Filmation was undergoing a period of transition in the early 80's. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, had been in perpetual rerun for a number of years, but CBS kept him around long enough to share an anthology package with two other legendary heroes, The Lone Ranger and Zorro, the latter of whom made his return to television in 1981, with the other two series' episodes being trimmed in order that all three could fill a hour-long block. Small wonder, then, that The New Adventures of Zorro was cancelled after 1 season, and was one of the last to have the famous producers' wheel in the opening credits.
For what it's worth, actor Henry Darrow (ex-High Chaparral) was the voice of Zorro in this series, but a decade later, he'd co-star as Zorro's father, Don Alejandro, in a live-action revival that aired on the Family Channel. Darrow replaced another TV legend, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (ex-The F. B. I.), who'd left after 1 season.
Thecurseofcapistrano uploaded the open to YouTube:
Rating: A.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Saturtainment: Happening '68 (1968)
Not content with what had become an institution, American Bandstand, anchoring ABC's Saturday lineup, Dick Clark added a 2nd series, Happening '68, as a companion piece. As noted last time, Mark Lindsay, lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders, was tapped to host the series. While Happening was cancelled after little more than a year, in effect folded into Bandstand to signal the end of Clark's little experiment, Lindsay would forge a solo career of his own before rejoining the Raiders for 1971's "Indian Reservation". Here's Mark, introducing a performance by Sundown Connection:
Regrettably, this is the only other clip of the series I can find, after posting "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival last time. A pity, considering that it represents a footnote in musical history as it relates to television.
Rating: B--.
Regrettably, this is the only other clip of the series I can find, after posting "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival last time. A pity, considering that it represents a footnote in musical history as it relates to television.
Rating: B--.
Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Proud Mary (1969)
Most folks are split over who had the more definitive version of "Proud Mary". Was it Ike & Tina Turner? Or was it Creedence Clearwater Revival?
One of the first 45's I bought 2nd hand after moving to my current downtown home was, in fact, CCR's version, which is a personal favorite. I bring this up because "Proud Mary" is being represented here in this clip from the March 1, 1969 episode of Happening '69 (formerly Happening '68, of course), a short-lived companion series to Dick Clark's better-known, more iconic American Bandstand. Singer Mark Lindsay, of Paul Revere & the Raiders fame, was the host. We won't see Mark in this clip, just CCR performing "Proud Mary". Videosolution uploaded the clip to YouTube. One of these days, I'll find some more Happening clips and talk more about the show......
One of the first 45's I bought 2nd hand after moving to my current downtown home was, in fact, CCR's version, which is a personal favorite. I bring this up because "Proud Mary" is being represented here in this clip from the March 1, 1969 episode of Happening '69 (formerly Happening '68, of course), a short-lived companion series to Dick Clark's better-known, more iconic American Bandstand. Singer Mark Lindsay, of Paul Revere & the Raiders fame, was the host. We won't see Mark in this clip, just CCR performing "Proud Mary". Videosolution uploaded the clip to YouTube. One of these days, I'll find some more Happening clips and talk more about the show......
Monday, February 7, 2011
Saturday Morning's Not-Yet-Forgotten Heroes: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993)
To most people, Haim Saban was originally known as 1/2 of the composing team, with Shuki Levy, behind the theme songs to most of DIC's hit series of the 80's (i.e. Inspector Gadget). However, Saban had formed his own production company around that same time, and began importing series from Japan and other countries to the US, mostly for Nickelodeon. In 1993, Saban made his most significant acquisition to date, obtaining the rights to a popular Japanese franchise for use in America. Right before Labor Day that year, Fox launched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which, at the peak of its popularity, aired 6 days a week.
Here's the intro:
After three seasons over two years (yeah, I know it's weird), Saban began the practice of reformatting the series every year, with new titles and casts, mostly for merchandising purposes. The Rangers remained on Fox until 2002, when the franchise moved to ABC and cable half-sister, ABC Family. ABC Family dropped the Rangers in 2008, and ABC followed suit in 2010, after Saban had reacquired the franchise from Disney, which prompted the change in networks in '02. 2011 brings a new Rangers series, which will air on Nickelodeon.
Meanwhile, the success of the Power Ranger franchise can be chalked up to a number of factors, including the mixture of Japanese and American footage, as well as the use of school bullies Bulk & Skull as more comedy relief than anything else. The Japanese footage, with the over-the-top dubbed dialogue, might remind some of the campy early efforts of the Kroffts back in the 70's, which might also have been an influence.
Rating: B.
