The Addams Family is an American animated sitcom adaptation of the Charles Addams cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973. Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy, who played Uncle Fester and Lurch respectively from the 1960s television series, returned in voice-over roles. The cast also included an 11-year-old Jodie Foster, who performed the voice of Pugsley Addams. The show's theme music was completely different and had no lyrics and no finger snapping, although it retained a bit of the four-note score from the live-action show.
Now a word from Atomic Robot.
Now on with our show!
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels centers on the mystery-solving adventures of the Teen Angels—Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy—and their friend Captain Caveman (or Cavey for short), a prehistoric caveman whom the girls discovered and thawed from a block of ice. The concept and general plot for the show was seen as a parody of Charlie's Angels (which also aired on ABC). It also borrowed heavily from other Hanna-Barbera shows such as Scooby-Doo and Josie and the Pussycats, among others. Captain Caveman's powers include super-strength, a variety of useful objects hidden inside his hair, and a club that allows him to fly and from which pop out different tools he uses to fight crime. His trademark is his battle cry of "Captain CAAAAAVEMAAAAAAANNNN!" Captain Caveman's voice was provided by Mel Blanc.
Devlin (1974)(ABC)
The series was inspired by the huge popularity of Evel Knievel and featured Ernie, Tod and Sandy Devlin, orphans who earned their living as circus performers. Ernie was a motorcycle daredevil, while Tod and Sandy helped out as mechanics. At almost every stop, there was some sort of crime or mystery that had to be solved by the Devlins.
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Emergency +4 (1973-74)(NBC)
I had to dig deep for this weeks installment of Retro Saturday Morning. Way back in 1973 television series Emergency, which followed the daily adventures of two Los Angeles firemen/paramedics named John Roderick "Johnny" Gage and Roy DeSoto (actors Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe), was one of the most popular shows on television. Naturally an animated children's series staring the shows to main characters plus four specially trained youths named Carol, Matt, Jason and Randy along with their pets, Flash the dog, Charlemay
The Godzilla Power Hour (1978-81)(NBC)
The series would follow the exploits of the crew of the marine exploration ship Calico who, naturally, had an incredible talent for finding giant monsters for Godzilla to fight everywhere they traveled. Every time the scientists got in trouble they would push a red button on some sort of control device and Godzilla would pop out of the ocean to save the day.
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The Groovie Goolies (CBS)(1970-72)
Filmation had had enormous success the previous years with cartoons based on "The Archies" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" comics, which were shown in one hour blocks. In 1970, Sabrina was coupled with a new concept, The Groovie Goolies, featuring the classic Universal monsters Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman and the Mummy living together at 'Horrible Hall', a castle that also served as an Inn for monsters.
Hong Kong Phooey (ABC)(1974)
Hong Kong Phooey was in reality mild-mannered Penrod Pooch, janitor at the police station (which put him in a good position to know when his help was needed). Whenever he overheard a call to action, Penry would dive into a filing cabinet where he would change into his colorful karate outfit, then hop into his Phooeymobile (which, like the van driven by The Amazing Chan's progeny, could be transformed into whatever conveyance was needed), and, accompanied by his faithful cat Spot, sally forth to right whatever wrongs needed righting. He achieved his expertise through a correspondence course. During battle, he would frequently consult the textbook from it, The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu.
Inch High Private Eye (NBC)(1973-74)
Filmation had had enormous success the previous years with cartoons based on "The Archies" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" comics, which were shown in one hour blocks. In 1970, Sabrina was coupled with a new concept, The Groovie Goolies, featuring the classic Universal monsters Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman and the Mummy living together at 'Horrible Hall', a castle that also served as an Inn for monsters.
Hong Kong Phooey was in reality mild-mannered Penrod Pooch, janitor at the police station (which put him in a good position to know when his help was needed). Whenever he overheard a call to action, Penry would dive into a filing cabinet where he would change into his colorful karate outfit, then hop into his Phooeymobile (which, like the van driven by The Amazing Chan's progeny, could be transformed into whatever conveyance was needed), and, accompanied by his faithful cat Spot, sally forth to right whatever wrongs needed righting. He achieved his expertise through a correspondence course. During battle, he would frequently consult the textbook from it, The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu.
