A Charlie Brown Lookback: Charlie Brown's All Stars

 Peanuts 

        Ah March, the smell of baseball is in the air (it smells like rubber and grass) and we luckily we have a baseball themed Peanuts special.  "We've went to the most modern times  of Peanuts specials that tried to hark back the 1960's now let's go back to the 60's.  "Charlie Brown's All Stars"  the second animated Peanuts special  came out in 1966, on CBS. Since it's not a  holiday themed special it has missed it's annual airings and has bounced around from CBS to Nickelodeon, Disney Channel , and ABC. It hasn't aired on TV in sometime though,but is on DVD.
 
           The voices continues the idea that the first one had to have children be the voices and many from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" returned to their roles, like Christopher Shea as Linus , Peter Robins as Charlie Brown,  Kathy Steinberg as Sally Brown,  Sally Dryer switched roles from Violet to Lucy , and Karen Mendelson  went from being Patty's voice to Violet's.   


      So let's begin.
           It starts with Charlie Brown running after a baseball , while successfully jump roping to get to it , to only drop the ball in which the rest of his team calls him a block head.  Linus shows Charlie Brown the stats about his team including that they lost 999 straight games.  Lucy tells him not show up.    The next day, Charlie Brown's hope he doesn't show up,  but he does. (They are nice [sarcasm font])  Charlie Brown chases after a fly ball and the other kids yell at him to catch it , which he does then it falls out of his glove. (Also they could have also caught the ball, but alright.)  His team lost that game 123-0. (The other team was examined for steroids)

How'd that get there? / Copyright Peanuts 

        Violet , Lucy, Shermey,  (hey!), and Snoopy decide to quit the team. Linus tells Charlie Brown that Mr. Hennessey , the owner of the harware store, want to sponsor the team. (Mr. Hennessey also  put his money on (We decided against the joke after ,all) )  Charlie Brown cheers up , but Linus tells him to forget it.  We get some summer scenes because summer with nice Jazz music because yeah.

Hey Charlie Brown , I am telling to you to forget that thing that I told you because meh/ Copyright Peanuts 

       So Charlie Brown wants to tell his former team but they don't wanna play with him. (Take it like this  Chuck, find better players and nicer ones as well.) When Charlie Brown tries to tell about the news, this impresses them. (Why is Linus impressed, he told the news to Chuck in the first place?)  So Charlie Brown gets a call from Mr. Hennessey for the uniforms.  Apparently, Mr. Hennessey doesn't tell Charlie Brown the league doesn't allow teams with dogs and girls.  (It is interesting how Charlie Brown's team has girls on it in the 1960's it's very forward thinking)  Charlie Brown  tells him he couldn't do it and that they are his friends.  (What?)  So Charlie Brown, rejects this.

Hey how  big is that pool, how are they fitting in there?/ Copyright Peanuts 

      The funny part is where Linus was supposed to scout the competing team but he ends up scouting his own.  For a note: C.B didn't tell the others they aren't getting uniforms or what the league wants so he thinks if they win this game they would maybe forget the uniforms.  The game seems to be going well. (I'm more sad that something  bad is going to happen.) 

This is a bad sign/ copyright Peanuts 

     It's Charlie Brown's turn to bat , he's not had a good batting season.  (That's right , Jim He's not the ball all season, but you know what hits the ball any season?   Paul's Ice Tea it's the perfect swing for a summer afternoon drink.)  He hit the ball and lands on first base, then he steals second. (He's a manic Jim! like Crazy Steve at Crazy Steve's Electronics,  A TV for half price he's Crazy! ) He lands Third! (That's a steal , Jim,  just like at Tom's Diner, where you can steal  a free Coke with any purchase!)  Charlie's team is 1 run behind with 2 Outs , Charlie Brown is at third.  What's he doing?! He's trying to steal home oh my gosh, he' missed game over! (What a blow for the team, Jim, just like the blow out sale at Super Mattress warehouse)
                       

      Here lays Charlie Brown... it's a cheap funeral. /Copyright Peanuts

            So Charlie Brown screwed up there and his team mates aren't happy. (That's right, Jim) Alright you that part is over. (Well that''s never happened before.)   The team finds out they aren't getting uniforms but, Chuck didn't even say way, and they left.  Linus tells them
 why turned down the uniforms.  Schroeder gives a speech the girls on how bad they've been to CB even though he thought about them over uniforms.

