From Primetime to Daytime: A primer on racism (Happy Days, 1982)

 From season 9 of Happy Days:

Fonzie (Henry Winkler) & Al DelVecchio (Al Molinaro) take a trip to Alabama, and discover just how much racism is prevalent in the South in the early 60's. In a speech, Al reveals he'd been in the restaurant business for some 25 years, meaning he'd started in the late 30's!

"Southern Crossing", first shown in January 1982, was the 2nd episode of the series to address racism, the first having aired nearly 7 years earlier.

Al's speech is the climax of this clip.

Would that certain people in today's society would learn this lesson.

Retro Toy Chest: Remember the Do Bee Dough Machine? (1970)

 Hasbro's Romper Room line of toys came out with its answer to Play-Doh with the Do-Bee Dough Machine, released in 1970.

In the ensuing years, Play-Doh has changed hands multiple times, from Rainbow Brands to Kenner to---wait for it----Hasbro, its current owner. The dough machine, however, didn't last long enough to be incorporated into the Play-Doh line.

Looney TV: A parody of cigarette commercials (Pinky & The Brain, 1998)

 Nearly 30 years after the FCC banned cigarette commercials, the staff of Pinky & The Brain decided to poke fun at the tobacco industry........

Amusing, no?

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits (Revisited): Just Got Lucky (1985)

 From season 2 of Kids Incorporated:

Future Wild Orchid singers Stacy Ferguson & Renee Sands are featured on a cover of the JoBoxers' 1983 hit, "Just Got Lucky":

You Know The Voice: Gary Owens (1969)

 We had this next item before, but it was deleted. This is also at The Land of Whatever.

The early success of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In led to George Schlatter & Ed Friendly being commissioned to produce a series of unrelated specials for NBC, plus a game show spin-off from Laugh-In, hence, Letters to Laugh-In. Gary Owens pulls double duty as host & announcer. Our panel in this sampler has Laugh-In co-host Dan Rowan, series regular Jo Anne Worley, plus Jack E. Leonard and Angie Dickinson, then known more for movies, well before Police Woman.

The first joke, read by Worley, comes from a local viewer out of Saratoga. Cool!

Leonard had some voiceover credit doing Alpha-Bits commercials before the mailman character was replaced by Lovable Truly. Worley got into cartoons later on (i.e. The Wuzzles).

Getting Schooled: Meet the Dental Defenders (2007)

 It had been nearly 30 years since Procter & Gamble had introduced the Crest Team in a series of popular commercials, narrated by veteran actor Jackson Beck. Since then, P & G had acquired Gillette, which, in turn, had expanded their line to include the Oral-B brand of toothbrushes.

With Crest now a secondary brand of mouthwash, in addition to its line of toothpaste, P & G commissioned a new animation house to produce this nearly 8 minute video for schools. Meet, then, the Dental Defenders:

Animation looks like the same folks who may have designed the logo for PBS Kids, but I am not sure.

Toon Legends: Spider-Man in Scourge of The Scarf (1968)

 From season 2 of the 1st Spider-Man animated series:

The Scarf, not to be confused with a villain from the live-action Green Hornet 2 years earlier, comes across as a minor league Mysterio wanna-be with his tricks. Let's see how Spider-Man handles him.

Yes, the video was uploaded from a camera phone. Beggars can't be choosers.

Part of the reason they kept the closing montage from season 1 before jumping to the updated credits is because Grant Simmons (part of Grantray-Lawrence) had relocated to LA to continue working on the show.

Rating: B.

Toon Legends: Magoo Meets McBoing-Boing (1960)

 UPA thought it'd be a cool idea to pair up Mr. Magoo (Jim Backus) with Gerald McBoing-Boing in a short released in 1960.

The plot: Magoo is called in as an emergency babysitter for Gerald, and confuses the sound effect issuing from Gerald's throat for real sounds.

Herb Vigran, who'd recurred on Adventures of Superman, and would play various supporting characters on The Flintstones, took over the role of Gerald's dad, originally essayed by Marvin Miller. This short spelled the end for Gerald on the big screen, after his own series had a brief TV run.

Rating: A-.

Saturtainment: Jabberwocky (1972)

 Jabberwocky is a Boston children's television legend, even though the series lasted just 2 years in first run programming. Clips like this next item have surfaced on YouTube, so let's check it out.

In contrast, WSBK had reruns of Wally Gator, Mel-O-Toons, Looney Tunes, et al, and brought the incomprehensible Willie Whistle out of retirement in the 80's. Compared to Jabberwocky, Willie is what he always was, chump change.

Daytime Heroes: He-Man in The Cosmic Comet (1983)

 With a new He-Man & The Masters of The Universe comic book coming from Dark Horse, it's time we went back to Eternia and season 1 of the original series. Here's "The Cosmic Comet":

Co-author Tom Ruegger would move first to Hanna-Barbera, then to WB, where he had his biggest success as a producer.

Rating: A-.

Saturtainment: Magnificent Muttley, the complete series (1969)

 While Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines lasted just 1 season of 1st run episodes, the backup feature, Magnificent Muttley, a parody of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", became an even bigger cult classic. Each shortie was a parody of something.

We previously screened the opener, "Muttley on The Bounty", but now, rather than track down the rest, we've got the whole shebang in a 40+ minute package, for the most part, as with the lead feature, a 2-man show (Paul Winchell & Don Messick).

Don't you just love how the theme is spoken in rhyme by Dastardly?

Rating: A-.

Rare Treats: A UPA pilot that never made it: Bric & Brac (1959-60)

 By the end of the 50's, UPA was in trouble. Their distribution deal with Columbia had ended, and Columbia had moved on to work with Hanna-Barbera. Gerald McBoing-Boing was slowly being rejected by movie-goers, even with a crossover with Mr. Magoo.

So, the studio, with United Artists as a prospective new distributor, tried selling a new set of characters to networks or syndication. Bric & Brac, a rabbit & a mole, to be particular, were introduced in "Bric's Stew", which was pitched in 1960, though it had been copyrighted a year earlier. Ever-busy Dallas McKennon handled all the voices for this Harvey Toombs-directed short.

A rabbit that doesn't like carrots? Bric seems to be reluctant to have any. Toombs would later work for King Features on Popeye, while Sam Singer signed McKennon for Courageous Cat.

Rating: C.

Toon Legends: Spider-Man vs. Dr. Octopus, round 2 (1967)

 Spider-Man (Paul Soles) has a rematch with power-mad Dr. Octopus, who steals a weapon intended for government use. Of course, J. Jonah Jameson wastes little time trying to tie Spidey to the theft he'd failed to prevent.

The next season, Ralph Bakshi took over the series, which brought some changes to the animation. For the better.

Rating: B.

Looney TV: Quacker Tracker (1967)

 Herb Klynn & Format Films (The Lone Ranger, The Alvin Show) took over the animation for Speedy Gonzales with 1967's "Quacker Tracker". If the plot sounds familiar, well, WB also did a similar plot with Cool Cat.

Co-author Don Jurwich was later a producer with Hanna-Barbera & Marvel Productions.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Reelin' in The Years (1973)

 Steely Dan lit up the stage on The Midnight Special in August 1973 with "Reelin' in The Years".

Now, that is a Summer song.

Not ready for the PGA: Our Gang in Divot Diggers (1936)

 Our Gang hits the golf course in 1936's "Divot Diggers". The fun really starts when Spanky & Buckwheat become the world's youngest caddies........

The special effects used here were unique for their time. I wonder if a certain fellow in Washington learned his game from seeing Spanky on the course.......!

Rating: B.