What happens when you have a crow, a bulldog, and a Siamese cat, all belonging to the same family?
You have The Incredible Detectives, which TV & comics writer Mark Evanier adapted for the ABC Weekend Special in 1979, 13 years after the original novel was released.
Davey (Al Eisenmann) is kidnapped, and the family pets set out to rescue him. Additional voices include Frank Welker, Marianne Aragon, Laurie Main, & John Stephenson.
The Three Musketeers are heading out on the high seas in "The Pirate Adventure" to capture Captain Corsair:
NBC thought that the success of Jack Webb's Emergency! would translate into an animated spin-off in the daytime. Nice idea, but Emergency! Plus 4 was entrusted to Fred Calvert, whose shoestring budget resulted in two seasons of stiffer than normal animation.
In the opener, a couple of teens in a dune buggy cause some issues.
Cool McCool turns 60 this year. In what would be the final episode of the series, Cool (Bob McFadden) faces off with "The Moon Goon":
"Without a Vengeance" was the series finale of The Legend of Calamity Jane. As we discussed when first looking at this series, WB only aired 3 episodes before pulling the plug, while the rest of the series aired everywhere else.
Time to check in on the East Side Kids, aka The Bowery Boys.
Huntz Hall makes his debut in the series in 1941's "Bowery Blitzkrieg", in which Muggs (Leo Gorcey) steps into the boxing ring, competing in the Golden Gloves under the sponsorship of the NYPD. Keye Luke (billed as "Key" Luke) appears briefly as the owner of a pool hall.
Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (ex-Our Gang) is part of this group. Edited for broadcast when it aired on channel 5 in NYC back in the day.
Many moons ago, we discussed WSBK's Mystery Theatre, which was a lead-in to The Three Stooges on Saturday mornings back in the 80's. The only two components were Charlie Chan, which we discussed back then, and Mr. Moto, our next subject.
Peter Lorre was cast as Moto, John Marquand's secret agent, now rebooted as a detective, and, in 1938's "Mr. Moto's Gamble", as a criminology professor in San Francisco. "Gamble" was originally meant to be a Chan movie, but Warner Oland had taken ill, and subsequently passed away, so the script was rewritten with Moto taking over. Lee Chan (Keye Luke) is one of Moto's students. Our supporting cast is loaded with some familiar names, including Lon Chaney, Jr., "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom, Ward Bond, Douglas Fowley, and John Hamilton, who'd also appear with Boris Karloff in a Mr. Wong film, well before Adventures of Superman.
From season 2 of The Secrets of Isis:
Buffalo native Laurette Spang, later of Battlestar Galactica, guest stars as a cheerleader who frames a teammate for cheating on a test, fearful that she won't be the leader of the team. You know how this goes.
Episodes of Baggy Pants & The Nitwits are now available on a DePatie-Freleng fan channel on YouTube.
In this example, we see Baggy Pants in "Painter's Helper", which pretty much speaks for itself, even if it is a pantomime cartoon. Then, Tyrone & Gladys (Arte Johnson & Ruth Buzzi), the Nitwits, are after "Splish Splash" (an uncredited Frank Welker). In fact, none of the other actors in the episode (i.e. John Stephenson) were credited. The series clarified that Johnson created Tyrone, at least, for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In nearly a decade earlier.
Another day, another Spectra attempt at conquering Earth, this time with "Super Space Spies". Not if G-Force has anything to say about it in this Battle of The Planets entry, which includes a pre-episode teaser narrated by Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends), who is also heard as one of Zoltar's soldiers.
From season 1 of The Flintstones:
Barney (Mel Blanc) buys Betty (Bea Benaderet) an engagement ring (??), and has Fred (Alan Reed) hold it for safekeeping. Wilma (Jean VanderPyl) finds the ring, and assumes Fred bought it for her. Uh-oh!! Now, Fred, who doesn't have the money to buy a 2nd ring, talks Barney into an exhibition boxing match with the champ. The girls ask the champ's manager to let Barney win the fight, but Barney's clowning proves costly. Believing they've been double-crossed, welllllllll......
I think we had this one up before, but it was taken down. It's back, but for how long, who can say?
Wonder Wheels is at "The County Fair" to foil a larcenous duo of thieves, one of whom is also competing in a motocross race.
Filmation wasn't interested in a modern, though loose, adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, but felt that a "Commander Nemo" (promoted from Captain) would make a good villain for the Space Sentinels.
The plot: Nemo (an uncredited Lou Scheimer) is trying to solve the earth's pollution problem. Unfortunately, the means to accomplish this goal are wrong, and attracts the attention of the Sentinels.
From season 1 of The All-New Popeye Hour:
Popeye (Jack Mercer) and Bluto (Allan Melvin) are in a steeplechase race after Olive (Marilyn Schreffler) inherits a horse. Well, you know how this goes.
DePatie-Freleng's superhero spoof, The Super Six, marks its 50th anniversary this year. In this episode, you'll see:
Super Bwoing in "Easy Kid Stuff". The "apprentice" lands a babysitting gig. With predictable results.
The Brothers Matzoriley vs. "Dirty Pierre".
Granite Man in "Cement Mix-Up":
While Woody Woodpecker was shifting between syndication and network runs in the 70's, Kellogg's brought him back, this time to shill for Sugar (now Corn) Pops.
Here, Woody's on the beach with a couple of kids.......
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).
From season 2 of Zorro (1990's series):
Don Alejandro (Henry Darrow, ex-Zorro & Son, High Chaparral) is reunited with his old unit to hunt down an outlaw. Zorro (Duncan Regehr) provides some covert assistance.
Hanging on to episodes of Jana of The Jungle can be dicey.
A YouTube poster has managed to package together four episode blocks of the 1978 series, and these four were, as standalone entries, recently removed from YouTube. They are:
"The Golden Idol of The Gorgas", with Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends) as a native chief.
"Katuchi Danger".
"The Cordillera Volcano".
"The Animal Snatchers".
All but "The Cordillera Volcano" have their original title cards.
We had this next item before, but it was taken down, and has been reloaded to YouTube.
Web Woman meets Tsetse, a man turned into a man-fly.
