nothing is going to un-convince me that "Hong Kong Phooey," or some misbegotten show thereabouts, was the nadir of American Saturday morning cartoon programming.
I can remember a Saturday Morning kids sneak Preview tv special that was hosted by Mr.Lee Majors(as himself and his super bionic tv alter ego"Col.Steve Austin")and by"Funshine Saturday"(played by a talented,creative and sweet gentleman that I was lucky enough to meet before he died..Mr.Will B.Able)on ABC TV.The show also featured "The Ace Trucking Co."
I was a child of the 70s, 80s and pre teen in the early 90s. I crossed over :) I miss the cartoons of all decades. G-Force, Rude Dog & the Dweebs, Gummi Bears, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Star Blazers, 2 Stupid Dogs, Johnny Bravo, Transformers, GUMBY, Danger Mouse, Banana Man, VISIONARIES, Johnny Quest. Blockbuster Online and Netflix R getting more retro toons. I wish people would write both companies and request more. Blockbuster online has an easy customer service contact form.
@xreddragonx 1975. So a Wee little one in the late 70s... a Child to older kid in the 80s, and a pre-teen in the early 90s. By 1992 I was only noticing the cartoons as I woke up and moving around to head out of the house to go skate. But I still recognized the toons of that time. And now I still think that things back then were better. In toon and real programming.
I miss unique toons, toys, & cereals. I wish Hub, WGN Retro, & Cartoon Network would get blocks of these to air on Weekend Mornings. Imagine the ratings they could get. All the retro fans now have children in their lives. We watch then the kids in our lives would watch. Basic Cable Networks would make money on shows they don't pay to produce now. Why can't they understand that? Anybody know what I mean? Thumbs up, & email the idea to the networks repeatedly. Indifference achieves nothing.
Does anyone have a print of "The ABC TV Funshine Saturday Kids TV Prerview"
hosted by Actor Lee Majors(as himself and his bionic TV alter Ego "Col.Steve Austin)and Mr.Will B.Able as"Funshine Saturday The Clown" and "The Ace Trucking Co."?
@kipptumor Hon Kong Phooey didn't play in a band! ;) (Very much the exception, though.) He DID have an animal sidekick, which almost all of the others had, too. (And those without animals had talking cars or ghosts from the 18th century or something else like that.)
@kipptumor The Ghoulies skipped the mystery solving and just stuck to corny jokes. (I guess their pet was Sabrina, the teen-age witch.) I never remembered that one on Saturday morning, though, just in syndication on weekday afternoons. Maybe I was watching SUPERFRIENDS or LAND OF THE LOST instead!
@kipptumor Oh, cool! How many seasons did that have, anyway? I know they went long enough that the dad actually left and they replaced him with their uncle, which was a pretty far-fetched considering their situation. My favorite later season thing (while the dad was still there) was the Zorn, the weird, extra-dimensional alien who seemed to be made of christmas lights and windchimes.
@GoblinXXX I only watched the series until the Uncle came along. That was it - like you said, "too far-fetched". I don't remember how many actual seasons there were, but I think six including the lame uncle ones.
Hong Kong Phooey was AWESOME! That show should have gotten more episodes than it did. Scatman Crothers is the most underrated voice actor of all time.
When American Bandstand went off the air, Saturday Mornings as we knew them officialy died.
That's the one thing about Saturday mornings, as a child, I remember quite fondly - waking up at 5 am, eating 3 bowls of cereal loaded with sugar, and watching 'toons until noon.
@Ibusers1 In 1995, Disney brought ABC. All saturday morning cartoon shows and the live action shows are all disney. In the 1980's- 1995, ABC was the best.
@Ibusers1 In 1995, Disney brought ABC. All saturday morning cartoon shows and the live action shows are all disney. In the 1980's- 1995, ABC was the best.
I assume they were trying to be realistic with the caveman show. Unlike Land of the Lost on NBC or Valley of the Dinosaurs on CBS (everyone was on the prehistoric kick in '74.
