Has anyone ever stopped to consider that maybe, just maybe, the reason Vince McMahon hires failed Hollywood writers for the WWE, and refuses to teach them the basics of the business, has something to do with The Three Stooges?
"Grips, Grunts, & Groans", released in 1937, but carrying a copyright date of 1936, might be a primer on how not to script a wrestling match.
Don't be too surprised, pilgrims, if one day, McMahon really decides to throw folks a curve and induct the Stooges posthumously into the celebrity wing of the WWE's Hall of Fame. Given that his on-camera persona is a few fries short of a Happy Meal, coupled with the fact that he is at retirement age for most normal folks, well, stranger things have happened.
As for "Grips", it's a variant on an earlier short, only this time, Curly is in a wrestling match, instead of boxing, but the results are similar.
While I didn't really watch the Super Bowl, I have read up on many of the commercials.
For cartoon enthusiasts, MetLife serves up what arguably would be among the best of this year's crop. It's been a while since Peanuts characters other than Snoopy have appeared in a MetLife ad, but oh, did they more than make up for it. Charlie Brown leads the parade that also includes He-Man (riding Battlecat), Voltron, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang, Squiddly Diddly, and so many more.
Uploaded by Remake4water:
My favorite part is Daphne Blake exiting a limo with Richie Rich. You know what they say about money coming to money........
Walter Melon isn't, contrary to what some might think, loosely based on James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Not even close. Instead, Melon and his assistant, Bitterbug, run a hero-for-hire service, in which they step in for a hero who is either incapacitated due to illness or distress, or is just plain unavailable due to being away for other matters. In truth, the series, based on a French-Belgian comic strip and television series, parodies pop culture & literature in the course of its run. Here in the US, the series aired on Fox Family (now ABC Family), but was cancelled after 1 season.
MrNickelodeon90 uploaded the series opener, with the episodes, "Marzipan The Ape-Man" & "Goldenrod", parodying Tarzan & James Bond, respectively.
I only saw part of an episode, which is how I came to the assumption that this was a modern take on Walter Mitty. However, it was enough to convince me that this series was doomed to failure. A 2nd season was planned, but never aired in the US.
Actress-comedienne, and now, aspiring Presidential candidate, if you can believe it, Roseanne Barr developed this animated series based on her childhood for ABC in 1990. That was the good news, as the show was greenlighted in the wake of the success of her primetime show, Roseanne. The bad news was that ABC buried the show at 12 noon (ET), where most affiliates wouldn't carry the show, using the time for syndicated shows and sports that would bring more ad revenues.
As a result, Little Rosey, produced by Canada's Nelvana studios, lasted just 1 season. Had it been renewed, Barr, who served only as a producer and creative consultant for the series, would've stepped into her first cartoon gig, taking over the title role. One wonders what might've happened if the series had aired in an earlier, more viewer-friendly slot. A case could've been made that Little Rosey did have Bugs Bunny for a lead-in, as he and his new co-star Tweety aired in front of the show, and, had the affiliates gotten on the bandwagon, well........!
IQute uploaded the open:
In May of 1992, Barr and then-husband Tom Arnold produced a 1-shot special, The Rosey & Buddy Show, which was a series of skits that purportedly illustrated the star's displeasure with ABC's meddling with her cartoon.
No rating, as I never saw the show. It didn't play in the Albany market.
Time to move into the afternoon again, and this time, we're focusing on one of two syndicated country music series that filled the afternoon daylight hours in most places, including my market, when there wasn't much in the way of sports on the air.
That Good Ole Nashville Music was a half-hour series that featured some of the period's top selling country artists performing some of their current or more popular hits. The latter applies in this 1973 clip with Lynn Anderson, who topped the charts 3 years earlier with "Rose Garden".
Unfortunately, Anderson didn't do much more on the charts after "Garden" peaked, and faded from the scene before the end of the 70's. Rumors say she fell on hard times.
As for That Good Ole Nashville Music, it lasted a grand total of 15 seasons, then faded out. Country singer Dave Dudley ("Six Days on the Road") was the original host, before a variety of guest hosts took it over. I believe RFD-TV, which is a digital premium channel in my market, holds the rights to the series these days. Back then, it was something to hold attention, and did it ever.
King Features Syndicate decided to expand upon its line of first-run syndicated cartoons to give Popeye some company. The result was a trio of popular strips making a transition to television, and the most famous of this group was, arguably, Beetle Bailey.
Mort Walker's long running comic strip made its TV debut in 1962, with Howard Morris (The Andy Griffith Show) voicing Beetle, Zero, General Halftrack, and others. If you listen close, Morris would later recycle Beetle & Zero's voices for Jughead & Moose on The Archie Show 6 years later. Allan Melvin (ex-You'll Never Get Rich, aka, Sgt. Bilko) voiced Sgt. Snorkle, Beetle's gruff, often bullying, commanding officer. After the series ran its course, Beetle and friends would return in a 1-shot on Sesame Street. Not sure who animated that piece, but Paramount and an Australian studio shared the workload on the King series.
Here's a sample package:
It's a pity no one's taken a chance on giving Beetle another shot, with the characters added in the 50 years since the TV cartoons began.
The last of Cartoon Network's short-lived editorial interstital series features the Wonder Twins, Zan & Jayna, who had to reintroduce themselves to a new generation of viewers. It's too bad that around the time this piece aired in 1999, there was already a website that was poking fun at the Super Friends franchise.
Seanbaby made some snarky, sarcastic remarks not only about the Twins, but their ethnic teammates, such as Apache Chief & Samurai. Wizard: The Guide to Comics jumped in a couple of years later with an equally ridiculous text piece, suggesting that---prepare to lose your lunch----Jayna, while in the form of a dog, had puppies with a stray she supposedly met, among other things. All that tells us is that we have a generation of 20-somethings and up that have next to no respect for the toons the older generations grew up with, unless they're cherished icons like Bugs Bunny or Popeye.
Anyway, here's the editorial, from RickHunter101:
Now, that was tame compared to what would follow a few years later.
As we documented, Zan (Michael Bell) appeared on Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law and in a series of CN interstital spots with the true Birdman, Wonder Woman, and others. Jayna, for some reason, was missing out. CN took care of that issue in 2003, though, by having her appear on their NBA All-Star Jam special, paired with Jason Kidd, then with the New Jersey Nets, now with the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. Jason purportedly was a fan, and got to sub for Zan for a day. Unfortunately, no clips of that special are available on YouTube. Maybe it's just as well, to save Jason and his fellow hoopsters the embarrassment.
And, then, [adult swim] got hold of the Twins' initial adventures from 1977, chopped them up, changed endings & dialogue, and ruined the experience for many a fan who grew up with the sibs. One such example is "Makeout Mountain". Be warned. The ending is B. R. Utal for a reason.
Now, you know the Twins deserved better than that.
All this proves is that Scrappy-Doo is not alone in getting unjustified haterizing from certain corners of the internet. It's too bad the lunatics at [adult swim] are getting a free pass from their superiors, because we old school fans just don't dig.
