Animated World of DC Comics: A New Year's Toast (The New Batman Adventures, 1997)

 From the episode "Holiday Knights":

Batman (Kevin Conroy) makes a point of ringing in the new year with Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings) every year. Whodathunk the Dark Knight actually would drink coffee?

Happy New Year!!!!

Sunday Funnies: Barbara Walters on Saturday Night Live (2014)

 After being parodied by the likes of Rachel Dratch and the late Gilda Radner, Barbara Walters made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live during the Weekend Update segment in 2014, just days before retiring, and making her last appearance on The View. Cecily Strong, who recently left SNL and is currently shilling for Verizon, is at the anchor desk.

In memory of Walters, 93, who passed away on Friday. Rest in peace.

Tooniversary: Superman in Arctic Giant (1942)

 Here's a perfect winter adventure with Superman, as he faces "The Arctic Giant".

Rating: A.

You Know The Voice: "Mr. Magoo" meets his clone? (What's My Line?, 1971)

 Jim Backus is on the panel for this installment of What's My Line?, which was in syndication, and airing in daytime in the 518. The mystery guest? Impressionist Rich Little!

I think I'm going to have to find that Truth or Consequences episode Rich referenced that he & Jim did together......

Sunday Funnies: The Muppet Reindeer discuss Christmas plans (The Ed Sullivan Show, 1968)

 Not all of Santa's legendary reindeer made the trip to New York for The Ed Sullivan Show. Then again, these are Muppet reindeer, courtesy of Jim Henson and friends, who modified a sketch first shown on The Kraft Music Hall with Perry Como three years earlier. Play this for your kids today. They'll love it.

Merry Christmas! We'll see you Monday.

Retro Toy Chest: Kreskin's ESP (1964)

 The Amazing Kreskin earned a reputation as a mentalist in the 60's, making frequent appearances on talk shows, and even hosted one himself.

But, a board game? Yup.

In 1964, Milton Bradley reached a licensing deal with Kreskin to produce a board game, Kreskin's ESP. I wish, aside from the commercial, I could tell you more, but the product was off the shelves by the time I first walked into the toy section of a department store.

Ghost of Christmas past, anyone?

Countdown to Christmas: American Bandstand's Christmas show (1969)

We've got a Christmas episode of American Bandstand from 1969. Yes, it was recorded in color, but this tape appears to have been a black & white kinescope. Anyway, the singer-songwriter team of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart and Family Affair's Kathy Garver (who later got into voice acting) are among the guests. Includes in-show ads by host Dick Clark for Certs and Neet, and is otherwise sponsored by Dr. Pepper. Bill Woodson narrates an ad for The FBI.

Update, 2/6/24: Had to change the video, as Times Past Television lost its YouTube account (which sucks).

Getting Schooled: Peg + Cat (2013)

 While older viewers will have their issues with how a cartoon is animated today, preschoolers aren't going to care.

That's because preschoolers were the target audience for PBS' Peg + Cat, which had two "seasons" stretched out over a 5 year period (2013-18). This might be because of the computer process needed to producer the cartoons. The animation is kept as simple as possible, to make it easier for the viewers.

This simplistic approach might be because the show comes from a production company named in memory of Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood).

The first season was stretched out across two years, and it is from 2014 we get this Christmas episode.

The closing music was edited off for copyright reasons, I believe.

Rating: A-.

Countdown to Christmas: Topo Gigio's Letter to Santa (The Ed Sullivan Show, 1967)

 Topo Gigio, like a lot of kids, decides to write a letter to Santa in this 1967 entry from The Ed Sullivan Show. 

After the series ended, I don't think Topo appeared on another American series.

You Know The Voices: Paul Lynde & Pamelyn Ferdin (1972)

 This, of course, means another episode of The Paul Lynde Show.

Paul Simms' son-in-law, Howie (John Calvin), is cast in a play where the cast is to act in the nude. Meanwhile, Sally (Pam Ferdin, Sealab 2020, The Roman Holidays) is doing homework (?) by reading Cosmopolitan, which raises her father's ire.

Also, Paul matches barbs with the mayor (Arthur O'Connell, ex-The Second Hundred Years). There is a portion of the show where the audio is ahead of the video.

Countdown to (Hanukkah): The Hanukkah Song III (Saturday Night Live, 2002)

 Actor/comedian/singer/songwriter Adam Sandler updated his riotous "Hanukkah Song" in 2002, and on Saturday Night Live, played on an electric guitar, brought out a children's choir, and everything was cool. Right up until Rob Schneider came out, all because "Deuce Bigalow" was included in the lyrics.......

Now, I get Adam & Rob are buds, having worked on a number of post-SNL projects together, but maybe, just maybe, Adam should've given Rob the number of his voice coach for singing.

Toonfomercial: Remember Cheetos Whirls? (2001)

 Frito-Lay tried to expand the Cheetos line of cheese snacks. Then, they turned over mascot Chester Cheetah to avant-garde animator David Feiss (Cow & Chicken, I. M. Weasel) for a trilogy of ads, this next item being the first.

