Spanish TV guide article about Battle

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The Other Jason
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Spanish TV guide article about Battle

Post: # 135Post The Other Jason »

Hi all,

Cure DragonEagle brought up the discussion of the Spanish version of Battle in a G-Force thread, and how it promoted the lack of violence to concerned viewers. I also knew that the series didn't find a very solid footing there. I found this article in the March 30, 1980 edition of Complete Television TV (a Spanish television guide), discussing a little about each point, and thought it might be of interest.

spaintvart3s.jpg

Here is my rough translation of the article (I'm open to corrections!)

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Battle of the Planets

Taking advantage of the success of films, science fiction and those dedicated to space issues, the idea of ​​bringing a series like the one we are dealing with here - Battle of the Planets - to the small screen, seemed, at first, an interesting project. In view of the fact that Sunday's programming was somewhat neglected in the children's field, Televisión Española decided to broadcast this North American series starting last Sunday, January 13. In total, eighty-five episodes were acquired. But things have not gone as TVE expected. Children, accustomed to easy stories without violence - here we refer to cartoons like Don Quixote, Marco or Heidi - do not show great interest in Battle of the Planets. Even though, prior to broadcast, it was announced that the series avoided acts of violence to not traumatize children.

The main protagonists of Battle of the Planets, as you may have seen, are the so-called "G-Force," which presumably play the role of defenders of planet Earth, in the face of the continuous attacks from the wicked men on duty, Doom, Spectra or Zoltar, among others, and assist authorities in the defense of law and order.
 
Jason, Mark, Tiny, Kayop (sic) and the intelligent robot "Zark 7" are the members of the aforementioned "G-Force," ready to go wherever they're called in a flying super fortress.

And, in view of the little success it has obtained, there are rumors that the series will possibly be interrupted, offered later, to reduce its continual transmission. The formula to study could be to offer Battle of the Planets in blocks of 13 episodes,

And it would seem to us, to be the right move.
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Cure DragonEagle 255
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Re: Spanish TV guide article about Battle

Post: # 136Post Cure DragonEagle 255 »

TOO SAD! I had hopes it was more succesful. Still there is still a major nostalgic audience in Spain. The Comando G song has over 2 million views!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV83GSTLcY4
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The Other Jason
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Re: Spanish TV guide article about Battle

Post: # 137Post The Other Jason »

Hi Cure DragonEagle,
Cure DragonEagle 255 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:22 pm TOO SAD! I had hopes it was more succesful. Still there is still a major nostalgic audience in Spain. The Comando G song has over 2 million views!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV83GSTLcY4
Yes, nostalgia has been kind to Battle in Spain.The Parchis songs are great, they always make me smile! I also really love this recreation of one of their videos on the El Sevilla variety show a couple years ago. The crowd is so enthusiastic, singing along, doing the arm gestures... it would have been a blast being in that audience!

I wonder if the article was accurate, or perhaps made the decision it was a "flop" too quickly. It was printed less than two months into the show's run, and TVE did not change its airing schedule. Battle remained a weekly series on TVE through to late November of 1980. Then they took a break from running new episodes until June of 1981, when they aired a final 13 on a weekly schedule.

Mutacion!!! :D
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