Daytime Heroes: Challenge of The Go-Bots (1984)

 Giant, shape-changing robots were supposed to be hot in 1984.

ABC acquired Mighty Orbots, co-produced by Fred Silverman's Intermedia Productions and a Japanese studio, but that series lasted 1 season because of litigation filed by the folks at Tonka Toys, which had commissioned a series from Hanna-Barbera to air in syndication.

Challenge of The Go-Bots started as a 5-part weekday miniseries, arriving around the same time as Orbots and Marvel-Sunbow's adaptation of Hasbro's imported Transformers. As we all know, the Transformers outlasted the others, Hasbro acquired Tonka and the Go-Bots, and the Orbots were consigned to oblivion, practically.

Challenge would return as a daily series the next season, leading to a feature film the following summer, opposite "Transformers: The Movie". However, "Battle of The Rock Lords" would be the coda to the series.

The voice cast had some of the same talent as on Transformers, including Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Kelly Ward ("Grease") not only made his animation debut as a voice actor, but was also a writer-producer as well.

I think you know the open. The final portion looks like it was lifted from 1978's Challenge of The Super Friends:

As was the case with other syndicated series that aired both locally and in New York or Boston at the same time, there would be a time lapse of about a minute or so between feeds. 

Rating: A-.