Brainatra
01-26-2004, 11:57 AM
Wondering if these postings should be labeled "talkbacks" instead of "comments" (judging from other episode posts' subject titles)? Anyway...
1973: As Nixon's "Watergate" scandal kicks into gear, we continue to move further into the ever-"groovy" 1970's. Richard Roundtree returns to offer the third and final entry in the "Shaft" series, "Shaft in Africa" (don't ask---especially after having just seen this flick!), "All in the Family" continues to be a hit (and allows Suzanne Summers a job doing something besides voicing the teenaged Pebbles Flintstone), and there's even more animated offerings to look at in this week's "Boomerang on CN" offerings...
Saturday Mornings in 1973:
According to TV Party's website (the main source of info I've been resorting to for most of this time: www.tvparty.com/sat.html), one new trend this year is shows based on classic primetime shows, as well as 60-minute "movies" ... otherwise, more of the same non- or low-violence fare as the last few seasons.
Notable shows debuting this season:
- "Schoolhouse Rock": "Rock" shows up on ABC as an expanded series of educational shorts, after the success of running "Multiplication Rock" segments during the previous season. Another Gen-X-er classic.
- "Superfriends": the long-running cheesy-yet-classic H-B animated series based loosely on the Justice League of America comic, initially featuring Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and teen "superhero trainees" Wendy, Marvin, and "Wonder Dog". The "Superfriends" ran under various formats until 1985, a record probably soon to be broken by the modern DC Comics character-based shows (unless improbably enough, "Justice League" and "Teen Titans" get the axe within the next year or so :-) ).
Reflective of the new "no violence allowed" motto, unlike the 60's Superman and Batman shows (where Supes and Bats were allowed to wail on the bad guys), the Superfriends were forced to deal with more socially-oriented plotlines...pollution and the like... of course, one could still buy the JLA comic book each month (running about 15 or 20 cents an issue at this point, IIRC) and see the heroes in their usual fisticuffs modes/Bats dealing with Ra's Al Ghul/etc. there...
- "Star Trek": the animated series based on the 60's TV show. Probably the most well-written thing on Saturday mornings at this point, thanks to actual science-fiction writers involved in the scriptwriting---which (semi)overcomes the bargain-basement Filmation "animation".
- "Speed Buggy": the "Scooby" knockoff involving everyone's favorite talking dune buggy and his three human drivers, who *did* go on to meet the Scooby gang (on the "Scooby Movies")...
- "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space": the gang goes into outer space in this spinoff, meeting aliens designed by comic book veteran-turned-TV animation design consultant Alex Toth---including the goofy alien sidekick made fun of on "South Park" (the Korn episode)...
- "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters": another Sid and Marty Krofft live-action show, about a sea monster and two kids.
- "Goober and the Ghost Chasers": another Scooby ripoff---only here, the obligatory pet dog turns invisible when it's scared.
- "Addams Family": a H-B cartoon version of the 60's sitcom. Noted for Pugsley being voiced by a young Jodie Foster.
Today's fare featured:
Inch High Private Eye
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids
"Inch High, Private Eye" (NBC)
Show Description:
A one-inch tall private eye who acts/sounds like Maxwell Smart (of "Get Smart") and his three sidekicks, his niece, her southern-ish boyfriend(?) and a St. Bernard, all solve mysteries for a detective agency.
Today's episode:
Crook steal valuable musical instruments as part of.. erm... some vaguely-defined evil scheme (see comments below).
Comments:
More 70's H-B filler material, though I liked it as a kid. Think "Maxwell Smart meets the Atom"...
Though this episode didn't really involve any, it had its fair share of short jokes (including about Inch wearing "elevator shoes"), IIRC...
Finkerton, Inch's boss, has the same voice/demeanor as Peevely the zookeeper from "Hair Bear Bunch." Gad, there's more where that zookeeper came from?! Kind of feel sorry for the staff... :-)
Rotary phones (seen in the title scene/episode) were still ubiquitous in the 70's---IIRC, leasing a TouchTone phone (IIRC, phones used to be leased from the phone company, instead of bought like today's phones...) cost somewhat extra (along with an extra charge for a TouchTone-compatible phone line). Recall my parents as a kid (pre-AT&T breakup) returning a phone to the phone company once...
Pinball machines (seen in the title scene) were also still common back then---video games debuted around '73 or '74 with "Pong", but didn't really take off until the late70's (with "Space Invaders", etc.).
"Lawrence Milk" = famed polka bandleader Lawrence Welk, noted for his long-running TV series that was still in production when this show was made. Though unlike Inch's niece, Welk's appeal was mainly (then as now) toward older people (vs. teenagers/young adults)...
"Prelvis Essley" = "Elvis Presley", the famed rock and roll legend, who was still performing at this point, though by this point in the beginning of his serious state of decline (his death occurring a few years later in 1977)...
