You mean RoarGames?
Nicely done, Bryan. Now I’ve got club cracker crumbs all over my lap (and a couple bits shot up into my sinuses, I think). If I didn’t know better, I’d say you timed that.
I’d heard somewhere or other that this was done intentionally, to mirror the feel of the original. Of course, considering that the Japanese release of G85 would be based on the Burr-less version of the original, it does make sense that he was only in the American release of 85, as well.
Me, I got so hung up on the Dr. Pepper product placement that I was blinded to anything else that happened in his scenes.
And just 'cause:
While we’re remembering, WPIX used to have a phone in game they ran for a while. It was (searching the old synapses for a minute) Space Blaster, from the Intellivision game line. The kid who called in (or got picked by lottery and called by the station, perhaps) would yell “Pix!” into the phone to fire at the Cylon looking badguys, and if they scored over some random amount, they got some prize or other, from the station.
That really happened outside my brain, right? Anyone remember this more clearly than I?
I’d give your brain the benefit of the doubt, Skeezix. I used to watch Professor Fun in Honolulu Playing TV Pow (or Pau, if you prefer) during his weekday afternoon cartoon show. Same kind of game. The kid fired the weapon by yelling “Pow!” (or Pau)
No, they were avaliable before that, you just had to know where to get them (and they were legal,) I picked up G vs. King Ghidorah that way.
I hope you are aware there are sequals to that (which are currently not released in the us), Godzilla vs. Megaguirus; Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghiderah: All Monsters attack; and the forthcoming Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. All can ignore previous Godzilla continuity at will now.
Skeezix, you’re absolutely sane. Or at least your memory of this is no symptom of incipient insanity. We used to get WPIX on our cable system (Warner Cable, Central PA) back when I was in grade school, and they most definitely had PIX. I can remember coming home to watch The Magic Garden and Tom & Jerry and having the little video game come on. I wanted to play it, but didn’t understand the concept of long-distance at the time. :0)
What used to be called Channel 41 in Kansas City used to host a “horror” flick every Saturday evening with an Elvira wannabe called Crematia Mortem. She had an unseen servant called Rasputin. I remember one flick where beautiful virgins were being sacrificed to some idol, and Crematia decided to pacify the spirits in her basement by doing the same thing. So she hollers “Rasputin, bring me a virgin!” Next commercial break she asks if he has found one yet and we hear his voice “In this town? Are you kidding? I went down to the Plaza and they never even heard of virgins!”
The best part of WOR showing Godzilla movies on the day after Thanksgiving is Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster would always come on at four in the afternoon just as the sun was setting and that was the scariest movie I ever saw when I was eight years old and I’d hide in the dark watching the movie anyway.
I am suddenly 10 again. Or thereabouts. Nostalgic, anyway.
Tars Tarkas: Guess I’m mostly out of the loop. I didn’t know about the availability early 90’s G-flicks (aside from the three I mentioned) or the recent Gamera remakes until after the Tristar G.I.N.O. I also was unaware (but I can’t say I’m even mildly surprised) about sequels made after G2K. I need to start tracking these things down. Gracias.
jayjay: I know I remember the name The Magic Garden, but I’m drawing a blank as to what it was about. What was TMG, d’y’recall?
[sub]I keep seeing two girls with a puppet squirrel, and a giggle patch that had corny jokes written on the leaves, and I’m pretty sure that was Romper Room.[/sub]
raisinbread: I’d forgotten that, but I do b’lieve you’re right. They tended to run the same movies, at the same times, every year. Friday always ended with Godzilla vs Megalon, didn’t it? I’m thinking they ran the flicks in chronological order, but that may be stretching it.
TNT ran every pre-85 Godzilla movie over a weekend a couple years ago, and it was the first time I’d seen Godzilla Raids Again. Or maybe not every one, because I still don’t think I’ve ever seen Godzilla vs Gigan (or whatever the name of the movie he was in before G vs Megalon) Time to head off to stomptokyo.com, for me.
You got it in one, Skeezix. Carol and Paula shared the garden with Sherlock Squirrel and a bird puppet I can’t remember the name of now, the magic tree, the chuckle patch, and the story box. WPIX had a retrospective on Thanksgiving of The Magic Garden. I sat and watched in nostalgic fascination both the retrospective and the two episodes they ran afterward.
Well, face it, those Godzilla movies were pretty unrealistic. I mean a thawed out T Rex that breathed fire and stomped Tokyo every now and then? Come on.
Now Gamerra… There was a monster you could believe in!
<MST3K>
o/ Gamera is really neat! Gamera is filled with meat! We've been eating Gamera! o/
</MST3K>
Sorry. It’s a reflex…
I miss watching the Son of Svengoolie on local Chicago TV. He would host cheesy horror movies and end his lead-in back to the movie with the setup for a joke, and when they returned to the movie, the first line would be the punchline.
Great stuff to have on while you’re babysitting. 
“There are no locks on story box, on story box, on story box…”
Damn. Those old synapses aren’t completely atrophied into uselessness after all.
I recall thinking, as a lad of about 7 or 8, that there were two Gameras; one was the giant turtle, and the other was the flameshooting flying saucer that either controlled him, or told him where the badguys were, so he could go stomp on them.
[sub]“Gaos, his face locked forever in a hideous deathmask…”
“I see someone’s renewed his subscription to the Steven King Book of the Month Club.”[/sub]