Redartz: Hello everyone! Time for another salute to Saturday mornings. Saturday morning - the traditional home of cartoons of all kinds. Many of these cartoons were new concepts, created especially for the young Saturday morning viewers.Some cartoons, however, owed their existence to Prime Time programming aimed at a generally older audience. The 1970's ( 1973 in particular, for some reason), and 80's, borrowed heavily from evening network programming to fill those early weekend hours . In 1972, ABC debuted "The Saturday Superstar Movie", which often featured characters familiar from nighttime television. But for this discussion, we'll focus on the specifically copied, regularly scheduled shows.
As lighthearted fare was the rule in that era of parental watchdog groups, humor shows abounded. And many of those comic cartoons were spawned from popular evening comedies. Among them:
The Addams Family (1973)- It took something dramatic to keep me from watching "Scooby Doo Movies", but this did it. A great show with plenty of Addams oddity.
Martinex1: Hiya Red, I had to just jump in quickly on this topic. That Addams Family cartoon was my introduction to the characters. I saw this when I was five-years-old and long before I saw the actual live action show. I have to say I still remember the opening until this day.
I Dream of Jeannie- "Jeannie" (1973)- When "Star Trek" was a rerun, I'd catch this. As a longtime fan of Barbara Eden, I was disappointed that she wasn't involved. But it was a fun show, nonetheless. And I never could figure out what Babu's magic phrase was supposed to be.
Martinex1: You mention Star Trek and we will get to that down the blog... but regarding "Jeannie," Babu's magic phrase was "Yapple Dapple." Babu was voiced by none other than Joe Besser of The Three Stooges fame. Another star to note, Mark Hamill (yes Luke Skywalker himself) voiced the male lead Corey. He even sings a bit on the opening.
The Brady Bunch - "The Brady Kids" (1972)- Featured the Brady children and pets, sans parents. Never watched it, as I preferred "Josie and the Pussycats" on another channel...
Martinex1: I did watch this one when my sisters got to pick the show. I did like Ping and Pong the pandas. I think pandas must have been big in the 70s; wasn't there some big event with Nixon visiting China and the pandas at the zoo in 1973? The stars of the original show actually voiced the kids in the first season; but there was some contractual dispute and only some of the kids' voices returned for the second season.
The Partridge Family- "The Partridge Family: 2200 AD" (1974)- it had a few original cast members voicing their characters. No memories of the show, though- I was watching Gilligan...
Martinex1: Not sure if I have my facts straight, but I believe Hanna-Barbera was looking at a Jetson's revival with a teenage Elroy (ala the popular Pebbles and Bamm Bamm morphing out of the Flintstones) and through some sort of Hollywood boardroom magic the show warped into this Partridge Family version. You can definitely see the Jetsons' influence.
Gilligan's Island- "The New Adventures of Gilligan" (1974) and "Gilligan's Planet" (1982)- "New Adventures" kept up the misadventures of the castaways, and the classic show's cast was mostly involved. My brother, sister and I almost never missed it, as fondly as we recalled the eternally rerun original series.
My Favorite Martian- "My Favorite Martians" (1973)- Another show I'd catch from time to time, despite the lack of Bill Bixby.
Martinex1: I remember this show fondly. It was one of my favorites. I liked the idea of people from other planets and I was in my Mars-loving phase.
Happy Days- "The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang" (1980)- Several members of the nostalgic series' cast lent their voices to this version. By the time this cartoon aired, though, I personally had lost interest in the old 'gang', and tuned in to Bugs Bunny instead.
Laverne and Shirley- "Laverne and Shirley in the Army" (1981)- a short-lived cartoon teaming of the brilliant Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
Martinex1: Can I just say, "Wow!" I cannot believe this got made. I cannot imagine many of my friends wanting to see this.
Mork and Mindy (1982)- packaged in an hour-long teamup with the Fonz and Laverne & Shirley. As much as I loved the Robin Williams/Pam Dawber comedy, I never saw this version. Perhaps one of you can give us a critique?
Prime Time drama shows weren't mined nearly to the extent the comedies were. There were several, however. All of these from the same season, coincidence? Who knows...
Emergency!- "Emergency Plus 4" (1973)- A must-see for me, as it featured "Emergency" cast members Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe in their paramedic roles, along with several precocious kids. Less gore than Saturday night's version, but plenty of adventure.
Star Trek- "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (1973)- A great adaptation, reuniting the original nighttime series' cast. I most fondly recall the "tribbles" episode.
Martinex1: There was actually a "Star Trek: Animated Series" episode that scared me as a kid. It had something to do with this creepy tentacled alien that disguised itself as a crewman. It seemed like every time I turned the show on, that episode aired. This was my first and only exposure to Star Trek for years. As mentioned recently, I really did not watch the original series until a couple of years ago, so that animated episode was much of my Star Trek experience.
Lassie- "Lassie's Rescue Rangers" (1973)- A fairly decent adventure series, I tried to watch fairly regularly. After all, it was Lassie...
