Saturday Morning Ringside: Remembering Dennis Condrey (1952-2026)

 As a founding member of the heel tag team Midnight Express, Dennis Condrey was a decorated wrestler in the 80's, winning the NWA tag titles with Bobby Eaton under the leadership of motormouth manager Jim Cornette.

Condrey left the team in the mid-80's when he left the NWA, then returned with Randy Rose as the Original Midnight Express, first in the AWA, then back in the NWA, with Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman), a Cornette clone at the time, except that his weapon of choice was a cordless phone as opposed to Cornette's tennis racquet.

We are sad to report that Condrey, 74, who last appeared at an AEW event a couple of years ago as a guest of FTR, has passed away. Following is an angle from Mid-South Wrestling, circa 1984, involving Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling II:

There will almost certainly be tributes on AEW television, if not WWE or TNA, too, in the coming days.

Rest in peace, Dennis.

Celebrity Toons: Abbott & Costello in Luna-Tricks (1967)

 Abbott & Costello are bound for the moon to stop Super Terror (Don Messick). Here's "Luna Tricks". The open & close are edited off, and the title card is not the original. I think.

Stan Erwin plays Costello as more heroic than normal this time, an eager space cadet, if ya will.

Rating: B-. 5 minutes just isn't enough time.

Toon Legends: Popeye Meets Ali Baba & His 40 Thieves (1937)

 A year after Popeye was matched vs. Sindbad, the sailor met "Ali Baba & His 40 Thieves", except that in the context of the story, Ali Baba's name has been changed to Abu Hassan (Gus Wickie). I've lost track of how many times I'd seen this in syndication in the 70's & 80's.

An excerpt from this was used to open WPIX's 1970's Popeye broadcasts for a time. If you're from my generation, you'll recognize it right away.

Rating: A-.

Toons You Might've Missed: Leprechauns' Gold (1949)

 Begorra! 'Tis back to Ireland we go as St. Patrick's Day draws to a close, as we learn about "Leprechauns' Gold":

I'm sure there are better ways to attend to the gold.....

No rating. Just a public service.

Toons You Might've Missed: Cobs & Robbers (1953)

 Barney Bear just didn't get enough love from MGM.

In effect, he was the antithesis of other stars of his era. He was always made to look like a fool, even as a protagonist, such as in 1953's "Cobs & Robbers", a remake of Dick Lundy's 1945 Andy Panda entry, "Crow Crazy".

Luckily, when Spire Christian Comics obtained a license to use Barney in the 70's & 80's in a series of 1-shots, he finally was a winner.

Here's "Cobs & Robbers":

This has aired recently on Me-TV, but I can't recall when it's aired on Cartoon Network/Boomerang.

Rating: B.

Toon Legends: The Wacky Wabbit (1942)

 Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd are out west in 1942's "The Wacky Wabbit". Elmer (Arthur Q. Bryan) is looking for gold out in the desert. Bugs? Welllllll......

Rating: A-.

Coming Attractions: A Family Guy spinoff of evil proportions

 Deadline is reporting that Fox has greenlit a spinoff from Family Guy that will feature the youngest of the Griffins' three children.

Stewie has already received a two season order from Fox, adding to series creator Seth MacFarlane's already sizeable workload.

As fans of Family Guy know, Stewie is always plotting against his mother, Lois (Alex Borstein), for whatever reason. I'd guess that MacFarlane saw Stewie as his answer to WB's Pinky & The Brain, the latter of whom was always looking to achieve world domination.

Time will tell if this will be another hit, or if the Family Guy franchise has jumped the shark.

Stay tooned.

Literary Toons: The Bear That Wasn't (1967)

 Filmmaker Frank Tashlin released a picture book in 1946, The Bear That Wasn't. If you're like me, and you'd never heard of this tale before today, I don't blame you.

In 1967, Chuck Jones adapted Tashlin's story into an animated short for MGM, with Paul Frees doing all the voices.

No rating. Just a public service.

From Primetime to Daytime: Look who meets the Lone Ranger! (1950)

5 years before he became an icon as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, James Arness guest stars in this season 1 episode of The Lone Ranger, appearing as Deputy Bud Titus, who gives up his badge to go bounty hunting for a couple of outlaws, who are also being tracked by the Ranger (Clayton Moore).......

Rating: A.