As for the other two they dismal HB entrees and it didn't help that they were shoved into Sunday's lineup a year later.
You realize that neither of those shows took place in prehistoric times, right? LotL was another dimension and VotD was a lost valley like in "Turok" or "The Lost World" (which was a plateau but my point remains).
I started watching "...The Days" when it was demoted to Sunday morning. At the time I was watching, I think only ABC had a Sunday morning lineup, so I would have watched a monkey riding a dog-- I did watch the "Make A Wish" LSD trip, after all.
@testodude DEVLIN really did suck on pretty much every level-- KORG, on the other hand, was very good, but was either on at like 4am or not much later on Sundays.
YES! I remember that. I remember the evening before the FIRST Saturday lineup they had Lee Majors guest as Steve Austin, who was trying to rescue the tapes of all the new shows after they had been stolen by a secret organization. Anyone remember THAT? I'd LOVE to see that again.
I like the part when the "bad" guy runs into a garage with a motor driven roll-up aluminum door, and while it is closing lee majors puts his hand under it and the door switch is reset to open again! Even as a kid I could not believe how campy!
I'm glad you mention that. I've been looking whether anyone had that as well as all the other SM preview shows. My favorite was the one hosted by Jimmy Osmond and I think Scooby Doo appeared as well.
those primetime preview specials were one of the high points of the kid year-- you were going back to school, but at least you got to see the Saturday morning preview specials. In the pre-VCR days, if you missed it, you were just SOL.
@testodude The dumbest thing they do in today's programming (among countless dumb things) is splitting up the season to the point that there IS no time when you KNOW new stuff will be on, and "the new fall season" is no longer an event people would stay home to catch.
Devlin sucked. It was the same five scenes of a motorcycle jumping set to different backgrounds interspersed with tedium and situation rhetoric. You did not miss anything.
Watching nightmare theatre & night stalker friday evening, then wake up early to watch the ABC saturday morning cartoons, the Beatles & the Monkees as we all sang allong with a mouthfull of cap n `crunch, now we got gangster rap & GTA instilling no moral value to the next generation. let`s corrupt our youth then reap the reward, need to stop glorifying abuse . best thing about the seventies was capital punnishment, best thing about today is dna. now combine the two and end prohibition.
Wow, back before Saturdays on ABC were for things other than infomercials about real estate featuring a guy in a fox furry suit. I wonder what year did they sell out?
I wonder what Sat. mornings must be like on ABC these days because I haven't watched TV so much lately since my family doesn't have TV reception and we don't watch TV anymore.
@XMChipXM sat mornings kinda took a crap starting in the late 70s i remember i used to bring my small black n white portable tv in the living room so i could watch all 90 min of the bugs bunny road runner show and not miss the jetsons and the monkees then the pink panther hour now saturday mornings are as ordinary as a week day
I don't know about that! I was talking about shows that I watched (I grew up in a CBS family) such as:
Alice; The Jeffersons; Maude (rest in peace, Bea Arthur); All In The Family; M*A*S*H; Hawaii Five-O; Cannon; Barnaby Jones; The Dukes of Hazzard; Dallas; The Waltons and Good Times.
Nobody is disputing that CBS had its own share of popular shows or even the quality of their programs, but ABC was unquestionably the more popular network ratings-wise for the second half of the '70s. That's just a fact.
"These Are The Days" reminds me of 2 things. 1 is the opening theme to "All in the Family" ("Those Were The Days"). The other is that 10,000 Maniacs song ("These Are the Days"). Wouldn't it make sense to use that song for this show?
And talking about the New Adventures of Gilligan all week? I don't think so! (I am shocked this was on ABC, and not CBS as the original GI and Gilligan's Planet were)
The law of averages doesn't really make me enthusiastic either way...if you are familiar with most of the cartoon movie adaptions we have had, you know why...
