Coming Attractions: Conan returns to television with a new look

 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.

Photo courtesy Cartoon Network.

Ah, but while Cartoon Network is producing the show, with Tartatovsky as executive producer & showrunner, it ain't going to CN. Instead, it's being developed for Amazon Prime, which will soon drop season 2 of Batman: Caped Crusader (coming next month) upon fans.

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.

It Should've Been on a Saturday: Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958)

 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.

No rating. Just a public service.

Rare Treats: An animated open for Rawhide (1965)

 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.

Still can't figure how DFE got the contract for the Jeannie open away from Screen Gems' then-sister company, Hanna-Barbera........

Saturtainment: An episode of Baggy Pants & The Nitwits (1977)

 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.

Even though Tyrone finally put a ring on it with Gladys, she's still the brains of the team.

Toons After Dark: Fred's Final Fling (1980)

 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.

Getting Schooled: Father's Day on Sesame Street (2017)

 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.

An odd label for foster kids: The Pinballs (ABC Afterschool Special, 1977)

 "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.

I guess Byars named her novel that way to illustrate how foster children are moved from one home to another until they finally find a family they're comfortable with. By this point, Martin Tahse was becoming an exclusive producer, sort of, for the Afterschool Special and would also produce a few Weekend Special entries as well.