Al Capp's legendary L'il Abner transitioned into animated shorts courtesy of Columbia/Screen Gems. Only a handful of shorts were made, and difficult to find.
For an example of how Capp's satirical humor translated onto the screen, here' "Kickapoo Juice" (it's actually Kickapoo Joy Juice in the strip, but either way, it's a bizarre form of moonshine)
I remember reading L'il Abner when it appeared in the NY Daily News back in the day until Capp retired. Silly stuff, and keep in mind, this pre-dated the TV series, Beverly Hillbillies, by a few decades.
I had this up before, and had to take it down, but now it's back.
"It" being a Bugs Bunny primetime special for CBS from 1978, "A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court", a loose adaptation of a certain Mark Twain novel.
"Heathcliff Gets Framed": Heathcliff (Mel Blanc) embarrasses a bully cat who's new in town. So the bully responds by buying a costume and framing 'Cliff.
"Repo Cat": While Riff Raff (Stan Jones) and Cleo are on a trip, the rest of the gang lose their Catillac when the original owner claims it back.
Plus: As the boys prep for a day at the beach, Hector remembers to open a window so Leroy can get some air, as Riff Raff narrates.
The opener was predictable fluff, but the ending was cool.
The title of this episode of The Monkees is a riff on laundry detergent ads, which is appropriate since much of the action centers on a local laundromat the boys frequent, and all four of them vie for the affection of its owner (special guest star Julie Newmar).
Here's "Monkees Get Out More Dirt":
To be fair, Julie was not that far removed from My Living Doll, which had signed off two years earlier. Her flirting with the guys is worth the price of admission alone. Her comic timing remained intact.
Oh, and keep an eye open for Wally Cox (Underdog) in the opening teaser.
The Wrong Way Kid was first shown as part of the CBS Library in March 1983. More than four years later, it resurfaced on Nickelodeon's Special Delivery, which is where BetaGems found this special. Some commercials are left intact.
Dick Van Dyke essays three roles, including a father who drops his son at the library, and the librarian. Voice talent includes June Foray, Don Messick (Smurfs, etc.), Arnold Stang (ex-Top Cat), and Stan Freberg. Keith Coogan, grandson of Jackie Coogan (ex-The Addams Family), credited as Keith Mitchell, is the son, Chris.
Producer Nick Bosustow is the son of UPA executive Stephen Bosustow, and struck out on his own, producing a fair number of CBS Library entries.
The backup feature on The Alvin Show featured "inventor" Clyde Crashcup (Shep Menken), who was a parody of Don Herbert's Mr. Wizard in that his "inventions" already existed.
When the series began a new cycle of episodes in the summer of 1962, mistakenly assumed to be a second season, Clyde was feted in a send-up of Ralph Edwards' This is Your Life.
Edit, 1/19/23: The video, long deleted, has been replaced by a screencap of the episode.
In a way, the spirit of Clyde would live on, thanks to the Muppets' Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, whose sketches on The Muppet Show were also Mr. Wizard parodies.
Clyde would return in a dream sequence in 1981's A Chipmunk Christmas, and his final appearance to date was in an episode of Chipmunks go to The Movies which sent up "Back to The Future".
Max Fleischer's Talkartoons series often mixed live action with animation. Case in point is this Betty Boop offering, 1932's "Minnie The Moocher", based on the Cab Calloway song of the same name.
Cab appears at the start, and voices what appears to be a ghostly walrus, as the title song takes up half the film.
Betty (Mae Questel) runs away from home with her boyfriend, Bimbo, but then......
Oh, I could've saved this for Halloween or a Friday the 13th if I'd known about the spookier elements.
Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha, is now in the 20th century, searching for the best gasoline available in this 1971 Sunoco ad.
Don & Sancho Panza either were in the public domain, given how many loose adaptations of the characters existed in the 60's & 70's, or the estate of the author reaped a huge bounty, larger than Quixote ever imagined.
Mike Judge, the genius behind Beavis & Butt-Head & King of The Hill, among other things, stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman to promote the 2011 revival of Beavis, and even re-enacts a scene from an episode.
During Hugh Harman's run at MGM, the producer attempted to develop his own version of the Three Bears. However, the series starring The Bear Family ended after 3 shorts.
In 1940's "A Rainy Day", Father (Rudolf Ising) has a difficult time trying to fix the roof......
WB, of course, had their own version, first used as foils for Bugs Bunny before getting a starring short of their own.
Here's another breakfast cereal that I don't remember seeing on store shelves in my area back in the day.
In 1972, Nabisco released Honey Crunchers, and contracted with Disney to produce an animated spot starring Winnie The Pooh (Sterling Holloway). Not sure if that is Sebastian Cabot (ex-Family Affair), who narrated some of those Pooh featurettes that eventually landed at NBC, as the announcer. Cabot would move on to his final series, Ghost Story, later in '72.
