JC looks back at: Filmation
hobb...@yahoo.com
from 1966 through the 80's. However, because the rights to so many of
their shows have passed through diverse hands over the years, those
programs have largely been forgotten. Let's take a look back.
1966: New Advs. of Superman gets the Filmation ball rolling at CBS,
reuniting cast members of the Superman radio show (Bud Collyer, Jackson
Beck, Joan Alexander). The backup feature is Superboy, with Bob
Hastings, fresh from a 4 year run on "McHale's Navy", as the Boy of
Steel, 26 years before essaying the role of Commissioner Gordon on
"Batman: The Animated Series".
Warner Bros. now owns the rights to these toons. From this point
forward, most of the Filmation product has moved on to the UK company
Entertainment Rights, although they may be in the process of selling it
themselves. Series not owned by Entertainment Rights will have current
ownership listed in ().
1967: Aquaman joins Superman on CBS. The rotating backup features mark
the TV debuts of Flash, Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Teen Titans,
& JLA. In the case of the latter two, Batman & Robin couldn't be used
because of the live-action series airing at the time. (WB, of course,
now owns these toons)
Filmation then debuts at ABC with Journey to the Center of the Earth,
which last aired on cable on Sci-Fi. (Fox)
1968: Archie (DIC) & Batman (WB) join the CBS lineup. Archie begins an
8-year run on the network in various incarnations. Fantastic Voyage
(Fox) debuts on ABC.
1969: The Hardy Boys are given a rock band gimmick for their animated
series on ABC. As with the Archie Comedy Hour on CBS, they managed to
mix in live-action crowd shots as the "band" performs. There was even
an album, which I found at a record convention several years back. I
wish I actually bought it. Now, if someone could put it on CD......
The 1969-70 season marks the end of Filmation's 1st wave, as it's the
final season for Superman, Batman, & Aquaman on CBS.
1970-71: Comedian Jerry Lewis, who had been starring in a comic book
from DC at the time, has his own series on ABC, but another comic,
David L. Lander, who'd later gain fame on "Laverne & Shirley", voices
for Lewis. The result is "Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?"
lasts just one season. Does Jerry own the rights to this one?
Meanwhile, Sabrina has spun off from the Archie series into her own
show, which in turn spins off the Groovie Goolies. I'd think DIC owns
these as well. The Goolies also form a pre-fab band. Favorite song on
this show was "Kings & Queens".
The reason I have it listed as 1970-71 is because I can't remember
exactly where to fit these into the chronology.
1972: Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids debuts on CBS and becomes the
longest running series the studio produces for any of the networks, as
it lasts 12 seasons before going into syndication. Archie's TV Funnies
(DIC) introduces viewers to TV versions of comic strips Broom Hilda,
Emmy Lou, Nancy, Smokey Stover, and the Dropouts, plus the animated
return of Dick Tracy. I believe Dr. Cosby owns the rights to Fat
Albert, though Fox did the recent movie, headed for DVD on 3/22.
The Brady Kids, co-produced by Paramount, is a spin-off from "The Brady
Bunch", and begins a 2 year run on ABC. The actual "Kids" themselves
did the voices, although Barry Williams left the show after the 1st
season.
1973: Star Trek gets animated, and begins a 2 year run on NBC, the
first Filmation series for that network. (Paramount, of course)
Mission: Magic spins off from Brady Kids, but lasts one year on ABC.
Singer Rick Springfield made his American acting debut here, but would
achieve greater success 7 years later when he joined the cast of the
soap opera "General Hospital", which reignited his music career here in
the US. I'm not sure about the rights holder for this one.
1974: New Adventures of Gilligan replaces Mission: Magic on the ABC
schedule, reuniting the cast of "Gilligan's Island". The gang would get
back together 8 years later for "Gilligan's Planet" on CBS. I believe
WB, which has the syndie rights to "Island", also owns both cartoons,
but I'm not sure. Filmation also makes the jump to full live-action
with Shazam! (WB), which begins a 3 year run on CBS. US of Archie (DIC)
begins a 2 year run, which ends Archie's run at CBS.
1975: Not a good year for Filmation. Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, a
feline parody of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", is a 1 year wonder
as a replacement for Star Trek on NBC. Ghost Busters, which would begat
an animated spinoff 11 years later, reunites "F-Troop"'s Forrest Tucker
& Larry Storch, but the ratings aren't there, and CBS moves it to
Sundays the following year. The "Eye" also picks up Secrets of Isis to
couple with Shazam. Not sure if WB owns Isis. Uncle Croc's Block debuts
on ABC, and would be the last series Filmation would produce for the
network. "Croc" is cancelled in mid-season due to terrible ratings, and
replaced with Super Friends reruns.
1976: Ark II replaces Ghost Busters in Filmation's live-action block on
CBS. Said block is prefaced with the debut of Tarzan, Lord of the
Jungle, which begins a 6 year run on the network. Tarzan replaces
Archie. I believe the Burroughs estate owns the Tarzan series.
1977: In a curious quirk, Filmation begins sharing rights to Batman
with Hanna-Barbera. New Advs. of Batman (WB), with Adam West & Burt
Ward, debuts in February. In September, Space Academy debuts, replacing
Shazam! in the live-action package. Meanwhile, Young Sentinels debuts
on NBC, and the title changes to Space Sentinels in mid-season. Doesn't
matter, as the show is another 1-year wonder for NBC.
1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action serial,
"Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the Super
Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman. The series
is retitled "Batman & the Super 7" when it moves to NBC in 1980, while
Jason & Tarzan remain at CBS. Should be noted that James Doohan (Star
Trek) had a role in "Jason".
1979: The Fabulous Funnies debuts on NBC, and, yup, it goes just one
year. Broom Hilda and Nancy return with different features than when
they were on Archie's TV Funnies.
1980: The Lone Ranger returns to cartoons, coupled with Tarzan on CBS.
William Conrad, billed as "J. Darnoc", voices the Ranger. Jason of Star
Command is set adrift, airing during lunch hour, and blacked out in
some parts of the country. Flash Gordon debuts on NBC mere months after
the feature film of the same name. I believe Hearst or King Features
owns this one, and whomever has the rights to the Ranger would have
this slate of toons.
1981: Zorro joins Tarzan and Lone Ranger on CBS to form a new 90 minute
block. Ironically, Henry Darrow ("High Chaparral"), the voice of Zorro,
would star in the live-action revival on the Family Channel a decade
later, as Don Alejandro.
I should note I'm guessing on the debuts of Fabulous Funnies and Flash
Gordon, and may have them mixed up. Bob Ridgely voiced Flash, and also
did Ruby-Spears' Thundarr for ABC, which ran from 1980-82. Somewhere in
the early 80's, Filmation also had a show called "Sport Billy", which
ran for at least a year on NBC.
1982: Gilligan's Planet airs on CBS, lasting just one season.
1983: Filmation dives headlong into syndication with He-Man and the
Masters of the Universe. Some of the stories in this series were later
redone in the 2002 revival, retconned in fact. The later series recast
Prince Adam as a teenager, but here he was already an adult. I think.
Blackstarr is Filmation's last series for network television, airing on
CBS.
1984: Fat Albert moves into syndication.
1985: She-Ra, Princess of Power, is spun off from He-Man. New episodes
of Fat Albert debut.
1986: A new, animated Ghostbusters (note the spelling) series airs,
with ties to the original series. He-Man enters its 4th and final
season.
1987: Bravestarr is the last 1st run series produced by Filmation.
There were the occasional movies and specials, but I wasn't focusing on
those.
Can anyone help fill the blanks?
J. C. Gilbert
LucasWhiteLifetimeLakersFan!
I don't care what anyone says. That was a cool show. I'm going to
make a fan site about Bravestarr one day. I love the futuristic,
gun-based series and that was definitely a fun one.
donovan...@aol.com
Son," which I believe aired in prime time the following year. He was
too old to be Zorro all by himself, so his son, Don Carlos Vega, was
also Zorro. Nobody suspected there were two Zorros.
donovan...@aol.com
of him as a live actor, I recognized his voice, but couldn't place it.
Another actor I had a similar experience with was Ted Knight, who
narrated the Superman cartoons and did many of the voices for the '60s
Batman cartoons, such as The Joker, The Riddler, and Commisioner
Gordon. I first became aware of him as a live actor, like alot of
other people, by watching him play Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore
Show" which was produced by her own company, MTM.
The reason I mentioned that last part was that I'm going to get petty
OT and extremely tenuous in my connections here. "The Mary Tyler Moore
Show" was set in Minneapolis. "Coach," Which I used to think was
produced by the same company (many years later), was also set in the
Minnesota. In a few epsiodes, there is a sleazy local TV reporter
named Carter Brooks played by Robert Ridgely. I felt at the time that
since it was set in the same city, and (so I thought) made by the same
company, the character should, could or would have been Ted Baxter, if
Ted Knight had still been alive.
hobb...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I should note I'm guessing on the debuts of Fabulous Funnies and
Flash
> Gordon, and may have them mixed up. Bob Ridgely voiced Flash, and
also
> did Ruby-Spears' Thundarr for ABC, which ran from 1980-82. Somewhere
in
> the early 80's, Filmation also had a show called "Sport Billy", which
> ran for at least a year on NBC.
