Pop impresario Don Kirshner, while still pumping out Archies records, added the Harlem Globetrotters to his music stable, coinciding with the team's first animated series in 1970.
Reportedly, the players actually recorded the songs themselves, backed by a studio band. This would explain why Meadowlark Lemon was credited on the show, but not other players like Curly Neal and Herbert "Geese" Ausbie.
Some of you might recognize this track, "Meadowlark", used in an episode of the series. The big surprise? Co-written by pop icon Neil Sedaka with Howard Greenfield. This might've inspired Sedaka to start recording his own songs again four years later.
We've got a screen cap of the actual 7" single, instead of using episode footage, which for this particular song may not be available right now.
Sedaka, Greenfield, & Jeff Barry were the principal songwriters on the album.
Overshadowed by the revival of Wild Kingdom last fall was the return of the Harlem Globetrotters to Saturday morning television for the first time in 45 years.
Harlem Globetrotters: Play it Forward is a reality series as part of NBC's The More You Know Saturday block, packaged by Hearst Entertainment. These are not your father's Globetrotters, but a new generation who have taken time out from their tour to educate audiences, and, in turn, educate themselves with various occupations.
Check the trailer from the team's YouTube channel:
Unlike each of the team's previous series, this one's likely to stick around a while.
We've previously shown you an installment of To Tell The Truth which featured the early Harlem Globetrotters. Now, let's take you to December 1956, right before New Year's Eve, when the team, as a whole, including coach-owner Abe Saperstein, appeared on What's My Line?. The 'Trotters are in the 1st game.
The 'Trotters were also the subject of a feature film, "Go, Man, Go", starring Dane Clark, before becoming an annual fixture on ABC's Wide World of Sports and landing their first animated series (CBS, 1970).
Between 1969-71, Saturday morning television made some serious strides in what we call cultural diversity. After Filmation created an African-American character for The Hardy Boys, Hanna-Barbera responded by acquiring licenses for Josie & The Pussycats (with an African-American percussionist who was also cast as their answer to Greg Morris' character of Barney Collier on Mission: Impossible) and The Harlem Globetrotters.
As we've documented, the 'Trotters didn't voice their animated selves. Meadowlark Lemon was credited, but only because he recorded backing vocals on some of the musical numbers. Scatman Crothers ("The Aristocats") voiced Lemon's animated alter-ego. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (ex-The Jack Benny Program), who hadn't done any animated work since doing a cartoon with Benny several years earlier ("The Mouse That Jack Built"), voices Bobby Joe Mason, who figures into the plot of the series opener, "The Great Geese Goof-Up", in which the team thinks Geese was transformed into a kangaroo, not knowing the kangaroo, a magician's assistant, is being used by jewel thieves.
After the abysmal Super Globetrotters tanked, the Harlem Globetrotters dusted off the team bus and took a trip to Storybook Land, if you will.
"The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White" has the team subbing for the Seven Dwarves, largely because Hanna-Barbera couldn't get the license to use the Dwarves, and probably had to fulfill a contract for the 'Trotters' likenesses, which was coming due.
Long story short, the guys cross into the classic tale of Snow White (Russi Taylor), targeted by the jealous Queen. Otherwise, it follows the familiar formula of the 1970 Globetrotters series.
Scatman Crothers and Adam Wade are among the actors voicing the 'Trotters. H-B standbys John Stephenson & Michael Bell are also heard. Reportedly, this was originally presented as a 4 part serial as part of Fred & Barney Meet The Shmoo.
This would be the coda to the 'Trotters' 10 year association with H-B.
The Harlem Globetrotters, after spinning off from Chicago's Savoy Big Five, began play under the current monicker in 1928. Thirty years later, then captain Clarence Wilson was a contestant on To Tell The Truth, two years after Wilson and a few teammates had appeared on What's My Line?. Jim Backus (Mr. Magoo) is on the panel, moderated, of course, by Bud Collyer. Wilson is in the first game.
12 years later, the 'Trotters would land their first Saturday morning series, on the same network that was home to Truth, CBS. Wilson was no longer with the team by then.
For what it's worth, "Sweet Lou" Dunbar, who was characterized in the 1979 Super Globetrotters series, is now an assistant coach with the current Globetrotters.
In a plot that could easily have made more sense for Josie & The Pussycats, the Harlem Globetrotters have to find a way to make some good out of a "Bad News Cruise":
Thought I'd post this, with the current 'Trotters in town this weekend.
