a vintage Japanese show butchered in recent reruns?

 

[Vic Pardo]

Vic Pardo, what's with the first image being cropped? Was a vintage Japanese show butchered in recent reruns?

Hi-Def TV broadcast in Japan. That shot is from the 2010 sentai show, "Tenso Sentai Goseiger." Recorded directly off TV in Japan.

Here's what Power Rangers Super Megaforce, which airs every Saturday on Nickelodeon, looks like in High-Def: