Cereal, Cartoons, and Krofft Brothers: Saturday Morning in the 70s
Saturday morning was a ritual in the 70s, often starting before the station sign-on (we didn't have 24 hours of local programming, in those days) and lasting at least until American Bandstand. Here are some of those programs of that era and my memories (some are from the end of the 60s, but were still in reruns at the beginning of the 70s, while a few are from the very early 80s). Your mileage may vary...
ps. This list used to include Tom and Jery, which was shown on CBS, from 1965-1972. It was a network show, consisting of the Tom and Jerry Cartoons, like the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show. However, the listing has been deleted by IMDB.
ps. This list used to include Tom and Jery, which was shown on CBS, from 1965-1972. It was a network show, consisting of the Tom and Jerry Cartoons, like the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show. However, the listing has been deleted by IMDB.
List activity
90K views
• 68 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
96 titles
- CreatorDoug WildeyStarsMike RoadTim MathesonDon MessickThe Quest family and their bodyguard investigate strange phenomena and battle villains around the world.This was in re-runs in the 70s, but the powers that be hadn't really messed with the content. It is still one of the most imaginative adventure cartoons ever. People died, there was real peril, some monsters, genuine creeps, amazing machinery and good characters. You can't do much better than this.
- StarsMel BlancBea BenaderetHal SmithBugs Bunny and all his cartoon friends are stage performers entertaining audiences with 7 features per show, all of which are classic theatrical cartoons from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.Lasting through several variations, from the 60s through the 80s, this was still the best cartoon show on Saturday morning. It was on ABC, then CBS in that era and was even 90 minutes long, at one point. It eventually migrated to NBC, then back to ABC. Again, the censors hadn't gotten out of hand yet, so you still had the gunshots and some of the wilder antics that were edited out by the 80s.
- CreatorJoe RubyKen SpearsJoseph BarberaStarsDon MessickCasey KasemNicole JaffeA group of teenage friends and their Great Dane (Scooby-Doo) travel in a bright green van solving strange and hilarious mysteries, while returning from or going to a regular teenage function.Scooby Doo was a classic by any standard! Things got greatly watered down with the later shows, but this one is still memorable. The show was formulaic but the scripts were pretty inventive and the visuals were quite wild. Added bonus, no Scrappy Doo.
- CreatorMarty KrofftSid KrofftStarsJack WildBillie HayesLennie WeinribThe adventures of a boy trapped in a fantastic land with a dragon friend and a witch enemy.This was surreal, to put it mildly. You have a weird combination of live actors, people in puppet costumes, and actual puppets. The colors were bright, the humor was silly, and the stores were bizarre, but it had an immense charm. Witchiepoo is still the best!
- CreatorGardner FoxStarsDanny DarkCasey KasemOlan SouleThe greatest of the DC Comics superheroes work together to uphold the good with the help of some young proteges.The first of the Super Friends shows, it suffered from the heavier standards imposed after the 60s, so no one could ever grab one of the villains (with their own hands) and there weren't many real villains (certainly not from the comics), but it had some creative stories. Some of the character names were real groaners (Dr. Shaman, with his Shaman U device).
By far the best of the Super Friends shows, with actual villains from the comics comprising the Legion of Doom. This was the way the rest of the Super Friends shows should have been done. Frank Welker's voice for Toyman will set your teeth on edge, though.
Yet another variation on the theme. Pretty much more of the same. Some decent episodes, some farily odd.
Second iteration of the Super Friends, introducing the Wonder Twins, and adding a team-up with a new hero each week. We finally got some villains, but only a couple from the comics. Debut of Apache Chief, Samurai and Black Vulcan; and, debut of Rima the Jungle Girl, of all characters. I tended to find the shorter segments (especially the team-ups with the non-core characters) more entertaining than the big adventure of the week. It desperately needed more villains and plots from the comics. - CreatorMarty KrofftSid KrofftStarsCharles Nelson ReillyBillie HayesButch PatrickA boy finds himself trapped in a land populated by living hat-people which is ruled by a crotchety magician.Another weird Krofft show. The characters were all hats, with personalities to match. Not as creative as Pufnstuf, but it is hard to forget the image of a green skinned Charles Nelson Riley flying through the air in a giant top hat!
