Daytime Heroes: Spiral Zone (1987)

In the mid-to-late 80's, it was assumed that kids would gravitate to every toy-centric cartoon being produced.

However, as the 1-season failures at Ruby-Spears of Rambo and Centurions proved, that wasn't always the case.

Spiral Zone, imported from Japan in a sense in that the original concept came from one of the country's top toy producers, Bandai, was meant to be a counter-point to another 1st year adventure cartoon set in the future, Filmation's final series, Bravestarr. While Bravestarr had a more of a Western or Steampunk theme mixed into the future, Spiral Zone represented the dreary, dark, dystopian future, not quite unlike 1980's Thundarr The Barbarian, which was set much further into the future.

The villain was a brilliant but demented scientist who already had near total control of the world by enslaving mankind. Tonka, which had licensed Challenge of The Go-Bots and the comedy series, Pound Puppies, to Hanna-Barbera, chose to work with an independent studio this time. Bad move. Spiral Zone, and, for that matter, Bravestarr, were both cancelled after 1 season, sending a message that the future wasn't something to be speculated upon or trifled with for impressionable young minds.

The voice cast had some of the usual suspects of the period. Frank Welker (Smurfs, Real Ghostbusters) reunited with an old friend in Dan Gilveazan (ex-Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends), while the cast also featured familiar voices in Neil Ross (ex-Rambo) & Michael Bell (Smurfs and a bazillion commercials).

Locally, cable viewers had up to three chances to watch the show, as it aired on the local Fox affiliate, as well as WPIX & WSBK.

Here's the intro:



Now, I get that the upbeat music's supposed to offer encouragement for viewers. I think part of the reason the show bombed was because in some cities, it aired opposite something like DuckTales or other components of the Disney Afternoon (not the case in Albany, Boston, & NYC), or soap operas like General Hospital. Game over.

Rating: B.

Saturday School: The Princess of Pure Delight (Curiosity Shop, 1971)

Here's a rarity from Curiosity Shop, an adaptation of a short story, The Princess of Pure Delight, told with puppets from Bob Baker, and narrated & sung by Barbara Minkus (ex-Love, American Style):



There aren't that many clips from the series available at this time, and that's a shame.

Rating: A.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Tarzan & The Super 7 (1978)

In 1978, CBS was the #2 network on Saturday mornings, behind ABC, which had surged to the top after acquiring Scooby-Doo and reviving Super Friends. CBS sought to expand on its adventure line beyond The New Adventures of Batman (in perpetual rerun) and Tarzan, Lord of The Jungle. Unfortunately, the network and Filmation misfired. Badly.

Tarzan & The Super 7, by design, should've been a 90 minute block, leaving the two older series intact, and rotating the other five segments. Nope. CBS opted instead to extend The Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Hour to 90 minutes because the Looney Tunes legends were considered a bigger ratings draw, especially considering the frequent primetime specials spinning out of the anthology block.

So you had 7 adventure segments crammed into an hour-long block. Bad idea. Batman & Tarzan were edited down in size in order to make room for:

Jason of Star Command: The final live-action entry from Filmation replaced Space Academy, from which it was supposedly spun-off, but, in truth, certain sets and props were retained. Relative newcomer Craig Littler top-lined what was the first of three serials Filmation experimented with over a 2 year period. Flash Gordon (NBC) and Mighty Mouse's "Great Space Chase", both bowing the next year, were the others. James Doohan co-starred, but left after the season to begin work on the first Star Trek movie. Sid Haig (ex-Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) was the villainous Dragos. Jason was renewed for a 2nd season, and was left behind when the Super 7 moved to NBC in 1980.

Web Woman: Scientist-turned-farmer Kelly Webster (Linda Gary, making her debut for Filmation) gains the powers of the entire insect world, but the very code name alone suggested a knock-off of Marvel's Spider-Woman, who'd make her TV debut the next year over on ABC. 10 episodes were produced, including one we presented yesterday. The origin of Web Woman, as explained online, borrows from DC's Green Lantern in the Silver Age as well. Producer Lou Scheimer is heard as Scarab, Spinner, and various other characters.

