Cool McCool turns 60 this year. In what would be the final episode of the series, Cool (Bob McFadden) faces off with "The Moon Goon":
"Without a Vengeance" was the series finale of The Legend of Calamity Jane. As we discussed when first looking at this series, WB only aired 3 episodes before pulling the plug, while the rest of the series aired everywhere else.
Time to check in on the East Side Kids, aka The Bowery Boys.
Huntz Hall makes his debut in the series in 1941's "Bowery Blitzkrieg", in which Muggs (Leo Gorcey) steps into the boxing ring, competing in the Golden Gloves under the sponsorship of the NYPD. Keye Luke (billed as "Key" Luke) appears briefly as the owner of a pool hall.
Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (ex-Our Gang) is part of this group. Edited for broadcast when it aired on channel 5 in NYC back in the day.
It was bound to happen, sooner or later, so Hal Roach brought back some of the original members of Our Gang. including Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Joe Cobb, & Mickey Daniels, to meet Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, and the rest.
Originally titled, "Our Gang Follies of 1937", the film has since been reissued as "Reunion in Rhythm":
The title says it all, folks. Jonathan Swift's classic is parodied by Mickey Mouse as he spins a yarn for a group of orphaned mice.
"The Henpecked Duck" is Daffy Duck in this Bob Clampett farce, with Porky Pig as the presiding judge, Sara Berner voices Mrs. Duck.
Jeff Bergman has been a mainstay at Hanna-Barbera & WB for 30+ years, and recently, landed one of the biggest roles of his career, as he inherits the voice role of Mr. Potato Head in "Toy Story 5", taking over for the late Don Rickles.
This weekend, Jeff was interviewed on CBS Saturday Morning, so many of us finally got a face to go with all those voices, plus some archived footage of Mel Blanc with David Letterman.
Porky Pig stars in Friz Freleng's loose adaptation of Aesop's The Grasshopper & The Ant, "Porky's Bear Facts", as he contends with a lazy neighbor...
Many moons ago, we discussed WSBK's Mystery Theatre, which was a lead-in to The Three Stooges on Saturday mornings back in the 80's. The only two components were Charlie Chan, which we discussed back then, and Mr. Moto, our next subject.
Peter Lorre was cast as Moto, John Marquand's secret agent, now rebooted as a detective, and, in 1938's "Mr. Moto's Gamble", as a criminology professor in San Francisco. "Gamble" was originally meant to be a Chan movie, but Warner Oland had taken ill, and subsequently passed away, so the script was rewritten with Moto taking over. Lee Chan (Keye Luke) is one of Moto's students. Our supporting cast is loaded with some familiar names, including Lon Chaney, Jr., "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom, Ward Bond, Douglas Fowley, and John Hamilton, who'd also appear with Boris Karloff in a Mr. Wong film, well before Adventures of Superman.
With Independence Day, celebrating America's 250th birthday, next week, let's return to The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, as Magoo (Jim Backus, Gilligan's Island) portrays "Paul Revere":
Philbert was a hybrid live-action/animated produced by WB for ABC, which passed on it. Rather than shop it around, the studio did some editing, and reissued Philbert as a 26 minute short subject in theatres.
Had it worked, William Schallert (ex-Dobie Gillis) might not have landed a role on The Patty Duke Show in the fall of 1963. Friz Freleng not only directed the animation, but wrote the story, too, a rare case of Freleng writing for live-action.
From season 2 of The Secrets of Isis:
Buffalo native Laurette Spang, later of Battlestar Galactica, guest stars as a cheerleader who frames a teammate for cheating on a test, fearful that she won't be the leader of the team. You know how this goes.
Genndy Tartatovsky has used influences like Maurice Sendak in the past (see Samurai Jack), and some say his Emmy winning hit, Primal, draws influences from the works of Robert E. Howard.
That said, it shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that Tartatovsky is adapting Howard's most famous character, Conan The Barbarian.
Conan hasn't been adapted for animation in several years, so it'll be a fresh take, especially putting emphasis on Conan's relationship with the pirate queen Belit, which hasn't really been explored in television in the past.
Stay tooned.
With her movies airing in syndication in much of the country, actress-singer Shirley Temple signed on to host an anthology series for NBC.
Shirley Temple's Storybook only produced two seasons (1958 and 1960-1), with a lengthy gap in between. Reruns of season 1 found their way to ABC in 1959, but the series resumed first run production---in color---on NBC the next year. Henry Jaffe, who was Dinah Shore's producer, was the showrunner the first year, but in season 2, with the title change to The Shirley Temple Show, it became a network production.
With only 38 episodes produced, you can understand why it wasn't in syndication, even with the hour-long format, and the show merited an Emmy nomination after season 1.