(Sunday) School: The Gospel Bill Show (1981)

 For 12 years, Willie George brought viewers a Western with a twist with The Gospel Bill Show, which has aired on CBN & TBN during the course of its history. The series originally aired from 1981-93. Substituting the Bible for common frontier justice, Gospel Bill (George) was the chief lawman in the fictional town of Dry Gulch, with Nicodemus (Ken Blount) as his sidekick, Festus to Bill's Matt Dillon, if you will.

Anyway, evangelist Kenneth Copeland guest stars in this offering as reformed outlaw Wichita Slim.

There was a time when CBN was on local cable systems, and loaded their weekend fare with classic Westerns. Gospel Bill, then, fit right in.

No rating. Just a public service.

Toons You Might've Missed: Barnacle Bill (1930)

 From the Fleischers' Talkartoon series comes "Barnacle Bill", with Bimbo in the title role. During this period, Betty Boop (Margie Hines) has more of a canine appearance, before her evolution into the icon we would know.

Anyway, Bimbo gives himself a shore leave so he can see "Nancy Lee" (Betty).

Five years later, Fleischer & Paramount referenced Barnacle Bill again, this time with Bluto in the role as a villain (as per normal) in a Popeye short. The character of Barnacle Bill was introduced in a song recorded by Hoagy Carmichael in 1928.

Rating: B-. There's a reason Bimbo was reduced to a supporting player when Betty was given her own series.......

Saturtainment: Bad Cat (1984)

 From the ABC Weekend Special:

Ruby-Spears' "Bad Cat" was the season finale for the 1983-4 season. Bart Braverman (ex-Vega$) leads an all-star cast that also includes Alan Young (ex-Mister Ed, Battle of The Planets), Hal Smith, Judy Strangis, Jon Bauman (one of his first toon jobs), Steve Spears (ex-Space Stars), and Marvin Kaplan (Alice, ex-Top Cat). Not sure if Steve was Ken Spears' son.

Rating: B.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Get Down Tonight (1975)

 KC & The Sunshine Band heralded the launch of the disco era in the mid-70's, and "Get Down Tonight" landed them on The Midnight Special.

Toon Rock: Meet the Chipettes (Alvin & The Chipmunks, 1983)

 From season 1 of Alvin & The Chipmunks:

It was the 80's, after all. The MTV generation gave rise to a new group of female artists, including groups like the Go-Go's and the Bangles, and solo stars like Kim Wilde. 

Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. & his wife, Janice Karman, decided that Alvin & the Chipmunks would have female counterparts in response. Enter The Chipettes.

In the season 1 premiere, following a team-up with Mr. T, whose animated series would later in the morning, Alvin, Simon, & Theodore met Brittany, Jeannette, & Eleanor (all voiced by Karman). A chance meeting after the girls, billed as the Chipmunks, are booked at a hotel, which gets David Seville (Bagdasarian) all confused.

Over the course of the series, we'd meet the girls' adoptive parent, Beatrice Miller (Dody Goodman, "Grease", ex-Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), who would also care for the guys when Dave was away.

The title card for this episode was edited off.

Rating: A.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Boys & Girls (1968)

 From The Archie Show:

Jughead gets a dance named after him, which he & Hot Dog demonstrate. Next, the band performs "Boys & Girls":

Not to be confused with the later R & B song of the same name by the Intruders......

Toons You Might've Missed: The Wee Men (1947)

 Begorra! St. Patrick's Day is 2 weeks away, and, so, we'll set the ball a'rollin' with Paramount's 1947 tale, "The Wee Men". Jackson Beck voices all the characters.

These leprechauns would return in 2 more shorts.

Rating: B.

Toon Sports: Laff-a-Lympics hits Transylvania & South America (1978)

 From season 2 of Laff-a-Lympics (the core series was renamed Scooby's All-Stars):

Our all-star teams are in Brazil, Argentina, & Transylvania. Don Messick is our announcer, with Snagglepuss (Daws Butler) & Mildew Wolf (John Stephenson) on commentary. 

Unlike in pro wrestling, Snagglepuss could expose the fraud the Rottens were perpetuating. Then again, in the course of two seasons, the Rottens did have a better winning percentage than Dick Dastardly, and.......!

Rating: B.

Toon Legends: Donald Duck & Chip 'n' Dale in Working For Peanuts (1953)

 Chip 'n' Dale have set up shop in a tree next door to the zoo. A stray peanut flies into their hands while collecting acorns, prompting the two to head to the zoo to see what they can do, which doesn't sit well with either Donald Duck or the elephant he's caring for.......! Part of the open was edited off for copyright reasons.

Rating: B.