With news that Sesame Street will be leaving HBO and Max due to the contract with Sesame Workshop expiring, let's take a look back at one of the half hour episodes produced for HBO, this one a New Year's Eve treat from 2018.
Winter started a week ago, so, let's get into the season with Chuck Jones' 1939 farce, "Snowman's Land", in which a lone Mountie (Pinto Colvig) sets out to capture a dangerous outlaw.
The next Olympics are still a ways off, but let's see how it all began, though the eyes of Goofy in "The Olympic Champ":
This was recently posted to YouTube and Reddit. I was but a toddler when this first aired back in 1966, and have no memory of ever seeing it until now.
The animation is very simple, and so is the point of the message. The tune, by the way, is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".
Ah, back in the day, there were those toy trains and matching tracks, competing with Mattel's Hot Wheels line and its competitors. Don't know who Hess commissioned to make their toy trucks every year, but those are still rolling along, even though Hess has given way to Speedway.
Here's a simple little Tyco ad for their trains from 1973. Narrated by Casey Kasem (Super Friends, American Top 40, The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas, etc.):
I had this one up before, but it was deleted many moons ago when it was taken off YouTube. Now, it's back.
In 1975, Hanna-Barbera adapted Franz Gruber's Christmas hymn, "Silent Night", into a half hour special, Silent Night, Holy Night. Produced in Australia.
Lynn Johnston's For Better or Worse celebrates the holiday season in 1992's "A Christmas Angel". Sometimes, the perfect Christmas tree needs a little trimming to fit the dimensions of the house......
Sniffles may be better known for a series of comics stories with a human girl, Mary Jane. However, he made his debut on the big screen in 1938, one of the first creations of Chuck Jones.
While "Bedtime For Sniffles" predated The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas by several years, the basic concept is the same. Sniffles is waiting to meet Santa Claus, but will he make it to midnight?
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in The Hat returned to television, and animated form, with a new PBS series that launched in 2010, and ended production in 2018.
Actor-singer-comedian Martin Short, currently starring in Only Murders in The Building and a series of Wells Fargo ads, both with Steve Martin, has the title role as The Cat, whose aides, Thing 1 & Thing 2, are along for the ride, and, contrary to the original story, 1st adapted by Chuck Jones in 1971, the goldfish is now one of The Cat's pets, too, and changes colors on whim.
Sally and her new friend, Nick, an African American, are The Cat's students. Nick was created for this show for the sake of cultural diversity.
From Season 2, which stretched over 3 years (2012-5), here's the Christmas show.
While DC has launched a new Creature Commandos comic book, featuring revamped versions of the original team, it has little to do with James Gunn's new animated series on Max, which recently launched.
The only link between the two is Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, "The Suicide Squad", ex-How to Get Away With Murder), who is assigning Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo) the task of leading this new version of the Commandos in the present day.
Max & DC made the series opener available for free screening on YouTube, but we know better than to use it, so we'll sub in a trailer. Mind the language.
Bob Clampett had left Warner Bros., and while the staff at Termite Terrace didn't miss a beat in his absence, Clampett finally had a chance to make a childhood idea come to life.
Time For Beany was a 15 minute nightly puppet show Clampett produced for Paramount that served as a precursor to Beany & Cecil's 1st animated series 13 years later. Clampett came up with the idea of Cecil, the "sea sick serpent", as a youth. Beany was just a typical young boy eager for adventure. Daws Butler was the original voice of Beany, using the same voice he'd later use for Augie Doggie, Elroy Jetson, and Lambsy (It's The Wolf) in later years. Stan Freberg voiced Cecil. However, the two actors left the show after a while, with Jim MacGeorge brought in to fill some of the void.
This item is from the 1st year, with Butler & Freberg.
1952's "Gift Wrapped" purports to have Tweety presented as a Christmas present to Granny, while Sylvester is dissatisfied with his gift, a rubber mouse......
Now, this is one for the books.
Swee'pea calls Popeye's attention to a "Square Egg" he found in the barn. It might be some sort of scientific breakthrough, so Olive suggests calling in Professor O. G. Whatashnozzle, but Brutus is thinking in terms of profit margins.....
We previously wrote up this next item over at The Land of Whatever a ways back, but it belongs here, too.
