Meet Scrappy.
He's... your nephew.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Fifty-Difty-Doo!: Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (V1 full / 79)
Meet Scrappy.
He's... your nephew.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The Scooby-Doo Show (76-78)
Hi everyone. I’m Andrew, and I welcome you back to Fifty-Difty-Doo!
Meet Fred.
No, not this Fred.
This Fred.
Fred Silverman is a legendary television executive and producer who, during his decades-long tenure at all of the Big 3 Networks, is directly responsible for shepherding some of the most iconic and memorable long-running hit TV series of all time. Specifically, At CBS he went from heading daytime to leading the entertainment division, and for nearly wholesale changing TV schedules and in turn helping making TV history. From sitcoms (M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (and its spinoffs Rhoda and Phyllis, All in The Family (and its spinoffs The Jeffersons and Maude [and it's in-turn spinoff Good Times]), to dramas (The Waltons, Cannon, Barnaby Jones and Kojak) to game shows (most of the shows by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman including revivals of The Price is Right and Match Game), Silverman was a wunderkind of television and helped -- no, lead CBS to continue it’s gargantuan record at the top of the Big 3 networks during his tenure.
After leaving CBS in 1975, Silverman took his talents to ABC where he successfully turned around that network’s fortunes. Some of TV’s most iconic and memorable long-running series of all time also aired on the Alphabet network during Silverman’s reign: including Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company, Eight is Enough, Soap, Fantasy Island, Donny & Marie, and several hit games shows like Family Feud -- whether these series were hits because of their characters, stories and classic moments or because of female characters with big boobs and butts (this was known in industry circles as “Jiggle TV”), you can thank Silverman for the changes he made to make ABC a major success on TV in the mid- to late-70s.
One of those successes is a little-known cartoon about a small group of tenacious teenagers and their dippy, daffy, ‘dorable dog with their awesome adventures capturing vile, vicious and vicarious villains who just want to ruin other people’s businesses and lives on pure greed and domination.
Oh, and let’s also throw in some family members for the titular character to lighten up the situations that don’t need lightening up. Yeah.
Welcome to The Scooby-Doo Show.
After two seasons of our favorite gang solving mysteries for an hour and with our favorite icons of entertainment, it’s back to square one. As it back to a half-hour and back to just them solving mysteries with no more or less. The gang are still at it and haven’t missed a beat despite (or even because of) their major network move. Sure, it's still the same format in and of itself, but at ABC it had much more of a sense of security, as not only new episodes air to major success, ABC made sure to actually give the show a renewal every year, no matter the title or format.
Oh and yeah, The Scooby-Doo Show isn’t the actual official title of the series. It’s actually a package name for it during its run in syndication, as during it’s three-year run on ABC, it aired as part of three(!!!) hour-long duo series along with three other shows. (Those shows: Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (76), Laff-A-Lympics (77), and Scooby’s All-Stars (78) were the second half of the hours of powers).
As mentioned earlier, this series introduces members of Scoob’s family -- which, outside of Scrappy, I had no idea was a thing. I guess watching a lot as a kid then forgetting as you grow can do a lot to surprise you when you come back to it. Appearing in The Show is Scooby-Doo's cousin Scooby-Dum. And as you can tell by the name, he's a genius. Just kidding, he's a moron. While Dummy-Dum does help his... sensible cuz and the gang with solving their mysteries, he's also an unnecessary character. His stupidity is irritating, his Southern accent is ah-noI-yin’, and he's even more of a punk than Scoob and Shaggy combined -- which is the worst of them all. And to be honest, the fact that he partially shares Scooby's name (making me think the rest of his family have names like the native Chinese) is also…well, Dum.
And then there's Scooby-Dee, sweet as can be. Lovely as a cherry blossom tree. Always brings the joy and... splee. ...I don't care for thee. (But she's better than Dum in most aspects despite appearing in less episodes.)
Now a few tidbits about the production:
- The animation is on-par with the franchise so far. Great drawings with simple, flat looks and near-flushed yet slightly-bright colors and shadings -- especially during night scenes. While most viewers didn’t assume much as they just want to watch the show, help solve the mysteries with Fred, Daph and Velm, and laugh along to Shag and Scoob’s latest antics (me included), some thought this was a case of a smaller budget. Wouldn’t put it past me. One place to spot is Velma’s hair -- which is lighter than usual.
- Speaking of, Velma has a new voice actress: Pat Stevens who succeeds Nicole Jaffe, who retired after WAY! and The New Movies (fitting as it’s the first S-D show on a new network).
- Even the background music is very scary here. This series features new incidental music that fits very well like a glove. And it’s not the same stock (used nicely) background tunes we’ve heard (and sometimes hummed to) ever so fondly from the last two series. Yes, they’re still there but sparsely (although still noticeable) here. I like the new music-- it’s well done, adds to the intensity and drama of the mystery and ghost scenes. I am happy the old stuff keeps making appearances here.
- Then comes the theme song. Despite the darker tone this series took over the previous two, this one sounds and feels much lighter and cheery, despite the shrieks of alien noise (?) throughout, especially the beginning (which turns it up from The New Movies and even WAY!). I guess it’s a warning for the kiddies to prepare themselves for the super scary stuff to slip in soon.
There were some episodes that, while great, felt weird under the surface. And especially “The Spirits of ‘76”, which felt like a random mystery in DC disguised as a commercial for our nation’s capital and the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History (even though I won’t lie, I fell for the ad and I’m planning a trip there as we speak. It’s for late August.)
Now to what you guys wanted the most. The Scooby-Doo Show introduces some of the most memorable and even best villains and monsters of the franchise. These baddies came with the same intentions: to steal stuff, make themselves rich and scare people away to reap in the undeserved rewards. The Show takes it all to the next level. They’re not just being evil, they’re being vicious with their motives. They’re not just stealing money, jewelry and treasures; they’re also coming close to beating or even killing people to keep their plans under wraps and on track. The tension as their plans progress while Mystery Inc. are steps behind them is palpable and the scares feel more genuine than the ones in the other series combined. It’s real impressive that two series across five years and another three years plus a move to another network can really energize the staff of Scooby-Doo to put out some damn good product and quality.
Let’s meet the Rogues Gallery.
--The Spirits of ‘76: The “ghosts” of Benedict Arnold, William Demont and Captain John Andre (a British soldier), three of the most infamous traitors in mankind history. Their worst moment was charging at the gang snarling and foaming, with a car chase coming close to running them over.
--The Ghosts of “The Ghost of the Bad Humor Man”: Three ice cream color-coordinated ghosts haunt --of all things-- an ice cream factory. But they’re not making the food that makes kids happy; they’re making Mystery Inc. feel petrified.
--Mamba Wamba: a witch doctor who uses voodoo on victims.
--Doctor Coffin, a creepy mad doctor ghost with a scary evil laugh, an organ that he can play blood-curling music on and terrifying glowing eyes that can turn your blood into ice water.
--The Ghostly Gondolier, a hooded "ghost" from Venice whom terrorizes and… does terrible things to people from the shadows. Not who you want to give you a fancy boat ride on the Tuscan river.
--The ghost of Ebenezer Crabbe, with his blue hair, deep yellow eyes and one spine-tingling laugh. And you won't believe what happens in his episode "High Rise Hair Raise" when his sister arrives.
--The Headless Horseman; if you read the story of Ichabod Crane, you know where this is going. In fact his relatives are featured in his eponymous episode. And there's a reveal that'll shock the crud out of you.
All these guys are the definition of “villain” and them some. The producers and writers really had their creative juices flowing here, and I’ll forever admire and respect them for their talents on this show.
Rive Ravorite Monsters: (so many here, but I’ll stick with five)
- The Spirits of ‘76
- Ebenezer Crabbe
- The 10,000 Volt Ghost (I also find it cute for some reason)
- Doctor Coffin
- The Headless Horseman
Rive Ravorite Scares (again, so many but):
- The reveal of HH's new… friend
- The Spirits of '76 chasing the Scoobies
- Crabbe's sister
- All scenes with The 10,000 Volt Ghost
- The Salem-style torture on Shaggy and Scooby
Rive Ravorite Laughs (all of course courtesy of Shag and Scoob):
- Them pretending to work on a movie to evade the episode's monster in "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground"
- Scooby bumping into a skeleton and then it gaining sentience and running like Scoob ("A Highland Fling With a Monstrous Thing")
- Shaggy's response to this line by Daphne
"That mean old demon stuffed me into this piano!"
"What a dirty trick. But it could have been worse: At least he didn't stuff you into a harmonica."
- Scoobys Doo and Dum's creepy weirdo crush on Scooby-Dee (again, their cousin). Plus, the kisses she gives them after saving him were NOT on the cheek. (I am not surprised with southern hick Dum, but Eww. Come on, Doo.) I don't know what dogs think about and do when it comes to family, but hopefully not that. I thought southern white people were into that.
- Shaggy impersonating a girl to bait a vampire villain.
So, the original Scooby gang were back (on ABC) and better than ever. The Scooby-Doo Show was only the third outing (or technically third, fourth and fifth outings, depending on your view) in the franchise, but it firmly (and deservedly) cemented it in the American public consciousness and became the pop-culture phenomenon still running strong for the next several decades. It was also not only the first time we’ve had family members in Scooby’s family… it won’t be the last.
Next week, we'll take a look at Series #4 and the one that pretty much saved the series and kept it going...and going...and going today.
And despite the… (unwanted… unnecessary… unnerving… unhealthy) hate towards him, you gotta admit, without him this franchise wouldn't have continued the way it has been and still does today (unless WB would've began the DTV series somewhere in the late 2000s at least). Yeah, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.
Next Sunday, it's Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.
Hope to see you then! But for now, I'm Andrew Pollard saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roo!"
Sunday, June 09, 2019
Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The New Scooby-Doo Movies (72-73)
Rello. Relcome to a rextravaganza of repic rares, rexcitement and raughs! Relcome to... Fifty-Difty-Doo! A Scooby-Doo 50th Ranniversary Relebration!
When I was a kid in a family with access to cable and satellite (and during spells where we just used the cords and boom! Instant un-encryption, I was open to many types of TV shows of the classic nature: sitcoms, dramas, variety, sports, specials, TV movies and especially cartoons. Like any kid, animation was not only a fun time for me, but it was escapism; watching cartoons felt like a chance to get away from real life and enjoy the laughter and zaniness with your favorite characters. So what do you get when you mix some of the most famous personalities of each of the genres of TV into 60 minutes of one weekly cartoon? Let’s find out, gang.