Following is an adaptation of "Ali Baba & The Forty Thieves", with Nehemiah Persoff & a pre-Untouchables Bruce Gordon.
You all know that DePatie-Freleng was commissioned to produce the animated opens for 2 freshman series in 1965, I Dream of Jeannie (NBC) and The Wild, Wild West (CBS). Well, it turns out that CBS also asked for the studio to produce this next gem.
Rawhide had entered its final season, and was cut before the holidays. Artist Ken Mundie, who later was involved in the first Fat Albert pilot a few years later, is the man behind the sketches. Have to assume it was also Mundie who did the artwork for Wild, Wild West.
Anyway, here it is, complete with the iconic theme song, performed by Frankie Laine. They subbed in an instrumental for the closing theme.
Episodes of Baggy Pants & The Nitwits are now available on a DePatie-Freleng fan channel on YouTube.
In this example, we see Baggy Pants in "Painter's Helper", which pretty much speaks for itself, even if it is a pantomime cartoon. Then, Tyrone & Gladys (Arte Johnson & Ruth Buzzi), the Nitwits, are after "Splish Splash" (an uncredited Frank Welker). In fact, none of the other actors in the episode (i.e. John Stephenson) were credited. The series clarified that Johnson created Tyrone, at least, for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In nearly a decade earlier.
NBC had lined up a string of Flintstones primetime specials in October 1980, leading to The Flintstone Comedy Show joining the Saturday lineup weeks later.
In "Fred's Final Fling", Fred (Henry Corden) has a health scare when his x-rays are mixed up with those of Frank Frankenstone (John Stephenson; Charles Nelson Reilly would take over when they started the Saturday series). The usual chaos follows.
Edit, 6/22/26: Had to change the video. The opening & closing credits are deleted from this copy.
These days, Sesame Street is now a half-hour show, so things move even quicker than in the old days.
Since today is Father's Day, let's go back to 2017, and see how Elmo, Rosita, Abby, & Prairie Dawn prepare for the day.
"The Pinballs" is based on a novel by Betsy Byars, the latest one to be adapted for the ABC Afterschool Special. Kristy McNichol (Family) top-lines with Sparky Marcus (2 years before Bad News Bears) and Walter Brooke (ex-The Green Hornet) co-starring.
Colleges had their commencements last month, and so did some high schools in various parts of the country. Here in the Northeast, high school commencements will be in full swing next week.
With that in mind, we present the 2-part season 4 finale of The Facts of Life, as Blair (Lisa Whelchel) & Jo (Nancy McKeon, also heard on The Puppy's New Adventures) graduate from Eastland. TV vets Alex Rocco (ex-Three For The Road) and Marj Dusay guest star.
Ah, the good old days of wrestling, when your weekend programming consisted of jobber matches filling out an hour of action, mostly as an infomercial for pending shows in the broadcast area.
Pete Doherty, aka "The Duke of Dorchester", in reference to his Massachusetts hometown, was one of the more famous jobbers, working for the 3WF, and getting a bone tossed his way with a win in front of the partisans every so often. Doherty retired from the ring in 1997, and was inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010.
From 1980, Pete has his work cut out for him against Andre The Giant. Joe McHugh's intro is already in progress as the video begins.
From season 5 of The Flintstones:
Fred & Wilma (Alan Reed & Jean VanderPyl) and Barney & Betty (Mel Blanc & Gerry Johnson) are sent to the future, specifically, the 1964 New York World's Fair, then backwards to other periods in this compilation from the episode, "Time Machine". Comes with closing credits of the period.
The Facts of Life, spun off from Diff'rent Strokes, got a head start on the rest of the NBC lineup by launching in August 1979, although after the first four weeks, the series was placed on hiatus until the following spring, during which time, the producers began to overhaul the cast.
In the opener, "Rough Housing", Blair (Lisa Whelchel) thinks she has it in the bag as the Harvest Queen, but is jealous when Cindy (Julie Ann Haddock) is nominated instead. The Strokes cast (Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, & Dana Plato) guest star.
From season 1 of The Munsters:
Love starved Grandpa (Al Lewis) meets a "widow" who is really a con artist.
The real surprise is that of Neil Hamilton, later of Batman, as the other half of this team of scammers........
It's just too bad that NBC-Universal is enforcing its copyrights, so that only excerpts can be shown, like this one.
Inspired by the success of their Chatty Cathy figures, Mattel took things a step further, creating a learning tool for kids with See 'n' Say. A child could pick something with a pointer on the face of the toy, pull the string, and hear what he/she wants to hear.