They feel bad /Copyright Peanuts 

       The girls think about making a uniform for ole CB to say sorry. (Using Linus' blanket) Apparently, Linus has the same proportions as C.B., never mind. 

It's the thought that counts/ copyright Peanuts 

          Then again it rains, and Charlie Brown apparently he 's never heard of  P.P.D.  (Yeah this game is Postponed , and this channel is airing reruns of Burns and Allen) 

blanket of rain/ copyright Peanuts 

    That's our lookback, tune in next time when we see Charlie Brown is fired as manager and ends up calling games on TV instead.  

     

CBS Makes Margaret Brennan Anchor of "Face The Nation"

TV News  CBS 

image : CBS NEWS 

      CBS has announced their replacement for John Dickerson on their Sunday Morning political affairs program, "Face The Nation" and that is their White House and senior foreign affairs  correspondent , Margaret Brennan.   She will start the role this Sunday (February 25th) and contuing her role as senior foreign affairs correspondent.  She's been with the network since 2012 after joing from Bloomberg Television  and CNBC before that. 

   
Press release  from CBS NEWS

CBS News has named Margaret Brennan moderator of FACE THE NATION, it was announced today by David Rhodes, President of CBS News. Brennan will assume the permanent role on Sunday, Feb. 25, and will continue in her position as senior foreign affairs correspondent based in Washington, D.C.Brennan has reported on politics, international affairs and global markets since 2002. She joined CBS News in 2012 and has been White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent since 2017, working with Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief Christopher Isham.“FACE THE NATION is one of the longest-running traditions in television,” said Rhodes. “Margaret’s coverage of the White House and the world make her the ideal moderator for this legendary CBS News franchise at this moment in time.”“Margaret's ability to ask newsmakers tough but fair questions in a deft and respectful manner, her sharp news instincts, and her tremendous ability to make complicated subjects understandable make her the perfect person to lead us into the next chapter of the broadcast,” said Mary Hager, Executive Producer of FACE THE NATION. “The entire FACE THE NATION team is thrilled she's taking over the anchor spot.”“Both domestically and globally, news is breaking at an unrelenting pace,” said Brennan. “FACE THE NATION has long been the place that viewers across the country rely on to make sense of it all by cutting through the noise to break down what matters and how it affects our daily lives. I am deeply honored and excited to carry on FACE THE NATION’s tradition of helping provide this crucial context to our viewers.”Since 2012, Brennan has been based in Washington and has reported on the Trump administration, and previously President Obama’s administration, for all CBS News programs. Previously, Brennan covered the State Department for four years, where she reported on major national security stories including nuclear negotiations with Iran; restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba; the standoff with North Korea; the conflict in Ukraine; and the accord to transfer control of Syria’s chemical weapons.Prior to joining CBS News, Brennan spent a decade covering the global financial markets. Brennan anchored and reported for Bloomberg Television globally. Previously, she was a correspondent at CNBC with a focus on the consumer during the financial crisis. She also contributed to various NBC News programs. Brennan began her career as a producer for CNBC’s “Wall $treet Week with Louis Rukeyser.”Brennan is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the advisory board for the University of Virginia School of Politics.Brennan graduated with highest distinction from the University of Virginia in 2002, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and Middle East studies with a minor in Arabic. As a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, she studied Arabic at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. She is also the recipient of an honorary doctor of letters degree from Niagara University. Brennan, a Connecticut native, is based in D.C.

   

Obscure , We Wrote : Shorty McShorts' Shorts

The Flashback 

         So as we round up our obscure and short themed month  , we look at some shorts instead.


  Personal story time:  So it's 2006 and I am watching Disney Channel and they have this promo for a new thing called Shorty McShorts' Shorts and it will be airing Friday at 7:55/6:55c  or 8:55/755c one of those two.   I kind of remember it  but mostly the title,  more than the shorts.
                 

