When stores promoted Halloween costumes (1977)

 Today, parents will be walking their children through their neighborhoods after school, or venturing out to friendlier, outlying areas. Most kids today either have their costumes made for them, cobbling together some used clothes and makeup, or, they go old school with traditional costumes.

Yes, they still make Halloween costumes, but they don't promote them like they used to.

Most of us grew up with Woolworth's, and their annual Halloween sales. Ben Cooper & Collegeville were the two biggest brands of costumes back then. The last costume I had was a Spider-Man model from Ben Cooper, circa 1974, for a school party. Unfortunately, it didn't survive the day, due to tearing when I had to make use of the little boys' room in a pinch.

Anyway, here's a Woolworth's/Woolco ad from 1977.

Ah, the cheesy "special effects" of the period. What fun.

Be safe, kids.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: In My House (1985)

 The Mary Jane Girls, proteges of Rick James, hit #1 on the dance chart, #3 on the R & B chart, and in the top 10 on the Hot 100, with 1985's "In My House", which merited an appearance on Soul Train.

The group split two years later, one of many acts from the early days of MTV to break up after a short career, although in the case of these ladies, they'd actually been active before landing a major label deal.

Spooktober: The Worst Witch (1986)

 Based on Jill Murphy's novel, The Worst Witch became a TV-movie airing in the UK in 1986. Fairuza Balk has the title role, as part of an ensemble also including Diana Rigg (ex-The Avengers), Charlotte Rae (The Facts of Life) in a dual role, and Tim Curry ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show").

Presented for your entertainment. No rating. Just a public service.

Spooktober: Milton The Monster in Monstrous Monster (1965)

 Professor Weirdo runs afoul of the Mayor, and needs to prove that Milton The Monster is not a threat. But, an accident turns Milton into a "Monstrous Monster":

Hal Seeger apparently had co-opted what was left of the Paramount cartoon crew for his short run as an independent producer, which ended with Batfink.

Rating: B. Predictable.

From Primetime to Daytime: Runaway (The Streets of San Francisco, 1976)

 From season 4 of The Streets of San Francisco:

A fugitive (Billy Green Bush, who'd been recurring on Baretta) reconnects with his "Runaway" daughter (Pamelyn Ferdin, ex-The Paul Lynde Show, Lassie, Curiosity Shop), but the reunion is anything but pleasant.

18 months later, Pam would move on to Space Academy. Darleen Carr (Jeannie) is the sister of Shannon Farnon, in case you didn't know.

Looney TV: Porky Pig's Feat (1943)

 In reality, it wasn't just Porky Pig, as Daffy Duck got him into a mess with a hotel charging exorbitant rates.

I can recall when this aired on WNEW (now WNYW) & WSBK on cable back in the 70's. Here's "Porky Pig's Feat":

Where was the Better Business Bureau when you really needed them?

Rating: B-.

Spooktober: Rollerghoster (The Real Ghostbusters, 1987)

 From season 2 (syndicated) of The Real Ghostbusters:

A carnival owner develops a roller coaster ride in the image of Ecto-1, and uses the team's likenesses, all without permission. When the ride is haunted by animal ghosts, the carny has little choice but to call in the Ghostbusters.

To think this all started with Egon (Maurice LaMarche) out on a date with Janine......

Rating: B.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits (Revisited): Love is Here & Now, You're Gone (1972)

 From season 2 of The Jackson 5ive Show:

Michael solos on a cover of The Supremes' #1 hit, "Love is Here & Now, You're Gone", which topped the Hot 100 5 years earlier. Taken from the episode, "Jackson & The Beanstalk":

The song was marketed as a B-side to Michael's cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin", off Michael's solo debut on Motown.

Toons You Might've Missed: The Fresh Vegetable Mystery (1939)

 From the Fleischers' Color Classics series comes "The Fresh Vegetable Mystery", in which sentient foodstuffs are treated like ordinary folks, especially when a family is abducted.....

There is very little online to properly describe this piece of absurdity.

No rating. Just a public service.

Spooktober: The Headless Horseman (1934)

 Ub Iwerks took his turn to adapt Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but with a few twists, in 1934's "Headless Horseman".

A little too over the top. Disney would do it better 15 years later.

Rating: C-.

Game Time: A complete episode of Joker! Joker! Joker! (1979)

 It's been a long time since we took a look at the short-lived Joker! Joker! Joker!, a weekend spinoff of The Joker's Wild, from 1979.

As we look in on the game play, a 9 year old champion has already racked up over $4000 in cash & prizes for his family. Jack Barry is host & executive producer, with Jay Stewart as the announcer.

Apparently, neither contestant in the first game had read Hansel & Gretel since maybe 1st grade, as that question should've been a lay-up.

Rating: A.

Looney TV: More shilling with Bugs Bunny & friends (1960-9)

 Happened across this compilation of ads, some of which were in-show spots from The Bugs Bunny Show during its primetime run (1960-2), and some we've used before, for Alpha-Bits and Tang. Voices by Mel Blanc, except for Elmer Fudd (Hal Smith, The Andy Griffith Show):

One spot segued into an Alpha-Bits ad with Jack E. Leonard as the postman, pre-Lovable Truly. Ah, those were the days.