It all starts with the Harlem Globetrotters intent on taking in a charity football game as fans. But when one of the teams is unable to make it to the game, Meadowlark (Scatman Crothers) volunteers the 'Trotters onto the gridiron. Here's "Football Zeros":
In memory of the greatest Harlem Globetrotter of all time, Meadowlark Lemon, who passed away over the weekend at 83, we present this 1971 commercial for Vitalis.
Warner Home Video's Saturday Morning Cartoons compilations must not have sold very well. How else, then, to explain why some copies were reissued with "4 Kids Favorites" and pictures of 4 different characters, all of whom would appear on the DVD, on the cover, and redistributed to places like Walmart, Five Below, and other dollar/discount stores?
Part of the overall reason might be that some of the series represented on Volume 1 of the 1970's collection would eventually be released on their own stand-alone DVD compilations, such as The New Adventures of Batman and Josie & the Pussycats, and fans preferred to wait for those releases.
Anyway, this is what you get:
The Jetsons: This one's a bit of a cheat, since the 1962 series was in repeats on NBC during the 70's to fill time because the network didn't buy enough new series. "The Space Car", in which George (George O'Hanlon) & Jane (Penny Singleton) are mistaken for bank robbers after a vehicle mix-up, also has the title card from when the series was revived in the 80's, and they created episode title cards for the 1962 series episodes that were part of the package. We'll discuss this one another time.
The New Adventures of Batman: The series opener, "The Pest", was previously reviewed. Joker (Len Weinrib) steals a car that runs on water instead of fuel, with hazardous consequences.
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: Tarzan (Robert Ridgely, ex-Uncle Croc's Block) meets two warring armies in a homage to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Unfortunately, no individual episodes are now available on YouTube.
Goober & the Ghost Chasers: The series opener,"Assignment: The Ahab Apparition", set the tone, as Hanna-Barbera contracted with Screen Gems (now Sony Pictures Television) to use four of the kids from The Partridge Family, so they must've known this was a real dog.
Hong Kong Phooey: The kung fu pooch (Scatman Crothers) battles car & jewel thieves in two interlocking shorts, the overarching plot being Sgt. Flint (Joe E. Ross, ex-Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch) needing the precinct in top shape for the commissioner's inspection.
Speed Buggy: Speedy (Mel Blanc) and friends are out west to help Debbie's aunt fend off some cattle rustlers. Blanc also voices the sheriff.
Wheelie & the Chopper Bunch: Three short vignettes, all basically the same plot. Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch are entered in a race where the winner goes on a date with Wheelie's girlfriend, Rota (Judy Strangis). After that, a little bike wants to join the Chopper Bunch, but after Wheelie rescues him from quicksand, he turns on the Bunch after Chopper has him spy on Wheelie & Rota. Finally, Wheelie takes part in a stunt show, which Chopper stupidly tries to sabotage, with hilarious results.
Yogi's Gang: Yogi Bear (Daws Butler) and pals encounter the Greedy Genie (John Stephenson), who has convinced Yogi's hobo pal, Smiley, to look out for himself.
Amazing Chan & The Chan Clan: Charlie Chan (Keye Luke) and the kids are in England to rescue an important artifact attached to an ancient throne (previously reviewed).
Josie & the Pussycats: Alex Cabot (Casey Kasem) books the band for a gig in Pago Pago, but, predictably, the gang has to do some chores to pay passage when Alex comes up short of money. Before long, they're prisoners of a modern-day descendant of Captain Nemo (Stephenson).
The Roman Holidays: Gus Holiday (Dave Willock) poses as a teenager in order to take his landlord's niece to a school prom, where son Hap is in the band. This after summoning his bumpkin nephew in an effort to pair him up with the lass.
The New Scooby-Doo Movies: Scooby and Mystery Inc. team with the Harlem Globetrotters, one of three such team-ups, which marked the end of the 'Trotters' 1st go-round with Hanna-Barbera, only to return in Super Globetrotters in 1979.
The Funky Phantom: Jonathan Muddlemore (Daws Butler, recycling his Bert Lahr-inspired Snagglepuss voice) and his mortal pals meet a pirate posing as the ghost of Jean LaFitte. Ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz made his H-B debut as Skip, and tries to serenade April (Kristina Holland, The Courtship of Eddie's Father). 1st H-B series produced in Australia.
A Saturday Morning Wake-Up Call is heard on each disc, as Casey Kasem highlights the contents of the discs. If you were listening to Casey's radio shows around 2009, before he retired, well, that's what you'll get here.
