In 1996, the History Channel took a chance on a weekend educational program that seemed to fit right into their programming millieu. It also marked the return of an 80's icon.
Inspector Gadget's Field Trip found Gadget (Don Adams) going it alone. No sign of his niece, Penny, nor Brain, their dog. In fact, Gadget was the only animated character, superimposed on live-action backgrounds via computer technology. The idea was to lure in the kiddo's who otherwise wouldn't give the network a first or second look. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work, as I think the show was cancelled after 1 season.
Nice idea, wrong network, really. If DIC really wanted to make this show work, they'd have been better off selling it to one of the broadcast networks, or have it set up where one of them, say, for example, CBS, could partner with History Channel. Oh, sure, History is hot stuff now, after their adaptation of The Bible racked up beaucoup ratings a few months back, and they're talking about reimagining Alex Haley's Emmy winning Roots, which I think is either next year or 2015. In 1996, though, they were looking to improve their standing. Not with an animated comedy act.
Following is a sample clip, complete with the show open:
Rating: C.
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