Sidekicks sprang from a Disney Sunday Movie, "The Last Electric Knight". Gil Gerard (ex-Buck Rogers in The 25th Century) stars as a police sergeant tasked with caring for a young karate master (Ernie Reyes, Jr., whose father choreographed the fight scenes) at the request of a sensei (Keye Luke, seen in flashbacks after the pilot movie).
There was a subsequent movie, "Sidekicks", with Chuck Norris & Jonathan Brandis, six years later, but has nothing to do with this series.
Here, politics and bullies are at issue. Frank Bonner (ex-WKRP in Cincinnati) and Nancy Stafford co-star.
This is getting silly.
Tonight's Monday Night Football game between Cincinnati just got a little cray-cray with Disney's decision to do an animated alternate feed featuring The Simpsons.
Bart (Nancy Cartwright) will captain the Bengals. Homer (Dan Castelanetta) will lead the Cowboys. Hmm, y'think maybe it should be the other way around?
Here's a promo:
MGM briefly had the license to adapt Rudolph Dirks' The Captain & The Kids, but only produced two shorts, including 1938's "The Captain's Christmas".
The Captain (Billy Bletcher) is playing Santa, but is ambushed by Long John Silver (Bletcher again), who takes over the role.
Two of TV's most relatable children's hosts met in 1970 when Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) paid a visit to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Bunny Rabbit & Mr. Moose (Cosmo Allegretti) tagged along and visited the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
Following is a compilation from an interview with "Mr. McFeely":
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, airing tomorrow, isn't the only Rankin-Bass special turning 60 this year.
Before Rudolph, Arthur Rankin, Jr. & Jules Bass adapted L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz once more, but this time reworking the original story for Return to Oz, which, like Rudolph, premiered on the General Electric Fantasy Hour.
Despite the fact that this references the conclusion of the original story, Romeo Muller's script puts Dorothy and friends back at square one. The animation is the same as 1961's Tales of The Wizard of Oz, as Rankin-Bass used the same animation house as before, Crowley Films.
Donald Duck decides to bring out his sled for some fun in the snow. Nephews Huey, Dewey, & Louie are building a snowman. Chaos ensues.
Clarence Nash has all the voices in "Donald's Snow Fight":
The theme of this episode of The Magic School Bus is recycling. Wanda has plans to attend a performance of "The Nutcracker", and intends to donate an action figure. Chaos ensues when said figure is accidentally tossed in the recycling bin.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (ex-The Cosby Show) and country icon Dolly Parton guest star.
From Sesame Street, circa 2013:
Tony Sirico & Steve Schirripa (The Sopranos) are the special guests as a live action version of Bert & Ernie, while the Muppets are directing them in a Christmas special.
Roy Orbison took viewers on a trip back in time with 1964's "Oh, Pretty Woman" in a 1974 appearance on The Midnight Special:
From The Wonderful World of Disney:
"Disney on Parade" is a compilation of a 1970 Australian tour, with the voices of Hans Conreid, Thurl Ravenscroft, Michael Rye, Scatman Crothers, and more. Ravenscroft, for example, stands in for Phil Harris to perform "The Bare Necessities" from "The Jungle Book":
Well, if I had led with Shari Lewis' then-current voice-over gig as Princess Nida of The Arabian Knights, it may have been a little too obvious, and we will catch up with Honey Halfwitch another day. Anyway, Shari spent a week on What's My Line? in early 1969, seated between Soupy Sales and Bert Convy.
As you could probably guess from the subject line, our mystery guests are Janos Prohaska and James Earl Jones. Wally Bruner is the moderator.
CBS took viewers back to L. Frank Baum's magical world in 1980's Thanksgiving in The Land of Oz, which was re-edited and retitled a year later because someone at the network wanted the story to be more of a year-round entry.
Dorothy (Mischa Bond) heads back to Oz with the Wizard (Sid Caesar), who lures her in by stealing Aunt Em's pie. It gets silly after that. Our voice cast also includes Frank Welker, Joan Gerber, Frank Nelson, and Robert Ridgely.
The subject line says it all. This episode of New Zoo Revue focuses on "Tolerance".
I think most of us have played Mad Libs as a party game at some point. In 1998, Disney prevailed upon Dick Clark to develop a game show based on the game. JD Roth (ex-Fun House) was also attached as an executive producer.