>
>
Kip Williams
> It's not certain WHO owns WILL THE REAL JERRY LEWIS PLEASE SIT DOWN?
> Unlike other Filmation series, this one never saw the light of day in
> syndication or video after its run on ABC ended. I've no memory of the
> show (always watched fellow Filmation product GROOVIE GHOULIES in the
> same time slot on CBS), but judging from what I've read about it (and
> screen shots) on various websites, there's a LOT of Asian ethnic
> stereotyping. One of his 'characters' was bumbling detective Hong Kong
> Flewis(?), equipped with standard "ah, so" and inverted l's and r's.
> Lewis became a prominent comedy star during the 1950s when it was no
> longer okay to burlesque African-Americans, but PERFECTLY all right to
> do the same to Orientals. This mentality lasted long into the
> seventies. Remember UPA's 1961 DICK TRACY adaptation?
Oh, yeah. I took it completely seriously when I watched that.
After Warren Beatty strip-mined Tracy for some movie, CBN tried to cash
in by showing the UPA version. I was able to catch an episode or so, but
didn't hit the button fast enough to get Joe Jitsu, the ne plus ultra of
tackiness. Soon after, CBN saw the writing on the wall ("Mene mene tekel
and don't make fun of large groups of people with political and economic
power.") and pulled the series. Another defeat for bad taste and limited
animation.
That reminds me, where's that Clutch Cargo DVD set?
Kip W
no shame
Howard Fein
frequently mailgned for its low-budget animation, small stock company
of voice artists and half-hearted adaptations of live-action
properties. But absence has made the heart grow fonder in that most
Filmation product is scantly rerun or available on video. Some of its
series did see limited syndicated reruns in the seventies and eighties,
and there were some video releases long out of print.
Just a few nitpicking corrections or amendements I'd like to add:
hobb...@yahoo.com wrote:
> 1970-71: Comedian Jerry Lewis, who had been starring in a comic book
> from DC at the time, has his own series on ABC, but another comic,
> David L. Lander, who'd later gain fame on "Laverne & Shirley", voices
> for Lewis. The result is "Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?"
> lasts just one season. Does Jerry own the rights to this one?
It's not certain WHO owns WILL THE REAL JERRY LEWIS PLEASE SIT DOWN?
Unlike other Filmation series, this one never saw the light of day in
syndication or video after its run on ABC ended. I've no memory of the
show (always watched fellow Filmation product GROOVIE GHOULIES in the
same time slot on CBS), but judging from what I've read about it (and
screen shots) on various websites, there's a LOT of Asian ethnic
stereotyping. One of his 'characters' was bumbling detective Hong Kong
Flewis(?), equipped with standard "ah, so" and inverted l's and r's.
Lewis became a prominent comedy star during the 1950s when it was no
longer okay to burlesque African-Americans, but PERFECTLY all right to
do the same to Orientals. This mentality lasted long into the
seventies. Remember UPA's 1961 DICK TRACY adaptation?
>
> Meanwhile, Sabrina has spun off from the Archie series into her own
> show, which in turn spins off the Groovie Goolies. I'd think DIC owns
> these as well. The Goolies also form a pre-fab band. Favorite song on
> this show was "Kings & Queens".
DIC seems to own all the CBS 1968-75 Archie library. Back around 1993
or '94, the old Family Channel used to rerun the above-noted Archie
series (with the DIC Kid In Bed closing logo), but NOT the Ghoulies. As
for Sabrina, her starring series didn't start until fall 1971. She had
her own segments in 1969's ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR and 1970's GHOULIES.
Subsequent GHOULIE half-hour rerun packages on ABC (1975-76) and
syndication (beginning '77) only include the comedy sketches and songs
of the Ghoulies. You'd only see Sabrina as a straight woman in quick
joke bits. ("I don't know, Frankie- what's green and puts out forest
fires?")
>
> 1972: Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids debuts on CBS and becomes the
> longest running series the studio produces for any of the networks,
as
> it lasts 12 seasons before going into syndication. Archie's TV
Funnies
> (DIC) introduces viewers to TV versions of comic strips Broom Hilda,
> Emmy Lou, Nancy, Smokey Stover, and the Dropouts, plus the animated
> return of Dick Tracy. I believe Dr. Cosby owns the rights to Fat
> Albert, though Fox did the recent movie, headed for DVD on 3/22.
TV FUNNIES actually premiered a year earlier, in fall 1971. After the
initial 16-episode cycle, CBS presented six to eight new episodes of
FAT ALBERT in 1973, '75, '76, '79 (when the repugnant Brown Hornet
segments premiered), '80 and possibly '81 and/or '82. In 1984, fifty
brand-new episodes bowed in syndication in tandem with reruns of the
CBS episodes. It was pretty easy to tell the difference between an
episode from '72 and one from '84.
> The Brady Kids, co-produced by Paramount, is a spin-off from "The
Brady
> Bunch", and begins a 2 year run on ABC. The actual "Kids" themselves
> did the voices, although Barry Williams left the show after the 1st
> season.
Not only Williams, but Maureen McCormick bowed out after the first
season. For the four or six new episodes aired in fall 1973, they were
replaced by Filmation stalwarts Lance and Lola Scheimer (offspring of
co-exec producer Lou). It always freaked me out that not only did the
parents and Alice not seem to exist in their animated universe, but all
six kids appeared to live together in a treehouse! Their animated show
and its accroutrements- animals sidekicks Moptop the dog, Marlon the
mynah and Ping and Pong the pandas- was hilariously lampooned in 1995's
A VERY BRADY SEQUEL. They were presented as a mushroom-induced
hallucination by an imposter passing himself off as Roy Martin, Carol's
presumably dead first husband.
> 1973: Star Trek gets animated, and begins a 2 year run on NBC, the
> first Filmation series for that network. (Paramount, of course)
> Mission: Magic spins off from Brady Kids, but lasts one year on ABC.
> Singer Rick Springfield made his American acting debut here, but
would
> achieve greater success 7 years later when he joined the cast of the
> soap opera "General Hospital", which reignited his music career here
in
> the US. I'm not sure about the rights holder for this one.
Also in 1973 was CBS' MY FAVORITE MARTIANS, which ran the standard one
season of 16 episodes that were repeated the following year. It had all
the charactertistics of Filmation that arouses flak from its
detractors: loud laugh track, many stock poses, recycled bubble-gum
pseudo-jazzy underscore and over-reliance on Howard Morris and Jane
Webb as voice artists. At least it didn't have an ersatz rock group.
Oh, and ABC's LASSIE'S RESCUE RANGERS, which actually premiered as a
one-hour pilot in the previous year's SUPERSTAR MOVIE. As kind of a
first, the lead character, 12-year-old (?) Ben Turner Jr. was blind.
The series was presented as straight adventure with minimal comic
relief from some friendly wild animals.
> 1974: New Adventures of Gilligan replaces Mission: Magic on the ABC
> schedule, reuniting the cast of "Gilligan's Island". The gang would
get
> back together 8 years later for "Gilligan's Planet" on CBS. I believe
> WB, which has the syndie rights to "Island", also owns both cartoons,
> but I'm not sure. >
The 1974 GILLIGAN revival only lacked Tina Louise and Dawn Wells.
Studio workhorse Jane Webb performed Ginger and Mary Ann with the
latter being top-billed as 'Jane Edwards'. This was the only known time
a cartoon series actually top-billed character voices, but it was
obviously done to retain the famous 'faces-in-a-life-preserver'
introduction of the original series. PLANET had Dawn Wells perform both
roles, but this time the introductory credit sequence openly
acknowledged this- no pseudonyms.
The 1974 version was rerun as part of the 1977 syndicated compendium
GROOVIE GHOULIES & FRIENDS. Reruns of LASSIE, WALDO KITTY, MY FAVORITE
MARTIANS and the UNCLE CROC cartoon segments ran in tandem. None of
these shows had enough episodes to strip daily, so they were
'checkerboarded', or rerun until episodes gave out at which point
another series stepped in for its run.
> 1975: Not a good year for Filmation. Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, a
> feline parody of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", is a 1 year
wonder
> as a replacement for Star Trek on NBC. Ghost Busters, which would
begat
> an animated spinoff 11 years later, reunites "F-Troop"'s Forrest
Tucker
> & Larry Storch, but the ratings aren't there, and CBS moves it to
> Sundays the following year. The "Eye" also picks up Secrets of Isis
to
> couple with Shazam. Not sure if WB owns Isis. Uncle Croc's Block
debuts
> on ABC, and would be the last series Filmation would produce for the
> network. "Croc" is cancelled in mid-season due to terrible ratings,
and
> replaced with Super Friends reruns.
Interestingly, 1975 looked like a breakout year for Filmation. Only one
new Hanna-Barbera show premiered that fall: the Tom & Jerry revival.