Here's the intro:
After three seasons over two years (yeah, I know it's weird), Saban began the practice of reformatting the series every year, with new titles and casts, mostly for merchandising purposes. The Rangers remained on Fox until 2002, when the franchise moved to ABC and cable half-sister, ABC Family. ABC Family dropped the Rangers in 2008, and ABC followed suit in 2010, after Saban had reacquired the franchise from Disney, which prompted the change in networks in '02. 2011 brings a new Rangers series, which will air on Nickelodeon.
Meanwhile, the success of the Power Ranger franchise can be chalked up to a number of factors, including the mixture of Japanese and American footage, as well as the use of school bullies Bulk & Skull as more comedy relief than anything else. The Japanese footage, with the over-the-top dubbed dialogue, might remind some of the campy early efforts of the Kroffts back in the 70's, which might also have been an influence.
Rating: B.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Super President (1967)
Originally published on 8/7/10 in my other blog, The Land of Whatever:
In the wake of Batman's runaway success, it seemed just about anyone could become a superhero in the mid-60's. DePatie-Freleng, after creating the comedy super-team The Super 6 a year earlier, went to another extreme with Super President in 1967.
In the real world, Lyndon B. Johnson was our President at that time, but no one could envision him in spandex for obvious reasons. Hence, our fictional President in this series was James Norcross, who, according to the narrative at the start of the show, was given super powers in a cosmic storm, enabling him to shift his molecular structure into steel, rubber, "or whatever the need requires". The prolific Paul Frees, the voice behind Boris Badenov (Rocky & His Friends) and numerous other characters, voiced Norcross, and also read the narrative. The stories were short, about 5-7 minutes each, which was normal back in those days.
And, as with most cartoons of the period, there was a back-up feature, Spy Shadow, in support of Super President. Shadow's protagonist, secret agent Richard Vance, was given the ability to summon his own shadow as a separate entity. Yeah, it sounds pretty lame now, but in 1967, logic didn't figure into a lot of television programs. It was all about letting your imagination run wild. Ted Cassidy (ex-The Addams Family), who, like Frees, was also doing voice work for Hanna-Barbera at the same time, voiced Vance and his Shadow, using his more natural speaking voice for Vance, the same voice that would later recite the opening narration to the live-action Incredible Hulk (1978-82).
Like Super 6, Super President was a ratings failure for NBC, and there are those that will claim that President is one of the worst cartoons ever because of its flimsy premise. Believe me, there have been worse to come down the pike in the 43 years since. Could it be redone today? Under the right circumstances, and with a creative team that has a better understanding of how to convey the story, maybe, but realistically it probably is well served remaining in the vaults, never to return. I pitched an idea on a message board on http://www.toonzone.net/ a while back that would solve the problem of a Presidential superhero in this day & age, but that's all it is right now, an idea. Which is how they all get started, for better or worse.
Edit, 4/21/20: Here's the episode, "Man of Steel":
Rating: C-.
In the wake of Batman's runaway success, it seemed just about anyone could become a superhero in the mid-60's. DePatie-Freleng, after creating the comedy super-team The Super 6 a year earlier, went to another extreme with Super President in 1967.
In the real world, Lyndon B. Johnson was our President at that time, but no one could envision him in spandex for obvious reasons. Hence, our fictional President in this series was James Norcross, who, according to the narrative at the start of the show, was given super powers in a cosmic storm, enabling him to shift his molecular structure into steel, rubber, "or whatever the need requires". The prolific Paul Frees, the voice behind Boris Badenov (Rocky & His Friends) and numerous other characters, voiced Norcross, and also read the narrative. The stories were short, about 5-7 minutes each, which was normal back in those days.
And, as with most cartoons of the period, there was a back-up feature, Spy Shadow, in support of Super President. Shadow's protagonist, secret agent Richard Vance, was given the ability to summon his own shadow as a separate entity. Yeah, it sounds pretty lame now, but in 1967, logic didn't figure into a lot of television programs. It was all about letting your imagination run wild. Ted Cassidy (ex-The Addams Family), who, like Frees, was also doing voice work for Hanna-Barbera at the same time, voiced Vance and his Shadow, using his more natural speaking voice for Vance, the same voice that would later recite the opening narration to the live-action Incredible Hulk (1978-82).
