H-B shows: the guilty pleasures - Never Forgotten: a Foster's Home Community

Ccook50 · 10-20-2007, 06:31 AM

A couple of weeks back I ran down what I thought were the ten worst shows from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio (1957-2001). In that piece, I mentioned that some of their shows were guilty pleasures--not products of sheer quality but watchable and entertaining on their own terms. Here are ten shows I knight thee as "guilty pleasures," in order of when they premiered:

1. Ricochet Rabbit (1964). Ricochet was at first an antagonist on Touch� Turtle in 1962 before going straight on the Magilla Gorilla show. Neat western sight gags--just don't ask Deputy Droopalong for a cup of coffee.
2. Motor Mouse (1969). Originally a segment of The Cattanooga Cats show; think of it as Tom and Jerry with Formula One engines.
3. The Harlem Globetrotters (1970). Much of the court antics the cartoon Trotters do here they wouldn't normally do in real life--physically or ethically--but it's still quite funny. Stu Gilliam steals the show as the voice of Curly Neal.
4. Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch! (1971). This ursine Hogan's Heroes has been unjustly villified as stupid. It's not intelligent by any means. Just acceptable, and funnier than the show that followed it on CBS, the cutesy Pebbles & Bamm Bamm show.
5. Inch High, Private Eye (1973). It's rather talky and often clumsily animated. But it's still pretty cleverly written and the title hero is appealing.
6. Clue Club (1976). A Scooby Doo clone that actually replaced Scooby on CBS, but it actually works, thanks to some great interaction between the young characters, especially 13-year-old troubleshooter Dotty.
7. Laff-A-Lympics (1977). This was part of Scooby Doo's show at the time, Saturday morning's first two-hour show. Again, more of a brainfart than anything else, but it was neat to see Hanna-Barbera characters who had never met before do so now.
8. The Robonic Stooges (1977). Originally a segment of The Skatebirds on CBS. Hey, it's the Three Stooges as superhero robots.
9. Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985). To be more succinct, the 1986 season of this ripoff of 1978's Popeye's Treasure Hunt had the best stories as the writers were becoming more irreverent and self-deprecating (i.e.: Dick Dastardly captures Snooper and Blabber and tortures them by making them watch his 1969 cartoon show).
10. I Am Weasel (1997). This was part of the H-B studio output before Cartoon Network absorbed it. You've gotta a love a character who wants to be the first astronaut on the sun (namely Weasel's rival, I.R. Baboon). A bizarre show indeed.

Bluebottle · 10-21-2007, 12:51 AM

Of the ten you list here I have seen three: the Laff-A-Lympics, Treasure Hunt and I Am Weasel. I really enjoyed the first two as a child. The Laff had a style of humour I quite liked. And using Stop the Pigeon as a torture device was wonderful. Thinking back on I Am Weasel, while it wasn't as bad as Cow and Chicken for gutter humour, it was close.

Ccook50 · 10-21-2007, 09:38 AM

Here are some shots of the others:

Ricochet Rabbit

Motor Mouse and Auto Cat

The Harlem Globetrotters

The Hair Bear Bunch

Inch High, Private Eye

Clue Club

The Robonic Stooges

10-20-2007, 06:31 AM	#1
Ccook50 Foster's Legend Don't forget to turn left at Greenland Join Date: May 2007 Location: Cumming GA Posts: 510	H-B shows: the guilty pleasures A couple of weeks back I ran down what I thought were the ten worst shows from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio (1957-2001). In that piece, I mentioned that some of their shows were guilty pleasures--not products of sheer quality but watchable and entertaining on their own terms. Here are ten shows I knight thee as "guilty pleasures," in order of when they premiered: *1. Ricochet Rabbit* (1964).** Ricochet was at first an antagonist on Touch� Turtle in 1962 before going straight on the Magilla Gorilla show. Neat western sight gags--just don't ask Deputy Droopalong for a cup of coffee. *2. Motor Mouse* (1969).** Originally a segment of The Cattanooga Cats show; think of it as Tom and Jerry with Formula One engines. *3. The Harlem Globetrotters* (1970). Much of the court antics the cartoon Trotters do here they wouldn't normally do in real life--physically or ethically--but it's still quite funny. Stu Gilliam steals the show as the voice of Curly Neal. 4. Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch! (1971).** This ursine Hogan's Heroes has been unjustly villified as stupid. It's not intelligent by any means. Just acceptable, and funnier than the show that followed it on CBS, the cutesy Pebbles & Bamm Bamm show. *5. Inch High, Private Eye* (1973). It's rather talky and often clumsily animated. But it's still pretty cleverly written and the title hero is appealing. 6. Clue Club (1976).** A Scooby Doo clone that actually replaced Scooby on CBS, but it actually works, thanks to some great interaction between the young characters, especially 13-year-old troubleshooter Dotty. *7. Laff-A-Lympics* (1977). This was part of Scooby Doo's show at the time, Saturday morning's first two-hour show. Again, more of a brainfart than anything else, but it was neat to see Hanna-Barbera characters who had never met before do so now. 8. The Robonic Stooges (1977).** Originally a segment of The Skatebirds on CBS. Hey, it's the Three Stooges as superhero robots. *9. Yogi's Treasure Hunt* (1985).** To be more succinct, the 1986 season of this ripoff of 1978's Popeye's Treasure Hunt had the best stories as the writers were becoming more irreverent and self-deprecating (i.e.: Dick Dastardly captures Snooper and Blabber and tortures them by making them watch his 1969 cartoon show). *10. I Am Weasel* (1997).** This was part of the H-B studio output before Cartoon Network absorbed it. You've gotta a love a character who wants to be the first astronaut on the sun (namely Weasel's rival, I.R. Baboon). A bizarre show indeed. __________________ "God forgot to make stupidity painful." --Ivan Stang (Church of the SubGenius) Last edited by Ccook50; 10-20-2007 at 06:50 AM.

10-21-2007, 09:38 AM	#3
Ccook50 Foster's Legend Don't forget to turn left at Greenland Join Date: May 2007 Location: Cumming GA Posts: 510	Here are some shots of the others: Ricochet Rabbit Motor Mouse and Auto Cat The Harlem Globetrotters The Hair Bear Bunch Inch High, Private Eye Clue Club The Robonic Stooges __________________ "God forgot to make stupidity painful." --Ivan Stang (Church of the SubGenius) Last edited by Ccook50; 10-21-2007 at 09:40 AM.

10-21-2007, 12:51 AM	#2
Bluebottle Newly Abandoned I'll think of a witty line soon. Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: New Zealand. Posts: 5	Of the ten you list here I have seen three: the Laff-A-Lympics, Treasure Hunt and I Am Weasel. I really enjoyed the first two as a child. The Laff had a style of humour I quite liked. And using Stop the Pigeon as a torture device was wonderful. Thinking back on I Am Weasel, while it wasn't as bad as Cow and Chicken for gutter humour, it was close.