Spooktober: A Monsterous Holiday: An Experiment Gone Wrong (2013)

Sinclair Broadcasting's Kids' Click block today includes the 2013 DTV, A Monsterous Holiday: An Experiment Gone Wrong, which features the voices of Drake Bell (ex-Ultimate Spider-Man, Drake & Josh), Sean Astin, Matthew Lillard ("Scooby-Doo", etc.), Kyle Chandler, & Brooke Shields.

It's also our final Spooktober entry this year. Scope.



This puppy flew under the radar, because until today, I didn't even know it existed.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Archie meets Scarlet Night (1999)

From Archie's Weird Mysteries:

The producers introduced a teenage vampire named Scarlet in a three part arc near the end of the series' run. We've given you the last two chapters in reverse order, so, having done that, here's Scarlet's debut, "Scarlet Night":



I've mentioned that Scarlet did appear in a couple of issues of the comics version of the series, which made one think that Archie Comics was looking to expand its roster. In chapter 2, Veronica was turned into a vampire for only that episode, and, earlier this year, Archie Comics decided to do a series with Ronnie as Vampironica, in a completely different continuity to other Archie titles.

Unfortunately, Scarlet, after being written out of the series, was never heard from again, as there wouldn't be a spin-off book, but who knows? Maybe editor Alex Segura has plans for her after all.....

No rating.

Tooniversary: XJ-9 becomes a Raggedy Android (My Life as a Teenage Robot, 2003)

Jenny Wakeman, aka XJ-9, wants to blend in with the other kids and go to the county fair. Her creator designs a patchwork human costume, but when trouble hits the fair, Jenny has to give up being a "Raggedy Android" to save the day.

From season 1 of My Life as a Teenage Robot:



Jenny would don a fresh humanoid suit in a later episode.

Rating: B.

Toon Rock: Remains of The Day (2005)

Posted this over at The Land of Whatever last night, but it belongs here, too. From "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride", Danny Elfman, as Bonejangles, performs "Remains of The Day":

Here he comes again: The New Howdy Doody Show (1976)

Game show producers E. Roger Muir & Nick Nicholson got their start in television working on the original Howdy Doody. In 1976, Muir & Nicholson acquired the rights to the franchise from NBC, which ended the original series in 1960. While that was a wise move, they made a fundamental mistake that hurt the revival.

The New Howdy Doody Show was taped in Florida, rather than in New York, as the original was. 26 weeks of episodes (130 total) were produced, with no repeats, but the series was cancelled after one season. Prior to the relaunch, Buffalo Bob Smith had guest-starred on Happy Days, which was set during the era of the original series. Apparently, that sparked viewer interest, but Nicholson & Muir opted to syndicate the revival. Gone were the days when networks would commit to daily after-school programming, and first run syndication was, at that time, a rare bird which wouldn't take full flight for another couple of years.

Smith's human sidekick, if you will, was Happy Harmony (Marilyn Patch), who was clearly eye candy for the teenage boys that might be tuning in. Today, Marilyn is a college professor, a long ways away from her show biz career. Come to think of it, one wonders if a more experienced actress like Judy Strangis could've landed the role. As we know, Strangis (ex-Room 222) landed another one season wonder-turned-cult-favorite, Electra Woman & DynaGirl, that same season.

Anyway, let's check out a sample episode, the first of a five part arc that lasted the entire week:



There would be a 40th anniversary salute to Howdy a few years later, but that didn't do anything to erase a stigma Howdy didn't deserve. Wrestler Bob Backlund, during his time as World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) champion was derided as "Howdy Doody" because of his goody-two-shoes image and look.

Rating: B-.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Clue Club goes to the circus (1976)

Even Dottie gets in on the act this time, as the Clue Club goes to the circus to solve the disappearance of a fan favorite trapeze artist who isn't exactly popular with the troupe. Meanwhile, Wimper makes Woofer look like a prize chump. Here's "The Circus Caper":



Hanna-Barbera wanted to try something fresh with this series, such that it wouldn't truly be a clone of Scooby-Doo, which Clue Club replaced on the CBS schedule. The whodunit format, which WB would later use with What's New Scooby-Doo?, in truth, enabled Clue Club to find common ground with studio stablemate Super Friends over on ABC.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Mina & The Count (1995)

Originally developed as part of Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! series for Hanna-Barbera, Mina & The Count made its debut in 1995 with the short, "Interlude With a Vampire":



Apparently, this didn't pass muster with CN suits, so creator Rob Renzetti took it with him to Nickelodeon three years later, and produced another handful of shorts over the next year. Unfortunately, Mina & The Count never got past the shorts stage and into a full fledged series.

