Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Tonto in The Cat People (1966)

 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.

Rating: B.

Toonfomercial: McDonald's presents its 1st promotional Happy Meal (1980)

 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.

Spooktober: How did Slimer join the Real Ghostbusters? (1986)

 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).

No rating. Just a public service.

Spooktober: Night of The Living Pumpkin (Bobby's World, 1990)

 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.

As noted by a correspondent the last time we checked in on this show, John Tesh, now a radio talk show host, composed the theme song used in the first three seasons. Mandel was reunited with his pals from Laugh Trax, Frank Welker and Jim Staahl, the latter of whom helped develop the series and served as a writer and voice actor.

No rating.

Spooktober: The Witching Hour (Spider-Man, 1967)

 When the Green Goblin steals a valuable tome belonging to a stage psychic, Spider-Man goes after his arch-nemesis in "The Witching Hour".

Cheesy.

Rating: B-.

Game Time: Butch Patrick takes a chance on love (The Dating Game, 1972)

 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.

"The Phantom Tollbooth" was also mentioned. As we already know, this was not the last link with the Kroffts for The Dating Game. HR Pufnstuf also made an appearance around Christmas.

Spooktober: The Tale of The Midnight Ride (Are You Afraid of The Dark?, 1993)

 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.....

Taking Irving's tale into the then-present of the 90's was a bold move, making the story fresh for a new generation.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Halloween Hall O'Fame (Wonderful World of Disney, 1977)

 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.

No rating. I wasn't home when this first aired in 1977. Went to church that night.

You Know The Voice: Janet Waldo (1952)

 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.

Richard Crenna was the other guest star of note in this episode. Janet would work with Lucille Ball again 10 years later, as we've previously documented, during season 1 of The Lucy Show, with future game show icon Peter Marshall.

Getting Schooled: If you think you know about mummification....... (Reading Rainbow, 1988)

 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.

Suffice to say, if you didn't know, now you know.

Rating: A.

Spooktober: Scaredy Cat (1948)

 Porky Pig buys a house, with Sylvester as his pet. However, a group of mice are also in the house, bent on killing Porky....

The mouse in the cuckoo clock is a characterization of radio comic Lew Lehr, whose fame has been lost to the mists of time.

Rating: A-.

Spooktober: The Haunted Space Station (Space Stars, 1981)

 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).

I think part of the reason Space Stars ended up cancelled was because the writers were instructed to inject more humor into each episode, similar to what was happening over on ABC with Super Friends around that time.

Rating: B.

Toon Rock: Monster's Holiday (1974-2021)

 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!

I remember Buck playing this song on Hee Haw around this time, and it's stuck with me ever since. The follow up single was "On The Cover of The Music City News" (bold italics mine), which fared a little better.

Spooktober: The Tale of The Chameleons (Are You Afraid of The Dark?, 1995)

 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":

Unfortunately, there was no sequel to this story, and so the ending left me cold. Don't know about you.

Rating: B-.

Spooktober: Spook Louder (1942)

 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".

Decades later, in WWE, Vince McMahon came up with a running gag where a phantom pie thrower was going after wrestler Kevin Owens. That issue, apparently, was never resolved, but now we know where McMahon got the idea, apparently.

Rating: B.

Toon Rock: Back in The Day (2005)

 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.

From Comics to Toons: Spider-Man in Horn of The Rhino (1967)

 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.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Daffy Duck in The Impatient Patient (1942)

 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.......

WB would revisit the Stevenson classic at least twice more, with Sylvester & Tweety, and with Bugs Bunny.

Rating: A-.

Saturtainment: Sappy Bullfighters (1957-9)

 "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. 

The Besser shorts were released out of order, and by the time "Sappy" was released, he was already back at home, tending to his ailing wife. He'd soon resurface on television on The Joey Bishop Show

Rating: B.

Toon Rock: Evil Woman (2024)

 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.

Spooktober: The Invisible Menace Mix-Up (Fangface, 1978)

 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).

Rating: B.

Velma is cancelled at Max

 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 alternate reality series, with Mindy Kaling in the title role, finishes up with 21 episodes total, covering 2 10 episode seasons and the Halloween special. In the eyes of WBD suits and the show's producers, it would seem as though the series has run its course.

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.......!

Spooktober: Creeper Crawlin' (1970)

The Rolling Gravestones serve up "Creeper Crawlin'" on The Groovie Goolies.

Toons You Might've Missed: Planet Patrol (1960's)

 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.

McKennon is doing a Don Messick mimic with one of the dogs, that's certain. I think, however, you can see why this bombed.

Rating: C-.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Lone Ranger meets Nellie Bly! (1980)

 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......

Rating: A.

Spooktober: Imaginary Friend (New Tales of The Cryptkeeper, 1999)

 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). 

Rating: B.

Saturday School: Xploration DIY SCI (2014)

 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:

I would venture the target audience would be grades 6-12, perhaps up to college. Spangler brings the wacky, too, with some comedy skits.

Rating: A-.

Spooktober: We Want Our Mummy (1938)

 The Three Stooges are inept private eyes hired to locate a missing professor and a mummy. Here's "We Want Our Mummy":

Rating: A-.

Spooktober: The Jack O'Lantern Syndrome (Men in Black, 1998)

 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.

Yes, they used the instrumental version of Will Smith's theme song from the feature film.

Rating: B.