For example, let's check this ad for The Farmer Says:
The title says it all, as Superman (Bud Collyer) discovers a race of Hawk-Men in "The Underground World":
Another day, another Spectra attempt at conquering Earth, this time with "Super Space Spies". Not if G-Force has anything to say about it in this Battle of The Planets entry, which includes a pre-episode teaser narrated by Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends), who is also heard as one of Zoltar's soldiers.
From season 1 of The Flintstones:
Barney (Mel Blanc) buys Betty (Bea Benaderet) an engagement ring (??), and has Fred (Alan Reed) hold it for safekeeping. Wilma (Jean VanderPyl) finds the ring, and assumes Fred bought it for her. Uh-oh!! Now, Fred, who doesn't have the money to buy a 2nd ring, talks Barney into an exhibition boxing match with the champ. The girls ask the champ's manager to let Barney win the fight, but Barney's clowning proves costly. Believing they've been double-crossed, welllllllll......
After we've previously screened two celebrity-centric episodes of Junior Partner Pyramid, let's serve up one with kids and their parents. This aired on a Friday, as at the end of the show (closing credits were partially edited), they plugged the Saturday night lineup.
We all know Rory Raccoon was a supporting character who had one of the rotating features on Linus The Lionhearted. While Bob McFadden voiced Rory on the show, the commercials Rory did for Post Toasties have Mel Blanc subbing for McFadden.
Here, Rory thwarts Claudius Crow......
Casting has been completed for Netflix's forthcoming Scooby-Doo: Origins, with Nick Robinson & McKenna Grace among the stars.
The final casting was for Scooby himself, and, well, here he is.....
Stay tuned.
We had this up before, then it was deleted.
Now, the estate of Fred Rogers has started their own YouTube channel, and so, we represent the series premiere of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
From season 5 of The Flintstones:
Fred (Alan Reed) is up to his neck in trouble with both wife Wilma (Jean VanderPyl) and the Water Buffalo Lodge when Bedrock's only caterer mixes up two parties scheduled for the same night. A clown, meant for Pebbles' party, ends up at the lodge, and a jazz band and the Boulderettes show up at the Flintstone house, as you'll see in this excerpt:
60 years ago, the Kinks released "Sunny Afternoon", which didn't quite reach the top of the charts here in the US, although it did in England & Ireland. This anniversary video has a mix of styles, including those of Peter Max & Terry Gilliam. Max, of course, did the character designs for the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" 2 years later.
I think we had this one up before, but it was taken down. It's back, but for how long, who can say?
Wonder Wheels is at "The County Fair" to foil a larcenous duo of thieves, one of whom is also competing in a motocross race.
In Disney's adaptation of "Aladdin", Broadway star Lea Salonga teamed with Brad Kane to perform "A Whole New World", which the two would perform live at the Oscars in 1993. Disney, instead of having Kane & Salonga's version released as a single, turned to Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle to cover "World", which hit #1 on the Hot 100.
Filmation wasn't interested in a modern, though loose, adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, but felt that a "Commander Nemo" (promoted from Captain) would make a good villain for the Space Sentinels.
The plot: Nemo (an uncredited Lou Scheimer) is trying to solve the earth's pollution problem. Unfortunately, the means to accomplish this goal are wrong, and attracts the attention of the Sentinels.
From season 1 of The All-New Popeye Hour:
Popeye (Jack Mercer) and Bluto (Allan Melvin) are in a steeplechase race after Olive (Marilyn Schreffler) inherits a horse. Well, you know how this goes.
The "Secret Agent" in this Superman short is a blonde stunner carrying important papers. Pretty much a by-the-numbers adventure..........
10 years ago, the surviving Monkees recorded "Good Times!", which marks its 10th anniversary this year with a double-CD reissue, and the release of the single, "Me & Magdalena", presented as an animated music video.
"Magdalena" was written by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), with Mike Nesmith on vocals. Davy Jones, who'd passed on 4 years before the album's release, is depicted in the video in the tour bus.
Micky Dolenz (ex-Funky Phantom, Devlin, Wonder Wheels) is the lone surviving Monkee today, with the passing of Nesmith & Peter Tork.
Before there was Daisy Duck, there was Donna Duck.
Donna is the love interest of Donald Duck in 1937's "Don Donald", which has both south of the border, or so it'd seem, and a lovers' quarrel is at the center of this short.
Back when the Disney Channel was a premium service, they mined the Disney vaults to develop original series based on existing properties.
One such example was Dumbo's Circus. More than 40 years after the movie, Dumbo has grown up to own his own circus, teaching the kids about circus life. The series marked the return of ex-Mouseketeer Sharon Baird to Disney, and she brought with her some of her colleagues from her days with the Kroffts, including Van Snowden, Patty Mahoney (ex-Far Out Space Nuts), and voice actor Walker Edmiston, who'd done some projects for Disney previously, as did Hal Smith.