Jimmie Rodgers might be known for hits like "Honeycomb" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", but he had a lesser known hit that brought him to American Bandstand in June 1964.
Rod McKuen wrote "The World I Used to Know". An interview with host Dick Clark follows:
Rodgers would record the theme to ABC's 1965 drama, The Long, Hot Summer. This is posted in memory of Rodgers, who passed away on Monday.
In the mid-80's, Betty Crocker introduced the Cake Lovers' Collection line of cake mixes. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long, despite an animated ad campaign with Cathy, who would also appear in a trio of primetime specials.
More than 40 years after Quiz Kids made its debut on radio, producers Peter Guber & Jon Peters obtained the rights to revive the series, partnering with Columbia Pictures Television (Sony) to create Quiz Kids Challenge, a weekday game show aimed at the after-school crowd. Actor Jonathan Prince (ex-Throb) was the series host.
Unfortunately, this final incarnation of Quiz Kids lasted one season. One reason why it failed might've been the fact it wasn't cleared in as many markets as, say for example, Jeopardy!, which would've been a perfect companion piece. In fact, Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert, still going strong today in his 90's, has those chores here.
This sample was posted by an actual adult contestant, Joe Walton:
Prince's attempts at humor seem forced, and that may be another reason why this flopped.
In commemoration of what would've been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 70th birthday, DIC & 20th Century Fox released a DTV, "Our Friend, Martin", with an all star cast that includes Edward Asner, Susan Sarandon, Jaleel White, Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Frank Welker, John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg, and Dr. King's two eldest children, Dexter & Yolanda. Dexter plays his father at an early age
Today being Martin Luther King Day, this is a special treat. No rating.
Genndy Tartatovsky has experimented with silent cartoons in the past, like with Samurai Jack, for example.
Tartatovsky's latest, Primal, was a 10 part series that premiered on [adult swim] in October 2019, with the first 5 chapters shown nightly for a week. Then, Chumptoon Network made viewers wait a year before the final 5 aired. When a moron like Rob Sorcher is among the executive producers, that spells trouble.
Tartatovsky takes us back to caveman times, though his protagonist, for lack of better description, looks like he was descended from Vincent Hamlin's comic strip hero, Alley Oop----if Alley were drawn by Sal Buscema.
The protagonist, Spear, so named for the weapon he carries, loses his family in the first chapter, his wife & children eaten by dinosaurs. That scene, however, is not included in this sample clip:
I believe this is out on DVD, and if it is, I'll venture to get it, and post a more comprehensive review another day. No rating for now.
Mobil came up with this cheeky animated spot in 1971 featuring the Rocker Arm Assembly, a vocal group modeled after---and could very well have been---The Clancy Brothers. John Bartholomew Tucker is the announcer at the end of the ad.
I originally had this next entry up at The Land of Whatever in doing a review of Saturday Night Live, but the site where I picked up the clip went kaputski, and out it went.
Anyway, even though political commentator and PBS host John McLaughlin had appeared on the show previously, and his series had been parodied with Dana Carvey as McLaughlin, SNL upped the ante by making another parody, this one music-centric.
The Sinatra Group features Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra, Jan Hooks as Sinead O'Connor, Chris Rock at Luther Campbell (2 Live Krew), Mike Myers & Victoria Jackson as Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme (Myers was a bad pick as Lawrence), and that week's host, Sting, as fellow Brit Billy Idol.
From January 19, 1991. Parental discretion is advised for politically incorrect content. This sketch appears to have been edited off the version available for streaming on Peacock.
Past episodes of SNL have been heavily edited. The episode this sketch was originally part of clocks in on Peacock at just under 30 minutes, or, 1/3 the actual length of the show. You've been warned.
Stephen Colbert has been one of President Donald Trump's harshest critics via his Late Show on CBS.
Earlier this week, Colbert decided to have a little fun at the expense of the President, using footage from an old Challenge of The Super Friends episode, in which Lex Luthor has a little about face in the middle of a Legion of Doom caper. This follows a series of news clips.
No one is buying Trump's sudden about face, trying to be contrite in his last days in office, and while Colbert and friends dubbed over the original dialogue, let's remember that DC Comics decided to have Luthor himself be the President of the US in the DC Universe in 2000. That didn't end well, either.
Or, as a certain young lady might put it, real spacey.
Dirk The Daring (Bob Sarlatte, Saturday Supercade) and his girlfriend, Princess Daphne, help an old wizard regain his confidence in this Dragon's Lair episode. Howard Morris, one of the show's voice directors, guest stars in "The Story of Old Alf".
Narrator Clive Revill was later the 1st voice of Alfred on Batman: The Animated Series before being inexplicably replaced by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.. Revill's job included showing the viewer two options that Dirk could use in a specific situation, as shown above.
