Retro Sat AM memory - CBS in 1968 (Go-Go Gophers)

[BoscoGoldBear]

For those of us who skipped Rex Trailer's Boomtown on WBZ/4 (then NBC), WHDH/5 (now WCVB/5-ABC) and the rest of CBS had "Go-Go Gophers," a Fred Silverman-approved spinoff of "Underdog," which went back to NBC in the interim. (I never actually it on CBS, as my mom hated "Space Ghost," "The Herculoids," and the other CBS shows back then.) Anyway, my point is that most of these TV encyclopedias had the Gopher Indians paired up with Klondike Kat, when my own memory had "The Space Kidettes" as the Go-Go Gophers' middle segment. Translation: am I in some sort of early senior moment? Better yet, is there anyone else on this board who remembers this besides me?

 

[flashback]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYs6Feuky1k&feature=related

youtube has a lot of clips from that cartoon.

 

[cd637299]

"Klondike Kat", "Underdog", and "Go Go Gophers" were TTV (Total Television) Productions. "Space Kidettes" was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. So you have 2 separate production companies there.

However, that did not stop some reruns from combining shows from 2 separate companies. For example...."Dudley Do-Right and Friends" was run on ABC and in syndication. "Dudley" was a Jay Ward cartoon, but within it were TTV productions like "The Hunter" and "Tooter Turtle."

I seem to recall a rerun package where "Kidettes" was thrown together with a non-Hanna-Barbera cartoon, but I cannot recall which one.

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[BoscoGoldBear]

"The Space Kidettes" were packaged with (ironically) Go-Go Gophers (2nd segment), The Hunter (3rd) and Commander McBragg (short 5th) - the Kidettes were the 1st and 4th.

BTW, Dudley (in syndication) was packaged with the King Leonardo and The Hunter segments from Tennessee Tuxedo (the 63-64 season), whereas Tooter Turtle (which I remember from channel 9/WMUR in '69, as WNAC/7 never ran ABC's Sunday AM toons) and The Hunter from King Leonardo were the original segments there.

Not sure what the Kidettes originally ran with - as a 6-year-old kid I originally thought it was a Secret Squirrel segment put on the Gophers' show as a mismatch (as it was General Mills had at least partial ownership of BOTH the Gophers and Kidettes); the Kidettes wasn't part of Secret of course - I watched SS when I was 3 and never saw/remembered its supporting segments until WSBK/38 had SS as part of The Banana Splits syndie package from Rhodes Productions.

 

[Limp73]

Occasionally these shows played mix and match on Saturday programming.

Go Go Gophers started out on The Underdog Show and The Hunter also was featured as "sandwiched-in" between two Undergog cartoons at the beginning and end. When Underdog was cancelled by NBC, Hanna Barbera's Space Kiddetes took up that time slot on Saturday morning. Apperantly NBC execs decided to insert Go Go Gophers and The Hunter in-between the Kiddettes...After the closing credits of the Kidettes series another 10 second credit was shown:

"Go Go Gophers" and "Hunter" cartoons produced by Total Television Productions Inc. in association with Leonardo Television Productions."..followed by the NBC animated snake logo in black,blue green and red.

This was common practice done by NBC in the 1960s. TTV and Leonardo Television first produced "King Leonardo and His Short Subjects" aka: "The King and Odie." King Leonado was the beginning and ending cartoons with The Hunter and Tooter Turtle sanwiched in along with another cartoon "The Fox and Crow" produced by Columbia Pictures. That cartoon was also sanwiched in the middle of two Ruff and Reddy cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1950s. NBC also aired that show...once in teh 1950s and again in the early 1960s.

Commander McBragg was a short cartoon produced by TTV which was also featured in "Tennesee Tuxedo and His Tales" on CBS and on Jay Ward's Hoppity Hooper Show on ABC. Mind you that Jay Ward's and TTV 's programs were both sponsored by General Mills Big G Cereals and both companies outsourced their animation to Gamma Productions S.A. de C.V. based in Mexico.

 

[cd637299]

I have a recently-made DVD, "Saturday Cartoons of the 1960s Vol 2" which features the Kidettes coupled with "Young Samson" I think. I do not have it easily available for viewing right now.

The packagers of the DVD did their best to make it feel like the way it was in the 1960s. Kidettes & Young Samson were separate programs though.

So NBC's airing of the Kidettes had TTV cartoons too? You'd think that Hanna-Barbera wouldn't care much for that! (I watched the Kidettes at that time, but could not remember what else was there.....while all the other kids in school watched Space Ghost at the same time, another HB!)

BTW the Dudley ABC package was similar to the syndie one, strange as it seems. I recall my Miami independent station snatching up a few ABC weekend shows that our ABC affiliate snubbed.....the Sunday morning cartoons, including Dudley, were part of that. That may have been my first good look at Tooter Turtle.

