Spooktober: The Monster Club (1981)

 If memory serves me, 1981's "The Monster Club", imported to the US by ITC, was included in one of those syndicated horror movie packages (think Seymour Presents), and I recall seeing this on a Saturday afternoon one time.

Horror legends John Carradine & Vincent Price share top billing in this movie, which is an anthology including three short stories based on the works of R. Chetwynd-Hayes, played by Carradine in the film. Donald Pleasance ("Halloween"), Stuart Whitman ("Night of The Lepus", ex-Cimmaron Strip), and Britt Eklund co-star.

Chetwynd-Hayes was not a fan of how his stories were adapted, and felt Carradine was too old for the role. As we know, Carradine would turn to radio in the fall of '81 to begin an annual series of radio dramas for NBC radio.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: The Devil Went Down to Georgia (1996)

 Nearly 20 years after the Charlie Daniels Band scored with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", alternative rock favorites Primus recorded their version, and used claymation to illustrate their accompanying music video.

The only downside was the fact that Johnny's & the devil's lips never moved to lip-sync. Live & learn.

Spooktober: Smog (Sabrina & The Groovie Goolies, 1970)

 Sabrina is called to Horrible Hall to babysit Hauntleroy and twins Ratso & Batso while the Groovie Goolies are away. Archie and the gang are doing an environmental study for school, and end up encountering some weird "Smog".

This is the episode where Reggie (John Erwin) finds a picture of Sabrina and the Goolies, but before he can expose her, he gets a strange surprise......

Seeing Frankie (Howard Morris) wear a human-like mask was amusing itself.

Poor Reggie. He never could get the evidence he wanted.

Rating: B.

From Comics to Toons: The Rainbow Club raises money for the PTA (Kid Power, 1972)

 The subject says it all. The kids of the Rainbow Club have been asked to raise money for their school's PTA in this installment of Kid Power:

No rating.

Sunday Funnies: Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land w/An Adventure in Color (Wonderful World of Color, 1961)

 After 7 seasons at ABC, Walt Disney moved his television enterprise to NBC, where it would stay for the next several years.

The Wonderful World of Color opened with a pair of features. First, host Walt Disney, aided by Ludwig Von Drake (Paul Frees), explains the evolution of technicolor in films.

Then, and we're happy to bring this back, is 1959's "Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land" (italics mine), which we had posted a while ago, but it was pulled by YouTube. Now, the fan channel Keeping Walt in Disney has brought it back.

I remember seeing "Mathmagic Land" in school back in the day. It can still be used today if teachers are so inclined, especially in places where certain nannies are getting in the way of today's education.

Rating: A.

Sunday Funnies: Mickey's 50 (1978)

 In 1978, Disney & NBC marked a pair of milestones.

First, in September, the network feted the studio on 25 years of television programming with a 2 part season premiere of The Wonderful World of Disney, part 1 of which is over at The Land of Whatever.

Two months later, it was time to honor Mickey Mouse on his 50th birthday.

"Mickey's 50" is just as star packed as the 25th anniversary show, with narrators including Jack Albertson (Grandpa Goes to Washington), Dean Jones, Dick Clark (American Bandstand), Elton John, Johnny Carson, and Gene Kelly, plus contributions from Edgar Bergen, Peter Sellers, Rich Little, and much more.

No rating. This tape was edited to remove copyrighted material before it could be posted.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Sunshine Man (1972)

 It's been too long since we heard from Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm's band, the Bedrock Rockers.

Summer may have ended on Friday, but here's "Sunshine Man", prefaced by a short skit in which Penny (Mitzi McCall) meets a talking penguin (Mel Blanc):