My sister watched the last third with me, and asked me (after realizing) just what *was* the villains' reason for stealing the instruments, since they weren't selling them... after rewinding and watching the revelation again, all I could offer was "uh.... they want to destroy the instruments after the bad guy records his biggest musical number that'll immortalize him, because...erm, uh...." Sis wasn't impressed by my (or the show's) answer. :-)
"Inch High"'s competition at 8:30 AM EST on Saturdays in '73:
CBS: "Bailey's Comets". Debuts this season. About roller derby-competitors aiming for a million dollar prize. Pure 70's. Runs on Sunday mornings next season in reruns.
ABC: "Yogi's Gang". Debuts this season. The return of Yogi, along with the rest of the classic early H-B cartoon menagerie (Huck, Quickdraw [sans his now-banned guns], etc.) in preachy morality tales, while flying around in a giant flying ark. Apparently, despite the show's premise, no one at the network or H-B remembered that Yogi was a thief (albeit of foodstuffs)...
Despite the weak competition, "Yogi" probably marginally held out over "Inch" (not that I have access to the ratings to prove it or anything, but still...), with "Bugs Bunny" as its lead-in show...
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids (NBC)
Show description:
Musical group and spies Butch Cassidy and his group, the "Sundance Kids", a pair of women and one man, travel the world on various adventures, alongside their dog, Elvis. Someone named Mickey Dolenz provides a voice, according to TV Party (whoever he is).
Today's episode:
The Kids must unite a pair of parrots (who know a secret nuclear formula) in Switzerland.
Comments:
Another "Josie and the Pussycats" ripoff, though with much less personality among the characters in this one.
The name of the group/show probably stems from the popular late 60's Western movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
It's 1973---psychedelic stuff (see opening credits) is still in.
The "Geneva Convention" (mentioned by the parrot) is a set of international rules governing aspects of war, such as what rights prisoners of war are supposed to have/are treated, etc.
(After a line of Butch's dialogue) "Nu-cu-lear"?! It's pronounced *NU-CLEAR*! Who are you, Homer Simpson or George W. Bush or something?!? (Calms down) Sorry... pet peeve of mine. :-)
"Butch"'s competition at 10 AM EST on Saturdays in '73:
CBS: "My Favorite Martians". Debuts this season. An animated (Filmation) remake of the old 60's sitcom "My Favorite Martian." Jonathan Harris (TV's "Dr. Smith" on "Lost in Space") provides a voice.
ABC: "Lassie's Rescue Rangers." Debuts this season. Not to be confused with the "Chip 'n Dale" version. TV's Lassie leads a squad of forest animals on various missions to go after polluters and other such environmental foes. Another Filmation show. Ted Knight (TV's "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Superfriends" narrator) provides a voice. Airs on Sundays in reruns in '74.
Guessing none of these three shows left much of any impression on viewers of the day---they all sound pretty weak...
---
Next week: it's 1974. See you then...
-B.
1973: As Nixon's "Watergate" scandal kicks into gear, we continue to move further into the ever-"groovy" 1970's. Richard Roundtree returns to offer the third and final entry in the "Shaft" series, "Shaft in Africa" (don't ask---especially after having just seen this flick!), "All in the Family" continues to be a hit (and allows Suzanne Summers a job doing something besides voicing the teenaged Pebbles Flintstone), and there's even more animated offerings to look at in this week's "Boomerang on CN" offerings...
Saturday Mornings in 1973:
According to TV Party's website (the main source of info I've been resorting to for most of this time: www.tvparty.com/sat.html), one new trend this year is shows based on classic primetime shows, as well as 60-minute "movies" ... otherwise, more of the same non- or low-violence fare as the last few seasons.
Notable shows debuting this season:
- "Schoolhouse Rock": "Rock" shows up on ABC as an expanded series of educational shorts, after the success of running "Multiplication Rock" segments during the previous season. Another Gen-X-er classic.
- "Superfriends": the long-running cheesy-yet-classic H-B animated series based loosely on the Justice League of America comic, initially featuring Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and teen "superhero trainees" Wendy, Marvin, and "Wonder Dog". The "Superfriends" ran under various formats until 1985, a record probably soon to be broken by the modern DC Comics character-based shows (unless improbably enough, "Justice League" and "Teen Titans" get the axe within the next year or so :-) ).
Reflective of the new "no violence allowed" motto, unlike the 60's Superman and Batman shows (where Supes and Bats were allowed to wail on the bad guys), the Superfriends were forced to deal with more socially-oriented plotlines...pollution and the like... of course, one could still buy the JLA comic book each month (running about 15 or 20 cents an issue at this point, IIRC) and see the heroes in their usual fisticuffs modes/Bats dealing with Ra's Al Ghul/etc. there...
- "Star Trek": the animated series based on the 60's TV show. Probably the most well-written thing on Saturday mornings at this point, thanks to actual science-fiction writers involved in the scriptwriting---which (semi)overcomes the bargain-basement Filmation "animation".
- "Speed Buggy": the "Scooby" knockoff involving everyone's favorite talking dune buggy and his three human drivers, who *did* go on to meet the Scooby gang (on the "Scooby Movies")...
- "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space": the gang goes into outer space in this spinoff, meeting aliens designed by comic book veteran-turned-TV animation design consultant Alex Toth---including the goofy alien sidekick made fun of on "South Park" (the Korn episode)...