Unfortunately, Feiss' series were out of production (read: cancelled) by the time this was produced, and after he finished the trilogy, Feiss was never heard from again.

Saturtainment: The Joe DiMaggio Show, aka The Lionel Clubhouse (1950)

 The fame of the Yankees was such that star outfielder Joe DiMaggio landed an offseason gig in 1950, hosting a Saturday afternoon show for kids. Unfortunately, The Joe DiMaggio Show, sponsored by Lionel Trains, lasted just 1 season of 13 episodes. The fact that it was tailored specifically for boys wouldn't work in today's market, to be sure.

Future game show legend Jack Barry was DiMaggio's sidekick, doing the shilling for Lionel, for example.

The series got off to a flying start, as DiMaggio brought in teammate Phil Rizzuto as his first guest. Unfortunately, that episode doesn't appear to be available at the moment, but the topic in this sampler, which appears to be from December 1950, is dogs. Courtesy of Ira Gallen's TVDays channel.

All the boys on the show were issued Lionel logo apparel, as you can see.

Could something like this work today? You'd have boys & girls in the audience, and, since The Baseball Bunch ended a few years ago, there is a void for programming of this sort. MLB Network's Play Ball, like Bunch, is more specifically designed for baseball. Today, you need someone who transcends sports in general. This is the sort of thing Peyton Manning should be looking to do. Just sayin'.

Rating: A.

Countdown to Christmas: Jack Benny goes Christmas shopping (1960)

 This next item has previously been used over at The Land of Whatever.

Jack Benny's annual Christmas episode in 1960 has Mel Blanc reprising as a salesman who gets completely flustered thanks to Benny's indecisiveness. Oh, the hilarity!

Countdown to Christmas: Blue Christmas (1957-2020)

 Elvis Presley first recorded "Blue Christmas" in 1957 on a Christmas album. RCA released it as a single seven years later, and it's become a Christmas staple since.

It took another 63 years before this animated video was produced.

I had contemplated Seymour Swine & The Squealers' recording in which Mr. Swine was impersonating Porky Pig, but, naaaaaaaaaaah.

Countdown to Christmas: Snow Foolin' (1949)

 From Famous Studios' Screen Songs series:

If you didn't believe that animals could skate, "Snow Foolin'" addresses this issue. Jack Mercer & Mae Questel took a break from the Popeye series to contribute to this one. Mae is heard as a mother hen who queues up "Jingle Bells". Oh, by the way, the complete song plays here, so if you didn't know the rest of the lyrics.......

Rating: A.

Toons After Dark: The Head (1994)

 With the success of Beavis & Butt-Head, MTV expanded its animation roster with the adventurous Oddities, which was supposed to be an anthology series with two series sharing the half hour space.

Unfortunately, Sam Kieth, creator of Image Comics' The Maxx, didn't play ball, and his segment was delayed several months due to the process of adapting the printed page to animation.

That meant that The Head, an original concept by animator Eric Fogel, would have the half-hour all alone to start the series, with two chapters per week. Viewers liked what they saw, and Head was given a 2nd season, in which he was joined by others with bizarre infirmities for what amounted to a Super Friends parody. The series was repurposed on Saturday mornings during its two season run. After Head ended, Fogel topped himself with the claymation Celebrity Deathmatch.

Let's take a look at the opener.

Believe it or not, there was a hardcover trade of original material spinning out of the series. I actually thought about getting it as a Christmas present for my brother, but never followed up on the thought. That book is now a collector's item.

Rating: B.

Countdown to Christmas: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970-2021)

 The Jackson 5 released their 1st Christmas album in 1970, reissued on CD in 1986. In 2021, some enterprising folks produced a music video that mixed puppets with flash animation.

From Comics to Toons: The series premiere of WildC.A.T.S. (1994)

 Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S. made their television debut in October 1994, as unforeseen delays pushed back the series launch by two weeks. Something tells me network meddling with the Nelvana-produced series might've had something to do with it.

Anyway, in the opener, we learn the origin of team member Warblade.

I think it was midway through the run that the local affiliate lifted its blackout after getting calls from comics fans.

No rating.

No, he didn't lose everything: The series finale of the Weird Al Show (1997)

 CBS' scheduling department aired the holiday episode of The Weird Al Show as the pentultimate episode instead of the series finale, as it was intended. 

So what happened? Perhaps as a subtle sign that this series was one season and done, the finale has Weird Al Yankovic getting robbed. Yeah, it's a plot device that's been used on a few primetime shows over the years (i.e. Sanford & Son). Anyway, Dick Van Patten (ex-Eight is Enough) who'd appeared in a few of Yankovic's videos, such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Bedrock Anthem", guest stars, along with Gilbert Gottfried (ex-Problem Child, Aladdin), Martha Quinn, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage, then with WCW, who has a "match" with Harvey, Al's pet hamster. As silly as it sounds!