WALDO KITTY was a rather intriguing premise at the time, and the
scripts weren't half bad- a lot of satirical dialogue and fourth-wall
breaking. CROC was a HUGE innovation, namely parodying live-action
hosted kiddie shows- which unfortunately were unknown to most kids
watching Saturday AM TV at the time, hence wasting the parody. What was
bizarre was seeing old GROOVIE GHOULIE footage interspersed through the
show, which must've struck enough of a nerve for ABC to rerun the
original 1970 GHOULIE half-hours for the rest of the 1975-76 season
after CROC departed.
GHOST BUSTERS didn't air at all during the 1976-77 season, but the
reruns aired on Sunday mornings in 1977-78.
>
> 1976: Ark II replaces Ghost Busters in Filmation's live-action block
on
> CBS. Said block is prefaced with the debut of Tarzan, Lord of the
> Jungle, which begins a 6 year run on the network.
I believe that after its 1976 premiere, a smaller number of new TARZAN
episodes were made only in 1977. The show proved durable enough to keep
coming back on CBS' schedule whenever a new show didn't make it past
Christmas. This was the case as late as 1983-84. As badly received as
most of Filmation's comedy output, the dead-serious TARZAN received
considerable acclaim from critics, animation buffs and Burroughs
purists who felt it was more faithful than most previous adaptations.
Similar sentiments abound for the studio's takes on STAR TREK and FLASH
GORDON.
Fall 1977 also saw an entirely new Archie/Sabrina series, apparently in
response to big ratings for syndicated reruns of the originals. By
Thanksgiving, it was history.
> 1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
> 90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action serial,
> "Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the
Super
> Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman. The series
> is retitled "Batman & the Super 7" when it moves to NBC in 1980,
while
> Jason & Tarzan remain at CBS. Should be noted that James Doohan (Star
> Trek) had a role in "Jason".
NBC ran strictly reruns of the above series for the 1980-81 season,
which was delayed by an actor's strike. H-B's SPACE STARS was scheduled
for that season, but didn't actually premiere till fall '81. Could it
be that the BATMAN reruns got high enough reruns to keep them on the
whole year?
> 1979: The Fabulous Funnies debuts on NBC, and, yup, it goes just one
> year. Broom Hilda and Nancy return with different features than when
> they were on Archie's TV Funnies.
It was 1978, not '79. Little Lulu and The Captain and The Kids also
were reprised, and Alley Oop made his animation debut. In keeping with
contemporary mandates, the episodes had to have a moral. FABULOUS
FUNNIES seemed to have a little more energy than the TV FUNNIES
segments. The great June Foray contributed voices, as did the very
versatile Alan Oppenheimer.
In 1979, a revival series MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE & JECKLE premiered on
CBS. It was a rare instance of Filmation making characters seem better
animated than previously- but then we're talking Terrytoons here. There
was a new supporting segment, Quackula, which was exactly what it
sounded like. It was quite bizarre to see such venerable characters
perform under late-70's synthesized score and 'Hanna-Barbera' sound
effects, which Filmation made copious use of.
> 1980: The Lone Ranger returns to cartoons, coupled with Tarzan on
CBS.
> William Conrad, billed as "J. Darnoc", voices the Ranger. Jason of
Star
> Command is set adrift, airing during lunch hour, and blacked out in
> some parts of the country. Flash Gordon debuts on NBC mere months
after
> the feature film of the same name. I believe Hearst or King Features
> owns this one, and whomever has the rights to the Ranger would have
> this slate of toons.
>
Also that year was a new version of Tom & Jerry, with supporting
segments starring Droopy- the latter of which was a rare bad voice job
by Frank Welker. Unlike H-B's version five years earlier, the cat and
mouse were allowed to be enemies again despite Standards & Practices
still banning most over slapstick cartoon violence.
Don't forget 1981's HERO HIGH in 1981. It was an odd blend of
ARCHIE-like teenage comedy and fully-animated Captain Marvel episodes
sans Mentor.
>
>
>1984: Fat Albert moves into syndication.
With no network intervention, the syndicated FAT ALBERT episodes went
into uncharted territory. One episode dealt with a single mother who
appeared to be about the same age as the Junkyard Gang. Another that
dealt with gangs saw a guest character shot and killed onscreen, albeit
bloodlessly and with face not shown. Unfortunately, the new episodes
were even more fomulaic than the CBS originals while lacking their
lighthearted nature- not to mention Junkyard Band songs. That Russell
and Rudy had different voices didn't help either. Don't even GET me
started on the framing Legal Eagle segments, which made one wish for
the Brown Hornet.
Kip Williams
> Howard Fein wrote:
>> seventies. Remember UPA's 1961 DICK TRACY adaptation?
>
> Oh, yeah. I took it completely seriously when I watched that.
In 1961, that is.
Kip W
not completely daft
donovan...@aol.com
Howard Fein wrote:
> Very good recap of a long-neglected animation house. Filmation is
> frequently mailgned for its low-budget animation, small stock company
> of voice artists and half-hearted adaptations of live-action
> properties. But absence has made the heart grow fonder in that most
> Filmation product is scantly rerun or available on video. Some of its
> series did see limited syndicated reruns in the seventies and
eighties,
> and there were some video releases long out of print.
Currently, Boomerang is running segments of Filmation's DC Comics
adaptations as filler at the end of other shows that don't take up a
whole half hour or don't have commercial interuptions.
> >1984: Fat Albert moves into syndication.
>
> With no network intervention, the syndicated FAT ALBERT episodes went
> into uncharted territory. One episode dealt with a single mother who
> appeared to be about the same age as the Junkyard Gang. Another that
> dealt with gangs saw a guest character shot and killed onscreen,
albeit
> bloodlessly and with face not shown. Unfortunately, the new episodes
I remember one episode in which they are caught going on a joy ride and
then taken on a tour of a prison to show them they didn't want to come
back. One of the prisoners even called Rudy a "son of a bitch."
Another featured Neo-Nazis who tell Fat Albert to go back to Africa.
At the time, I thought these were episodes from the Saturday morning
run that I had somehow missed.
> were even more fomulaic than the CBS originals while lacking their
> lighthearted nature- not to mention Junkyard Band songs. That Russell
> and Rudy had different voices didn't help either. Don't even GET me
> started on the framing Legal Eagle segments, which made one wish for
> the Brown Hornet.
I concur. I saw the Legal Eagle segment one time and said to myself,
"What the Hell is this?" I actually liked the Brown Hornet, although I
missed the songs from the original version. Which is odd, because when
I was a little kid, I always hated the musical interludes in variety
shows.
Chris Sobieniak
>Howard Fein wrote:
>>1984: Fat Albert moves into syndication.
>>With no network intervention, the syndicated FAT
>>ALBERT episodes went into uncharted territory.
>>One episode dealt with a single mother who
>>appeared to be about the same age as the
>>Junkyard Gang. Another that dealt with gangs
>>saw a guest character shot and killed onscreen,
>>albeit bloodlessly and with face not shown.
I think I have that episode on tape. It was about gang violence, and it
delt with a younger brother of a gang member (which we see his face,
also Hispanic) who wanted to be a great comedian one day, but loses his
life while getting in the crossfire of a rumble that is witnessed by his
older brother and Fat Albert (with the police there too). In the end, a
park that was cleaned up by Fat Albert and the gang was commemorated to
the memory of that kid.
>I remember one episode in which they are caught
>going on a joy ride and then taken on a tour of a
>prison to show them they didn't want to come
>back. One of the prisoners even called Rudy a
>"son of a bitch." Another featured Neo-Nazis who
>tell Fat Albert to go back to Africa.
I wish I had that on tape! I think subsequent airings removed these
lines. Somehow I don't remember those lines in particular said, but
it's been over 20 years since I would've saw them first time in
syndication (assuming any station in my area played that one). I think
the episode was titled "Busted" or such.
>At the time, I thought these were episodes from
>the Saturday morning run that I had somehow
>missed.
I think many had the same impression. The show's saturday morning
lifespan didn't have as many episodes every other year after 1972.
>>were even more fomulaic than the CBS originals
>>while lacking their lighthearted nature- not to
>>mention Junkyard Band songs. That Russell and
>>Rudy had different voices didn't help either.
I assume the VAs for them grew up unless they weren't the same as they
had in the '70s. I still liked them anyway.
>>Don't even GET me started on the framing Legal
>>Eagle segments, which made one wish for the
>>Brown Hornet.
Some of the '84 episodes at least had him too.
>I concur. I saw the Legal Eagle segment one time
>and said to myself, "What the Hell is this?" I
>actually liked the Brown Hornet, although I missed
>the songs from the original version. Which is odd,
>because when I was a little kid, I always hated the
>musical interludes in variety shows.
For growing up in the early '80s when the variety show format died, I
didn't seem to mind that as much.
From the Master of Car-too-nal Knowledge...
Christopher M. Sobieniak @ Studio Toledo
FF
> DIC seems to own all the CBS 1968-75 Archie library. Back around 1993
> or '94, the old Family Channel used to rerun the above-noted Archie
> series (with the DIC Kid In Bed closing logo), but NOT the Ghoulies.
