Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Rein-Toon-Ation: Super Globetrotters (1979)

In the archives of Hanna-Barbera, this would be filed under, "What were they thinking?!". H-B forged a new deal with the Harlem Globetrotters for another animated series, but this time, the basketball team would be transformed into superheroes, hence, Super Globetrotters.

Here's the intro:



As you can tell, three of the 'Trotters were given the powers of the 1960's heroes, The Impossibles, although James "Twiggy" Sanders was given the ID of Spaghetti Man instead of Coil Man, largely because of his being taller. Of the voice talent from the 1970 Harlem Globetrotters series, Stu Gilliam (ex-Roll Out!) and Scatman Crothers (ex-Hong Kong Phooey, Chico & the Man) returned for this show, and maybe wish they hadn't. The plots ultimately followed the formula of the original series, using a impromptu basketball game to settle the issues. Unfortunately, NBC slotted Super Globetrotters directly opposite World's Greatest Super Friends over on ABC, which sealed the 'Trotters' fate.

Rating: C.

2 comments:

AH3RD said...

Johnny Williams returned as Hubert "Geese" Ausbie. Strange that these superheroes would be forced to compete against more powerful superheroes on another network...

I'm forced to agree. Having first viewed them 21 years ago, I decided that The Super Globetrotters could not hold a candle---or the match that lit it---to the 1970-73 original.

hobbyfan said...

NBC was looking to counter program H-B stablemate Super Friends over on ABC. Epic fail!