The Fatman shorts you can skip past. They were to Al what the Brown Hornet was to Fat Albert more than 15 years earlier. A distraction.

Rating: B--.

Sunday Funnies: Topo Gigio's Christmas List (The Ed Sullivan Show, 1969)

 As a child, I'd seen a smattering of The Ed Sullivan Show, but I can't say for sure if my folks actually were interested in it on a regular basis.

In 1963, the Italian puppet, Topo Gigio, made his American debut, and would make regular appearances on the show until it was cancelled in 1971. Since then, Topo has starred in a Japanese anime which ran for 2 seasons (1988-90), and also appeared in some movies in his native Italy.

From 1969, Topo shows Ed his Christmas list.

Topo at Christmas was an annual attraction, so we've got more coming up.

Toon Rock: Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies (1989)

 Four years after Dire Straits released "Money For Nothing" as the 1st single off their CD, "Brothers in Arms", "Weird" Al Yankovic mashed "Money" together with the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies for the soundtrack to his film debut, "UHF".

Straits lead singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler sits in on guitar, a condition agreed to that allowed Yankovic to send up the classic rock track.

Toonfomercial: Pac-Man gets his own line of pasta (1984)

 After the animated Pac-Man had ended its run after 2 seasons, Hanna-Barbera called some of the cast back for a commercial to promote---wait for it----Pac-Man canned pasta from Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee (now part of ConAgra Foods).

Marty Ingels (ex-Motormouse & Autocat), Barbara Minkus (ex-Curiosity Shop, Love American Style), and Russi Taylor voice the Pac-family.

Of course, as the popularity of the video game waned, the pasta disappeared from shelves.

Countdown to Christmas: A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006)

 In 2006, Sesame Workshop & Sony Wonder put together a DVD that mixed new material with clips from past Sesame Street holiday entries, some of which have been showcased here before.

A Sesame Street Christmas Carol, narrated by Tim Curry (ex-The Wild Thornberrys), focuses on the Street's resident miser, Oscar (Carroll Spinney). Kristen Chenoweth guest stars.

Predictable.

Rating: B.

From Comics to Toons: Beetle Bailey in Camp Invisible (1964)

 An assignment issued down the chain of command from the Pentagon all the way to dimwitted Private Zero (Howard Morris) leads to chaos when Zero mistakenly uses some top-secret invisible paint to make Camp Swampy disappear.

Here's "Camp Invisible":

Morris would revisit the concept of invisible paint on The Archie Show just four years later. Veteran writer Dennis Marks had one of his first credits as the writer of this farce.

Rating: B.

Remembering Bob McGrath (1932-2022)

 Talk about your emotional gut punches.

Singer Bob McGrath was one of the original human cast members of Sesame Street, and continued with the series for nearly 50 years, retiring in 2017 after a 48 year run. Bob returned to television with Sesame Street after a run on Sing Along With Mitch a few years earlier, and the earliest Street albums were released on Columbia, where McGrath had recorded with Mitch Miller until Miller left the label in 1965.

We're sad to report that McGrath has passed away at the age of 90. 

What we're not sure of, of course is whether or not PBS or HBO will pay tribute to McGrath's contributions to Sesame Street, including the "People in Your Neighborhood":

Rest in peace.

You Know The Voice: Daws Butler, Voice Magician (1987)

 You know the characters, from Yogi Bear to Cap'n Crunch. In 1987, PBS devoted an hour during a national pledge drive to the early career of the incomparable Daws Butler.

Butler started as a vaudeville impressionist, and parlayed that into a lucrative career in radio and animation. In the course of the hour, narrated by William Conrad (ex-Rocky & His Friends, The Fugitive, Cannon, et al), we see and hear from Butler, along with a fair number of his contemporaries, specifically Stan Freberg, Don Messick and June Foray, and producers Walter Lantz, William Hanna, & Joseph Barbera.

On with the show!

Yes, it stops with the launch of Hanna-Barbera in 1957, and that might be because as time progressed, Daws began to recycle some of his voices. Snagglepuss, for example, was reused for The Funky Phantom. Blabber Mouse led to Elroy Jetson and Lambsy from It's The Wolf, and so on.

We lost Daws a year after this show aired.

Rating: A.

Countdown to Christmas: A Cranberry Christmas (2008)

 ABC Family (now Freeform) sold a half hour's worth of airtime to Ocean Spray, which, in turn, allowed a flash animated adaptation of the book, A Cranberry Christmas, to air commercial free in 2008.

Co-produced by Film Roman, Cranberry is built around a dispute over a piece of property between two men (Jeff Bennett & Rob Paulsen). Narration & music by Barry Manilow.

Ocean Spray, nearly 15 years later, has not seen fit to release Cranberry on DVD, even as a promotion for their line of cranberry products. Hmmmmmmmm.

To be honest, I'd never heard of this one until today.

Rating: B-.