After the out-of-the-blue monster (rardon the run) success of the first series of what is at this point a franchise, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, executives at CBS have decided to do the first steps of helping create and grow out a television phenomenon: constantly air reruns. From the WAY!’s end in 1970 (on Halloween no less!) and throughout that year, ‘71 and ‘72, the Eye network got the eyes of the youngsters tuned into the (grand)daddy of the litter, and from that collected the revenue they never realized they could make from any Saturday morning cartoon before and since. But on the other side of the office, the creators and producers at Hanna-Barbera wanted to actually continue the franchise with new shows, even wanting another season of Where Are You! since they realized how much of a 300-pound gorilla they had on their hands. After months of negotiations and back-and-forth, CBS finally agreed to a new Scooby-Doo series. And this series would be extravagant: scarier villains, guest stars, music, and double the length of typical WAY! Episode! And the viewers were all for it.
But it would be the beginning and end of Scooby-Doo as we knew it!
(Well, end for CBS, and beginning for the franchise itself.)
It’s The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
So, for this one, our favorite gang from Mystery Incorporated is joined on their usual snooping investigations with some of our favorite icons of entertainment.
Season 2:
--Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show) – Himself /
"The Spirit Spooked Sports Show"
-- Don Adams (Get Smart, later Inspector Gadget) – Himself / "The Exterminator"
--Cass Elliot (The Mamas and the Papas, later a solo musician) –
Herself / "The Haunted Candy Factory"
--Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show, later Diagnosis: Murder) – Himself / "The Haunted Carnival"
And the casts of:
--Jeannie (the sort-of cartoon version of I Dream of Jeannie) / (“Mystery in Persia”) {I’m honestly surprised no one mentioned or even played a subplot about how Daphne and Jeannie look like twins}
-- Speed Buggy (“The Weird Winds of Winona”) and
-- Josie and the Pussycats (including Casey Kasem [again] also voicing Alexander Cabot, essentially voicing two versions of the same character) /
"The Haunted Showboat" (all in Season 2)
While it may not seem like much back then (maybe it does, I don’t really know), I see this format as something epic. Some of the biggest names of television, film and music joining one of my favorite cartoon ensembles to get to the bottom of some questionable wares in an abandoned location in 60 minute installments. What’s not awesome about it?? Well...
- While I kind-of enjoyed the hour-long format, I feel there’s some lengths of padding in each episode. There are some moments in the padded scenes I do like, but they mostly drag until we reach the case of the week again and get closer to finding the villain.
- And when M.I. and the special guest(s) finally do reach the villain, the shock awe and surprise don’t come in as strong or the revealed people don’t appear as much in the episodes - making their appearances blink-and-you-miss-it moments while also making their unmaskings dull (or at least to me). As for the episodes, I blame the trend of combo hour shows influencing the decision of the hour-long show story-wise, but hey, more adventure is still fine by me, I suppose. While the writers tried their best to keep the viewers hooked throughout (and I appreciate it greatly), it didn’t with me (which might explain why the show was split in half like 60s Batman for syndication; to have some modicum of interest from the first half to the second).
- Also, unlike Where Are You!, The S-D Movies doesn’t have the high amounts of tension or genuine scares (or at least that’s what I think when I was a kid). While I enjoy this one for its own merits of entertainment, this (along with the padding) feels like a turn-off to me.
-Also, a turn-off, the way the gang just so happens to meet the special guest by happenstance -- if not plot-based contrivance. It's one thing to meet your favorite star where you know they'll be at (even if you run into them), but meeting them as the plot calls for it makes little to no sense. Especially when they meet the characters from another Hanna-Barbera show (see when they meet the cast of Jeannie or Josie and the Pussycats. Unless they're all in the same universe, they must watch CBS on Saturday mornings like the rest of us. Well, rest of you, I wasn't even a sperm/egg in 1972).
- Plus, the fact that despite being titled The Scooby-Doo Movies, it’s obvious that each episode really not. Then again, after the decade where TV-movies and miniseries reigned supreme, anything these days can count as a movie (just ask Nickelodeon during the 2000s to now), so I’ll give this a pass.
I also love that, years and generations down the line, that The New S-D Movies introduced many kids to these guest stars -- especially those they’ve never heard of (like in my instance: Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Laurel & Hardy, Cass Elliot (and later The Mamas and The Papas), The Harlem Globetrotters, Davy Jones (and later The Monkees) and Tim Conway. Thanks to The S-D Movies, I now have a great appreciation for these actors/singers/ and their works and appearances on other shows.
Finally, after over two years of rerunning Where Are You!, The New Scooby-Doo Movies debuted on CBS on September 9, 1972. With its characters, mystery aspect, goofy co-main characters, and the fact it came after the first series, it - like its predecessor - was an instant success. Kids loved it, critics enjoyed it. And it later got its second season (which aired from September 1 where it also received high ratings. Then… CBS went back to rerunning it and WAY!. Why? Because, according to one source, as thought by the execs at the time, the network could make as much money rerunning old shows instead of making new ones with Hanna-Barbera. (Like, while that is all fine and good for like one year, this annoys me, because the folks at Hanna-Barbera have said they were open to more S-D shows or even new episodes of New Movies or Where Are You!--and the popularity was there. But to CBS’ Eye, the almighty dollar won out) Reruns of The New Scooby-Doo Movies (along with Where Are You!) continued for almost three more years from November 3, 1973 until the network’s option on the franchise ran out on August 25, 1976.
While Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. may have solved its last mysteries here on CBS, it wasn’t the end of their adventures as thanks to a namesake certain television executive whom taken the gang with him to his next destination: ABC.
I don’t have many (or any, really) favorite villains from this series. Because of the hour-long format, the dragging, the weak scares, and the fact that I can guess who it is within the first fifteen minutes. So here are my five favorite guest stars, scenes and funny scenes (known hereafter in honor of the franchise I'm reviewing as my "Rive Ravorites".)
Rive Ravorite Guest Stars:
- The Three Stooges
- Don Knotts
- The Addams Family
- Phyllis Diller
- The Cast of Josie and the Pussycats
Rive Ravorite Scenes:
- Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases ("Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The key scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Any scene with any Addams (“Wednesday is Missing”)
- The introduction of Maude Frickert (“The Frickert Fracas”)- All scenes involving Shaggy and Alexander together (knowing they're both voiced by Casey Kasem). ("The Haunted Showboat")
Rive Ravorite Laughs:
- Again, Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases (Again, "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The Globetrotters' bank shot ("The Ghostly Creep from the Deep")
- Every scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Shaggy, Scooby & Alexander jumping ship... to a lower level ("The Haunted Showboat")
- Anything with Uncle Fester (“Wednesday is Missing”)
The series is d available on DVD and digital on Warner Home Video. But… a funny story to tide over. When it was released to VHS, not every episode was released because of licencing rights pertaining to the estates of the special guests or the company that owns the shows that feature the guests (that being The Addams Family episode [and very aptly-titled at that] “Wednesday is Missing”). And the DVDs didn’t get better in that regard, as only all but eight episodes got cleared for release on the plastic disc as The Best of The Scooby-Doo Movies. That is, until on June 4, 2019 (five days ago as of posting this), when WHV released those eight other episodes under the title “The Lost Episodes”, and almost all episodes on DVD and Blu-Ray as The (Almost) Complete Collection. “Wednesday is Missing” is still missing (unless...).
In conclusion, The Scooby-Doo Movies was a fun, intriguing, entertaining and hilarious literal hour of stars, scares, scams, solves and Scooby. It's not my favorite of the franchise, but it's still a "wail" of a good time. regardless.
Thank you everyone for joining me for the start of the Fifty-Difty-Doo! A Scooby-Doo! 50th Anniversary Relebration. Tune in next week when I discuss the first S-D series during its thrice-as-long run on ABC, the start of a decidedly darker nature than before, and the first under more names than Saturday Night Live: The Scooby-Doo Show.
I'm Andrew, and until next week... Rooby-Rooby-Roo!!!
When I was a kid in a family with access to cable and satellite (and during spells where we just used the cords and boom! Instant un-encryption, I was open to many types of TV shows of the classic nature: sitcoms, dramas, variety, sports, specials, TV movies and especially cartoons. Like any kid, animation was not only a fun time for me, but it was escapism; watching cartoons felt like a chance to get away from real life and enjoy the laughter and zaniness with your favorite characters. So what do you get when you mix some of the most famous personalities of each of the genres of TV into 60 minutes of one weekly cartoon? Let’s find out, gang.
After the out-of-the-blue monster (rardon the run) success of the first series of what is at this point a franchise, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, executives at CBS have decided to do the first steps of helping create and grow out a television phenomenon: constantly air reruns. From the WAY!’s end in 1970 (on Halloween no less!) and throughout that year, ‘71 and ‘72, the Eye network got the eyes of the youngsters tuned into the (grand)daddy of the litter, and from that collected the revenue they never realized they could make from any Saturday morning cartoon before and since. But on the other side of the office, the creators and producers at Hanna-Barbera wanted to actually continue the franchise with new shows, even wanting another season of Where Are You! since they realized how much of a 300-pound gorilla they had on their hands. After months of negotiations and back-and-forth, CBS finally agreed to a new Scooby-Doo series. And this series would be extravagant: scarier villains, guest stars, music, and double the length of typical WAY! Episode! And the viewers were all for it.
But it would be the beginning and end of Scooby-Doo as we knew it!
(Well, end for CBS, and beginning for the franchise itself.)
It’s The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
So, for this one, our favorite gang from Mystery Incorporated is joined on their usual snooping investigations with some of our favorite icons of entertainment.