             I  could call this Disney's attempt at an "Oh Yeah Cartoons" a place to showcase cartoons that could maybe become their own series for  Disney Channel and  so the best time to profile them would be between two popular series or as filler that the channel does tend to need to fill time with.  Shorty McShorts' Shorts (yeah thanks for that title)  started in July of 2006 and ran for about 2 seasons with 13 shorts being shown.    Now, this post is going to be less formal  and way off our normal format because why not?

         First short is called "Dudley and Nestor do Nothing" That title sounds like Phineas and Ferb but in reverse.  The animation in this short reminds of a certain style , the creators of this one were Stephen Holman and Josephine T. Huang , the duo who worked on "Phantom Investigators".  With Holman also from shows like "Life with Loopy" and MTV's "Liquid Television" so this short is that animation style without the varied mixes and puppetry.

      Our main characters are at a space center for a school trip and  Dudley and Nestor have to find a bathroom and a meteor is coming toward Earth. (I hate when that happens) As Dudley and Nestor look for a bathroom they end up in a space ship that is in lift off and they end up in space.  So of course the space center finds out that they were in the rocket and really should have checked before they launched.  They also inadvertently stop that meteor and are back on Earth.

Astro- Nots 

       It would have been interesting to be a series it may have needed a little bit more than 4 minutes, but I see it. It probably would have been one of those  series where  our main characters  go to different things and up fixing or changing something without even trying.  (You can watch it here)

  2.  "My Mom Married  a Yeti" (What?)
       So apparently a scientist married a yeti because eh why not.  They have two children  one seems to be more Yeti the other more human. (Though the Yeti's seem to be human-y)  So the parents are Chaperones at the school dance and the kids don't want them to be embarrassing.  So they spend most of the dance trying to be embarrassed.  Long story short: Yeti Dad freaks out because yeti flashbacks and then embarrasses them. 

This shows is relate-able 

   This was made by Dennis Messner who worked on shows like "Regular Show", and "Kablam".  The animation is kind of flat, but  I do give some lee-way because it's a short pilot for a  maybe series , but only a little.  I guess I can guess how this could have been a series ,if that was the intention where the kids try not be embarrassed by their parents, or something revolving around Yeti Dad doing something, or their family's misadventures;.  (You can watch it here)

3. "Bozzlebags' Zip" ( What this sounds like I sneezed)
       So this family is watching something called Bozzlebag's Zip which the 12 year old boy named Collin doesn't seem excited by this. (I know how he feels)  So the father got a new promotion and they are moving to Bozzlebag's Zip which is apparently a real place.  (That'll be like if you got a new job working in that world Dora the Explorer is in and that place is real.)  Also the last name of the family is Mailman. (Better than the last name, Dogcatcher)  So, they move the same day because why not?  Bozzelbags  is there to welcome to the town.   I don't think Collin likes this town or zip code, or fever dream, or whatever.  Then it tries to end with a heartwarming moment.

  This was some of the viewers reactions to the name alone.

           I don't know; it was too much in a short, then they rushed the ending. Colin of course would be annoyed about moving and moving that quickly. There was no consideration of what he thought before they made a choice. Again, maybe that's because it's only 5 minutes so we didn't have time or something.   The animation was nice though , it might have made an interesting series, maybe the short time worked against the short for me.   (You can watch it here)

       4.  "The Phabulizers" (You are just making up words now)
        I have a fun fact for this one, but I am saving that for later.  This is going to make fun of those makeover  shows  either for homes and people.  The theme song is catchy as well.  Also one of the Phabulizers is a beaver, so there you go.  They are going to help this kid named Phil Kennedy.   There's not much more I can say about it sense it's so gag driven.

     This is the first one  these to make me laugh and smile at it. Oh that fun fact, the creator of this short was Van Partible , the creator of "Johnny Bravo"  that makes this even better, it's fun. I kind of wish this was a series.  (You can watch it here)

5-7.  Boyz on Da Run
      So the next 3 are a 3 part series, so we combined it into one section here.


