Blast from the Past: Saturday Morning in the 70s, Pt. 1: Live Action

It has come to my attention that there is now no such thing as network Saturday morning cartoons. Sure, there are several channels dedicated to children's programming, but there is no longer "appointment viewing" on the big three (or four) networks. Having grown up in the 70s, this is just sad. Saturday morning was for

getting up early, grabbing a bowl of your favorite cereal, and plopping down in front of the TV for a stretch of hours. If you got up too early, you got a sermonette, or something equally dire. If you started too late, you got Fat Albert, which was okay, except that it was the last one before golf or football.

As it turns out, my era of kids shows was pretty much the golden era. Some of the most iconic programming came between 1968 and 1980. Before that window, there was little color television, essential for the experience, and after that window, all of the shows became little more than advertisements for toy lines. But right in the middle was primo kids' entertainment. But it wasn't all cartoons. Some of my favorites were "live action," often superheroes, other times surreal creatures. Here are the ones I remember best.

1. The Bugaloos (1970-72) - They're in the air, everywhere!
2. H.R. Puff 'N' Stuff (1970-72) - I'm pretty sure this was the result of the creators' acid trip.



3. Isis (1975-77) - Sort of the Saturday morning Wonder Woman, a counterpart to Shazam!
4. Shazam! (1974-76) - My favorite superhero, Captain Marvel (titled Shazam! due to legal reasons, and now--quite wrongly--his new name in the comics.



5. The Krofft Supershow Season One (1976-77) - Headed by "Kaptain Kool & the Kongs," this awesome program featured Electra Woman and DynaGirl, Dr. Shrinker, The Lost Saucer and Wonderbug (a ripoff of Speed Buggy).
6. The Krofft Supershow Season Two (1977-78) - A toned down Kongs now presided over Wonderbug, Bigfoot and Wild Boy and Magic Mongo. It wasn't as much fun.



7. Ark II (1976-79) - Kid sci-fi, with kind of a dystopian future. Heavy stuff for Saturday morning.
8. The Banana Splits (1968-70) - Another program that just might have been inspired by some sixties pharmacology.



9. Land of the Lost (1974-76) - Never a favorite of mine, but huge in my generation.
10. Big John, Little John (1976-77) - This is what happened to Cousin Oliver after he got The Brady Bunch cancelled.



That'll do it for this week's edition. Part 2 coming soon. Happy Monday!

Frivolity Break: HuffPo Matches Cartoon Characters with Their Voice Actors

As a pop culture sponge, I know many of these, but I think some people would be surprised at what the voice actors of their favorite cartoons look like. And since my blogging time was wrecked by my computer woes, I needed an easy one. Enjoy!

[Excerpt]

Meet The Voice Actors Behind 'Bob's Burgers,' 'King Of The Hill,' 'Family Guy' And 'The Simpsons'

Ever wonder what the faces behind the voices of your favorite animated TV characters look like? . . .
See them all at: Huffington Post

Blast from the Past: Up, Up and Away! It's Superman!

Man of Steel--the latest live-action version of Superman has been out for about a month and made over about $620 million worldwide. Oddly, some movie geeks think that's a lackluster performance. It also got some mediocre professional reviews, but has been generally loved by the public, so go figure. One thing it did is cast a huge shadow over every previous version of Supes, and there have been a lot of them. The Metropolis of Man of Steel for example, is so enormous that even though there is more destruction than has ever happened outside of an atomic bomb blast, 95% of it was left standing! It sort of made Superman II's destruction scenes look puny by comparison.

But as a long-time comics fan, particularly DC Comics and Superman, I'm notoriously easy to please, and like just about any version, cheesy or not. Here is a sampling of each edition I was able to find.

1. Superman (1948) - Movie serial starring Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill
2. Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) - Syndicated TV series, starring George Reeves

3. Superman: The Movie (1978) - Movie starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder
4. Superman II (1980) - Movie starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder



5. Superman III (1983) - Mostly bad movie starring Christopher Reeve and Richard Pryor
6. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - Horrible, cheap movie starring Christopher Reeve



7. Adventures of Superboy (1988-1992) - Syndicated TV Series where Clark is Superboy for (somehow) several years), starring Gerard Christopher, who replaced John Haymes Newton
8. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997) - ABC TV series, starring Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher



9. Smallville (2001-2011) - WB/CW TV series, where Superboy stays a teenaged boy for way, way too long
10. Superman Returns (2006) - Quasi-sequel to Superman II, ignoring III and IV (wisely), and pleasing nobody except me, who kinda liked it




And that brings us up to the present, with Man of Steel, but since it's a month old, I can still put it on Blast from the Past, I guess. Any excuse to feature the incredible Henry Cavill. Sigh. . .