Season 1:
- Jonathan Winters – Himself and Maude Frickert (character) / “The Frickert Fracas”
- Phyllis Diller – Herself / "A Good Medium Is Rare"
- Sandy Duncan – Herself / "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde"
- Sonny & Cher – Themselves / "The Secret of Shark Island"
- Laurel and Hardy - “Themselves” / "The Ghost of Bigfoot"
- Davy Jones (The Monkees) – Himself / "The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall"
- Jerry Reed (Country music star) – Himself / "The Phantom of the Country Music Hall"
- from The Addams Family:
-- John Astin – Gomez Addams
-- Jackie Coogan – Uncle Fester
--Ted Cassidy – Lurch
-- Jodie Foster (future award-winning actress) - Pugsley Addams [yes, she voiced a boy; it’s not new]
-- Carolyn Jones – Morticia Addams / “Wednesday is Missing”
S1 Multiple Episodes: - Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show, later Three’s Company) – Himself / "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?" and "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry"
- From The Three Stooges:
-- Pat Harrington (The Inspector, One Day at a Time) – Moe
-- Daws Butler (voice acting legend) – Larry & Curly Joe / “Ghastly Ghostly Town” and “The Ghost of the Red Baron”
- The Harlem Globetrotters - Themselves / "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" and "The Loch Ness Mess" (plus "The Mystery of Haunted Island" [Season 2 premiere])
- Jonathan Winters – Himself and Maude Frickert (character) / “The Frickert Fracas”
- Phyllis Diller – Herself / "A Good Medium Is Rare"
- Sandy Duncan – Herself / "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde"
- Sonny & Cher – Themselves / "The Secret of Shark Island"
- Laurel and Hardy - “Themselves” / "The Ghost of Bigfoot"
- Davy Jones (The Monkees) – Himself / "The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall"
- Jerry Reed (Country music star) – Himself / "The Phantom of the Country Music Hall"
- from The Addams Family:
-- John Astin – Gomez Addams
-- Jackie Coogan – Uncle Fester
--Ted Cassidy – Lurch
-- Jodie Foster (future award-winning actress) - Pugsley Addams [yes, she voiced a boy; it’s not new]
-- Carolyn Jones – Morticia Addams / “Wednesday is Missing”
S1 Multiple Episodes: - Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show, later Three’s Company) – Himself / "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?" and "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry"
- From The Three Stooges:
-- Pat Harrington (The Inspector, One Day at a Time) – Moe
-- Daws Butler (voice acting legend) – Larry & Curly Joe / “Ghastly Ghostly Town” and “The Ghost of the Red Baron”
- The Harlem Globetrotters - Themselves / "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" and "The Loch Ness Mess" (plus "The Mystery of Haunted Island" [Season 2 premiere])
Season 2:
--Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show) – Himself /
"The Spirit Spooked Sports Show"
-- Don Adams (Get Smart, later Inspector Gadget) – Himself / "The Exterminator"
--Cass Elliot (The Mamas and the Papas, later a solo musician) –
Herself / "The Haunted Candy Factory"
--Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show, later Diagnosis: Murder) – Himself / "The Haunted Carnival"
And the casts of:
--Jeannie (the sort-of cartoon version of I Dream of Jeannie) / (“Mystery in Persia”) {I’m honestly surprised no one mentioned or even played a subplot about how Daphne and Jeannie look like twins}
-- Speed Buggy (“The Weird Winds of Winona”) and
-- Josie and the Pussycats (including Casey Kasem [again] also voicing Alexander Cabot, essentially voicing two versions of the same character) /
"The Haunted Showboat" (all in Season 2)
- While I kind-of enjoyed the hour-long format, I feel there’s some lengths of padding in each episode. There are some moments in the padded scenes I do like, but they mostly drag until we reach the case of the week again and get closer to finding the villain.
- And when M.I. and the special guest(s) finally do reach the villain, the shock awe and surprise don’t come in as strong or the revealed people don’t appear as much in the episodes - making their appearances blink-and-you-miss-it moments while also making their unmaskings dull (or at least to me). As for the episodes, I blame the trend of combo hour shows influencing the decision of the hour-long show story-wise, but hey, more adventure is still fine by me, I suppose. While the writers tried their best to keep the viewers hooked throughout (and I appreciate it greatly), it didn’t with me (which might explain why the show was split in half like 60s Batman for syndication; to have some modicum of interest from the first half to the second).
- Also, unlike Where Are You!, The S-D Movies doesn’t have the high amounts of tension or genuine scares (or at least that’s what I think when I was a kid). While I enjoy this one for its own merits of entertainment, this (along with the padding) feels like a turn-off to me.
-Also, a turn-off, the way the gang just so happens to meet the special guest by happenstance -- if not plot-based contrivance. It's one thing to meet your favorite star where you know they'll be at (even if you run into them), but meeting them as the plot calls for it makes little to no sense. Especially when they meet the characters from another Hanna-Barbera show (see when they meet the cast of Jeannie or Josie and the Pussycats. Unless they're all in the same universe, they must watch CBS on Saturday mornings like the rest of us. Well, rest of you, I wasn't even a sperm/egg in 1972).
- Plus, the fact that despite being titled The Scooby-Doo Movies, it’s obvious that each episode really not. Then again, after the decade where TV-movies and miniseries reigned supreme, anything these days can count as a movie (just ask Nickelodeon during the 2000s to now), so I’ll give this a pass.
I also love that, years and generations down the line, that The New S-D Movies introduced many kids to these guest stars -- especially those they’ve never heard of (like in my instance: Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Laurel & Hardy, Cass Elliot (and later The Mamas and The Papas), The Harlem Globetrotters, Davy Jones (and later The Monkees) and Tim Conway. Thanks to The S-D Movies, I now have a great appreciation for these actors/singers/ and their works and appearances on other shows.
Finally, after over two years of rerunning Where Are You!, The New Scooby-Doo Movies debuted on CBS on September 9, 1972. With its characters, mystery aspect, goofy co-main characters, and the fact it came after the first series, it - like its predecessor - was an instant success. Kids loved it, critics enjoyed it. And it later got its second season (which aired from September 1 where it also received high ratings. Then… CBS went back to rerunning it and WAY!. Why? Because, according to one source, as thought by the execs at the time, the network could make as much money rerunning old shows instead of making new ones with Hanna-Barbera. (Like, while that is all fine and good for like one year, this annoys me, because the folks at Hanna-Barbera have said they were open to more S-D shows or even new episodes of New Movies or Where Are You!--and the popularity was there. But to CBS’ Eye, the almighty dollar won out) Reruns of The New Scooby-Doo Movies (along with Where Are You!) continued for almost three more years from November 3, 1973 until the network’s option on the franchise ran out on August 25, 1976.
While Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. may have solved its last mysteries here on CBS, it wasn’t the end of their adventures as thanks to a namesake certain television executive whom taken the gang with him to his next destination: ABC.
I don’t have many (or any, really) favorite villains from this series. Because of the hour-long format, the dragging, the weak scares, and the fact that I can guess who it is within the first fifteen minutes. So here are my five favorite guest stars, scenes and funny scenes (known hereafter in honor of the franchise I'm reviewing as my "Rive Ravorites".)
Rive Ravorite Guest Stars:
- The Three Stooges
- Don Knotts
- The Addams Family
- Phyllis Diller
- The Cast of Josie and the Pussycats
Rive Ravorite Scenes:
- Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases ("Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The key scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Any scene with any Addams (“Wednesday is Missing”)
- The introduction of Maude Frickert (“The Frickert Fracas”)- All scenes involving Shaggy and Alexander together (knowing they're both voiced by Casey Kasem). ("The Haunted Showboat")
Rive Ravorite Laughs:
- Again, Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases (Again, "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The Globetrotters' bank shot ("The Ghostly Creep from the Deep")
- Every scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Shaggy, Scooby & Alexander jumping ship... to a lower level ("The Haunted Showboat")
- Anything with Uncle Fester (“Wednesday is Missing”)
The series is d available on DVD and digital on Warner Home Video. But… a funny story to tide over. When it was released to VHS, not every episode was released because of licencing rights pertaining to the estates of the special guests or the company that owns the shows that feature the guests (that being The Addams Family episode [and very aptly-titled at that] “Wednesday is Missing”). And the DVDs didn’t get better in that regard, as only all but eight episodes got cleared for release on the plastic disc as The Best of The Scooby-Doo Movies. That is, until on June 4, 2019 (five days ago as of posting this), when WHV released those eight other episodes under the title “The Lost Episodes”, and almost all episodes on DVD and Blu-Ray as The (Almost) Complete Collection. “Wednesday is Missing” is still missing (unless...).
In conclusion, The Scooby-Doo Movies was a fun, intriguing, entertaining and hilarious literal hour of stars, scares, scams, solves and Scooby. It's not my favorite of the franchise, but it's still a "wail" of a good time. regardless.
Thank you everyone for joining me for the start of the Fifty-Difty-Doo! A Scooby-Doo! 50th Anniversary Relebration. Tune in next week when I discuss the first S-D series during its thrice-as-long run on ABC, the start of a decidedly darker nature than before, and the first under more names than Saturday Night Live: The Scooby-Doo Show.
I'm Andrew, and until next week... Rooby-Rooby-Roo!!!
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Alabama PBS Station Bans Ratburn Gay-Marraige Episode of "Arthur"
A few weeks ago, PBS Kids show Arthur made kids show history by featuring a secondary character, titular character Arthur Read's beloved teacher Mr. Nigel Ratburn, getting married to a person of the same sex -- a local chocolatier named Patrick. It made news the world over before it even aired, and of course opinions on it divided the country in 2019. One opinion making news today isn't from a person. It's a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service, Alabama Public Television, who decided to ban the episode of the aforementioned gay wedding , "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone", from airing.
Mike McKenzie, director of programming at APT, told NBC News in this article that PBS sent a message to stations in mid-April alerting them "to possible viewer concerns about the content of the program." After he and others at APT viewed the episode, they decided not to broadcast it.
McKenzie said the station has no plans to air it.
"Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children's programs that entertain, educate and inspire," McKenzie said in a statement. "More importantly — although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision. We also know that children who are younger than the 'target' audience for 'Arthur' also watch the program."
BULL. SHIIIIIIT.
If this station has been on the air for half a century, then they have shown some of the most shocking, unbelievable and jawdropping events in history or in a scripted TV show as much as PBS would allow. And as a public television network meant to EDUCATE their viewers, they let in so much that may shock or creep them out. And yet, gay marriage on a kids show was the line that can't be crossed. Apparently APT chooses not to air The NewsHour and BBC World News either, or else a viewer watching would get triggered if the word 'gay' was even implied.
This is a dumb decision to me. Everyone and their grandmother (hopefully not mine, she'd go to orbit) has heard of the episode and the reveal. If fact all we got from this is that Nigel and Patrick fully became... Pigal...or Nitrick...or Pigatrical... ? ...any literally nothing else. And it's not really a sacrilegious topic anymore! It hasn't been for decades! And kids who aren't thought about it at an early age from a trusty source will learn about it from anywhere. It'll be like learning about sex from The Maury Show or Glenn Quagmire! (Although, if you pay deep enough attention, these two things would be perfect lessons on how and why NOT to have sex.
Back to the episode, the wedding itself was only at the last few minutes of the episode, and the bug reveal was nothing felt more than a subtle implication, barely a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. And Ratburn's main students were surprised but cool with it (sure, they were supposed to, as it's a TV show). And if they're cool with it, then no damn doubt, the kids watching would be cool with it.
So why ban it, APT? Kids are going to watch the episode no matter where they watch Arthur -- on the website, on YouTube, on a random borderline unsafe third-party cartoon website or even a torrent site. They'll hear about it from their friends, and they wonder why Mr. Ratburn got married to a guy and ask their parents about it--oh I get it now.
Kids shouldn't know about gay marriage, because God didn't create it, and whatever he didn't create in his image it doesn't exist in Alabama's book. Kinda like racial equality, history books, bathing, not breaking the law, maiming, consent or attraction to non-related people.
