Thursday, March 22, 2012

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Quick Draw McGraw (1959)

Westerns were fairly common on primetime television in the 50's & 60's, so it made a great deal of sense that Hanna-Barbera would develop a comedy character that was a parody of Westerns in general. In this case, perhaps they did it too well.

Quick Draw McGraw bowed in 1959, just one year after Huckleberry Hound. Quick Draw wasn't exactly fast on the draw mentally, though he always tried to convince his sidekick, Baba Looey, otherwise. In truth, Baba was the brains of this team.

Occasionally, Quick Draw would adopt the dual identity of El Kabong, a Zorro parody that ramped up the fact that McGraw wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, as he would freely acknowledge his secret, but, as we will see in the following video, the local constabulary wasn't exactly on the same page.

El Kabong, however, has left a lasting legacy in another venue. A number of wrestlers, most prominently the Honky Tonk Man in the 80's and in the present day, Jeff Jarrett, have used guitars as weapons in the ring, often for shady purposes, so totally unlike Kabong. By the way, don't ya think McGraw/Kabong's penchant for crashing into walls, trees, etc., inspired Jay Ward to create George of the Jungle just a few years later?

Here's the open & close, courtesy of squaresyourtrue:



Rating: B-.

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