Plus, there are commentary features on Funky Phantom and Chan Clan. In the latter, Jamie Farr, who was moonlighting from his other gig on M*A*S*H as a writer for H-B, discusses how the show came together. Fellow writer Eddie Carroll lets ol' long-of-nose do virtually all the talking. (Jamie got the nickname "long-of-nose" from Chuck Barris on The Gong Show)
My own take: I'd seen the Batman, Josie, & Scooby-Doo Movies entries before, and this was the first time I'd actually sat through an episode of Roman Holidays. Part of the reason people are so down on the 70's is the fact that in a lot of cases, the writing was getting weaker, almost on auto-pilot, which, in hindsight, was not good.
Two years had passed after their cartoon series had been cancelled, and they were making annual appearances on ABC's Wide World of Sports, but the Harlem Globetrotters returned to CBS in 1974 to host a half hour variety show from the producers of Hee Haw.
The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine lasted just the one season, unfortunately, and that can be blamed on its time slot, airing as it did at 11 am (ET). In those days, it was common for local stations to black out selected programs in favor of syndicated shows that would bring the affiliates some added revenue. The Trotters were joined by child star Rodney Allen Rippy, who otherwise was known for a series of ads for Jack In The Box restaurants, and actor-comedian Avery Schreiber (ex-My Mother The Car), whose regular comedy partner, Jack Burns (ex-The Andy Griffith Show) was one of the show's writers. Schreiber was cast as the colorfully costumed Mr. Evil, acting as a foil for Rippy & the Trotters.
Sadly, the following video, uploaded by 70sKidVid, is in black & white, as apparently all the color prints no longer exist. Yeah, the announcer's the same guy who had the gig on Hee Haw, which was in syndication by this time, and doing pretty well.
This was the 2nd of 3 Saturday go-rounds for the Globetrotters. They would return to animated form, and to Hanna-Barbera, in 1979, a move that I think they might regret, although the players didn't have any real input in the cartoon.......
In the archives of Hanna-Barbera, this would be filed under, "What were they thinking?!". H-B forged a new deal with the Harlem Globetrotters for another animated series, but this time, the basketball team would be transformed into superheroes, hence, Super Globetrotters.
Here's the intro:
As you can tell, three of the 'Trotters were given the powers of the 1960's heroes, The Impossibles, although James "Twiggy" Sanders was given the ID of Spaghetti Man instead of Coil Man, largely because of his being taller. Of the voice talent from the 1970 Harlem Globetrotters series, Stu Gilliam (ex-Roll Out!) and Scatman Crothers (ex-Hong Kong Phooey, Chico & the Man) returned for this show, and maybe wish they hadn't. The plots ultimately followed the formula of the original series, using a impromptu basketball game to settle the issues. Unfortunately, NBC slotted Super Globetrotters directly opposite World's Greatest Super Friends over on ABC, which sealed the 'Trotters' fate.
Hanna-Barbera acquired a license to produce an animated series based on the Harlem Globetrotters in 1970, one of two licensed series the studio sold to CBS (Josie & the Pussycats being the other). The intro & closing don't have the team's famous theme song, "Sweet Georgia Brown", save for a sample of the iconic whistling:
H-B got a lot of mileage out of the 'Trotters, moreso than you'd think. However, save for Meadowlark Lemon, who was given screen credit, none of the players actually voiced their own animated alter-egos. After the series had run its course and was cancelled in 1972, the team appeared on the initial episode of the New Scooby-Doo Movies, and would appear again during the series' 2 year run (1972-74). H-B also crafted an animated TV-movie, "The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White", which I'll post at a later date.
Considering his hire as a music supervisor for this series and Josie (and presumably also Scooby-Doo, which adopted a rock soundtrack for season 2), you'd think Don Kirshner, who'd also helmed The Archies and The Monkees (whose reruns also aired on CBS for a time), was also a programmer for CBS, what with all the shows bearing his name in the credits on the schedule. Frequent collaborator Jeff Barry composed the theme song, but the rest of the music was the usual H-B house music composed by Ted Nichols (Hoyt Curtin would return to H-B the next year). Aside from a short run on TV Land 11 years ago, Harlem Globetrotters hasn't turned up anywhere in a long time. CBS-Paramount owns the rights to the show, which is why you haven't seen it on Boomerang (though their team-ups with Scooby-Doo have aired).