According to their website, Entertainment Rights - the UK company that
recently bought all of the Filmation library that Hallmark owned - has
the rights to the various Archie series.
http://www.entertainmentrights.com/programming/animation/
> CROC was a HUGE innovation, namely parodying live-action
> hosted kiddie shows- which unfortunately were unknown to most kids
> watching Saturday AM TV at the time, hence wasting the parody. What was
> bizarre was seeing old GROOVIE GHOULIE footage interspersed through the
> show, which must've struck enough of a nerve for ABC to rerun the
> original 1970 GHOULIE half-hours for the rest of the 1975-76 season
> after CROC departed.
I wonder who has the rights to the live action Uncle Croc segments.
Entertainment Rights owns the animated sequences, but not the actual
Croc segments.
> It was 1978, not '79. Little Lulu and The Captain and The Kids also
> were reprised, and Alley Oop made his animation debut.
Little Lulu wasn't a part of the show. Are you thinking of Emmy Lou?
Tumbleweeds was also part of the show, but after the first episode
aired, they realized that they never secured the rights to the
Tumbleweeds characters, so the segments were removed from the show. I
am guessing some arangement was made because the Tumbleweed segments
were released on video a couple of times.
>
> Don't forget 1981's HERO HIGH in 1981. It was an odd blend of
> ARCHIE-like teenage comedy and fully-animated Captain Marvel episodes
> sans Mentor.
Hero High was the name of the segment, the full title of the show was
the Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! Each episode featured two Hero
High segments. The first one usually took place at Hero High, while
the second one would take place outside the school.
Like Uncle Croc, there was a live action portion of the show. Actors
were dressed up as the Hero High characters and participated in really
bad "Laugh In" like jokes and would perform a song or two. In at least
one case, they used songs previously used on the Fat Albert series.
FF
hobb...@yahoo.com
Howard Fein wrote:
> Very good recap of a long-neglected animation house.
Thanks.
> Filmation is
> frequently mailgned for its low-budget animation, small stock company
> of voice artists and half-hearted adaptations of live-action
> properties. But absence has made the heart grow fonder in that most
> Filmation product is scantly rerun or available on video. Some of its
> series did see limited syndicated reruns in the seventies and
eighties,
> and there were some video releases long out of print.
Yes. I remember seeing He-Man on VHS, released through RCA-Columbia.
> > 1970-71: Comedian Jerry Lewis, who had been starring in a comic
book
> > from DC at the time, has his own series on ABC, but another comic,
> > David L. Lander, who'd later gain fame on "Laverne & Shirley",
voices
> > for Lewis. The result is "Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit
Down?"
> > lasts just one season. Does Jerry own the rights to this one?
>
> It's not certain WHO owns WILL THE REAL JERRY LEWIS PLEASE SIT DOWN?
> Unlike other Filmation series, this one never saw the light of day in
> syndication or video after its run on ABC ended. I've no memory of
the
> show (always watched fellow Filmation product GROOVIE GHOULIES in the
> same time slot on CBS), but judging from what I've read about it (and
> screen shots) on various websites, there's a LOT of Asian ethnic
> stereotyping. One of his 'characters' was bumbling detective Hong
Kong
> Flewis(?), equipped with standard "ah, so" and inverted l's and r's.
> Lewis became a prominent comedy star during the 1950s when it was no
> longer okay to burlesque African-Americans, but PERFECTLY all right
to
> do the same to Orientals. This mentality lasted long into the
> seventies. Remember UPA's 1961 DICK TRACY adaptation?
Sure do, but I barely remember seeing even the opening to the Lewis
show. Maybe Jerry owns the rights himself, and he found it so bad, he
decided it couldn't be released on video.
> > Meanwhile, Sabrina has spun off from the Archie series into her own
> > show, which in turn spins off the Groovie Goolies. I'd think DIC
owns
> > these as well. The Goolies also form a pre-fab band. Favorite song
on
> > this show was "Kings & Queens".
>
> DIC seems to own all the CBS 1968-75 Archie library. Back around 1993
> or '94, the old Family Channel used to rerun the above-noted Archie
> series (with the DIC Kid In Bed closing logo), but NOT the Ghoulies.
As
> for Sabrina, her starring series didn't start until fall 1971. She
had
> her own segments in 1969's ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR and 1970's GHOULIES.
> Subsequent GHOULIE half-hour rerun packages on ABC (1975-76) and
> syndication (beginning '77) only include the comedy sketches and
songs
> of the Ghoulies. You'd only see Sabrina as a straight woman in quick
> joke bits. ("I don't know, Frankie- what's green and puts out forest
> fires?")
The Ghoulies were created for TV, so they're part of the Filmation
stock that is now owned by a UK company.
> >
> > 1972: Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids debuts on CBS and becomes the
> > longest running series the studio produces for any of the networks,
> as
> > it lasts 12 seasons before going into syndication. Archie's TV
> Funnies
> > (DIC) introduces viewers to TV versions of comic strips Broom
Hilda,
> > Emmy Lou, Nancy, Smokey Stover, and the Dropouts, plus the animated
> > return of Dick Tracy. I believe Dr. Cosby owns the rights to Fat
> > Albert, though Fox did the recent movie, headed for DVD on 3/22.
>
> TV FUNNIES actually premiered a year earlier, in fall 1971. After the
> initial 16-episode cycle, CBS presented six to eight new episodes of
> FAT ALBERT in 1973, '75, '76, '79 (when the repugnant Brown Hornet
> segments premiered), '80 and possibly '81 and/or '82. In 1984, fifty
> brand-new episodes bowed in syndication in tandem with reruns of the
> CBS episodes. It was pretty easy to tell the difference between an
> episode from '72 and one from '84.
I really do have to get one of those books on TV toons. What was wrong
with Brown Hornet? I thought Cosby was just doing his best to parody
superheroes, and it was pretty funny.
>
> > The Brady Kids, co-produced by Paramount, is a spin-off from "The
> Brady
> > Bunch", and begins a 2 year run on ABC. The actual "Kids"
themselves
> > did the voices, although Barry Williams left the show after the 1st
> > season.
>
> Not only Williams, but Maureen McCormick bowed out after the first
> season. For the four or six new episodes aired in fall 1973, they
were
> replaced by Filmation stalwarts Lance and Lola Scheimer (offspring of
> co-exec producer Lou). It always freaked me out that not only did the
> parents and Alice not seem to exist in their animated universe, but
all
> six kids appeared to live together in a treehouse! Their animated
show
> and its accroutrements- animals sidekicks Moptop the dog, Marlon the
> mynah and Ping and Pong the pandas- was hilariously lampooned in
1995's
> A VERY BRADY SEQUEL. They were presented as a mushroom-induced
> hallucination by an imposter passing himself off as Roy Martin,
Carol's
> presumably dead first husband.
A show of disrespect toward the cartoon, or just a left-handed salute?
I guess the reason Alice, Mike, & Carol (and even Sam the butcher)
weren't used is that the show was meant to be centered around just the
kids. It was technically a spinoff from "Brady Bunch" after all.
Oh, man! I forgot these two. Jane Webb was virtually the lone female
voice artist at Filmation for a long time. Ted Knight worked on Lassie,
which was his last gig for the studio, I do believe.
>
> > 1974: New Adventures of Gilligan replaces Mission: Magic on the ABC
> > schedule, reuniting the cast of "Gilligan's Island". The gang would
> get
> > back together 8 years later for "Gilligan's Planet" on CBS. I
believe
> > WB, which has the syndie rights to "Island", also owns both
cartoons,
> > but I'm not sure. >
>
> The 1974 GILLIGAN revival only lacked Tina Louise and Dawn Wells.
> Studio workhorse Jane Webb performed Ginger and Mary Ann with the
> latter being top-billed as 'Jane Edwards'. This was the only known
time
> a cartoon series actually top-billed character voices, but it was
> obviously done to retain the famous 'faces-in-a-life-preserver'
> introduction of the original series. PLANET had Dawn Wells perform
both
> roles, but this time the introductory credit sequence openly
> acknowledged this- no pseudonyms.
Never saw Planet, barely saw New Advs. of Gilligan, so I wouldn't have
known.
>
> The 1974 version was rerun as part of the 1977 syndicated compendium
> GROOVIE GHOULIES & FRIENDS. Reruns of LASSIE, WALDO KITTY, MY
FAVORITE
> MARTIANS and the UNCLE CROC cartoon segments ran in tandem. None of
> these shows had enough episodes to strip daily, so they were
> 'checkerboarded', or rerun until episodes gave out at which point
> another series stepped in for its run.
I remember the syndie package. The Croc toons were Wacky & Packy,
M*U*S*H, & Fraidy Cat. Filmation was copying what H-B was doing at the
time (Fred Flintstone & Friends).
Thought I saw it in Sunday listings during the '76-77 term. I barely
saw Croc before it was cancelled.
> >
> > 1976: Ark II replaces Ghost Busters in Filmation's live-action
block
> on
> > CBS. Said block is prefaced with the debut of Tarzan, Lord of the
> > Jungle, which begins a 6 year run on the network.