     Part 1:   The theme song is very catchy.  This series is a parody of boy bands, and the boy band here is called DaBoys From Yo Cul-de-sac.  (DBFYC)   Also the band is a lip sync band.  So I wonder what could wrong.  Yes the tape goes wrong and everyone finds out that they are fakes and funny that the song was "I'll never lie to you".  So the fans decide to chase them and they run away.

Ha the tape recorders 

    Part 2: So they get kicked off the train and find a diner have some food. The end up getting hired by the diner because the  owner thinks they were the people she hired. They don't know how to put food together since that was something  they never did before.  The songs in these shorts are very catchy.  The President wants everyone to  capture the boy band and he appears on TV as everyone in the diner sees the message they start to chase the boys. (That is indeed  a strange universe) So, back on the run they are.

    Part 3:  They boys run into Canada which stops  the people from chasing them because Canada has powers. to stop Americans from chasing them.   The border patrol stops them and welcomes them with gift bags.  (Because Canada)They have dodgy disguises that work some how. Because one of them decides to spin some maple leaves on his nipples (Well now there is line where we have written that a character on Disney Channel spun maple leaves on his nipples)  they thrown in jail. (Because Canada?)   They break out and run out of Canada.

Don't do this in Canada, I guess 

            That's sadly it, because there was  a to be continued line that apparently never happened so what a  disappointment.  It was kind of fun to watch , I kind of wish there was  a part 4 to finish it off. Though I don't feel it should it have been a full 30 minute series, or those 11 minute halves because it works as shorts really well or as a short special or something. (You can  watch all 3 parts here)


   Now we head to season 2 after the jump

The Lookback : Ramona

The Flashback

      One of my favorite book series as a child , still has a special place in my heart , are the "Ramona" book series, written by Beverly Cleary. Interestingly enough, this  children's littature series hasn't been really made into much media like you see with others. It did have a movie in 2010.  There is something else , there is one television series.

      "Ramona" , the TV series,  comes to us from Canada and aired on their CBC Network and aired in the United States on PBS starting  1988 (I love our timing) and ran for 10 episodes.  The series content comes from "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" , which i talk more about later.   This series ,unlike, the books has kind of fallen in obscurity  and I am not sure how well it did. 

           A  couple things before  I dip into the series  (yeah he's taking forever) 1) I will not be doing on comparrisons to the book, for each episode instead i will talk about the episode a little.  After  those I will then make any marks and allusions to the series.  2) I  will be looking at all 10 episodes, but to keep it short some will be just  talking about a few episodes.

Episode 1
    I do have to say this show does look to capture the books well and especially the book this series is based off the most  (Ramona Quimby , Age 8.) This episode is based off the hard--boiled egg chapter.  In this episode Ramona asks her mother for a hard boiled egg ,even though she doesn't like them, because it is a new fad all the kids in her class are doing. (Interesting)  Also Ramona is wearing red shoes that squeak. So anyway, at lunch the other fad with the hard-boiled eggs is to whack them on your head and Ramona finds out that hers wasn't very cooked. She of course feels embarrsed and awful. (it's her yoke to bear) She thinks her teacher thinks she's annoying after mis-over hearing her. But they talk it out out and all resolved out.
   

Embrace your inner frying pan. 

       The book cover seems just mildly annoyed 

more after the jump 

The CW Returns to Sundays

The CW  TV News 

    When CBS and Warner decided to create a network together using the structure of the WB and UPN, the schedule structure was the WB Network structure, including Sundays 5pm/4c to 10/9c but due to some low ratings and ratings troubles they ended the  Sunday night block in 2009.   Starting in the 2018-19 television season, the CW will return to the night with 2 hours of programming , so adding 2 hours to their weekly amount of programming.

       The CW says that their affiliates are on board including owners of stations, Tribune, Sinclair, and Nexstar.

     According to Deadline , The CW had been thinking of expanding to Sundays for sometime and made the decision to do so in December. 