And yes, I'm aware that all of this would have made more sense a month ago. But it's been a weird couple of weeks folks! Hope you liked it, and hope you have a great week. Happy Monday!

Calvin and Hobbes: Ahead of its Time, Corporate Arrogance

I adore Calvin and Hobbes,  by Bill Watterson, with a passion reserved for exactly two other comic strips besides itself, The Far Side by Gary Larson and Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. And I'm aware that Calvin's creator is very averse to commercialism. I can't imagine what the "Calvin peeing on X" does to him. Calvin peeing, really? Anyway, I found this strip on the interwebs, and I'm passing it on. But I'll gladly remove it by request if necessary. But it is so on point, so perfect. I just had to share it.

Source: OMGblog

Simon's Cat: Double Trouble

Love it!

Colorado Billboard Depicts Obama in Racist Caricature

Anyone looking at the drawing style of this billboard can see what's being done here. Beyond the incoherant message (digs at gays, Mexicans, Muslims, etc.), is the overt racist artwork.  This sign basically says--whether this is the intent or not--if you're at all "different," vote Democrat.  Oh, and if you are one of those DemocRATs, you're also rigging the game, keeping the "normals" down. Or something. 



[Excerpt]

Billboard Has Obama as Terrorist, Gangster, Gay



A billboard in western Colorado that uses caricatures to depict President Obama as a terrorist, gangster, Mexican bandit and gay has drawn bipartisan scorn from political officials. . .
 
Read more at: CBS News

Thank you to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Blast from the Past: Saturday Morning Cartoons of the 70s!

This week for my weekly Blast from the Past installment, I'm revisiting a theme I've used before. But the challenge for me is, to use kids shows I haven't used before. See how many you remember.








1. The Tom & Jerry Grape Ape Show - This show had several iterations, at one time including "Mumbly" and I'm sure, several others. I remember digging the theme song as a kid. Tom & Jerry as friends? Not as much.
2. The Mumbly Show - And speaking of Mumbly, this is apparently where the T&JGAS theme came from.
3. Speed Buggy - We'd watch anything in the 70s. At least we got Mel Blanc for Speed Buggy's voice.
4. The Krofft Supershow - Speed Buggy got ripped off as Wonder Bug in this live-action show. Also along were the dreadful Magic Mongo and Bigfoot & Wildboy. Oh, and Kaptain Kool & the Kongs (as bad as they sound).
5. Electra Woman & Dyna Girl - This was actually a segment from the above show, but is often remembered as its own show. It was a pretty clear copy of the 60s Batman, with a gender reversal.
6. SuperFriends - This was the DC Comics Justice League of America "simplified" for kids. It started out fairly juvenile, and season by season, got closer to the real deal. This is from "simple" year one, with Wendy, Marvin and WonderDog.
7. The Groovie Goolies - Weird. Very likely this was a pot dream come to life.
8. Fat Albert - This was always the last cartoon of the day, and even though it wasn't a favorite, we'd watch it anyway.


Happy Monday everybody!

Futurama Returns from the Dead

Image from source, TV Squad

Every year, a slew of television shows get cancelled, and every year fan groups of some of them mount an effort to get the TV networks to reconsider. Rarely, very rarely, it works. Sometimes the network relents, and the show is given a new season, a partial season, maybe just a reunion movie. They usually sputter out ofter that. Once in a while, a show will move to another network, where it can either live on for years or more likely. . .sputter out.  And even more rarely, the show--long dead--will be revived a few years later.

It happened with Family Guy, and now it's happened to Futurama, the other show by the creators of The Simpsons.  In a way, Futurama didn't ever really go away, having appeared on Comedy Central and other networks, as well as on DVD in a couple of new adventures.  But it is finally back in new episodes. 

[Excerpt]

'Futurama' and 9 Other Shows That Beat Cancellation

It's a miracle! 'Futurama' is back from the dead. Or maybe it's just been thawed out of its cryogenic freeze? Whatever the case, it's back -- with the original voice cast -- on Comedy Central (Thu., June 24 at 10PM ET) and fans are happy.



