‘New Family’ – Saturday Morning Cartoon

Back in 1998, right after that crappy 'Godzilla' movie starring Matthew Broderick came out, Fox begin showing an equally crappy cartoon version of the giant lizard. And like most things that happened to the scaly monster after he ravaged Tokyo in the mid-'50s, 'Godzilla: The Series' is a misguided mess.

The history of the show is somewhat convoluted to begin with. Made by the same team responsible for the 'Men in Black' and 'Ghostbusters' animated series from the same period, this cartoon 'Godzilla' was tied into 1998's big-screen dud, and was marketed as a sequel.

The show lasted for only two seasons and 40 episodes, but that was more than enough time for the creative forces behind the series to jam in dozens of human characters, just as many plot points and eight times as many monsters.

Nobody could keep all this straight, let alone eight-year-old kids coming off of cereal sugar rushes on Saturday mornings. But that didn't stop them from tuning in ... at least until their ADD-riddled minds moved on to something else.

In the debut episode, part one of a story arc titled 'New Family,' Dr. Niko, our hero, finds one of the original Godzilla's unhatched eggs. What emerges is even more neutered than the monster found in Toho's mostly awful 1970s movies. Soon, the military gets involved, and things get a little bumpy for Niko, Zilla and the crew. You can watch it above.

The animation isn't very good, the story is simple, the dialogue is terrible ... and well, it kinda makes all those '70s quickie cartoons seem like classics. But with renewed interest in Godzilla these days, it's worth another look, even if it's just to see how bad things can get for the giant green guy.