It had been proven that vampires could be used for laughs, but CN would later come up with something similar, swapping out the vampire for the personification of death in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Unfortunately, that series mostly celebrated stupidity on the part of Billy and his dad. The fact that Mina was able to later pass off Count Vlad (Mark Hamill) as a music teacher and a giant sized doll on her unsuspecting dad (Michael Bell) was similar to the subtle humor of similar scenarios enacted on Beetlejuice a few years earlier. Ashley Johnson (ex-Growing Pains) voiced Mina here, but Tara Strong took over the part when the project moved to Nick.

Rating: B-.

You Know The Voice: Henry Corden (1969)

He may not sound like Fred Flintstone this time around, but Henry Corden turns up in an episode of Dragnet during the final season of its NBC run. Henry plays apartment manager Ned Jeffries, a former classical violinist.

Also, Vic Perrin, the announcer of the original Outer Limits, who also worked on the 1967 Fantastic Four series, makes an appearance, as he was a frequent guest on Dragnet during this period.

Spooktober: Trick or Treat (1952)

Donald Duck decides to prank his nephews, Huey, Dewey, & Louie (all four voiced by Clarence Nash) on Halloween night, spoiling the boys' "Trick or Treat" excursion. A kindly witch (June Foray---who else?) intercedes on the boys' behalf, and so the fun begins.



Curiously, the witch is named Hazel, the same as the one June Foray voiced in a few Looney Tunes cartoons a few years later.

Apparently, the boys' collective allowance didn't allow for full costumes.....

Rating: A-.

Spooktober: Spider-Man in Halloween Moon (2017)

Together again for the first time would be the cliche attached to the Incredible Hulk's appearance on Marvel's Spider-Man one year ago.

The Green Goliath (Fred Tatasciore, reprising his role from other Marvel cartoons) is drained of his powers thanks to a crystal around the neck of the Man-Wolf. Don't ask, just watch.

Updated, 3/21/19: The video was deleted. In its place is a short trailer:



As the series picks up where "Spider-Man: Homecoming" leaves off, it's not quite as insulting to long time fans, unlike its predecessor, Ultimate Spider-Man, although they do play fast & loose with some characters, like Man-Wolf, for example, as his powers don't come from gamma energy, according to the books.

Rating: B.

Rare Treats: An early pilot of Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987)

Most of you know that Good Morning, Miss Bliss was the original title for what would ultimately become Saved by The Bell. Reruns from Miss Bliss were included in the Bell syndication package, with new intros by Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack).

But, did you know NBC originally was interested in putting the show on the air?

Before Miss Bliss was farmed out to Disney Channel, NBC burned off a pilot in July 1987. The only link is Hayley Mills, who played the title character. Future stars Brian Austin Green (later of Beverly Hills 90210), Jonathan Brandis (later of SeaQuest DSV), and Jaleel White (ex-Charlie & Company, later, of course, of Family Matters) are in the cast.







When Miss Bliss went to series, Bliss' husband was written out, and in the transition from Disney Channel to NBC, Mills departed, leaving behind the familiar gang we'd all remember.

Rating: B.

You Know The Voice: Maurice LaMarche (1987)

If you've ever wondered what impressionist-voice actor Maurice LaMarche looks like, well, look no further than this installment of the NBC game show, Wordplay, hosted by venerable Tom Kennedy. Maurice gets in a plug for what would be Popeye & Son, which bowed the following fall, but not mentioned is the fact he was in his 2nd season on Real Ghostbusters.

However, Maurice misspoke when mentioning he was the 2nd actor to essay the role of Popeye. Jack Mercer wasn't the original voice, either, as that has been documented here and elsewhere. Most folks associate Mercer with Popeye, and that leads to a lot of confusion and misinformation.



Phyllis Diller, of course, had appeared on The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and acted in the movie, "Mad Monster Party".