The Freedom Force: With Secrets of Isis cancelled after three years on the air (2 1st run seasons), Filmation thought highly enough of the heroine to have her transition to animated form and front her own team. Newcomer Diane Pershing takes over for Joanna Cameron as Isis, but with no dual identity this time. Sources have confirmed that Bob Denison, not George DiCenzo, voiced Hercules, whom DiCenzo portrayed a year earlier in Space Sentinels for NBC. Michael Bell, in his only work for Filmation of note, voiced Sinbad, Merlin, & Super Samurai, as well as the latter's human alter-ego, Toshi. Yeah, more than a decade in, Filmation was still too cheap to actually go all out for a voice cast, a condition that would change as time progressed. Only 5 episodes were produced, but if any of the animated newcomers merited being spun off, this was it.

Manta & Moray: DC, I'm sure, would've had a problem with this segment, too, as it was presumed to be a knockoff of Aquaman, since Manta (Joe Stern) could not stay away from the water for very long. Joan Van Ark voiced Moray, and would work on Spider-Woman & Knots Landing the next year. It could be construed that Moray was an analogue for another DC character, Dolphin, who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Aquaman in the books in recent years.

Superstretch & Microwoman: African-American husband & wife amateur detectives/superheroes whose powers were, again, derived from established heroes. Chris Cross, aka Superstretch (Ty Henderson, fresh from Space Academy) was a knockoff of Plastic Man and Reed Richards, the latter of whom was back on the air with The Fantastic Four that same season over on NBC. Wife Christie, aka Microwoman, was a female Atom. No costumes, though, which might also have been a mistake. Howard Morris returned to Filmation, voicing their police contact.

By all rights, this should've been the 90 minute, maybe even 2 hour, block on CBS, but the network's short-sighted thinking doomed the series.

Here's an intro that showcases the four animated newbies, leaving out Batman, Tarzan, & Jason. Narrated by Lou Scheimer:



It got even worse when the anthology block moved to NBC, with Tarzan remaining at CBS. The show was retitled, Batman & The Super 7, which was a misnomer, and buried in the lunch hour death slot.

Rating: B--.

You Know The Voice: Mary Jo Catlett (1983)

Today, she's known as the voice of Mrs. Puff on SpongeBob SquarePants, but back in the 80's, Mary Jo Catlett was a regular on Diff'rent Strokes and contributed some voice roles on Smurfs.

Around that time, Mary Jo teamed with Michael Vale, known for shilling for Breakstone's sour cream and Dunkin Donuts, in a series of ads for Black Flag products.

Black Flag, now manufactured by Spectrum Brands, is the oldest running insect killer on the market, well over 200 years old. It was around long before Raid became a brand for SC Johnson.

Here, Mary Jo & Michael tout an improved Black Flag ant & roach killer.

Toon Rock: Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)(1981)

Heavy Metal, at the time a sister publication to the National Lampoon, spawned an animated feature film in the summer of 1981.

The story is told in multiple parts, adapting the works of legendary artists Berni Wrightson, whose Captain Sternn would later be spun off into his own book at Kitchen Sink Comics, if memory serves me correctly, and Richard Corben, among others.

With the Eagles on hiatus for a few years, Don Felder wrote and recorded "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)", but the poster subbed a more graphic segment in the movie not connected with the song. Parental discretion is advised due to graphic violence.

Saturday School: Space Academy: Hide & Seek (1977)

A Space Academy mission team intercepts a meteor headed for the school's asteroid home, but, after that, strange things begin to happen. Here's "Hide & Seek":



Peepo was credited to "E. C. S.", the initials of actress Ericka Scheimer, Lou's daughter, who was a contributor to Fat Albert at the time, as we've documented, and she would take on a production job on Jason of Star Command the next season.

One of the hallmarks of Filmation's live-action product (1974-80) was the lack of cheesy effects, except for the short-lived Ghost Busters. Veteran director of photography Aldric Edens, who'd worked for Jack Webb in the 60's and early 70's (i.e. Dragnet) was brought in for this series, and Jason as well.

Rating: B+.

Retro Toy Chest: Allan Sherman demonstrates the Camp Granada board game (1964)

A year after his novelty smash "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" climbed the charts, Allan Sherman signed a deal with Milton Bradley to develop a board game based on the song. Sherman knew a little something about games, seeing as how he co-created I've Got a Secret.



It's too bad Sherman couldn't take the next natural step, and turn Camp Grenada into a sitcom. Then again, some people might think the creators of 1965's Camp Runamuck might've done that for him.

Toon Rock: Why Does my Heart Feel so Bad? (1999)

"Why Does my Heart Feel so Bad?" was the 4th single from Moby's 1999 CD, "Play". The track had been written by Moby seven years earlier, but reworked, sampling some obscure gospel tracks from the 60's.

The animated video features the character of Little Idiot, who also appears on the single cover.