I hear that a movie based on Hanna-Barbera's Hong Kong Phooey is in the works for 2009 or earlier. Check the internet, maybe under up-coming movies like I did. You will probably see what I'm talking about.
They can't have spent much time talking about them, as all those new shows were cancelled after a year (although the first two live on in repeats).
Cindylover1969 5 months ago
Hong Kong Fooy, quicker than the human eye...
drummer4theperish 6 months ago
No matter what your halcyon-day memories are...
nothing is going to un-convince me that "Hong Kong Phooey," or some misbegotten show thereabouts, was the nadir of American Saturday morning cartoon programming.
Chasmodon 6 months ago
the abc after school specials were ALWAYS lame!
LittleSwordMusic 7 months ago
BOSS!!!!
LittleSwordMusic 7 months ago
I can remember a Saturday Morning kids sneak Preview tv special that was hosted by Mr.Lee Majors(as himself and his super bionic tv alter ego"Col.Steve Austin")and by"Funshine Saturday"(played by a talented,creative and sweet gentleman that I was lucky enough to meet before he died..Mr.Will B.Able)on ABC TV.The show also featured "The Ace Trucking Co."
TheStanbabe 9 months ago
The PSSSSSSTTTTT Stooe The Tapes!!!!!!!
Pookatube 9 months ago
I was a child of the 70s, 80s and pre teen in the early 90s. I crossed over :) I miss the cartoons of all decades. G-Force, Rude Dog & the Dweebs, Gummi Bears, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Star Blazers, 2 Stupid Dogs, Johnny Bravo, Transformers, GUMBY, Danger Mouse, Banana Man, VISIONARIES, Johnny Quest. Blockbuster Online and Netflix R getting more retro toons. I wish people would write both companies and request more. Blockbuster online has an easy customer service contact form.
hootyhaha 11 months ago
@hootyhaha Thank you for the post, but when were you born exactly?
xreddragonx 11 months ago
@xreddragonx 1975. So a Wee little one in the late 70s... a Child to older kid in the 80s, and a pre-teen in the early 90s. By 1992 I was only noticing the cartoons as I woke up and moving around to head out of the house to go skate. But I still recognized the toons of that time. And now I still think that things back then were better. In toon and real programming.
hootyhaha 11 months ago
Holy Moley what year was that?
robshimer 1 year ago
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I miss unique toons, toys, & cereals. I wish Hub, WGN Retro, & Cartoon Network would get blocks of these to air on Weekend Mornings. Imagine the ratings they could get. All the retro fans now have children in their lives. We watch then the kids in our lives would watch. Basic Cable Networks would make money on shows they don't pay to produce now. Why can't they understand that? Anybody know what I mean? Thumbs up, & email the idea to the networks repeatedly. Indifference achieves nothing.
hootyhaha 1 year ago
These shows were so great. It was like getting a reward every Saturday morning for those five long hard school days.
Attila709 1 year ago
Man I miss After school specials, you learned valuable lessons like dont do drugs, dont dtink alcohol, over the top drama, by todays top stars
cowboybear40 1 year ago
omg is so hard to get to see something nice at tv this days @_@
and for kids...god..are some stupid things..like the kids are retarded...c'mon..
mizu5678 1 year ago
Wow I can't believe it ABC was just as shitty then as it is now.
smbmoviefan 1 year ago
Does anyone have a print of "The ABC TV Funshine Saturday Kids TV Prerview"
hosted by Actor Lee Majors(as himself and his bionic TV alter Ego "Col.Steve Austin)and Mr.Will B.Able as"Funshine Saturday The Clown" and "The Ace Trucking Co."?
143AC 1 year ago
Every cartoon character solved mysteries and played in a band back then.
kipptumor 1 year ago 2
@kipptumor Hon Kong Phooey didn't play in a band! ;) (Very much the exception, though.) He DID have an animal sidekick, which almost all of the others had, too. (And those without animals had talking cars or ghosts from the 18th century or something else like that.)