Canceled in 2003, 'Futurama' got four straight-to-DVD flicks, the last one came out in early 2009. Fan interest was renewed and Comedy Central aired the films as episodes before green lighting the series for new episodes. Yes, Matt Groening is bringing Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the bang for new adventures in space. The cast is signed for 26 episodes. In the one hour premiere, the Professor attempts to resuscitate the crew with his birth machine after a devastating crash. . .

Read more at: TVSquad

Is Seth MacFarlane Planning for the End of Family Guy?

Image from source, TV Squad!

When Family Guy premiered, I was not a fan. I liked the off-beat humor, and the overall irreverance for everything, but I had a basic problem with it. I didn't like the central character. Peter Griffin has absolutely no redeeming qualities, unlike, say Homer Simpson. I loved Stewie the baby and Brian the dog. But Peter was off-putting in behavior and appearance.

After it came back from the dead (cancellation) though, I warmed to it for some reason. Possibly because I'd become a fan of Seth MacFarlane's other show, American Dad! in the mean time. Also, I became a fan of MacFarlane himself, who is completely on my page politically and (non-) spiritually. So, it makes me a little sad to see him sort of planning for the demise of the show. And it must really freak FOX out.

I can understand the compulsion of a series creator/writer/performer to end things before the show grows stale. But I also think it is a fallacy that every show that goes on for a long time suffers for it. Most do, true. But several, like Friends, Seinfeld, and Cheers manage to keep fans wanting more. With any long stretch, there will of course be clunker episodes. And shows like The Simpsons have been taken for granted by viewers. You'll hear people complaining about it, but since it went HD, it seems better than ever to me.

With three series, I do bet that MacFarlane is tired. I always get irritated when I read about some British show (*cough* Absolutely Fabulous *cough*) where the creator claims to be worn out coming up with new ideas, when their seasons run eight episodes per year!

[Excerpt]

Is the end nigh for Family Guy?

Seth MacFarlane might have one of the most overrated shows on television right now (in my personal opinion, of course), but he hasn't let that cloud his realism when it comes to its future. . .

Read more at: TV Squad!

Something's Familiar: Disney Deja Vu

Do you like classic Disney films? Have you ever noticed that there are, um, similarities from one to another? I mean besides the princess who is looking for a prince, and the eevil female villains. Check this out.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Berkeley Breathed Quitting Opus

Image from source, MSNBC

If there is an axiom for our age, it is that brilliant cartoonists retire their strips, and mediocre-to-bad cartoonists let them run forever. And ever.

There was a day when the comics section was the best part of the paper. The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes were must reads, but my favorite was always Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. His odd assortment of humans and anthropomorphic animals lampooned 80s America. It wasn't always--or even usually--a flattering reflection, but it was almost always funny.

In fact, reading a compilation of Bloom County can usually reduce me to fits of giggles, complete with tears and fogged glasses. Much of the humor was provided by a regular roster of characters, with names and personalities I'll never forget: Milo, Binkley, Steve Dallas, Lola Granola, Rosebud, Oliver, Hodge Podge, and of course, Opus the penguin.

Breathed cancelled his strip, in favor of a weekends-only mind-trippy strip called Outland. It was at first quite a departure, and not all fans were impressed. Eventually though, it segued into a weekend Bloom County, sort of. Still, it was something. But somewhere along the way, Calvin and Hobbes' and The Far Side's creators, Bill Watterson and Gary Larson, cancelled their strips too. And eventually, so did Breathed.

This left a gaping hole in the funnies that just couldn't be replaced. What was left were retreads and imitators. Strips that hadn't been funny in years still weren't. I gave up. And then came Opus, another version of Breathed's classic strip, still only on Sundays. The few times I've read it, it has been a blast from the past, and simultaneously very timely. And still funny.

But I stopped reading the funny papers, and getting back in the habit--especially for one lonely strip--just never came to pass. I suppose it's just as well, since Breathed is now cancelling his third take on his characters. And since I've missed most of them, I can wait patiently for a new (to me) collection of all new cartoons!

[Excerpt]

‘Opus’ creator to retire from comic strips
Berkeley Breathed is running contest asking fans to guess penguin's fate

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is retiring, leaving a hole in Sunday comics pages after nearly 30 years because he wants to save his strip’s main character, Opus, from being dragged down in the current political climate. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the tip.