We'll take a closer look at Wordplay over at The Land of Whatever another time.

Spooktober: A complete episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (1969)

On Friday, Netflix viewers will see Greg Berlanti & Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's adaptation of the latter's dark, disturbing reboot of Sabrina.

Those of us of a certain age, however, like our teenage witch better as a platinum blonde hottie, comics & cartoons' answer to Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) on ABC's Bewitched (1964-72).

This episode offers a heavy dose of Della, the head witch. In "Generation Flap", Della holds a meeting while Sabrina entertains Archie and his friends. Then, Della drops off her nephew, Hexter, forcing Sabrina to bring him to school. Reggie will soon wish he hadn't started picking on Sabrina.....



Rating: B.

Saturtainment: The Smurfs in S-Shivering Smurfs (1982)

We are in the middle of autumn, but as the Smurfs soon discover, the weather patterns can change quickly and without warning. In their village, fall turns to winter too quickly for them to make appropriate adjustments.

Let's look in on some "S-Shivering Smurfs".



An object lesson for the kiddo's if there ever was one.

Rating: B.

On The Air: Marvel Rising: Initiation (2018)

Yesterday, we talked about the current TV-movie, Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, airing on Disney Channel & Disney XD. Now comes the prequel miniseries of shorts.

Marvel Rising: Initiation focuses on Ghost Spider, aka Gwen Stacy from an alternate reality (Dove Cameron, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ex-Liv & Maddie, reprising her role from a guest shot on Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six), who has been accused of a crime she didn't commit,  but, rather, she tried to prevent. The victim was her childhood friend.

The six minisodes set up an apparently planned ongoing series down the road. Ghost Spider gets caught in the crosshairs of not only the police, under the direction of her father, Captain George Stacy, but also S.H.I.E.L.D. and the team of Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl. Oh, what a tangled web.......!

Here's the first chapter:



The Americanized anime kicks in during certain scenes with Squirrel Girl (Milana Vayntrub), but this would've been better served in CGI, in this writer's opinion.

To better understand Ghost Spider, formerly known as Spider-Gwen in the books, this miniseries is a loose adaptation of the storyline from the books in which the Peter Parker of Gwen's world was killed, and, yup, she got blamed for it. For obvious reasons, they couldn't use Peter here, figuring some unenlightened souls might get confused.

Rating: B--.

Spooktober: Truth or Scare (2001)

Discovery Kids (now Discovery Family) took aim at Nickelodeon with their own Saturday night block in the early '00's, but, unfortunately, it didn't quite work out.

Truth or Scare was a documentary series that produced just 20 episodes over a 2 year period (2001-3), and part of the reason for that might have something to do with its host, actress Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer), as the producers worked around her shooting schedule.

With Halloween right around the corner, Michelle takes a look at its origins.....

Michelle's delivery is a little flat, as she's there to teach and educate. Because of content, this wouldn't qualify for the FCC's E/I designation, and I don't think it aired in the daytime.

Rating: B--.

On The Air: Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors (2018)

You've probably seen the Marvel Rising one-shots in stores this summer. Now, Marvel has produced a TV-movie, airing on Disney Channel, as they may be planning a new TV franchise.

Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors tells the story of how S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson, aka Quake (Chloe Bennet, reprising her role from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) came to form a team with a group of young heroes, including the current Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, America Chavez, and Patriot. The final member of the team, Inferno (Tyler Posey, ex-Teen Wolf), is added when the team, aided by Carol Danvers, the current Captain Marvel of the MCU, rescues him from some Kree nasties.

Former AT&T pitchwoman Milana Vayntrub voices Squirrel Girl, the same role she'll play in New Warriors, debuting next year.

Here's a trailer.



For some reason, Marvel opted for the Americanized anime look that worked for DC's Teen Titans 15 years ago, but not as pronounced. The Initiation prequel shorts have a similar look, and we'll look at that another time.

Rating: B--.

Game Time: Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (1996)

PBS served up a 2nd adaptation of a Carmen Sandiego computer game, but this model didn't have the staying power of its predecessor.

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? lasted just 2 seasons (1996-8), with Kevin Shinick taking over as MC, with Lynne Thigpen returning as the Chief. Here's a sample episode, with part of the open missing:



Y'think maybe PBS should find a place for these shows on PBS Kids?

