Spooktober: The Ghost Busters vs. the ghosts of an Egyptian queen & her mummy (1975)

 One big reason why Ghost Busters flopped the way it did as a live action series was the ham-handed writing of series creator Marc Richards, who apparently couldn't be bothered with proper context in his scripts, which is why most of the episodes came off as being, well, amateur night, despite the talent involved.

One case in point is the adventure of an Egyptian queen's ghost (Barbara Rhodes) and her mummy bodyguard, who wasn't exactly a menace.

This video comes complete with commercials, including a spot promoting CBS' lineup that we pulled a long while ago, and a Crest commercial with Arthur O'Connell. Jackson Beck narrates the spot for Ideal's Evel Knievel toys.

You may need to turn up the volume for this one.

Game Time: A complete episode of Hollywood/Storybook Squares (1976)

 The revival of Storybook Squares began in the summer of '76 on Hollywood Squares. The gameplay format had change to allow three generations of families to play the game.

This time around, the rules were bent to allow for William Shatner to reprise as Captain James T. Kirk (Star Trek), while the rest of the panel were in costume as various characters such as:

John Byner as the Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland). Byner paid homage to Disney's adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic by impersonating Ed Wynn, who voiced the Hatter in the movie.

Bonnie Franklin (One Day At a Time) as Peter Pan.

Rip Taylor as Rip Van Winkle.

Roddy McDowell as Sherlock Holmes.

Doc Severinson (The Tonight Show) as the Angel Gabriel.

Julie McWhirter (fresh from The Rich Little Show) reworked the Family Hour Fairy into the Good Fairy.

Joan Rivers as Little Red Riding Hood.

Charo as Lady Godiva.

Paul Lynde missed this week of tapings due to other commitments, hence Byner occupying the center square.

Retro Toy Chest: Remember Tiny Tears? (1960)

 An independent toy maker released Tiny Tears around 1960, and to best sell the product, hired ventriloquist Shari Lewis to pitch the product, with help from Lamb Chop:

Tiny Tears would stick around for a while, well into the 70's, if memory serves me correctly.

Sunday Funnies: Pies & Guys (1958)

 The Three Stooges were nearing the end of their run at Columbia. "Pies & Guys" is the 2nd time they had revisited "Hoi Polloi" (1947's "Half-Wits Holiday" being the other), as two professors try to assimilate the boys into society. Chaos, of course, ensues.

From Primetime to Daytime: McHale's Navy vs. Nippon Nancy (1963)

 From season 1 of McHale's Navy:

"Nippon Nancy" (voice of Julie Bennett) gets under the skin, not so much of McHale and his crew, but Capt. Binghamton (Joe Flynn, ex-The Joey Bishop Show).

I'll bet anything that today, a certain demagogue would find Nancy's voice to be soothing......

Getting Schooled: And The Band Played Off (Shining Time Station, 1989)

 From season 1 of Shining Time Station:

Stacy (Didi Conn, ex-Benson, Fonz & The Happy Days Gang) makes a mistake, leading to a passenger missing his train. Mr. Conductor (Ringo Starr) and the kids offer some assistance. Soap star Mart Hulswit (Guiding Light) guest stars in "And The Band Played Off":

Yesterday was Ringo's birthday, so I thought we'd do this instead of putting up one of his videos.

Summertainment: Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941)

 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.

You Know The Voice: Jeff Bergman (2026)

 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.

Saturtainment: Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)

 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.

I only remember seeing portions of this on WSBK.

Getting Schooled: Graduation (The Facts of Life, 1983)

 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.

Look quick for future voice actors Loren Lester (who was heard later on GI Joe & Batman: The Animated Series) and Laura Summer (later of The Real Ghostbusters) in guest roles as well.

You Know The Voice: Gary Owens (1969)

 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!

Leonard had some voiceover credit doing Alpha-Bits commercials before the mailman character was replaced by Lovable Truly. Worley got into cartoons later on (i.e. The Wuzzles).