"Heart" was not released as a single here in the US, but overseas only.

Toonfomercial: Remember Snipets? (1972)

Snipets was a series of 30 second interstital spots that aired in syndication, mostly on stations owned by Kaiser Communications or its successor, Field Communications.

The claymation figures in the following sample appear to have been lifted from or inspired by Davey & Goliath. Here, a girl wants to play basketball with a trio of boys.



It was around the time this ad aired, in 1974, that youth leagues such as Little League became co-ed on a gradual basis, and, as this illustrates, playground pick-up games were co-ed, too.

Saturtainment: My Pet Monster (1987)

Canada's Nelvana Studios got its corporate foot in the door at ABC in the mid-80's, first with a pair of series spun off from the "Star Wars" movies, Ewoks & Droids. After that came a toy-centric series, My Pet Monster.

Initially, there was a hour long direct to video special released in 1986 which had an entirely different plotline. We'll pull that up another time. However, the series established that the Monster and his owner, Max, were two separate entities, as they were meant to be.

At first glance, the Monster is exactly what it is in the stores, a plush toy. Take the handcuffs away, however, and he comes to life, leading to some crazy adventures, such as the opener....



ABC was looking for something to complement their new tentpole series, Real Ghostbusters, Flintstone Kids, & The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show. Unfortunately, Monster was cancelled after 1 season.

No rating.

Toonfomercial: CBS promotes its Saturday morning (& afternoon) block (1975)

In 1975, CBS took the "socko" out of CBS Socko Saturday, shortening the name of their Saturday lineup to simply, CBS Saturday, with Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm & Scooby-Doo Where Are You? in permanent rerun, while welcoming Far Out Space Nuts, Secrets of Isis, & Ghost Busters. It should be noted that Valley of The Dinosaurs and Fat Albert were also in reruns.

Keebler pitchman and CBS studio announcer Danny Dark (Super Friends) narrates:



Fat Albert would go back into production the next year. Not noted, of course, is that US of Archie had been moved to Sundays, ending the franchise's run at CBS. Scooby would follow, leaving for ABC in '76.

Even grade schoolers know how to say no to drugs (1970)

Remember this ad?



That pusher found out the hard way his tag line is a turn off.

Family Toons: Goof Troop (1992)

In the ongoing push to refresh The Disney Afternoon block, Disney decided that Goofy would finally get his own series. After all, Donald Duck was appearing occasionally on DuckTales, but the block was cancelled before they got around to giving Mickey Mouse his own show. He'd eventually get two, but over on ABC (House of Mouse and Mickey's MouseWorks).

Unfortunately for Goofy, Goof Troop had just one season of first run episodes that aired weekdays as part of Disney Afternoon, with an extra 13 airing Saturdays on ABC. Mind you, this was before Disney bought ABC.

Goofy (Bill Farmer) returns to his hometown of Spoonerville with son Max (Dana Hill), and we see that Pete (Jim Cummings) is his next door neighbor, married with two children. This, I think, is what Hanna-Barbera had aspired to do with Popeye & Son a few years earlier, except the idea of families on this show was more fleshed out.

The series did, however, spin off two movies, the first of which, "A Goofy Movie", went into theatres, while the sequel was direct to video. Don't ask. By the time they did the sequel, Hill had passed away after complications from type-1 diabetes.

Here's the intro:



Rating: B.

Coming Attractions: The Looney Tunes are moving to HBO Max

After Chumptoon Network fumbled the ball with Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, aka New Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, and the rest of the gang are moving over to HBO Max, which launches Wednesday, May 27.

Eric Bauza takes over as the voice behind Bugs & Daffy. Jeff Bergman, who had essayed those roles, will play Sylvester, among others, with Fred Tatasciore as Sam. Bob Bergen (Porky Pig) is the only holdover in his role from the previous series. Bauza will also voice Marvin the Martian.

Following is a new trailer:



The animation looks fresh, recapturing the classic looks. Peter Browngardt (Uncle Grandpa) is one of the masterminds behind this series, and it looks like he's hit a home run. Stay tooned.

Saturday Morning Ringside: Pro Wrestling This Week (1986)

After the syndicated Pro Wrestling USA bit the dust, Atlanta-based Joe Pedicino launched a 7 hour wrestling block known as Superstars of Wrestling in the local market. Since the then-World Wrestling Federation had changed its Championship Wrestling to Superstars of Wrestling (later shortened to simply Superstars) in the spring of '87, Pedicino spun off a hour-long magazine show, Pro Wrestling This Week, to sell into syndication.

