Sunday Funnies: The Muppets and a Talking Machine (1967)

 From The Ed Sullivan Show:

Jim Henson's Muppets present "Talking Machine", and, danged if that ain't a prototype, albeit with green instead of blue felt, of Cookie Monster......

Summertainment: Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941)

 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.

Tooniversary: Jurassic Pooch (Dexter's Laboratory, 1996)

 After spinning out of What a Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons, Dexter's Laboratory turns 30 this year.

In "Jurassic Pooch", Dexter uses the family dog's DNA to resurrect a dinosaur. Chaos, of course, follows, especially after dumb as a doorknob Dee Dee decides to take the "new pet" for a walk.....

Predictable.

Rating: B-.

Saturtainment: Capital One's All-Stars at the NCAA's (2026)

 March Madness means a new set of Capital One commercials with Samuel L. Jackson joined by Charles Barkley (Inside The NBA), and, in this spot, Jennifer Garner (ex-Alias), and another NBA & NCAA legend in Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who replaces Spike Lee in the troupe. I think Spike is directing.

Well, it could've been worse. We could've gotten Stephen A. Smith trying to sing. Barkley's definitely a golden throat........

I hope the rest of the Inside crew roasts Barkley on the next episode.........! I wonder if Jennifer brought anything from Once Upon a Farm, the business she helped launch thanks to her commercials for Capital One.

(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.

Sunday Funnies: Shot in The Frontier (1954)

 Jules White's 1954 Three Stooges Western, "Shot in The Frontier", is a send-up of the classic Gary Cooper oater, "High Noon", which helped put director Stanley Kramer on the map in Hollywood.

Anyway, the boys recently got married, but soon discover a trio of outlaws have taken a liking to their brides. Emil Sitka didn't get credit as a justice of the peace this time (He played the same role in "Brideless Groom" a few years earlier), and Shemp stand-in Joe Palma is one of the outlaws.

Rating: B.

Sunday Funnies: Pardon My Backfire (1953)

 "Pardon My Backfire" was the 2nd & last Three Stooges short produced in 3D, though the effects were replaced for television.

Moe, Larry, & Shemp are mechanics looking to raise money to marry their girlfriends, who are a little shy about commitment. Some escaped convicts enter their shop, and the fun really begins.

Rating: A-. I've never seen the 3D version.

Game Time: Skedaddle (1988)

 In 1988, Hanna-Barbera decided to tweak their Funtastic World block with a game show. No, they weren't going to try the originally conceived format for Wacky Races, but, rather, they decided on something of a cross between Hot Potato & Nickelodeon's Double Dare.

Skedaddle, however, lasted just 6 weeks, a total dud, as viewers figured out very quickly that this was more of a knock-off of Dare. Ron Pearson served as host. Unfortunately, no footage exists, just some screen captures like this:

Jay Wolpert co-produced the show, returning a favor H-B did for him some time earlier. You see, H-B produced the animation for Wolpert's 1979 series, Whew!, for CBS. That lasted about a year before it was cancelled. I guess they went with dinosaur characters because the Skatebirds didn't want to come out of retirement. Ditto for the Banana Splits.

No rating, as I never saw the show.

Sunday Funnies: Junior & The Dictator (Problem Child, 1993)

 From season 1 of Problem Child:

Junior (Ben Diskin) takes umbrage when his grandfather (Jonathan Harris) welcomes a visiting general.

Considering that the president of our country fancies himself a dictator, but has the comportment of an immature child, well.........!

It's safe to say Junior was being reposited as an anti-hero in this series, since his gramps was often in collusion with Principal Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried), and always foiled.

No rating. Just a public service.

Not your average fairy tale: Three Little Piggs (1961)

 Here's a Fractured Fairy Tale from 1961.

The Three Little Piggs are a trio of sisters (all voiced by June Foray), instead of brothers in the traditional story, who get their own individual homes thanks to an inheritance from a recently deceased relative. Daws Butler is the wolf.

The gender flipping and the twist ending aside, this plays out like the traditional story. We think.

Rating: B.

Sunday Funnies: Harpo Marx on the Ed Sullivan Show (1961)

 Film legend Harpo Marx swaps out his namesake instrument for a clarinet, which doubles as a bubble machine, for "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". Fran Jeffries provides the vocals. Don't know who the other gentleman is. From The Ed Sullivan Show, circa 1961.

Now, I have to see if Harpo did the same schtick on Lawrence Welk's program. Happy New Year!