But hey, it's Alabama, a super red state, where it's better to treat black people like garbage, where abortion is an evil baby-killing procedure, you can love and marry your cousin, and you can screw your pets too! But if two men and two women get married, GOD FORBID, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE, AND SHOULD BE BANNED FOREVER! UH-HYUCK-UH.
I am so glad I don't live in Alabama because if this is the thought process on many once-taboo-now real-life things like homosexuality and gay marriage at a fucking PBS station (which I thought had the balls to once air episodes of Zoom, Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street which tackled the brutal (to say it lightly) topics of the 9/11 Attacks, the possible aftermath of nuclear warfare and fucking death), then I don't want to know what regular citizens probably like the people at the station think about this. I already hear shit like this on TV and online already every other day, so I'll pass on it here.
"It's a whole new world".
Apparently, not whole or new enough...
Not just yet.
Mike McKenzie, director of programming at APT, told NBC News in this article that PBS sent a message to stations in mid-April alerting them "to possible viewer concerns about the content of the program." After he and others at APT viewed the episode, they decided not to broadcast it.
McKenzie said the station has no plans to air it.
"Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children's programs that entertain, educate and inspire," McKenzie said in a statement. "More importantly — although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision. We also know that children who are younger than the 'target' audience for 'Arthur' also watch the program."
BULL. SHIIIIIIT.
If this station has been on the air for half a century, then they have shown some of the most shocking, unbelievable and jawdropping events in history or in a scripted TV show as much as PBS would allow. And as a public television network meant to EDUCATE their viewers, they let in so much that may shock or creep them out. And yet, gay marriage on a kids show was the line that can't be crossed. Apparently APT chooses not to air The NewsHour and BBC World News either, or else a viewer watching would get triggered if the word 'gay' was even implied.
This is a dumb decision to me. Everyone and their grandmother (hopefully not mine, she'd go to orbit) has heard of the episode and the reveal. If fact all we got from this is that Nigel and Patrick fully became... Pigal...or Nitrick...or Pigatrical... ? ...any literally nothing else. And it's not really a sacrilegious topic anymore! It hasn't been for decades! And kids who aren't thought about it at an early age from a trusty source will learn about it from anywhere. It'll be like learning about sex from The Maury Show or Glenn Quagmire! (Although, if you pay deep enough attention, these two things would be perfect lessons on how and why NOT to have sex.
Back to the episode, the wedding itself was only at the last few minutes of the episode, and the bug reveal was nothing felt more than a subtle implication, barely a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. And Ratburn's main students were surprised but cool with it (sure, they were supposed to, as it's a TV show). And if they're cool with it, then no damn doubt, the kids watching would be cool with it.
So why ban it, APT? Kids are going to watch the episode no matter where they watch Arthur -- on the website, on YouTube, on a random borderline unsafe third-party cartoon website or even a torrent site. They'll hear about it from their friends, and they wonder why Mr. Ratburn got married to a guy and ask their parents about it--oh I get it now.
Kids shouldn't know about gay marriage, because God didn't create it, and whatever he didn't create in his image it doesn't exist in Alabama's book. Kinda like racial equality, history books, bathing, not breaking the law, maiming, consent or attraction to non-related people.
But hey, it's Alabama, a super red state, where it's better to treat black people like garbage, where abortion is an evil baby-killing procedure, you can love and marry your cousin, and you can screw your pets too! But if two men and two women get married, GOD FORBID, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE, AND SHOULD BE BANNED FOREVER! UH-HYUCK-UH.
I am so glad I don't live in Alabama because if this is the thought process on many once-taboo-now real-life things like homosexuality and gay marriage at a fucking PBS station (which I thought had the balls to once air episodes of Zoom, Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street which tackled the brutal (to say it lightly) topics of the 9/11 Attacks, the possible aftermath of nuclear warfare and fucking death), then I don't want to know what regular citizens probably like the people at the station think about this. I already hear shit like this on TV and online already every other day, so I'll pass on it here.
"It's a whole new world".
Apparently, not whole or new enough...
Not just yet.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
"Arthur" Character Mr. Ratburn Gets Married... To Another Guy (Awesome)
We all knew of his love of cake.
And now he has an excuse.
He can share that love...
with another man.
Hey everyone, It's Andrew again.
And I'll be honest with you: I haven't watched Arthur in years.
The last time I watched willingly, I was graduating from middle school. Apparently, my tastes in TV cartoons have changed a bit since then, and I lost that taste in Arthur. And at times, I even forgot about it's existence. (And that's even despite watching the PBS Kids channel near religiously since its start-up. ...Yes, this happens.) That's until last week when news hit that the show broke ground yet again. Yep, after the episodes with Buster having asthma;
characters revealed to have Alzheimer's and Asperger's; something like 9/11;
Arthur hitting D.W.; and Mrs. Grady fighting cancer,
the show has it's biggest moment yet -- when a character is revealed to be gay.
That character was revealed to be our favorite aardvark's favorite teacher Mr. Ratburn in the premiere of the show's 22nd(!!) season,
"Mr. Ratburn and The Special Someone".
Of course I've done this before. I've written posts about kids shows breaking ground on featuring gay characters before:
one on Clarence, and two on The Loud House (one about Clyde McBride's male parents, and the other on Loud sister Luna crushing on another girl).
But notice what's going on here -- those are shows for older kids. Arthur is at its core a show for preschoolers and those under 8. That's why I'm writing this here; it's more than probably the biggest leap any kids show has ever done on the topic of homosexuality. Because it's a little kids show, Arthur has to tip-toe around even the tamest of topics outside the usual baby-esque stuff -- but since the series has a brilliant writing staff, they get away with a lot of non-kids stuff easily (and thankfully--cause it's hilarious and/or heartwarming). And only occasionally do they dive into some really heavy stuff to teach its young audience about the harsh realities of real life (several of which I mentioned earlier) and they do this exceptionally -- and this episode is NO exclusion.
TL;DRing the plot, which everyone knows by now,
I'll then skip to my thoughts in the whole matter.
In the episode, Mr. Ratburn reveals to his class that he's getting married. After the usual hi-jinks and goof-ups abound, it was revealed towards the end of the episode that the person Mr. Ratburn is tying the knot with is another man named Patrick, a local proprietor selling chocolate-based confections.
What made it all brilliant here is that whom Mr. Ratburn is marrying isn't revealed until near the end. And it isn't shoehorned in either, it feels natural. Yeah, I knew about it the same way literally almost everyone knew about it, but watching the episode with fresh eyes and forgoing the huge barrage of news hits made it all feel much different ... and more better.
I was honestly shocked that Ratburn came out, but stopped the reaction shortly after because... I love him, not only as a teacher but as a character. He may be stern, but he's also fair and caring, and that's what great teachers are supposed to be. He's also shown to be caring and jovial toward his students which helps them get to know and appreciate him much better as the series progresses, and that made him a much better and likable character down the road. (Plus, despite the weird color clashes, I loved his suit -- even as a kid.) And that's why I'm so happy for him -- not only because he's marrying another guy, but also because he's getting married. He deserves it (and so does Patrick).
And speaking on the other man, Patrick himself is sweet (like the food he sells), charming, a little goofy (at least from his voice, which I kind adore) and the kind of person you'd wish was your friend almost immediately.
I honestly wish someone like him exists in real life.
The wedding scene itself (while brief) was absolutely wonderful. Seeing these two happy men together down the aisle was inspiring and tear-inducing enough, but for Mr. Ratburn to invite his students and their families to the reception was also sweet. Plus, seeing Patrick give Arthur and Francine a wink indicating "Yep, it's me" (they met earlier at his Chocolate Shop, creating a smooth foreshadowing to the person Nigel would spend his life with) To have them (and by extension the viewers) watch first hand that love comes in all forms -- and that not a word was uttered throughout) is a brilliant idea on the part of writer Peter K. Hirsch. All we can do is picture the wedding ourselves from here, and to it's intimately beautiful. Plus, in my mind, they actually kiss (which I don't blame the show for keeping off the episode, seeing as many people already actually angry about the union would find a "legit" reason to fight this cartoon for preschoolers about [seriously, find a new hobby]).
Random Thoughts:
--Yes, this episode features a special appearance from Sue Sylvester herself, Jane Lynch. And her character here is (almost) just as ruthless and cunning. Any man would be lucky to have her. /s
--Lynch's character being Nigel's elder sister was something I picked up on immediately.
--Seeing the kids pondering Mr. Ratburn marrying is funny enough, but seeing what could happen after the ceremony is hilarious; RatHulk? lost my s#it. Flower Child Ratburn? acid, rain down.
--Whatever that dip was the kids are eating at the Sugar Bowl must be made of kale. How else would Buster come up to his weird conclusion about teachers' private lives--or know what kale is?
--Can Flower Child Ratburn audio-booking "Dancing Uni-Penguin!" by my new spirit animal now??
--Nigal Ratburn. (ROTFL on the whole poem scene!)
--The kids may find it awkward and awful, but I find the happy newlyweds' dancing pretty awesome.
--And finally, I'm frankly shocked no one (especially Ratburn himself) brought up his love of cake.
I mean, this occasion had it built in, and... I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted a wedding because of it. I would've blew up in laughter for that nice little call-back. (oh well, at least he'll more cake to chew later on...) (i'm so sorry...)
But speaking of shocked, the real shock is that this show is still on the air. While Arthur is showing its age in spots as of later into its run -- it's nearly as old as I am (22 seasons to my 25 years as of posting this), it's still a kids show I hold in high regard, especially when I was a lad. It's episodes are not only educational with some great Aesops for the kids to learn, it also featured some incredible showings involving real-life topics. And this episode will now be in the history books (and back catalogs of many news companies' websites the world over [really they hyped his sexuality more than the episode barely implied it]) as one of them all.
I'm very happy for Nigel -- not only for getting married in general, and marrying his true soul mate, but for also revealing it to all his students and their families -- no secrets, no shock, just pure and overwhelming gratitude and happiness. And these days, that's the way it should be.
Thank you for checking in,
and I'll see you around.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia!
And now he has an excuse.
He can share that love...
with another man.
Hey everyone, It's Andrew again.
And I'll be honest with you: I haven't watched Arthur in years.
The last time I watched willingly, I was graduating from middle school. Apparently, my tastes in TV cartoons have changed a bit since then, and I lost that taste in Arthur. And at times, I even forgot about it's existence. (And that's even despite watching the PBS Kids channel near religiously since its start-up. ...Yes, this happens.) That's until last week when news hit that the show broke ground yet again. Yep, after the episodes with Buster having asthma;
characters revealed to have Alzheimer's and Asperger's; something like 9/11;
Arthur hitting D.W.; and Mrs. Grady fighting cancer,
the show has it's biggest moment yet -- when a character is revealed to be gay.
