SNL's "I'm Just a Bill" Parody on President Obama's Immigration Plan

I'm always ready for a Schoolhouse Rock parody!

Blast from the Past: Saturday Morning in the 70s, Pt. 2: The Cartoons

Saturday morning cartoons--an absolute weekly event during most of my childhood--are a thing of the past. There are entire channels dedicated to cartoons and children's programming, but it's just not the same as the big three TV networks having a slate of kids shows from 6 to noon every Saturday. They competed against each other, and ran promotional ads in comic books to get our eyeballs on their channel. And we all watched. I don't

remember any kid my age who didn't.

My first edition covered the live-action shows, and this time I'm going for the cartoons. These are my favorites, in no particular order.

1. Josie and the Pussycats (1972-73) - A weird amalgam of Archie Comics style and Hanna-Barbara Scooby-Doo-like storytelling. But I loved the music, and Sebastian the cat.

2. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970) - Scooby-Doo ran for many, many years, in many, many formats. But long before the insufferable Scrappy-Doo came along, was the original. And dig that music!



3. SuperFriends (1973-1986) - The first season was a kid-friendly version of The Justice League of America, complete with ordinary kids Wendy and Marvin (with WonderDog). The show picked up steam and popularity with the introduction of the Wonder Twins, Zan & Jayna. But the closer they got to the feel of the JLA, the more I liked it.

4. The Pink Panther Show (1969-1980) - This is another one that ran under a great many titles, but I always liked it, with its mix of segments, from the Ant and the Aardvark, Tijuana Toads and The Inspector.



INTERLUDE A: In the News (1971-1986) - CBS ran these mini news programs between cartoons. They brought our mornings to a screeching halt. But as I got older, I started to enjoy them.

INTERLUDE B: Schoolhouse Rock (1973-2009) - Unlike the previous, I loved these shorts. Almost all of them. We looked forward to Schoolhouse Rock just as much as the regular cartoons.



5. The Brady Kids (1972-73) - The Brady Bunch cartoon version included Marlon the talking mynah bird, and Ping and Pong, the pandas, for no particular reason. I was only 6, and I was rolling my eyes at the wacky animal sidekick trope. Speaking of which. . .

6. The Partridge Family 2200 A.D. (1974-75) - For some reason, the Partridges have a different mom, and instead of touring on a bus in the 70s, they're flying through space in the 23rd century. With a robot dog called Orbit.



7. The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show (1976) - Though Tom & Jerry went through many, many titles (and their theatrical shorts are their main draw), this mouthful of a title still sticks in my head, and thus deserves a spot on the list. Unfortunately, the only video I can find is of the version without Mumbly.

8. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1981) - I loved this show, and Bill Cosby (here's hoping he's not guilty of the current allegations), but it always heralded the end of cartoons for the day, which was also sad.
 

And now, the weekend is over, and it's time to go to school work! Happy Monday!

Blast from the Past Civics Rocks!

This weekend has been a very full one, both with work and with obligations, leaving me little time for blogging. So, this week's Blast from the Past is a rerun, but a good one! Everyone remembers Schoolhouse Rock if they're of a certain age, but usually they remember the numbers songs or the parts of speech. Maybe though, you'll remember "I'm Just a Bill," and recall that they did a whole series on civics called "America Rock." I think our society could really use a refresher, don't you?

And that will do it for this week. Have a great Monday!

Blast from the Past: Political Schoolhouse Rock!

This week's Blast from the Past is political in nature, because of the torturous two-year campaign we've all been through. WHAT? Yes, more politics, but the best, most patriotism-inducing, rah-rah America loving kind of politics you can get! Back during the bicentennial celebration, ABC produced several patriotic, political Schoolhouse Rock segments, to augment their grammar and math ditties. Some of them became the most famous of them all, including I'm Just a Bill and The Constitution.

And that will do it for this week. I'm off tomorrow, and salute our veterans for it! Have a great week.

Happy 4th of July!

Blast from the Past: Schoolhouse Rock!

This batch of videos will delight the 70s child in you, unless you're inner child is younger than that. If you're too young to remember these clips, do yourself a favor and watch them anyway, if only for the pop-culture knowledge. And hey, you might learn something. Enjoy.








1. Preamble to the US Constitution - Sing it with me, "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union!"
2. I'm Just a Bill - This should be required for anybody who thinks they know about politics, but only gets the talking points. Oh, yeah!
3. Interjections! - One of my favorites.
4. Conjunction Junction - What's your function?
5. Figure Eight - Sung by the late Blossom Dearie.
6. No More Kings! - Despite what they may think, presidents are NOT kings!
7. Elbow Room - A cleaned up lesson on Manifest Destiny.
8. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly - Get your adverbs here!

Blast from the Past: Schoolhouse Rock!

As I said earlier, the news is thin today, and I am among a small group of bloggers posting new things today. But I'm bored, and this is fun, so so what?

This batch of videos will also delight the 70s child in you, unless you're inner child is younger than that. If you're too young to remember these clips, do yourself a favor and watch them anyway, if only for the pop-culture knowledge. And hey, you might learn something. Enjoy.

#1: Preamble to the Constitution; #2: I'm Just a Bill; #3: Interjection!; #4: Three is a Magic Number

The Simpsons vs. Schoolhouse Rock

I've always wanted to see these two clips together somewhere, and just realized (hat-tip to Politico.com, see post below), I have that power! The genious behind the second clip, from The Simpsons is in its fantastic satire while being educational, and in its use of the original voice of "Bill," Jack Sheldon. If you're like my friend, Lesto, and you've never watched The Simpsons, do yourself a favor and watch the second clip (first one too, for context). You'll finally get what all the fuss is about!

Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Just a Bill



The Simpsons: An Amendment to Be



02/22/08 UPDATE: Yup, they removed it again. But I found this one from a German broadcast! The song is still in English. If you get nuffin', see note at bottom.

02/15/08 UPDATE: I found a working link. If it disappears again, see note below.

12/26/07 UPDATE: Sorry folks, but is wont to happen with these clips, FOX has apparently pulled the video. I fail to see why, as all these YouTube clips do is keep interest going in their projects, and raise the profile of their properties. My site has made a whopping 81 cents since it debuted, and I can't even cash that out. I am not putting a dent in Rupert Murdoch's profits.