While the New Kids on the Block were crooning for ratings over on ABC, rappers Kid 'N' Play were recruited by NBC for the same reason, freshening up their Saturday lineup while attracting music fans at the same time. NBC was hurting, having lost Alvin & the Chipmunks to Fox while The Smurfs had departed altogether.
Christopher "Kid" Reid & Christopher "Play" Martin only appeared in the predictable live-action bumpers, while other actors handled the voice overs. Brian Mitchell (ex-Trapper John, MD) voiced Play's animated self, and the cast otherwise included the likes of Martin Lawrence, Tommy Davidson (In Living Color), & Cree Summer (A Different World), who has long established herself as a top flight voice actress, whose credits prior to and after this series include Inspector Gadget, Rugrats, & Codename: Kids Next Door. Davidson would later return to toons, co-starring on The Proud Family more than a decade later.
Kid 'N' Play was spun off from the duo's success in the "House Party" feature film series, but lasted just one season. Unfortunately, the record sales didn't translate into television ratings because the viewers might've expected the rappers to voice their toon selves, and didn't. Hey, the same thing happened to the New Kids and, a year later, MC Hammer.........
TheWizardTME uploaded this clip to YouTube:
Rating: None. Never saw the show.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday Funnies: Arthur & the Square Knights of the Round Table (1966)
Australia's Air Programs International is better known for 1972's adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, and co-producing Hanna-Barbera's Funky Phantom a year earlier. Somewhere around that period (1971-72), the studio imported one of their earlier offerings, Arthur & the Square Knights of the Round Table, to the United States. In my home market, the show aired on Sundays ahead of bowling & pro wrestling.
I didn't see much of this show, but this much I do remember, seeing the opening. Not only were these knights square, but also rather smaller in size than literature tells us. The series lasted just two years in Australia, far longer than it did here. I wasn't that impressed with it, to tell you the truth, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.
Here's a sample episode:
Rating: D.
I didn't see much of this show, but this much I do remember, seeing the opening. Not only were these knights square, but also rather smaller in size than literature tells us. The series lasted just two years in Australia, far longer than it did here. I wasn't that impressed with it, to tell you the truth, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.
Here's a sample episode:
Rating: D.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Animated World of DC Comics: Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985)
In the mid-80's, Kenner Toys (now part of Hasbro) had obtained a license to produce action figures based on DC Comics characters. The Super Powers line led to some changes with Hanna-Barbera's long running Super Friends franchise at ABC.
The first changes came in 1984, with the addition of Firestorm to the team, and the phasing out of the Wonder Twins, who were written out after 3 appearances. Darkseid, the master villain of Jack Kirby's acclaimed Fourth World line of comics in the 70's at DC, made his television debut, but the stone faced ruler of Apokolips wasn't just his usual malevolent self. Suddenly, Darkseid found himself in love-----with Wonder Woman. This obsession drove the majority of the stories for Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, but as that series gave way to Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians the next year, it was de-emphasized, as Darkseid ceded some of the villain spotlight to other masters of mayhem, including the Joker, returning to H-B after 2 appearances on The New Scooby-Doo Movies 13 years earlier.
Darkseid also figures in the story sampled here, "The Death of Superman", which predated a similar story published by DC 8 years later. Cyborg of the Teen Titans has joined the SPT (voiced by Ernie Hudson from the "Ghostbusters" movies).
Here's a sample clip:
The animation is not as clean and crisp as in past seasons, and there would be better stories than this one, including the first adaptation of the origin of the Batman to be presented on television. Small wonder ABC decided to end the franchise after this season.
Rating: B--.
The first changes came in 1984, with the addition of Firestorm to the team, and the phasing out of the Wonder Twins, who were written out after 3 appearances. Darkseid, the master villain of Jack Kirby's acclaimed Fourth World line of comics in the 70's at DC, made his television debut, but the stone faced ruler of Apokolips wasn't just his usual malevolent self. Suddenly, Darkseid found himself in love-----with Wonder Woman. This obsession drove the majority of the stories for Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, but as that series gave way to Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians the next year, it was de-emphasized, as Darkseid ceded some of the villain spotlight to other masters of mayhem, including the Joker, returning to H-B after 2 appearances on The New Scooby-Doo Movies 13 years earlier.
