Animated World of DC Comics: The Death of Superman (2018)

 In 1993, DC Comics editor Michael Carlin green-lit a controversial storyline in which Superman was to be killed off pro tempore. The idea was that, in the face of flailing sales in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era, and, in a period where speculative "investors" were buying up copies of every supposedly valuable first issue they could find, thinking they could get rich, they needed to shake up the status quo.

"The Death of Superman" was indeed a hot commodity for a while. However, what those "investors" didn't realize was that these books weren't as short-printed as they were led to believe. A small thrift store in Wynantskill, for example, was able to acquire at least one copy of an early chapter in the arc, but blew customers' minds by marking up the price to an obscene $10. Today, that same issue doesn't command even half that much.

14 years later, Warner Bros. attempted its first adaptation with "Superman-Doomsday" (previously reviewed). Unfortunately, trying to cram both the "Death" arc and the subsequent "Reign of The Superman" arc, at least part of it, into a 90 minute proved problematic.

Warp ahead 11 years, and WB finally got it right.

"The Death of Superman" is a more faithful adaptation of the 1993 story, save for the adjustments to accomodate for modern technology, as smart phones weren't yet a thing back then.

Anyway, an asteroid-turned-meteor crash lands on Earth, bringing with it the monstrous Doomsday. Meanwhile, Superman (Jerry O'Connell) is struggling with his relationship with his reporter-girlfriend, Lois Lane (Rebecca Romjin, aka Mrs. Jerry O'Connell). The Man of Steel foils Bruno Manheim's assassination attempt on Mayor Booker, and suspects that Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson, ex-The Office) might be behind it. In this continuity, Supes is estranged from Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson). Go figure.

We're also introduced to Dr. John Henry Irons (Cress Williams, Black Lightning), who figures prominently in some mid-credits teasers for "Reign", which was released in January 2019.

Here's a trailer from DC's YouTube channel:

Rating: A-.

Coming Attractions: Hasbro plans a new Transformers series for Nickelodeon

 More than 35 years later, fans still want more Transformers.

The Hasbro franchise returns to television either this year or next year, produced through the company's eOne division, in conjunction with Nickelodeon, which successfully revived Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a few years back. Like the Turtles, Transformers also has a comic book series licensed to Idea & Design Works (IDW), which holds the license for other Hasbro properties, such as GI Joe & My Little Pony.

Image courtesy of Hasbro, via Comic Book Resources.

The franchise was imported from Japan by Hasbro, at the time licensing the comics to Marvel, which had its own production company at the time.

There is, however, a little caution in this case. Hasbro's last two Transformers series landed at Chumptoon Network and Discovery Family (back when it was The Hub). Like CN, Nickelodeon's programmers are obsessed with certain series (i.e. SpongeBob SquarePants) that get played into the ground, and if the new Transformers does not get off to a fast start when it does debut, ViacomCBS will get raked over the coals, just like CN, for their perceived negligence.

Stay tuned.

Sunday Funnies: The weirdest golf tournament. Ever. (1985)

 As part of Miller Beer's series of all-star ads for Lite beer, Dick Butkus, Bubba Smith, Mickey Spillane, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Uecker, and the gang are on the golf course for the first (and only) Lite Beer Open. Spillane and John Madden are the announcers.

Well, Marv Throneberry was right. They never made another golf commercial with this crew.

I wonder if Rodney's shot was inspired by Rube Goldberg.......

Tooniversary: Mumbly in Hyde & Seek (1976)

 One plot that often was used in cartoons was a riff on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. We saw this with Sylvester & Tweety and Bugs Bunny at WB, for example.

At Hanna-Barbera, the classic novel was central to a season 1 plot of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, but the classic was parodied 7 years later in the series finale of Mumbly.

The canine detective (Don Messick) meets Dr. Seek (Messick again), with the predictable results.

In a way, this deviated from the Droopy-inspired format, but not by much.

Rating: B.

Retro Toy Chest: Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head (1952)

 There's a reason for this next subject.

Hasbro introduced Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head in 1952 with this commercial. Sounds like Mae Questel as the voice of Hasbro, the company's namesake mascot:

Ultimately realizing that marketing a vegetable as a toy product wasn't going to work in the long term, because potatoes do tend to turn moldy & rotten, Hasbro switched things up to create the plastic figures we all know.

Now comes word that Hasbro is turning the franchise gender-neutral.

SAY WHAT??!?

