Wednesday, July 27, 2022

When 80's icons meet: Inspector Gadget visits the Mario Brothers (Super Mario Brothers Super Show, 1989)

 Now, here's a crossover that should've merited more attention than it did.

Actor-impressionist Maurice LaMarche (The Real Ghostbusters) takes on the role of Inspector Gadget for the first time as the cyborg sleuth visits The Super Mario Brothers Super Show. DIC produced both series, so it made sense to bring Gadget to life in this case, a few years before Matthew Broderick donned the trenchcoat.

In "Defective Gadgetry", Luigi (Danny Wells, ex-The Jeffersons) makes like Radar and has Mario (Capt. Lou Albano) answer the door before the bell even rings, LaMarche nails a perfect Don Adams mimic in playing Gadget, a role he'd revisit in animation years later after Adams passed away.


You'll recall that Gadget's 1st run lasted a couple of years. The Marios only got one. Hmmmmmmm.

No rating. Just a public service.

3 comments:

Steven Dolce said...

Hate to get off topic but, did you know we are getting an R rated TMNT reboot?

Silverstar said...

I remember this! At the time I barely knew who Maurice LaMarche was; I saw his name turn up on Sid & Marty Krofft's DC Follies, but I didn't realize just how talented a voice actor he was until later; yeah, LaMarche's Don Adams impression is spot-on.

One oddity about this appearance, though: for some reason, Mr. LaMarche never correctly said Gadget's catchphrase when activating his trademark gadgets; Instead of saying "Go-Go Gadget Whatever", he would just say "Go-Go Whatever". I'm not sure if that was a studio instruction or just a slip-up from the actors or writers.

hobbyfan said...

He might've slipped up from not remembering his lines. And he'd been with DIC for a while. Real Ghostbusters was in its 4th year when this aired.

@Steven: I would suggest saving your news flashes for e-mails. My e-mail address is in my profile page.