Saturday, May 12, 2012

From Out of The Recycling Bin: The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show (1984)

Ruby-Spears struck a deal with independent syndicator Arlington Television in 1984 to package some of their earlier shows in a weekday anthology series, and it happens that it was the last of its kind.

The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show not only combined elements from both seasons of Plas' ABC run, but added Heathcliff, Marmaduke, Dingbat & the Creeps, & Goldie Gold and Action Jack, the latter trio having all bombed out on ABC. Heathcliff would also appear in a brand new syndicated series for DIC that got more mileage than this collection did.

Actor-comic Taylor Marks brought Plas to life to serve as host. Part of the schtick required using old clips from the original series to insert dialogue from The Chief (Melendy Britt) where needed. Marks' voice was similar to that of John Erwin's portrayal of Reggie Mantle in the Archie cartoons years earlier, nowhere near Michael Bell's characterization of Plas, and evidence was clearly there to see and hear when a Plastic Man cartoon aired. Marks' Plas was more self-centered than before, although the character has been humbled considerably in the comics since.

TheManofPlastic uploaded a sample video.



Unfortunately, this weekday anthology lasted just 1 season, while Heathcliff managed to last at least 2 or 3 with his new show.

Rating: B.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Boy do I remember this!

Personally I never cared for the live action segments. I never thought they were needed since toons can usually sell themselves.

hobbyfan said...

I admit to watching a couple of times back in the day, hoping to catch some stuff I missed, and the live-action skits dragged the show down.