While Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines lasted just 1 season of 1st run episodes, the backup feature, Magnificent Muttley, a parody of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", became an even bigger cult classic. Each shortie was a parody of something.
We previously screened the opener, "Muttley on The Bounty", but now, rather than track down the rest, we've got the whole shebang in a 40+ minute package, for the most part, as with the lead feature, a 2-man show (Paul Winchell & Don Messick).
Don't you just love how the theme is spoken in rhyme by Dastardly?
By the end of the 50's, UPA was in trouble. Their distribution deal with Columbia had ended, and Columbia had moved on to work with Hanna-Barbera. Gerald McBoing-Boing was slowly being rejected by movie-goers, even with a crossover with Mr. Magoo.
So, the studio, with United Artists as a prospective new distributor, tried selling a new set of characters to networks or syndication. Bric & Brac, a rabbit & a mole, to be particular, were introduced in "Bric's Stew", which was pitched in 1960, though it had been copyrighted a year earlier. Ever-busy Dallas McKennon handled all the voices for this Harvey Toombs-directed short.
A rabbit that doesn't like carrots? Bric seems to be reluctant to have any. Toombs would later work for King Features on Popeye, while Sam Singer signed McKennon for Courageous Cat.
Spider-Man (Paul Soles) has a rematch with power-mad Dr. Octopus, who steals a weapon intended for government use. Of course, J. Jonah Jameson wastes little time trying to tie Spidey to the theft he'd failed to prevent.
The next season, Ralph Bakshi took over the series, which brought some changes to the animation. For the better.
Herb Klynn & Format Films (The Lone Ranger, The Alvin Show) took over the animation for Speedy Gonzales with 1967's "Quacker Tracker". If the plot sounds familiar, well, WB also did a similar plot with Cool Cat.
Co-author Don Jurwich was later a producer with Hanna-Barbera & Marvel Productions.
Our Gang hits the golf course in 1936's "Divot Diggers". The fun really starts when Spanky & Buckwheat become the world's youngest caddies........
The special effects used here were unique for their time. I wonder if a certain fellow in Washington learned his game from seeing Spanky on the course.......!
Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors was MTV's last contribution to the wrestling business.
The series aired on Friday nights and, at first, Saturday afternoons on MTV2. Season 2 Saturday replays aired in the morning, hence its inclusion here.
Lalo Gonzalez & Nigel Sherrod were the announcers, with Sherrod doubling as ring announcer, in season 1. When the series returned, ex-WWE announcers Kevin Kelly & Todd (Steve) Romero took over. However, Romero didn't last long, and when the series transitioned to Hulu to finish the season, ex-WWE, ECW, & TNA wrestler Stevie Richards took over on color. By season's end, Alex Abrahantes, recently released by AEW, replaced Kelly.
The roster was stocked with ex-TNA, WCW, & WWE talent, including Marco Corleone (Mark Jindrak), Tigresa Caliente (Trenesha Biggers, formerly with TNA), Petey Williams (now a WWE producer), and Chi Chi (Allan Funk, aka Kwee-Wee in WCW & Bruce in TNA). It wasn't until Robert Rodriguez bankrolled Lucha Underground in 2014 that the lucha style finally caught on with American audiences once more.
Let's take you back to the series opener.
I wasn't thrilled with the rudos (heels) winning 2 of the three matches, but this was only part of the problem. Viewer indifference cost the series its berth on MTV2.
