Hey, I Remember This Show: The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

From 1968, it's yet another TV show inspired by a classic Mark Twain novel, only this one seems to be more inspired by Twain's fantasy novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court than by the more realistic effort, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There was actually a scene in one of Mark Twain's earlier novels -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- in which Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn get chased into a cave by the murderous fugitive Injun Joe. However, apart from that, any connection between this American show and the Mark Twain novels in which Huck Finn originally appeared seems to be purely coincidential.

And let's not get started on the whole idea of Addams Family's star Ted Cassidy appearing in brownface. Suffice it to say that any affection I feel for this series is despite that, not because of it -- and no doubt inspired by the fact that I was very, very young when I first saw this. Too young, in fact, to have any idea who Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were supposed to be until long after this show was off the air. I will admit, however, to having been old enough to have been more intrigued by Ms. Becky Thatcher than by any of the other characters.