No rating. Didn't see this show.

Spooktober: The Wickedest Witch (1989)

This was posted yesterday over at The Land of Whatever:

Paul Fusco was rolling at NBC. ALF was in its 4th season, and there were two animated spinoffs on Saturday mornings. A 3rd Fusco Saturday entry would come along in the form of Spacecats a year or so after his last primetime special.

The Wickedest Witch, narrated by Burgess Meredith, is a satire of Halloween tropes and cliches, although the underground world governed by Avarissa (Rue McClanahan, The Golden Girls) looks like Fusco ripped off Fraggle Rock, although some of the sets would be reused for the puppet portion of Spacecats. Fusco even uses his Gordon Shumway (ALF) voice for one of the Greevils.



Rating: C-.

Toons After Dark: Clerow Wilson's Great Escape (1974)

Clerow "Flip" Wilson produced a pair of animated specials based on his childhood during the course of his variety show's run on NBC. Clerow Wilson's Great Escape, IIRC, is the second of those specials. Wilson's production company co-produced the show with the network and DePatie-Freleng. Wilson voices his younger self, along with some familiar characters from his variety show--Geraldine Jones, Rev. Leroy, and Ralph, the invisible dog.



Yes, this does come with commercials intact, as this is a rare find. No rating.

Animated World of DC Comics: The Marvel Family vs. Mr. Atom, The Smasher (1981)

From The Kid Super Power Hour w/Shazam!:

One of Captain Marvel's oldest foes, Mr. Atom, makes an appearance. Seems CC Beck had the idea of a sentient android before Marvel Comics came up with Ultron. Meanwhile, Uncle Dudley (Alan Oppenheimer) creates a remote control device that comes in handy.....



Rating: B.

Bad TV: The Scooby-Doo Project (1999)

It was a good idea, but the execution was lacking.

In 1999, Cartoon Network decided to try a parody of the hit film, "The Blair Witch Project". Unfortunately, while The Scooby-Doo Project was heavily promoted, the network didn't do themselves or their viewers any favors with how this turned out. I'll explain after you look at the video.



On one hand, this was a way to mark Scooby's 30th anniversary, using recycled footage, and reuniting the original cast, save for Don Messick (Scooby), who'd passed away a couple of years earlier. Archived footage and dialogue were used and re-edited, it seems.

But, that didn't happen. Instead, the movie cast who'd completed "Scooby-Doo & The Witch's Ghost" (Frank Welker, Scott Innes, Mary Kay Bergman, & BJ Ward) were the voices of the gang.

Unfortunately, Cartoon Network missed one important detail.

To better sell The Scooby-Doo Project to viewers, CN had to completely sell out, and pull reruns of the franchise from the umpteen spots it had on the schedule for the duration of the promotion, which, I thought, would've been better suited to tie into a then-pending network premiere of the 2nd film in the ongoing DTV series, "Scooby-Doo & The Witch's Ghost", which introduced the rock group, the Hex Girls (featuring Jane Weidlin of the Go-Go's), who would go on to appear on Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated years later. If you subbed in, say for example, Funky Phantom, Amazing Chan & The Chan Clan, Clue Club, etc., shows that weren't currently on the schedule and have since been largely ignored by CN, for those Scooby reruns that were already played into the ground by this point, CN could've mined and milked the drama better than they did. Because they didn't, this project laid an egg.

Rating: C--.

Toon Rock: I Just Can't Wait to be King (1994)

From "The Lion King":

Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Home Improvement) doesn't like the idea of his bestie, Mala, eventually becoming his mate, but when Zazu (Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Bean) tries to explain things, Simba breaks into song, and Jason Weaver steps in to perform "I Just Can't Wait to be King":

Spooktober: The Ghost Busters vs. The Red Baron (1975)

Howard Morris returns to Filmation, and, predictably, turns up on Ghost Busters. Morris is cast as the ghost of the Red Baron. This episode, "Only Ghosts Have Wings", reunited Morris with Larry Storch (Spencer), who had worked with Morris on Groovie Goolies five years earlier.