That character was revealed to be our favorite aardvark's favorite teacher Mr. Ratburn in the premiere of the show's 22nd(!!) season,
"Mr. Ratburn and The Special Someone".
Of course I've done this before. I've written posts about kids shows breaking ground on featuring gay characters before:
one on Clarence, and two on The Loud House (one about Clyde McBride's male parents, and the other on Loud sister Luna crushing on another girl).
But notice what's going on here -- those are shows for older kids. Arthur is at its core a show for preschoolers and those under 8. That's why I'm writing this here; it's more than probably the biggest leap any kids show has ever done on the topic of homosexuality. Because it's a little kids show, Arthur has to tip-toe around even the tamest of topics outside the usual baby-esque stuff -- but since the series has a brilliant writing staff, they get away with a lot of non-kids stuff easily (and thankfully--cause it's hilarious and/or heartwarming). And only occasionally do they dive into some really heavy stuff to teach its young audience about the harsh realities of real life (several of which I mentioned earlier) and they do this exceptionally -- and this episode is NO exclusion.
TL;DRing the plot, which everyone knows by now,
I'll then skip to my thoughts in the whole matter.
In the episode, Mr. Ratburn reveals to his class that he's getting married. After the usual hi-jinks and goof-ups abound, it was revealed towards the end of the episode that the person Mr. Ratburn is tying the knot with is another man named Patrick, a local proprietor selling chocolate-based confections.
What made it all brilliant here is that whom Mr. Ratburn is marrying isn't revealed until near the end. And it isn't shoehorned in either, it feels natural. Yeah, I knew about it the same way literally almost everyone knew about it, but watching the episode with fresh eyes and forgoing the huge barrage of news hits made it all feel much different ... and more better.
I was honestly shocked that Ratburn came out, but stopped the reaction shortly after because... I love him, not only as a teacher but as a character. He may be stern, but he's also fair and caring, and that's what great teachers are supposed to be. He's also shown to be caring and jovial toward his students which helps them get to know and appreciate him much better as the series progresses, and that made him a much better and likable character down the road. (Plus, despite the weird color clashes, I loved his suit -- even as a kid.) And that's why I'm so happy for him -- not only because he's marrying another guy, but also because he's getting married. He deserves it (and so does Patrick).
And speaking on the other man, Patrick himself is sweet (like the food he sells), charming, a little goofy (at least from his voice, which I kind adore) and the kind of person you'd wish was your friend almost immediately.
I honestly wish someone like him exists in real life.
The wedding scene itself (while brief) was absolutely wonderful. Seeing these two happy men together down the aisle was inspiring and tear-inducing enough, but for Mr. Ratburn to invite his students and their families to the reception was also sweet. Plus, seeing Patrick give Arthur and Francine a wink indicating "Yep, it's me" (they met earlier at his Chocolate Shop, creating a smooth foreshadowing to the person Nigel would spend his life with) To have them (and by extension the viewers) watch first hand that love comes in all forms -- and that not a word was uttered throughout) is a brilliant idea on the part of writer Peter K. Hirsch. All we can do is picture the wedding ourselves from here, and to it's intimately beautiful. Plus, in my mind, they actually kiss (which I don't blame the show for keeping off the episode, seeing as many people already actually angry about the union would find a "legit" reason to fight this cartoon for preschoolers about [seriously, find a new hobby]).
Random Thoughts:
--Yes, this episode features a special appearance from Sue Sylvester herself, Jane Lynch. And her character here is (almost) just as ruthless and cunning. Any man would be lucky to have her. /s
--Lynch's character being Nigel's elder sister was something I picked up on immediately.
--Seeing the kids pondering Mr. Ratburn marrying is funny enough, but seeing what could happen after the ceremony is hilarious; RatHulk? lost my s#it. Flower Child Ratburn? acid, rain down.
--Whatever that dip was the kids are eating at the Sugar Bowl must be made of kale. How else would Buster come up to his weird conclusion about teachers' private lives--or know what kale is?
--Can Flower Child Ratburn audio-booking "Dancing Uni-Penguin!" by my new spirit animal now??
--Nigal Ratburn. (ROTFL on the whole poem scene!)
--The kids may find it awkward and awful, but I find the happy newlyweds' dancing pretty awesome.
--And finally, I'm frankly shocked no one (especially Ratburn himself) brought up his love of cake.
But speaking of shocked, the real shock is that this show is still on the air. While Arthur is showing its age in spots as of later into its run -- it's nearly as old as I am (22 seasons to my 25 years as of posting this), it's still a kids show I hold in high regard, especially when I was a lad. It's episodes are not only educational with some great Aesops for the kids to learn, it also featured some incredible showings involving real-life topics. And this episode will now be in the history books (and back catalogs of many news companies' websites the world over [really they hyped his sexuality more than the episode barely implied it]) as one of them all.
I'm very happy for Nigel -- not only for getting married in general, and marrying his true soul mate, but for also revealing it to all his students and their families -- no secrets, no shock, just pure and overwhelming gratitude and happiness. And these days, that's the way it should be.
Thank you for checking in,
and I'll see you around.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia!
Wednesday, May 08, 2019
1 Season Wonder: Baby, I'm Back
That's right! I'm baaaack.
And it's baaaack.
Welcome to 1 Season Wonder.
Today, it's this forgotten (yet still feels forgettable) gem from 1978, starring everybody's favorite "big dummy" and the girl who would later go on to be both Tootie amd Regine.
It's Baby... I'm Back.
Meet Raymond Ellis. a Washington D.C. man with a wonderful family (his stone-cold foxy wife Olivia, and their two dyno-mite kids Jordan and Angie) and a wonderful life in the nation's capital. He's also a compulsive gambler, and because of his habits he suddenly abandons his family one day and left for California. But years later, after picking up a groovy good job, Raymond gets his life together and returns to DC and his family. But after the wife just declared him legally dead, the family had moved on, with Olivia now engaged to a new man--an Army Colonel named Wallace Dickey, and the kids getting a new dad. With Raymond now back in their lives, Olivia, Jordan and Angie must deal with the man whom left them years ago, and Raymond must deal with the family that moved on and see him as the roadblock to their new happy lives, the new man that now has his now-ex-wife's heart and the mother-in-law (Luzelle) that will do anything to keep the man away from her daughter's new family, new life and new happiness.
Hilarity Ensues!
According to Wikipedia, this really is the plot of this series. And it surprised me, because years ago when I first heard of it when messing around on YouTube watching old network TV spots (just to see what television looked like back in the day), I thought of it as a random generic sitcom. From what I got out of it, I thought it was about the main character being a rising music star coming back to his hometown and catching up with his former flame. Well, I was sorta right. He did come back home, and wanted to hook up again with his flame (who is his wife), but the rising music star part was way off -- as I learned he's actually a deadbeat employee at a Cali racetrack.
Created by Lila Garrett and Mort Lachman, this series stars Demond Wilson (Lamont on Sanford and Son) as Raymond, Denise Nicholas (later for In the Heat of the Night) as Olivia, Helen Martin (known for That's My Mama and Good Times and especially as Pearl Shay on 227) as Olivia's mother -- and Raymond's thorn-in-his-side mother-in-law -- Luzelle, Tony Holmes as Ray and Liv's son Jordan and a young Kim Fields as their daughter Angie. Airing on CBS from January 30 to April 24, 1978, it had modest ratings but not enough to continue as you can see here.
Went I went into it, I expected very little... But I got a lot I didn't think could be seen on a sitcom. I've never seen many TV shows where deadbeat fathers whom left the family years ago actually came back and tried his best to get back on their good graces; usually these are plot points or storylines, not the start of a whole series. And most usually, the loser dads stay gone, and we never seen them again. I'm usually not a fan of these characters (yeah, I'm supposed to but still).
Watching the title sequence, Raymond's voice-over narration didn't help his case already. Leaving his family was terrible and enraging enough, but doing it to satisfy his gambling is strike two, and going after other women despite being married means "YOU'RE OUT!!" in terms of likability. The fact that I have to hear this in the title sequence for every episode drive this in and pushes it into infinity (and that's even if and when Raymond has grown as a character in my eyes). The series does well in displaying the Ellis family's feelings toward Ray since his sudden return. Olivia has anger, heartbreak and resentment to him; Jordan doesn't see him as his father anymore and resorts to referring to him by his name (and I don't blame him as most kids don't have the same love for their dads when they abandon them, hating them for thinking of them as nothing; I've been there myself, though my dad did come back after a while), Angie is okay with the news as she was a baby when Ray left and during scenes with them we see a sweet humbling relationship between them, and...to say it short, Luzelle cheered his legal death in the first episode (that's all you need to know).
As for the writing, it's really decent for a black sitcom of the decade. It's not exactly Good Times, The Jeffersons or Sanford and Son-level compositions but it's up there with the jive speak, jokes, the occasional bittersweet moment and the like, along with references to the movies and other TV shows of the decade. I wasn't gaffawing at most of the jokes as I do with these shows, but I damn sure was laughing. When a moment comes when it's either genuinely sad or bittersweet, it feels just like it. The reunion scene in the pilot "Living Proof" was a wild but perfect mix of emotions from the characters upon Raymond's random return.
The cast gave fantastic performances.
Wilson was a great second banana as Lamont Sanford, but he does carry this series real well too. While he still held the laughs good, he did nice during the dramatic scenes as well. And had he not, he sure had a talented group to work with. Nicholas was a beautiful force to be reckoned with as Olivia; she held down both comedic and dramatic scenes with ease, and almost had me in tears during her character's reuniting scene with Ray in the pilot. Holmes some great talent as Jordan; while he showed a bit (a lot) of brash and sass in some scenes, he was very good in early scenes showing well-done pathos in Jordan's anger and sadness after reuniting with Ray.
Sure, Luzelle filled the trope of the spiteful Mother-in-Law, but Helen Martin's performance had me rolling every other time she talked. The sass is delicious (and it's not the last time, as I'll remind you in a moment).
While this series didn't last, it was pretty good to watch while I was able to all these years later.
Why It's A Wonder: I assumed the ratings were pretty decent, since all 13 episodes aired no problem, and would've had another season or two had CBS had enough clout to do so. but since it was a midseason replacement (and other stronger shows got in the way), it really didn't stand a chance--and it's a shame, because a show like this was and still is needed on TV (at least story-wise) and would've been both empowering and entertaining to see that in real life there are men out there who love their families enough to come back after being deadbeats (granted they shouldn't be deadbeats in the first place, but hey, I'm not God, so I didn't make the Ten Commandments...)