Like Super 6, Super President was a ratings failure for NBC, and there are those that will claim that President is one of the worst cartoons ever because of its flimsy premise. Believe me, there have been worse to come down the pike in the 43 years since. Could it be redone today? Under the right circumstances, and with a creative team that has a better understanding of how to convey the story, maybe, but realistically it probably is well served remaining in the vaults, never to return. I pitched an idea on a message board on http://www.toonzone.net/ a while back that would solve the problem of a Presidential superhero in this day & age, but that's all it is right now, an idea. Which is how they all get started, for better or worse.
Edit, 4/21/20: Here's the episode, "Man of Steel":
Rating: C-.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Saturday Morning Ringside: WWF Superstars of Wrestling (1986)
When we were kids, the then-World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) had a regular presence on weekends. In the mid-80's, they actually came up with marketable titles for their weekly programs. What used to be known as Championship Wrestling was rechristened Superstars of Wrestling (later shortened to Superstars, a title revived two years ago for WGN America). Vince McMahon, long before he rebooted himself as the devious corporate baron in charge, was the play-by-play announcer, and assigned retired grappler Gorilla Monsoon the same task on Wrestling Challenge (formerly All-Star Wrestling). The genius pairing of Monsoon & manager-color analyst-house comic Bobby Heenan was a perfect counterpoint to McMahon's over-the-top announcing, regardless of who had to share the booth with him.
Let's take you back to 1988. Jesse Ventura is in the booth with Vince.
As Monsoon would say, this wasn't a feast for the eyeballs, but it was escapist fun. A few years later, McMahon began transitioning his programming to cable, and thus the weekly squash matches showcased on this program and Challenge became a thing of the past. In time, McMahon would relaunch his syndicated programming under different titles, but pulled them from syndication again by 2005.
Rating: B--.
Let's take you back to 1988. Jesse Ventura is in the booth with Vince.
As Monsoon would say, this wasn't a feast for the eyeballs, but it was escapist fun. A few years later, McMahon began transitioning his programming to cable, and thus the weekly squash matches showcased on this program and Challenge became a thing of the past. In time, McMahon would relaunch his syndicated programming under different titles, but pulled them from syndication again by 2005.
Rating: B--.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Celebrity Toons: Back to the Future (1991)
In the late 80's & early 90's, producer Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment was cranking out animated series with a little more frequency than the studio's live-action feature film output. Amblin partnered with WB for a trilogy of hit series: Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, & Pinky & the Brain. 1996's Freakazoid!, another Amblin/WB collaboration, would make this a tetralogy, given the minimal usage of Pinky & the Brain on that series. Amblin also worked with Universal to adapt two feature film franchises into animated series. 1987's "An American Tail", for example, begat Fievel's American Tales. When that series was cancelled by CBS, Amblin & Universal replaced it with an animated version of the "Back to the Future" movie series, set following the 3rd film. Here's the open to the cartoon:
Interestingly, the only cast members from the movies to fully transition to the cartoon were Thomas Wilson (Biff) & Mary Steenbergen. Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) served as the "host", introducing each episode, but in the episode proper, Doc's voice was done by Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons). Former soap star Josh Keaton (ex-General Hospital) landed one of his first toon jobs on this show, and would later have the honor of working on another icon---The Spectacular Spider-Man.
As you could tell from the clip above, the animation wasn't that great. In fact, Universal wouldn't have much luck with toons until a couple of years later. Michael J. Fox, who played Marty McFly in the movies, probably wasn't interested in the cartoon, hence Amblin hiring David Kaufman to play Marty, but Fox would give toons a go with a Disney movie a few years later. I for the life of me can't ID the artist covering Huey Lewis & the News' "Back in Time", which I think comes from the first film. Scientist Bill Nye made his debut here as well, with some short segments that would lead to him landing his own live-action series.
Rating: C.
Interestingly, the only cast members from the movies to fully transition to the cartoon were Thomas Wilson (Biff) & Mary Steenbergen. Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) served as the "host", introducing each episode, but in the episode proper, Doc's voice was done by Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons). Former soap star Josh Keaton (ex-General Hospital) landed one of his first toon jobs on this show, and would later have the honor of working on another icon---The Spectacular Spider-Man.
As you could tell from the clip above, the animation wasn't that great. In fact, Universal wouldn't have much luck with toons until a couple of years later. Michael J. Fox, who played Marty McFly in the movies, probably wasn't interested in the cartoon, hence Amblin hiring David Kaufman to play Marty, but Fox would give toons a go with a Disney movie a few years later. I for the life of me can't ID the artist covering Huey Lewis & the News' "Back in Time", which I think comes from the first film. Scientist Bill Nye made his debut here as well, with some short segments that would lead to him landing his own live-action series.
Rating: C.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)