Way back in the day (well, not THAT far), when I was in the 5th grade, I used to watch this show called Mr. Bogus. It came on in the morning before the bus came, and it was a cartoon about this little yellow guy and his nephew. Only the nephew spoke understandable English. It was mostly cel animation, but there were segments in claymation as well.
I remember watching about half an episode of “Tenspeed and Brownshoe.”
On the heels of the Star Wars movie, there was a sci-fi television show called, I think, “Quark.” It seems to me that it was very bad and had an obligatory appearance by Robbie the Robot. Of course, maybe I hallucinated the whole thing.
I love Newsradio! I watch it every chance I get. I used to watch a show late at night called Empty Nest. I think that is what it was called. I thought it was pretty popular, but no one I know has ever heard of it when I bring it up.
Big fan of Newsradio, remember Quark fondly (I had a crush on Richard Benjamin), was puzzled, but amused by Duckman, and have vague memories of Tenspeed and Brownshoe although I don’t remember watching it. I suspect the Mr. Bogus was a local show, but then, I haven’t watched TV before 10:00 am in many years.
Anyone remember Lancer? I was convinced I imagined this show, but then I found it on the internet.
It’s About Time is another–catchy theme song, but that’s about it.
I loved Newsradio! It had a great ensemble cast. The way they handled the death of Phil Hartman - and his character - was very well done. It’s very unfortunate that the show didn’t last much longer after that. Sure, it wasn’t exactly the same without Hartman, but it didn’t really change. It was still really, really good; and Jon Lovitz was a good addition to the cast, IMO. I’d still be watching repeats if I could find some where I am…
As for Duckman, I’ve seen a few episodes, but only when visiting out-of-town friends. My friend in Winnipeg seems to like it quite a bit…
The cancellation of Quark was one of the darkest moments in television history. The evil-twin Ficus being no different from the good Ficus was a touch that not even Star Trek ever thought of.
It was basically a parody of Star Trek, with references to other sci-fi series and movies tossed in. It had its moments. Captain Quark was an interplanetary garbage collector. He had two identical crew members named Betty (“the pretty one’s the clone”). The science officer was a plant named Ficus. Oh, sure, he looked like an ordinary human, but everyone knew he was a plant.
Hot chick: Now what?
Ficus: We wait for the bee.
I’ve never found anyone in real life who remembers Tooter Turtle, even though Neo channels him in The Matrix (“Help me, Mr. Wizard!”) Mr. Wizard the science guy
No, this was a cartoon about a turtle that traveled through time. Wait, was there a dog with a bow tie?
No, it was a lizard with a hat. “Lizard”? I thought you said “wizard”!
Never mind.
I’ve watched it! I used to stay up late and watch cartoons… Duckman… Highlander (y’know that futuristic one… I liked it, no one I know has heard of it)
As a result of watching Duckman I now refer to taking off my glasses ‘taking off my eyes’ (cuz y’know his eyes were attached to his glasses… he’d take them off to go to bed and his eyes would blink on the nightstand… uhm nevermind…)
Loved NewsRadio from the first episode. Watched the reruns during its brief syndication run. Watched the hell out of them when A&E used to show them. Still have an episode or two on tape, I know I have the one when Joe’s brothers come to visit and Dave and Lisa are both trying to lose an office election for program director. Classic show, a damn shame it was so underappreciated. “Your last name’s Garelli?”, loved that running joke.
Heard of Mr. Bogus, but don’t know why. Must have run across it during an early morning fit of insomnia.
Loathe Becker, we have local station that airs reruns twice a day, can’t figure out who likes it that much.
Watched a few episodes of Duckman, it got old to me quick. Comedy Central had been airing reruns until recently, not sure if they still do.
My unknown shows:
Citizen Baines: 2001 CBS show about a long term senator readjusting life as a private citizen after losing reelection. Lasted about 6 episodes.
Nothing Sacred: ABC series about a young Catholic priest dealing with the complexities of running his first parish. Intelligent writing and acting, dealt seriously with personal faith and belief. Doomed from the start, lasted about half a season.
Bill Plympton’s shorts. Not so much episodes but ‘shorts’ between shows.
(All my mentions so far are from the Paramount Comedy Channel - UK)
The thing about duckman for me was that it was always on dead late, so I would always be watching it bleary-eyed, in the dark, in bed. (same goes for newsradio) So it’s weirdness was kind of ‘normal’ to my state of mind.
Cornfed was brilliant. And the taking off the eyes thing, I know what you are talking about.
Voiced by Jason Alexander (George Costanza - Seinfeld)
I am apparently the only person who remembers two PBS kids’ shows: a sort of trip-around-the-world show called Big Blue Marble, and a bilingual sort of Sesame Street-type show called Villa Alegre. I can still hear the damn theme song to Villa Alegre in my head; it’ll take me a week to get rid of it now.
The Young Riders, at least, I think that’s what it was called. One of the cast members was Steven Baldwin. The premise was a bunch of “Wild West” characters–Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, etc.–all working for the Pony Express supervised by an old coot named Teaspoon. One of the twists was that “Jo” was a woman–all the “boys” knew but Teaspoon didn’t.