Let's check a sample episode:
DePatie-Freleng's superhero spoof, The Super Six, marks its 50th anniversary this year. In this episode, you'll see:
Super Bwoing in "Easy Kid Stuff". The "apprentice" lands a babysitting gig. With predictable results.
The Brothers Matzoriley vs. "Dirty Pierre".
Granite Man in "Cement Mix-Up":
While Woody Woodpecker was shifting between syndication and network runs in the 70's, Kellogg's brought him back, this time to shill for Sugar (now Corn) Pops.
Here, Woody's on the beach with a couple of kids.......
The mid-60's, we know, brought new ideas to Warner Bros..
One of those was 1964's "Bartholomew Versus The Wheel", about a dog who has a beef with wheels after a scooter runs over his tail. Mel Blanc provides the vocal effects for Bartholomew, the cat, and assorted others, while Leslie Barringer is credited as the narrator.
Directed by Robert McKimson.
"Those who fail to remember history are condemned to repeat it."--George Santayana.
Perhaps inspired by Disney's Spidey & His Amazing Friends, Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. division will launch Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, airing on the network's YouTube channel this summer.
Like, what's next? April O'Neil as the boys' babysitter?
Pass the Pepto.
Friz Freleng had a little fun with science fiction and the then-modern technology of the 60's with 1962's "The Jet Cage", starring Tweety & Sylvester. For once, June Foray (Rocky & His Friends) shares screen credit with Mel Blanc (The Flintstones, The Jack Benny Program).
Here's an operatic Mighty Mouse short without Oil Can Harry or Pearl Pureheart. Instead, our damsel is Suzette Mouse, coveted by a feline king, or, as the title implies, "The Crackpot King":
From season 9 of Happy Days:
Fonzie (Henry Winkler) & Al DelVecchio (Al Molinaro) take a trip to Alabama, and discover just how much racism is prevalent in the South in the early 60's. In a speech, Al reveals he'd been in the restaurant business for some 25 years, meaning he'd started in the late 30's!
"Southern Crossing", first shown in January 1982, was the 2nd episode of the series to address racism, the first having aired nearly 7 years earlier.
Al's speech is the climax of this clip.
Hasbro's Romper Room line of toys came out with its answer to Play-Doh with the Do-Bee Dough Machine, released in 1970.
Nearly 30 years after the FCC banned cigarette commercials, the staff of Pinky & The Brain decided to poke fun at the tobacco industry........
From season 2 of Kids Incorporated:
Future Wild Orchid singers Stacy Ferguson & Renee Sands are featured on a cover of the JoBoxers' 1983 hit, "Just Got Lucky":
We had this next item before, but it was deleted. This is also at The Land of Whatever.
The early success of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In led to George Schlatter & Ed Friendly being commissioned to produce a series of unrelated specials for NBC, plus a game show spin-off from Laugh-In, hence, Letters to Laugh-In. Gary Owens pulls double duty as host & announcer. Our panel in this sampler has Laugh-In co-host Dan Rowan, series regular Jo Anne Worley, plus Jack E. Leonard and Angie Dickinson, then known more for movies, well before Police Woman.
The first joke, read by Worley, comes from a local viewer out of Saratoga. Cool!
It had been nearly 30 years since Procter & Gamble had introduced the Crest Team in a series of popular commercials, narrated by veteran actor Jackson Beck. Since then, P & G had acquired Gillette, which, in turn, had expanded their line to include the Oral-B brand of toothbrushes.
With Crest now a secondary brand of mouthwash, in addition to its line of toothpaste, P & G commissioned a new animation house to produce this nearly 8 minute video for schools. Meet, then, the Dental Defenders:
From season 2 of the 1st Spider-Man animated series:
The Scarf, not to be confused with a villain from the live-action Green Hornet 2 years earlier, comes across as a minor league Mysterio wanna-be with his tricks. Let's see how Spider-Man handles him.
UPA thought it'd be a cool idea to pair up Mr. Magoo (Jim Backus) with Gerald McBoing-Boing in a short released in 1960.
The plot: Magoo is called in as an emergency babysitter for Gerald, and confuses the sound effect issuing from Gerald's throat for real sounds.
Jabberwocky is a Boston children's television legend, even though the series lasted just 2 years in first run programming. Clips like this next item have surfaced on YouTube, so let's check it out.
With a new He-Man & The Masters of The Universe comic book coming from Dark Horse, it's time we went back to Eternia and season 1 of the original series. Here's "The Cosmic Comet":
While Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines lasted just 1 season of 1st run episodes, the backup feature, Magnificent Muttley, a parody of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", became an even bigger cult classic. Each shortie was a parody of something.