I think Morris recycled the voice he used for the Baron from one of the many characters he had played on Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?, also in 1970. Seems to me that Robert Easton (Sparks), who has no other known credits to my knowledge, was a stand-in for Daws Butler, since his Southern drawl is pretty close to Huckleberry Hound, in this writer's opinion.

Rating: C. Not one of the better entries, and, as before, the audio is ahead of the video.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Imaginary Lover (1979)

From The Midnight Special comes a tasty love ballad from Atlanta Rhythm Section. Here's "Imaginary Lover":

Spooktober: The Ghost Busters meet Billy The Kid (1975)

Howdy, pardners! Seems the ghost of Billy The Kid has turned up in a familiar lookin' graveyard, and that means the Ghost Busters are on the case. Marty Ingels (ex-Motormouse & Autocat, I'm Dickens, He's Fenster) guest stars. The purty lookin' filly playin' Belle Starr's ghost? Wal, Brooke Tucker is the daughter of series star Forrest Tucker (Kong).



Wal, this here's one ah missed, so there's not to be a rating.....

Toon Legends: Tom & Jerry in Guided Mouse-ille (1967)

Let's take a trip nearly 600 years into the future with Tom & Jerry in Chuck Jones' 1967 sci-fi farce, "Guided Mouse-ille (or Science on a Wet Afternoon)":



The fact that this was set in 2565 suggests the short was originally produced in 1965, but it took two years for MGM to release it. No matter what, it is hysterical.

Come to think of it, don't ya think Hanna-Barbera used this as inspiration for the more contemporary Motormouse & Autocat a couple of years later?

Rating: A.

Spooktober: Mister Rogers meets Margaret Hamilton (1975)

By the time this episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired in May 1975, special guest Margaret Hamilton might've actually been better known for shilling for Maxwell House coffee than her signature role of the Wicked Witch of The West in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz".

In the interview, the only portion of the episode we have, Margaret explains the witch's motivations, among other things.

Edit, 9/14/2020: The video was deleted. All we have now is a screencap acquired from Me-TV:

Spooktober: I Was a Teenage Vampire (Archie's Weird Mysteries, 2000)

Archie's Weird Mysteries only ran for one season of 40 episodes, but it goes a long way toward explaining Archie Comics' creative director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's obsession with creating and curating alternate, horrific worlds where some of the gang have become vampires or zombies or werewolves.

Take for example the episiode, "I Was a Teenage Vampire". It's really the middle part of a trilogy that introduced a female vampire, Scarlet, to the Archie Comics universe (she'd also appear in the comics version of the series). We've previously screened the followup episode, "Halloween Horror", and Scarlet's debut will be coming up soon. Anyway, scope it out, and I'll explain the significance of choosing this episode.



Today, nearly 20 years later, Veronica Lodge is a vampire again, albeit in one of those alternate realities. Vampironica is actually a parody of the long running Vampirella comic that has found a new home at Dynamite Entertainment in recent years. Vampironica, thankfully, is not written by Aguirre-Sacasa, who's spending more of his time in Hollywood & Vancouver, the latter being the site where Riverdale and the rest of Greg Berlanti's series are being shot. Aguirre-Sacasa has refused to continue the books he was writing at Archie or allow other writers to share his visions. In her new book, though, Ronnie's a heroine. Thank God.

No rating. Didn't see this the first time.

You Know The Voice: Len Weinrib (1965)

Len Weinrib made his 3rd appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show during season 4, playing a different character than he had in previous go-rounds, including one we've previously seen.

In "The Impractical Joke", Len plays a pal of Buddy (Morey Amsterdam), and the two play a phone prank on Rob (Dick Van Dyke). Buddy gets paranoid thinking Rob will reciprocate.

Van Dyke, of course, would later venture into animation, narrating The Town That Santa Forgot in 1993, and, before that, guest starring on The New Scooby-Doo Movies. This episode also features a pre-Green Acres Alvy Moore, who'd later be the voice of Grandpa on The Littles. As previously documented, Rose Marie (Sally) would later guest on Yogi's Gang while spending several seasons on the original Hollywood Squares.



Phone pranks have become big business since then, but never as funny as this.

Animated World of DC Comics: Young Justice returns

Fans rioted when Chumptoon Network decided to cancel Young Justice in favor of the spammed-into-the-ground Teen Titans Go! six years ago.

