Getting Schooled: Gumby in The Small Planets (1960)

 Many thanks to fellow blogger Chuck Miller for the tip on this one.

It is October 1960. Gumby is now well entrenched in syndication after leaving NBC. This next item offers a prototype of a sort for Art Clokey's next project. See if you can figure it out while watching "The Small Planets":

Yes, those are prototypes for Davey & Sally Hansen, who'd get their own show (Davey & Goliath) four months later. Sally is presented here as more of a prankster, and Davey being a callous, selfish jerk, a total opposite of what we'd see later. And, yes, that's Dick Beals as "Davey".

Rating: B.

Sunday Funnies: Total Panic (1989)

The legendary Wonderama had been long off the air by the time Nickelodeon mounted a 3 hour (at first) Sunday children's variety show, Total Panic, which launched in April 1989, and would run for 18 months, ending in October 1990.

Keith Diamond & Molly Scott were the initial hosts, but Diamond didn't even make it through six months. He was gone by the summer of '89, replaced by Greg Lee, who had been doing audience warm-ups. Lee would go on to Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? three years later.

In this sampler, the hosts interview the husband & wife duo of comics creators Walt & Louise Simonson.

No rating. Just a public service.

Tooniversary: Planet Sheen (2010)

 It had been 4 years since The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius had ended. Nickelodeon decided to green-light a spinoff. Maybe they should've left it on caution.

Planet Sheen had just 1 season of 26 episodes, and Nick kept the series on the air for 3 years total before putting the show to bed in 2013.

Sheen Estevez (named for Charlie Sheen & Emilio Estevez) wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the drawer among Jimmy's friends, but he did have a yearning for adventure.

Check the intro:

In memory of actor Jeffrey Garcia, who voiced Sheen in both series. Garcia passed away today at 50. Rest in peace.

Toon Rock: Christmas Time is Here (1965)

 Today marks the 60th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, an enduring holiday classic that has aired on three networks and currently streams on Apple TV.

The special opens with "Christmas Time is Here". Bill Melendez wrote the lyrics set to the music of Vince Guaraldi.

Rein-Toon-Ation: The Perfect Crime (Fantastic Voyage, 1968)

 Jonathan Kidd (Ted Knight) poses as a criminal to get the goods on some sleaze trying to steal an experimental pocket miniaturizer developed by Busby (Marvin Miller). 

Check out "The Perfect Crime":

Jane Webb's characterization of Erica falls somewhere between the other bombshells she was voicing that same season----Batgirl & Betty Cooper. In fact, Erica is designed like she's Betty's older sister, complete with ponytail!

Rating: A.

Teenage Toons: The Archies enter syndication, and Archie is rapping? (1976)

 After CBS cancelled US of Archie, Filmation landed a deal to syndicate previous iterations of the franchise, including chopping the Archie Comedy Hour into half hour increments.

What you're about to see, unearthed earlier this week, is Archie (Dallas McKennon) rapping a new intro over the opening of 1970's Archie's Funhouse, followed by the open to a sample short.

A year later, Filmation would do a similar package fronted by the Groovie Goolies.

McKennon would end his association with Filmation a year later after the franchise's ill-fated move to NBC and a guest appearance (previously reviewed) on Space Academy. Now, all we need is the closing from this same era, with a voiceover by co-producer Lou Scheimer or Norm Prescott, exhorting viewers to "remember what you learned".

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.