We previously screened the opener, "Muttley on The Bounty", but now, rather than track down the rest, we've got the whole shebang in a 40+ minute package, for the most part, as with the lead feature, a 2-man show (Paul Winchell & Don Messick).
By the end of the 50's, UPA was in trouble. Their distribution deal with Columbia had ended, and Columbia had moved on to work with Hanna-Barbera. Gerald McBoing-Boing was slowly being rejected by movie-goers, even with a crossover with Mr. Magoo.
So, the studio, with United Artists as a prospective new distributor, tried selling a new set of characters to networks or syndication. Bric & Brac, a rabbit & a mole, to be particular, were introduced in "Bric's Stew", which was pitched in 1960, though it had been copyrighted a year earlier. Ever-busy Dallas McKennon handled all the voices for this Harvey Toombs-directed short.
Spider-Man (Paul Soles) has a rematch with power-mad Dr. Octopus, who steals a weapon intended for government use. Of course, J. Jonah Jameson wastes little time trying to tie Spidey to the theft he'd failed to prevent.
Herb Klynn & Format Films (The Lone Ranger, The Alvin Show) took over the animation for Speedy Gonzales with 1967's "Quacker Tracker". If the plot sounds familiar, well, WB also did a similar plot with Cool Cat.
Steely Dan lit up the stage on The Midnight Special in August 1973 with "Reelin' in The Years".
Our Gang hits the golf course in 1936's "Divot Diggers". The fun really starts when Spanky & Buckwheat become the world's youngest caddies........
Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors was MTV's last contribution to the wrestling business.
The series aired on Friday nights and, at first, Saturday afternoons on MTV2. Season 2 Saturday replays aired in the morning, hence its inclusion here.
Lalo Gonzalez & Nigel Sherrod were the announcers, with Sherrod doubling as ring announcer, in season 1. When the series returned, ex-WWE announcers Kevin Kelly & Todd (Steve) Romero took over. However, Romero didn't last long, and when the series transitioned to Hulu to finish the season, ex-WWE, ECW, & TNA wrestler Stevie Richards took over on color. By season's end, Alex Abrahantes, recently released by AEW, replaced Kelly.
The roster was stocked with ex-TNA, WCW, & WWE talent, including Marco Corleone (Mark Jindrak), Tigresa Caliente (Trenesha Biggers, formerly with TNA), Petey Williams (now a WWE producer), and Chi Chi (Allan Funk, aka Kwee-Wee in WCW & Bruce in TNA). It wasn't until Robert Rodriguez bankrolled Lucha Underground in 2014 that the lucha style finally caught on with American audiences once more.
Let's take you back to the series opener.
From CBS Storybreak:
Allen Andrews' novel, The Pig Plantagenet was adapted by TV & comics writer Mark Evanier for Hanna-Barbera Australia. Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo) is the series host.
Black Adam (Lou Scheimer) makes his 2nd & final appearance in "A Little Something Extra", as he tries tricking the Marvels. Yeah, good luck with that.
Today, Rick Monday is a radio announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 50 years ago, he was an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs, who were finishing a weekend series at Dodger Stadium.
On this day in 1976, two men attempted to burn the US flag. Monday was having none of that. Vin Scully calls it.
Shari Lewis followed up Hi, Mom with The Shari Show, which ran for 3 seasons on NBC (1960-3). At the time, Howdy Doody had been airing six days a week, but when the show was ending, NBC decided to replace it with Shari on Saturdays.
Ronald Radd plays Mr. Goodfellow. During the series run, Fred Gwynne, who'd move on to Car 54, Where Are You?, and, then, The Munsters, appeared as Lamb Chop's personal physician.
In this sampler, it's Charlie Horse's birthday......
In memory of singer-songwriter Dave Mason, who passed away earlier this week, we present a performance of "We Just Disagree", from The Midnight Special:
That lovable loser, Wile E. Coyote, will have his day in court against ACME after all.
"Coyote vs. ACME", co-written by James Gunn, was rescued from the WB scrap heap by Ketchup Entertainment, which will release the movie on August 28. Will Forte & John Cena are among the human stars.
If this connects with enough people at the theatres, David Zaslav will look even more like a tool than before. Scope the trailer:
"The Unhandy Man" is Charlie Beary (Paul Frees), who thinks he can save money on a garage door opener by improvising his own, frustrating his wife, Bessie (Grace Stafford).
Frees is also our announcer at the start of the short.
Pooch The Pup was one of Walter Lantz's first creations for Universal. Pooch appeared in 13 shorts total, the pentultimate of which was 1933's "King Klunk", a parody of "King Kong", in which Pooch and his girlfriend, Poodles, travel to Africa.....
From the "Lethal Weapon 3" soundtrack:
Rock legends Eric Clapton & Elton John team up for "Runaway Train", one of two singles featuring Clapton on the soundtrack ("It's Probably Me", with Sting, is the other).
