Hey, I Remember This Show: Aquaman (1967)

Wow! Aquaman has certainly changed over the years. This is the first show I remember seeing him on -- and it's still hard to get used to the fact that he doesn't look like that anymore.

Hey, I Remember This Show: King Kong (1966)

I haven't thought about this show for years. Yet I used to watch it religiously when I was a young boy even though I had no fantasies involving giant apes -- or at least no such fantasies that I can remember.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Paul Lynde Show

Speaking of TV shows that no one likes to admit having seen...

Hey, I Remember This Show: Valley of the Dinosaurs

I remember loving this show when it first came out in 1974 even though it was basically little more than an animated version of Land of the Lost. Then again I was very young at the time and generally relished anything having to do with dinosaurs. However, dinosaurs and cave men seemed like a very unscientific mix for a TV show even back then and I don't remember how I resolved that rather obvious conflict or even if I acknowledged such a conflict at the time. I suspect I treated it the same way I treated many animated TV shows at that time -- interesting to watch but not if you are looking for scientific accuracy.

It would be nice to blame this TV series for the recent backlash against evolution but I somehow doubt that many future creationists watched this TV show. Besides, Land of the Lost debuted the same year and it was a lot more popular.

Hey, I Remember This Show: Adventures of Superman

Well, I'm not old enough to remember its original run but I remember seeing it in syndication.

Hey, I Remember This Show: S.W.A.T.

In honor of the late Steve Forrest.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Monkees

In honor of the late Davy Jones.

Hey I Remember This Show: Yes Minister

The classic British political sitcom that once inspired a mental parody in my imagination called Yes Commissar. Once one of the most highly praised British shows to be ever shown on American TV, it has been often dismissed in recent years by political southpaws who prefer a more black-and-white approach than the show's morally gray attitude.

Ironically, one of the many things I admire about the show is its refusal to stoop to a black-and-white approach. In some ways, it is more realistic than most of its American equivalents and I suspect anyone who has ever had to deal with a bureaucrat on either side of the Atlantic would find more truth in the show than most lefties would like to admit. Besides, the chief conflict in the show is not so much between goodies and baddies, liberals and conservatives or even hawks and doves. It's most often between those who would change the status quo and those who would keep it as it was. And every time I think the show is out of date, the latest newspaper headlines convince me that I'm wrong.

Hey, I Remember The Show: Here Comes the Grump

This short-lived show is the first made-for-TV cartoon show from DePatie-Freleng Enterprises that I actually remember watching as a child. It only lasted one season (1969-1970) but its odd-even-by-Saturday-morning-standards animation definitely made an impression in my young mind.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until I was much, much older that I realized that the red-haired Grump character was really a thinly disguised version of Bugs Bunny's old nemesis, Yosemite Sam. Of course, Freleng directed his share of Yosemite Sam cartoons when he was working for Warner Brothers so this should not have been entirely unexpected. But for some reason, I never realized it when the show was in its original run. (Apparently I was so young back then I wasn't yet all that familiar with Bugs Bunny.)

Even more surprising was the fact that Terry Dexter was voiced by Jay North of Dennis the Menace fame and Princess Dawn was voiced by Stefanianna Christopherson, the same actress who originally voiced Daphne Blake on Scooby Doo, Where Are You!. Rip Taylor, the voice of the Grump, was ironically the one person I don't really associate with any other show -- though I do seem to remember his making frequent appearances on The Tonight Show and various game shows.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Jetsons

Back in the 1960s, this and The Flintstones were considered popular enough to be viewed during prime time. Then prime time cartoon shows fell out of fashion until 1989, when the popularity of The Simpsons revived interest in the genre.

Oddly enough, the main question this show seems to provoke from today's online generation is: where are all the black people? An interesting question which inevitably begs the question: why are not people similarly curious about the odd absence of Asians and Hispanics on this show as well?

Oh, well. It seems way too easy to poke fun at this show's un-PC assumptions -- especially when no one seems all that concerned about similar assumptions when they show up in more modern shows like Mad Men. At least the people who made this show weren't pretending to be especially edgy or fashionable in their view of the future -- though it is interesting to compare Hanna-Barbara's view of the future with the actual 21th century and see how much they differ.

Hey, I Remember This Show: Run for Your Life

In honor of the late Ben Gazzara, I post the opening and closing credits from the 1960s TV show which first made him known to people of my generation. This was probably the first and last series to center around a person who was terminally ill. If there has been another show with a similar premise, I have not heard of it thus far.

Hey, I Remember This Show: Red Dwarf

Well, it is cold outside...

But seriously, folks. This used to be one of my favorite sci-fi shows back in the 1990s until it started going downhill after the seventh season. The local PBS station used to show episodes of it just before Doctor Who and since I regularly saw excerpts from such episodes everytime I tuned in early to catch Doctor Who, I eventually got hooked. It didn't hurt that the show has a catchy theme song as well. Jenna Russell sings it in the outro sequence below.



As for the intro, my favorite intro of the various seasons was this:

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Flying Nun

The original opening for the oddest sitcom I ever saw. The funny thing is that when I watched this show as a kid, it never occurred to me to question the logic of the show's premise. In fact, I remember being disappointed whenever Sally Field's character went a whole episode without flying.

Hey, I Remember This Show: Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har

At long last, an animated cartoon that really describes the human condition.

Hey, I Remember This Show: 24

So the closest thing we have nowadays to a modern-day Mission: Impossible series is The Jack Bauer Show? Say it ain't so.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Alvin Show (1961)

Wow! Alvin and the Chipmunks have been around since 1961. I had no idea that such a great contribution to Western culture happened during the year of my birth.

On a more serious note, it should be pointed out that the tall guy with the moustache who keeps interrupting the action in this intro is cartoon character Clyde Crashcup, a would-be scientific genius who was often kept a hair's length away from disaster by his short and bald assistant Leonardo. He used to appear quite regularly on the original Alvin Show but since then, he has disappeared into cartoon oblivion -- unless you wish to regard that short, moustached guy who was regularly pestered by the Pink Panther as one of his distant descendants.

Hey, I Remember This Show: M*A*S*H

In honor of the late Harry Morgan.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Lone Ranger (1966)

The more I learn about the real-life Texas Rangers, the more I regret spending so many hours watching this show as a child. If only more real-life Rangers had lived up to the ideal expressed in this show, I might feel less guilty.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Muppet Show

Why this show ended, I'll never know.



I mean, they had so many great guest stars in addition to the equally watchable regular characters.

Hey, I Remember This Show: The New Avengers

I used to spend so much time watching this show as a teenager it was ridiculous. In fact, it was this show that got me interested in the original Avengers. (I'm referring, of course, to the British spy show, not the Marvel comic book.) For that matter, it also got me interested in actress Joanna Lumley but you probably guessed that much.