Inch High is a miniature private investigator who works for the Finkerton Detective Agency. He often gets under the skin of his irascible boss, Mr. Finkerton. Inch is assisted by his cute and clever niece Lori, their musclebound and somewhat oafish friend Gator, and their ever-loyal St. Bernard, Braveheart. The group travels from case to case in the "Hushmobile", a futurist car that practically glides on air and is super-quiet. Inch's "inch high" size often lands him precarious situations while on the job either digging for clues or confronting suspects. Despite his less than intimidating size, Inch is a gun-ho, no nonsense P.I. who takes what he does very seriously.
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Jabberjaw (1976-78)(ABC)
Jabberjaw, a 15-foot amphibious great white shark, is the drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers — Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead — who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with assorted megalomaniacs and supervillains who want to conquer the undersea world.
Jana of the Jungle (1978)(NBC)
Jabberjaw, a 15-foot amphibious great white shark, is the drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers — Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead — who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with assorted megalomaniacs and supervillains who want to conquer the undersea world.
Jana (voiced by B.J. Ward) is essentially a female version of Tarzan who traveled to the rain forests of South America in search of her lost father (whom she never finds). Her father vanished in a boating accident when she was still a child, but the introduction shows that he survived. She has long blonde hair, wears a dress made of unspecified animal skin and a necklace which doubles as a throwable weapon and makes a high-pitched resonating sound when thrown (somewhat similar to the chakram that would be the weapon of choice for the later, live-action Xena, Warrior Princess) given to her by her father before the boating accident.
Jeannie (1973 - 75)(CBS)
The New Adventures of Gilligan (1974 - 77)(ABC)
The New Adventures of Gilligan was based on the 1964–1967 CBS television series Gilligan's Island and featured all of the characters from that show. Most of the original cast reprised their roles and provided their voices for the animated series, with the exception of Tina Louise and Dawn Wells. Louise wanted to distance herself from the role of Ginger Grant (consequently, the animated Ginger changed from a redhead to a platinum blonde in case Louise objected to Filmation using her image) and Wells was on the road in a play and unavailable. Actress Jane Webb provided the voice for both Ginger and Mary Ann, credited under her married name (Jane Edwards) for Mary Ann and her maiden name (Jane Webb) for Ginger.
In Jeannie, high school student Corey Anders discovers Jeannie's bottle while surfing and draws the title character out of it. Corey becomes the master to Jeannie and her apprentice Babu, who are treated as his slaves. Portrayed as a 16-year-old, Jeannie is shown as training the "junior genie" Babu, who frequently causes trouble due to his inexperience with magic. Playing the role of the comic relief, Babu is characterized as having a habit of "popping in at the most inopportune times". The pair become close "friends and protectors" to Corey, who is Jeannie's love interest.
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Josie and the Pussycats (1971-72)(CBS)
Josie and the Pussycats featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. The group consisted of level-headed lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Josie, intelligent bassist Valerie, and air-headed blonde drummer Melody. Other characters included their cowardly manager Alexander Cabot III, his conniving sister Alexandra, her cat Sebastian, and muscular roadie Alan.
Josie and the Pussycats featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. The group consisted of level-headed lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Josie, intelligent bassist Valerie, and air-headed blonde drummer Melody. Other characters included their cowardly manager Alexander Cabot III, his conniving sister Alexandra, her cat Sebastian, and muscular roadie Alan.
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The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979 - 1982 NBC)
The animated series first season follows, more or less, the traditional Flash Gordon mythos, opening with the launch of the rocket ship carrying Flash, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov from somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere (or at least the opening scene shows the ship clearing Earth's atmosphere above Europe and the Middle East). The series actually opens with the crash of the Terran ship into an ocean on Mongo after being attacked during the final approach to the planet.
The animated series first season follows, more or less, the traditional Flash Gordon mythos, opening with the launch of the rocket ship carrying Flash, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov from somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere (or at least the opening scene shows the ship clearing Earth's atmosphere above Europe and the Middle East). The series actually opens with the crash of the Terran ship into an ocean on Mongo after being attacked during the final approach to the planet.