What that does is it makes the show an infomercial for the video game. Which probably didn't sit well with the FCC, being that it was a network show.....!
Following is a rerun compilation from season 1 of Linus The Lionhearted. Note that the audio is a wee bit behind the video.
Framing sequence: Linus (Sheldon Leonard) wants to take a group picture with his friends, but it seems Billy Bird (Carl Reiner) is feeling a wee bit jealous.
1. Linus in "Travel is Broadening" (1st shown in November 1964): Billy tries to teach Linus about traveling.
2. Rory Raccoon in "Rest Cured" (January 1965): Rory (Bob McFadden) has to deal with a pesky crow.
3. Lovable Truly in "Dog Gone" (January 1965): Truly (McFadden) searches for a missing dog, although the cat that shares the dog's home wouldn't mind if the pooch never returned.
4. So-Hi in "The Giant With 2 Glass Jaws" (January 1965): That giant has 2 glass jaws because it's a 2-headed giant. Bob McFadden also voices So-Hi.
In addition to the cast's usual ads for Post cereals, boxing legend Rocky Graziano plays a cowboy shilling Raisin Bran with the Raisin Counter.
Apparently, Rocky wasn't convincing enough as a cowpoke, and he spent the 70's shilling for Lee Myles, a NYC dealership.
At first glance, Nickelodeon's short-lived game show, Get The Picture, was derived from Concentration due to the puzzle board. However, this was not a rebus puzzle game. Instead, two teams of children played a quiz game to earn squares on the puzzle before they could solve said puzzle.
Mike O'Malley served as MC for the series' run, which encompassed two "seasons" in the same calendar year. The show, like all of Nick's original series at the time, was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando. After production ended, Nick kept Picture on the schedule until 1993.
O'Malley moved on to the action sports show, Nick Guts, before turning to acting (i.e. Yes, Dear).
Here's a sample episode from the summer of 1991:
The coveralls were standard issue attire for the kiddo's on the Nick game shows of the period.
One of Bill Woodson's earliest face acting jobs came in season 2 of Burke's Law (1st series). Paul Lynde just happened to be in the rotation of Aaron Spelling's repertory company during the course of the series.
In "Who Killed Merlin The Great?", Bill is a newscaster on-site at a magician's convention. Paul plays the hotel doctor. This episode was remade almost completely 30 years later in the remake of the series.
In the 1994 version, retitled, "Who Killed Alexander The Great?", Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series, etc.), Tom Bosley (ex-Happy Days, Father Dowling Mysteries, The World of Peter The Gnome), and John Astin (ex-Attack of The Killer Tomatoes, The Addams Family) were among the guest stars. You'll see that another day.
Actress-singer Ariana Grande has her own line of perfume. The latest gets its name from the now-retired rock group, R. E. M.. and debuted in November.
To sell it to consumers, Ariana made an animated commercial. The animation is similar to the 1990's adventure series, Aeon Flux, and the short posits Ariana as a sort-of heroine. You can pick up R. E. M. at Ulta Beauty here in the US, and other retailers.
From Ariana's own YouTube channel:
Bank on this. It's probably getting plenty of airplay on Nickelodeon, where Ariana got her start.
Award winning author Ted Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, appeared on To Tell The Truth in 1958. This was around the time that The Cat in The Hat had been released, and was already a best seller. Host Bud Collyer, animation & radio's original Superman, is, of course, the moderator. Geisel appears at the 8:50 mark.
Seven years after his feature film debut, Felix The Cat returned to television, this time in a Saturday morning series for CBS that took him back to his roots in the silent era, except that, yes, there was dialogue.
Phil Roman obtained a license for The Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat, which lasted two seasons near the back end of CBS' lineup. Thom Adcox-Hernandez (Gargoyles, ex-Falcon Crest) landed the title role, but was never the long term plan. In season 2, Charlie Adler (ex-Tiny Toon Adventures) took over the role. However, declining ratings resulted in the series cancellation.
There are very few videos available, and most of them have German title cards, though the content otherwise remains the same. This sample video was culled from a broadcast on CBS affiliate WCAX, and comes complete with commercials.
Unfortunately, the series has not aired on cable since its cancellation.
Max Fleischer's original Out of The Inkwell shorts, starring Koko The Clown, originally appeared in silent form in the 20's.
In 1960, Fleischer entered into a partnership with independent producer Hal Seeger to create over 100 new Inkwell shorts, with comedian Larry Storch providing the voices. This, then, was what started Storch's voice acting career, and led to his being hired for Tennessee Tuxedo three years later.
However, the birthday boy (Larry turns 98 today) doesn't get any credit for any of the Inkwell shorts he did, including "Mean Moe Tells William Tell":
I think there's a reason why these cartoons haven't seen the light of day in over 60 years. The artwork doesn't have the zip of the original series.
