October 31, 2020

1990s SATURDAY MORNING ADS

             It wasn’t until the late 60s that Saturday mornings were beginning to get into full swing. Content with airing primetime reruns and a few new shows here and there, that all changed in 1966 when CBS revitalized its schedule with an action-heavy slant. When CBS showed massive success, the other networks followed and Saturday morning suddenly became good business. So, how would the networks advertise to their targeted audiences to tune in every week? Simple: advertise in comic books! For almost every Saturday schedule for decades, there was an artfully designed cartoon representing the networks’ schedules in every major publication. They even made sure to cover their bases with ads in TV Guide and newspapers so that parents would be aware shows for their kids would be on. However, as Saturday mornings began to lose importance to viewers and networks alike, and as they moved away from traditional Saturday morning programming, the ads became fewer and far between.


                Below are some of the ads that ran for the 1990s:


ABC

1990.

1991.

1992.

1993.

1994-95.

1998.

1999.


CBS

1990.

NBC

1990.

1991.

1991.

1991.


THE WB

1995.

1996.

1998 (folded & unfolded).

1999.


1990s SATURDAY MORNING PREVIEW SPECIALS

 With Saturday mornings losing importance in the eyes of both viewers and networks, the Saturday morning preview offerings for the 1990s was sparse. Only ABC really continued to indulge in them, with Fox Kids and Kids' WB only using something similar to announce their respective launches. So, here we present to you the last offerings of Saturday Morning Preview Specials (or close to) that can be found on the internet at this time.


ABC








FOX


The WB



October 24, 2020

DETENTION

 

DETENTION
(WB, September 11, 1999-March 25, 2000)

 

Warner Bros. Animation


 

MAIN CAST:

Tara Strong – Shareena Wickett
Billy West – Emmitt Roswell
Roger Eschbacher – Jim Kim
Carlos Alazraqui – Ramon “Gug” Gugleamo
Tia Mowry – Lemonjella LaBelle
Tamera Mowry – Orangejella LaBelle
Bob Doucette – Duncan Bubble, Miss Treacle
Pamelyn Ferdin -Shelley Kelley
Kathleen Freeman – Eugenia P. Kisskillya

  

            Created by Bob Doucette and developed by Tim Cahill, Michael Maler and Julie McNally, Detention focused on 7 troublemakers from Benedict Arnold Middle School. Try as they might, they just couldn’t avoid being sent to detention by gym teacher Eugenia P. Kisskillya (Kathleen Freeman), a former sergeant in the Marine Corps who often timed displayed a humorless form of tyranny over them (however, she has been shown to be a nice person).  She was based on a nun teacher from Doucette’s grade school, and was infused with elements of Freeman’s Sister Mary Stigmata from The Blues Brothers films.


The Detention Crew: the Labelle twins, Shelley, Shareena, Emmitt, Jim, Gug and Duncan.


            Her frequent targets included Shareena Wickett (Tara Strong), a horror-loving goth girl who liked being a free spirit and had a pet pig named, well, Pig; Emmitt Roswell (Billy West), a conspiracy theorist with a firm belief in aliens (hence the name); Jim Kim (Roger Eschbacher), whose love of superhero comics tended to leave him a bit detached with reality as he often believed he possessed their various abilities; Ramone “Gug” Gugleamo (Carlos Alarzaqui), a short kid with a bad temper often left out of competitive sports and looking to take on people bigger than him; Duncan Bubble, a quiet boy who was able to spell out various words with the yo-yo he always carried (accompanied by an electronic voice reading them aloud, provided by Doucette); and twins Lemonjella and Orangejella LaBelle (played by real-life twins Tia and Tamera Mowry), whose possessed a high intelligence that often left others confused when they spoke and had a tendency to become competitive with each other. Shelley Kelley (Pamelyn Ferdin) was also present; however, she was considered Miss Kisskillya’s assistant more than a troublemaker (despite her best efforts to be one once). She was a peppy girl always in a Ladybug Scout uniform whose desire to be friends with the kids (particularly Shareena and Emmit, who she had a crush on) often goes at odds with their despising her for sucking up to Miss Kisskillya. The characters were designed by Stephen Silver and Matt Taylor.


Miss Kisskillya.


            Detention debuted on The WB as part of the Kids’ WB programming block on September 11, 1999, after airing a preview in the afternoon the day before. The series was a lot more grounded than other shows to come out from Warner Bros. Animation, with more of the more outlandish elements coming from fantasy sequences imagined by the kids as they got their revenge on Kisskillya. It was written by Eschbacher, Maler, Cahill and McNally with Stephen Shaw, Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard and Charles M. Howell IV. Cahill and McNally also served as story editors, with educational input by Miki Baumgarten, Ph.D. to ensure it met the FCC’s educational and informative requirements. The series’ music was composed by Thomas Jones Chase and Steve Rucker, with the theme song’s lyrics written by Doucette and Maler. Animation duties were handled by Wang Film Productions Co. Ltd.


