Same show, new title (for now): South Park becomes South America

 Some TV shows change their titles during their runs. For example, an attempted Columbo spin-off focusing on the detective's otherwise unseen wife was rebooted as Kate Loves a Mystery, which didn't help, as the show was cancelled anyway.

Given how we have an impulsive, immature president with the comportment of a 5 year old changing Lake Ontario to Lake America just on his say-so (which is wrong), the producers of South Park decided to have a little fun with that, and so, the just launched new season sees a title change to South America.....

Title change aside, nothing else has changed. It's the same kind of subversive satire you've gotten for nearly 30 years. The title change won't last forever----it'll revert when the man-baby in Washington is out of office----and if the owners of Paramount don't have a problem, neither should anyone else.

As they said in the "Naked Gun" movies, just accept it.

Coming Attractions: Futurama and Disenchantment come together!

 The cast of Disenchantment returns after 5 years away for a crossover with one of Matt Groening's other creations, Futurama, in a parody of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

While the following teaser suggests it drops Monday, the text after it on YouTube says September.

The plot, based on the teaser: Fry (Billy West) lands in the world of Princess Tia Bean and friends. Somehow, dumber than a doorknob Elfo (Nat Faxon) is now king........

Prepare to have your mind blown.

Toons After Dark: Mr. Magoo as Paul Revere (1964)

 With Independence Day, celebrating America's 250th birthday, next week, let's return to The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, as Magoo (Jim Backus, Gilligan's Island) portrays "Paul Revere":

Why did this series flop after one season. Two words. Jackie. Gleason. Enough said.

Rare Treats: An animated open for Rawhide (1965)

 You all know that DePatie-Freleng was commissioned to produce the animated opens for 2 freshman series in 1965, I Dream of Jeannie (NBC) and The Wild, Wild West (CBS). Well, it turns out that CBS also asked for the studio to produce this next gem.

Rawhide had entered its final season, and was cut before the holidays. Artist Ken Mundie, who later was involved in the first Fat Albert pilot a few years later, is the man behind the sketches. Have to assume it was also Mundie who did the artwork for Wild, Wild West.

Anyway, here it is, complete with the iconic theme song, performed by Frankie Laine. They subbed in an instrumental for the closing theme.

Still can't figure how DFE got the contract for the Jeannie open away from Screen Gems' then-sister company, Hanna-Barbera........

Toons After Dark: Fred's Final Fling (1980)

 NBC had lined up a string of Flintstones primetime specials in October 1980, leading to The Flintstone Comedy Show joining the Saturday lineup weeks later.

In "Fred's Final Fling", Fred (Henry Corden) has a health scare when his x-rays are mixed up with those of Frank Frankenstone (John Stephenson; Charles Nelson Reilly would take over when they started the Saturday series). The usual chaos follows.

Edit, 6/22/26: Had to change the video. The opening & closing credits are deleted from this copy.

Family Toons: The Flintstones' 1st time travel adventure (1965)

 From season 5 of The Flintstones:

Fred & Wilma (Alan Reed & Jean VanderPyl) and Barney & Betty (Mel Blanc & Gerry Johnson) are sent to the future, specifically, the 1964 New York World's Fair, then backwards to other periods in this compilation from the episode, "Time Machine". Comes with closing credits of the period.

Gold Key produced a full-length comic book with the Flintstones & Rubbles at the World's Fair around this time.

From Primetime to Daytime: Hell hath no fury like Wilma Flintstone (The Flintstones, 1960)

 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......

Notice how the boxing gloves were made from the same cloth as Fred's shirt. Hmmmmm.

This is NOT how to have a birthday party (The Flintstones, 1964)

 From season 5 of The Flintstones:

Fred (Alan Reed) is up to his neck in trouble with both wife Wilma (Jean VanderPyl) and the Water Buffalo Lodge when Bedrock's only caterer mixes up two parties scheduled for the same night. A clown, meant for Pebbles' party, ends up at the lodge, and a jazz band and the Boulderettes show up at the Flintstone house, as you'll see in this excerpt:

I eventually saw this in syndication. Typical silliness.

Rating: B.

Toons After Dark: Peter & The Magic Egg (1983)

 After leaving Rankin-Bass, Romeo Muller struck out on his own, and one of his last projects as an independent producer was 1983's Peter & The Magic Egg. Muller borrowed the R-B formula of using a name actor as his lead, in this case, Ray Bolger, who narrates the tale as Amos the Egg. The rest of the cast includes Bob Holt, Joan Gerber, Russi Taylor, Robert Ridgely, and Al Eisenmann, brother of 70's & 80's star Ike Eisenmann.

Peter never aired on a network. It was syndicated, and hasn't seen the light of day, YouTube aside, in years.