Toon Sports: A famous skating rivalry is parodied, with a happy ending (Problem Child, 1994)

 From season 2 of Problem Child:

Cyndi, one of Junior's closest friends, is entered in a skating competition, but her parents are so, so focused on her winning, they don't want Junior offering support. Meanwhile, a rival skater, Tonya, has hired Principal Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried, Aladdin) as her manager, and he's trying to sabotage Cyndi's chances of winning.......

Once Junior figures out Peabody's behind this get rich quick scheme, it doesn't take him long to make the principal regret it.

This was a send-up of the real-life issues between Olympic skaters Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan around that same year that became tabloid fodder.

Sunday Funnies: Junior Healy, Superstar (Problem Child, 1994)

 The season 2 opener of Problem Child marked the debut of Lacewood Studios as the new animation house working with Universal. The quality of the animation improved by leaps & bounds, but the writing didn't catch up.

First up: Junior (Ben Diskin) and his friends fall prey to a scam run by his grandfather (Jonathan Harris) and a sketchy commercial producer....

Murph (John Kassir, Tales From The Crypt) had been a bully in "Problem Child 2", but repackaged as an accomplice for Junior for this series.

No rating. Just a public service.

Sunday Funnies: Total Panic (1989)

The legendary Wonderama had been long off the air by the time Nickelodeon mounted a 3 hour (at first) Sunday children's variety show, Total Panic, which launched in April 1989, and would run for 18 months, ending in October 1990.

Keith Diamond & Molly Scott were the initial hosts, but Diamond didn't even make it through six months. He was gone by the summer of '89, replaced by Greg Lee, who had been doing audience warm-ups. Lee would go on to Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? three years later.

In this sampler, the hosts interview the husband & wife duo of comics creators Walt & Louise Simonson.

No rating. Just a public service.

Sunday Funnies: Hold That Lion (1947)

 This next item was previously posted a ways back over at The Land of Whatever, but it's also worth posting here.

It's for a fleeting moment or three, but for the first time, the three Howard brothers (Moe, Curly, & Shemp) are together on screen in this Three Stooges offering, "Hold That Lion". Curly is a sleeping passenger, with a full head of hair. Footage was later reused when "Lion" was remade as "Booty & The Beast" 5 years later.

Rating: A-.

Rare Treats: If you thought you knew the Mighty Mouse theme song.....(1958)

 We all know that the late actor-performance artist Andy Kaufman introduced us to the full lyrics to the theme from Mighty Mouse on Saturday Night Live. However, while Andy used a recording of the original theme, another icon released a version of the song years earlier.

Mitch Miller released his version, with vocals by the Terrytooners, in 1958:

And, here's Andy, nearly 20 years later:

Of course, Andy was lip-syncing, as the glass of water was just another prop in his act.

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.

Saturtainment: The Ramones on Sha Na Na (1979)

 Apparently, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman always wanted to be a game show host.

That said, it explains why he has the MC's role for a parody of Family Feud involving The Ramones. Post-game, the punk icons perform "Rock & Roll High School".

Today, the sketch wouldn't play well with certain demographic groups........! You know, of course, that Bauman would swap out the grease to host 2 game shows 4 years later, before shifting to VH1.

Sunday Funnies: Back to The Woods (1937)

 The Three Stooges are in colonial times, and the early colonies will never be the same again. Here's "Back to The Woods":

Silly fare.

Rating: B.

As Captain Planet turns 35, a new comic book just isn't enough.......

 Dynamite had planned on releasing a comic book based on the 1990-5 Captain Planet series, but the company's ongoing issues with former parent Diamond forced a delay in releasing the first issue to stores.

Now comes word that the Captain will return to television, or, at least, streaming, in a live-action series.

SAY WHAT?

Netflix, which already has a live-action Scooby-Doo revival in the pipeline, is asking for the same for Captain Planet, a project that reportedly has been in the works for nearly a decade.

Here's a little sampler from 1990:

WB is once again joining with producer Greg Berlanti, and this time, they're joined by actor-producer Leonardo DiCaprio, whose production company had initially optioned Captain Planet for a movie nearly a decade ago. Going live action means the special effects budget will blow up substantially.

David Pepose, the writer of the current comic book, changed one villain's name from Looten Plunder to Lucien Plunder, making Looten, seemingly, a nickname. I think that carries over into this series if it does hit the air.

Stay tooned.