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Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Lookback : Children's Programs: CBS Saturday Mornings Part III

The Flashback  Children's TV

      We did Part II . Welcome to our next stab at Saturday Morning lookbacks with more at CBS fun. We take a look at shows that aired on CBS in the Saturday Morning time space, that aired between 1976 and 1995. (A wide space frame, don't you think?)  Let's take our leap.  

1.  Way Out Games 
    Not every Saturday Morning show for families (mostly Children ) were animated ,as evidenced in past posts. As you tell where we are going with this one was  not animated.   It's the oldest program we are looking back at this time ,from 1976.  Way Out Games (get it? The 70's things were way out, kind of like the 90's Were EXTREME)  It was an athletic  children's show were competitors from the 50 states and also Puerto Rico (why wasn't Guam included? , tisk tisk CBS).  The show worked where the kids would compete in different events  and earn some points, winner with most points at the end of the show would get to compete later with another winning team  Then after the regular competition   , there were quarter finals, semi finals, and the season finale episode of a Championship final.   

                     
                       Well the titles were animated so that's nice !
    The series began September 11th ,1976 and ran one season. The host was Sonny Fox , man who had done children's TV before starting with a local show in  Saint Louis  in 1954 a children's news and travelogue program.  He was later the host of a game show called The $64,000  challenge  where he was fired because they felt he wasn't funny enough, but lucky him he missed the great game show scandal from the 50's.  Mertromedia  picked him up to be host of a  show called Wonderama for WABD/WNEW (now WNYW)  in New York.
    Way Out Games first aired Saturdays at 12:30PM Eastern Time then moved to 1pm and later to Sunday Morning. Some stations didn't air the show because of sports ,local programs,or even Soul Train, so it never got that much traction and was not renewed for a season 2.

2.  Wildfire 
      This show has no relation to the song about the horse, besides the Name, Wildfire.  Wildfire is about a 13 year old girl  in the American west (ehhh could be alright ) , but she is not just any 13 year old girl living in the American west (ok) ,  she finds out that she is a princess from a different realm  who has to fight an evil witch. (Well that escalated quickly)
                           "I though the show had no relation to the song"/copyright Hanna and Babera
       The background story is that Sara is  a princess from a place called Thurinia , as a baby she was rescued by her talkign horse named Wildfire (you know what... maybe it was inspired by the song) from the  Lady Diabolyn, who is evil, after her mother died (well of course) the horse takes Sara from their planet to ours and leaves her at a farm in Montana.   For fun the evil lady isn't just some random evil lady , she's the evil stepsister of Sara's mother, (well of course)

           Now 12 years later she is ready to fight evil (fighting evil insurance doesn't kick in until you are 13) and Wildfire brings her back to Thurinia to get her kingdom back.  Each episode she and her friends  on the planet of  Dar-Shan  fight her evil step-aunt. (step-aunt?)  It is later found out that John, the man taking care of her  and adoptive on Earth, is actually a prince , and her real father. (what timing!)   
Darn dress code, I should really be wearing tights  or some pink/copyright Hanna-Barbera 

              The series was created by   Hanna-Barbera for CBS in 1986 , it ran 13 episodes and well , we never know if Sara did over take her evil (step) aunt.  

                                
   
 More after the Jump

 
   Welcome back, lets stay in 1986 and on CBS (but I wanna go to NBC )

3. Galaxy High
        So let's see High School in space is where we start  it's not just anywhere in space but on an asteroid. (darn planning commission, can't build a school too close to an alcohol planet)  Our two main characters are from Earth (go earth! ) a boy named  Doyle who is popular and athletic,(Like the 80's)  and a girl named Aimee who is smart but not popular.(like the other 80's)
                   
                                 
                               Sung in robot voice because 80's or the 2010's darn Auto Tune

            But at this high school their roles are reversed Aimee ends up being popular and Doyle is unpopular and the aliens don't accept him. (like jerks)  Aimee seems to be friendly to him and tries to help him.
"Does anybody know how we are breathing in space?" /Copyright TMS 

   The show ran 13 episodes and wasn't renewed for a 2nd season ,but CBS did rerun for a couple more years.  It was created by Chris Columbus ,who remember as a director for the  Home Alone Movies. (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)  It was animated and worked on by Japaneese studio TMS  (wow something not by Hanna and Barbera)   



4. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs

     
        We now take you to 1993 (finally) and the series we take a look at is Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. (No we don't need a nap)   Well let's see in the 26th century and civilization has collapsed  and dinosaurs are back. (well that's something)   The show follows Jack Tenrec and his group called the Mechanics.  There's ambassador ,Hannah  Dundee (who also happens to be the love interest) ,who tries to make sure things go well.   It was an action show , it also showed the world  with political and ecological issues as part of the episodes.  Also yes how did the dinos come back. ( I blame Television) 


          
 The show was based off a comic book of the same name written by Mark Schultz.  It ran on CBS for 13 episodes in 1993, wow there's a pattern here.

5. The All New Dennis the Menace
    We have talked about the past animated series, that also ran on CBS in the 80's before , but CBS and Dic decided to do another stab at it in 1993.(because why not)
We are going to call this series New Dennis for short.  It was a revival of the past animated series following the comic strip character on his and his friends escapades.  Though  as seems to be the theme for this it ran only 13 episodes before it was canceled.

                 

     That's our lookback tune in next time when there's a seris about Dennis the menace who is now driving a Cadillac in where he goes to high school in space ,when he runs into is talking mystical horse finds out he's a prince while competing in athletic  challenges.

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