Kids of a certain generation might remember Poppy the Porcupine as a mascot for Kellogg's Corn Pops in the early-to-mid-80's.
Here, Poppy serves breakfast to a train conductor, leading to the train leaving without them......
Actor-turned-producer Peter Billingsley was back in the news last month with an online sequel to 1983's "A Christmas Story". To many, the original film was the biggest highlight of his career as a child actor in the early 80's.
However, Peter would never have gotten there without Hershey's Syrup.
You see, Peter was cast as Messy Marvin in a series of spots for the product, over a 5 year period (1980-5), during which time he also was a junior contributor to NBC's Real People, and helped front a short-lived spin-off, Real Kids. All of that led to "A Christmas Story", after which Peter returned to the other signature role of his career.
In this 1984 spot, Marvin is collecting rocks.....
Sha Na Na had been reduced in number with the departure of guitarist-vocalist "Dirty" Dan McBride heading into season 4. The comedy sketches were getting even more ridiculous, like in this episode with Scatman Crothers (ex-Chico & The Man, Hong Kong Phooey). Scatman enters the picture while most of the guys are dressed like they're going on a fox hunt, but Bowzer (Jon Bauman) should never have been put near that extra long bugle.
Scatman arrives at the 9 minute mark.
Over the course of Will Ferrell's seven year tenure on Saturday Night Live (1995-2002), he & castmate Chris Kattan brought with them a skit they created while with the Groundlings comedy troupe.
These skits featured a pair of brothers who went to various nightclubs, and, in the following video, even crashed a high school senior prom and an old folks home. In a way, Doug & Steve Butabi (we'd learn their names in the 1998 movie spinoff, "A Night at The Roxbury") were an adult version of Beavis & Butt-Head, in that they never scored.
Haddaway's 1993 hit, "What is Love?", provided the soundtrack for these skits, giving the song new life. In this skit, the guys are joined by Jim Carrey (ex-The Duck Factory, In Living Color).......
Tooly (Ted Eccles, The Herculoids) wants to be more than a mascot, if you will, for the Three Musketeers, but, never really gets the recognition he wants because of his young age.
In "The Ring", Tooly complains when he can't win a sword fight with a monkey while using a wooden sword. Meanwhile, said monkey (vocal effects by Don Messick) and his owner, Prince Abduhl (Paul Frees) create problems when the prince covets the King's ring......
The characters from Peanuts have been used in advertising for Ford, Millbrook bread, Dolly Madison pastries, Cheerios, and MetLife insurance.
Here, then, is a relatively obscure A & W ad from 1989 starring Snoopy & Woodstock (vocal effects by Bill Melendez), demonstrating how to make a root beer float.
Lassie's Rescue Rangers and Schoolhouse Rock were part of ABC's class of 1973, and turn 50 this year.
The Grammar Rock track, "Verb (That's What's Happening)", was posted several years ago. Meantime, Lassie and the Turners (Ted Knight, Jane Webb, Lane Scheimer, Keith Sutherland) are puzzled by the appearance of a "Mystic Monster" that is not what it seems to be.
Also includes commercials for Cocoa Pebbles (which we've shown before as well) and Cocoa Puffs. The "Parental Service Advisory" is Formula 1 driver Peter Revson shilling for Aurora's toy cars.
10 days after we wrote about M & M's new spokescandy, Purple (Amber Ruffin), Mars Wrigley has bowed to pressure from right wing bullies like Tabloid Carlson at Fox No News, and is taking the mascots off the air, and sending them to "indefinite retirement".
Following is an official corporate statement:
Because of this, expect Carlson to be boasting and gloating on Fox No News tonight, although, personally, I'd rather see him get showered with M & M's falling from the ceiling, a la those ping pong balls on Captain Kangaroo back in the day. It's what he deserves for being an ignorant bully with no conscience.
After the hype, after the backlash, Velma isn't quite as bad as people make it out to be.
Let's recap:
1. Velma Dinkley (Mindy Kaling) is now of South Asian/Indian descent. Her mother vanished some time back, and at first, Velma holds herself responsible, leading to some hallucinations.
2. Norville Rogers (don't call him Shaggy just yet) is African-American, and has a lot more on the ball than normal. His anti-drug stance is a wink to all the speculation about his persistent hunger over the years.
3. Daphne (Constance Wu, ex-Fresh Off The Boat) is a foundling being raised by a pair of lesbian cops (Jane Lynch, ex-Glee, and Wanda Sykes, Harley Quinn).
