"King Kong
You know the name of
King Kong
You know the fame of
King Kong
Ten times as big as a man!"

This isn’t your parent’s King Kong, who dragged poor defenseless women to the top of NY skyscrapers and took out everything in his path along the way. This is the kinder, gentler, Kong, star of his own Saturday morning series and friend to all.

Debuting on ABC in 1966, The King Kong Show featured everyone’s favorite gargantuan ape, resident of Mondo Island, and friendly neighbor of the Bond family – which consisted of a young boy named Bobby, his father, Professor Bond, and his sister Susan. After saving Bobby from the grips of treacherous Tyrannosaurus Rex, the family befriends the ape, making him their mascot and hero.

Together, boy and ape join forces to save the world from a myriad of monsters, mad scientists, robots and anything else that threatens their well-being. A frequently recurring villain is the evil Dr. Who, who is bent on capturing the beast and using him for his evil plots. He has even designed the Mechani-Kong, a robot double to aid in his quest. Another regular nemesis is Zedus, a giant preying mantis who has a bad habit of eating the residents of Mondo Island.

And if that weren’t enough adventure, sandwiched between two episodes of Kong each week was an episode of Tom of T.H.U.M.B. Tom was a secret agent who, along with his sidekick agent and martial arts expert, Swingin’ Jack, was accidentally shrunk down considerably, and a result, the two became part of T.H.U.M.B (Tiny Humans Underground Military Bureau.) Under the command of Chief Homer J. Chief, the duo had their hands full matching wits with the agents from M.A.D. (Maladjusted, Anti-Social and Darn Mean).

This Japanese series, produced for American audiences by Rankin/Bass, aired on ABC between 1966 and 1969. A total of 26 episodes were produced, all of which were released on DVD in 2005.