Toons After Dark: A Chucklewood Easter (1986)

 It's been a while since we checked in on the Chucklewood Critters, featuring Buttons & Rusty. From 1986, here's "A Chucklewood Easter":

No rating. Didn't see this when it first aired.

Toon Rock: The Rose (2008)

From Family Guy: 

The Griffin family heads out on a road trip, but, rather than do some typical sing-a-long's, Peter (Seth MacFarlane) breaks into a cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose", from the movie of the same name. Soon, Lois, Meg, & Chris (Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, & Seth Green) join in.

Well, MacFarlane did a better job with this than "Surfin' Bird".......!

On The Air: Hare, There, & Everywhere (2026)

 While it was previously reported that Bugs Bunny was TCM's Star of the Month, the Oscar winning icon got all of the attention a week ago.

The reason? TCM begins 31 Days of Oscar tomorrow, and to spread out their plans for Bugs over the month would've conflicted with the annual promotion. Unless, of course, the shorts that won those Oscars for Bugs & WB are part of the 31 day event.

Comics Dana Gould, Patton Oswalt (ex-Happy!, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, The King of Queens), & Bill Hader (ex-Saturday Night Live) discuss Bugs' eternal appeal.

Rating: A+.

Toons After Dark: A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court (aka Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court)(1978)

 We had this one before, but then it was removed by YouTube. Now, it's back, even though it's not the original CBS print.

Bugs Bunny burrows through a time warp into Camelot, becoming "A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court". Subsequent reruns rechristened the special as "Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court", likely due to issues with the estate of Mark Twain, even though Chuck Jones had made it clear what he was doing, taking creative license with the story......

Rating: A-.

Looney TV: The Muh-muh-muh-murder (The Looney Tunes Show, 2012)

 One of the biggest complaints about The Looney Tunes Show was how it dumbed down Daffy Duck (Jeff Bergman) to the point where he was little more than an imbecile.

In this case, a case of mistaken identity has him thinking Porky Pig (Bob Bergen) is a killer. Meanwhile, Bugs (Bergman) rushes to the aid of Lola (Kristen Wiig) after she breaks her ankle. Legendary producer Garry Marshall, who hadn't done much acting since the 60's, is heard as Dr. Weisberg, a recurring role.

Small wonder fans cheered when subsequent series brought Daffy back to his zanier roots.

Rating: B-.

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.

Toons After Dark: Huck of La Mancha (The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1968)

 Episodes of The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are back in circulation on YouTube. This time around, Huck (Michael Shea), Tom Sawyer (Kevin Schultz, ex-The Monroes), and Becky Thatcher (Lu Ann Haslem) get mixed up with a certain literary icon in "Huck of La Mancha". Hal Smith (Davey & Goliath, ex-The Andy Griffith Show) and Jay Novello (ex-McHale's Navy) guest star.

No rating this time. Just a public service.

Countdown to Christmas: The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't be Late) (1961)

 Surprisingly, this hasn't been getting much airplay of late, amidst the tidal wave of Christmas songs on the radio.

Here's Alvin & The Chipmunks with "The Chipmunk Song", or, "Christmas Don't be Late":

Toon Rock: Christmas Time is Here (1965)

 Today marks the 60th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, an enduring holiday classic that has aired on three networks and currently streams on Apple TV.

The special opens with "Christmas Time is Here". Bill Melendez wrote the lyrics set to the music of Vince Guaraldi.

Countdown to Christmas: Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noel)(1996)

 Lily Tomlin brings her precocious 5 1/2 year old persona of Edith Ann back to television in the 3rd & final primetime special for ABC.

Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noel), written by Tomlin's long time partner, Jane Wagner, sees Edith Ann (Tomlin) run away from home, but you know that won't last.

Tomlin & Wagner hired an independent studio to animate this show, after Klasky-Csupo had produced the first two specials, though the designs are similar to the K-C style.

Tomlin & Wagner had hoped to create an actual series for Edith Ann, but apparently, either the ratings weren't what ABC had hoped for, or other factors were involved.

No rating. Just a public service.

Countdown to Christmas: The Little Christmas Burro (aka The Little Brown Burro)(1978)

 Some independent studio in Canada released The Little Brown Burro, or, as its now known, The Little Christmas Burro, in 1978, as a means of explaining how Mary & Joseph acquired the titular animal for their trip to Bethlehem.

I don't recall seeing this here in the US until now. Lorne Greene (Battlestar Galactica) is the narrator.

Amusing. One YouTube commentator noted how this was in answer to Disney's "The Small One", released the same year. The producers might've also been inspired by Rankin-Bass' Nestor The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, produced for ABC around the same period.

Rating: B.