Saturday Morning Nostalgia

Cafe Society
1

Ok, I think this is the appropriate place to post this…

As I get older, I find myself reflecting more and more on my childhood and the things that affected or stayed with me. Oddly, though a great deal of my school’s teachings have kept me company as I have matured, it seems the things that I recall most vividly are the programs I watched on Saturday mornings.

Now understand, my most formative years in front of the tube were in the early-to-mid 70’s. The Saturday morning programming I can remember consisted of both cartoons and live-action programs. Of course, at that young age, I was unable to discern the difference between network programming and local affiliate fillers.

So, walk with me now to those Saturdays of decades past, and see if you remember any of these:

Cartoons -
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
The SuperFriends
Hong Kong Fooey
The Tom & Jerry & Mumbly Show (Mumbly was this snickering dog)
Grape Ape
SchoolHouse Rock (covered this in a previous thread)

Live Action -
The Kroft Super Power Hour (Mostly I watched “WonderBug”)
Land of the Lost
Shazaam!
Isis
Ark II (Remember this one? A bunch of research scientist in a post-nuclear earth…)

Shows I remember, but don’t know the title -
There was this live-action space show…they were on a space station built out of an asteroid…I remember that to open doors, they had to wave their hands in front of this little box and a red neon “O” would come on when they did…that’s all I remember…can anyone help me with this one?

Anyway, you folks just jump in and add your two cents’ (or nickel, dime, quarter or dollar’s) worth…I look forward to seeing what anyone else remembers!

2

Oh, let’s see:

The Get-A-Long Gang
Kid Video
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Snorks
Kissyfur
Pound Puppies
I remember Fat Albert as well.

3

This may be “Space Academy”. Interestingly enough, the vehicle used in Ark II was re-worked and used in Space Academy.

Don’t forget “Time out for Timer!”

4

The Snorks, but no mention of the Smurfs? I’m sure we all rememeber Smurfs, the little blue demons…

I also remember Land of the Lost, then there’s:
Bugs Bunny & Tweety Bird Show (I still have the theme song memorized: Overture, curtains, lights / This is it, tonight’s the night! / And oh what heights we’ll hit! / On with the show, this is it!)
Spider-Man (another theme song remembered: Spider-Man, Spider-Man / Does whatever a spider can / Can he swing from a web / Just you look overhead / Oh yeah, here comes Spider-Man!)
Then there was a different Spidey cartoon, this one had Firestar and Iceman as the Spider-friends IIRC.
The SuperFriends
Space Ghost
Fat Albert
I remember a while there, a ton of cartoons were based on video games - Pac-Man, Q-Bert, I think even Pitfall had a cartoon.
Shirt Tales
Alvin and the Chipmunks
There was one cartoon about pro wrestlers, with Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, the Iron Shiek, all the old wrestlers from the early 80s.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
GI Joe (I actually kinda miss GI Joe)

Damn, these kinda threads bug me, cuz as soon as I hit submit, I’ll remember 10 more.

5

Ok, I got an answer! Turns out my recollection was of TWO shows: Space Academy and Jason of Star Command…
for someone who is having trouble remembering specifics, this site -
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6009/index.htm

  • came in REAL handy!!
    Too much fun for words…
6

I remember School House Rock quite fondly. They used to have a web site with AVIs of the songs, but it’s not up anymore. 8-(

7

Nice site DirkGntly, brings back a lot of memories. Looking at your list I wonder if you weren’t peering over my shoulder at the tv when I was a child, I saw all of those shows too.
And Jason of Star Command! I’d forgotten about that one, my younger brothers really liked it. For me it was the first time I had seen James Doohan after Trek. It was quite startling to suddenly see him so much older and rounder-apparently I thought actors were sort of frozen in time as long as their shows were still on.

8

As the resident SDMB TransFan, I have to toss in a chit for The Transformers.

9

<<Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Snorks
Kissyfur
Pound Puppies >>

My god , I think I remember all of those! I also remember cutting my nitpicker’s teeth on “The Flintstone kids” (“If they can build an intelligent robot out of rocks and sticks, why can’t they use metal or plastic yet?”) I even remember when they pre-empted an episode for some protest in…“Tienamen Square”, I think it was. :wink:

In more recent memory, does anyone remember a show called “Bump in the Night”, on ABC in the early to mid '90s?

Ranchoth

10

Dirk your list is the same as mine, except you left out Hong Kong Phuey & Thundar the Barbarian. So I’ll do after school stuff.

Spiderman which subbed time with The Incredible Hulk & Captain America (which was done in a style of animation Ihaven’t seen since.

Star Rangers
G Force
The ABC after school hour.
But what I really loved was Sunday nights. The Muppet Show leading in to The Wonderful World of Disney.