The series was tested with pilot in 1997, but didn't go to series until a year later. In between, host David Sidoni had crashed with CBS' Wheel 2000, which got 13 weeks, and no more. Mad Libs, on the other hand, lasted about a year, and, as you'll see, was structured like a Nickelodeon game show.
Bugs Bunny gains a new adversary in the rampaging Tasmanian Devil. Here's "Devil May Hare":
Viewers were first introduced to CH Greenblatt's brand of absurdist humor with Chowder, which ran for 3 seasons on Cartoon Network (2007-10). Chowder is an apprentice to a caterer, and gets into all kinds of weird misadventures. Unfortunately, he's also young enough to be in the "girls are icky" phase of his life, as "Chowder's Girlfriend" demonstrates.......
63 shorts over 14 years (1942-56). The only time that Joe McDoakes has appeared on television in recent years has been when TCM dusts the shorts off.
McDoakes was your basic Everyman. Depending on the plot, he was either a bachelor or married. If Joe's voice sounds familiar, well, it's George O'Hanlon, who started working on McDoakes 20 years before The Jetsons. O'Hanlon wrote some of the shorts himself, and submitted the story for 1953's "So You Want a Television Set", with Phyllis Coates, fresh off a 1 year stint on The Adventures of Superman, as his wife. Coates' husband, Richard Bare, wrote the final script, and directed.
Edit, 11/29/24: Warner Bros. Discovery has put in a copyright claim, so this was removed from YouTube. In its place is a generic title card:
Rankin-Bass' adaptation of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is returning to NBC next month, and he's not coming alone.
Rudolph, based on the song by Johnny Marks, made famous by Gene Autry, and narrated by Burl Ives, will air December 6 with an extended running time, commercials included, of 75 minutes.
Frosty, oh, by the way, turns 55 this year, while Rudolph marks 60 years on television, and his return to NBC after 53 years away.
The Road Runner has to elude the Coyote, and this time it includes a race through a mine that might've been a prototype for some old school video games. Chuck Jones directs "Beep, Beep":
In the early days of children's television, it was common to have live-action hosts like, for example, Buffalo Bob Smith or Shari Lewis cross over into primetime for guest appearances.
In a case of intra-network synergy, Shari, with Lamb Chop & Charlie Horse in tow, visits The Ford Show with Tennessee Ernie Ford. Lamb Chop starts it off by doing the usual notation of the show airing in living color, or, as Lamb Chop says, from the sound of it, "loving color". Then, we get an animated intro with Charlie Brown & Schroder from Peanuts. Ford, remember, utilized Charlie and friends in advertising for a number of years.
Preeeeeeesenting......"The Flintstone Flyer":
That's not a misnomer, folks. Tom & Jerry take jobs at a logging camp when the lumberjacks all quit because of the hermit known as "Big Feet" (Don Messick). His story has a happy ending.
Let's take a trip to New Hampshire today, and check out candlepin bowling's version of the skins game.
Candlepin Skins launched in 1994 as another outlet for some of the top bowlers in New England. WNDS, which carried the series, has gone through a number of changes in format and call letters in the 30 years since, which included the premature cancellation of this series.
With candlepin bowling being tried out in upstate New York, let's offer a sample episode.
The Jetsons added the services of "Rosey The Robot" (Jean VanderPyl, The Flintstones) in this instant classic, reissued for the series' syndication revival in 1985. In addition to a title card, the opening theme was redone by a new generation of "H-B singers", and the original closing credits have been edited off.
Johnny Rivers climbed the charts in the summer of 1964 with a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis", which landed Rivers on American Bandstand.
From the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie:
The legendary World War 1 pilot, "The Red Baron", is the subject of a funny animal episode. As envisioned by Leonard Starr, the Baron is a dog pursuing a princess who has eloped with the prince of a rival kingdom.
Tears For Fears commissioned Jim Blashfield, who'd helmed Michael Jackson's video for "Leave Me Alone", to do the same for "Sowing The Seeds of Love", essentially the title song from 1989's "The Seeds of Love".
In 1957, Disney released "The Story of Anyburg, USA" to theatres. It has rarely been shown on television, but deserves to, even today.
A car put on trial? Absurd, but that's the point of this fable, with the voices of Hans Conried, Bill Thompson, Thurl Ravenscroft, and Dallas McKennon.