The producers of the original Saved by The Bell came up with a parody of a certain MTV docu-series in season 3's "Rockumentary". Former network studio announcer Casey Kasem (America's Top 10, etc.) makes his 2nd and final appearance on the show, this time as "guest host" and narrator.
But, good luck finding the complete episode online, other than on Peacock. YouTube has it, but you have to buy it for a couple of bucks. Dailymotion? Fuhgeddaboutit!
Anyway, this mockumentary traces the rise, fall, & rise again of the gang's pop group, Zack Attack. Of the regulars, only Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie) was in absentia, and Mario Lopez (ex-Kids Incorporated) may have been the only legitimate musician in the bunch, so AC Slater (Lopez) is behind the drum kit, just as Mario was on Kids Incorporated. No one's really sure if Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack) & Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (Kelly) actually sang "Did we Ever Have a Chance?". If they didn't, the studio musicians that did have successfully remained anonymous for 30 years.
Here's "Did we Ever Have a Chance?". Judge for yourselves.
With King Features' Popeye out of production, Mae Questel (Olive Oyl) began taking on some face acting jobs.
One such gig had her working with Gertrude Berg on her self-titled CBS sitcom (formerly known as Mrs. G. Goes to College) in the episode, "Gentleman Caller". Mae first appears around the 4:45 mark as a friend of one of the oldest college freshmen in history, Sarah Green (Berg).
The series lasted just one season, with co-star Mary Wickes (ex-Dennis The Menace) nominated for an Emmy for best supporting actress. We'll just take a look-see at Mae's IMDB page and see about other guest appearances.
Squad 51's Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) & John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) have a full day's work in clearing out the harbor before a "Tsunami" hits in this season 1 installment of Emergency! +4.
The use of animals tells us NBC wanted a hybrid of two of ABC's freshman entries, not just Super Friends, mind, but also Lassie's Rescue Rangers. Unfortunately, co-executive producer-director Fred Calvert, using a lot of the veteran animators as other studios, such as Filmation and Hanna-Barbera, proved to be even cheaper than the big boys. David Jolliffe (ex-Room 222) and Sarah Kennedy (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) are heard as two of the kids. In fact, Sarah's character was originally named Sally, but was mysteriously changed to Carol just a few weeks into the season.
Some of the plots on the show were probably ones they couldn't use on the parent Emergency!, which aired a few hours later.
"Hanging on The Telephone" was first recorded by the punk band, The Nerves, in the mid-70's. In 1979, Blondie covered "Telephone", but it didn't chart here in the US, peaking at #5 in the UK.
Still, since Blondie was one of the hottest acts on the planet at the time, Debbie Harry and company performed "Telephone" on The Midnight Special. This is the version actress Melissa Rauch covered for "Batman & Harley Quinn", which we reviewed last time.
Bruce Timm returns to his pride & joy, Harley Quinn, whom he co-created with Paul Dini nearly 30 years ago, in a comedy adventure that has Harley (Melissa Rauch, The Big Bang Theory) teaming with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Nightwing (Loren Lester) to hunt down Poison Ivy (Paget Brewster, ex-Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law, Dan Vs.) and her new partner, Jason Woodrue, aka the Floronic Man or Plant Master (Kevin Michael Richardson).
Batman & Harley Quinn is not your normal DCAU movie. In Timm's own description, he used the 1982 Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte comedy-crime drama, "48 Hours", as an inspiration for this film.
Harley has been paroled, and has landed a job as a waitress. That's the good news. The bad? She has to wear a replica of a more recent costume on the job at a costume-themed eatery. A worst case scenario for anyone in her station, if you ask me. Nightwing tails her to her apartment, hoping to recruit her, leading to, well, I ain't spoilin'.
Meanwhile, at ARGUS, Batman pumps Sarge Steel (John DiMaggio, ex-Futurama, Kim Possible, etc.) for information on a missing scientist abducted by the Floral Felons.
Edit, 6/19/23: We've retrieved a clip in which twins Min & Max (Rob Paulsen) cover Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds' 1974 hit, "Don't Pull Your Love":
Holy obscurities!
Think of this as a PG version of "48 Hours". The one problem I have is with Melissa Rauch as Harley. If she's trying to duplicate the Noo Yawk accent Harl has, she might've found the wrong borough. But given that Harley's comic books have her living on Staten Island, could that be the accent she was after? If so, she sounds too Bronx for my liking. Hopefully, she's seen ex-castmate Kaley Cuoco's version of Harley.
Timm gets in a voice cameo as Booster Gold, and DiMaggio doubles as Swamp Thing in a brief bit.
The Three Stooges become "Dizzy Detectives" to solve a mystery involving an ape stolen from a zoo (actually, actor-stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan in a costume).
Curly had no idea his battering ram of a noggin would trigger an explosion, but hey, at least they survived.