Darkseid also figures in the story sampled here, "The Death of Superman", which predated a similar story published by DC 8 years later. Cyborg of the Teen Titans has joined the SPT (voiced by Ernie Hudson from the "Ghostbusters" movies).
Here's a sample clip:
The animation is not as clean and crisp as in past seasons, and there would be better stories than this one, including the first adaptation of the origin of the Batman to be presented on television. Small wonder ABC decided to end the franchise after this season.
Rating: B--.
Saturday School: Hot Dog (1970)
Long before the Federal Communications Commission instituted their current Educational/Informational guidelines (E/I), the networks experimented with such programming, usually slotting it in the "death slot" around lunch time (12 noon ET).
One such show was Hot Dog, produced by Lee Mendelson (Peanuts specials) & comic Frank Buxton, previously of ABC's Discovery, but better known to cartoon fans for his work on Hal Seeger's Batfink. Buxton was also the series' creator, developing Hot Dog after a number of his comic monologues about his travels.
What fueled Hot Dog were its celebrity hosts: Jo Anne Worley (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), Jonathan Winters, & future Academy Award winner Woody Allen, who was just starting to make a name for himself in movies when Hot Dog bowed in 1970. Winters would only appear in the pilot, a clip of which appears below, and was replaced by Tom Smothers. As I noted, Hot Dog was given the lunch hour slot, guaranteeing a short shelf life, and was cancelled after 1 season.
70skidvid uploaded the open & close to the pilot:
Rating: None. I never saw the show, so I can't give a fair rating.
One such show was Hot Dog, produced by Lee Mendelson (Peanuts specials) & comic Frank Buxton, previously of ABC's Discovery, but better known to cartoon fans for his work on Hal Seeger's Batfink. Buxton was also the series' creator, developing Hot Dog after a number of his comic monologues about his travels.
What fueled Hot Dog were its celebrity hosts: Jo Anne Worley (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), Jonathan Winters, & future Academy Award winner Woody Allen, who was just starting to make a name for himself in movies when Hot Dog bowed in 1970. Winters would only appear in the pilot, a clip of which appears below, and was replaced by Tom Smothers. As I noted, Hot Dog was given the lunch hour slot, guaranteeing a short shelf life, and was cancelled after 1 season.
70skidvid uploaded the open & close to the pilot:
Rating: None. I never saw the show, so I can't give a fair rating.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Family Toons: The Roman Holidays (1972)
NBC thought highly enough of their 1972 Saturday morning lineup that it was dubbed, "The Terrific Ten". Reruns of Underdog and Pink Panther were joined by 8 new shows, none of whom would return the following season.
Hanna-Barbera had two of those new shows. The Roman Holidays was an attempt to mine the domestic comedy vein tapped more than a decade earlier with The Flintstones, this time with Ancient Rome as the setting. Filling Fred Flintstone's role as the family patriarch was Gus Holiday (Dave Willock, ex-Wacky Races), who, much like Fred, had to deal with a recurring antagonist, in this case, his landlord at the Venus de Milo Arms Apartments, Mr. Evictus (Dom DeLuise).
If you thought having a dinosaur for a pet might've been strange in the 60's, how about a lion? The Holidays had Brutus (Daws Butler). Like The Jetsons, the Holidays had two kids, Hap (Stanley Livingston, ex-My Three Sons) & Precocia (Pamelyn Ferdin, Curiosity Shop & The Paul Lynde Show). Unfortunately, the series, as I noted, was cancelled after just the one season, and languishes in Boomerang's vaults.
Here's the opening to The Roman Holidays:
Well, at least the Holidays haven't been tainted by [adult swim], that we know of....
Rating: B-.
Hanna-Barbera had two of those new shows. The Roman Holidays was an attempt to mine the domestic comedy vein tapped more than a decade earlier with The Flintstones, this time with Ancient Rome as the setting. Filling Fred Flintstone's role as the family patriarch was Gus Holiday (Dave Willock, ex-Wacky Races), who, much like Fred, had to deal with a recurring antagonist, in this case, his landlord at the Venus de Milo Arms Apartments, Mr. Evictus (Dom DeLuise).