From Super Circus:
Co-host Mary Hartline does an in-show commercial to promote a replica cut-out doll that was available via a tie-in with Kellogg's. Check it.
From season 1 of the 1st animated Lone Ranger:
Tonto (Shep Menken) reunites with a mountain lion his tribe had previously raised. Now, the lion is a parent, but is being hunted when "The Cat People" begin raiding local farms.
McDonald's had introduced the Happy Meal in 1979, making this year the 45th anniversary.
Not long after the first "Star Trek" movie had hit theatres, McDonald's obtained a license from Paramount for a Happy Meal promotion. Gary Owens is the narrator.
From season 1 of The Real Ghostbusters:
"Citizen Ghost", written by J. Michael Straczynski, explains why Slimer (Frank Welker) joined the team, not just as their mascot, but as a valuable part. Peter (Lorenzo Music) spins the yarn to a visiting reporter (an uncredited Julie Bennett).
From season 1 of Bobby's World:
Bobby (Howie Mandel, ex-St. Elsewhere) learns about Halloween, but doesn't like being dressed up like a princess. His uncle, though, has a plan.
When the Green Goblin steals a valuable tome belonging to a stage psychic, Spider-Man goes after his arch-nemesis in "The Witching Hour".
Lidsville was in perpetual rerun when its star, Butch Patrick, appeared on The Dating Game on St. Patrick's Day in 1972. Now, we're 6 days away from Halloween, and host Jim Lange did reference The Munsters as well as Lidsville in his intro. Butch had let his hair grow even more after production had wrapped on Lidsville, as you'll see in game 1.
Are You Afraid of The Dark? creator-co-executive producer DJ MacHale directed "The Tale of The Midnight Ride", a loose adaptation of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Not sure if there were any other adaptations.....
On the eve of Halloween, Jonathan Winters stars in "Halloween Hall O'Fame", in a dual role as a night watchman, and a sentient Jack O'Lantern. This syndicated rerun had most of the cartoons edited for copyright reasons. We've already featured "Trick or Treat" (w/Donald Duck) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", narrated by Bing Crosby. We'll locate "Pluto's Judgment Day", hopefully before the end of the month.
We had the complete I Love Lucy episode, "The Young Fans", a while ago, but it was taken down for copyright reasons.
Instead, we offer an excerpt, in which young Peggy (Janet Waldo), infatuated with Ricky (Desi Arnaz), tries to charm him.
We've seen how Hollywood shows the mummification of Egyptians. However, it's a protracted process, contrary to the actual process, as explained in this installment of Reading Rainbow, which starts with host LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) riding a camel through the streets of Boston. Veteran voice actress Corinne Orr (ex-Speed Racer) reads Mummies Made in Egypt.
Porky Pig buys a house, with Sylvester as his pet. However, a group of mice are also in the house, bent on killing Porky....
Space Ghost (Gary Owens) and his crew enter "The Haunted Space Station", and run across zombies and a different kind of space vampire, which seemed to be a bit a trope in early 80's television (i.e. Buck Rogers, Thundarr).
Buck Owens peaked at #6 on the country chart in 1974 with the campy, bouncy "Monster's Holiday", the title track from his album.
Nearly 50 years later, a flash animated music video was produced, synching Owens' vocals with a guitar playing, pompadour wearing Monster of Frankenstein. Like, dig it!
Tia & Tamera Mowry (Sister, Sister) guest star in a season 5 episode of Are You Afraid of The Dark?. Here's "The Tale of The Chameleons":
The Three Stooges are salesmen who are mistaken for caretakers for an eccentric scientist, and must overcome spies and a phantom pie tosser. Charles Middleton ("Flash Gordon", "Duck Soup") co-stars in "Spook Louder".
From season 3 of Duck Dodgers:
Metal legends Megadeth guest in the episode, "In Space, No One Can Hear You Rock", and perform "Back in The Day", released a year before this episode aired.
The title says it all. The Rhino seeks to take over the world by stealing components of a bomb. Predictably, Spider-Man (Paul Soles) is also ill, hampering his pursuit.
Why is Norm McCabe's "The Impatient Patient" under the Spooktober umbrella? It's a parody of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, as Daffy Duck seeks a cure for hiccups from Dr. Jerkyl.......