Saturtainment: The Shari Show (1960)

 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......

I never got to see the show, and I was born during the 3rd season. 

From Primetime to Daytime: Alejandro Rides Again (Zorro, 1991)

 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.

Darrow's casting, replacing Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. at the start of season 2, marked the 3rd different iteration of Zorro for the actor, as he'd voiced the hero in Filmation's adaptation 10 years earlier. Unsurprisingly, Sgt. Mendoza (James Victor, ex-Viva Valdez) happily accepts credit for the bust, and brags to a disbelieving group of party guests afterward.

You Know The Voice: Henry Corden (1961)

 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.

From Primetime to Daytime: A primer on what to do at an auction (The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1963)

 From season 3:

Alan Reed (The Flintstones) plays an auctioneer at an art auction that Rob (Dick Van Dyke), Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), Sally (Rose Marie), and Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) attend. Howard Morris and Ray Kellogg, the latter would soon be on Hazel, also appear in "The Masterpiece":

From Primetime to Daytime: Goodbye, Mr. Hip (Room 222, 1970)

 From season 1 of Room 222:

Ever-busy Bernie Kopell (That Girl, Get Smart, The Doris Day Show) guests as a teacher who tries to connect with his students by adopting a hipster persona, which seems to have won over Alice (Karen Valentine).

Directed by Terry Becker (ex-Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea):

Getting Schooled: The Skating Rink (ABC Afterschool Special, 1975)

 Here's a seasonally appropriate Afterschool Special.

"The Skating Rink" stars Rance Howard (Ron & Clint's dad), Stewart Peterson, radio & cartoon personality Jerry Dexter (ex-Gomer Pyle, USMC, Josie & The Pussycats), and, in one of his earliest roles, Sparky Marcus (later the voice of Richie Rich).

Producer Martin Tahse became a go-to for ABC in the mid-to-late 70's, producing films for the Afterschool Special and, later, Weekend Special.

No rating. Just a public service.

Game Time: Bet ya didn't know Shari Lewis knew something about magic, too! (To Tell The Truth, 1977)

 I think you could tell To Tell The Truth was nearing the end of its 1st syndicated run in 1977 when they started doing stunt casting like they did a decade earlier near the end of the CBS run.

In game 1, ventriloquist Shari Lewis introduces viewers to her magician father, Abraham Hurwitz. Lamb Chop introduces moderator Joe Garagiola, and after the game, a little magic trick with father & daughter.

I guess this explains why Shari was cast as Honey Halfwitch in a series of shorts in the 60's, starting her cartoon career.

From Primetime to Daytime: "Maynard" rocks out for Danny Thomas (well, it's not Maynard, but......)(1964)

 Just a few months before the launch of Gilligan's Island, Bob Denver, who'd previously showcased his singing ability on The Andy Griffith Show, sits in with the Beau Jives in the series finale of The Danny Thomas Show

The episode, "The Persistent Cop", opens with Rusty (Rusty Hamer) & Louise, the Williams family's maid (Amanda Randolph), playing drums & piano, respectively. A police officer (Allan Melvin, a few months away from Gomer Pyle, USMC & Magilla Gorilla) is trying to convince Danny to audition the Beau Jives for the Tropicana.

Denver with an electric guitar?!? Rad, man. Who knew?

Of course, Bob was miming, but what if he really did have the talent? He did sing in the movie, "Those Who Think Young", also in 1964, but never did on Gilligan.

From Primetime to Daytime: A lesson on self-esteem (McHale's Navy, 1963)

 Ensign Parker (Tim Conway) is assigned by Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn) to teach self-defense to a new corps of nurses. Girl-shy Parker bumbles this assignment, but at least one nurse seems to have her eyes on him.

Joyce Bulifant guest stars in "Today, I Am a Man!":

More than a decade later, Joyce would be reunited with Gavin MacLeod (Happy) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.