Wow, that is terrible lettering.
Anywho, during the 1984-1985 season, I was finally in my teens, so maybe I wasn't getting up so early. I don't remember watching early offerings like the Snorks and Pink Panther and Sons (either that, or I was plugged into watching Superfriends on ABC. But I do think we were tuned to NBC after that. We were all fans of the Smurfs through Peyo's original French-language books, and while the U.S. version was watered down and kiddified, it still held our attention, as did Alvin and the Chipmunks, which were represented in our house by stuffed animals and records.
But that was all marking time with my younger siblings until we got to the action-adventure stuff. Kidd Video was a particular favorite, a teenage band that has adventures in a musical fantasy dimension (and I thought the girl was really hot in the live action videos; hey, I was 13). Mister T driving around with his own Scooby Gang was fun too, I suppose, but don't force me to watch it again in case it's terrible. Going Bananas, I have no recollection of, so that must've been when we ate lunch, but only to return for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends OF COURSE. I can still hear Stan Lee's narration at the start of each episode in my head. And of course, One to Grow On during the commercial breaks, who doesn't remember THAT?
In fact, let me ask you! Who else has fond (or not so fond) memories of this particular line-up of Saturday Morning cartoon shows?
Comments
Tronix: Still is? I should check it out on You-Tube or something.
I still occasionally get Kidd Video's "Run" stuck in my head.
Like many people of my generation, I knew the Smurfs first from the little figurines, then the cartoons (didn't know about the comics until a year or two into the show's run), so I had nothing to really base it on but I watched that at least semi-regularly for a long time. Based on what I've seen of it since then, it still holds up alright compared to a lot of other 80s Hanna-Barbera efforts. Funny to think though that it introduced Johann & Peewit as new characters a little while into the run when it was actually their series that brought the Smurfs into the world in the first place!
I skeptical that Mr. T holds up, but aside from the general third-gen Scoobyness of the concept, I can see where it maybe might. Some of them were surprisingly intense, like the ninja one, and especially the one where that little red-headed kid who tries to emulate Mr. T gets kidnapped with some other kids by a guy pretending to be a cop. That was pretty scary when I was a kid!
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/07/8_facts_about_smurfs_that_are_shockingly_interesti.php
Kidd Video was a guilty pleasure, even when I was a kid. If you can find it on Youtube, their "Easy Love" video is a pretty good song and Gabrielle Bennett is very hot in it.
Kidd Video's Easy Love: SAND SHARKS!!!