If you thought having a dinosaur for a pet might've been strange in the 60's, how about a lion? The Holidays had Brutus (Daws Butler). Like The Jetsons, the Holidays had two kids, Hap (Stanley Livingston, ex-My Three Sons) & Precocia (Pamelyn Ferdin, Curiosity Shop & The Paul Lynde Show). Unfortunately, the series, as I noted, was cancelled after just the one season, and languishes in Boomerang's vaults.
Here's the opening to The Roman Holidays:
Well, at least the Holidays haven't been tainted by [adult swim], that we know of....
Rating: B-.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Saturtainment: The Three Stooges
I don't know about you, but in my home district, cable television was a godsend in the early 70's. More stations, more choices. In those days, we were blessed with 4 independent channels from out of town: WSBK in Boston, and WPIX, WNEW (now WNYW), & WOR (now WWOR), and we had our favorite times for each channel.
For WSBK, that would be Saturdays, just before lunch, when they had The Three Stooges. My father wasn't a fan back then, and tried discouraging me from watching, afraid I'd imitate some of their antics. He was more comfortable watching the Abbott & Costello movies on 'PIX on Sundays, instead. Anyway, I got my laughs watching the classic shorts, mostly with Curly.
With apologies to XTC's 1989 hit, Jerome "Curly" Howard, to me, was the original "Mayor of Simpleton". Strong as a bull, but about as smart as a box of broken thumbtacks, as evidenced in the 1936 classic, "Disorder in the Court". Apparently, we're led to believe Curly had never been inside a courtroom before.
As everyone knows, Larry Fine really was a skilled violinist, and "Disorder" gives him a platform for his talent, aided by Curly on bass and Moe on harmonica, though he'd have been better off just playing the harp instead of trying to conduct the band at the same time. Here's "Disorder in the Court":
Rating: A+.
For WSBK, that would be Saturdays, just before lunch, when they had The Three Stooges. My father wasn't a fan back then, and tried discouraging me from watching, afraid I'd imitate some of their antics. He was more comfortable watching the Abbott & Costello movies on 'PIX on Sundays, instead. Anyway, I got my laughs watching the classic shorts, mostly with Curly.
With apologies to XTC's 1989 hit, Jerome "Curly" Howard, to me, was the original "Mayor of Simpleton". Strong as a bull, but about as smart as a box of broken thumbtacks, as evidenced in the 1936 classic, "Disorder in the Court". Apparently, we're led to believe Curly had never been inside a courtroom before.
As everyone knows, Larry Fine really was a skilled violinist, and "Disorder" gives him a platform for his talent, aided by Curly on bass and Moe on harmonica, though he'd have been better off just playing the harp instead of trying to conduct the band at the same time. Here's "Disorder in the Court":
Rating: A+.
Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Land of 1,000 Dances? (1985-6)
2010 marked the 25th anniversary of Vince McMahon's 1st foray into music with The Wrestling Album. Vince managed to get as many of his wrestlers, along with newly retired grappler-turned-announcer (and soon to be movie star) Jesse Ventura and interviewer Gene Okerlund, as well as McMahon himself, onto a stage somewhere in front of a live audience, aided by a house band that featured Rick Derringer (album producer) and Cyndi Lauper (credited under the alias Mona Flambe, and dressed in a black wig & shades) on guitars, and, yes, that does look like Meat Loaf behind the drum kit. Jimmy Hart, formerly with the 60's pop group, the Gentrys, not only was one of the more despised personalities on the roster of the then-World Wrestling Federation, but also their chief songwriter, once McMahon stopped paying royalties for other people's records, such as Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (used for Hulk Hogan at the time) and the Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky" (Rick Steamboat), which was later used as the theme music for the NBA's Chicago Bulls.
The Wrestling Album was released in December, 1985, just in time for Christmas, and this video was the stage-setter for the company's 1st Slammy Awards, which took place in March of '86. Of course, things get silly near the end, but what did you expect from this bunch?
The Wrestling Album was released in December, 1985, just in time for Christmas, and this video was the stage-setter for the company's 1st Slammy Awards, which took place in March of '86. Of course, things get silly near the end, but what did you expect from this bunch?
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