It's time to do it again! Using this comic book advertisement above as a guide, let's try and recreate the experience of sitting in front of the television on Saturday morning - this time in September 1977 - CBS. 8:00 am - It's the classic mainstay, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour. A great way to start the morning, a sure safe bet. This cartoon titled Guided Muscle was directed by Chuck Jones in 1955 and a likely candidate for something you would've seen in this timeslot .
9:00 - What's New, Mr. Magoo was Depatie-Freleng's interpretation of the classic Jim Backus-voiced character. It was not good. In fact, it was the greatest diservice to the character popularized by the legendary UPA studios until the live action film came out a couple decades later. The theme song was kind of groovy, however. Several episodes of this series are actually available on DVD courtesy Sony Wonder and yet the original UPA theatrical shorts are not. Ludicrous. I could only find footage of the opening sequence in French, but the actor whose voice is dubbed in did a pretty remarkable job of sounding Backus-esque. - Since posting DailyMotion footage of this cartoon it has been removed from the internet - hence, strike one!
9:30 - The Skatebirds - This was Hanna Barbera's first foray into live-action after their success with The Banana Splits. I guess they saw the on-going success that Sid and Marty Kroft were having with their series of shows and decided they better get back into this kind of thing. It's absolute dreck, missing the fun psychedelic aspect of The Splits and replacing it with the aesthetic feel of a McDonald's commercial. The Skatebirds featured animated sequences that were, however, arguably more entertaining than the dull Three Musketeers shorts on The Banana Splits. The Three Robonic Stooges, Wonder Wheels, and pieces from another HB show, The Clue Club were all animated segments used in various episodes. You will notice the recognizable voice of Scrappy-Doo in the second clip... done by the late Lenny Weinrib.
10:30 - Yeah, I know - The Skatebirds -a whole hour!? Space Academy is up next (and also now available on DVD), making it a full 90 minutes of live-action Saturday morning television in a row! It is the first Filmation show of the day too. These days Space Academy enjoys a nerdy cult following. The thing about shows like this being released on DVD is that you really have to have stamina to survive consecutive viewings. No matter how much liquor/drugs/sleep deprivation is involved, the novelty kinda wears off after the first episode. It featured a great looking Sears model robot and thread bare special affects. I imagine it would have held my attention a bit more than The Skatebirds' live-action moments.
11:00 - The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour. I was surprised that I couldn't find anything from the 1977 incarnation of this Filmation program. There's plenty of Tarzan and the Super 7 clips out there, which was the version of this show assembled for the 1978-79 season. The only thing I could find by typing 1977+Batman was this strange footage of Adam West in a downright awful Batman costume being confronted by Jerry "The King" Lawler! Strike one.
12:00 pm - Wacko - This forgotten show was live-action nonsense featuring seventies celebrities like Rip Taylor. It also featured Charles Flesicher who would go on to fame as the voice of Roger Rabbit. It debuted on September 10th, but had been cancelled by the middle of November. No wonder I can't find a clip of it. Strike two.
12:30 - Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids - I never knew what the appeal of this show was. I always found it awkwardly animated and filled with too many lessons.
1:00 - The Secrets of ISIS - This show is actually slated for DVD release this year. I appreciate the camp aspects of it today, but at the time I always felt gyped - I wanted CARTOONS! Isis had previously shared an hour with Captain Marvel in The Shazam! Isis Hour but became a strong independent woman for this season.
1:30 - CBS Saturday Film Festival - This program had been previously titled The CBS Children's Film Festival but took on a subtle name change for 1977. The following was made in 1959 but was rerun in this slot incessantly well into the late seventies.
I think as a child, overall, I would have been extremely disapointed with CBS' Saturday morning line-up for this season. Just far too much live-action stuff for my tastes. Filmation's Batman probably would have been my highlight. ABC had Superfriends and Laff-A-Lympics in competition and its likely I would've spent my weekend with that channel instead. The comic book ad also plugs In the News which states "News the way you like it - Short, simple, and interesting throughout the morning." It may be short and simple, the way news manufacturers could easily indoctrinate children, but "the way you like it" part seems off the mark. You know how I liked my news as a child? As far away from my Saturday morning cartoons as possible.