Then, rumors started to circulate that the show conceivably would return, and was originally earmarked for Netflix. That is, until DC decided to start their own streaming service, DC Universe.

The third season, subtitled, Outsiders, picks up where season 2 left off. Following is a trailer that includes footage from season 2 (which ye scribe never got to see):



The above trailer premiered in July at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Yesterday, at the NY Comic-Con, it was announced that there would be an accompanying relaunch of the Young Justice comic book, tied into the DC Universe service. Meaning, it's likely digital-only. Oh, and that ain't all. DC is launching a new imprint, Wonder Comics, curated by Brian Michael Bendis. More on that in the next "On The Shelf" column over at The Land of Whatever.

Spooktober: Spooks Run Wild (1941)

There's an interesting backstory behind The East Side Kids, who later became The Bowery Boys. Just the same, their films were packaged in syndication in the 70's & 80's under one roof, if you will.

This all started, actually, with the feature film, "Dead End", and the launch of a series of films starring The Dead End Kids. We'll deal with the Dead End era another day, but most people remember the later eras due to the weekly broadcasts, which, in New York, were on WNEW (now WNYW), Saturday & Sunday afternoons at noon (ET).

Today, we have a 1941 East Side Kids entry, "Spooks Run Wild", co-starring Bela Lugosi. While the gang mistakenly thinks Lugosi's character is the villain of the piece, well......

"Sunshine" Sammy Morrison had previously appeared in the Our Gang comedies, and East Side Kids gave him his last major exposure.

Note, too, that this was over an hour, which meant that it would fill a 90 minute frame on WNEW.

Rating: B.

Animated World of DC Comics: A preview of Harley Quinn's new show (2018)

Well, kids, DC Universe is officially online, and the hype machine is rolling for an animated Harley Quinn series (launch date TBA). Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) will voice Harley. Here's a teaser clip with Harl, BFF Poison Ivy, and a certain, ah, friend....



DC & WB have been back & forth on Ivy's skin color in recent years. Sometimes it's green, as in the above clip, sometimes she reverts to her original fleshtones.

And, yeah, that was a cheap shot about FX backing off on a Deadpool cartoon.

Spooktober: The Ghost Busters in Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf? (1975)

This might explain how Len Weinrib eventually landed a series of his own.

Len guest stars in this episode of Ghost Busters as a werewolf, whose human alter-ego, Harry Albert, is meant to be a parody of Lawrence Talbot, made famous by Lon Chaney, Jr. more than 30 years earlier.

Two years later, of course, Len was back in front of the cameras for the Kroffts' Magic Mongo, which, like Ghost Busters, lasted one season.



Normally, werewolves are portrayed as being mindless savages whose human selves can't remember anything. Harry, unfortunately, didn't pass the IQ test of a human, either.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Beetlejuice (1989)

Beetlejuice became the 2nd spin-off from a Tim Burton movie to reach Saturday mornings when it debuted on ABC in 1989. The other? How do you think Pee-Wee Herman landed his Pee-Wee's Playhouse on CBS, one year after "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"?

Anyway, Nelvana was tasked with the continuing adventures of Beetlejuice (Stephen Ouimette, attempting to imitate Michael Keaton) and his human BFF, Lydia (Alyson Court). In the series, Beetlejuice was more of a shape-changer in much the same way the Genie would be in Disney's "Aladdin" a few years later, changing appearance for the sake of a quick gag. Lydia was given a special outfit to wear in the Neitherworld, a spider-web patterned poncho over a black bodysuit. It's too bad she was actually underage for Beetlejuice, who tried to marry her in the movie, you'll recall. I can imagine, though, young boys in Lydia's age range tuning in......

Anyway, what better way to kick off Spooktober than the series premiere, also our Famous First for October. Here's "Critter Sitters".

Edit, 8/30/21: Had to change the video as Dailymotion deleted the episode. In this sample, Lydia summons Beetlejuice, and, since this is the opener, we see her Neitherworld attire for the first time:



In all, Beetlejuice ran for a couple of years on ABC, running concurrently on Fox at the end of the ABC run. Four years sounds about right. Unfortunately, no one is willing to pick up the show this time of year. It was a trip, just like the movie.

Rating: A-.