In other words, the company is moving forward with this era of inclusiveness. Nearly 40 years ago, they turned GI Joe from one generic action hero figure into an entire unit of heroes, and saved that franchise brand. They're hoping lightning can strike twice. It isn't enough that Potato Head was included in Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story" series, but one wonders if they're mocking the whole inclusitivity thing.........

It Should've Been on a Saturday: Punky Brewster (1984)

 Consider the story of a orphan girl and her dog, secretly using a vacant apartment as a place to live until, eventually, another tenant takes them in.

It's not exactly Little Orphan Annie brought to life, as Annie was adopted virtually straight away by Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, but the story of Punky Brewster illustrated just how some kids still slip through the cracks sometimes.

Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is abandoned by her mother, and finds her way into that vacant apartment, but ultimately bounces back and forth between Fenster Hall, a group residence, and back to the building, where a photographer (George Gaynes, "Police Academy") takes her in, along with her dog, Brandon (named for programming director Brandon Tartikoff).

Punky Brewster was coupled with Silver Spoons at the front of NBC's Sunday lineup from 1984-6. In a rare case of network synergy, Frye & Gaynes filmed some scenes during the 1984 National League Championship Series between the San Diego Padres & Chicago Cubs.

Punky would, in fact, land a Saturday morning berth after all, as the series spun off an animated companion series in 1985, and that bounced in and out of the lineup between 1985-9, mostly in reruns after the parent series left NBC for syndication.

With the series resuming with Punky all grown up (reviewed at The Land of Whatever) on Peacock, let's take a look at how it all began, thanks to Peacock's YouTube channel:

I felt this was one of those shows that could've filled a spot on NBC's Saturday block, instead of reruns. Adding the animated series took care of that little detail.

Rating: B.

Another cast change for The Simpsons

 Pay close attention to this clip from The Simpsons. Savor it.

It was announced Monday that series regular Harry Shearer, who has been the voice of Dr. Julius Hibbert for more than 30 years, is stepping aside for veteran voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who has been a frequent guest on the series, among his many credits.

It runs along the same lines as Hank Azaria's decision several months back to give up his role as grocer Apu, but as of this writing, the role hasn't been recast. The idea, of course, is to match African-American characters with African-American actors, a movement that, in television, began with Azaria's decision to give up doing Apu, and Richardson is certainly familiar with the show's cast.

Richardson debuts as Dr. Hibbert on Sunday.

Toonfomercial: Remember Billy Big & Crunch Crunch? (1978)

 To be honest, I'd never seen this next item, even though I was watching Saturday morning programming in 1978.

Post Honey Comb cereal introduced Billy Big & Crunch Crunch as potential mascots for the product. Unfortunately, this ad, I think, might've been a 1-off, as they were never seen again.

It wasn't long after that they launched the Honey Comb Hideout ads, which lasted a few years.

Daytime Heroes: Sinbad, Jr. in People Pluto Trap (1965)

 Independent producer Sam Singer (Courageous Cat) had first crack at American International's Sinbad, Jr. series of shorts, but it seemed as though American International wasn't too thrilled with the finished product, so Singer was replaced with Hanna-Barbera. Not only that, but Dallas McKennon (Daniel Boone), who had worked with Singer on Courageous Cat and other projects, was let go as well.

In "People Pluto Trap", Sinbad & Salty convert their sailboat into a rocket, and run into chaos. If you listen real close, McKennon virtually uses his normal voice as he does as Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone for Salty.

When Hanna-Barbera took over, they expanded the cast by hiring on Tim Matheson (Jonny Quest), Mel Blanc (Secret Squirrel, The Flintstones, etc.), Paul Frees, and others.

Rating: B-.

Toons You Might've Missed: The Legend of John Henry (1974)

I remember seeing a promo for this next item on HBO in its formative years in the mid-70's, but it also played in libraries and schools, too.

The Legend of John Henry, produced by Nick Bosustow, and told & sung by singer Roberta Flack, looks like it might've lifted the character designs from a book, hence the library connection. Scope:

Rating: B.

From Primetime to Daytime: Daniel Boone meets Johnny Appleseed (1969)

 Daniel Boone kicked off its final season in 1969 by having the title hero (Fess Parker) meet another American legend in Johnny Appleseed. The core of the story, however, is about a settler's son who shoots a Native American boy by accident. Kevin Hagen (Land of The Giants, later of Little House on The Prairie) and singer Roger Miller guest star. Miller plays Johnny Appleseed.