>
> I believe that after its 1976 premiere, a smaller number of new
TARZAN
> episodes were made only in 1977. The show proved durable enough to
keep
> coming back on CBS' schedule whenever a new show didn't make it past
> Christmas. This was the case as late as 1983-84. As badly received as
> most of Filmation's comedy output, the dead-serious TARZAN received
> considerable acclaim from critics, animation buffs and Burroughs
> purists who felt it was more faithful than most previous adaptations.
> Similar sentiments abound for the studio's takes on STAR TREK and
FLASH
> GORDON.
See, sometimes they got it right.
>
> Fall 1977 also saw an entirely new Archie/Sabrina series, apparently
in
> response to big ratings for syndicated reruns of the originals. By
> Thanksgiving, it was history.
Forgot about that, too. Archie & Sabrina's series were split up, with
Sabrina's 1/2 becoming "Super Witch", and Archie "The Bang-Shang
Lallapalooza Show". Both were cancelled in April '78.
>
> > 1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
> > 90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action serial,
> > "Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the
> Super
> > Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman. The
series
> > is retitled "Batman & the Super 7" when it moves to NBC in 1980,
> while
> > Jason & Tarzan remain at CBS. Should be noted that James Doohan
(Star
> > Trek) had a role in "Jason".
>
> NBC ran strictly reruns of the above series for the 1980-81 season,
> which was delayed by an actor's strike. H-B's SPACE STARS was
scheduled
> for that season, but didn't actually premiere till fall '81. Could it
> be that the BATMAN reruns got high enough reruns to keep them on the
> whole year?
Possibly.
>
> > 1979: The Fabulous Funnies debuts on NBC, and, yup, it goes just
one
> > year. Broom Hilda and Nancy return with different features than
when
> > they were on Archie's TV Funnies.
>
> It was 1978, not '79. Little Lulu and The Captain and The Kids also
> were reprised, and Alley Oop made his animation debut. In keeping
with
> contemporary mandates, the episodes had to have a moral. FABULOUS
> FUNNIES seemed to have a little more energy than the TV FUNNIES
> segments. The great June Foray contributed voices, as did the very
> versatile Alan Oppenheimer.
Filmation had also hired Melendy Britt for New Advs. of Batman (did
Jane Webb retire by '77?), so they were starting to make improvements
in casting. Why did most of Filmation's series, save for Star Trek &
Flash Gordon, fail on NBC?
>
> In 1979, a revival series MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE & JECKLE premiered on
> CBS. It was a rare instance of Filmation making characters seem
better
> animated than previously- but then we're talking Terrytoons here.
There
> was a new supporting segment, Quackula, which was exactly what it
> sounded like. It was quite bizarre to see such venerable characters
> perform under late-70's synthesized score and 'Hanna-Barbera' sound
> effects, which Filmation made copious use of.
Quackula was the first series that gave the estimable Frank Welker top
billing. Matter of fact, I think Frank also did H & J. Paramount owns
this series, too.
>
> > 1980: The Lone Ranger returns to cartoons, coupled with Tarzan on
> CBS.
> > William Conrad, billed as "J. Darnoc", voices the Ranger. Jason of
> Star
> > Command is set adrift, airing during lunch hour, and blacked out in
> > some parts of the country. Flash Gordon debuts on NBC mere months
> after
> > the feature film of the same name. I believe Hearst or King
Features
> > owns this one, and whomever has the rights to the Ranger would have
> > this slate of toons.
> >
> Also that year was a new version of Tom & Jerry, with supporting
> segments starring Droopy- the latter of which was a rare bad voice
job
> by Frank Welker. Unlike H-B's version five years earlier, the cat and
> mouse were allowed to be enemies again despite Standards & Practices
> still banning most over slapstick cartoon violence.
Forgot about this, too. WB owns these toons, as they've been used on
Cartoon Network.
>
> Don't forget 1981's HERO HIGH in 1981. It was an odd blend of
> ARCHIE-like teenage comedy and fully-animated Captain Marvel episodes
> sans Mentor.
Kid Super Power Hour w/Shazam!. Another 1 year wonder for NBC. The Hero
High kids were also a live-action pre-fab band, again influenced by
Archie.
> >
> >
> >1984: Fat Albert moves into syndication.
>
> With no network intervention, the syndicated FAT ALBERT episodes went
> into uncharted territory. One episode dealt with a single mother who
> appeared to be about the same age as the Junkyard Gang. Another that
> dealt with gangs saw a guest character shot and killed onscreen,
albeit
> bloodlessly and with face not shown. Unfortunately, the new episodes
> were even more fomulaic than the CBS originals while lacking their
> lighthearted nature- not to mention Junkyard Band songs. That Russell
> and Rudy had different voices didn't help either. Don't even GET me
> started on the framing Legal Eagle segments, which made one wish for
> the Brown Hornet.
It was that bad?
Is that book, "Animation by Filmation" still available anywhere? Gotta
get it.
J. C. Gilbert
Garrison Hilliard
"hobb...@yahoo.com" <hobb...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Meanwhile, Sabrina has spun off from the Archie series into her own
> > show, which in turn spins off the Groovie Goolies. I'd think DIC
owns
> > these as well. The Goolies also form a pre-fab band. Favorite song
on
> > this show was "Kings & Queens".
Bullshit! Their best song was "Chick-A-Boom", which became a top ten hit!
hobb...@yahoo.com
Well, I did hear "Chick-A-Boom" on the radio, but I'll bet if I did a
search on it, the top ten hit won't be credited to the studio musicians
behind the Goolies.
J. C. Gilbert
Don Del Grande
> Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids:
> I really do have to get one of those books on TV toons. What was wrong
> with Brown Hornet? I thought Cosby was just doing his best to parody
> superheroes, and it was pretty funny.
Were any of the earliest episodes, with the musical numbers, changed
to replace the song with a Brown Hornet scene?
>> Not only Williams, but Maureen McCormick bowed out after the first
>> season.
Notice that in the first season, the opening includes the live-action
faces of the kids (it ends with Marlon changing each of them into
their animated image), but in the second season, only the animated
faces are used.
>> It always freaked me out that not only did the
>> parents and Alice not seem to exist in their animated universe,
>> but all six kids appeared to live together in a treehouse!
Not only that, but they all go to the same school.
> The Croc toons were Wacky & Packy, M*U*S*H, & Fraidy Cat.
I remember an hour version of Croc with all three, and then it became
a half-hour with just Wacky & Packy. Did Fox complain about M*U*S*H?
>> Ghost Busters, which would begat an animated spinoff 11 years later,
>> reunites "F-Troop"'s Forrest Tucker & Larry Storch
And don't forget "Tracy (the gorilla) trained by Bob Burns"...
>> 1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
>> 90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action serial,
>> "Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the
>> Super Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman.
I see "Jason of Star Command" included; did Filmation have anything to
do with "Space Academy" (one of Jonathan Harris's last regular TV
appearances, as I recall)?
-- Don
Chris Sobieniak
wrote:>news:<1111518657.892411.210970@f14g2000cw>b.googlegroups.com>...
>>library. Back around 1993 or '94, the old Family
>>Channel used to rerun the above-noted Archie
>>series (with the DIC Kid In Bed closing logo), but
>>NOT the Ghoulies.
>According to their website, Entertainment Rights -
>the UK company that recently bought all of the
>Filmation library that Hallmark owned - has the
>rights to the various Archie series.
>http://www.entertainmentrights.com/programming/animation/
This is quite true. I assume Entertainment Rights would also own
Groovie Goolies as well. Currently they managed to get Fat Albert
released on DVD here.
>>CROC was a HUGE innovation, namely
>>parodying live-action hosted kiddie shows- which
>>unfortunately were unknown to most kids
>>watching Saturday AM TV at the time, hence
>>wasting the parody.
The kind of thing we would pick up on nowadays.
>I wonder who has the rights to the live action
>Uncle Croc segments. Entertainment Rights owns
>the animated sequences, but not the actual Croc
>segments.
Would those animated segments be in the Public Dormain these days (given
the number of times Wacky & Packy and Fraidy Cat had surfaced on VHS and
DVD over the years)?
>>It was 1978, not '79. Little Lulu and The Captain
>>and The Kids also were reprised, and Alley Oop
>>made his animation debut.
>Little Lulu wasn't a part of the show. Are you
>thinking of Emmy Lou? Tumbleweeds was also
>part of the show, but after the first episode aired,
>they realized that they never secured the rights to
>the Tumbleweeds characters, so the segments
>were removed from the show. I am guessing some
>arangement was made because the Tumbleweed
>segments were released on video a couple of
>times.
Somehow I didn't know that (having found a video of "Fabulous Funnies"
once I watched).
Emmy Lou was in "Archie's TV Funnies" I think. One thing about that
show that rather amused me was thinking the selection of comics they
used reminded me of what it's like reading a small-town newspaper where
you had less than a page of comics and these might be in them (not that
any small town would pick up "The Dropouts").
Kip Williams
http://www.bsnpubs.com/mgm/sunflower.html
[from the article]:
Dick Monda provided us with a little more background. He explained in a
note to us, "I was born in Cleveland, but I lived in California from the
time I was five. The interesting thing about 'Chick-A-Boom' is that I
originally did it for the TV cartoon show Sabrina and the Groovie
Goolies. You were right about the lack of success of the second single.