This Week, however, didn't last long in national syndication, although the Atlanta block continued for six years (1986-92). For cable viewers here, Pro Wrestling This Week aired on WPIX, which was also home to Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Following is a sample episode from 1987, with Pedicino and co-anchor Gordon Solie, complete with commercials.



In case you wonder, the theme song is the instrumental open to Eddie Murphy & Rick James' 1985 hit, "Party All The Time".

In memory of Pedicino, who has passed away. No rating out of respect.

Retro Toy Chest: Remember Crumpet? (1971)

Here's a doll that appears to be meant for the UK audience, just by her name.

Crumpet was introduced by Kenner in 1971, but I don't know of any American girls that would be interested in tea in the target demographic......

Tea and cookies? Yeah, I'd say this was a UK thing.

Daytime Heroes: Dick Tracy in Phony Pharmers (1961)

Dick Tracy (Everett Sloane) sends Hemlock Holmes (Jerry Housner) and the Retouchables after Flattop & B. B. Eyes (might be Paul Frees doing both) in "Phony Pharmers". B. B. Eyes is portrayed as a take-off on Edward G. Robinson, while Flattop, who was treated better in later iterations, is meant to sound like Peter Lorre.



UPA only produced the one season of shorts. If they had any sense, they'd have tried to sell a half-hour Tracy series to the networks instead of these quick fix farces.

Rating: B.

Toon Legends: Popeye in Sea No Evil (1960)

This would've been appropriate last month, if we all had spring break.

Popeye and Olive are relaxing on a small boat named for Olive. However, sleazy, sneaky Brutus strips the boat of all the gear, forcing some unplanned extra activity.......

"Sea No Evil" is in memory of director Gene Deitch, who passed away at 95.

Edit, 8/26/21: Had to change the video. The opening credits have been edited out of this copy.



The Deitch-William Snyder run wasn't the greatest, and, yes, some of the audio is a little bit off in the open & close.

Rating: B--.

Coming Attractions: The return of Saved by The Bell

As NBC-Universal-Comcast rolls out its new streaming service, Peacock, one of the attractions is a revival of one of NBC's most popular Saturday morning sitcoms.

Yes, Saved by The Bell is back.

This series follows up the original gang from 1989-93, and what they're doing now. Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, mixed-ish) is now the Governor of California in this iteration. I think viewers won't see him as a perfect sub for real-life governor Gavin Newsom, but...! A. C. Slater (Mario Lopez, Extra) has returned to Bayside High as a physical education teacher, with the sons of both Zack and Slater's ex, Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) in his class. As of press time, it wasn't clear whether Tiffani Thiessen would reprise as Zack's wife, Kelly.

Perhaps spurred on by a partial cast reunion on The Tonight Show a while back, in which host Jimmy Fallon imagined himself as having attended Bayside, the new Bell will attempt again to establish some new stars, as the New Class era (1993-2000) apparently has been forgotten to the point where it doesn't air anywhere now. Me-TV has the rights to the classic era, but perhaps no further.

Here's a trailer:



Stay tuned.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Three Ring Government (1979)

Lynn Ahrens wrote and sang "Three Ring Government" for Schoolhouse Rock in 1979. It looks, though, as if they went to different animators for this one, as this doesn't look like the earlier videos.



Would that a copy of this video be forwarded by Express Mail to the White House.......

You Know The Voice: Seth MacFarlane (2011)

We know Seth MacFarlane has his detractors for some of the humor used on American Dad and Family Guy.

However, there is another side to MacFarlane, as anyone that follows Family Guy would be aware.

He's also recorded a number of CD's, paying homage to the Great American Songbook, and has had a couple of runs on the adult contemporary charts. He appeared on a Barbra Streisand album of duets in 2016.

In 2011, MacFarlane headlined his first concert special. Not for Fox, mind you, but for Epix, a premium channel. With a singing voice in the mold of the late Frank Sinatra, MacFarlane channels "Ol' Blue Eyes" on this sample number, "The Sadder But Wiser Girl":



I wonder if The Orville, now on Hulu, has a holodeck.......

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Super Chicken vs. The Muscle (1967)

Super Chicken (Bill Scott) has a weighty problem on his hands, trying to retrieve a 700 pound barbell laced with diamonds from "The Muscle", the world's strongest criminal.....



Rating: B-.

