Brainatra
12-20-2003, 01:48 PM
Not sure if it's worth talking about or not (or if it's on-topic here) or if anyone cares, but I've been watching/taping (since it's on at 5 AM CST) the "Boomerang on CN" program every weekend over the past few months...wondered if it'd be worth sharing my two cents...
Today's shows for "1968":
"Jonny Quest"
"Adventures of Gulliver"
Description of Saturday mornings in 1968:
Superheroes and action shows were still popular, though this was waning admist the parents groups complaining about TV violence, and probably also from oversaturation and kids latching onto the big hit of 1968: "Archie". Thus began the trend toward tons of shows with teenagers (and after a certain Great Dane-starring show's debut the next season, teenagers with some sort of barely-talking sidekick) that took Saturday mornings by storm. Another factor might also be the spy craze starting to wane (though obviously was still very popular) and the dying off of "Batman" fever ("Batman" got axed from prime time in '68)...
"Jonny Quest":
Plot: Frogmen try to sabotage a moon mission launch with a newfangled thingy called a "LASER" (*gasp*!).
Comments:
What more can be said that hasn't been said already? "Jonny"'s one of H-B's all-time classics. The animation alone screams "Silver Age" Marvel comic...
Lasers were still a fairly recent invention when "Quest" debuted in '64, so little wonder it'd get used as a science fiction/adventure plot device (a la "Dr. No").
Was this supposed to be the pilot/first episode of the series (from the way they were describing why Bannon was living with Jonny/Dr. Quest)?
According to TV Party's website, "Jonny"'s competition on Saturday mornings this year were:
- "American Bandstand" (ABC): the perennial Dick Clark hosted dance show. At our house, we usually changed channels to "Soul Train". ;-)
- "Super President"/"Untamed World" (NBC): "Super Prez" was about the President gaining superpowers...uh-huh. Sure LBJ would've loved to have those ("Great Society powers, ACTIVATE! Form of... MEDICAID! Shape of... HEAD START!" ;-) ). Was axed midseason in its second year on for the nature show "World"...
"Adventures of Gulliver"
Description: Gulliver and Lilliputians have adventures as they try to avoid an evil captain.
Plot for today's episode: Gulliver tries to find an antidote for the show's one (token) female character, the dubiously named "Flirtacia", as she's been put in a deep sleep.
Comments:
Typical late 60's H-B Saturday morning filler.
Recall seeing this show in reruns on some other syndicated H-B series in the early 80's (can't recall which one, though).
The "Adventures of Gulliver: IN COLOR" still-shot title card that's shown before the actual main titles start was typical of ABC's programs of this time period (back in the 60's, when the networks would announce before a show started whether or not it was in color or black-and-white). ABC's way of announcing this was via a still-shot title card and/or voiceover at the start of the show, while NBC had the famous "living color" opening bumper.
Some of the "creepy" music may be recognizable to Scooby Doo fans; H-B recycled it for "Scooby Doo Where Are You?" for the following season...
"Gulliver"'s competition:
- "Wacky Races" (CBS): Another successful show in '68, it spawned two spinoffs (and gave H-B its recurring villains Dick Dastardly and Muttley).
- "Top Cat" (NBC): Reruns of the early 60's primetime series based on "Sgt. Bilko".
Other Saturday morning notables for '68:
- "The Fantastic Four" (the originals, not the one with that flippin' robot)
- "Happening": a teen dance show (a la 60's series "Shindig", "Hullaballoo", etc.).
- "Batman/Superman Hour" (Filmation)
- "Spider-Man"
Per TV Party's website, Aquaman's cartoon was rerun on Sunday mornings (though wonder if local stations pre-empted it for church services/political roundtable shows or whatnot...).
-B.
Today's shows for "1968":
"Jonny Quest"
"Adventures of Gulliver"
Description of Saturday mornings in 1968:
Superheroes and action shows were still popular, though this was waning admist the parents groups complaining about TV violence, and probably also from oversaturation and kids latching onto the big hit of 1968: "Archie". Thus began the trend toward tons of shows with teenagers (and after a certain Great Dane-starring show's debut the next season, teenagers with some sort of barely-talking sidekick) that took Saturday mornings by storm. Another factor might also be the spy craze starting to wane (though obviously was still very popular) and the dying off of "Batman" fever ("Batman" got axed from prime time in '68)...
"Jonny Quest":
Plot: Frogmen try to sabotage a moon mission launch with a newfangled thingy called a "LASER" (*gasp*!).
Comments:
What more can be said that hasn't been said already? "Jonny"'s one of H-B's all-time classics. The animation alone screams "Silver Age" Marvel comic...
Lasers were still a fairly recent invention when "Quest" debuted in '64, so little wonder it'd get used as a science fiction/adventure plot device (a la "Dr. No").
Was this supposed to be the pilot/first episode of the series (from the way they were describing why Bannon was living with Jonny/Dr. Quest)?
According to TV Party's website, "Jonny"'s competition on Saturday mornings this year were:
- "American Bandstand" (ABC): the perennial Dick Clark hosted dance show. At our house, we usually changed channels to "Soul Train". ;-)
- "Super President"/"Untamed World" (NBC): "Super Prez" was about the President gaining superpowers...uh-huh. Sure LBJ would've loved to have those ("Great Society powers, ACTIVATE! Form of... MEDICAID! Shape of... HEAD START!" ;-) ). Was axed midseason in its second year on for the nature show "World"...
"Adventures of Gulliver"
Description: Gulliver and Lilliputians have adventures as they try to avoid an evil captain.
Plot for today's episode: Gulliver tries to find an antidote for the show's one (token) female character, the dubiously named "Flirtacia", as she's been put in a deep sleep.
Comments:
Typical late 60's H-B Saturday morning filler.
Recall seeing this show in reruns on some other syndicated H-B series in the early 80's (can't recall which one, though).
The "Adventures of Gulliver: IN COLOR" still-shot title card that's shown before the actual main titles start was typical of ABC's programs of this time period (back in the 60's, when the networks would announce before a show started whether or not it was in color or black-and-white). ABC's way of announcing this was via a still-shot title card and/or voiceover at the start of the show, while NBC had the famous "living color" opening bumper.
Some of the "creepy" music may be recognizable to Scooby Doo fans; H-B recycled it for "Scooby Doo Where Are You?" for the following season...
"Gulliver"'s competition:
- "Wacky Races" (CBS): Another successful show in '68, it spawned two spinoffs (and gave H-B its recurring villains Dick Dastardly and Muttley).
- "Top Cat" (NBC): Reruns of the early 60's primetime series based on "Sgt. Bilko".
Other Saturday morning notables for '68:
- "The Fantastic Four" (the originals, not the one with that flippin' robot)
- "Happening": a teen dance show (a la 60's series "Shindig", "Hullaballoo", etc.).
- "Batman/Superman Hour" (Filmation)
- "Spider-Man"
Per TV Party's website, Aquaman's cartoon was rerun on Sunday mornings (though wonder if local stations pre-empted it for church services/political roundtable shows or whatnot...).
-B.