It wasn't the record I wanted to release, but [MGM honcho] Mike Curb
would not give my choice a chance. The song I wanted, entitled 'I Ain't
Never Seen a White Man,' was later released as the lead cut on an album
I produced on Wolfman Jack. The song was a total departure from
'Chick-A-Boom,' as I never thought the hit could be followed up. No
songs of that genre have ever been followed up successfully, so it
remains to be seen if 'Who Let the Dogs Out' will break the jinx.
Anyway, it still feels good to know that someone still remembers my one
hit wonder after all these years."
[end of quote]
I didn't believe it either, so I looked it up. Okay, now I believe it.
The part about it being 'their best song' I'll just accept on faith.
Kip W
also groovy
FF
> hobbyfan wrote:
>
> I remember an hour version of Croc with all three, and then it became
> a half-hour with just Wacky & Packy. Did Fox complain about M*U*S*H?
I don't think there were any problems with MUSH since it was later
syndicated and released on video in the 80s. From what I understand,
the network hated Uncle Croc and the ratings were horrible, so they
cut it down to a half hour hoping that it would get better ratings. It
didn't and it was history.
>
> >> 1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
> >> 90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action serial,
> >> "Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the
> >> Super Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman.
>
> I see "Jason of Star Command" included; did Filmation have anything to
> do with "Space Academy" (one of Jonathan Harris's last regular TV
> appearances, as I recall)?
Filmation created Space Academy and Jason was actually a spinoff of
the show. They used some of the same props, costumes, minatures, sets,
and even the robot.
FF
FF
> >I wonder who has the rights to the live action
> >Uncle Croc segments. Entertainment Rights owns
> >the animated sequences, but not the actual Croc
> >segments.
>
> Would those animated segments be in the Public Dormain these days (given
> the number of times Wacky & Packy and Fraidy Cat had surfaced on VHS and
> DVD over the years)?
I've wondered the same thing. ER's page says they have the rights to
both of them (as well as MUSH), but obviously someone else seems to
have the rights judging by all of the various releases you mentioned.
> >>It was 1978, not '79. Little Lulu and The Captain
> >>and The Kids also were reprised, and Alley Oop
> >>made his animation debut.
> >Little Lulu wasn't a part of the show. Are you
> >thinking of Emmy Lou? Tumbleweeds was also
> >part of the show, but after the first episode aired,
> >they realized that they never secured the rights to
> >the Tumbleweeds characters, so the segments
> >were removed from the show. I am guessing some
> >arangement was made because the Tumbleweed
> >segments were released on video a couple of
> >times.
>
> Somehow I didn't know that (having found a video of "Fabulous Funnies"
> once I watched).
>
> Emmy Lou was in "Archie's TV Funnies" I think. One thing about that
> show that rather amused me was thinking the selection of comics they
> used reminded me of what it's like reading a small-town newspaper where
> you had less than a page of comics and these might be in them (not that
> any small town would pick up "The Dropouts").
That is a good observation. I wasn't familiar with a lot of the comics
because some of them were before my time.
I know Emmy Lou was in the Archie series, but I believe she was
brought back for the Fabulous Funnies. Although I don't recall any
specific bits with her character, she is in the opening credits.
FF
FF
>
> Is that book, "Animation by Filmation" still available anywhere? Gotta
> get it.
It is out of print and pretty hard to find. Copies show up on Ebay
every so often and usually go for $60 and up.
A few years back, another printing was announced, but as far as I can
tell, it never happened.
FF
Chris Sobieniak
wrote:
>chrism...@webtv.net (Chris Sobieniak) wrote in
>message
>news:<22789-424...@storefull-3138.bay.w>ebtv.net>...
>>Dormain these days (given the number of times
>>Wacky & Packy and Fraidy Cat had surfaced on
>>VHS and DVD over the years)?
>I've wondered the same thing. ER's page says
>they have the rights to both of them (as well as
>MUSH), but obviously someone else seems to
>have the rights judging by all of the various
>releases you mentioned.
You just never know.
Another Filmation production that seems to have found it's way into the
budget tape trade was some involvement Bill Cosby had before his Fat
Albert debute called "Aesop's Fables: The Tortoise & The Hare", which
was some TV special that I found actually quite good for it's time
animation-wise.
>>One thing about that show that rather amused me
>>was thinking the selection of comics they used
>>reminded me of what it's like reading a
>>small-town newspaper where you had less than a
>>page of comics and these might be in them (not
>>that any small town would pick up "The
>>Dropouts").
>That is a good observation. I wasn't familiar with a
>lot of the comics because some of them were
>before my time.
I personally would've been familiar with Dick Tracy, Nancy and Witch
Hazel personally as they were comics I either saw from my city's
newspaper or an out-of-town one I might've spot occasionally. Though I
had to put up with seeing the Jerry Scott-redesigned Nancy during the
'80s that my local newspaper continued until the later part of the
decade. The only paper I could see the current Nancy's is up in Monroe,
Michigan or the Detroit papers. The same paper in Monroe also prints
Alley Oop which I hardly see anywhere else.
Still's it's kinda true thinking of some of the characters used in it
that were fading from the American comics scene by the 70's, especially
Captain & The Kids, Moon Mullins and Smokey Stover.
>I know Emmy Lou was in the Archie series, but I
>believe she was brought back for the Fabulous
>Funnies. Although I don't recall any specific bits
>with her character, she is in the opening credits.
>FF
In the case of Archie's TV Funnies, most of the strips used a lot of
times tend to be in very short minute-long gags and were randomly used
through the series, usually taking up about 2/3's of an episode while
the remainder was devoted to Archie and the gang and their misadventures
at a TV station. Fabulous Funnies made better used of the properties by
having the characters in longer segments that usually ended with some
kind of moral or lessons learned.
Chris Sobieniak
wrote:>news:<1112074405.965883.82700@l41g2000cwc.>googlegroups.com>...
>>available anywhere? Gotta get it.
>It is out of print and pretty hard to find. Copies
>show up on Ebay every so often and usually go for
>$60 and up.
Damn.
>A few years back, another printing was
>announced, but as far as I can tell, it never
>happened.
>FF
If I had my own publishing firm devoted to a niche market, I'd bring
that back!
Howard Fein
> initial 16-episode cycle, CBS presented six to eight new episodes of
> FAT ALBERT in 1973, '75, '76, '79 (when the repugnant Brown Hornet
> segments premiered), '80 and possibly '81 and/or '82. In 1984, fifty
> brand-new episodes bowed in syndication in tandem with reruns of the
> CBS episodes. It was pretty easy to tell the difference between an
> episode from '72 and one from '84.
> I really do have to get one of those books on TV toons. What was
wrong
> with Brown Hornet? I thought Cosby was just doing his best to parody
> superheroes, and it was pretty funny.
The Brown Hornet segments seemed like an interesting idea (Cosby
over-enunciating the Hornet's lines in exaggeratedly precise style was
pretty amusing), but I was somewhat soured by the idea that this was
replacing the song segment at the ends of the episodes. The parallels
between the Hornet segment and the theme of the overall episode were
often very nebulous. Someone elsewhere in this thread asked if older
FAT ALBERT episodes replaced the songs with new Hornet segments. YES.
When CBS reran the 1976 episode "Junk Food" in 1979- the first season
in which the Hornet replaced the songs- was altered in just this way.
The actual episode was cut off abruptly right at the point where the
live-action Cosby would introduce the song ("The kids've worked up a
little song- give a listen." [canned applause]).
For what it's worth, the brief Hornet segments had decent comic pacing
and direction for Filmation, whose overall comic animation pacing and
direction had started to perk up around 1974 or '75.
> Not only Williams, but Maureen McCormick bowed out after the first
season. For the four or six new episodes aired in fall 1973, > they
were replaced by Filmation stalwarts Lance and Lola Scheimer (offspring
of co-exec producer Lou). It always freaked me > out that not only did
the parents and Alice not seem to exist in their animated universe, but
all six kids appeared to live >together >in a treehouse! Their animated
show and its accroutrements- animals sidekicks Moptop the dog, Marlon
the mynah >and Ping and Pong the pandas- was hilariously lampooned in
1995's A VERY BRADY SEQUEL. They were presented as a >mushroom-induced
hallucination by an imposter passing himself off as Roy Martin, Carol's
presumably dead first husband.
> A show of disrespect toward the cartoon, or just a left-handed
salute?
> I guess the reason Alice, Mike, & Carol (and even Sam the butcher)
> weren't used is that the show was meant to be centered around just
the
> kids. It was technically a spinoff from "Brady Bunch" after all.
Maybe the fact that the parent sitcom was still very much in production
and airing on ABC the night before the cartoon made the transition that
stranger. Filmation's other sitcom adaptations, MY FAVORITE MARTIANS
and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, aired eight years after the sitcoms'
cancellations. Likewise, H-B's NBC adaptation of THE ADDAMS FAMILY that
aired in 1973, seven years after it was cancelled. Even kids in
preschool who watched both BUNCH and KIDS wondered what become of the
adults.