Saturtainment: Andy's Gang (1955)

Andy Devine just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Smilin' Ed McConnell had passed away in 1954, putting a premature end to his radio & television series. Sponsor Buster Brown Shoes had to be anxious to put their show back on the air. However, it wasn't until 1955 when Devine, formerly the co-star of Wild Bill Hickok, was given the reins of what became Andy's Gang.

One of the features that carried over from the McConnell era was Froggy the Gremlin, a puppet who would appear when the host, be it McConnell, or, in this case, Andy, said, "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!". Today's generation would find a double entendre in there somewhere, to be sure, though I'd doubt it, since McConnell was also a gospel singer.

In this clip, Froggy interrupts a tuba solo conducted by Professor Pasta Fazooli (Vito Scotti):



60's viewers will remember Scotti from frequent appearances on Gilligan's Island and The Flying Nun, as memory serves me. As we know, Devine would land a voice-over endorsement deal with Kellogg's in the mid-60's as the voice behind Corn Flakes mascot Cornelius.

Rating: B.

Daytime Heroes: Mathnet (1987)

From Square One Television comes an ingenius send-up of Jack Webb's Dragnet, right down to using a portion of Walter Schumann's "Danger Ahead" (The Dragnet theme) as theme music.

Mathnet was originally in serial format during the first two seasons of Square One, before switching to done-in-one mysteries in the third season. A pilot was produced in 1985, two years before the series began. While the regular cast were relative unknowns, Mathnet did attract a few well known guest stars during its run, including James Earl Jones, Dick Sargent, and, in the following season 2 serial, Ronnie Schell (ex-Gomer Pyle, USMC, Battle of The Planets, Good Morning World) and Ron O'Neal, who is still remembered for the "Superfly" movies of the 70's.



After three seasons, the setting was changed from Los Angeles to New York, likely for budget reasons.

As correspondent Mike Doran noted in our review of Square One, Mathnet episodes were eventually released in stand alone video compilations. Wouldn't mind a revival, especially with today's kids now doing online lessons.

Rating: A.

Sunday Funnies: Rocko's Modern Life (1993)

Rocko's Modern Life, the series that put animator Joe Murray on the map, launched in 1993 on Nickelodeon, and ran for three seasons. Because the series still has a strong fan following more than 20 years after production ended, Murray returned to Rocko for a TV-movie that aired on Netflix late last year.

Rocko, you see, is a wallaby who appears to be the put upon sort, despite being one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. People could relate to Rocko, which explains why it lasted as long as it did. If it wasn't for Nickelodeon suits deciding to move on to the next perceived big thing, maybe it could've gone longer.

Here's the intro:



No rating. Didn't see enough of the show.

Getting Schooled: Square One Television (1987)

The Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), with 3-2-1 Contact entering its final season, was asked by PBS to come up with a new series to not only replace Contact, but act as a complement to Sesame Street, which was entering its 19th season.

Square One Television, over the course of five seasons (1987-92), not only filled the void, but with its anthology format and ensemble cast, recalled an earlier series, the original iteration of Electric Company (1971-7). As memory serves, Company was in reruns in some parts of the country, including in the home district, at this point.

We've already seen one of the animated features, Lt. Dirk Niblick of The Math Brigade, earlier this week. We won't see Dirk this time, as this is the series opener, which introduces Mathnet, a Dragnet parody which should've been spun off into its own series.

And, yes, as you'll see in the next episode teaser, magician Harry Blackstone, Jr. was a regular contributor.



With kids taking classes online due to COVID-19, maybe PBS should dust this off.

No rating.

Toonfomercial: A different kind of Cadbury Bunny (1980)

American viewers, I don't think, have seen this next item, except maybe recently online.

Cadbury commissioned a series of animated spots that aired in the UK, with the Cadbury Bunny touting the Cadbury Caramel bar, not to be confused with Caramello.

Here, the bunny plies her charms on a male rabbit, who is meant to be the White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.....

Getting Schooled: The Good Ship News (1960's)

Many of us have grown up with WTEN's morning news briefing for kids, The Good Ship News, which started as a 5 minute program, airing at 7:55 am, as a lead-in to Captain Kangaroo on CBS. Anchorman Ralph Vartigan, billed as Commander Ralph, read the news, with a weather puppet, Mr. Monkey, aiding Vartigan in reading the forecast at the end of the show.



Fellow blogger Chuck Miller acquired the above image from a 3rd party for his blog on the Albany Times-Union website about 10 years ago. Another image, on flickr.com, suggests Good Ship News launched in 1963, as Vartigan and Mr. Monkey are sitting before a cake marking the newscast's 10th anniversary.