   “By expanding to six nights, The CW is now able to give our fans even more of the series they’re so passionate about. Broadcasting remains the foundation of our multi-platform approach to bringing our programming to viewers. Over the past seven years, The CW has added more than 80 hours of original scripted programming to its schedule – now that number can continue to climb, as we grow our broadcast line-up, and continue to add content on every platform,” said Pedowitz. “I’d like to thank Chris and Ann for being instrumental in making this happen, and to thank all of our station groups for being such terrific partners as we add Sundays to our primetime schedule this fall on all our affiliates across the country.”            

     

press release after the jump

This Existed: That Other Rugrats Spinoff

Nickelodeon The Flashback 

       We  continue our look at obscure and or short tv with something that might have had a reason to be obscure and short.     

      Rugrats is one of my favorite Nicktoons, they are in no no way obscure and short the series was Nickelodeon's top series, the only Nick series with a star in Hollywood, their special "All Growed Up" holds the record as the highest rated Nick program. In that same year with the success  and success of the series a whole, made Nick think of more ideas and this meant spin offs. "All Grown Up" started in 2003 and did well itself. Then there's this series. "Rugrats Pre School Daze" (Or Angelica and Susie's Preschool Daze)   It kind of fell on the  wayside with the All Grown up doing well , and the main Rugrats series fizzling out in 2003.  But 4 episodes were made.  Nickelodeon chose to run the series in the early hours of the morning during November 2008., which I recorded, but I can see maybe  why  they decided to just dump it before it was made a full series and just ended up airing on early hours.  

       Actually, there's a little more this series also has a backdoor pilot in the "Rugrats" an episode called "Preschool Daze".  That episode and this series seem to have some weird dissonance.  For this we are going to focus on the series not the back door pilot. 

     I  don't /do know why they would call the series "Rugrats Preschool Daze"  It's trying to connect us to the main series, which "All Grown Up" didn't do strangely. But with the exception of Angelia and Susie this series doesn't have the Rugrats gang in Preschool. (guess they didn't want two time skip spin offs?)  

     The episode I will be looking at is called  "Finders Keepers".   They kept voice  actors from the main series so Angelica's Cheryl Chase, and Susie's Cree Summer.  The animation is kind of strange , think it looks like 3D trying to be 2D or 2D trying to be 3D it's a deviation from  Rugrats or All Grown up.

see a little off. /Copyright Viacom 

      Seems that Angelia found some bugs and gets the class bug finder of the day thing or something, then of course being her foil, Susie finds something better. Harold is also in this series , he was kind of added when Angelia went to Preschool in the original series and he was also on "All Grown Up".  Savannah also shows up too, she was also see in All Grown up.    There's also a guy named Mr.Creeper which sounds encouraging.   Savannah wants to show up that she got a key from her mother because she's responsible.  Angelica wants  of course , to show off and she says she has a key too.  When the preschoolers have to go inside due to rain, she notices that the teacher has a key.  She finds the time to steal the key from the drawer.  (woah shameful)  When she runs  back to her spot to do the dancing with the class the key falls out and a kid steps on it and it's on his shoe.  During nap time when Angelica tries to show her friends  she can't find the key.

I wonder where the key went? Copyright Viacom 

        Apparently , the teacher uses nap time to go in to the closet and listen to new age music with a candle. The other kids wake up and they from the quickest whoo party to oh no , I've ever seen. Savannah  gets Angelica to try and talk about her key, thinking that she was lying.  Angelica thinks quick and makes up a scary story instead.  Where she says Mr. Creeper ate their teacher.  The teacher is locked up in the closet by accident and guess what ? She  needs the key that Angelica took and lost.

     I can hear the ocean behind this door . /Copyright Viacom

     Angelica , Susie, and Harold go to get the other key. Susie  already knows Angelica took and lost the other key.  (How does she know? In the worlds of Chuckie Finster, "Nobody Knows)  Apparently  the only other keys are with guess who?  Mr. Creeper. (what kind of name is that ) Miss Weemer , the teacher slowly looses her grip.  Angelica admits to Susie and Harold that she lied and did take the key but did lose it. 

     They decide to go to Mr. Creeper's shed to get the other spare key and they took Angelica's story literally so of course they think they could get eaten. (Even Angelica took her own story as fact) All 3 of them go the shed and find the key where Angelica charges to get it.  Gertrude the  secretary  finds the kids and they go back to the class. The teacher is saved and still a little off. 

