The King Kong Show

Did You Know?

• The theme music was recorded in London in 1965 using British studio musicians, with Canadian conductor Harry Currie providing vocal talent.
• Comics historian Michael Eury wrote in 2007 that the series was 'an early case of identity theft' where the Kong name was used for a character only remotely resembling the original.
• The series led to the Toho film King Kong Escapes, which was based on The King Kong Show.

Segments

Each episode features two six-minute King Kong segments and one six-minute Tom of T.H.U.M.B. segment. In the King Kong segments, the giant ape Kong befriends the Bond family and battles monsters, robots, aliens, and mad scientists like Doctor Who. Tom of T.H.U.M.B. parodies 1960s spy films, following secret agent Tom and his sidekick Swinging Jack, who are shrunk to three inches tall and work for T.H.U.M.B. to foil the evil organization M.A.D.

Characters

King Kong is the giant ape at the center of the show. Bobby Bond first met Kong on Mondo Island when the ape rescued him from a Tyrannosaurus rex. Kong later became the Bond family's protector and mascot. Professor Carl Bond, a scientist and single father, is voiced by Bernard Cowan. His teenage daughter Susan, voiced by Susan Conway, often sees through the plans of Doctor Who. Bobby, voiced by Billie Mae Richards, is Kong's closest friend. Captain Englehorn, voiced by Carl Banas, is the family's ship captain. Doctor Who, voiced by Paul Soles, is a bald, big-headed mad scientist who wants to capture Kong. Mechani-Kong is a robot version of Kong built by Doctor Who, appearing in two episodes.

List of episodes

Starting with the second episode, each episode begins with a six-minute King Kong segment, followed by a six-minute Tom of T.H.U.M.B. segment, and then a second six-minute King Kong segment. The pilot episode, 'King Kong', aired December 31, 1966, as a 56-minute special; in American syndication it was split into 'A Friend in Need' and 'The Key to the City'. Subsequent episodes include titles such as 'Under the Volcano' / 'For the Last Time, Feller...I'm Not Bait!' / 'The Treasure Trap', and 'The Horror of Mondo Island' / 'Hey, That Was A Close One World!' / 'Dr. Who'.

Other episodes include 'Rocket Island', 'The Hunter', 'The Jinx of the Sphinx', 'The Top of the World', 'The Electric Circle', 'Tiger Tiger', 'King Kong's House', 'The Giant Sloths', 'Dr. Bone', 'The Desert Pirates', 'The Sea Surrounds Us', 'The Wizard of Overlord', 'The Trojan Horse', 'Caribbean Cruise', 'The Great Sun Spots', 'In the Land of the Giant Trees', 'Statue of Liberty Play', 'Thousand Year Knockout', 'Eagle Squadron', 'Murderer's Maze', 'It Wasn't There Again Today', and 'King Kong Diamond'.

Release

In Japan, the first two episodes were combined into a 56-minute special titled King of the World: The King Kong Show, broadcast on NET on December 31, 1966. The remaining series, including Tom of T.H.U.M.B., aired on NET as King Kong & 00 1/7 Tom Thumb from April 5 to October 4, 1967, totaling 25 episodes. Sony Wonder released the first eight episodes on two DVDs on November 15, 2005.