Unfortunately, in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer, all good things must come to an end.

In the fall of 1977, as WTEN was switching from CBS to ABC, swapping affiliations with WAST (now WNYT), Good Ship News came to an end, replaced at 6:55 am by Young People's News. Vartigan retired his Navy uniform, and would pull double duty, as he also co-anchored WTEN's noon newscast at that time. In fact, for much of the 70's, he'd use the time after Good Ship to change outfits and co-host Dialing For Dollars, another 70's staple at WTEN that didn't survive the decade.

Rating: A.

Toon Rock: Land of Confusion (2006)

In the mid-80's, the British trio Genesis used puppets created by the Splitting Image troupe for their video for "Land of Confusion".

20 years later, Disturbed recorded a cover of "Confusion", and, for the video, asked Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, who'd previously animated videos for Korn & Pearl Jam, to do the same for them.

Rare Treats: An unsold Little Mermaid pilot (1990)

Right around the time of Disney's adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Disney Channel was in talks with Jim Henson about a puppet-centric spin-off series. Or, maybe I should make that Muppet-centric.

Anyway, two pilot episodes were shot for Little Mermaid's Island around 1990. Samuel E. Wright (ex-Enos) and Buddy Hackett (ex-You Bet Your Life) reprised their voice roles from the movie. However, Ariel was one of two characters portrayed by live actors in the pilot, and, for reasons known only to Disney, Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in the movie and subsequent animated series, wasn't asked to audition to play a live-action Ariel. Go figure.

Let's take a look at the first pilot, "Sebastian's Birthday":



I think you can see why this didn't fly or even float.

As noted, an animated Little Mermaid series landed at CBS in 1992, and ran for 3 seasons.

No rating.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Lean on Me (1972)

Once again, we honor the memory of singer-songwriter Bill Withers, this time with a Midnight Special performance of his #1 smash from 1972, "Lean on Me", which topped the Hot 100 & R & B charts on Billboard, and also hit #1 on Cash Box.



"Lean" was revived in the late 80's, first with a remake by the reggae-soul group Club Nouveau, then as the title song in the biography of New Jersey educator Joe Clark, also titled, "Lean on Me".

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Just The Two of Us (1981)

Bill Withers was a guest vocalist on Grover Washington, Jr.'s 1980 album, "Winelight". His track, "Just The Two of Us", won a Grammy, and was a huge hit on the pop & R & B charts.

However, after the song was released as a single in February 1981, Withers, but not Washington, appeared on American Bandstand. Why Washington didn't appear, I don't know.



In memory of Withers, 81, who passed away due to heart issues.

Retro Toy Chest: Remember Dream Date? (1963)

Dream Date is a Transogram product so obscure, it is not included on the company's Wikipedia page.

It also predated Milton Bradley's better known Mystery Date by at least two years, but faded from store shelves long before Transogram bit the dust in 1971.

Here's a commercial for the product.

Saturtainment: Dinky Dog, movie star? (1978)

Eager to have Dinky Dog out of his house, Uncle Dudley (Frank Nelson, ex-The Oddball Couple, The Jack Benny Program) gives his blessing to Sandy & Monica (Jackie Joseph & Julie Bennett) to take Dinky (Frank Welker) to an audition. Here's "Dinky, The Movie Star":



You'll notice there's a separate closing sequence for Dinky, unlike when the segment was part of The All-New Popeye Hour, and it looks like Dinky was syndicated overseas, since there was no spin-off here in the US.

In memory of Julie Bennett, whom we have learned has passed away at 88 due to complications from COVID-19. No rating out of respect.

From Comics to Toons: A complete episode of The Archie Show (1968)

Schools are on extended spring break. What better way, then, to serve up an episode of The Archie Show for you oldsters out there.

First, the gang experience a simulated trip to the moon in "Rocket Pack", then it's off to the golf course in "Par One".



Standard fare.

Rating: B.

Game Time: I've Got a Secret salutes teenagers (1958)

Garry Moore hosts not only the usual panel on I've Got a Secret, but some teens and pre-teens as well. Dick Clark (American Bandstand, The Saturday Beech-Nut Show) is a guest panelist, subbing for Henry Morgan.

Mixed in among the teens seated in a special set of bleachers behind Moore are some familiar names:

Future NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
Actress Carol Lynley, who was making headlines on Broadway.
Paul Anka, who already had two million-selling hit records.

Enjoy!



Rating: A.