Attack Of The Space Terrapin
Early warning robot 7-Zark-7 observes as a huge, turtle-shaped alien spacecraft from the planet Spectra attacks a heavily guarded facility to steal the formula for a substance that Earth shares freely with many other worlds to ease famine. G-Force, a team of five young people whose cerebonic implants give them amazing strength and endurance, is called into action. But when the vehicle vanishes without a trace, G-Force leader Mark decides that the team needs to forgo destroying their target so they can find its base of operations on Earth. His second-in-command, Jason, disagrees… but with Spectra’s forces constantly stepping up their attacks on Earth, he’ll have plenty of opportunities for the action he craves. Aboard their spacecraft, the Phoenix, G-Force works to destroy the Spectra vehicle from the inside… but escaping won’t be so easy.
written by Jameson Brewer
directed by Alan Dinehart
music by Hoyt Curtin and Bob SakumaVoice Cast: Casey Kasem (Mark), Janet Waldo (Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Ronnie Schell (Tiny), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar / The Luminous One)
Note: For this episode only – the first one produced – Ronnie Schell plays Tiny, but the actor says he did not provide the voice of Jason for this first episode. The voice actor for Jason remains unknown for this episode alone. 7-Zark-7 says that Center Neptune is “900 fathoms beneath the surface of the sea” off of America’s west coast – or just a little over a mile undersea. All of Dr. Nambu’s appearances in this episode are replaced by narration or orders delivered by radio from 7-Zark-7. Dr. Nambu would appear in later episodes, but he was given the name of Chief Anderson – a name that, in the original Gatchaman episodes, belonged to a completely different character.
For the corresponding episode of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, click here.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
Note: Casey Kasem doubles as the voice of the flight controller for the space mission, using the “radio voice” that made him famous as the longtime host of the weekly syndicated radio show, American Top 40. The most significant plot alteration in this episode is the complete avoidance of the original Gatchaman scenes in which it is revealed that the captured astronauts have already been killed before their would-be rescuer arrived (!). In the scene where Mark yells a somewhat out-of-place “Tarzan” sound, the original Japanese episode had the character issuing a fierce war cry. For the corresponding episode of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, 
Voice Cast: Casey Kasem (Mark), Ronnie Schell (Jason), Janet Waldo (Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Tiny / Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar)
Note: Astonishingly by today’s standards, the scenes of the seismologist lighting up and smoking a cigarette are left in; then again, it was the 1970s. At any point past the early 1980s, the scenes would’ve been edited to avoid the smoking, or the conversation would’ve been cut altogether, or – as often happened when people were seen to meet grisly ends in Battle Of The Planets – 7-Zark-7 would’ve mentioned that it’s okay for him to smoke because he’s a robot. (Okay, maybe not.) The U.N. fighter jets – all of which have canopies for pilots – are said to be “robot controlled fighters.” Other lessons learned in this episode: it’s okay to put the firing switch for nuclear weapons in the hands of an untrained (and possibly teenage) civilian, so long as she refuses to fire them because seeking revenge is bad. (The scene of her firing the weapon – as actually happened in the original Gatchaman episode – is skipped, and we hear via voice-over that Jason lets the nukes fly instead. Which is perfectly acceptable.) For the corresponding episode of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, 
(Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Tiny / Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar / The Luminous One)
Voice Cast: Casey Kasem (Mark), Ronnie Schell (Jason), Janet Waldo (Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Tiny / Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar / The Luminous One)
Lynne Cormack (Mrs. Simms), Michael Fletcher (Mr. Simms), Esther Hockin (Babysitter), Sean Fagan (Boy #1), Gordon Woolvett (Boy #2), Robyn Sheppard (Nurse), Barclay Hope (Lloyd)
Guest Cast: John de Lancie (Q), Michael Bell (Groppler Zorn), Colm Meaney (Battle Bridge Conn), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mandarin Baliff), Timothy Dang (Main Bridge Security), David Erskine (Bandi Shopkeeper), Evelyn Guererro (Young Female Ensign), Chuck Hicks (Military Officer), Jimmy Ortega (Torres), DeForest Kelley (Admiral McCoy)
Notes: This is the first of three Friday The 13th appearances by veteran Canadian actor Colin Fox. His other two appearances – each as a different character – are in the show’s second season. He would later become a regular on such series as Psi Factor, and guest starred in such series as Wonderfalls, The Dead Zone, Forever Knight, Goosebumps and Relic Hunter. He’s also racked up an impressive number of animation voice credits, notably as the voice of King Harkinian in the once-weekly animated Legend Of Zelda segments of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Director Timothy Bond is a mainstay behind the camera of many Canadian-made genre series, including further Friday episodes (one of which, Eye Of Death, he also wrote), War Of The Worlds, TekWar, Robocop: The Series, Forever Knight, The Outer Limits and Mutant X. Some of his directing assignments outside of Canada’s borders included two third season epiosdes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and a few episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Notes: Mickey is still engaged to Lloyd (see 
Notes: Hilary Shepard comes by her musical talent naturally – she’s as much a musician as she is an actress. She’d get to sing in another unlikely genre show, guest starring in two episodes of