And there it is, Baby, I'm Back, the twelth series added to the 1 Season Wonders Hall of...(for the moment I'll call it) Acclame (my own spelling of Acclaim). Yeah, that'll work.
Thank you for being here. And see you soon another edition of 1 Season Wonder.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia.
And it's baaaack.
Welcome to 1 Season Wonder.
Today, it's this forgotten (yet still feels forgettable) gem from 1978, starring everybody's favorite "big dummy" and the girl who would later go on to be both Tootie amd Regine.
It's Baby... I'm Back.
Meet Raymond Ellis. a Washington D.C. man with a wonderful family (his stone-cold foxy wife Olivia, and their two dyno-mite kids Jordan and Angie) and a wonderful life in the nation's capital. He's also a compulsive gambler, and because of his habits he suddenly abandons his family one day and left for California. But years later, after picking up a groovy good job, Raymond gets his life together and returns to DC and his family. But after the wife just declared him legally dead, the family had moved on, with Olivia now engaged to a new man--an Army Colonel named Wallace Dickey, and the kids getting a new dad. With Raymond now back in their lives, Olivia, Jordan and Angie must deal with the man whom left them years ago, and Raymond must deal with the family that moved on and see him as the roadblock to their new happy lives, the new man that now has his now-ex-wife's heart and the mother-in-law (Luzelle) that will do anything to keep the man away from her daughter's new family, new life and new happiness.
Hilarity Ensues!
According to Wikipedia, this really is the plot of this series. And it surprised me, because years ago when I first heard of it when messing around on YouTube watching old network TV spots (just to see what television looked like back in the day), I thought of it as a random generic sitcom. From what I got out of it, I thought it was about the main character being a rising music star coming back to his hometown and catching up with his former flame. Well, I was sorta right. He did come back home, and wanted to hook up again with his flame (who is his wife), but the rising music star part was way off -- as I learned he's actually a deadbeat employee at a Cali racetrack.
Created by Lila Garrett and Mort Lachman, this series stars Demond Wilson (Lamont on Sanford and Son) as Raymond, Denise Nicholas (later for In the Heat of the Night) as Olivia, Helen Martin (known for That's My Mama and Good Times and especially as Pearl Shay on 227) as Olivia's mother -- and Raymond's thorn-in-his-side mother-in-law -- Luzelle, Tony Holmes as Ray and Liv's son Jordan and a young Kim Fields as their daughter Angie. Airing on CBS from January 30 to April 24, 1978, it had modest ratings but not enough to continue as you can see here.
Went I went into it, I expected very little... But I got a lot I didn't think could be seen on a sitcom. I've never seen many TV shows where deadbeat fathers whom left the family years ago actually came back and tried his best to get back on their good graces; usually these are plot points or storylines, not the start of a whole series. And most usually, the loser dads stay gone, and we never seen them again. I'm usually not a fan of these characters (yeah, I'm supposed to but still).
Watching the title sequence, Raymond's voice-over narration didn't help his case already. Leaving his family was terrible and enraging enough, but doing it to satisfy his gambling is strike two, and going after other women despite being married means "YOU'RE OUT!!" in terms of likability. The fact that I have to hear this in the title sequence for every episode drive this in and pushes it into infinity (and that's even if and when Raymond has grown as a character in my eyes). The series does well in displaying the Ellis family's feelings toward Ray since his sudden return. Olivia has anger, heartbreak and resentment to him; Jordan doesn't see him as his father anymore and resorts to referring to him by his name (and I don't blame him as most kids don't have the same love for their dads when they abandon them, hating them for thinking of them as nothing; I've been there myself, though my dad did come back after a while), Angie is okay with the news as she was a baby when Ray left and during scenes with them we see a sweet humbling relationship between them, and...to say it short, Luzelle cheered his legal death in the first episode (that's all you need to know).
As for the writing, it's really decent for a black sitcom of the decade. It's not exactly Good Times, The Jeffersons or Sanford and Son-level compositions but it's up there with the jive speak, jokes, the occasional bittersweet moment and the like, along with references to the movies and other TV shows of the decade. I wasn't gaffawing at most of the jokes as I do with these shows, but I damn sure was laughing. When a moment comes when it's either genuinely sad or bittersweet, it feels just like it. The reunion scene in the pilot "Living Proof" was a wild but perfect mix of emotions from the characters upon Raymond's random return.
The cast gave fantastic performances.
Wilson was a great second banana as Lamont Sanford, but he does carry this series real well too. While he still held the laughs good, he did nice during the dramatic scenes as well. And had he not, he sure had a talented group to work with. Nicholas was a beautiful force to be reckoned with as Olivia; she held down both comedic and dramatic scenes with ease, and almost had me in tears during her character's reuniting scene with Ray in the pilot. Holmes some great talent as Jordan; while he showed a bit (a lot) of brash and sass in some scenes, he was very good in early scenes showing well-done pathos in Jordan's anger and sadness after reuniting with Ray.
Sure, Luzelle filled the trope of the spiteful Mother-in-Law, but Helen Martin's performance had me rolling every other time she talked. The sass is delicious (and it's not the last time, as I'll remind you in a moment).
While this series didn't last, it was pretty good to watch while I was able to all these years later.
Why It's A Wonder: I assumed the ratings were pretty decent, since all 13 episodes aired no problem, and would've had another season or two had CBS had enough clout to do so. but since it was a midseason replacement (and other stronger shows got in the way), it really didn't stand a chance--and it's a shame, because a show like this was and still is needed on TV (at least story-wise) and would've been both empowering and entertaining to see that in real life there are men out there who love their families enough to come back after being deadbeats (granted they shouldn't be deadbeats in the first place, but hey, I'm not God, so I didn't make the Ten Commandments...)
And there it is, Baby, I'm Back, the twelth series added to the 1 Season Wonders Hall of...(for the moment I'll call it) Acclame (my own spelling of Acclaim). Yeah, that'll work.
Thank you for being here. And see you soon another edition of 1 Season Wonder.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia.
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Toony and Tuesday: Victor and Valentino
Hey, folks. Welcome to Toony Tuesday.
Imagine Drake & Josh...
but younger...
and Mexican...
and mash it with Gravity Falls.
It's Victor and Valentino.
Created by Diego Molano, this Cartoon Network Original follows two newly-minted stepbrothers in the small Mexican town of Monte Macabre.
Victor is brash, mischievous, overly-confident, spontaneous and not very bright;
Valentino is kind, smart, humble, sensitive and a bit of a milksop.
Together, they're a bit of a mismatch. But when they find the door to some really strange goings on in the village, they team up to investigate and come closer to the solving what the taco is going on in Monte Macabre.
 |
| The Duo and The Other Main Characters |
Other characters include:
*Grandma Chata -- the boys' blind and stern yet sweet grandmother, whom they stay with in Monte Macabe. She's also either an undead spirit taking the form of a human (as revealed in the pilot) or someone who is more than implied to have some supernatural powers (as shown in the series proper).
*Charlene -- a young girl who likes the dark and macabre a little too much ... and it shows.
*Pineapple -- Charlene's big and scary-looking but kind and sweet-talking brother, and her minion.
*Maria Theresa -- Their spiteful grandmother, proprietor of a popular local taco joint and Chata's bitter rival.
*Julio "Don" Jalapeno -- Local seller of jalapenos and very much attracted to Grandma Chata (he shows this by sweating like a pig in her presence).
*Xochi Jalapeno -- "Don" Julio's cool yet intimidating daughter, known for tending to supernatural plants and Salsa dancing.
I have a bit of frustration with this one.
When I watched the series' pilot, it was increÃble (incredible). Shocking plot twists, twisted humor and beautiful Mexican folklore all wrapped in a delicious spicy, cheesy, meaty package (yes, like a burrito). I laughed, I almost cried, and I rejoiced at it all. And the twist at the end was breathtaking. I though from this, this show is gonna be one of my favorites this year.
Sure, it's easy to compare it to Drake & Josh and Gravity Falls like I just did earlier in the review. But on its own merits, it could work well enough to be a series to watch, love and remember.
Then came the series itself and... Ay Dios Mio, what happened?
All following episodes so far felt... less exciting, more middle-of-the-road and very vanilla, and they don't have the brutal dark look and feel of the pilot (at least halfway through). And this would've been pretty fine had I not watched the pilot. There aren't many scenes with tense awe-taking scares, insane brooding animation, risks that felt genuinely low-key uncomfortable yet high-key funny or genuinely dramatic lines. Now here, while there are some scenes and lines that are genuinely funny, the moments of folklore aren't scary or dramatic -- and that's if there are any at all in a given episode. I kinda do expect to see some of what we saw in the pilot seep in more and more gradually as the series progresses, but for me, Victor and Valentino isn't a series I would see myself waiting with baited breath to watch every week. I'd rather sit on it until a few episodes before the first season finale (and hear other people's opinions of the season) to see where it all goes.
As for the hermanos principales (main brothas)...
Victor was a bit of a brat during the pilot. Hating Valentino, messing up Chata's taco stand, getting his new brother involved with finding a chihuahua-like supernatural being, then facing off against more supernatural beings, and almost getting Val killed by getting his soul deteriorating by said supernatural beings. Fortunately, he reformed enough to help save Val by giving the beings a taco to give Valentino his life back; so he does care about Val deep down. Seemingly that would be the start of some good character development for Victor. Nope. He became more of an asshole through his mocking and taking advantage of Valentino, his smart-ass mouth getting him and Val into trouble, and lazily avoiding work or other actions involving other characters. Sure he has his moments of being a softie, but the things Vic does or says can be really obnoxious and eye-rolling. While he was like this in the pilot, the fact that he became more obnoxious and haughty during the series so far is a big turn-off to me (his voice doesn't help, either).
It's like he's a human, Central American Rigby.
(I do really like his poncho though.)
Valentino on the other hand, is a much more likable character; he's sweet, smart, caring, and always willing to lend a helping hand. Sadly, he's not very popular and is alone in some regards, including literally. And he goes through some really bad crap thanks to Victor--including almost dying in the pilot, but always keeps it in there. There are many times where I wish he was my best friend -- and others, my step-brother.
This is where my comparison to Drake & Josh comes in, and not just on a superficial level. But at least they're kids, and they can and will go through development to become more well-rounded later on.
And the side characters... all of them are very likable.
* Grandma Chata is very sweet, aloof on the surface--but sharp inside; and her supernatural prowess was something out of left field. And watching her sudden shouts during regular episodes still scares me -- even when I expect them to happen. It's the voice ...
* Don Jalapeno is that guy you don't want as your grandfather but wants to be the cool old guy that sells you what you need (specifically the vegetable that's in his name) and doles out great advice on the supernatural stuff surrounding Monte Macabre -- too bad he's ignored by everyone on that regard (yeah, apparently I love typing it as much as I love thinking of it...) Also, when he's near Chata, he seems to act extremely nervous. Maybe that anxiousness is actually fear of her hidden form and he's really aware of it. Who knows?
