Ultra Q

Ultra Q is a tokusatsu SF/kaiju series made in the tradition of Toho's many tokusatsu sci-fi/horror films.

Produced in black and white by Tokyo Broadcasting System/Tsuburaya Productions, this is actually the first of the long-running Ultra Series, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from January 2 to July 3, 1966, with a total of 28 episodes. This series was followed a week later by the more popular Ultraman, the second Ultra Series.

Ultra Q can be described as a half-hour Toho kaiju film. Although series creator Eiji Tsuburaya intended this series to be more like The Twilight Zone and focus less on the monsters, TBS convinced Eiji to add more monsters onto the show, as Godzilla and Gamera were very popular at the time. This series predates The X-Files, with continuing characters who investigate strange supernatural phenomena, be they giant monsters, aliens, ghosts, and other assorted calamities. The single best comparison to any American TV show is to The Outer Limits, which in its original form generally featured a monster-of-the-week story.