Friday, June 19, 2026

Family Toons: The Flintstones' 1st time travel adventure (1965)

 From season 5 of The Flintstones:

Fred & Wilma (Alan Reed & Jean VanderPyl) and Barney & Betty (Mel Blanc & Gerry Johnson) are sent to the future, specifically, the 1964 New York World's Fair, then backwards to other periods in this compilation from the episode, "Time Machine". Comes with closing credits of the period.


Gold Key produced a full-length comic book with the Flintstones & Rubbles at the World's Fair around this time.

Thursday, June 18, 2026

From Primetime to Daytime: The series premiere of The Facts of Life (1979)

 The Facts of Life, spun off from Diff'rent Strokes, got a head start on the rest of the NBC lineup by launching in August 1979, although after the first four weeks, the series was placed on hiatus until the following spring, during which time, the producers began to overhaul the cast.

In the opener, "Rough Housing", Blair (Lisa Whelchel) thinks she has it in the bag as the Harvest Queen, but is jealous when Cindy (Julie Ann Haddock) is nominated instead. The Strokes cast (Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, & Dana Plato) guest star.


At least here, the theme is a duet between co-author Gloria Loring (Days of Our Lives) and co-star Charlotte Rae, though that would change.

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

From Primetime to Daytime: Even vampires are gullible to scams (The Munsters, 1964)

 From season 1 of The Munsters:

Love starved Grandpa (Al Lewis) meets a "widow" who is really a con artist.

The real surprise is that of Neil Hamilton, later of Batman, as the other half of this team of scammers........

It's just too bad that NBC-Universal is enforcing its copyrights, so that only excerpts can be shown, like this one.

Monday, June 15, 2026

Retro Toy Chest: See 'n' Say (1964)

 Inspired by the success of their Chatty Cathy figures, Mattel took things a step further, creating a learning tool for kids with See 'n' Say. A child could pick something with a pointer on the face of the toy, pull the string, and hear what he/she wants to hear.

For example, let's check this ad for The Farmer Says:


Mattel still makes these products even today.

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Animated World of DC Comics: Superman in The Underground World (1943)

 The title says it all, as Superman (Bud Collyer) discovers a race of Hawk-Men in "The Underground World":


Rating: A-.

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Daytime Heroes: Super Space Spies (Battle of The Planets, 1978)

 Another day, another Spectra attempt at conquering Earth, this time with "Super Space Spies". Not if G-Force has anything to say about it in this Battle of The Planets entry, which includes a pre-episode teaser narrated by Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends), who is also heard as one of Zoltar's soldiers.


In memory of Ronnie Schell (Jason), who has passed away at 94. Rest in peace.

Friday, June 12, 2026

From Primetime to Daytime: Hell hath no fury like Wilma Flintstone (The Flintstones, 1960)

 From season 1 of The Flintstones:

Barney (Mel Blanc) buys Betty (Bea Benaderet) an engagement ring (??), and has Fred (Alan Reed) hold it for safekeeping. Wilma (Jean VanderPyl) finds the ring, and assumes Fred bought it for her. Uh-oh!! Now, Fred, who doesn't have the money to buy a 2nd ring, talks Barney into an exhibition boxing match with the champ. The girls ask the champ's manager to let Barney win the fight, but Barney's clowning proves costly. Believing they've been double-crossed, welllllllll......


Notice how the boxing gloves were made from the same cloth as Fred's shirt. Hmmmmm.