* Charlene is creepy, morbid, scary and questionable. Charlene is also funny, charming, unforgettable and lovable. She's one of the best characters -- if not the best character -- in the series.
* Pineapple is something else. His methods for going about are undeniably weird (like his speaking in few-word sentences), but his huge and threatening, yet friendly and slightly goofy attitude is something to behold. Plus, his (nick)name of Pineapple is somewhat awesome.
The animation is very good with Lush bright colors, the episodes so make a perfect representation of Mexican culture. As for the characters, they're a great representation of Mexicans -- although I hope there certainly aren't a lot of people who like Victor.
* Maria Teresa is simply hilarious. Her snark and share give me life and her rivalry with Chata is close to legendary.
* Xochi is a badass. You don't want to mess with her or underestimate her; she can kick ass with the best of them. And when she's on your team, she's a team player to the letter.
These characters are well-liked and well-crafted, and they help make a fun series even more fun. I want this series to be successful. I really do. And I really hope the later episodes in season one and beyond do pick up the paces, the stakes and the folklore scares to bring it back to the pilot. I don't know if it was a CN executive thing or something intentional on the part of Molano and the producers-- but either way it did squander the potential of the series at the start, but I'm optimistic to hope things turn right back as the series progresses.
So short(er) consensus: I really like Victor and Valentino. Just not as much as I'd want to admit.
That's my review of Victor and Valentino.
This has been Toony Tuesday.
Thank you for checking in.
I'm Andrew... Abyssinia! And may the good toons be yours...!
Monday, November 12, 2018
Stan Lee Passes Away at 95
If you are a Comic book fan and/or superhero movie fan, this news will hit you hard (as it did for me). The icon, magnate and savior of both industries has been silenced.
Stan Lee passed away this afternoon at the age of 95.
When the news came in earlier, I was already sick and asleep. But when I heard the news, it hurt me even more than the cold and allergies I was fighting. His influence and impact in the comic book industry and superhero movie collective in the years since his debut at Marvel Comics (then Timely Comics) in 1941 (he created a prose story for Captain America Comics) and his first creation with Jack Kirby in 1961, The Fantastic Four -- and later creating many of the most iconic characters throughout the decade and 20th century like Spider-Man (with the late Steve Ditko), Iron Man, The Incedible Hulk, Black Panther, Ant Man, Doctor Strange and the X-Men -- was as strong and powerful as the heroes and villains he created (along with fellow icons Ditko and Kirby among others), and could never be overlooked. No matter how hard you could try.
When I was 8, I along with my little brothers and my eldest sister went to see the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie in 2002. In my young mind, I was super excited to see our friendly neighborhood web-slinger (played by Tobey Maguire) make his debut on the big screen, and while watching it, I was super-glued to the screen tas I had never seen a film like it before (and I saw DC's Superman: The Movie and Batman & Robin before [and shoutout to DC, one of the other best comic book companies]). And since, I'm still amazed by it--even if it still is one of my favorite superhero movies. But it was only since then that Marvel would become even more of a force in the movie industry, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (starting with Iron Man) has become one of the biggest, strongest, highest grossing and critically acclaimed movie franchises in American film history.
And of course, Mr. Lee was a part of it with his legendary cameo appearances in each film. These pop-ups were always expected, anticipated and exciting yet random, funny and memorable (always one of the best parts of any Marvel film). In fact, now that he's gone, it's going to be sad (even a little scary) to think of not seeing him in any Marvel film anymore, let alone doing so.
In fact, if not for Marvel not making and releasing the Blade films, we probably wouldn't even have any of the other Marvel films for probably a long time.
If it weren't for Stan Lee, we probably wouldn't have a comic book industry as strong and kicking today. In fact, if it weren't for his life-long wife Joan (who convinced him to give up aspirations of becoming a novelist instead, and expand on what at first was a brief dabble in comic books -- when the industry was, at the time, on its last legs), we wouldn't have the industry's biggest and most legendary name and creator. I personally thank her for that, even though I didn't know of this fact until the news came. I feared this day would come as much as the next fanatic, even if it was inevitable. And now that it is come, it just hurts so much.
My condolences to the Lee family.
May he Rest in Peace.
Thank you, Stan Lee... for everything.
EXCELSIOR.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
ABC World News Tonight: First Broadcast Review
Good everyone, everyone.
The 1970s. The year of bell bottoms, afros, beaded vests, free love, urban rise, the birth of hip-hop, the death of bubblegum pop, the birth and death of disco, some of the biggest news stories were scary and weren't around people who's fame didn't reach 14:59, things were much more simpler and TV was achieved (mostly) by antenna.
At the time of the turn of the decade, Americans had 4 choices of national news programs to get their daily stateside and worldwide fix:
the Nightly News with David Brinkley and John Chancellor on NBC
The MacNeil/Leher Report on PBS
(lead by Robert and Jim, respectively)
The Evening News with (the face of national news when it was objective and good) Walter Cronkite on CBS,
and...whatever the hell was on the Alphabet.
Yes, ABC in it's early days wasn't a success across the board. Primetime, daytime and news were in the ratings basement compared to the Eye and the Peacock. (Sometimes, it found better leeway [or got lucky] over NBC and the crap the latter regurgitated at the time.)
So, let's go cliff-notes into the history of ABC News' flagship program.
The Alphabet debuted its daily news program in 1948 and the format was just 15 minutes long. In 1953, the program was hosted by Mr. John Charles Daly, also best known as the host and moderator of What's My Line? on CBS. Daly anchored the program -- named John Daly and the News until 1960,-when he departed, and after multiple fill-ins, was succeeded by for a couple years (starting in 1962) by Ron Cochran, whom himself was replaced by (believe it or not)... Peter Jennings.
Yes, this wasn't the first time Jennings presided over the show. Peter was a transplant from the CBC in Canada, and was hired by ABC to bring a fresher, younger face to keep the show going, with a name change to Peter Jennings with the News. Too bad he was inexperienced at the time, as his (first) tenure didn't last and he departed the program two years later.
It was during that time in 1967 that the network gave the show a major revamp. A new (generic) name, a new format (double the runtime to 30 minutes) and change to color. ABC News was the name of its program from '67 to 1970, with a few hosts at the forefront during that time: Bob Young (67-68), Frank Reynolds (May 68-70; also not the first time as anchor as thought of too) and Howard K. Smith (May 69-70--as co-anchor).
And finally, another name and format change come a new decade. In December 1970, Harry Reasoner left CBS to join ABC to replace Mr. Reynolds as co-anchor of the ABC Evening News (yep, not at all even more generic or lazily conceived) with Mr. K. Smith. Five years later, Smith slid into the role of commentator, leaving Reasoner as sole anchor. That is until 1976 when he received a co-anchor in one (unexpected but incredibly talented) Barbara Walters. Walters joined ABC from NBC's Today on October 4 of that year, and thus begins a storied (and even more turbulent) chapter in ABC News ' history. Reasoner was against Walters not only as his co-anchor, but also against women anchoring any evening news broadcast, as he saw it as a man's job to report short recaps of the day's news. And this wasn't something that he kept to himself or something I made up because of a dislike of him; he really made it known as time went on -- to producers, the viewers (well, at least those who could read his face and body language) and even to Walters. Because of this, the pairing failed to catch on with viewers and Reasoner left ABC after 8 years (up to this point, the longest tenure of an ABC News program host after Charles Daly, sadly) to go back to CBS. But, the best was still yet to come.
Despite its low viewership, constant host and format changes, and constant tension behind the scenes between the previous man-and-woman anchors, the producers and ABC News President Roone Arledge decided to completely revamp the nightly program's approach to presenting the day's main news, and bring Americans a new voice in evening news to get them informed every night at 6:30. So they brought in three new voices (from three different cities to catch up three different angles gathering to move the country closer to the world) and renamed the network's news half-hour to a name and brand that would (and did) change the landscape of the national news program forever.
World News Tonight.
Anchored by three of the best, brightest and most brilliant faces of news at the time, World News Tonight brought viewers the day's national, international, political and world affairs news along with special reports and commentary, all in less than thirty minutes. Anchored by newcomer (and the first black anchor of a network news program) Max Robinson in Chicago, (the returning [and much more experienced]) Peter Jennings in London and (the re-promoted) Frank Reynolds in Washington; along with Special Reports by holdover Barbara Walters and Commentary by Howard K. Smith, this broadcast did just that and brought itself the viewers it deserved and the respect and credibility it really deserved. If you want proof, here's its debut broadcast on this day, July 10, 1978.
During it's first broadcast, featured reports included:
-- International Desk Reports by Jennings
-- Jewish immigrant reporters on trial in Moscow for giving their honest opinions about relations between the United States and the Soviet Union (by Charles Bierbauer)
-- The White House's brutal response to the trial and a drop in Jewish immigration to Russia (by Sam Donaldson)
-- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's reaching out to President Jimmy Carter for a helping hand in freeing the jailed reporters (by Bill Siemmens[?])
-- The wife of one of the jailed reporters speaks out to correspondent Jack Smith (introduction by Jennings)
-- Barbara Walters' special report with then-Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz on his unsuccessful defense of the jailed reporters and the impact of their case (he calls it "a farce"). (Introduction by Reynolds)
-- Washington Desk reports by Reynolds
- Congress Returns from recess in hopes of a tax break, an energy bill and a controversial decision on abortion (by Reynolds)
- Firestone tire recall (by Bettina Gregory
- President Carter proposes spending on communities to fight crime
-- National Desk reports (Chicago) by Robinson
- Cleveland public housing police force problems
- Petition for Tax Hike from Proposition 13 in Michigan going to impasse
-Four held hostage by bomb-wielding worker at World Trade Center (by Lynn Shure)
-Little on trial for prison guard murder and escape, delay denied in Raleigh, NC
-Western States farmers vs. crops eating grasshoppers
I thought this first broadcast was a fantastic and well-done production. Everyone was at the top of their game. Reynolds was always a brilliant, consummate professional, Robinson took a huge risk of co-anchoring a national newscast and paid it off handsomely (and damn sure rocks that afro with class) and Jennings proved after a decade of honing his craft as a correspondent for the network and the CBC in his native Canada, he can (and did [AND does]) become a brilliant anchor worth the timeslot. Barbara Walters' special report with Dershkowitz was captivating and have a nice perspective. Ms. Walters was already well known for her serious yet sweetly delicate reports on Today, and this iconic reporting style extended to WNT and the rest of her career with the News division and the network. And Howard K. Smith gave such powerful commentary on the decrease in world peace thanks to the Jewish Reporters on trial, and what negative impact protests could give in similar situations.