The New Adventures of Gilligan (1974 - 77)(ABC)
The New Adventures of Gilligan was based on the 1964–1967 CBS television series Gilligan's Island and featured all of the characters from that show. Most of the original cast reprised their roles and provided their voices for the animated series, with the exception of Tina Louise and Dawn Wells. Louise wanted to distance herself from the role of Ginger Grant (consequently, the animated Ginger changed from a redhead to a platinum blonde in case Louise objected to Filmation using her image) and Wells was on the road in a play and unavailable. Actress Jane Webb provided the voice for both Ginger and Mary Ann, credited under her married name (Jane Edwards) for Mary Ann and her maiden name (Jane Webb) for Ginger.
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The New Fantastic Four (1978)(NBC)
Return to the Planet of the Apes is an animated series, by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in association with 20th Century Fox Television (both 20th Century Fox Television and most of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises library are now under same ownership of The Walt Disney Company), based upon Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel had previously inspired five films and a TV series, beginning with the 1968 film Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston. Unlike the film, its sequels, and the 1974 live action TV series, which involved a primitive ape civilization, Return to the Planet of the Apes depicted a technologically advanced society, complete with automobiles, film, and television; as such it more closely resembled both Boulle's original novel and early concepts for the first Apes movie which were changed due to budgetary limitations in the late 1960s.
The Roman Holidays (1972)(NBC)
The public has always shown affection towards cars that have the ability to converse. As a result, sitcoms, action shows and family films have repeatedly used some form of chatty chassis to delight viewers. It was only a matter of time before kids had some talking transportation on Saturday mornings to enjoy, thanks to the creative minds at Hanna-Barbera and the animated Speed Buggy.
The New Fantastic Four (1978)(NBC)
Growing up I was always a huge fan of Marvel's Fantastic Four comic book series so I was thrilled when it was announced that NBC was going to air a cartoon series based on them. As it were the series featured many of the popular aspects of the comics including the characters Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic who could stretch every part of his body), Sue Storm (The Invisible Girl), Ben Grimm (The Thing), the Baxter Building and Fantasticar plus cameos from other Marvel heroes like the Inhumans (another superhero group who made frequent appearances in the Fantastic Four comics), Spder-Man and the X-Men.
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Partridge Family: 2200 A.D. (CBS)(1974-75)
The Oddball Couple (1975)(ABC)
It's funny how your memory starts to fail you as you get older. I swore this show was called Baggy Pants and the Nitwits for some reason. That show was actually based on characters from the popular comedy/variety show Laugh-In. Todays cartoon is actually called The Oddball Couple and as you have probably guessed without me having to write anything at all it is based on the sitcom (that was based on a popular movie by the same name) The Odd Couple.
It's funny how your memory starts to fail you as you get older. I swore this show was called Baggy Pants and the Nitwits for some reason. That show was actually based on characters from the popular comedy/variety show Laugh-In. Todays cartoon is actually called The Oddball Couple and as you have probably guessed without me having to write anything at all it is based on the sitcom (that was based on a popular movie by the same name) The Odd Couple.
In this new iteration of the series, The Partridge Family is—without any explanation—living in a Jetsons-like futuristic environment in 2200 A.D. The family's "galaxy-famous" musical act is notably more successful than in the live-action show, and they appear to manage themselves: the character of Ruben Kincaid is not a regular. Danny has a robotic dog named Orbit, and Keith and Laurie have two good friends that travel with the family (though they are not part of the musical act): Marion, a two-toned green and blue Martian who can fly, and Veenie, a purple-haired Venusian with a distinct buzzing vocal tic.
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was the first spin-off series derived from The Flintstones, minus the theatrical film The Man Called Flintstone in 1966. Several individuals wrote episodes for the series, including Joel Kane, Woody Kling, Howard Morganstern, Joe Ruby, and Ken Spears. Executively produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Hanna-Barbera Productions, Charles A. Nichols served as the director and Iwao Takamoto was an additional producer. The main title theme and musical directors for The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show were made by Hoyt Curtin and Ted Nichols. Along with the music composer and conductor for the series was made by Elliot Lawrence, and the music arrangements was made by Lanny Meyers, the music was recorded by Regent Sound Studios.