Posted last month at The Land of Whatever, but with fresh text.
After The Addams Family ended, Jackie Coogan began taking on character roles, including a series of guest roles as heavies or villains.
One such role brought him onto The Brady Bunch for his 2nd & final series appearance during season 3 in 1972. Coogan plays a man who gets into an accident with Carol (Florence Henderson), and shows up in court with a neck brace, claiming whiplash. The Bradys' testimony, including tricking him into proving he wasn't injured, exposes the scam before the judge (Robert Emhardt).
Following is the climatic courtroom scene, which must've felt like old home week for Robert Reed (ex-The Defenders):
Bro', you were outnumbered right from the go.
After spinning out of What a Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons, Dexter's Laboratory turns 30 this year.
In "Jurassic Pooch", Dexter uses the family dog's DNA to resurrect a dinosaur. Chaos, of course, follows, especially after dumb as a doorknob Dee Dee decides to take the "new pet" for a walk.....
We learned earlier today of the passing of Sid Krofft at 96. In his memory, we present the series premiere of his most infamous creation, H. R. Pufnstuf, in which Jimmy (Jack Wild, "Oliver!") and his sentient flute, Freddy, arrive at the Living Island.
The performers in costumes include ex-Mousketeer Sharon Baird, and Felix Silla (ex-The Addams Family).
From season 2 of the ABC Weekend Special:
Film legend Butterfly McQueen made a rare television appearance in "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody", the season 2 opener. McQueen is a fairy godmother that the title character (Star-Shemah) sees on her television.
Garrett Morris (Saturday Night Live) co-stars, plus a cameo of Monty Hall from Let's Make a Deal.
Today, if you or I were delinquent in paying rent, we'd already be evicted and/or homeless.
90 years ago, Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck were facing eviction for being 6 months behind on rent. Sheriff Pete is authorized to sell their belongings for collateral, but the boys have an answer for that on "Moving Day":
From season 2 of Zorro (1990's series):
Don Alejandro (Henry Darrow, ex-Zorro & Son, High Chaparral) is reunited with his old unit to hunt down an outlaw. Zorro (Duncan Regehr) provides some covert assistance.
With a week to go before the deadline for tax returns, Turbo Tax decided to liven things up with a partially animated karaoke ad, currently in heavy rotation.....
Hanging on to episodes of Jana of The Jungle can be dicey.
A YouTube poster has managed to package together four episode blocks of the 1978 series, and these four were, as standalone entries, recently removed from YouTube. They are:
"The Golden Idol of The Gorgas", with Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends) as a native chief.
"Katuchi Danger".
"The Cordillera Volcano".
"The Animal Snatchers".
All but "The Cordillera Volcano" have their original title cards.
Correspondent Steven Dolce tipped me to this next item.
Tyco introduced Gorzak to a consumer world that may not have been waiting in 1994. I say that because the product didn't survive the decade.
After leaving Rankin-Bass, Romeo Muller struck out on his own, and one of his last projects as an independent producer was 1983's Peter & The Magic Egg. Muller borrowed the R-B formula of using a name actor as his lead, in this case, Ray Bolger, who narrates the tale as Amos the Egg. The rest of the cast includes Bob Holt, Joan Gerber, Russi Taylor, Robert Ridgely, and Al Eisenmann, brother of 70's & 80's star Ike Eisenmann.
It's been a while since we checked in on the Chucklewood Critters, featuring Buttons & Rusty. From 1986, here's "A Chucklewood Easter":
From season 5 of Family Matters:
Steve Urkel (Jaleel White, Sonic The Hedgehog) is put on trial in the school cafeteria when he is accused of blowing up the school lab by a jealous rival. Laura (Kellie Shangyne-Williams) acts as Urkel's lawyer, while the accuser, Dexter Thornhill (Robert Laughlin), is also the prosecutor, which proves to be his first mistake.
His last one? Laura shows us.
Seals & Crofts performed "Diamond Girl" on The Midnight Special in 1973. There's more from this same show that we'll play down the road.
In May 1978, ABC decided to try a sweeps stunt with American Bandstand, just to show that the ratings sweeps periods didn't leave out Saturday daytime.
Donna Summer is the guest co-host, joining Dick Clark for an all-disco show, including some of Donna's own songs.
Donald Duck alone on a dude ranch. You'd think this vacation would go smoothly, but when the horse assigned to him doesn't want him to ride, well, chaos ensues.
Clarence Nash not only voices Donald, but does the vocal effects for the horses and....well, that would be telling. June Foray performs the women's voices.
Character actor Henry Corden didn't move into cartoon work, I think, until after he'd appeared in this 1961 episode of The Lawless Years.