GoblinXXX 1 year ago
@GoblinXXX I know - MOST of them did I should say. I liked the Groovy Ghoulies best.
kipptumor 1 year ago
@kipptumor The Ghoulies skipped the mystery solving and just stuck to corny jokes. (I guess their pet was Sabrina, the teen-age witch.) I never remembered that one on Saturday morning, though, just in syndication on weekday afternoons. Maybe I was watching SUPERFRIENDS or LAND OF THE LOST instead!
GoblinXXX 1 year ago
@GoblinXXX I have the first three seasons of Land of the Lost on DVD!
kipptumor 1 year ago
@kipptumor Oh, cool! How many seasons did that have, anyway? I know they went long enough that the dad actually left and they replaced him with their uncle, which was a pretty far-fetched considering their situation. My favorite later season thing (while the dad was still there) was the Zorn, the weird, extra-dimensional alien who seemed to be made of christmas lights and windchimes.
GoblinXXX 1 year ago
@GoblinXXX I only watched the series until the Uncle came along. That was it - like you said, "too far-fetched". I don't remember how many actual seasons there were, but I think six including the lame uncle ones.
kipptumor 1 year ago
Hong Kong Phooey was AWESOME! That show should have gotten more episodes than it did. Scatman Crothers is the most underrated voice actor of all time.
Superthug203 2 years ago 4
@Superthug203 I agree.
frankfantastic001 1 year ago
Did ABC Funshine Saturday use a clown character who's head looked like the sun or a sunflower? I'm trying to remember.
Attila709 2 years ago
Yes, it use to be on here but it was removed. That was my favorite ABC Saturday morning commercial.
yellaj87 2 years ago
When American Bandstand went off the air, Saturday Mornings as we knew them officialy died.
That's the one thing about Saturday mornings, as a child, I remember quite fondly - waking up at 5 am, eating 3 bowls of cereal loaded with sugar, and watching 'toons until noon.
Diskoboy1974 2 years ago 2
@Diskoboy1974 Yeah, when AMERICAN BANDSTAND and SOULTRAIN came on, you know cartoons were over for the day and it was time to go outside.
GoblinXXX 1 year ago 5
"I don't know if Saturday mornings are really on ABC anymore these days, can someone please reply to my comment?"
Ibusers1 2 years ago
I think they just show reruns of Disney Channel shows and Power Rangers now
YoungAF1 2 years ago
@Ibusers1 In 1995, Disney brought ABC. All saturday morning cartoon shows and the live action shows are all disney. In the 1980's- 1995, ABC was the best.
frankfantastic001 1 year ago
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@Ibusers1 In 1995, Disney brought ABC. All saturday morning cartoon shows and the live action shows are all disney. In the 1980's- 1995, ABC was the best.
frankfantastic001 1 year ago
Comment removed
Ibusers1 2 years ago
This junk is far better than what passes for Saturday morning television today.
AllRequired 2 years ago 2
What is the cartoon at :45?
snoopygirl68 2 years ago
Devlin did suck! And what about KORG?
Didnt have one freakin Dinosaur in it1
Borrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
These Are the Days" was a boring torture!
Now the "ABC After School Special' was the only good show worth running to the TV for!
7DARKHELLS 2 years ago
I assume they were trying to be realistic with the caveman show. Unlike Land of the Lost on NBC or Valley of the Dinosaurs on CBS (everyone was on the prehistoric kick in '74.
As for the other two they dismal HB entrees and it didn't help that they were shoved into Sunday's lineup a year later.
acholl980 2 years ago
You realize that neither of those shows took place in prehistoric times, right? LotL was another dimension and VotD was a lost valley like in "Turok" or "The Lost World" (which was a plateau but my point remains).
karabrice 2 years ago
Humans and dinosaurs did not live on earth at the same time, but yeah, that might have helped that boring show.
RunJaneRunDick 2 years ago
Devlin was terrible. I skipped that junk.