That time Easy Reader visited Sesame Street (1974)

 From either season 5 or 6 of Sesame Street:

David (Northern Calloway) and The Count have an issue with stacks of newspapers, presumably at Mr. Hooper's shop. While the Count knows how many are there, David is perplexed until Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman), visiting from The Electric Company, lends a hand.....

To read recently that Freeman really wasn't fond of Easy Reader, despite playing the character for 6 seasons (1971-7) before becoming a major film star, is a little shattering.

Spooktober: Lone Ranger in Night of The Vampire (1966)

 From season 1 of the 1st Lone Ranger animated series:

The Ranger (Michael Rye) and Tonto (Shep Menken) run into what appears to be an insurmountable foe, but is really anything but, in "Night of The Vampire":

The easy way to tell it wasn't a vampire? What vampire do you know needs to wear a mask?

Rating: B-.

Getting Schooled: Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop (1970)

 Legendary songwriter Hoagy Carmichael signed on with PBS to host a children's music program, Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop, which aired back in 1970, produced at WGBH in Boston, the same affiliate that also produced shows like Zoom during the decade of the 70's.

Hoagy's son, Hoagy B. (Bix) served as a producer for the series. Background music was performed by the group Stark Reality, which released a 2 album set of material from the show.

Following is a sample entry:

7 year old me never saw this show, because my folks didn't tune in to PBS at the time much. Plus, it was probably on during school hours.

No rating. Just a public service.

Daytime Heroes: Spider-Man vs. Dr. Fright (1974)

 It's been a long time since we checked in on the Spidey Super Stories feature from The Electric Company.

Spider-Man (Danny Seagren) has his work cut out for him against "Dr. Fright" (Skip Hinnant is under the top hat). Hattie Winston is the narrator.

Not one of the better entries in the series.

Rating: C.

Toons After Dark: The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970)

 Back when the Academy Awards were handed out on a Monday night, instead of Sunday as it is now, NBC got the bright idea to preface that year's Oscars with an animated special from Rankin-Bass, their first entry for the network since Mouse on The Mayflower in 1968.

The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians uses some classic routines with comedy legends like Jack Benny, George Burns, Phyllis Diller (who previously had done "Mad Monster Party" for R-B), Henny Youngman, Flip Wilson, Groucho Marx, and George Jessel. Paul Frees recreated a classic WC Fields routine, and also impersonated Chico & Zeppo Marx, in addition to being the announcer. He'd record some music doing his Fields mimic later in 1970. Joan Gardner voices Josephine opposite Groucho's Napoleon in a recreation of the Marx Bros.' famous "I'll Say She Is". The Smothers Brothers' musical numbers, it is said, are a big reason why past YouTubers' copies of this special were removed. Pray it doesn't happen here, though the fellow that posted this added in some more contemporary advertising for VHS tapes.....

No rating. Just a public service.

Saturtainment: This is why birds aren't inventors (Linus The Lionhearted, 1964)

 Billy Boid (Carl Reiner, The Dick Van Dyke Show) decides to trick out the "throne" of Linus The Lionhearted (Sheldon Leonard) with remote controls-----with predictable results. Here's "Billy's Inventions":

Leonard was far more successful as a producer, even though Linus did get 2 seasons before moving to ABC for some rerun cycles. He wouldn't get another series gig until moving in front of the camera for the short-lived Big Eddie a few years later. As a producer, he scored, of course, with I Spy (3 years on NBC), his only successful entry for the network.

Rating: B-.

Spooktober: Lovable Truly in Truly Scary (Linus The Lionhearted, 1964)

 From season 1 of Linus The Lionhearted (now on MeTV Toons):

Lovable Truly (Bob McFadden) has to deliver a parcel to a strange, possibly haunted house. Here's "Truly Scary":

McFadden was looking to do a Jim Nabors mimic with Truly, a coincidence since Nabors' Gomer Pyle, USMC bowed the same year.

No rating. Just a public service.

Looney TV: Porky's Cafe (1942)

 Porky Pig owns a diner in this 1942 Chuck Jones farce, "Porky's Cafe". The lone customer would feel right at home in a Capital One commercial today as he orders virtually everything from the menu.

This reissue uses an earlier opening theme instead of the standard Looney Tunes theme of the day. Go figure.

We've seen better plots with Popeye and Heckle & Jeckle.

Rating: B--.

Saturtainment: Stuffy Durma (1965)

 Stuffy Durma was one of the rotating back-up features in Hal Seeger's Milton The Monster, which turns 60 this year.

Because of the rotation format, only four shorts were produced. Dayton Allen came over from Terrytoons to voice all the characters in these shorts, as, in "Nuggets to You", the final short, he recycles his Sheriff voice from Deputy Dawg to play an Arizona landowner who stands in the way of Stuffy's plans for land development in the desert.

Like the rest of the show, Stuffy was never seen again after the series was cancelled.

No rating. Just a public service.