Henry's toon credits include The Flintstones, The Hillbilly Bears, Thundarr The Barbarian, and a collection of guest roles. I think he used the voice from this episode, "The Victor Gorido Story", in one of those cartoon gigs.
We had this next item before, but it was taken down, and has been reloaded to YouTube.
Web Woman meets Tsetse, a man turned into a man-fly.
Archie Comics, it appears, now has its own YouTube channel, or at least a fan-operated one. This one has no full episodes of 1971's Archie's TV Funnies, but a compilation of Dick Tracy shorts from the series (some standalone videos are incomplete). In this collection, Dick (John Erwin) is after:
88 Keys, recently rebooted in the current comic book from Mad Cave as an Irish musician-turned-would-be-vigilante (Either Erwin or Dallas McKennon).
The Mole (Howard Morris, since the voice is similar to Morris' characterization of Dilton Doiley).
Pruneface (McKennon).
Flattop (McKennon), in a short we've previously screened.
Mumbles (McKennon) & Stooge Viller (McKennon or Erwin or Morris), also in a previously screened short. Filmation, for some reason, gave Viller a new name.
Wikipedia's entry on the series is also incomplete, which is why I have to guess on a couple of the villains.
Let your mind travel back to the days of Hanna-Barbera's line of "super adventure" series in the mid-60's. Space Ghost. Frankenstein, Jr. & The Impossibles. Birdman. Shazzan. The Fantastic Four. The Herculoids. The Adventures of Gulliver. Moby Dick & Mightor. Sinbad, Jr..
Ted Nichols had taken over as H-B's musical director while Hoyt Curtin left to pursue other opportunities. The above named adventure series, plus comedies like Space Kidettes and Wacky Races, all bore Nichols' signature sound.
Rest in peace.
From Family Guy:
The Griffin family heads out on a road trip, but, rather than do some typical sing-a-long's, Peter (Seth MacFarlane) breaks into a cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose", from the movie of the same name. Soon, Lois, Meg, & Chris (Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, & Seth Green) join in.
March Madness means a new set of Capital One commercials with Samuel L. Jackson joined by Charles Barkley (Inside The NBA), and, in this spot, Jennifer Garner (ex-Alias), and another NBA & NCAA legend in Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who replaces Spike Lee in the troupe. I think Spike is directing.
Well, it could've been worse. We could've gotten Stephen A. Smith trying to sing. Barkley's definitely a golden throat........
As a founding member of the heel tag team Midnight Express, Dennis Condrey was a decorated wrestler in the 80's, winning the NWA tag titles with Bobby Eaton under the leadership of motormouth manager Jim Cornette.
Condrey left the team in the mid-80's when he left the NWA, then returned with Randy Rose as the Original Midnight Express, first in the AWA, then back in the NWA, with Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman), a Cornette clone at the time, except that his weapon of choice was a cordless phone as opposed to Cornette's tennis racquet.
We are sad to report that Condrey, 74, who last appeared at an AEW event a couple of years ago as a guest of FTR, has passed away. Following is an angle from Mid-South Wrestling, circa 1984, involving Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling II:
Abbott & Costello are bound for the moon to stop Super Terror (Don Messick). Here's "Luna Tricks". The open & close are edited off, and the title card is not the original. I think.
A year after Popeye was matched vs. Sindbad, the sailor met "Ali Baba & His 40 Thieves", except that in the context of the story, Ali Baba's name has been changed to Abu Hassan (Gus Wickie). I've lost track of how many times I'd seen this in syndication in the 70's & 80's.
Begorra! 'Tis back to Ireland we go as St. Patrick's Day draws to a close, as we learn about "Leprechauns' Gold":
Barney Bear just didn't get enough love from MGM.
In effect, he was the antithesis of other stars of his era. He was always made to look like a fool, even as a protagonist, such as in 1953's "Cobs & Robbers", a remake of Dick Lundy's 1945 Andy Panda entry, "Crow Crazy".
Luckily, when Spire Christian Comics obtained a license to use Barney in the 70's & 80's in a series of 1-shots, he finally was a winner.
Here's "Cobs & Robbers":
Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd are out west in 1942's "The Wacky Wabbit". Elmer (Arthur Q. Bryan) is looking for gold out in the desert. Bugs? Welllllll......
Deadline is reporting that Fox has greenlit a spinoff from Family Guy that will feature the youngest of the Griffins' three children.
Stewie has already received a two season order from Fox, adding to series creator Seth MacFarlane's already sizeable workload.
Time will tell if this will be another hit, or if the Family Guy franchise has jumped the shark.
Stay tooned.
Filmmaker Frank Tashlin released a picture book in 1946, The Bear That Wasn't. If you're like me, and you'd never heard of this tale before today, I don't blame you.
