The series premiere of Pro-Stars (1991)

 DIC had 3 series built around celebrities in 1991. Hammerman was a notorious bomb for ABC. Over on NBC, you had Macaulay Culkin starring in Wishkid, and then, there was Pro-Stars.

While Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, & Michael Jordan were the featured stars, and Jackson & Gretzky are interviewed in bumper segments, like a reality show, other actors, such as Dorian Harewood and Townsend Coleman, spoke for their animated counterparts, who were gimmicked with trick shoes, or, in Gretzky's case, skates, though it looks like he uses roller blades for some missions.

In the opener, "The Slugger Returns", the guys are called on to rescue a retired baseball player, and reunite him with his son. Marv Albert, at the time the lead voice of NBA basketball and NFL on NBC, is heard in a cameo.

Part of the reason this bombed was because viewers knew early on that this was a lame duck, once NBC made it known they were overhauling the lineup the next season.

No rating. Appropriate fare for opening weekend of Major League Baseball.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Mara-mara-marathon (1978)

 Some Metric Marvels shorts have made their way to YouTube. For how long, we don't know.

Anyway, "Mara-mara-marathon" is not only the title of a song, but the 2nd of two Meter Man shorts. Meter Man (Bob Kaliban) starts off in a 2-man marathon, but pauses to teach his rival, who doesn't speak, and the audience about the difference between miles & kilometers. The other Bob, the late Bob Dorough, does the singing, I do believe.

Coming Attractions: My Adventures With Superman finds a home, as [adult swim] expands

 On May 1, [adult swim] will expand its block further into primetime, as it will now start at 7 pm (ET), where it currently runs from 8 pm-6 am 7 days a week.

As part of the announcement, two series are being added to the [as] library, likely ticketed for the 7-8 pm (ET) hour.

The previously announced My Adventures With Superman, starring 2nd generation actor Jack Quaid, is one. 

Now, it might seem weird that My Adventures With Superman would be an unlikely candidate for [as], but considering that Warner Bros. Discovery frontman David Zaslav doesn't want it on HBO Max for some reason (proving again that Zaslav is an idiot), but the more [as] expands, the wider audience becomes more available with an established brand. 

The other new entry is the latest from Genndy Tartatovsky (Primal, Dexter's Laboratory). Unicorns: Warriors Eternal appears set to launch on May 1 as well, and we can assume Superman will, too. Given Tartatovsky's track record at [adult swim] and Cartoon Network, they are banking on Unicorns being another big hit.

Ideally, you'd want Unicorns to go on first at 7 pm, followed by Superman, especially on Tuesdays, so that My Adventures With Superman would lead right into CW's Superman & Lois. We will see just how this will play out, though.

Stay tooned.

Toon Sports: Abner The Baseball (1961)

 Back in the day, your average animated short clocked in anywhere between 5 & 8 minutes.

In 1961, Paramount tried a two-reel animated entry, which was released well after baseball season had ended. Abner The Baseball was released in November of '61, with Eddie Lawrence in the title role, as Abner tells his story.

Yes, Abner made his television debut on The New Casper Cartoon Show at least two years after this film was released. With baseball's regular season starting later this week, I'd think this would be appropriate fare.

Rating: B.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Space Ghost vs. Brago (1966)

 Space Ghost (Gary Owens) is summoned by a family in need of help from a galactic raider. Paul Frees is heard as "Brago".

Rating: A.

You Know The Voice: Keye Luke (1973)

 From season 2 of the original Kung Fu:

As Caine (David Carradine) prepares to face off with members of a Chinese Tong, a flashback shows blind Master Po (Keye Luke) fending off a bandit as a young Caine (Radames Pera) observes. It's just too bad we don't have the complete episode due to WB enforcing copyrights, but that's why they invented DVD's. Keye appears at the 1:09 mark.

Tooniversary: The series premiere of The Fabulous Funnies (1978)

 The Fabulous Funnies turns 45 this year. Out of all the features in the series, Tom K. Ryan's Tumbleweeds only appeared in the opener, and was never seen again after Filmation reached an agreement with Ryan after a misunderstanding led them to assume that Ryan had signed off on using his cowboy character.

The umbrella title for this episode is "Animal Crack-Ups", and leads off with Alley Oop (Bob Holt) forced to give away his trusty dino-steed, Dinny, to the King because of a newly created tax the King has imposed. The lone Tumbleweeds entry, "Bean Stew", only goes a couple of minutes. Alan Oppenheimer plays 'Weeds with a modest Jimmy Stewart mimic, forgetting that Stewart shed his stuttering when on camera in his movies.

Rating: B.