Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Teenage Toons: Fat Albert in Fish Out of Water (1972)

Hey, hey, hey! Summer is still a few months away, but let's go back to the 1st season of Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids as Bill Cosby relates the tale of the gang's first trip to summer camp.

"Fish Out of Water" originally aired in 1972. This print comes from a syndicated reissue circa 1984. The most obvious diff being that Cosby filmed a new intro as the theme plays. Also, the closing theme is instrumental only, instead of replaying the vocals from the open.



Yes, the show was retitled, The Adventures of Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids for syndication. The final season ran concurrently with the 1st season of The Cosby Show. No matter what you think about Cosby now, back in the day he was hailed as a beloved entertainer and educator.

Rating: A.

4 comments:

Chris Sobieniak said...

I barely remember when it was on CBS and had those earlier intros used (still not sure what the duck was about since I don't remember him at all).

No matter what you think about Cosby now, back in the day he was hailed as a beloved entertainer and educator.

Not to mention his love of Pudding Pops!

hobbyfan said...

The duck was dropped early on in the run. Kind of the square peg in the round hole. Just as well, as it didn't fit.

Chris Sobieniak said...

I'm sure the duck was an odd addition to an already saturated gang itself (no doubt needing to have animal sidekicks was something Saturday morning just couldn't tear itself from then, like with The Brady Kids and their added animals).

hobbyfan said...

It probably was a Filmation idea, and not Cosby's.