You Know The Voice: Shari Lewis sings on Musical Chairs (1975)

 Sans her puppet entourage, Shari Lewis was a featured guest for a week on the short-lived CBS game show, Musical Chairs. Shari shares the stage with host Adam Wade (later of Super Globetrotters), Broadway star Larry Kert, and future chart toppers Sister Sledge (4 years before "We Are Family" topped the charts).

Shari performs "Talk to The Animals" from "Dr. Doolittle".

Adam sounded more like he was auditioning to fill in for Don Cornelius on Soul Train, don't you think?

Tooniversary: The Scotsman in Space (The Ren & Stimpy Show, 1995)

 The post-John Kricfalusi era of Ren & Stimpy proved to be where the series jumped the shark on Nickelodeon. The plots were even more bizarre, such as 1995's "The Scotsman in Space", with special guest star Alan Young (ex-DuckTales). Co-written & directed by Bob Camp, who had taken over after Kricfalusi was given the heave-ho by Nick. Fellow comics vets Stephen DiStefano & Bill Wray also contributed, with DiStefano in a voice role as well as a producer.

You can credit Camp, who'd worked at Marvel, for securing a license for the publisher to adapt the series.

No rating. Just a public service.

Spooktober: Trick or Treat (The New Adam-12, 1991)

 Halloween is 3 weeks away, so let's serve up a Halloween themed episode of The New Adam-12.

While the kiddo's are doing some trick or treating, with 2 officers costumed for the occasion, someone's taking advantage of the occasion to commit crimes. Marvin Kaplan (ex-Alice, Top Cat) makes a now-rare appearance as a store owner who is one of the robbery victims.

The revival didn't have the staying power of the original Adam-12 (1968-75), but don't blame that on its leads, Peter Parros (ex-Knight Rider) and Ethan Wayne. Some of the writing, coupled with the show being syndicated and often pre-empted, had more to do with the series lasting just 2 seasons.

Rating: B.

Toons You Might've Missed: Jeepers & Creepers (1960)

 Paramount was doing a lot of experimenting in the 60's, starting with creating a comedy team in Jeepers & Creepers. Unfortunately, save for airings on, say for example, Nickelodeon, or, more recently, Me-TV/Me-TV Toons, the four shorts this canine duo did together have been largely lost media.

Jack Mercer (Popeye) voices Jeepers and co-wrote "Trouble Date". 

Predictable.

Rating: B.

Toonfomercial: Why would a crow want to steal Post Toasties? (1964)

 Following is an in-show ad from Linus The Lionhearted:

Rory Raccoon (Bob McFadden) dreams that a giant crow steals his corn, or, more specifically, Post's Toasties corn flakes.

But, then, the dream comes true, or does it?

Jesse White, a character actor best remembered for later becoming Maytag's Lonely Repairman, voices Claudius Crow.

Spooktober: The Real Ghostbusters in Dairy Farm (1987)

 The Real Ghostbusters (Lorenzo Music, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, & Arsenio Hall) decide to take a vacation, and end up on a haunted "Dairy Farm". Peter falls for the young farmer in charge, and, of course, there's chaos.

Comes with the bumpers from the syndicated run with a talking "No Ghost" logo. Wikipedia claimed it was only Arsenio Hall, but when one bumper gives the ghost Slimer's voice, figure Frank Welker contributed as well.

Rating: B.

Spooktober: Sabrina in Wishbone (1969)

 We all know dogs like bones. Well, as Sabrina is about to discover, a "Wishbone" that Aunt Zelda discards in the garbage ends up in the paws of Chili Dog & Hot Dog, Jr. (Don Messick & Howard Morris), which of course leads to chaos.

While this uses the open to Sabrina's 1971 solo series, this is actually from 1969's Archie Comedy Hour.

Unfortunately, Hot Dog, Jr. & Chili Dog were written out after the series ended, with Hot Dog, Sr. remaining going forward.

Rating: B.

From Primetime to Daytime: Fred Sanford sings! (1975)

 We had this up before, here and at The Land of Whatever, and, then, it was deleted by YouTube. Well, now, it's back, thanks to a Sanford & Son fan channel. We posted this at The Land of Whatever about a week or so ago, so now we'll bring it here, too.

Scatman Crothers (Chico & The Man, Hong Kong Phooey) guest stars on Sanford & Son as an old friend of Fred (Redd Foxx). Next thing ya know, we get a duet of "All of Me". Foxx would do a few more musical numbers during the series run, with the likes of Della Reese and series regular LaWanda Page, among others.

Toonfomercial: Does visualizing the cause of your pain make you reach for Alka-Seltzer? (1968)

 Miles Laboratories' ad agency hired comics icon Wally Wood to design this 1968 spot for Alka-Seltzer. What we can't be sure of is if this harried fellow is dreaming all of this.

Looks like some Golden Age influences here, some of it perhaps inappropriate. Today, Bayer makes Alka-Seltzer, and could use an ad like this to draw attention......

Spooktober: Drak Pack in Perilous Plunder of Pirate's Park (1980)

 The Drak Pack have to stop Dr. Dred from the "Perilous Plunder of Pirate's Park", which, in this case, is an amusement park.

I don't think you can actually go fishing at an amusement park, but, then.....!

Rating: C-