# "Big John, Little John" question (of all things!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062 "2015-03-03T02:05:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/1 "2015-03-03T02:05:20Z")
In the 1970s, America was presented with “Big John, Little John” - the Saturday morning live-action series that kept Robby Rist busy between the Brady Bunch and Galactica: 1980. Here’s the opening theme song [Big John Little John - Opening Titles - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBAId5zr25w) - my question is: who are the actors that “play” the intermediate stages between “Big John” and “Little John” - one might be Rist in a wig, one looks like “Peter Brady” from the Brady Bunch, but I haven’t found anything definitive on the subject. Anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/2 "2015-03-03T02:29:58Z")
One reminds me a little bit of Jay Tarses. Would link but I am mobile. And I actually remember the theme song. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/3 "2015-03-03T05:26:13Z")
Wow…I don’t remember that show at all (born 1971). But it looks like it really must have sucked. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/4 "2015-03-03T07:13:15Z")
Born 1970, don’t remember the show but I remember the theme song. I am pretty sure I have not thought of that since the last time I heard it, which was during the original run. Man, what else is stashed inside my head like a crap time bomb just waiting for the trigger? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/5 "2015-03-03T13:13:30Z")
Another one here who remembers the theme song. It wasn’t really that bad, just another of those non-cartoon cartoons that came on later Saturday morning after the good stuff had ended. It sat alongside such fare as Land of the Lost and Ark II. And I never thought of the awkward double-entendre of the title until now. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/6 "2015-03-03T13:58:53Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > It wasn’t really that bad, just another of those non-cartoon cartoons that came on later Saturday morning after the good stuff had ended. > It sat alongside such fare as Land of the Lost and Ark II. Ah, I missed that part of the OP. I was thinking it was a prime-time series or something. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/7 "2015-03-03T14:24:04Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > It wasn’t really that bad, just another of those non-cartoon cartoons that came on later Saturday morning after the good stuff had ended. > It sat alongside such fare as Land of the Lost and Ark II. I am shocked and dismayed at this scurrilous suggestion that _Land of the Lost_ was not included among “the good stuff.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/8 "2015-03-03T14:31:11Z")
Weird, I was just thinking of this show the other day! Along with the teenagers who drove around in the sentient purple dune buggy (a la _The Love Bug_) and of course _Sigmund the Sea Monster_. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/9 "2015-03-03T14:46:09Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Weird, I was just thinking of this show the other day! Along with the teenagers who drove around in the sentient purple dune buggy (a la _The Love Bug_) and of course _Sigmund the Sea Monster_. “Wonder Bug” (which had a secret car identity as “Schlepp Car”) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/10 "2015-03-03T14:49:32Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > Born 1970, don’t remember the show but I remember the theme song. I am pretty sure I have not thought of that since the last time I heard it, which was during the original run. > > Man, what else is stashed inside my head like a crap time bomb just waiting for the trigger? “Electrawoman and Dynagirl”? “The Kids from CAPER”? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/11 "2015-03-03T14:52:53Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Electrawoman and Dynagirl”? “The Kids from CAPER”? “Dr. Shrinker” (Ah, Jay Robinson and Billy Barty…)? “Magic Mongo”? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/12 "2015-03-03T15:27:38Z")
One of the in-betweens looks like Andy Kaufman. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/13 "2015-03-03T15:34:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > One of the in-betweens looks like Andy Kaufman. Yeah, he does, doesn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/14 "2015-03-03T16:00:06Z")
The only reason I vaguely remember the show is because that year (1976) all of NBC’s new Saturday morning shows were live action. And when you’re six in the 1970’s nothing is more important on TV than the new Saturday morning shows. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/15 "2015-03-03T16:01:37Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > The only reason I vaguely remember the show is because that year (1976) all of NBC’s new Saturday morning shows were live action. And when you’re six in the 1970’s nothing is more important on TV than the new Saturday morning shows. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/16 "2015-03-03T16:14:32Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > The only reason I vaguely remember the show is because that year (1976) all of NBC’s new Saturday morning shows were live action. And when you’re six in the 1970’s nothing is more important on TV than the new Saturday morning shows. God, yeah, I remember that much. They’d even have a weekday prime-time special to preview the Saturday morning lineup sometime in the fall. And now the whole concept of Saturday morning TV being a kids’ bloc is obsolete, thanks to Cartoon Network and other cable outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/17 "2015-03-04T02:57:05Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Electrawoman and Dynagirl”? “The Kids from CAPER”? Don’t forget _Monster Squad_ with future _Love Boat_ Gopher and congressman Fred Grandy! Or the disturbingly dramatic _Run, Joe Run!_ ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/18 "2015-03-04T04:52:16Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Electrawoman and Dynagirl”? Which is getting a reboot starring Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart. Exciting times, my friends, exciting times. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/19 "2015-03-04T04:54:23Z")
Does anybody remember a Saturday morning live-action show called “Bigfoot and Wild Boy”? (or something like that.) I could’ve sworn I saw this as a kid, but nobody I ever mention it to has ever heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062/20 "2015-03-04T13:31:55Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Does anybody remember a Saturday morning live-action show called “Bigfoot and Wild Boy”? (or something like that.) I could’ve sworn I saw this as a kid, but nobody I ever mention it to has ever heard of it. I have very vague memories of it. Like the aforementioned _Electra Woman and Dyna Girl_, _Doctor Shrinker_, and _The Wonder Bug_, it was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. They all aired as segments of [The Krofft Supershow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Krofft_Supershow). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-john-little-john-question-of-all-things/714062.md?page=2)