Mighty Jack

tv show

poster for Mighty Jack

39 total episodes

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2 seasons

First Aired April 06, 1968

Overview

Mighty Jack was a tokusatsu SF/espionage/action TV series. Created by Japanese effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, the show was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 6, 1968 to June 29, 1968, with a total of 13 one-hour episodes. The music for the episodes was done by Isao Tomita and Kunio Miyauchi. Reportedly, Eiji Tsuburaya considered this series his masterwork because the focus was on the people rather than on the vehicles and special effects This focus on the people was similar to the works of Gerry Anderson, of which Eiji was a big fan. The Mighty Jack mecha/HQ featured in this series also has some similarities to Eiji's previous TV masterpiece, Ultra Seven. Even for the original series of 13 one hour-long episodes, the ratings were low. The follow-up series, Fight! Mighty Jack, fared better in the ratings, perhaps because of its inclusion of monsters and aliens rather than purely human evil-doers like Q.

tv poster

Fight! Mighty Jack

26 episodes

Air Date

July 06, 1968

Overview

The more comical sequel series, Fight! Mighty Jack (戦え！マイティジャック, Tatakae! Maiti Jakku), aired on the same network from July 6 to December 28, 1968, with a total of 26 half-hour episodes, equaling the original in length. This series has several humorous references to the early Ultra Series. The opening scene of the series (with a reverse paint-swirling effect forming "MJ" before a burst of red envelops the scene, with a yellow "Fight! Mighty Jack" superimposed) is almost exactly like that of Ultraman. One episode of this series is quite notable, as it features a comical guest appearance by Kohji Moritsugu, who played Dan Moroboshi, the alter-ego of Ultra Seven, poking fun at his popular role. He plays a mechanic, who, in one scene, looked as though he was about to transform into Ultra Seven by pulling the Ultra Eye from his pocket to put it on, but the red object he slowly pulls from his pocket is actually a small wrench, with which he gets right to work on fixing a machine.

Cast