Saturtainment: Up, Up, & Away (1974)

 Many thanks to fellow blogger G. Jack Urso for the tip to this next item.

Locally produced children's programs, sadly, have a short shelf life. WRGB had the Laugh-a-Lot Club, for example. Future Emmy winner Ted Knight was a morning host (and maybe afternoons, too) on WTEN. WAST (now WNYT) had singer Betty George and her pet, Moo, hosting a mid-morning movie program meant for the whole family.

But channel 13 had something else that, until I ran across Mr. Urso's blog this morning, I didn't know about.

In November 1974, the station launched Up, Up, & Away, and, yes, the title was taken from the 5th Dimension's hit of the same name, as well as a catchphrase associated with Superman.

The half hour was hosted by Rosco & Mac and magician Bob Carroll. As noted in the ad above, the series launched on a Saturday night. My best guess is that WAST added or moved the show to Fridays in place of Munsters reruns to grab the after-school crowd. As Mr. Urso noted, the series ran 10 months, ending in September 1975. Channel 13 didn't try another house-produced kids show after that, other than the Betty George show, and was the local home of Battle of The Planets when the first American translation of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman arrived in 1978. By then, channel 13 had become the CBS affiliate in the market, having swapped with WTEN 11 months earlier.

As you could probably tell, I never saw the show, so there's no rating. My folks would watch the 4 pm movie on WOR on Fridays, and, while they were out bowling on Saturdays, my bro & I would also watch something on cable.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Legend of Skull Duggery (The Wild West COW-boys of Moo Mesa, 1992)

 Marshal Moo and the Wild West C. O. W.-boys of Moo Mesa are now on YouTube. From season 1, here's "The Legend of Skull Duggery":

The series changed animation houses to Ruby-Spears in the 2nd season, which ended up killing the show. The title song is co-written and sung by country singer Billy Dean.

Rating: B.

Sunday Funnies: Who is The Masked Motorcyclist? (Biker Mice From Mars, 1993)

 There's a reason I've dug up this episode of Biker Mice From Mars from the 1st season. Tell ya about it after we look at "The Masked Motorcyclist":

The Biker Mice are back in comics. Oni Press is working with the current rights holders, the Nacelle Company, to produce an all new series, which launched last month. However, this time, the boys are back home on Mars, as this appears to be a prequel to the 1993 series. More on this over at The Land of Whatever.

Anyway, you knew who was under the helmet before this was over, didn't you?

Rating: B.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Curly of The Apes (1977)

 The Robonic Stooges head to Africa to shut down a poacher who's stealing elephants. Here's "Curly of The Apes":

Well, that's a cliffhanger. We didn't really know if the Stooges had actually captured the poacher.

Rating: B.

Summertainment: Shot in The Frontier (1954)

 The Three Stooges must've been Western fans.

How else to explain yet another short set in the Old West, in this case, 1954's "Shot in The Frontier". As per usual, the boys have to save their maidens fair from some unsavory would be suitors. Joe Palma, who'd otherwise be a body double for Shemp, is one of the Noonan brothers.

Gotta give Shemp some credit for improvising a slingshot after the guys ran out of bullets, though Larry would find that rifle. Just goes to show that they weren't total imbeciles after all.

Rating: B.

Getting Schooled: The Gymnast (1980)

 From the ABC Afterschool Special:

If you thought Hanna-Barbera only made animated episodes of this anthology series, you'd be mistaken. H-B served up this item from October 1980, "The Gymnast", about a teen (Holly Gagnier) looking to take her first steps toward becoming a world class athlete.

With Olympic gymnastics competition all but concluded in Paris as we write, we thought this would be a perfect complement. The grainy tape comes from a Showtime rebroadcast.

By this point, the Afterschool Special had dropped from bi-weekly to monthly, and the number of episodes per season would continue to drop.

Rating: A.

From Out of The Recycling Bin: Knutzy Knights (1954)

 Here's another Three Stooges adventure that is a remake.

1954's "Knutzy Knights" is a re-do of "Squareheads of The Round Table", released six years earlier. The boys help a blacksmith win the love of his lady fair, and thwart the Black Prince.

This was the last 1st run gig for long time Stooge foil Vernon Dent, who was losing his vision due to type 2 diabetes. He would appear in a few more shorts, all remakes, apparently, via stock footage.

Rating: B.