- CreatorAllan FoshkoMarty KrofftSid KrofftStarsWesley EureKathy ColemanSpencer MilliganA family finds themselves fighting to survive in a land populated by dinosaurs and otherworldly beings.Probably the most popular of the Krofft Shows, featuring a lost world of dinosaurs (in bad stop motion and puppetry), strange humanoids (the Pakunis), and Sleestaks. Very imaginative but held back by budget and technology. Many of the Sleestaks were actually basketball players from UCLA and USC.
- StarsRoss MartinJohn StephensonJosh AlbeeCartoon adventure series that focused on a group of Oceanauts in their experimental complex on the ocean floor.One of the last of the Hanna-Barbera adventure shows (apart from the Super Friends), it featured aquatic adventures with ecological focus. Featured Ross Martin of The Wild Wild West. It would later spawn Adult Swim's Sealab 2021.
- StarsAllan MelvinHal SmithCasey KasemThree teenagers and the ghost of a patriot from the American Revolution set across the country to uphold justice and fight discrimination.Basically in the mold of Scooby Doo, but with a cowardly Revolutionary War ghost. Not the greatest but not the worst.
- CreatorJoseph BarberaWilliam HannaStarsScatman CrothersJoe E. RossKathy GoriA kung-fu-fighting pup and his snickering cat sidekick battle crime.Fun series that tried to jump onto the kung-fu bandwagon. Very slapsticky and repetitive but succeeded on the strength of Scatman Crothers as the voice of the hero.
- StarsJamie FarrKathy GoriTed KnightAnimated childrens show about a private detective who's only a few inches tall. Aided by some normal sized teenagers, he solves a variety of mysteries.Pretty much a one gimmick show with little to recommend. It was one of those shows you watched because the competition didn't have anything better.
- StarsRobert RidgelyJack BannonErika ScheimerThis series is based on the adventures of Tarzan who seeks to champion the less fortunate, to right wrongs and to protect both the animals in his jungle as well as the human visitors.Great show from Filmation, using rotoscoping (animating over live footage) to give the character more movement. It looked great but they used the same shots over and over. The writers defaulted to lost civilizations a lot but it was memorable.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyThe further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.Animated version of the classic series. It looked good and featured the original actors, though their delivery was often wooden. The stories were great and stand alongside any from the live series.
- StarsGeorge DiCenzoEvan C. KimDee TimberlakeA trio of teenage superheroes, representing three different racial groups, use their powers to fight against evil forces.Filmation's own attempt at a superhero show, with some Star Wars elements thrown in. The trio of heroes were racially diverse and from different eras and fought a variety of menaces, including rogue Sentinels. It stole heavily from DC's Green Lantern (which stole from EE Smith's Lensmen Saga). The idea was good, though execution was shaky.
- StarsJane WebbJohn ErwinDal McKennonSabrina's involved with a band of monsters, The Groovy Ghoulies; a rock band with Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein; who scare people for their own amusement.Fun series in its day, but the humor doesn't hold up as well as you age. Sabrina carried over from the Archies, but the Goolies were the reason to watch. It was essentially Laugh-In, with the Universal monsters.
- StarsRobert RidgelyAlan OppenheimerDiane PershingThe adventures of the comic strip space hero and his friends as they battle the tyranny of Ming the Merciless on the planet Mongo.Great adaptation of the comic strip. It started as a movie for prime time and so impressed NBC that they asked for a series. The series ended up broadcast before the movie (which expanded things to include the beginning of WW2 and the Nazis). The second season jettisoned the serialized format and added a cute dragon that killed the show.
- StarsSally StruthersJay NorthAlan ReedThe misadventures of the children of the Flintstones and the Rubbles as teenagers.My memories are pretty hazy here, other than Pebbles and Bam Bam as teenagers, complete with a band. Not quite up to the original Flintstones standards but entertaining enough.
