Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Fall Preview Week: CBS Saturday Morning Preview (1983)

Our look back at Saturday morning previews of the past continues as we warp ahead to 1983, and flip the dial to CBS.

Sid & Marty Krofft, at this point, sold only one series to CBS, and that was 1975's Far Out Space Nuts. Pryor's Place wouldn't come for another year, but CBS commissioned the Kroffts to produce this primetime entry, which, in addition to a clip from The Dukes, was built around a crossover with its parent series, The Dukes of Hazzard. J. D. "Boss" Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best) are looking to crash the party to feather their own nests, but why is Happy Days star Scott Baio in Hazzard County? Why didn't WB co-produce this show?

It does sound like Danny Dark (Super Friends), in one of his last jobs for CBS before moving to NBC, was the announcer, but I'm not sure. Didn't see this, so we'll pass on a rating again.





2 comments:

Silverstar said...

Trivia Time: the puppet guy who appears in this special was Truck Shackley, the leader of the Krofft Puppet band the Texas Critters, the main comedy regulars on NBC's "Barbara Madrell & the Mandrell Sisters". Krofft would later use these same puppets (albeit redressed and redesigned to look less 'country') as the house band for another CBS "special", the unsold comedy/variety pilot "Redeye Express" starring Ron Reagan, Jr.

hobbyfan said...

Hmmm. The Mandrell show had ended by this point, so Shackley was available. I'll have to look for Redeye Express sometime.