Hanna Barbera's "These Are the Days"

Hanna Barbera might be considered a classic creator of television animation these days, but much of their output was highly derivative and hoky. What was The Flintstones but an animated copy of The Honeymooners? The Jetsons was merely a futuristic version of the The Flintstones. Their only arguably unique idea was Scooby Doo and they copied that one over and over again. In 1974, Hanna Barbera decided that an unfunny animated rip-off of The Waltons was needed. That Fall they premiered These Are the Days because kids were dying for a dramatic cartoon on Saturday mornings.

 

The cartoon featured the Days, an off-brand Walton family whose serious adventures offered a jarring transition from the standard animated cartoons shown in the early morning and the show that signaled the end of the cartoons to children of a certain age- American Bandstand.

 

The show lasted just one season. It seemed that kids didn't really care for a dramatic cartoon version of The Waltons. And toy companies could find no takers for what little merchandise was made available.

Krusty Brand Seal of Approval!

Krusty the Clown is not known for his discerning taste. Pretty much anything that isn't visibly defective gets his Krusty Brand Seal of Approval. Regardless of the appropriateness of a cartoon clown endorsing a pregnancy test, this one is known to cause birth defects.

His cereal contained jagged metal among the (mostly) edible Krusty-O's.

And what could possibly be the target audience for a Krusty Brand Geiger Counter? Perhaps kids who want to check the radioactivity of their other Krusty Merchandise?

And finally, who could forget Krusty Brand Imitation Gruel? It's not just gruel, it's imitation gruel!

Your Teef hurt?

They Weren't Boo-ing...

A Happy Delusion...

"Oh, Cousin Merle, really!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Week: Funzo

Over its twenty five years, the Simpsons have celebrated Christmas several times, despite the fact that they have seemingly never aged. One Christmas brought about the nefarious toy "Funzo", a devilish cross between Furby and Teddy Ruxpin. The evil toy was designed to destroy all other toys, a feature discovered by Bart and Lisa. To save Christmas for everyone in Springfield, the kids enlist Homer's help to steal and destroy all Funzos. Their scheme is successful.

Christmas Week: "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Now considered to be a holiday classic, this holiday special was originally hated by Charles Schulz, thought to be too religious by the network and was not appreciated by the sponsors. Even the now classic musical score by Vince Guaraldi was criticized at the time.

Of course, it's really the audience that determines how successful something is, and Charlie Brown's audience decided that this special was something special.

Christmas Week: "Futurama"

Christmas in the future is far bleaker in the world of Futurama. An experiment gone haywire produces an extremely strict robot Santa Claus who delivers punishment to this who have been naughty- which is everyone! 

This horrific Santa Claus forces the denizens of New New York to spend Christmas Eve cowering indoors, hoping to stay alive to see Christmas Day.

The Sea Captain's Dilemma

Happy Anniversary to The Simpsons!

On December 17, 1989 The Simpsons premiered on the three year old Fox Network, a last ditch effort to try to build on the success of the channel's only hit show- Married... With Children. Devised at the last minute by creator Matt Groening, who didn't want to cede the rights to his popular Life in Hell characters, the show would make him more money than he had dreamed of. Along the way, Our Favorite Family conquered Bill Cosby and became an established American icon. The Simpsons is a perfectly cromulent institution and we are all embiggened by its existence. Happy Anniversary, Springfield!

The Simpsons Files: Handsome Pete

Handsome Pete is the dwarf clown busker who sort of resembles a distorted Krusty. Pete doesn't talk and works out of the back of The Sea Cap'ns Bait'n Barg'n B'n. Bart and Lisa encounter him while looking for Krusty and annoy the Sea Captain by throwing money in Pete's hat.

BeatleToons!

A Thankful Bart

"I'm thankful I ate before I came."

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse! The Mickey Mouse Club

1980's, programmers at The Disney Channel noticed something strange- one of the most popular shows on their schedule was the 30 year old Mickey Mouse Club and it wasn't just wistful adults watching; their kids were watching in droves as well. If the classic show was such a hit, would a new version be just as successful?

The company was a bit gun shy after a late 1970's version failed to connect with kids. However, times had changed. The company had its own channel now, so a huge flop wouldn't be too big of an embarrassment. Also, the new Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World was having problems getting shows to actually film there, so a new Mouse Club show would actually fill a void at the park while also promoting it to viewers. The network gave the green light and soon production began on Disney-MGM's first and ultimately only production- MMC: The New Mickey Mouse Club.

 

The show took the mainstays of the original show, gave them some 1980's polish and hit the cable airwaves in 1989. It was a phenomenon, quickly becoming the channel's top rated show and introducing America's kids to an impressive number of future superstars.

Future stars included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, J.C. Chasez, Keri Russell and Ryan Gosling. The show didn't really help in luring more television productions to Orlando, but it did attract viewers. Disney Channel wouldn't have as big a hit until Lizzie McGuire premiered nearly ten years later.

A Perfectly Cromulent Gift

After The Simpsons conquered Hollywood, celebrities were lining up to lend their voices to the show. Over time, The Simpsons have hosted an enviable cavalcade of stars- three of the four Beatles (Yoko Ono has commented that if John had still been with us he would have certainly made it four out of four) Bette Midler, Elizabeth Taylor, Danny DeVito, the Rolling Stones, and over a hundred more. In addition to the accolades and prestige of appearing on the show, guest stars also get a special gift from the show- a custom made lettermans jacket!

Emblazoned with patches representing several characters from the show, this drool worthy jacket is only produced for the show and is extremely drool-worthy. Certainly every Simpsons fan would welcome this rare item into their collection.

This particular jacket was made for co-creator Sam Simon, who auctioned it off for charity. Mr. Simon passed away, leaving all of his fortune (estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars) to various animal charities.

Happy Halloween!

A Bizarre Pumpkin Fact

"All pumpkins are racist! The difference is that I admit it!"

It's Coke's World, Charlie Brown

The original airing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown were sponsored by Coca-Cola, which inserted its logo into the show itself. As a result, it is virtually impossible to present the special in its original format.