- "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters": another Sid and Marty Krofft live-action show, about a sea monster and two kids.
- "Goober and the Ghost Chasers": another Scooby ripoff---only here, the obligatory pet dog turns invisible when it's scared.
- "Addams Family": a H-B cartoon version of the 60's sitcom. Noted for Pugsley being voiced by a young Jodie Foster.
Today's fare featured:
Inch High Private Eye
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids
"Inch High, Private Eye" (NBC)
Show Description:
A one-inch tall private eye who acts/sounds like Maxwell Smart (of "Get Smart") and his three sidekicks, his niece, her southern-ish boyfriend(?) and a St. Bernard, all solve mysteries for a detective agency.
Today's episode:
Crook steal valuable musical instruments as part of.. erm... some vaguely-defined evil scheme (see comments below).
Comments:
More 70's H-B filler material, though I liked it as a kid. Think "Maxwell Smart meets the Atom"...
Though this episode didn't really involve any, it had its fair share of short jokes (including about Inch wearing "elevator shoes"), IIRC...
Finkerton, Inch's boss, has the same voice/demeanor as Peevely the zookeeper from "Hair Bear Bunch." Gad, there's more where that zookeeper came from?! Kind of feel sorry for the staff... :-)
Rotary phones (seen in the title scene/episode) were still ubiquitous in the 70's---IIRC, leasing a TouchTone phone (IIRC, phones used to be leased from the phone company, instead of bought like today's phones...) cost somewhat extra (along with an extra charge for a TouchTone-compatible phone line). Recall my parents as a kid (pre-AT&T breakup) returning a phone to the phone company once...
Pinball machines (seen in the title scene) were also still common back then---video games debuted around '73 or '74 with "Pong", but didn't really take off until the late70's (with "Space Invaders", etc.).
"Lawrence Milk" = famed polka bandleader Lawrence Welk, noted for his long-running TV series that was still in production when this show was made. Though unlike Inch's niece, Welk's appeal was mainly (then as now) toward older people (vs. teenagers/young adults)...
"Prelvis Essley" = "Elvis Presley", the famed rock and roll legend, who was still performing at this point, though by this point in the beginning of his serious state of decline (his death occurring a few years later in 1977)...
My sister watched the last third with me, and asked me (after realizing) just what *was* the villains' reason for stealing the instruments, since they weren't selling them... after rewinding and watching the revelation again, all I could offer was "uh.... they want to destroy the instruments after the bad guy records his biggest musical number that'll immortalize him, because...erm, uh...." Sis wasn't impressed by my (or the show's) answer. :-)
"Inch High"'s competition at 8:30 AM EST on Saturdays in '73:
CBS: "Bailey's Comets". Debuts this season. About roller derby-competitors aiming for a million dollar prize. Pure 70's. Runs on Sunday mornings next season in reruns.
ABC: "Yogi's Gang". Debuts this season. The return of Yogi, along with the rest of the classic early H-B cartoon menagerie (Huck, Quickdraw [sans his now-banned guns], etc.) in preachy morality tales, while flying around in a giant flying ark. Apparently, despite the show's premise, no one at the network or H-B remembered that Yogi was a thief (albeit of foodstuffs)...
Despite the weak competition, "Yogi" probably marginally held out over "Inch" (not that I have access to the ratings to prove it or anything, but still...), with "Bugs Bunny" as its lead-in show...
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids (NBC)
Show description:
Musical group and spies Butch Cassidy and his group, the "Sundance Kids", a pair of women and one man, travel the world on various adventures, alongside their dog, Elvis. Someone named Mickey Dolenz provides a voice, according to TV Party (whoever he is).
Today's episode:
The Kids must unite a pair of parrots (who know a secret nuclear formula) in Switzerland.
Comments:
Another "Josie and the Pussycats" ripoff, though with much less personality among the characters in this one.
The name of the group/show probably stems from the popular late 60's Western movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
It's 1973---psychedelic stuff (see opening credits) is still in.
The "Geneva Convention" (mentioned by the parrot) is a set of international rules governing aspects of war, such as what rights prisoners of war are supposed to have/are treated, etc.
(After a line of Butch's dialogue) "Nu-cu-lear"?! It's pronounced *NU-CLEAR*! Who are you, Homer Simpson or George W. Bush or something?!? (Calms down) Sorry... pet peeve of mine. :-)
"Butch"'s competition at 10 AM EST on Saturdays in '73:
CBS: "My Favorite Martians". Debuts this season. An animated (Filmation) remake of the old 60's sitcom "My Favorite Martian." Jonathan Harris (TV's "Dr. Smith" on "Lost in Space") provides a voice.
ABC: "Lassie's Rescue Rangers." Debuts this season. Not to be confused with the "Chip 'n Dale" version. TV's Lassie leads a squad of forest animals on various missions to go after polluters and other such environmental foes. Another Filmation show. Ted Knight (TV's "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Superfriends" narrator) provides a voice. Airs on Sundays in reruns in '74.
Guessing none of these three shows left much of any impression on viewers of the day---they all sound pretty weak...
---
Next week: it's 1974. See you then...
-B.