4. Fred (Glenn Howerton) is a former crush of Velma's who claims to have some bizarre disease where he has selective amnesia over certain people while at the same time still in love with Daphne. The dumbing down of Fred, which began with 2002's "Scooby-Doo" feature film, continues here, as he's even more of a himbo.
5. The plot: Someone is killing the "popular girls" at Crystal Cove High, and removing their brains. Velma is being framed, and those hallucinations she's having aren't helping.
6. There is a shower scene in the opener with Daphne and a group of girls, where their nipples are strategically hidden under soap bubbles. However, you don't wear sandals or flip-flops in the shower! It just isn't done! There will be boys tuning in and revisiting this scene over and over and over.....!
All the haterizing is coming from either internet trolls who need a reason to vent, and/or older fans who don't like this alternate reality take on the franchise. What Mindy Kaling and partner Charlie Grandy are attempting to do in their own weird way is fill in some backstory as they see it as to how Mystery Inc. would eventually form.
One more time with the trailer:
January usually means cabin fever for some folks. We know birds fly south for the winter, so how do mice and cats travel to the South?
In Herman & Katnip's case, by train. Jack Mercer wrote "Rail Rodents", a mostly silent short in the vein of Tom & Jerry. Sid Raymond speaks Katnip's only line of dialogue. The screaming? Apparently, Jackson Beck took over.
Pay close attention to this American Bandstand clip of The Byrds.
"8 Miles High" would be the last song they would play on television with guitarist-vocalist David Crosby, who left the band soon after.
Crosby has a furry hat with his developing 'tache.
After leaving The Three Stooges, Joe Besser resumed his television career, which included a stint as the building super on The Joey Bishop Show, and guest roles on shows as diverse as Peter Gunn and, in this case, That Girl. As was the practice of the era, Joe could be fitted into any small role that fit the situation du jour.
In this season 3 offering, Joe is a jury foreman for a trial in which Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas) is a juror. Hope Summers (ex-The Andy Griffith Show), Dave Ketchum (Get Smart, ex-Camp Runamuck) and ol' Mr. Whipple himself, Dick Wilson, who otherwise recurred on Bewitched, also guest star.
To be fair, I haven't seen Velma yet, but since my bi-weekly viewing party usually checks out Harley Quinn, HBO Max's more established adult cartoon, now in its 3rd season, that may change.
But ever since the first two episodes dropped January 12, the backlash has been so severe, such that people are up in arms over today's news that the series has already been renewed for a 2nd season, reportedly, by HBO Max.
Billed as an alternate-universe origin for not only Velma herself (Mindy Kaling, ex-The Mindy Project), but for what eventually becomes Mystery, Inc.. As we've previously discussed, Norville Rogers (don't call him Shaggy just yet) has been flipped to African-American (Sam Richardson). Daphne is no longer the wealthy socialite we know and love, but a foundling raised by a lesbian couple (Jane Lynch, ex-Glee, & Wanda Sykes, last heard from on----wait for it----Harley Quinn). Constance Wu (ex-Fresh Off The Boat) essays the part here. Fred is still a goof, but now more narcissistic (Glenn Howerton was cast for the role), and is still in love with Daphne.
The biggest complaint, of course, is the absence of Scooby-Doo. Like, this is a prequel, man! The fact that the show has already been renewed tells us Mindy intends to get to the point where the kids meet Scooby before she's done.
The complaints come from long-time fans who feel that without Scooby, there's no show. We'll give Mindy points for rebooting the gang in the name of cultural diversity, including addressing the long held belief in some fan circles of Velma's own sexuality. To borrow the title of an earlier Scooby series, get a clue!!
Let's revisit the trailer:
A few years ago, Marvel Comics revived one of Jack Kirby's more unusual creations of the 70's, Devil Dinosaur, with one big twist. Instead of Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur is now in the hands of teenage genius Lunella Lafayette, hence Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, which debuts on Disney Channel & Disney+ next month.
The trailer explains a few things.
Aware of the women's lib movement of the late 60's-early 70's, the ad agency for Johnson Wax (now SC Johnson) created this 1971 ad with two lady bugs in a fortune teller's tent. Both voices are performed by June Foray. William Schallert (ex-The Patty Duke Show) narrates.
It's a slow news day at Fox No News, so on one of their deranged yack-fests, they started whining about Mars Wrigley adding a 3rd female mascot to their M & M's roster.
So now, meet Purple, voiced by comedian-talk show host Amber Ruffin:
Having successfully competed with Black Flag for the bug killer market, Johnson Wax (now SC Johnson) decided to challenge D-Con, at the time a sister product to Black Flag at Boyle-Midway, as a rodent killer.