>Oh, man! I forgot these two. Jane Webb was virtually the lone female
voice artist at Filmation for a long time. Ted Knight worked >on
Lassie, which was his last gig for the studio, I do believe.
Lola Scheimer, daughter of Lou, was the other primary female voice. Not
only did she fill in for Marcia Brady (badly), but was the only female
performer on MISSION: MAGIC. Webb must've been too busy on BRADY KIDS
and MY FAVORITE MARTIANS. It's interesting to note that in the
pre-Archie days of Filmation, Ted Knight and Pat Harrington Jr. did
many voices. Knight narrated the first season of H-B's SUPER FRIENDS
(infamous for Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog), and Harrington pretty much
disappeared from animation after DFE's INSPECTOR theatrical series
ended in 1969. Given the way Knight came to be typecast as obnoxious
Ted Baxter, it's easy to forget he was quite effective at straight,
dramatic voice work.
>As badly received as most of Filmation's comedy output, the
dead-serious TARZAN received considerable acclaim from critics,
>animation buffs and Burroughs purists who felt it was more faithful
than most previous adaptations. Similar sentiments abound >for the
studio's takes on STAR TREK and FLASH GORDON.
>See, sometimes they got it right.
Actually, I meant to say in my original post that "As badly received as
most of Filmation's comedy output WAS, the dead-serious-TARZAN-", but
you seem to have gotten my drift. Overall, Filmation fared much better
in a critical and artistic sense at drama and adventure than comedy.
Its only comedic series that really gathered any acclaim was FAT
ALBERT, and that was really more for content and intent than execution.
>Filmation had also hired Melendy Britt for New Advs. of Batman (did
Jane Webb retire by '77?), so they were starting to make >improvements
in casting.
As stated above, the overall product seemed to improve in the
mid-seventies. It may be coincidental with Hal Sutherland being
replaced by Joe Mazzucca (sp?) as producer. Starting with 1975, the
year of WALDO and CROC, the comedic cartoons seemed to have much more
energy, and some original background music score was composed. The Croc
segments benefited from the voices of Lennie Weinrib, Alan Oppenheimer,
Bob Ridgely and the marvelous Ken Mars. WALDO reunited studio vet
Howard Morris with his old H-B and KFS costar Allen Melvin, and their
behind-the-mike chemistry was still evident.
Jane Webb, along with Morris and Dal McKennon probably did their last
Filmation work in the ill-fated '77 ARCHIE/SABRINA revival. While
Morris toiled on (last heard in CN's 1997 COW & CHICKEN), Webb and
McKennon seem to have retired. McKennon is rumored to have filled in as
Gumby for the 1988 syndicated revival. He's still alive and reportedly
active in the fan lecture circuit.
>Why did most of Filmation's series, save for Star Trek & Flash Gordon,
fail on NBC?
Through the seventies, NBC had a much itchier Saturday AM cancellation
trigger finger than ABC or CBS. Even a low-rated series on the latter
two networks would be played out over a second season in reruns,
usually on an early Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning slot. Even
such 'classics' as HONG KONG PHOOEY, SPEED BUGGY, JOSIE AND THE
PUSSYCATS, JABBERJAW and popular Filmation product GROOVIE GHOULIES
only produced one 16-episode set of originals. But NBC was more likely
to pull the plug on an unsuccessful series after EXACTLY one year. It
was also more apt to pull a failed show midseason, ARCHIE/SABRINA being
a perfect case in point.
In the eighties, it became more common for a successful show to be
awarded second, or beyond, seasons of a full complement of 13 episodes
(SMURFS, REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, GARFIELD, PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE). But by that
time, Filmation was largely extinct, its last original Saturday AM
series 1982-83's GILLIGAN'S PLANET.
>Is that book, "Animation by Filmation" still available anywhere? Gotta
get it.
I never knew there WAS such a thing, and I've been perusing Barnes &
Noble's TV section for years. Disney, WB, H-B, Rankin-Bass and even
Kroft have had books devoted to them. If there was a Filmation book, it
never saw the light of bookshelf in NYC!
Not many Filmation series even aired on NBC- STAR TREK was the first,
and the only one to earn a second season of originals (albeit, with
fewer episodes). FLASH GORDON initially ran during NBC's 1979-80 season
and then disappeared until the same 13 episodes reran in 1982-83.
>Quackula was the first series that gave the estimable Frank Welker top
billing. Matter of fact, I think Frank also did H & J. >Paramount owns
this series, too.
Yes, Frank did all three voices, and virtually every voice in the
following season's Tom & Jerry revival. It was nice to hear him in the
Filmation fold long after he made his mark in H-B and DFE. For a time
last year, an obscure UHF channel in New York City- 68, I think- would
show various public domain cartoons late weekday afternoons.
Filmation's Terrytoon revival, along with SPORT BILLY. Other P.D.
oddities aired in this package were THE NEW THREE STOOGES, older Little
Audrey cartoons and the long-banned Bugs short ALL THIS AND RABBIT
STEW- unedited! Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable soon plugged Channel
68 into another foreign channel slot.
hobb...@yahoo.com
Don Del Grande wrote:
> hobbyfan wrote:
>
> > Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids:
> > I really do have to get one of those books on TV toons. What was
wrong
> > with Brown Hornet? I thought Cosby was just doing his best to
parody
> > superheroes, and it was pretty funny.
>
> Were any of the earliest episodes, with the musical numbers, changed
> to replace the song with a Brown Hornet scene?
Not that I know of.
>
> >> Not only Williams, but Maureen McCormick bowed out after the first
> >> season.
> > The Croc toons were Wacky & Packy, M*U*S*H, & Fraidy Cat.
>
> I remember an hour version of Croc with all three, and then it became
> a half-hour with just Wacky & Packy. Did Fox complain about M*U*S*H?
Not that I know of. I kinda doubt it.
> >> 1978: Tarzan and Batman are folded into "Tarzan & the Super 7", a
> >> 90-minute anthology series that also features a live-action
serial,
> >> "Jason of Star Command", plus toons Web Woman, Manta & Moray, the
> >> Super Sentinels (featuring Isis), and SuperStretch & MicroWoman.
>
> I see "Jason of Star Command" included; did Filmation have anything
to
> do with "Space Academy" (one of Jonathan Harris's last regular TV
> appearances, as I recall)?
Another one I forgot. Space Academy aired for one season (1977-78),
replacing Ark II. And, yes, Jonathan Harris was the featured star.
J. C. Gilbert
hobb...@yahoo.com
Chris Sobieniak wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 27, 2005, 5:19pm (EST-3), filmat...@hotmail.com (FF)
> wrote:
> >"Howard Fein" <hf...@nycboe.net> wrote in
> >message
> >news:<1111518657.892411.210970@f14g2000cw>b.googlegroups.com>...
> >>DIC seems to own all the CBS 1968-75 Archie
> >>library. Back around 1993 or '94, the old Family
> >>Channel used to rerun the above-noted Archie
> >>series (with the DIC Kid In Bed closing logo), but
> >>NOT the Ghoulies.
> >According to their website, Entertainment Rights -
> >the UK company that recently bought all of the
> >Filmation library that Hallmark owned - has the
> >rights to the various Archie series.
> >http://www.entertainmentrights.com/programming/animation/
>
> This is quite true. I assume Entertainment Rights would also own
> Groovie Goolies as well. Currently they managed to get Fat Albert
> released on DVD here.
Wasn't that long ago, but I haven't seen it in stores yet. Maybe
Wal-Mart's not carrying. (g)
> Emmy Lou was in "Archie's TV Funnies" I think. One thing about that
> show that rather amused me was thinking the selection of comics they
> used reminded me of what it's like reading a small-town newspaper
where
> you had less than a page of comics and these might be in them (not
that
> any small town would pick up "The Dropouts").
Emmy Lou was one of the segs that aired on both Archie's TV Funnies &
Fabulous Funnies. Too bad that strip's not around anymore.
J. C. Gilbert
FF
> Lola Scheimer, daughter of Lou, was the other primary female voice. Not
> only did she fill in for Marcia Brady (badly), but was the only female
> performer on MISSION: MAGIC.
You are combining two people and their names - Lola Fisher, who did
the voice of Miss Tickle on MM, and Scheimer's daughter, Erika, who
did the female students' voices, as well as many other characters on
the various Filmation shows.
>
> >Why did most of Filmation's series, save for Star Trek & Flash Gordon,
> fail on NBC?
>
> Through the seventies, NBC had a much itchier Saturday AM cancellation
> trigger finger than ABC or CBS. Even a low-rated series on the latter
> two networks would be played out over a second season in reruns,
> usually on an early Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning slot. Even
> such 'classics' as HONG KONG PHOOEY, SPEED BUGGY, JOSIE AND THE
> PUSSYCATS, JABBERJAW and popular Filmation product GROOVIE GHOULIES
> only produced one 16-episode set of originals. But NBC was more likely
> to pull the plug on an unsuccessful series after EXACTLY one year. It
> was also more apt to pull a failed show midseason, ARCHIE/SABRINA being
> a perfect case in point.