Plus, the theme music. If there is something so iconic and memorable that begins with just four notes, that it would become the audible symbol of an entire news division, it is this tune.
As the years pass, the faces would change.
Reynolds would anchor the broadcast until his time off from illness and his death from bone cancer on July 20, 1983. Robinson and Jennings remained in a dual anchor format ever since until Robinson moved to the weekend edition and news briefs (until his leaving the News division in 1984; he later passed away from AIDS in 1988), while Jennings became sole anchor and senior editor on September 5 and holding the role-- through praise and high respect, until his untimely death from lung cancer at 67 on August 7, 2005. Other faces leading the program would later include Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (in the first male-female dual anchor team since the ill-fated Reasoner/Walters pair-up), Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and current anchor (as of this post) David Muir.
While all network newscasts at the time definitely had the strong showing of objectivity, class, dignity, talent and emotion intertwined with both the anchors/correspondents/commentators and their reports, in my opinion, World News Tonight was the broadcast to watch; it was a unique format that drew me in from the word "go": three men bringing the News of importance from three different cities with their own distinct personalities separating them, but their one goal bringing them together and drawing me in in the process. In fact, many other viewers (although at time watched live, and I was still years from even being a semen) thought so too; since WNT's July 10 debut, ratings for it (and the network) gradually rose to the point of beating both Nightly News and the Evening News to become the nation's #1 evening network news program. And after watching this debut broadcast, you can probably see why.
For me though, that love for WNT extended to this this first broadcast. I was a longtime viewer since I was a child. One of my life's dreams and aspirations was to work in broadcast journalism. Mr. Jennings (as you know of course) was still anchor and his personality and long strong talents shone through to me and pulled me in every night, year after year. Because of him, he was a major inspiration to me and made my TV news dreams grow and grow ever since. His 2005 passing to me (and the rest of the country) was extremely devastating, but his legacy (along with those of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Robinson) kept my aspirations alive -- along with my love of local TV news.
Well, that is my review of the first of many editions of World News Tonight (and yes, for reference and curiosity, many more are on YouTube. I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here's to 40 years of such iconic reporting and reporters giving them and being such beacons of television news. And here's to 40 more.
Goodnight, everybody.
The 1970s. The year of bell bottoms, afros, beaded vests, free love, urban rise, the birth of hip-hop, the death of bubblegum pop, the birth and death of disco, some of the biggest news stories were scary and weren't around people who's fame didn't reach 14:59, things were much more simpler and TV was achieved (mostly) by antenna.
At the time of the turn of the decade, Americans had 4 choices of national news programs to get their daily stateside and worldwide fix:
the Nightly News with David Brinkley and John Chancellor on NBC
The MacNeil/Leher Report on PBS
(lead by Robert and Jim, respectively)
The Evening News with (the face of national news when it was objective and good) Walter Cronkite on CBS,
and...whatever the hell was on the Alphabet.
Yes, ABC in it's early days wasn't a success across the board. Primetime, daytime and news were in the ratings basement compared to the Eye and the Peacock. (Sometimes, it found better leeway [or got lucky] over NBC and the crap the latter regurgitated at the time.)
So, let's go cliff-notes into the history of ABC News' flagship program.
The Alphabet debuted its daily news program in 1948 and the format was just 15 minutes long. In 1953, the program was hosted by Mr. John Charles Daly, also best known as the host and moderator of What's My Line? on CBS. Daly anchored the program -- named John Daly and the News until 1960,-when he departed, and after multiple fill-ins, was succeeded by for a couple years (starting in 1962) by Ron Cochran, whom himself was replaced by (believe it or not)... Peter Jennings.
Yes, this wasn't the first time Jennings presided over the show. Peter was a transplant from the CBC in Canada, and was hired by ABC to bring a fresher, younger face to keep the show going, with a name change to Peter Jennings with the News. Too bad he was inexperienced at the time, as his (first) tenure didn't last and he departed the program two years later.
It was during that time in 1967 that the network gave the show a major revamp. A new (generic) name, a new format (double the runtime to 30 minutes) and change to color. ABC News was the name of its program from '67 to 1970, with a few hosts at the forefront during that time: Bob Young (67-68), Frank Reynolds (May 68-70; also not the first time as anchor as thought of too) and Howard K. Smith (May 69-70--as co-anchor).
And finally, another name and format change come a new decade. In December 1970, Harry Reasoner left CBS to join ABC to replace Mr. Reynolds as co-anchor of the ABC Evening News (yep, not at all even more generic or lazily conceived) with Mr. K. Smith. Five years later, Smith slid into the role of commentator, leaving Reasoner as sole anchor. That is until 1976 when he received a co-anchor in one (unexpected but incredibly talented) Barbara Walters. Walters joined ABC from NBC's Today on October 4 of that year, and thus begins a storied (and even more turbulent) chapter in ABC News ' history. Reasoner was against Walters not only as his co-anchor, but also against women anchoring any evening news broadcast, as he saw it as a man's job to report short recaps of the day's news. And this wasn't something that he kept to himself or something I made up because of a dislike of him; he really made it known as time went on -- to producers, the viewers (well, at least those who could read his face and body language) and even to Walters. Because of this, the pairing failed to catch on with viewers and Reasoner left ABC after 8 years (up to this point, the longest tenure of an ABC News program host after Charles Daly, sadly) to go back to CBS. But, the best was still yet to come.
Despite its low viewership, constant host and format changes, and constant tension behind the scenes between the previous man-and-woman anchors, the producers and ABC News President Roone Arledge decided to completely revamp the nightly program's approach to presenting the day's main news, and bring Americans a new voice in evening news to get them informed every night at 6:30. So they brought in three new voices (from three different cities to catch up three different angles gathering to move the country closer to the world) and renamed the network's news half-hour to a name and brand that would (and did) change the landscape of the national news program forever.
World News Tonight.
Anchored by three of the best, brightest and most brilliant faces of news at the time, World News Tonight brought viewers the day's national, international, political and world affairs news along with special reports and commentary, all in less than thirty minutes. Anchored by newcomer (and the first black anchor of a network news program) Max Robinson in Chicago, (the returning [and much more experienced]) Peter Jennings in London and (the re-promoted) Frank Reynolds in Washington; along with Special Reports by holdover Barbara Walters and Commentary by Howard K. Smith, this broadcast did just that and brought itself the viewers it deserved and the respect and credibility it really deserved. If you want proof, here's its debut broadcast on this day, July 10, 1978.
During it's first broadcast, featured reports included:
-- International Desk Reports by Jennings
-- Jewish immigrant reporters on trial in Moscow for giving their honest opinions about relations between the United States and the Soviet Union (by Charles Bierbauer)
-- The White House's brutal response to the trial and a drop in Jewish immigration to Russia (by Sam Donaldson)
-- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's reaching out to President Jimmy Carter for a helping hand in freeing the jailed reporters (by Bill Siemmens[?])
-- The wife of one of the jailed reporters speaks out to correspondent Jack Smith (introduction by Jennings)
-- Barbara Walters' special report with then-Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz on his unsuccessful defense of the jailed reporters and the impact of their case (he calls it "a farce"). (Introduction by Reynolds)
-- Washington Desk reports by Reynolds
- Congress Returns from recess in hopes of a tax break, an energy bill and a controversial decision on abortion (by Reynolds)
- Firestone tire recall (by Bettina Gregory
- President Carter proposes spending on communities to fight crime
-- National Desk reports (Chicago) by Robinson
- Cleveland public housing police force problems
- Petition for Tax Hike from Proposition 13 in Michigan going to impasse
-Four held hostage by bomb-wielding worker at World Trade Center (by Lynn Shure)
-Little on trial for prison guard murder and escape, delay denied in Raleigh, NC
-Western States farmers vs. crops eating grasshoppers
I thought this first broadcast was a fantastic and well-done production. Everyone was at the top of their game. Reynolds was always a brilliant, consummate professional, Robinson took a huge risk of co-anchoring a national newscast and paid it off handsomely (and damn sure rocks that afro with class) and Jennings proved after a decade of honing his craft as a correspondent for the network and the CBC in his native Canada, he can (and did [AND does]) become a brilliant anchor worth the timeslot. Barbara Walters' special report with Dershkowitz was captivating and have a nice perspective. Ms. Walters was already well known for her serious yet sweetly delicate reports on Today, and this iconic reporting style extended to WNT and the rest of her career with the News division and the network. And Howard K. Smith gave such powerful commentary on the decrease in world peace thanks to the Jewish Reporters on trial, and what negative impact protests could give in similar situations.
Plus, the theme music. If there is something so iconic and memorable that begins with just four notes, that it would become the audible symbol of an entire news division, it is this tune.
As the years pass, the faces would change.
Reynolds would anchor the broadcast until his time off from illness and his death from bone cancer on July 20, 1983. Robinson and Jennings remained in a dual anchor format ever since until Robinson moved to the weekend edition and news briefs (until his leaving the News division in 1984; he later passed away from AIDS in 1988), while Jennings became sole anchor and senior editor on September 5 and holding the role-- through praise and high respect, until his untimely death from lung cancer at 67 on August 7, 2005. Other faces leading the program would later include Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (in the first male-female dual anchor team since the ill-fated Reasoner/Walters pair-up), Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and current anchor (as of this post) David Muir.
While all network newscasts at the time definitely had the strong showing of objectivity, class, dignity, talent and emotion intertwined with both the anchors/correspondents/commentators and their reports, in my opinion, World News Tonight was the broadcast to watch; it was a unique format that drew me in from the word "go": three men bringing the News of importance from three different cities with their own distinct personalities separating them, but their one goal bringing them together and drawing me in in the process. In fact, many other viewers (although at time watched live, and I was still years from even being a semen) thought so too; since WNT's July 10 debut, ratings for it (and the network) gradually rose to the point of beating both Nightly News and the Evening News to become the nation's #1 evening network news program. And after watching this debut broadcast, you can probably see why.
For me though, that love for WNT extended to this this first broadcast. I was a longtime viewer since I was a child. One of my life's dreams and aspirations was to work in broadcast journalism. Mr. Jennings (as you know of course) was still anchor and his personality and long strong talents shone through to me and pulled me in every night, year after year. Because of him, he was a major inspiration to me and made my TV news dreams grow and grow ever since. His 2005 passing to me (and the rest of the country) was extremely devastating, but his legacy (along with those of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Robinson) kept my aspirations alive -- along with my love of local TV news.
Well, that is my review of the first of many editions of World News Tonight (and yes, for reference and curiosity, many more are on YouTube. I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here's to 40 years of such iconic reporting and reporters giving them and being such beacons of television news. And here's to 40 more.
Goodnight, everybody.
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