This 1960 spot shows a mouse, looking all skeevy and sinister, making its final mistake. The jingle is to the beat of the Kingston Trio's 1959 hit, "M. T. A". Dick Tufeld is the narrator.
We have the pilots for George of The Jungle & Super Chicken elsewhere, but now, it's time to bring out the other feature, Tom Slick.
Tom enters "The Bigg Race" to earn money for Gertie Growler's Garage, which is facing foreclosure, one of the oldest plots in the business. Bill Scott voices Tom AND Gertie. June Foray, of course, is Tom's girlfriend, Marigold. Paul Frees is the narrator.
You might recall that Chuck Jones created phony scientific terms for the Road Runner & Coyote in those classic shorts back in the day.
In 1984, the ad agency working with Johnson Wax (now SC Johnson) had that in mind with this quickie. John Stephenson reads the fake scientific terms while Danny Dark (Super Friends) is the narrator. I think at this point, Frank Welker had taken over the bug voices.
Ah, snow. Haven't seen a whole lot of that this winter in the 518, but there's two months and change left to winter.
Anyway, let's go back to 1988, and this Nestle Quik (later Nesquik) ad in which the Quik Bunny (Barry Gordon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) teaches a couple of kids how to make hot Quik.
Songwriter-producer Norman Whitfield had written "Smiling Faces Sometimes" for the Temptations, who released it as a single early in 1971. A few months later, the Undisputed Truth, a vocal group formed by Whitfield in response to criticisms surrounding his use of the Temptations, covered "Sometimes", and hit #3 on the Hot 100, their lone Top 40 hit, and enough to get them on American Bandstand.
With a new movie out in theatres, it's time to revisit one of the first animated appearances of Puss in Boots, this one from Rankin-Bass' Festival of Family Classics. This one was first shown in December 1972.
Lassie's Rescue Rangers turns 50 this year. This particular episode riffs on CBS' Mission: Impossible, which was nearing the end of its run. Anyway, The Turners and the Rescue Ranger animals are sent overseas to rescue a scientist who can cure a mysterious disease. Ted Knight essays a dual role as Dr. Simpson in "Lassie's Special Assignment":
From American Bandstand's final season on ABC before moving first to syndication, then USA Network:
Jody Watley, former dancer on Soul Train, vocalist with Shalamar, struck out on her own in the winter of 1987 with her self-titled solo debut on MCA Records. Everyone remembers "Looking For a New Love":
Call it the HBO Max New Year's Massacre.
Warner Bros. Discovery, under David Zaslav, a recent graduate of the Jack Benny School of Economics, has removed more than 50 years worth of Looney Tunes cartoons, and we must assume this includes the 2003 Duck Dodgers series, produced for Cartoon Network. Seasons 4-6 of The Flintstones have been sent packing as well, and the word is, these toons ain't coming back any time soon.
Zaslav, not realizing that Benny's miser persona was just that, an act, continues to cut costs, even licensing fees the studio charges to sister companies like HBO Max. Bugs Bunny said it best.
Oh, it'll matter once HBO Max's subscriber base begins to shrink because of Zaslav taking franchises like Flintstones and Looney Tunes away from the kids.
What I think he's angling for is to goose DVD sales, so that fans can have those classics to own, rather than binge on HBO Max. But, isn't that defeating the purpose of HBO Max? Of course. Before plans to merge with Discovery Networks began taking hold last year, WB enforced their copyrights such that it's impossible to find complete episodes of Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Super Friends, et al, without being altered to avoid copyright enforcement (i.e. videos being shown with "backward" graphics). And if HBO Max is bleeding money already because of Zaslav's short-sighted approach, maybe it's time to get rid of him and his cheapjack ilk, before things get worse.
From Sesame Street comes this bouncy little number, "Pinball Number Count". Music performed by the Pointer Sisters.
We had this up before, but it was deleted. Just found a fresh copy.
From The All-New Popeye Hour:
Popeye (Jack Mercer) & Bluto (Allan Melvin) are in the Canadian Mounties (don't ask), left to guard the fort while the rest of the Mounties are chasing an escaped convict. So guess who meets the convict?
Here's "Yukon County Mountie":
Nubia was introduced to DC Comics readers in the winter of 1972-3 in the pages of Wonder Woman, as Diana returns to Paradise Island (now Themiscyria), and is shocked to discover she has a "twin sister", who has the appearance of an African-American. I Ching, Diana's mentor when she was powerless, is killed off in the same issue to create the transition.
In 1976, Mego added Nubia to their line of action figures, as part of a sub-line with Diana and her on-again-off-again beau, Steve Trevor. Check this ad:
