In this episode, Don and Rob discuss North American TV animation, tracing it from its roots in the 1950s to the rise of Saturday morning television and its eventual evolution in the age of Netflix. Along the way, they spend time with Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones, Josie the Pussycats, the Micronauts, and Goober and the Ghost Chasers. All this, and why Fred and Barney sold cigarettes on air is waiting for you in this, the 19th episode of the Department of Nerdly Affairs.
Closing Music: Ode to Joy performed by Oliver Eckelt
Things Discussed:
Crusader Rabbit Episode 1
Huckleberry Hound Show Intro
Rough and Ready
The Flintstones
DuMont TV Network
Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS)
1948 TV Freeze
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Wait til your Father Gets Home
The Barkleys
The Roman Holidays
Saturday Morning Cartoons
Action for Children’s Television Advocacy Group (note Don was wrong during the episode, Tipper Gore was in fact not involved with this organization that I could find, it was run by Peggy Charren and Judith “Judy” Chalfen)
Josie and the Pussycats
Filmation
Animated Star Trek
Return to the Planet of the Apes (animated)
Rocket Robin Hood
Battle of the Planets Episode 1
The Micronauts
Thundarr the Barbarian Clips
Larry Hama
Mighty Orbots Episode 1
Galaxy High Episodes
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Episode 1
Jem and the Holograms
Sunbow Entertainment
Batman the Animated Series
Japanese X-men Openings
Netflix Voltron Trailer
>note Don was wrong during the episode, Tipper Gore was in fact not involved with this organization that I could find, it was run by Peggy Charren and Judith “Judy” Chalfen
Oh Man! You mean I’ve been sending my hate mail to the wrong person all these years?!?!
This is very interesting to me since it’s a misconception I’ve had for a LONG time. The reason I remembered so much about the PMRC, even though I was pretty young at the time was ‘cos I thought they were the ACT back under a new name.
So I should definitely apologize to Tipper Gore for the years of misdirected ire; and to Peggy Charren and Judy Chalfen for the lack thereof.
Don C.
Tell her to just forward all those old letters to Peggy and Judy.
Rob
So;
I just found another interesting tidbit: there WAS a show pre-Josie that used the same formula. Apparently Filmation did a Hardy Boys show wherein the titular brothers were a mystery-solving band. This one came out in ’69, and ran parallel to Scooby-Doo. It also seems to have mostly disappeared; Josie being the more memorable early permutation, having followed right behind. (And having the advantage of being an HB production when it comes to exposure.)
It’s interesting that two different companies had so similar an idea at the same time. Granted, a lot of it was probably “do what ‘Then Archies’ are doing,” but both decided the twist to add was that of a mystery.
So now I’m wondering what the genesis of the formula is: did the Hardy Boys show influence HB when they made Josie? The timeline seems a little tight; one year…. but a mid-production change might explain the notably cheap looking animation; and why the show was so different from the comic, which was essentially an Archie riff…. but it seems weird that they’d be influenced by a show that dropped off the radar so quickly. I’d also love to know more about the mystery bit; and how much of an influence Archie (be it the show OR comic, which was popular enough to BECOME a show at the time) was. Especially when you consider that “The Archies” was a Filmation show, and Josie was an Archie comic that HB picked up….
Turns out Lou Scheimer, Joseph Barbera and Dan DeCarlo are all pseudonyms used by the extraterrestrial computer that secretly rules the world.
Don C.