- CreatorJoseph BarberaWilliam HannaAlex LovyStarsDon MessickPaul WinchellDick Dastardly leads a fighter plane group to try ineffectualy to stop a carrier pigeon.Spun off from Wacky Races, here Dick Dastardly and Muttley tried to stop Yakee Doodle. It was pretty much swiped from the movie Those Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines, with Dick Dastardly taking the Terry Thomas role. The planes were pretty wild, as I recall.
- CreatorJoseph BarberaWilliam HannaStarsJanet WaldoMel BlancPaul WinchellThe Ant Hill Mob has to protect Penelope Pitstop from a murderous lawyer who is after her inheritance.Another spinoff from Wacky Races, with Penelope Pitstop and the Anthill Gang matching wits with the Hooded Claw (Paul Lynde). It was pretty run of the mill, with tons of serial cliffhangers and plenty of bondage themes for future fetishists.
- StarsMarilyn SchrefflerCasey KasemDon MessickThe various Hanna Barbera characters compete in their own version of the Olympic Games.Essentially a remake of Wacky Races, this series grew out of the 1976 Olympics, in Montreal. You had three teams; one led by Yogi Bear, another by Scooby Doo, and a third comprised of all of the villains. It was pretty much the same thing every week.
- CreatorBud BlakeDik BrowneMilton CaniffStarsDon MessickJohn StephensonJoan GerberHour-long animated specials, many based on existing properties and/or pilots for new series.An interesting experiment that provided a showcase for cartoon series pilots. A few, like the Brady Kids and Lassie's Rescue Rangers, made it to series but most didn't. Style-wise, the height of the show was Oliver and the Artful Dodger, which featured designs from Alex Toth and provided a sequel to Oliver Twist. The show also featured a meeting between the Looney Tunes gang and the Groovy Goolies (with horrible animation from Filmation), an animated Lost in Space, cartoons based on Bewitched and Nanny & the Professor, and a Popeye feature with all of the King Features Syndicate cartoon characters.
- StarsEve PlumbMike LookinlandSusan OlsenThe Brady kids form a pop group and go on adventures with their newfound friends: two pandas, a shaggy dog and a magical bird.Animated version of the Brady Bunch, sans Mike, Carol, and Alice. Instead, we got a pair of panda bears and a mynah bird. the cast did their own voices for the first season, but several bowed out for the second and were replaced by the children of producer Lou Scheimer. the stories weren't anything to write home about, but they did meet up with Superman, Wonder Woman (her first animated appearance) and the Lone Ranger.
- StarsBob DenverAlan Hale Jr.Jim BackusThe further misadventures of the inept sailor, Gilligan and his fellow castaways, in an animated series.Filmation version, minus Tina Louise. As was typical of these adaptations, they didn't really expand things much. Jane Webb voiced Maryann and Ginger (Dawn Wells wasn't available and Tina Louise said no). It was't great, but was much better than the later, even sillier, Gilligan's Planet (they escape the island in a rocket and end up marooned on another planet!).
- StarsNicole JaffeCasey KasemDon MessickThe Mystery Inc. gang investigate more supernatural sightings with various guest stars and characters.First sequel to the original series, it featured guest stars voicing themselves, ranging from Sonny and Cher to Batman & Robin, with an eclectic bunch in between. The mysteries weren't as inventive and episodes varied greatly, depending on who was the guest star. The pair of Batman episodes were pretty good.
- StarsPatricia StevensFrank WelkerCasey KasemScooby Doo and the gang solve mysteries; then Blue Falcon and Dynomutt fight crime in each two-part episode of this animated series.More of the same from Scooby Doo; but, Dyno Mutt brought some superhero goofiness. Frank Welker (Fred on Scooby Doo) provided the voice, while Gary Owens (Laugh-In and Space Ghost) voiced Blue Falcon. Played a bit too much for cheap laughs it was still a pretty fun show.