"Sappy Bullfighters", shot in 1957, and released in 1959, marked the end of the shorts era for The Three Stooges, marking the end of the Joe Besser era.
"Sappy" is a remake of 1942's "What's The Matador?", with the boys stranded in Mexico, short on cash after their stage act is cancelled.
Nearly 50 years ago, Jeff Lynne wrote "Evil Woman" for his band, the Electric Light Orchestra, and it remains a popular radio staple to this day.
Today, Duran Duran has released a cover, included with their new set, "Danse Macabre De Luxe", an expanded edition of last year's "Danse Macabre". The animated video dropped today as well.
Fangface and friends are at an air show when the star attraction, Sue Chang, is kidnapped by the Sky Ghost (Michael Rye) in order to gain a special pearl that would power his invisibility machine.
We've some of the invisibility gags elsewhere (Josie & The Pussycats, The Archies).
It's been reported that, after a Halloween special dropped, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided that Velma will not return for a 3rd season.
The cancellation of Velma comes a few days after WBD decided to pull more Cartoon Network content from Max, including We Bare Bears and Steven Universe. The decision to pull the latter series is a little head scratcher, considering Steven and his friends appear in a new miniseries currently out from DC Comics that has Steven interacting with members of the Justice League, among others.
Then again, the various WB divisions have had problems communicating in recent years, and.......!
Long before Grantray Lawrence packaged Rocket Robin Hood, The Marvel Superheroes Show, & season 1 of Spider-Man, the studio tried this pilot, Planet Patrol, sometime in the early 60's.
The Patrol consists of two dogs, Rocky & Wilbur, pursuing a space pirate. Voices by Dallas McKennon.
The Lone Ranger (William Conrad) and Tonto (Ivan Naranjo) take on the task of preventing sabotage of a balloon race, in which the Ranger's nephew, Dan, is entered, representing a San Francisco newspaper. Legendary journalist Nellie Bly (an uncredited Ericka Scheimer) is also entered, and it seems she's developed a professional interest in the Ranger......
As we've previously documented, Nelvana revived Tales From The Cryptkeeper, shifting it over to CBS as New Tales From The Cryptkeeper in 1999, which would be the last Saturday series featuring the titular horror host (John Kassir).
In "Imaginary Friend", two boys learn the hard way that it's never a good idea to tease a new neighbor. Retro Rerun, Nelvana's YouTube channel, edited the video to use a portion of the intro from seasons 1 & 2 (The ABC version).
As the title implies, Xploration DIY Sci was part of Fox's Xploration Station block when it launched 10 years ago. Today, the series is in syndication, but now known as simply DIY Sci, even though the block bug is still present. Locally, the MyNetwork TV affiliate carries the show.
2nd generation producer Steve Rotfeld put the block together, and signed another Steve---Steve Spangler, that is---as series host. Spangler was a frequent guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before launching this series.
Following is a sample clip:
The Three Stooges are inept private eyes hired to locate a missing professor and a mummy. Here's "We Want Our Mummy":
From season 2 of Men in Black:
Agent J (Keith Diamond) is asked to escort the Worms on a trick or treating trip, and runs afoul of an alien pumpkin creature.
From season 4 of Room 222:
An aspiring singer (guest star Chip Hand) is cutting class, at the expense of his grades. Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes) wants to know why. Charles Martin Smith also guest stars.
Some will say GI Joe jumped the shark with the addition of Super Bowl hero William "The Refrigerator" Perry to Hasbro's line of action figures.
Perry became the 2nd real-life Joe, after pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter, but his exploits have been largely forgotten. Hasbro gave Perry a football-centric bolo as a weapon of choice, a black football attached to a chain.
This 1987 ad features Perry, and narrated by series announcer Jackson Beck.
From season 3:
"Wait": The boys are in a foreign country to rescue a princess from an evil, power mad prime minister. Some of the music had to be edited for copyright reasons.
Sing-a-longs: "Penny Lane" & "Eleanor Rigby". Again, some of the music was altered due to copyrights.
"I'm Only Sleeping": John (Paul Frees) spins a yarn putting the boys in the days of Camelot.
Comes with commercials.
We've discussed in the past that on The Real Ghostbusters, Janine was seriously crushing on Egon (Maurice LaMarche), although in "Ghostbusters 2", she is flirting with lawyer Louis Tully. Egon & Janine officially became a couple in Extreme Ghostbusters in the late 90's.