The Pink Panther Show (NBC)(1969 -1977)(ABC)(1978)
When The Pink Panther Show first aired in 1969, it consisted of one cartoon featuring The Inspector, sandwiched by two Pink Panther entries. (Because of the number of shorts produced, two episodes feature a Pink Panther cartoon sandwiched by two Inspector entries.) The 30-minute show was then connected via bumper sequences featuring both the panther and Inspector together, with announcer Marvin Miller acting as an off-camera narrator talking to the panther. Bumper sequences consisted of newly animated segments as well as recycled footage from existing cartoons We Give Pink Stamps, Reel Pink, Pink Outs and Super Pink, fitted with new incidental music and voice-over work from Miller.
Return to the Planet of the Apes is an animated series, by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in association with 20th Century Fox Television (both 20th Century Fox Television and most of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises library are now under same ownership of The Walt Disney Company), based upon Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel had previously inspired five films and a TV series, beginning with the 1968 film Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston. Unlike the film, its sequels, and the 1974 live action TV series, which involved a primitive ape civilization, Return to the Planet of the Apes depicted a technologically advanced society, complete with automobiles, film, and television; as such it more closely resembled both Boulle's original novel and early concepts for the first Apes movie which were changed due to budgetary limitations in the late 1960s.
Very similar in theme to both The Flintstones and The Jetsons, The Roman Holidays brought a look at "modern-day" life in Ancient Rome, around 63 AD (with a 1970s touch), as seen through the eyes of Augustus "Gus" Holiday and his family. The opening showed a chariot traffic jam and a TV showing football on Channel "IV" (NBC was seen on TV Channel 4 in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Antonio and Boston). An Ancient Roman setting was actually one of the ideas that Hanna-Barbera considered as they were working to create The Flintstones.
The series centers on a group of characters consisting of four teenagers Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, and a titled-character, the talking pet Great Dane named Scooby-Doo. The group travels in the Mystery Machine, a blue and green van decorated with orange flowers, solving mysteries involving local legends; in doing so, they discover that the perpetrator is almost invariably a disguised person who seeks to exploit the legend for personal gain.
The public has always shown affection towards cars that have the ability to converse. As a result, sitcoms, action shows and family films have repeatedly used some form of chatty chassis to delight viewers. It was only a matter of time before kids had some talking transportation on Saturday mornings to enjoy, thanks to the creative minds at Hanna-Barbera and the animated Speed Buggy.
According to the book "Creating the Filmation Generation", Filmation was interested in producing an animated Star Trek series as early as 1969, just after the cancellation of the original series. However, the concept for this series was quite different, being aimed at a younger audience, The Enterprise crew would mentor a new training ship called the Excalibur and would train a group of teenagers. Each of the main Trek characters would have a young protégé, with names such as Steve, Bob, Stick, Chris, Tun-Tun, Stormy and Ploof. Filmation would subsequently use the rejected concept to develop the live action children's series Space Academy.
Deep in the heart of the Amazon, the Butler family was exploring an uncharted river canyon. Suddenly, caught up in a violent whirlpool, they were propelled through a cavern and flung into a hostile world of giant prehistoric creatures...a world that time forgot. Now, befriended by a family of cave dwellers, each day is an adventure in survival for the Butlers in...the Valley of the Dinosaurs!
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Young Sentinels (aka Space Sentinels)(1977)(NBC)
Many centuries ago, three carefully selected young Earthlings were transported from their native lands to my faraway world. Here they were granted astounding powers, and eternal youth, then returned to Earth. Their mission: to watch over the human race, helping the good in it to survive and flourish. In the course of history, their names have become legend: Hercules, empowered with the strength of a hundred men. Astrea, able to assume any living form. Mercury, the amazing athlete who can match the speed of light. Working together with me, Sentinel One, and my maintenance robot, M.O., these teenage guardians form the greatest team the world has ever known: The Space Sentinels.
Young Sentinels (aka Space Sentinels)(1977)(NBC)
Many centuries ago, three carefully selected young Earthlings were transported from their native lands to my faraway world. Here they were granted astounding powers, and eternal youth, then returned to Earth. Their mission: to watch over the human race, helping the good in it to survive and flourish. In the course of history, their names have become legend: Hercules, empowered with the strength of a hundred men. Astrea, able to assume any living form. Mercury, the amazing athlete who can match the speed of light. Working together with me, Sentinel One, and my maintenance robot, M.O., these teenage guardians form the greatest team the world has ever known: The Space Sentinels.
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