I started watching "...The Days" when it was demoted to Sunday morning. At the time I was watching, I think only ABC had a Sunday morning lineup, so I would have watched a monkey riding a dog-- I did watch the "Make A Wish" LSD trip, after all.
testodude 1 year ago
@testodude DEVLIN really did suck on pretty much every level-- KORG, on the other hand, was very good, but was either on at like 4am or not much later on Sundays.
GoblinXXX 1 year ago
I don't remember Saturday TV being quite this depressing. I guess we "memorize" only the good stuff.
bhickman3 2 years ago
@bhickman3 I feel the same way.
frankfantastic001 1 year ago
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@bhickman3 I feel the same way.
frankfantastic001 1 year ago
At the beginning of each season there was a Friday night special showing the new line up of cartoons coming on the next morning, anyone have those?
Rwingr9 2 years ago
YES! I remember that. I remember the evening before the FIRST Saturday lineup they had Lee Majors guest as Steve Austin, who was trying to rescue the tapes of all the new shows after they had been stolen by a secret organization. Anyone remember THAT? I'd LOVE to see that again.
vuedoc 2 years ago
I like the part when the "bad" guy runs into a garage with a motor driven roll-up aluminum door, and while it is closing lee majors puts his hand under it and the door switch is reset to open again! Even as a kid I could not believe how campy!
abacab987 2 years ago
Yeah I remember, they did a split screen of Austin talking to lee majors, The crooks try to hide on the set of "Lets make a deal"
Tomcap1979 2 years ago
I'm glad you mention that. I've been looking whether anyone had that as well as all the other SM preview shows. My favorite was the one hosted by Jimmy Osmond and I think Scooby Doo appeared as well.
acholl980 2 years ago
those primetime preview specials were one of the high points of the kid year-- you were going back to school, but at least you got to see the Saturday morning preview specials. In the pre-VCR days, if you missed it, you were just SOL.
testodude 1 year ago
@testodude The dumbest thing they do in today's programming (among countless dumb things) is splitting up the season to the point that there IS no time when you KNOW new stuff will be on, and "the new fall season" is no longer an event people would stay home to catch.
GoblinXXX 1 year ago
I think this is 1974.
royalfuzziness 2 years ago
sounds like william schallert.
frankd1965 2 years ago
I didnt know there was a gilligans island cartoon.
dragonfire836 2 years ago
Wow, this takes me back, I remember all of those cartoons (except for "Devlin") Saturday mornings in the 70's were amazing! Good times! : )
Saturday mornings now are terrible and have been for a VERY long time.
beatlefan64 2 years ago
Devlin sucked. It was the same five scenes of a motorcycle jumping set to different backgrounds interspersed with tedium and situation rhetoric. You did not miss anything.
abacab987 2 years ago
Oh, ok lol!
Thanks, abacab987 : )
beatlefan64 2 years ago
Those were the days, the 70's. I remember I couldn't wait till Saturday mornings to watch TV. :)
treebella23 3 years ago 2
Watching nightmare theatre & night stalker friday evening, then wake up early to watch the ABC saturday morning cartoons, the Beatles & the Monkees as we all sang allong with a mouthfull of cap n `crunch, now we got gangster rap & GTA instilling no moral value to the next generation. let`s corrupt our youth then reap the reward, need to stop glorifying abuse . best thing about the seventies was capital punnishment, best thing about today is dna. now combine the two and end prohibition.
johnnys55s 3 years ago 2
Wow, back before Saturdays on ABC were for things other than infomercials about real estate featuring a guy in a fox furry suit. I wonder what year did they sell out?
0takop 3 years ago
Where's the filth that we've
all come to expect, know & love?
procommenter 3 years ago
"ABC programs for children, we take our kids seriously." Man, those really were the days.
json1977 3 years ago 16
I heard THAT, json! Just TRY to find something worth watching on Sat. mornings these days!
