Linked titles will take you to a trailer if you're interested.
Streaming
The Residence (Netflix)
At first glance, I didn't think a murder mystery in the White House was going
to be up my alley but I'm glad I gave it a chance. It's funny, has some
wonderful characters, twists and turns, and fantastic writing. When it ended,
I couldn't help but wonder how people managed to weave it all together.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick (Peacock)
I wasn't sure how interested I'd be in a World of John Wick prequel
series but setting it in 70s NYC gave it not so grimy grind-house feel. It's
not as bombastic or graceful as its parent but still has plenty of action.
There are a couple of lulls in the story and while I was never bored with it,
it probably could have benefited from tightening up the B stories. And speaking of John Wick...
Back on Free Comic Book Day this year, I was over the moon to see a new Gatchaman comic. Depending on where and when you grew up, you might know Gatchaman as G-Force or Battle of the Planets. Those are both Americanized, edited version of the original Gatchaman anime.
I hadn't heard of Mad Cave Studios before but they're also bringing back Flash Gordon and Defenders of the Earth in comic form. I've read the first two issues of Gatchaman and am loving it so far. You can actually get the FCBD comic from their website.
Thanks to this comic coming out, I finally decided to make my way through the BluRay set of all 105 episodes. I've probably seen every episode of Battle of the Planets multiple times as a kid but the original, unedited series is not quite the same.
If you've seen any version of the cartoon, you'll no doubt recognize this sequence from the first issue. They've done a fantastic job of making it feel like you're watching the show. The art style, bright colors, and kinetic action scenes will make you want to grab a bowl of cereal before reading.
One thing tI'm really interested in about this comic series is that back at the Gatchaman base, there is a backup Science Ninja Team in training.
In addition to the on-going Gatchaman series, there are two more titles!
Hooray summer. It's ickily humid today, perfect day to sit in an air conditioned movie theater. If only there were something playing that I was interested in seeing! I guess I'll have to make due and sit in my air conditioned home and watch movies instead.
If you're a movie lover, need a place to record your movie viewing, or just need another social network, follow me over on Letterboxd, it's free.
Rad (1986)
Thanks to the gnarly Cult Film Club for talking about this one and getting me to watch it.If I had caught this when it came out, it may not have resonated with me like it does so many of my cyber pals. Mainly because at this time I would have been on to my 10-speed. But having been an older kid in the 80s, I totally get the vibe here.
Cool: Bike stuff! Soundtrack is 80s-riffic; Lori Laughlin is adorable Lame: Who came up with the name ass sliding? BTW: Cult Film Club recently interviewed Rad's star, Bill Allen. And Stan Bush covers "Thunder in Your Heart" on his new album! Rating: 6.5/10
The September Loot Crate theme was recently announced as "Animate" so we can be sure they'll deliver some cartoon related goodies this month. It might be too much to hope to get a little something from all the franchises on the TV screens above but if it's as good as the Arcade Crate from April, I'll be a happy camper.
Other members in the community are doing "Top 5 Animated" lists so I thought I'd join in with my own spin. Doing a general Top 5 animated series of all time would be a daunting task to say the least so I narrowed the focus to sci-fi toons from my childhood.
These topics get more difficult every week, forcing me to choose favorite things over one another and inevitably toss something beloved by the wayside. It's like having to choose which of your zombified children to shoot first.
You’ve been hired to program the ultimate Saturday morning experience for kids across the nation–create your own ideal Saturday morning cartoon schedule.
I still remember the excitement of watching the network's Sneak Peek shows that showed off what was coming Saturdays in the fall. I realize the traditional heavily promoted time slots didn't start til 8 am but I had to squeeze all this in one morning! So rub that sleep out of your eyes and grab a giant bowl of sugary cereal!
6:00 am - 7:00 am WB Power Hour
Start your morning off right with classic Looney Tunes. Not this newer stuff, not even the '80s stuff. I'm talkin good ol fashioned, cross dressing, lipstick wearing, Elmer Fudd kissing, Bugs Bunny! I'm sure these must still be in rotation on cable somewhere but I feel today's kids are missing out on them. I can't tell you the number of times in my life these have been quoted.
Followed by a half hour of Animaniacs and Freakazoid shorts. They were both ahead of their time in terms of writing and gone too soon.
7:00 am - 8:00 am Hero Time
Challenge of the Superfriends
Arguably the best incarnation of the Superfriends, the episodes featuring the Legion of Doom are certainly among my favorites of the series. Unfortunately, they wouldn't introduce one of my favorite DC heroes, Firestorm, until the Super Powers toy commercials...er, episodes.
Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends
It was a tough call between these two, so I included both. Spidey introduced Firestar to the Marvel Universe and had a lot of great guest star episodes. I nearly lost my mind during 7 Little Superheroes when Dr. Strange showed up.
8:00 am - 9:00 am Fantasy Land
Dungeons & Dragons
I had just started exploring D&D around the time this started airing so this was extra special for me. Hank's bow is awesome but I really wanted Sheila's cloak. Just about everytime I play a computer RPG I'm some kind of thief. This is one of those shows that really needed a toy line. While there was a D&D toy line, they never made action figures of the kids.
Thundarr the Barbarian
One of my absolute favorite cartoons. Magic, super-science and sorcery in a post apocalyptic setting. What's not to love? Also sorely needed a toy line during its original run.
9:00 am - 10:00 am Super SciFi Slot
Space Stars
Honestly, this slot was originally going to Space Ghost. I totally forgot about Space Stars until I started poking around Wikipedia's Saturday Morning schedules. Space Ghost AND Herculoids? I'm in!! I kind of liked Teen Force too. It didn't hurt that they had an occasional crossover episode.
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
There will always be a place in my heart for Battle of the Planets, which was something I played with my friends a lot. But since being exposed to the original, unedited, not cutsified for round eye kids version, there's really no going back. The original would never fly on Saturday morning in the '70s/'80s due to its violence, mild profanity and transgenderism.
10:00 am - 11:00 am G-G-G-GHOSTS!
Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated
The modern day version of those meddling kids has elevated the series beyond the monster of the week formula. Not only is there an over-arching plot to the series, but the main characters actually have personal lives and are growing and changing. There's also plenty of pop culture references and the occasional cameo of characters from other toons. I never would have imagined anyone could take the Scooby gang in this direction.
The Real Ghostbusters
What better companion to Scooby-Doo than the Real GBs?
They came, they saw, they rocked our Saturday morning.
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Monster Hour
Land of the Lost
Wow I forgot there was even a '90s version on Nick. As dated as this looks now, it was some of the best writing on Saturday mornings. It was like Lost of kids! I think the time is right for this to make its way back to TV. Kids always love dinosaurs and Sleestaks. And I'm going to go right on pretending the movie was a drug induced hallucination.
The Aquabats Supershow
Originally, this slot was going to be Krofft Superstars featuring rotating sci-fi shows like Electra-Woman & Dyna-Girl, Wildboy & Bigfoot, Dr Shrinker, Far-Out Spacenuts and the Lost Saucer. Then I remembered this show. It sort of encapsulates all that plus some Power Ranger crazy-ass-ness. Why not combine the original idea and put Land of the Lost in the rotation? Because it's just that important to me.
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm The "Aww, I Don't Wanna Go Outside Yet" Slot
Starcade
Nothing to do with wrestling or the CBS cartoon block.This..is..STARCADE! If you're around my age, this was the game show you wanted to be on. Playing arcade games for achance to take one home? Yes, please! Unless it was one of the crappy non-A list games.
Well, there you have it! I think I did my inner kid proud by including the Saturday morning staples: classics, superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi, ghosts, monsters and video games. Now if we can get smash those all together, we can run that show all morning long.
Of course there's still hours upon hours of stuff I didn't touch on: Trans-Formers, GI Joe, all the relatively recent DC animated shows, HB greats like Yogi Bear, the Banana Splits Show, live action like Isis and Ark II, any of the Force Five...Oy!
Here's what other Leaguers posted
That Figures has a few of the things I dropped from my line-up
Comic crossovers are nothing new. I remember the 70s when DC and Marvel had crossovers. I mainly remember the oversized comics because they were freakin huge! And then there were oddball things like Superman vs Muhammad Ali. There's a pretty hefty list of inter-company crossover comics on Wikipedia.
Back in July 2003, WildStorm/Top Cow released a one-shot crossover kids may never have considered during each show's heyday. With Battle of the Planets airing in 1978 and Thundercats starting in 1985, chances were these two properties were never mashed up in backyard play adventures.
Unlike the cliche crossovers usually found in superhero comics, the two teams didn't fight each other when they first meet. What they do is kick a lot of Spectra ass! There was another one-shot release in May 2003 titled Battle of the Planets/Thundercats. Catch the difference there? The two titles were independent of each other and had no continuity between them despite the fact that the covers could be connected to make one larger image.
Battle of the Planets/Thundercats
Thundercats/Battle of the Planets
Battle of the Planets is one of my favorite childhood cartoons. Only within the past decade or so did I discover the original series, Gatchaman. It's amazing how much the series was edited/changed for the American audience. 7-Zark-7 does not exist in the original and it's a little more violent. If you're a fan of Battle of the Planets and have never seen Gatchaman, do yourself a favor and check it out.