In 1967, Chuck Jones adapted Tashlin's story into an animated short for MGM, with Paul Frees doing all the voices.
5 years before he became an icon as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, James Arness guest stars in this season 1 episode of The Lone Ranger, appearing as Deputy Bud Titus, who gives up his badge to go bounty hunting for a couple of outlaws, who are also being tracked by the Ranger (Clayton Moore).......
For 12 years, Willie George brought viewers a Western with a twist with The Gospel Bill Show, which has aired on CBN & TBN during the course of its history. The series originally aired from 1981-93. Substituting the Bible for common frontier justice, Gospel Bill (George) was the chief lawman in the fictional town of Dry Gulch, with Nicodemus (Ken Blount) as his sidekick, Festus to Bill's Matt Dillon, if you will.
Anyway, evangelist Kenneth Copeland guest stars in this offering as reformed outlaw Wichita Slim.
From the Fleischers' Talkartoon series comes "Barnacle Bill", with Bimbo in the title role. During this period, Betty Boop (Margie Hines) has more of a canine appearance, before her evolution into the icon we would know.
Anyway, Bimbo gives himself a shore leave so he can see "Nancy Lee" (Betty).
From the ABC Weekend Special:
Ruby-Spears' "Bad Cat" was the season finale for the 1983-4 season. Bart Braverman (ex-Vega$) leads an all-star cast that also includes Alan Young (ex-Mister Ed, Battle of The Planets), Hal Smith, Judy Strangis, Jon Bauman (one of his first toon jobs), Steve Spears (ex-Space Stars), and Marvin Kaplan (Alice, ex-Top Cat). Not sure if Steve was Ken Spears' son.
KC & The Sunshine Band heralded the launch of the disco era in the mid-70's, and "Get Down Tonight" landed them on The Midnight Special.
From season 1 of Alvin & The Chipmunks:
It was the 80's, after all. The MTV generation gave rise to a new group of female artists, including groups like the Go-Go's and the Bangles, and solo stars like Kim Wilde.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. & his wife, Janice Karman, decided that Alvin & the Chipmunks would have female counterparts in response. Enter The Chipettes.
In the season 1 premiere, following a team-up with Mr. T, whose animated series would debut later in the morning, Alvin, Simon, & Theodore met Brittany, Jeannette, & Eleanor (all voiced by Karman). A chance meeting after the girls, billed as the Chipmunks, are booked at a hotel, which gets David Seville (Bagdasarian) all confused.
Over the course of the series, we'd meet the girls' adoptive parent, Beatrice Miller (Dody Goodman, "Grease", ex-Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), who would also care for the guys when Dave was away.
The title card for this episode was edited off.
From The Archie Show:
Jughead gets a dance named after him, which he & Hot Dog demonstrate. Next, the band performs "Boys & Girls":
Begorra! St. Patrick's Day is 2 weeks away, and, so, we'll set the ball a'rollin' with Paramount's 1947 tale, "The Wee Men". Jackson Beck voices all the characters.
Chip 'n' Dale have set up shop in a tree next door to the zoo. A stray peanut flies into their hands while collecting acorns, prompting the two to head to the zoo to see what they can do, which doesn't sit well with either Donald Duck or the elephant he's caring for.......! Part of the open was edited off for copyright reasons.
Neil Sedaka took "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen" to #6 on the Hot 100 in 1961. 3 years later, he brought the song back on American Bandstand. The clip opens with Charlie O'Donnell bringing us back from commercial.
Jules White's 1954 Three Stooges Western, "Shot in The Frontier", is a send-up of the classic Gary Cooper oater, "High Noon", which helped put director Stanley Kramer on the map in Hollywood.
Anyway, the boys recently got married, but soon discover a trio of outlaws have taken a liking to their brides. Emil Sitka didn't get credit as a justice of the peace this time (He played the same role in "Brideless Groom" a few years earlier), and Shemp stand-in Joe Palma is one of the outlaws.
From season 1 of CBS Storybreak comes a much different version of Cinderella, one that, according to host Bob Keeshan, takes place 1000 years before the Brothers Grimm's legendary, oft-adapted tale.
Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story From China, features the talents of George Takei, Brian Tochi, & Michael Bell, among others.
Friz Freleng's take on the Three Little Pigs gets mashed up with a Brahams composition in 1943's "Pigs in a Polka", which has a Big Bad Wolf (Mel Blanc) with a Brooklyn accent. Seems he failed the same elocution course that Bugs Bunny passed. And, danged if one of the triplets doesn't resemble Porky Pig (who should've been the star of this one). And, yeah, the open recalls "A Corny Concerto" from a couple of years earlier.
Following is a Blue Ribbon reissue.
