Daytime Heroes: Day of The Flowers (She-Ra, Princess of Power, 1986)

 From season 2 of She-Ra, Princess of Power:

Orko's bumbling results in She-Ra (Melendy Britt) and He-Man (John Erwin) losing their power swords, just as Hordak is bringing in some reinforcements in the form of the Monstroids.

Here's "Day of The Flowers":

As previously noted, He-Man was added to the cast of this series after his own show was cancelled after 3 seasons. Once She-Ra bit the dust, another studio cut a deal to do a new He-Man, which didn't turn out so well, as we've also documented.

Rating: B.

Toon Legends: Cat & The Pinkstalk (1978)

 Jack & The Beanstalk is one of the most adapted stories in modern history. We've seen variants with Abbott & Costello, Popeye, and Bugs Bunny, among others.

In 1978, in preparing material for the Pink Panther's 1st season on ABC, DePatie-Freleng decided to give it a shot with "Cat & The Pinkstalk".

Silly.

Rating: A-.

Toonfomercial: When selling pantyhose on TV was a thing (1976)

 I honestly don't know when the fashion trends changed, such that women no longer wore pantyhose for parties, work, etc., but there was a time when the hose were in fact marketable.

L'Eggs introduced Sheer Energy in 1976, and one of the first ads was this animated gem.

You don't see ads for hose anymore because of the changing fashion trends, though some of today's stars, like singer-actress Ariana Grande, have tried to bring them back into vogue.

Saturtainment: Pink is a Many Splintered Thing (1968)

 One of the downsides at DePatie-Freleng was recycling gags from the Looney Tunes characters. 

For example in 1968's "Pink is a Many Splintered Thing", the Pink Panther answers an ad for a lumberjack, but runs afoul of bees and a rude lumberjack whose timing is just off. Some of the gags were lifted from the Road Runner series.

How many times did we see the Coyote get spiked into the ground by a boulder or a tree?

Rating: A-.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Inspector in Sicque, Sicque, Sicque (1966)

 The Inspector (Pat Harrington, Jr.) and Deux-Deux (Harrington) are checking the lab of a mad scientist. Deux-Deux drinks a formula he thinks is seltzer water, and.....!

The plot of "Sicque, Sicque, Sicque" was lifted from some Bugs Bunny shorts with the Jekyll-Hyde theme.

This print is taken from an NBC broadcast, with the laugh track added. However, the laugh track kills the vibe.

Rating: B.

Tooniversary: Fievel's American Tails (1992)

 Spun off from the movie, "An American Tail" and its sequel, "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West", Fievel's American Tails ran for one season on CBS in 1992.

In the series, Fievel (Philip Glasser) becomes more of a Walter Mitty-esque dreamer, whose daydreams often get him in trouble with his parents. Glasser, Cathy Cavadini, & Dom DeLuise are the only actors from the movies to cross over to the series.

To illustrate the point about Fievel's daydreaming, "A Mouse Named Zorrowitz" is a parody, of course, of Zorro, who was back on the air in live-action form at the time on Family Channel, and whose animated adventures had aired on CBS 11 years earlier. The Lone Ranger had been parodied in the series opener.

So why did it fail? Like the show it replaced, Back to The Future, it was on too early in the morning for the target audience, airing in the lead-off spot of CBS' lineup. Had it aired, say, 2 hours later, maybe it works.

Rating: B.

Toons After Dark: Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery (1989)

 CBS gave Betty Boop another primetime special in 1989. The fact that it hasn't been seen since speaks to her lack of recognition with modern audiences.

"Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery" is set in the 30's, as the producers sought to recreate the classic look of the Fleischer shorts of the 30's. Melissa Fahn voices Betty this time, as it'd been 4 years since Betty's last special. Anyway, Betty gets framed for robbery, and her BFF's, Koko & Bimbo, have to help her clear her name.

The supporting cast includes Lucille Bliss, Michael Bell, Roger Rose, and Hamilton Camp, most of whom had finished with Smurfs. King Features' TV arm, Hearst Entertainment, acquired the rights this time.

No rating. Just a public service.