Sorry to necro-post but I'm bumping this thread with some info I've found lately at Newspapers.com. They don't have a complete database of all publications, of course, so there are still likely some holes. I can't verify that these are the very first television broadcasts of these movies. These are simply the earliest dates I've found.
War of the Monsters ("Barugon") was first mentioned in an article in
The Salt Lake Tribune (July 28, 1967) stating that a new syndication package had been picked up and included titles such as
Godzilla vs. The Thing,
Majin, the Monster of Terror,
Monster from a Prehistoric Planet ("Gappa"), and
War of the Monsters.
Majin and MFAPP were both playing in Texas by November 1967, but the first airdate for WOTM is on Feb. 17, 1968 —2pm— on KTAL-TV out of Shreveport, LA. (Reported in
The Daily Oklahoman on Feb. 11, 1968.)
Likewise,
Return of the Giant Monsters ("Gyaos") was first mentioned in a report in the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on July 4, 1968. Win Fanning reports that WPXI 11 in Pittsburgh has picked up several movies, including ROTGM, for its Chiller Theater.
The Pittsburgh Press reported on Aug. 27 that other films in the package included
Frankenstein Conquers the World,
The X from Outer Space and
Yongary. The earliest broadcast I can find, however, was on Sep. 28 of that year at 10:40pm on KVII from Amarillo, TX. (Reported in
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on Sep. 22.) By the way, Pittsburgh would finally get to see ROTGM on Channel 11 on November 30, 1968 at 11:20pm, followed by TXfOS.
The earliest date I can find for
Destroy All Planets ("Viras") is November 28, 1970 (3pm on WDCA out of D.C., reported by
The Baltimore Sun in the Nov. 22 edition), but I would not be surprised if this one had turned up somewhere in 1969.
Attack of the Monsters ("Guiron"): Saturday October 10, 1970 (actually 12:30 Sunday morning) on WPXI 11 in Pittsburgh. (
The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, 10/3/70.)
Gamera vs. Monster X ("Jiger"): Also on WPXI, February 27, 1971 at 11:15pm. (
The Kane Republican, Kane, PA, 2/20/71.) Again, these dates are simply the earliest I've found. Still, I'd like to believe that some programmer at Channel 11 really liked Gamera movies.
Super Monster: February 14 (how romantic), 1982 at 9am on Channel 8 in MS. I can't figure out what station this was but it was reported in McComb, Mississippi's
Enterprise-Journal on Feb. 12. This film, either as "Super Monster" or "Gamera - Super Monster," was broadcast on MTV during its early years but I haven't found a TV listing for that just yet.
For some reason, AIP apparently never picked up
Zigra. I think the Sandy Frank version was dubbed in 1985 (the year that one of the dubbed characters refers to as the present date) but it didn't turn up until a 9pm broadcast on the USA Network on April 3, 1987. (
The Palm Beach Post, same date.)The Celebrity video release —along with "Gamera," "Barugon," and "Gaos"— seems to have been July 14 of that year. (
Variety 7/8/87 and
Billboard 6/6/87) "Guiron" would hit home video in August 1988.