Monday, March 18, 2024

Toons After Dark: Rose Petal Place: Real Friends (1985)

 Rose Petal Place was a secondary line of toys for young girls marketed by Kenner (now part of Hasbro) in the mid-80's. However, after the 2nd of 2 animated specials, Real Friends, hit the air in the fall of 1985, a new set of figures, set to be released in time for Christmas, was cancelled.

Ruby-Spears and then-independent producer David Kirschner (who'd later work for Universal and Hanna-Barbera) co-produced the Rose Petal Place specials, headlined by singer-actress Marie Osmond as Rose Petal. I believe the Rose Petal specials marked Marie's voice-over debut, more than a decade after her brothers had their Saturday morning series.

In Real Friends, Nastina (Marilyn Schreffler, ex-The All-New Popeye Hour) tries to create discord among Rose and her friends.


No rating. Just a public service.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Celebrity Toons: Mork, PI (1982)

 From the Mork & Mindy animated prequel.

Football lineman Tyler is having trouble learning. It's not known if he had issues with, say, dyslexia, or something else, but the fear of losing his spot on the football team prompts him to take a risk, and, at the same time, Mork (Robin Williams) is framed for the crime.

Stan Jones (Richie Rich, Super Friends) is credited as Principal Caruthers, but in this case, the principal sounds more like Bill Woodson.

Dick Tufeld leads us into "Mork, PI":


The reason I brought up the prospect of dyslexia with Tyler is because Archie Comics' Marmaduke "Moose" Mason was later diagnosed with the learning disorder, and it was news at the time. Tyler might've thought he was clever enough to get away with it, but, nope.

Rating: B-.

Friday, March 15, 2024

From Comics to Toons: Josie & The Pussycats meet invisible aliens (1972)

 From Josie & The Pussycats in Outer Space:

The gang is forced to land on a planet whose inhabitants can turn invisible at will. Melody (Jackie Joseph) finds some irradiated bubble gum, and finds herself turning invisible....! Ted Cassidy gets no screen credit as the ruler of this planet, but there's no mistaking his distinctive voice.


Two years earlier, the Pussycats dealt with an invisible villain, and the shenanigans in that one almost entirely mirrored The Archies in "Disappearing Act" two years prior to that. Archie Comics must've liked that plot.....

Rating: B--.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Daytime Heroes: Bruce Lee Urkel strikes again! (Family Matters, 1996)

 This was actually the middle part of the "Bruce Lee Urkel" trilogy from Family Matters.

In season 7, Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) steps into Steve Urkel's transformation chamber after the police warehouse is robbed. Mix in some Hope & Crosby (a quick pattycake sequence), some Three Stooges, and, well, you get the idea....


Having revisited all three Bruce Lee Urkel appearances, it's clear that Jaleel White (Urkel) was his generation's Wally Cox. A terrific comic actor whose slight build hid a muscular physique. The other parallel between the two generations of actors? Cox, of course, was the voice of Underdog. White was the original voice of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Saturtainment: Harecules Hare (1962)

 Bob Clampett needed a backup feature for Beany & Cecil after it was spun off from Matty's Funnies. The end result was Harecules Hare, a rabbit with genius level intelligence.

Only 2 episodes currently are circulating on YouTube, though there might be more. Harecules and his father, Ben, are two completely diverse personalities. Ben is interested in greyhound racing, for example. In "Harecules Hare & The Golden Fleecing", Harecules deals with a wolf.........


Clampett had the right inspiration for some of his gags, as he borrowed from his former employers at WB, using a gag from a Bugs Bunny short with Wile E. Coyote.

Rating: B.


Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: All By Myself (1975)

 As the lead singer of the Raspberries, Eric Carmen had landed a big hit with "Go All The Way". In 1975, he peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 with "All By Myself", which became his signature solo hit, even after he returned to the charts 12 years later on the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack with "Make Me Lose Control".

Carmen turned up on The Midnight Special, with host du jour Helen Reddy, to perform "Myself" at the piano.


In memory of Carmen, who passed away over the weekend. Rest in peace.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Saturday (Night) Ringside: The 1st Slammy Awards (1986)

 After the release of their initial "Wrestling Album" three months earlier, the then-World Wrestling Federation decided to mark the occasion with the culmination of a winter-long on-air promotion, the 1st ever Slammy Awards, a live special airing on MTV. Vince McMahon, then a simple play-by-play announcer, hosted, as over the top as usual. MTV sent cute, cuddly Martha Quinn to the event as a backstage reporter, and, oh, that did not end so well. Little did the 518's gift to MTV realize this was the beginning of the end of her first tour of duty with the channel, as she would leave at the end of 1986 when her contract expired, only to return in February 1989 for another 3 year hitch.

To say anything further would spoil the memories for those who actually saw the show live (and I didn't)....


The Slammys moved to USA Network in December 1987, again on a Saturday night, but this time at a much later hour, with McMahon debuting his Tom Jones-meets-Adam West cabaret act. It was also the final Slammys for about a decade or so.