Dallas McKennon (Cincinnatus) appears at the 19 1/2 minute mark. While he'd been added to the open as a series regular, former football player and singer Roosevelt Grier does not appear in this episode, though his character is mentioned in passing.

Tooniversary: Mighty Mouse vs. Svengali's Cat (1946)

 Terrytoons could find a bazillion different ways to tell the same story with Mighty Mouse.

"Svengali's Cat", released in the winter of 1946, is one of those stories. Cats are kidnapping mice, and one damsel is delivered to Svengali, a cat himself, with the gift of hypnotism....

Hokey, formulaic comfort food.

Rating: B.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Real Ghostbusters vs. Killerwatt (1986)

 The Real Ghostbusters turns 35 this year, and now, the Ghostbusters franchise has a YouTube channel that will upload episodes of both Real Ghostbusters and its' late 90's sequel, Extreme Ghostbusters.

New York has experienced blackouts before, but never like this, as the Ghostbusters deal with a malevolent spirit named "Killerwatt". James Avery guest stars as the villain, but is not credited.

We've established that Lorenzo Music (Peter) left the show to do Garfield & Friends. Truth be told, he has one generic character voice that he used for both Peter & Garfield.

Rating: A-.

A twist on a tale: The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White (1980)

 After the abysmal Super Globetrotters tanked, the Harlem Globetrotters dusted off the team bus and took a trip to Storybook Land, if you will.

"The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White" has the team subbing for the Seven Dwarves, largely because Hanna-Barbera couldn't get the license to use the Dwarves, and probably had to fulfill a contract for the 'Trotters' likenesses, which was coming due.

Long story short, the guys cross into the classic tale of Snow White (Russi Taylor), targeted by the jealous Queen. Otherwise, it follows the familiar formula of the 1970 Globetrotters series.

Scatman Crothers and Adam Wade are among the actors voicing the 'Trotters. H-B standbys John Stephenson & Michael Bell are also heard. Reportedly, this was originally presented as a 4 part serial as part of Fred & Barney Meet The Shmoo.

This would be the coda to the 'Trotters' 10 year association with H-B.

Rating: B.

You Know The Voice: Scatman Crothers (1967)

 From season 2 of the 2nd Dragnet series:

Scatman Crothers guest stars as a real estate agent. And, yeah, it does look like he is wearing a wig. Joe Friday & Bill Gannon (Jack Webb & Harry Morgan) are out to solve the murder of a female agent. Scatman appears at the 3 minute mark. Also, William Boyett, later of Adam-12, made one of his many appearances, playing various officers.

Animated World of DC Comics: Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)

 Based on the Arkham Asylum series of video games, "Batman: Assault on Arkham" pits the Dark Knight (Kevin Conroy) vs. the Suicide Squad and, ultimately, the Joker.

One familiar narrative is Joker's on-again-off-again relationship with Harley Quinn (Hynden Walch, Teen Titans Go!), such that the Clown Prince of Crime (Troy Baker, doing an amazing mimic of Mark Hamill's characterization), takes advantage of Harley's attempt to kill him.....!

As for the Squad, Deadshot (Neal McDonough, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow) is the field leader, and the object of Harley's affections, such that they actually get busy in one scene. They also tease a relationship between King Shark (John DiMaggio) and Killer Frost II (Louise Lincoln, voiced by Jennifer Hale), but, well, you'd have to see it for yourself.

CCH Pounder reprises her role as Amanda Waller from Justice League Unlimited. Waller isn't exactly a saint here, and DC would rather it be that way.

Here's the trailer:

If you didn't know about the game, there are scenes in the movie that act as tells.

Rating: A-.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Love Land (1970)

 Our last Valentoon of 2021 comes from Archie's Funhouse, but the intro has been edited off. Here's "Love Land":

40 years later, Archie Comics decided to give it a whirl and let Miss Grundy & Mr. Weatherbee be a couple, even getting married in Life With Archie (2nd series). That same series, which explored Michael Uslan's idea of alternate realities proposing Archie being married to either Betty or Veronica, would pair Reggie with the other, enjoyed a healthy (for the present day) run. While Reggie might be jealous in the video, in the long game, he actually has an equal chance.

Tooniversary: Mighty Mouse vs. The Trojan Horse (1946)

 We've all read the story of "The Trojan Horse" in school. Terrytoons decided to have some fun with that 75 years ago, sending Mighty Mouse to ancient times......

Predictable. 

Rating: A.