11

What? No mention of Speed Racer? Or did I just miss it?

12

You beat me to it, Mondeo. I used to race home from school to see this. Decades later, watching this with my 11-yo daughter, neither one of us can understand why. It’s sooo schlocky.

13

I’m curious Wisest Novel, how do people do the quotes in these threads? Is it just a copy/paste and the from is automatic?

14

What, are you kidding me???

** Saturday Morning Cartooniverse**, of course.

:cool:

Cartooniverse

15

Quoting is most easily done by using the quote button on the lower right of each post. You can also use the vB shortcuts in the reply dialog screen, or just type 'em in yourself. I’ll bet there’s a good thread in ATMB, but a quick search didn’t reveal it. I don’t think it’s covered in the FAQ, but is covered in the “help” link next to the “vB Code” section of the reply dialog. Good luck!

16

Since the OP seems to be asking exclusively about television shows, I’m going to move this thread to the Cafe Society forum.

17

Along with the Krofft stuff (Land of the Lost, Liddsville, Bugaloos, Sigmund the Sea Monster, H.R. Pufinstuff), my all-time favorite, which I harp incessantly on every time one of these threads come up is

The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.

It was a Don “I was dumped by the Monkees AND the Archies?!” Kirshner production and was sort of The Monkees meets The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

There were four early-20s guys who, a-la the Monkees had a rock-n-roll group, but also fought crime against the forces of EEEEe-vil. And they were wackey.

And each of them had a talent. One was smart, one talked to animals, one got superstrong and went insane when someone sad “Bananna” (remember the old “Niagra Falls” vaudeville skit? “Slooooowly I turned…”? Like that) and one…um…blew things up, maybe? Maybe he was a detective.

I remember being just a bit too old for the target demographic and fascinated nonetheless. There were maybe six or eight episodes made. There was also an album that didn’t include the incredibly cool theme song
*
If you’ve got a case that needs super-detection
Well, here come the C.A.P.E.R.s and we never lose.
P.T. is first, “I’m cool and I’m clever”
Just like a bloodhound, he’ll sniff out the clues.
Then there is Bugs “I’m tough and I’m feisty”
Takes care of trouble 'cause he’s super-strong.
And Doomsday’s the one who’s all full of sunshine,
“Me and those animals sure get along”
And Doc, he’s got the looks
And the brains to catch the crooks! (spoken: “Aww, c’mon”)
(Chorus)
We’re the Kids, we’re the Kids, we’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
We’ll race to your place, on the case, every time.
We’re the Kids, we’re the Kids, we’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
Four in a war, evermore, against crime.

We’re the Kids, we’re the Kids, we’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
We’ll race to your place, on the case, every time.
We’re the Kids, we’re the Kids, we’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
Four in a war, evermore, against crime.

We’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
We hook all the crooks
We’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
We handle the vandals
We’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
We bug the thugs
We’re the Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
Get the goods on the hoods
We’re the Kids C.A.P.E.R. *

I’d pay $$$ if anyone has an episode of this on video tape.

Fenris

18

Around 1970

Starting at 6:45 AM Davie and Goliath, Hot Wheels, Skyhawks, Hardy Boys, Bugs Bunny, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Superman. To be 8 years old again. Sigh…

For aviation buffs Skyhawks was the best, does anybody remember it? I would give anything to see it again.

19

First off, how could you remember all that and forget what C.A.P.E.R. stood for?
The “Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everybody…Regardless”
Secondly, I thought I’d help with some of the details.
P.T.'s big talent was his nose(named Seymour) which was supposedly so sensitive it could help them track down various bad guys. P.T. wore a white jumpsuit with a leopard-spotted ascot.
Next we have Bugs(White Driving Cap, glasses, very nerdy looking) who has super-strength, but only when he can see his hands.
Doomsday(Blond-hair, Black jogging outfit) has the ability to talk to animals and is kind of an idiot savant.
Finally Doc, wearing a blue leisure suit with a white shirt, is super-smart and irresistable to women(altho he always acts like he doesn’t notice them.

My best friend in high school and I thought they were the coolest thing since sliced bread. Only lasted one season, tho.
Damn…:frowning:

Chris W

PS Their vehicle/truck was called the Big Baloney.
PPS This was all done from memory…how sad am I?

20

OP & Crunchy Frog stole most of mine. i would add:

Land of the Lost (Marshall, Will and Holly aboard thier tiny Raft)
Super friends
Bigfoot and Wildboy
Isis
Run Joe Run
Electra Woman and Dyna girl

…and WWF … pre becoming cable/night time exclusive Industry was a pre-teen boy’s dream come true on a Saturday AM.