From Rankin-Bass' final series, the anthology series Comic Strip, comes a feline crimestopper whose exploits pre-dated Hanna-Barbera's SWAT Kats by 6 years.
Karate Kat was an operative for McClaw's Detective Agency, but his biggest flaw was his own ego getting in the way, kind of like Hong Kong Phooey (due to the martial arts angle) or The Inspector (everything else). He narrated his own adventures, in a send-up of detective dramas like Magnum, P. I., but if the writing was better, maybe this could've been spun off on its own. Then again, maybe not.
Scope the episode, "Sardine Turnovers":
The series has not been issued on DVD as of this writing. Warner Bros., which now owns the rights, is in no hurry.
Rating: B-.
2 comments:
I used to watch "The Comic Strip'. Some local affiliates would air TCS in it's full 2 hour version on weekends, while others would air the show in half hour installments (2 shorts per show)on weekday afternoons. I guess that Rankin-Bass' idea was for "The Comic Strip" was to rotate with new segments each new season, like The Disney Afternoon, but since TCS didn't go beyond a single season, that obviously didn't happen.
For the record, the other 3 attractions on "The Comic Strip" were: Tigersharks (an adventure show done in the mold of "ThunderCats" and "Silverhawks" and also the only half hour segment on the show), Mini Monsters and Street Frogs.
I've done pieces on the series and Tigersharks previously, Goldstar. Street Frogs & Mini-Monsters will be coming soon, especially Mini-Monsters, with "Spooktober" a week and a half away. Comic Strip, as you noted, is R-B's answer to Disney Afternoon, but it bombed because of the options the producers allowed affiliated stations to have. Locally, it was a weekend block, since there was no room on weekday afternoons.
Post a Comment