I believe the differences in "Dudley" between ABC & syndie were: ABC had Tooter, the Hunter, and McBragg; the syndie included the King & Odie, and maybe McBragg to fill it out.

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[The King Bee]

Total Television animation was some of the poorest-looking on the air, even as the voices and plots were surprisingly witty and funny. They kept some of the best voice talent (Don Adams, Jackson Beck et al) busy...the art, backgrounds and other visuals just didn't keep pace with the writing.

On the other hand, Ross Bagdasarian's "Alvin Show" was the best looking and sounding made-for TV animation of the early 60's, surpassing even the prolific Hanna-Barbera.

 

[KeithE4]

Total Television animation was some of the poorest-looking on the air, even as the voices and plots were surprisingly witty and funny. They kept some of the best voice talent (Don Adams, Jackson Beck et al) busy...the art, backgrounds and other visuals just didn't keep pace with the writing.

Total Television/Leonardo Productions and Jay Ward both used Mexico's Gamma Productions as their animation house. That's why the cartoons looked somewhat alike and it might be why they got away with using, for example, Leonardo's Commander McBragg inside Ward's Hoppity Hooper shows, and why Fractured Fairly Tales was a part of (IIRC) Tennessee Tuxedo.

On the other hand, Ross Bagdasarian's "Alvin Show" was the best looking and sounding made-for TV animation of the early 60's, surpassing even the prolific Hanna-Barbera.

The Alvin Show was animated by Format Films, who also produced the opening animation for Hee Haw, among others. I believe they were also one of the many studios that animated the 1960s version of Popeye as well.

But of course, those Disney-wannabes pale in comparison to Cambria, producer of those beautifully-animated Clutch Cargo and Space Angel cartoons. ;D

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

Occasionally these shows played mix and match on Saturday programming.

Go Go Gophers started out on The Underdog Show and The Hunter also was featured as "sandwiched-in" between two Undergog cartoons at the beginning and end. When Underdog was cancelled by NBC, Hanna Barbera's Space Kiddetes took up that time slot on Saturday morning. Apperantly NBC execs decided to insert Go Go Gophers and The Hunter in-between the Kiddettes...After the closing credits of the Kidettes series another 10 second credit was shown:

"Go Go Gophers" and "Hunter" cartoons produced by Total Television Productions Inc. in association with Leonardo Television Productions."..followed by the NBC animated snake logo in black,blue green and red.

I thought that was strictly for DFS/Program Exchange syndie TV, especially since the Go-Go Gophers were specifically made for CBS' "Underdog" eps between 1966 and 1968 - or at least that's what my Daytime Encyclopedia by Wesley Hyatt told me. Also, Samson and Goliath had the Kidettes as its segment; however, when Samson and Goliath became Young Samson in April 1968, the Tennessee Tuxedo, Go-Go Gophers and Fractured Fairy Tales may have been part of the show even before Samson was still on NBC, hence the (c) 1968 Leonardo-TTV and PAT-Ward copyrights - TTV almost NEVER had copyrights written on their toons, except for The Beagles [(c) 1966 Lancelot-TTV]

BTW, Dudley Do-Right Show gave me my first Tooter Turtle exposure on a fuzzy screen (remember, Dudley aired in Boston on WMUR/9, NOT on WNAC/7) - the specific ep was "Stupified Jones" (Tooter wants to work for the railroad, things go wrong, he begs Mr. Wizard to end the experience, but no end coda followed)

 

[Kurt Toy]

Speaking of Mr. Wizard, I wonder if Don Herbert sued over the use of the character name. BTW, Cambria also did the unmemorable "New Three Stooges" cartoons.

 

[cd637299]

Speaking of Mr. Wizard, I wonder if Don Herbert sued over the use of the character name. BTW, Cambria also did the unmemorable "New Three Stooges" cartoons.

I have wondered that myself. I suppose that as both shows were on NBC at the same time (referring to "Watch Mr. Wizard" and "King Leonardo" which featured Tooter/Mr. Wizard in the early 60s), maybe Herbert considered it a "promo" of sorts, and just let it go.

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[onairb]

Growing up in the Bay Area, I can remember, at age 5 in 1978, watching a syndicated rerun version of 'Underdog' that included 'Tennessee Tuxedo', Commander McBragg', 'Go-Go Gophers', 'Klondike Kat', and maybe something else I've forgotten.
Back then, the 'Dudley Do-Right' cartoons aired as part of the 'Bullwinkle' syndication package, on a different channel. Was this the case in any other markets?

 

[growler33]

Thanks to the OP. Ironically, I have had the theme song to Go-Go Gophers rattling around in my head even before this thread started. Finally....Closure.