The problem with Nick at Nite's 1989 pilot, Cartoon Lost & Found, was that the cartoons showcased weren't entirely lost.
Take, for example, Deputy Dawg, who was a fixture in syndication in the early 80's, before 1st run syndication pushed the older shows off the air. Most, if not all, of the shows presented in this half hour show, which didn't go to series, had or would soon be seen on cable. For example, Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV, had aired Speed Racer reruns not long before this show aired, and Speed would not only move over to Nick, but the network later acquired a sequel series.
Adam West (ex-Batman, The Detectives) is essentially our host. This was another failed pilot for the actor, after 1986's The Last Precinct. Comic Spike Feresten, who co-created the show and co-wrote it, would later surface on Fox with his own show some years later.
See how many toons you can recognize, and see exactly why this ended up a bomb.
Rating: C-.
2 comments:
This was definitely an idea that was ahead of it's time. Of course nowadays, many of these older cartoons are under the umbrella of big corporations and can be found on various streaming services.
Ironically, years later Nickelodeon would air a kid's show starring comedian Marc Weiner appropriately titled Weinerville which initially featured some cartoons from the now defunct UPA studios, many of which hadn't been shown on TV in years. But then Nick ruined that later on when the network acquired reruns of The Alvin Show and then every cartoon on Weinerville was either Alvin or Clyde Crashcup, which you could see on any weekday morning at that time on Nick. As Tony Stark would say, "Not a great plan."
Weinerville was also home to Batfink, who wasn't featured in Cartoon Lost & Found. It was how I caught up with Hal Seeger's other contribution to the 60's (he also gave us Milton the Monster & Fearless Fly).
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