Saturday Morning Ringside: AWF Warriors of Wrestling (1995)

In 1994, Chicago promoter Paul Alperstein came up with a novel idea in professional wrestling, creating a promotion that would have matches contested in a format similar to boxing and the then-up-and-coming UFC.

The American Wrestling Federation, however, was a way station for veteran stars of the AWA, NWA/WCW, and WWF/E who were looking to extend their careers. In short, this was really no different than any number of independent promotions in the US that will sign name talent to boost attendance or, in Alperstein's case, television ratings.

AWF Warriors of Wrestling premiered 22 years ago, with former AWA announcer Mick Karch doing play-by-play alongside Terry Taylor. You won't hear it in the premiere, but over the course of the two year run, Taylor would demonstrate some skills as an impressionist, doing mimics of Dusty Rhodes, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and others, while pretending to abandon Karch in the booth.

Following is a sample episode:

Matches were meant to be 3 rounds, 4 minutes apiece, with a short rest break in between rounds. Translated, it was a 15 minute time limit with a twist. Unfortunately, the AWF didn't last long on local screens, if at all, and was a distant memory by the time the bigger promotions began the "Monday Night Wars".

Rating: B-.

Looney TV: The Windblown Hare (1949)

Bugs Bunny meets the Three Little Pigs in a warped reboot of the latter's classic story in 1949's "The Windblown Hare". The Pigs aren't exactly the simple siblings as originally presented, oh no. They have to be the villains here, conning Bugs into buying the straw & stick houses that will be blown out by the Big Bad Wolf. Look for a cross-reference to Little Red Riding Hood, which Bugs skewered a few years earlier.

Edit, 11/13/19: The video was deleted, and the only copies left have sped-up intros. Here, then, is the title card:

That's how you do satire, Cartoon Network.

Rating: A-.

Daytime Heroes: Spider-Man vs. Dr. Doom (1981)

I've written before how the 1981 Spider-Man solo series didn't air in the home district, even though it did launch 2 days after Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends premiered on NBC. Some episodes were released individually or in groups on video.

In "Doctor Doom, Master of the World", the Latverian monarch abducts the President and places him under mind control. I've said in the past that I had assumed that Brad Crandall, long the voice of Sunn Classic Pictures, voiced Doom, but a Wikipedia entry claims that it was Ralph James (Mork & Mindy) who essayed the part. Judge for yourselves.

Note, too, that Spidey/Peter Parker is voiced by a different actor than on Amazing Friends. Seems Marvel's then-nascent television arm, formerly DePatie-Freleng, was still finding its way, as it would have made more sense to use the same actor on both shows.

Rating: B.

Saturday School: The Tiny Sea (Micro Ventures, 1968)

Only 4 Micro Ventures shorts were produced for the Banana Splits in 1968. Here's "The Tiny Sea".



Bruce Watson (Mike) was also heard, along with Don Messick, in the Three Musketeers segments of the show.

Too bad they can't collect these shorts into a single disc DVD.

Rating: A.

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: We Are Family (1979)

Disco Larry has served up Sister Sledge's monster hit of 1979, "We Are Family", from an appearance on American Bandstand. The graphics that pop up during the performance suggest this was recorded on VHS.



The Pittsburgh Pirates adopted "We Are Family" as their theme song en route to a World Series title that fall. Sister Sledge would score again with "He's The Greatest Dancer", but then would slowly fade from the pop and R & B scenes.

Toons After Dark: Carlton, Your Doorman (1980)

During the course of Rhoda's run (1974-8), folks wondered if they'd ever get a glimpse of Carlton, the doorman in Rhoda Morganstern's apartment building in Manhattan. No, they wouldn't. Nearly 2 years later, the man who gave voice to Carlton, Lorenzo Music, decided it was time to let everyone see Carlton, albeit in an animated cartoon.

Carlton, Your Doorman has only aired once, in 1980. Why that is, I don't know. It would end up being the last time Music would essay the role, but his future in cartoons was set.



Music not only is the star, but also co-wrote and co-produced the program. After six years of playing Carlton, Music moved on, and you know the rest of his body of work, mostly as Garfield. He also spent the first two seasons of Real Ghostbusters as Dr. Peter Venkman, but left the show to work on Garfield & Friends, with Dave Coulier (Full House) taking over as Peter. And let's not forget those crash dummies ads for the Ad Council.

Co-directors Charles Swenson & Fred Wolf would later join forces with Glen Murakami and produce the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons, among other things.

Rating: None.

Tooniversary: George of the Jungle in Monkey Business (1967)

Look who's turning 50 this year.

George of the Jungle, Jay Ward's dimwitted send-up of Tarzan, hits the milestone. If there was ever a cartoon hero who needed to be tested for concussions, George would be it, considering how many times he's crashed into trees.

Digression over. In "Monkey Business", George (Bill Scott, who also is one of the executive producers) has to rescue Ape (Paul Frees) from a pair of poachers. Frees, of course, also narrates.



The shorter intro at the start of this video is the one used to queue each of George's adventures.

Rating: B.