Battle of the Planets was good for me as a kid but I distinctly remeber the American version making the guy sound manical but then hearing the Japanese and him sounding like a HUGE Flamer. It continues on with the new editions of Gatchaman as he sounds even more effeminate (woosh and you should check out his boss…what are all the enemies gay?) but the chich of the gatchaman looks tasty.
Ok…here are some obscure shows both animated and regular
-The Mighty Orbots (One of the coolest attempts at a American Anime and way before its time…with 5 robots of varying degrees that formed the mighty Orbot…defender of the Galaxy. I remember all the names
Bo and Boo (the chick bots) Bort the shape changer…Crunch the fat bot…Tor was the musclehead and Ohno was the key to start them up)
-Silverhawks(made by the guys that did Thundercats)…the main heros were ultra lame but the enemies were very cool (Monstar, Yesman his henchman, Timestopper (a kid who could stop time for up to a minute with a countdown clock in his chest), Pokerface (this robot with slot machine wheels for eyes), Melodia, Buzzsaw, Molecular, and this wierdass guy named Windhammer who had this giant tuning fork. Hardly remember the heros but the enemies were ultra cool
-Wheeled Warriors (the only one I thought reminded me of Mad Max with the interchangleble weaponry) and get this…it has a tie in with Babylon 5 (both were written by the same guy!)
-Bizzaro- A variety show with this guy and Super Dave Osborn…I remeber it being the show that I think they filled late night TV with on channel 7 (NOT realizing that this show was very adult with plenty of breast shots and adult humor which I busted a gut watching at age 10!) They took it off after I think one of the people who put it there actually watched the show. But man was that a shock watching it one a regular station and seeing tits!
How about Dusty's Trail,'' a Gilligan’s Island’’ rip-off starring Bob Denver? I dimly remember it from the mid-70s. God only knows whether it was network or syndicated or what.
The gimmick, IIRC, was that a group of Western settlers got separated from their wagon train and wandered the frontier looking for help. Denver, needless to say, played a bumbling first-mate kind of character.
DIF, the Dark Justice I remember was about a judge who went after guilty criminals that got off in his courtroom. He started doing that after his wife and daughter were killed by a car bomb. It was a late-night show on CBS.
“The Vicar of Dibly” - an English import, but I’ll watch anything with Dawn French. She was also in a short lived import called “Murder Most Horrid” which was pretty good.
Also, not as obscure, but I was also a big fan of “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” IIRC, the final show was a cliffhanger showing Brisco and Lord Bowler getting shot, apparently setting us up for the next season opener which never happened. Bruce Campbell should have his own show anyway.
Jeeze, Eutychus, you didn’t see the following episodes? If the one you’re referring to is the one where they’re both ‘courtmartialed’ and executed in chairs (ala Breaker Morant), there was another whole season after that! Let me know, I’ll fill you in. Your profile says your from Rhode Island – does cable carry TNT up there? They’re re-running the series.
Homefront, an ABC hour-long soap/drama which ran for 2 or 3 seasons. It took place in the immediate post-WWII years, and I particularly liked it because the town it was set in was based on Mentor, Ohio, which is right by where I grew up. In one storyline, one of the characters became a player for the Cleveland Indians, which would have been right before their 1948 World Series-winning season, but the show was cancelled.
Ok…there was this british sketch troup that predated Monty Python but was in the same vein (I know it was not the other one that has been mentioned). I only saw one sketch of it and I swore it was the funniest thing I ever seen. 4 guys dressed as your business type there (you know bowler, black suit, umbrella) and they are introducing themselves. 1 says he is a investment banker, the second says the same, the third repeats, but the fourth stand a goes in the exact same voice. Good evening…I am a table lamp and sits. His friends try to argue but the finally start trading blows with the guy who is not changing his mind. For some strange reason, it absolutely cracked me up.
cm - sorry, I have no Two Ronnies, just some Smith and Jones. However, I have seen a Two Ronnies video for sale in a local store; “Best of” or something like that. I will check on it this weekend.
I watched a few “Brisco County” episodes - liked Bruce Campbell ever since “Army of Darkness”. I didn’t see that cliff-hanger, but you reminded me of another show that ended in a cliff-hanger. “Models, Inc.”, a Melrose-type; actually it was introduced on Melrose Place, not quite a spin-off. Bad as it was we never missed an episode.
Actually, Heath, I’d forgotten that. But I meant the little robot who looked not unlike R2D2. I think he had little wings that allowed him to fly short distances. I don’t remember his name, but I do know the villain’s name. Do you?
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
The bad guy was Zoltar and he reported to The Spirit
and the robot was Zark actually called 7-Zark-7
and before you ask…the team was Mark, Jase (or Jason), Princess, Keyop, and Tiny.
Do you remember how shaggy the team were, all of them wore long hair and I distinct remember a older friend telling me Tiny was a major stoner of the team.
Rilch - is the robot you’re referring to 7-Zark-7. That name rings a bell in the ‘Bastardized Japanese Shows’ portion of my brain, though I’m not sure if it was BotP that had him…
Did anyone else here watch Robotech? Does anyone else even remember it?
Good job, Heath and Tengu! Yes, Tiny did seem like a stoner. My favorite was Jason, because he was the only one who was, like, bad. And I nagged my mom till she got me a pink and white outfit like Princess’.::::
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
I LOVE Due South…(remember that one, with the Canadian Mountie in Chicago, etc?)…
Unfortunately, noone seems to remember it…even though they still play it sometimes on one of those weird basic-cable movie channels that noone ever watches besides for me… sigh
Tengu: The local PBS station here played the entire Robotech series last year. I think i watched about 80% of the episodes shown. They also played a second series that was set after the war.
I was one of the three people who watched ‘Max Headroom’ when it ran on ABC. Clever cyberpunk premise, good writing… naturally that meant it would be cancelled real quick. Sigh. I also vaguely remember a sitcom from the mid-60’s called “It’s About Time”. A couple of astronauts break the “time barrier” and go back to caveman days, and hilarity ensues. I might not bother with it nowadays, but heck, when you’re five or thereabouts…
Someday we’ll look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject…
Some interesting Battle of the Planets info at this site, I had no idea there were so many incarnations (one of which is supposedly currently being shown on Cartoon Network, has anyone seen it there?)
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