In "Janine's Genie", Janine goes on a mission with the guys, and is gifted with a magic lamp, complete with a duplicitous genie (an uncredited Charlie Adler).......
Abbott & Costello are hired by the Three Little Pigs in this loose adaptation of the classic story. The Big Bad Wolf (John Stephenson) doesn't seem too fazed.....
From season 2 of Room 222:
Nicole Jaffe (Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) returns, this time playing a different character, one who helps organize a prom at Whitman High, but Bobbie (Jaffe) doesn't have a date..........!
Here's "What Would we do Without Bobbie?":
The O'Jays graced Soul Train with "Back Stabbers". This was huge back in the day.
From season 2 of Room 222:
A rivalry football game is imperiled because of concerns over a repeat of an unpleasant incident from the previous season. David Huddleston guest stars in "Hip, Hip, Hooray" as the principal of a rival school.
Bugs Bunny welcomes a pair of hungry castaways (voiced by Tedd Pierce & Michael Maltese) to a deserted island in "Wackiki Wabbit":
I think we had this up before, then had to take it down, but now it's back.
The Real Ghostbusters kicked off with "Ghosts R Us", about a family of ghosts (you call that a family?) who managed to escape after Slimer (Frank Welker) accidentally let them loose, upset over being scolded. However, realizing his mistake, Slimer decides to try to make amends.
In the season 6 episode of Family Matters, "The Gun", Laura (Kellie Shangyne Williams) contemplates buying a gun to combat school bullies, but when the bullies shoot a classmate because she wouldn't give up her shoes, that changes Laura's perspective.
The closing tag of the episode sees Williams and Jaleel White drop character to address the audience. Shawn Harrison (Waldo) is seated to White's right (viewer's left).
"Muscle up a Little Closer", the 2nd Three Stooges entry with Joe Besser (ex-The Abbott & Costello Show), has the boys with a cleaner look, a more gentlemanly appearance, which was suggested by Besser, arguably his greatest contribution to the team.
Anyway, the boys and their girlfriends all work at a factory. Joe, in fact, is engaged, and trouble starts when the engagement ring is stolen. Moe seems to have pinpointed a suspect......
From season 2 of Room 222:
A transfer student has a problem with some of the boys because they're more interested in her looks than respecting her as a fellow student. Cindy Williams appears in one of her first TV roles. Linda Haynes (no relation to co-star Lloyd Haynes) has the title role in "Laura Fay, You're Okay!":
It was Sid & Marty Krofft's most ambitious project to date, and its most successful.
Land of The Lost premiered on NBC 50 years ago today, with the theme song explaining how the Marshall family (Spencer Milligan, Wesley Eure, & Kathy Coleman) ended up in what amounted to an alternate world. In the opener, the Marshalls meet & befriend "Cha-Ka" (Philip Paley), a member of the Pakuni tribe.
Quarterflash released "Back Into Blue" in 1985, but the band's appearance on American Bandstand, performing "Talk To Me", not to be confused with the Stevie Nicks song of the same name, would be their last.
When Bruce Prichard left the then-World Wrestling Federation and his Brother Love persona behind, he had gone to Global Championship Wrestling, which had a TV deal with ESPN. However, as Global was slowly tanking, Prichard fled and returned to the WWF.
Instead of resuming his Brother Love role, Prichard was asked to create a parody of Dusty Rhodes as a talk show host. The end result was Reo's Roundup, which was a clear case of Vince McMahon scraping from the bottom of the barrel, since Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura, and Jake Roberts, some of his best talkers, were all gone, although Piper would return.
Prichard's mimic of Dusty was so blatant, it isn't a surprise viewers turned away. In this installment from the fall of 1993, Reo's guests are Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon.
From season 3 of Sha Na Na:
The show starts with Bowzer (Jon Bauman) as "Super Greaser", one of the silliest hero parodies in the history of ever. Unfortunately for Bowzer, this idea was about 10 years late. Jane Dulo plays the "hero"'s mom, which suggests Captain Nice might've been the inspiration.
Special guest James Darren (ex-The Time Tunnel) joins the show in time for an awards show parody. Donny York does a solid cover of "Rhythm of The Rain", finishing with Dulo, in her normal role as the neighbor in the window, providing the "rain", but there's a reason the guys had all those umbrellas.