XMChipXM 3 years ago 13
I wonder what Sat. mornings must be like on ABC these days because I haven't watched TV so much lately since my family doesn't have TV reception and we don't watch TV anymore.
Ibusers1 2 years ago
@XMChipXM I totally agree! Saturday cartoons used to be worth watching. Now, it's just an excuse to sleep in!
eskiewolf76 1 year ago
@XMChipXM sat mornings kinda took a crap starting in the late 70s i remember i used to bring my small black n white portable tv in the living room so i could watch all 90 min of the bugs bunny road runner show and not miss the jetsons and the monkees then the pink panther hour now saturday mornings are as ordinary as a week day
dadadruma 1 year ago
@XMChipXM
Okay, I'll try. Try and succeed are two different things, though, and I can just about guarantee that success will be impossible,
DJCandyManMike 1 year ago
This was supposed to be an adaptation of ABC's sappy fall campaign "What You See on ABC This Fall, You'll Be Talking About Tomorrow".
How many people truly did discuss last night's ABC programming the next day? They might've been too busy watching "M*A*S*H" for all I know.
palmercomm 3 years ago
"How many people truly did discuss last night's ABC programming the next day? They might've been too busy watching "M*A*S*H" for all I know."
By the mid-Seventies, more people were talking about ABC shows than programs on either CBS or NBC. Trust me on this. :-)
EarlSnohomish 3 years ago
You mean, ABC had better shows than "M*A*S*H"?
ABC only had the #1-rated show for 3 years in a row. CBS had it for 5 (and it was the same show, "All in the Family").
palmercomm 3 years ago
Except that ABC was still #1 overall in the ratings for a good chunk of the '70s.
EarlSnohomish 3 years ago
That was because Fred Silverman moved from CBS to ABC
acholl980 3 years ago
ABC owned even into the 80's. ABC rocks!
SidJustice1 3 years ago
I don't know about that! I was talking about shows that I watched (I grew up in a CBS family) such as:
Alice; The Jeffersons; Maude (rest in peace, Bea Arthur); All In The Family; M*A*S*H; Hawaii Five-O; Cannon; Barnaby Jones; The Dukes of Hazzard; Dallas; The Waltons and Good Times.
OldsVistaCruiser 2 years ago
Nobody is disputing that CBS had its own share of popular shows or even the quality of their programs, but ABC was unquestionably the more popular network ratings-wise for the second half of the '70s. That's just a fact.
EarlSnohomish 2 years ago
Jodie Foster can be seen in that After School Special promo.
JimR541 3 years ago 2
Loved Devlin. Totally forgot about that show.
immikefazz 3 years ago
Develin was my favorite. I also like "These Are The Days" which was a cartoon version of the popular TV series "The Waltons".
frankd1965 3 years ago
"These Are The Days" reminds me of 2 things. 1 is the opening theme to "All in the Family" ("Those Were The Days"). The other is that 10,000 Maniacs song ("These Are the Days"). Wouldn't it make sense to use that song for this show?
palmercomm 3 years ago
Damn, a live-action "Hong Kong Fooey" would be so sweet...
Though somehow, I prefer Devlin the washup on "Harvey Birdman". :D
LaDracul 4 years ago 2
Don't give them any ideas :-)
And talking about the New Adventures of Gilligan all week? I don't think so! (I am shocked this was on ABC, and not CBS as the original GI and Gilligan's Planet were)
JMFabianoRPL 3 years ago
But think about it, a Penry/HKF voiced by Dave Chapelle would ROCK!
LaDracul 3 years ago 3
The law of averages doesn't really make me enthusiastic either way...if you are familiar with most of the cartoon movie adaptions we have had, you know why...
JMFabianoRPL 3 years ago
I hear that a movie based on Hanna-Barbera's Hong Kong Phooey is in the works for 2009 or earlier. Check the internet, maybe under up-coming movies like I did. You will probably see what I'm talking about.
cegross 3 years ago