The Lookback: Power Pack

The Flashback 

         This is probably the first time we've written about something related to comic books, that means this must be an accomplished day.   This  day (if you are reading this in 2018)  TV series and movies based of comic superheroes have littered our media for sometime now  (if you are reading this after the collapse of this , than well thanks for reading)  , but there was a point that superhero TV and movies kind of were spaced out a little bit.  The 1990's did bring us a great animated super hero TV but live-action was  different story.

   Now First a little history related to our topic.  

          Power Pack  is a team of super heroes by Marvel.  In  1984 the comic book series started. It's about  children super heroes created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman (who did the drawing) . They are a group of 4 children super heroes  with Alex at age 12 , the oldest,  Julie at age 10 , Jack at 8, and Katie at age 5.   

random shot from a comic cover, guess which characters are which. 

          The interesting things about this series are 1) the aren't orphans their parents are alive and well (and we don't mean Superman style adopted parents)  2) the parents don't know.  So the origin story (spoilers)  we are going to keep it short here,  the kids' father is a scientist named Professor Power, who is making a machine that an alien horse like thing named Whitemane warns him that he shouldn't do it.  Chopping some stuff out, he eventually is dying and hands his powers over to kids to save their parents and the day and they do!  So now they have powers. (We really zoomed through that)   The original comic book series lasted from 1984 to 1991  and again I am stopping there because the whole comic's life is not the point of our lookback.  

       In 1991 even though the comic book series ended,  Marvel deiced to maybe see if they could try it in a different medium. The idea was to have a Saturday Morning (because that's how things end up on this blog) live-action children's TV series.  What they made was a TV for NBC but it didn't make it as a TV series. 

  

   so join us after the jump as we look at this movie. 

The Lookback : Phantom Investigators

The Flashback  Cartoons Kids WB

    We don't write enough about the 2000's.  Back into our safety zone with cartoons, but hey why not?   But continuing with a theme of short lived series , this one is an interesting case.  The series we look at today is from  Kids WB called Phantom Investigators. (get it ? P I ) The series ran for 13 episodes in 2002 then it wasn't renewed. (More on that later)

      If you have seen the  Nickelodeon series "Kablam" you may have seen a featured cartoon segment called "Life with Loopy".  The cartoon used  a mixture of mediums , so it used cardboard and puppetry with stop motion and hand drawing. .

     It was one of the main long lasting Kablam shorts that pretty much lasted the show's entire run.  It never reached it's own  series though.      Life with Loopy was created by Stephen Holman who also created a segment for Liquid Television  called Joe Normal. 

  You can see he had a style.  Copyright MTV (We guess) 

      If we are going in order of appearance ,  Joe started then it was Loopy.   Anyway we aren't really talking about either of  these, but they give us a glimpse of what we are talking about today.   In  May of 2002, Kids WB added a new series to their Saturday Morning line up , it also probably aired on weekdays , but who knows? 

       The show is about 4 middle schoolers, 3 of them have powers and 1 doesn't. (Guess which one is the leader of the group?)  Named Daemona, Jericho, Casey, and Kira.    As stated before, 3 of the characters have a power.  Jericho has the power of telekinetic powers , Casey can morph into things , and Kira has telepathic powers. (mind powers, mind powers).  

They spend their days investigating things that happen in their town.  (those meddling kids.)  One episode has them investigating a ghost haunting at house.   Meanwhile, episodes will have a sub plot of a character or more having a problem they need to solve.    

      Making  a point of that it has the same creator as Life with Loopy you see the same style  used here.  There's that use of cardboard and puppetry gives the show a 3D feel while in a 2D world. 

copyright Sony 

   Wouldn't be surprised if they actually burned the paper./

     Of course the show features phantoms and other spookies and they use their style to their maximum with them. 

Well, I am scared

Since he is dead he can take off his head. 

          

 For  fun we are going to take a look at an episode directly. In this case episode 8 , "Were-Dog"

after the jump.