Valentoons: Date With an Antelope (Johnny Bravo, 1997)

 Johnny Bravo (Jeff Bennett) tries computer dating, and gets a "Date With an Antelope". Opening credits have been edited off.

Edit, 2/2/22: Dailymotion dumped the video due to copyrights. Cartoon Network UK's YouTube channel offers this sample clip:

Series creator Van Partible did everything but match Johnny with a certain alien hottie who could've just as easily filled the bill.....!

Rating: B.

Coming Attractions: Look who's getting her own show!

 WB & HBO Max have announced a new slate of animated series heading to the streaming service soon. Among the newbies are a reboot of the former MTV series, Clone High, an original series with Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live) attached, and a certain cerebral sleuth is getting her own show.

Yup, Velma, the resident brainiac of Mystery, Incorporated, is the first of the gang to get a solo series.

Mindy Kaling (ex-The Mindy Project) will not only serve as executive producer, but will voice Velma herself. No slight on Kate Micucci, who took over the part with Be Cool, Scooby-Doo, but Kaling, a fan herself of the Scooby-Doo franchise, felt it might be better if she took point, if you will. It's intended as an adult series, so expect Kaling and her writers to explore the long rumored fan theory that Velma is gay. After 2 seasons of Harley Quinn, which similarly played up internet shippers' preference to pair the title character with BFF Poison Ivy, we know WB isn't afraid to go there. In season 2 of Mystery, Incorporated, they teased a relationship between Velma and Marcie, aka Hot Dog Water, toward the end of the series. 

Chumptoon Network couldn't go further than just teases, for fear of offending media nannies, and since I haven't read of any complaints from said nannies regarding Harley, its safe to assume Velma will be just fine.

Stay tuned.

Valentoons: Valentine Pink (1993)

 The Pink Panther (Matt Frewer) gets more than he bargained for when he starts shooting random arrows belonging to Cupid (Wallace Shawn) in "Valentine Pink". Ruth Buzzi guest stars as a witch.

Giving the Panther a voice in this series actually might've been counter-productive, as David DePatie had feared.

Rating: B-.

You Know The Voice: Bob Hastings (1975)

 A year after he'd been cut from hosting the game show, Dealer's Choice, and replaced by game show veteran Jack Clark, Bob Hastings was back doing a game show, except this time it was for an episode of Insight.

All Out isn't just the fictional game show hosted by Bob's character, but the title of the episode, a  morality play about greed. 

Valentoons: My Smurfy Valentine (1983)

 If my math is correct, "My Smurfy Valentine" would be the 2nd primetime Smurfs special for NBC, airing in February 1983, during season 2.

We're introduced to a new adversary, Chrlorhydris (Amanda McBroom), who wants a world without love. Not if Papa Smurf (Don Messick) and the gang have anything to say about it.

Chlorhydris would be a recurring foe for the rest of the series, but hasn't been revived in the recent movies.

Rating: B.

Valentoons: The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine (1982)

 Stan & Jan Berenstain's Berenstain Bears returned to NBC in February 1982 with "The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine", the next to last of five primetime specials. Something tells me NBC could've had the subsequent series, if their Saturday morning lineup by this point wasn't so stacked.

Anyway, it's a predictable fable of Brother being targeted by a secret admirer with an important hockey game looming over the horizon.....

I got a big kick out of Sister skating figure hearts instead of figure eights....

Rating: B.

Remembering Bruce "Butch" Reed (1954-2021)

 The news knocked me for a loop yesterday.

Bruce "Butch" Reed, the original "Hacksaw" when he was with Mid-South Wrestling in the early 80's, passed away at 66 from heart failure.

Reed followed Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd's path to wrestling. Played football with the Kansas City Chiefs, then turned to the ring. He worked as both a babyface (hero) and a heel (villain) with Mid-South, then signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation in the winter of 1986-7, managed by Slick (Ken Johnson). However, Reed lasted a year there without winning any gold.

He resurfaced in WCW as half of a masked tag team known as Doom with another future Hall of Famer in ex-Florida State star Ron Simmons. Doom won the tag titles under the management of referee-turned-manager Teddy Long, but it wasn't long (no pun intended) before Reed & Simmons were split up, feuded, and then Reed left the scene.

Reed took up rodeo in his post-wrestling years. The use of a bulldog headlock more common with cowboy characters, as shown in this jobber clip from Superstars of Wrestling, might've been a clue as to Reed's future plans.

They say Vince McMahon's decision to have Reed bleach his hair didn't do Reed any favors. I'd have to agree. If it isn't broken, why fix it?