This one's for Hal Horn at The Horn Section.
Larry Storch pops up in a dramatic role in ITC's The Persuaders!, in the episode, "Angie.... Angie", as a childhood pal of Danny Wilde (Tony Curtis).
The Beach Boys released "Be True to Your School" all the way back in 1963 on the "Little Deuce Coupe" album. 56 years later, this animated video was released, utilizing the popular designs associated with the Cal Arts animation program.
Contrary to what you may think, Batman: Caped Crusader is not a reboot or a sequel to the seminal Batman: The Animated Series, even though Bruce Timm is part of the creative team, along with Matt Reeves ("The Batman"), writer Ed Brubaker, who has written his fair share of Batman & Catwoman stories for DC, and JJ Abrams.
There are some distinctive changes. To wit:
The Penguin, for example, is now a woman, Oswalda Cobblepot (Minnie Driver), and figures into the opener, as seen in this excerpt:
While schools in other parts of the country are already in session, classes begin in the 518 next week. A fitting time to bring on Fillmore!.
In "A Wurm in Our Midst", we learn just how Fillmore (Orlando Brown) became a member of the safety patrol, while handling two cases at the same time.
Next week marks 38 years since the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) rebranded their syndicated programming. Championship Wrestling was rebooted as Superstars of Wrestling. All Star Wrestling, which had been using Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as its theme music for 2+ years, now would go by Wrestling Challenge. Both series would last until the 90's.
Gorilla Monsoon was entrusted with the play-by-play, and, for the opener, was partnered with Ernie Ladd and Johnny Valiant, himself rebranded as Johnny V, likely because kayfabe brother Jimmy had trademarked the Valiant name in the South, or something.
Six years after "Who Done It?" (previously reviewed), The Three Stooges revisited the plot in "For Crimin' Out Loud". "Flagpole Jitters", shot the day after "Crimin'", was released first, so "Crimin'" ended up being Shemp Howard's farewell.
Following is a collection of bumpers from The Porky Pig Show, some of which made their way to syndication, while others were left out of the mix.
It's clear that WB recycled some footage from some of Porky's shorts, with Mel Blanc dubbing in new dialogue. In addition, newer bumpers produced by Hal Seeger including Porky interacting with Elmer Fudd, who sounds like it's either Blanc or Hal Smith (Davey & Goliath, The Andy Griffith Show). The open & close, sans closing credits, close the video.
We had this next item up before, but it got taken down a ways back. Now, it's back.
"It" is Hanna-Barbera's musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, adding the subtitle, Or, What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?, just to show how loose an adaptation it is.
Sponsored by Coca-Cola & Rexall, this primetime special, produced for ABC, features Janet Waldo in the title role, plus Sammy Davis, Jr., Bill Dana (who co-wrote it), Howard Morris, Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, and much more.
From Paula Abdul's debut CD, "Forever Your Girl", comes this amusing little number that pays tribute to Gene Kelly's legendary dance partnership with Jerry (as in, Tom & Jerry, of course), as Paula Abdul is paired with MC Skat Kat, who seems very interested in Paula.
Here's "Opposites Attract":
This was an era where Captain Kangaroo expanded to six days a week, so CBS could program a full 6 hour schedule, mostly with reruns.
For example, Jonny Quest was acquired from ABC to help fill out the lineup. The Road Runner Show was dropped down to the bottom of the schedule. It would expand to an hour the next year, moving to an earlier time as The Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Hour, with a portion of the open left intact.
Here's an ad:
He took his ring name from the late punk rocker from the Sex Pistols, and made his own legend.
Sid Vicious (Sid Eudy), or, in WWE, Sid Justice or Sycho Sid, made his debut in 1987 on the independent circuit, including a stint in Memphis, before signing with the NWA and World Championship Wrestling.
At first, Vicious was part of a tag team, the Skyscrapers, with former football player Dan Spivey. managed by Teddy Long. However, after a few months, Vicious left, with Mean Mark Callous (Mark Calaway, aka The Undertaker) replacing Vicious. By the time Vicious returned, the Skyscrapers were no more, and Vicious instead joined the Four Horsemen.