During the 76 season, NBC changed their schedule in November. They
tried an experimental 3 hour block of live action programming. It
bombed in the ratings and a couple of the shows were taken off (McDuff
and Kids from CAPER) without all of their episodes airing, reruns of
older HB series (Space Ghost and Speed Buggy), were brought in to fill
the gap, and the schedule was rearranged. The schedule was rearranged
again in the spring, with CAPER being brought back and Muggsy leaving
the schedule.
There was a change up behind the scenes at NBC around that time and
new executives were brought in. In 77, NBC decided to go with an all
new schedule. It didn't go very well either, but they managed to keep
all of the shows on the air until mid season in January.
The follow season, similar things happened, with the Krofft Superstar
Hour being cut down to a half hour and renamed the Bay City Rollers
Show, before being cancelled mid season.
> Not many Filmation series even aired on NBC- STAR TREK was the first,
> and the only one to earn a second season of originals (albeit, with
> fewer episodes). FLASH GORDON initially ran during NBC's 1979-80 season
> and then disappeared until the same 13 episodes reran in 1982-83.
There was a second season of Flash Gordon. They took out the
serialized format and went with two segments per show. The segments
were more light hearted than the first season and a little dragon
character - in the vein of Bat Mite or Orko from Masters of the
Universe - was introduced.
FF
gca...@aol.com
:) ANd ARCHIE at Filmation had their own 1970s straight verison.(As
mentiuoed elsewhere)
As We know, there was NO comedy relif--either PC or not.
Well, actually 1996, the FIRST BB movie was 1995.:)GOOD ORNING
STARSHINE by Oliver (NOT RObbie Rist OF BB and not the character from
OLIVER even though this, to make it more confusing was from a another
1960s Broadway musical, HAIR)- was featured.
> segments. The great June Foray contributed voices..
Possibly her ONLY Filmation cartoon role!
Interstingly, a "Tom hits head and 'segues via nihhtmare' thru Middle
Ages", previously used many times and in the same
falling on heard" scenario,previously in a 1966 H-B "Punkin-puss" on
MAGIOLLA GORILLA,[FEUDAL FEUD] had Tom "going back in timne" BEFORE he
had a chance to hit the floor, without doing so--!!--no doubt BECAUSE
of those same Santdards & practices!
>
gca...@aol.com
:) ANd ARCHIE at Filmation had their own 1970s straight verison.(As
mentiuoed elsewhere)
> >
As We know, there was NO comedy relif--either PC or not.
I believe Dr. Cosby owns the rights to Fat
Well, actually 1996, the FIRST BB movie was 1995.:)GOOD ORNING
STARSHINE by Oliver (NOT RObbie Rist OF BB and not the character from
OLIVER even though this, to make it more confusing was from a another
1960s Broadway musical, HAIR)- was featured.
They were presented as a mushroom-induced
> segments. The great June Foray contributed voices..
Possibly her ONLY Filmation cartoon role!
> In 1979, a revival series MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE & JECKLE premiered on
gca...@aol.com
:) ANd ARCHIE at Filmation had their own 1970s straight verison.(As
mentiuoed elsewhere)
> >
As We know, there was NO comedy relif--either PC or not.
I believe Dr. Cosby owns the rights to Fat
Well, actually 1996, the FIRST BB movie was 1995.:)GOOD ORNING
STARSHINE by Oliver (NOT RObbie Rist OF BB and not the character from
OLIVER even though this, to make it more confusing was from a another
1960s Broadway musical, HAIR)- was featured.
They were presented as a mushroom-induced
> segments. The great June Foray contributed voices..
Possibly her ONLY Filmation cartoon role!
> In 1979, a revival series MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE & JECKLE premiered on
Chris Sobieniak
>Chris Sobieniak wrote:
>>This is quite true. I assume Entertainment Rights
>>would also own Groovie Goolies as well.
>>Currently they managed to get Fat Albert
>>released on DVD here.
>Wasn't that long ago, but I haven't seen it in stores
>yet. Maybe Wal-Mart's not carrying. (g)
Heh, I see them for rental at a nearby Family Video location in town!
>Emmy Lou was one of the segs that aired on both
>Archie's TV Funnies & Fabulous Funnies. Too bad
>that strip's not around anymore.
>J. C. Gilbert
Sometimes I wonder if strips like "Zits" could be looked on as an update
to ones like Emmy Lou these days? Though most of them I manage to see
out of Detroit papers seem to fall flat IMO.
paul.ca...@verizon.net
for them. I'm not sure exactly who owns the rights to the Archie
Filmation cartoons in the US, but I can tell you that for quite a while
they were co-owned by a French company and Hallmark. I do know that
they have some available for sale on both VHS and DVD on their website:
hobb...@yahoo.com
WHOA! If I'm not mistaken, Paul, when Archie's Weird Mysteries last
aired in syndication (2003-04), it was part of the DIC package
distributed through Tribune. Would either DIC or Tribune still have the
rights to the rest of the Archie library of series? BTW, it looks to me
like Archie's Mysteries either reduced its frequency or was cancelled
outright. Can you clear that one up for me?
J. C. Gilbert
paul.ca...@verizon.net
When it first aired on PAX, it only ran for about 4 months. Then it
disappeared for a couple of years. As you probably know, I was the
writer on the comic series that the cartoon show spawned. Somewhere
down the line, the folks at Archie decided that since the show had been
off the air for a while and the sales were flagging, they'd remove the
"Weird" from both the title and the concept. They wanted me to do
"realistic mysteries like Scooby Doo." I countered that what we had
done prior was already similar to Scooby Doo, except that the monsters
in "Weird Mysteries" were "real," not men in sheets. It was then that
I brought in the forensics angle and shifted the tone of the series.
Ironically, not long after we got rid of the "Weird" title and
concepts, the cartoon started showing up in syndication! There it had
a much longer shelf life than when originally aired on PAX. Go figure!
Anyway, as for the revamped comic series, issue #34 was the last. And
as for the various Archie animated series, I'm really not sure who has
the rights at this point, although I'd venture that DIC still controls
"The New Archies" and "Weird Mysteries." It's the Filmation shows that
I'm fuzzy on-- like I said, last I remember they were co-owned by a
Paris concern and Hallmark, and I think that's since changed but I
don't know how. Also, I think somehow the Archie company has either a
portion of rights or some legal say. Don't quote me on that-- I'm not
really sure. Your best bet might be to write to Archie Comics
directly-- if you go to the website there should be email addresses for
the principles.
Chris Sobieniak
>Archie's Weird Mysteries was produced by DIC and
>is distributed by DIC. When it first aired on PAX, it
>only ran for about 4 months. Then it
>disappeared for a couple of years.
Heh, I think I only catched a bit of an episode during that time, but my
city has yet and may never will have a full-time PAX affiliate (somehow
a Christian UHF station still gets listed as a PAX affilaite when in
fact they only used one or two shows at all that airs on it, the rest is
all typical Christian gospel crap).
>As you probably know, I was the writer on the
>comic series that the cartoon show spawned.
I didn't know that until you just told me! (see how out of touch I am
about this!)
>Somewhere down the line, the folks at Archie
>decided that since the show had been off the air
>for a while and the sales were flagging, they'd
>remove the "Weird" from both the title and the
>concept. They wanted me to do "realistic mysteries
>like Scooby Doo." I countered that what we had
>done prior was already similar to Scooby Doo,
>except that the monsters in "Weird Mysteries" were
>"real," not men in sheets. It was then that I
>brought in the forensics angle and shifted the tone
>of the series. Ironically, not long after we got rid of
>the "Weird" title and concepts, the cartoon started
>showing up in syndication! There it had a much
>longer shelf life than when originally aired on PAX.
>Go figure!
I just assume knowone bothered to watch PAX, period!
>Anyway, as for the revamped comic series, issue
>#34 was the last. And as for the various Archie
>animated series, I'm really not sure who has the
>rights at this point, although I'd venture that DIC
>still controls "The New Archies" and "Weird
>Mysteries." It's the Filmation shows that I'm fuzzy
>on-- like I said, last I remember they were
>co-owned by a Paris concern and Hallmark, and I
>think that's since changed but I don't know how.
Typically, from the late '80s to the mid '90s the Filmation library was
owned by a French group who also runs a popular cosmetics subsidiary,
after they had bought the company outright from Group W. Hallmark
Entertainment then acquired the properties in the mid '90s and tried to
find some way to get it back into the public conscious, though limited
to their co-ownership with Jim Henson Company on the cable channel
"Odyssey", which showed both the Archie series and the '84 Fat Albert
episodes in the late '90s. Then just last year the library was sold to
UK-based Entertainment Rights, PLC, who should have the Archie material
in their vaults as of present.
>Also, I think somehow the Archie company has
>either a portion of rights or some legal say. Don't
>quote me on that-- I'm not really sure. Your best
>bet might be to write to Archie Comics directly-- if
>you go to the website there should be email
>addresses for the principles.
Assuming if I have the nerve to bother, I hardly read those comics for
probably 12-15 years now.