Rest in peace.

Rare Treats: A Day at The Horse Opera (1966)

 We all know that Filmation made its first inroads with Superman in 1966. However, earlier that same year, the studio nearly broke ground with another icon---The Marx Brothers!!

It had been years since the last Marx movie. Groucho was now a TV fixture, and at this point was doing game & talk shows. Still, the fledgling studio acquired a license to adapt the legendary team, minus Zeppo, of course, in a pilot for a proposed series, less than a year after the Three Stooges began a series of animated cartoons for syndication.

In "A Day at The Horse Opera", the brothers are in the Old West as a 3-man medicine show, then run afoul of a Native American chief (Joe Besser, ex-The Joey Bishop Show), who wants to marry off his daughter to what he believes is "The Great Stone Face"---and guess who is a perfect likeness of said statue?

Pat Harrington, Jr. (The Inspector) is Groucho. Ted Knight voices Chico. Don't know about Minnie-Ho-Ho.

Unfortunately, no one was willing to take a chance, and Filmation would have to wait 2 years before mounting a comedy show (The Archie Show, of course), and so "Horse Opera" sat in the vaults until a bootleg somehow got traded around, and YouTube poster Comic Guru got his hands on it.

Rating: B.

Teenage Toons: Mayor May Not (Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm, 1971)

 Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm turns 50 this year. One of the goofier stories was "Mayor May Not", in which Pebbles (Sally Struthers, All in The Family) is on the stump for Bamm-Bamm (Jay North, ex-Dennis The Menace, Here Comes The Grump, Maya), only for the teen powerhouse to turn around and nominate Pebbles for acting mayor.

A key sequence foreshadows a future gig for Fred (Alan Reed) and Barney (Mel Blanc, also heard as the mayor). You'll see what I mean.

Nine years later, in The Flintstone Comedy Show (2nd series), Fred & Barney became The Bedrock Cops, but this was their first time wearing badges.

Rating: B.

Getting Schooled: Animals, Animals, Animals (1976)

 It was ABC's answer to the now-syndicated (by 1976) Wild Kingdom. Animals, Animals, Animals employed the services of former King Features TV producer Al Brodax, who also worked on the show's predecessor, Make a Wish, which we talked about yesterday.

As with Wish, Animals lasted five years (1976-81) before being replaced by the still running news program This Week.

Hal Linden (Barney Miller) served as series host, and even went out into the field for some segments. Lynn Kellogg wrote & sung the theme song. Unfortunately, no full episodes are available online, likely lost due to network practices of the day, same as Wish.

ABC could've stood to repurpose the show on Saturdays instead of filling empty spaces with Scooby-Doo reruns, but what do network programmers know?

Here's a sample open & close, with a short clip on snakes.

No rating. Never saw the show.

Saturtainment: Monchhichis in Tickle Pickle (1983)

 The series premiere of Monchhichis has the titular tribe of monkeys having to regain the magic that powers their Happy Works. Here's "Tickle Pickle":

When we first reviewed the series several years ago, we noted that the reason the series failed was because of poor ratings and even poorer toy sales. For Mattel, which acquired a license to produce the toys here in the US, this was negated by the success of a certain weekday adventure series that bowed the same year---He-Man.

Rating: B-.

Getting Schooled: Make a Wish (1971)

 ABC's Sunday morning block was originally intended for the kiddo's, with news programs such as Issues & Answers following the children's block.

After Discovery ended its run after nearly 10 years on the air (1962-71), ABC replaced it with Make a Wish, hosted by singer-songwriter Tom Chapin, whose more famous brother, Harry, contributed some songs to the show.

Former King Features producer Al Brodax supervised the animation, and the Peter Max-esque linework was a carryover from the Beatles' movie, "Yellow Submarine".

Unfortunately, the series lasted just 5 years, as opposed to 9 for Discovery. Make a Wish was dropped to make room for Animals, Animals, Animals, hosted by Barney Miller star Hal Linden.

Here's a sample open & close:

No rating. Never saw the show.

Looney TV: The Ducksters (1950)

 Even though it carries a 1949 copyright, "The Ducksters", starring Daffy Duck & Porky Pig, was released in September 1950. This print, however, is a Blue Ribbon reissue. Chuck Jones satirizes radio game shows, particularly Truth or Consequences, and the title is a riff on a Clark Gable movie, "The Hucksters", released 3 years earlier.

Silly, but it was also one of the earliest examples of how depraved Daffy could be.

Rating: A-.