In the summer of 1991, however, Vicious came to the then-World Wrestling Federation as Sid Justice, enabling Vince McMahon to copyright the new persona. Sid started as a babyface, and in one of his last matches in that role, took on Big Bully Busick (Nick Busick) in the latter's final match.
What the title of Dennis Marks' tale refers to isn't so much Mark Twain's iconic juvenile, but, rather, a manuscript for the book, stolen by a fortune hunting outlaw while Twain, nee Samuel Clemens, is back home in Hannibal, Missouri, for a sort of homecoming.
Enter The Lone Ranger (William Conrad).
Sylvester goes it alone, and is silent for most of the picture, in "A Kiddies Kitty".
In it, we're introduced to Suzanne (Lucille Bliss), who has some, ah, issues with her toys. So, when Sylvester needs to escape a bulldog, he ends up showered with more affection and care than he'd expected....
Tom & Jerry are sharing house space with Spike (Don Messick), who ends up as "The Kitten Sitter", when one orange kitten shows up at the door, and there's more where that came from.
Canada's Rush released the epic album, "Moving Pictures", in 1981. The instrumental track, "YYZ", earned a Grammy nomination, and, one would assume, was considered for a Juno in Canada.
41 years later, an anniversary reissue of the album led to the following animated video:
All Sylvester wants to do is capture and consume Tweety. However, when he sees that Tweety is being held prisoner for ransom by Rocky, the gangster, enter a reluctant hero in "Catty Cornered":
This was posted over at The Land of Whatever earlier this week, but merits inclusion here, too.
Well before being cast as Marge on The Simpsons, and, before that, The Tracey Ullman Show, Julie Kavner was best known for her role as Brenda on Rhoda. During a break between seasons 1 & 2 of that series, Julie decided to try some drama, playing a blind woman accused of murder on Petrocelli. Listen close, and there's a wee hint of her future role as Marge.
Michael Bell appeared in 4 episodes of season 2 of Petrocelli as prosecuting attorney Frank Kaiser, who was also a friend of the title defense lawyer (Barry Newman). One wonders if Michael had auditioned for The New Perry Mason two years earlier, a role that went to Monte Markham, because he seems so natural playing a lawyer.
Check it.
As the original Electric Company taught kids to read in the 70's, PBS decided to revisit lessons in reading, but for older kids and adults, in the late 80's.
Learn to Read was produced at a PBS affiliate in Kentucky in 1987, with some of the talent based in Michigan. Wally "Famous" Amos, a former talent agent turned cookie mogul, served as host.
What is uncertain is how long Learn to Read remained in production. What we do know is the series ended in 2009 after 22 years.
Following is a short sample clip:
By 1972, classic Warner Bros. shorts were plentiful in syndication. Here in the 518, WTEN held the rights, rotating the Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies with Popeye and Mr. Magoo.
Meanwhile, WB decided to try a syndicated package of their own, showcasing Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, & Sylvester in The Merrie Melodies Show. This package, however, was created for international markets.
This series didn't air in the 518 for that reason, so there's no rating. Here, though, is the intro, and our announcer is Casey Kasem (American Top 40, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, etc.).
REO Speedwagon started gaining mainstream attention well before 1980's "Hi Infidelity" took them to the next level.
For example, the group appeared on The Midnight Special in September 1978 to perform "Roll With The Changes", which is still an FM radio anthem nearly 50 years later.
Many thanks to fellow blogger G. Jack Urso for the tip to this next item.
Locally produced children's programs, sadly, have a short shelf life. WRGB had the Laugh-a-Lot Club, for example. Future Emmy winner Ted Knight was a morning host (and maybe afternoons, too) on WTEN. WAST (now WNYT) had singer Betty George and her pet, Moo, hosting a mid-morning movie program meant for the whole family.
But channel 13 had something else that, until I ran across Mr. Urso's blog this morning, I didn't know about.
In November 1974, the station launched Up, Up, & Away, and, yes, the title was taken from the 5th Dimension's hit of the same name, as well as a catchphrase associated with Superman.
As you could probably tell, I never saw the show, so there's no rating. My folks would watch the 4 pm movie on WOR on Fridays, and, while they were out bowling on Saturdays, my bro & I would also watch something on cable.
Marshal Moo and the Wild West C. O. W.-boys of Moo Mesa are now on YouTube. From season 1, here's "The Legend of Skull Duggery":