The DVD collection.

            At 13 episodes, it was one of the shortest shows to come out of Warner Bros. Animation by the time it was cancelled after its only season. It did, however, find an extended life in reruns when The WB moved it to Friday afternoon reruns from September 8, 2000 until August 31, 2001. It wouldn’t be until 2020 when Warner Archive released the complete series to DVD.

  

EPISODES:

“Shareena Takes the Cake” (9/11/99) – Shareena and Shelley bake an explosive cake for Misss Kisskillya over missing a concert for detention, while the boys try to retrieve Duncan’s yo-yo from her.

“The Man with the Golden Brain” (9/18/99) – The gang has to keep Lemonjella and Orangejella from ruining the spelling bee with their competitiveness while Emmitt suspects the principal is a brain-stealing cyborg.
 
“What Did You Séance?” (9/25/99) – Shareena plans to contact her great-aunt via a séance while Shelley joins Emmitt in his plans to welcome UFOS set to arrive on the school roof.
 
“The Contest” (10/9/99) – The kids all hold a competition to see who can stay out of detention while Shelley tries to get it on purpose.
 
“Too Good to be Truant” (10/23/99) – Emmitt and Gug run against each other for class president while Shareena and Shelley decide to skip school.
 
“Breaking Out” (11/6/99) – The kids decide to get out of Saturday detention to meet their favorite TV star, not knowing Miss Kisskillya is doing the same.
 
“Comedy of Terrors” (11/13/99) – Miss Kisskillya gives Gug the part Shareena wanted in the school play, and she doesn’t take it very well.
 
“Little Miss Popular” (11/20/99) – Shareena hangs out with a clique of popular girls in order to meet the boy she likes.
 
“Capitol Punishment” (12/4/99) – Shelley wins a trip to Washington, D.C. and invites the gang and Miss Kisskillya along, but she ends up left behind when the plane leaves.
 
“The Blame Game” (1/8/00) – Lemonjella and Oangejella try to find the thief behind the thefts they’re blamed for while Emmitt is assigned to clean the haunted boiler room.
 
“Boyz ‘N the Parenthood” (2/5/00) – The kids are broken up into pairs to care for a water balloon “baby” while Emmitt is distracted by the notion his father is coming to see him.
 
“A Friend in Greed” (3/4/00) – Lemonjella and Orangejella find a map for a buried treasure which causes greed to erupt among the kids.
 
“Rule the School” (3/25/00) – Gug is made hall monitor and he goes mad with power, while Shareena plans a party when her parents go out of town.

October 17, 2020

HYPERNAUTS

 

HYPERNAUTS

(ABC, March 1-April 13, 1996)

 

Greengrass Productions, Inc., The Hypernauts Production Company, Inc.

 

MAIN CAST:

 

 

            Babylon 5 was a hit, due to equal parts the writing and planning by creator J. Michael Straczynski, the phenomenal cast, and the remarkable visual effects that won Foundation Imaging an Emmy Award. Foundation co-founder Ron Thornton had worked with Straczynski before on the previous series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future and convinced him that doing CGI over traditional models would aid in keeping production costs low.


The Hypernauts' mech suits.


            However, Babylon was largely set in a singular location as an additional method to keep costs down. Thornton wanted to really show what visual effects could accomplish on television and decided to come up with his own show with a much grander scope. He also wanted to make something for the kids’ market more akin to the type of shows he grew up loving, rather than the mindless stock-footage laden fare he found on television at the time. Thornton partnered with Babylon 5 executive producer Douglas Netter and created a 3-minute demo reel which secured them a spot on the ABC network. Finally, he recruited Christy Marx to develop the show’s bible and flesh out his concepts, having worked with her previously on Captain Power and Babylon.


One of the VHS covers depicting the Hypernauts' base, Star Ranger 7.


            The resulting show was Hypernauts. Three cadets (cut down from five by network request) from the Academy of Galactic Exploration who are sent on a disciplinary mission. They ended up lost in a hyper bubble (aka hyperspace) and landed in an unfamiliar part of the galaxy. They want to go home, but are unable to do so without allowing the sinister warlike race known as the Triiad to follow them. The Triiad’s sole desire was to wipe out intelligent races and raze conquered planets for the material to create new war machines and automated self-replicating factor ships called “Makers.” Their greatest asset was their anonymity; nobody knew who or what the Triiad was, nor found any reason to believe they existed until it was too late.


Our heroes: Ace, Kulai, Sharkey and Max.


            The Hypernauts were comprised of Russel “Ace” Antonov (Glenn Herman), an ace pilot in either a ship or their mech suits, who was being punished for using the simulation trainer to play war games; Noriko “Max” Matsuda (Heidi Lucas), the team medic who joined against the wishes and beliefs of her people, the isolationist and xenophobic Caduceus Enclave, and was punished for making unauthorized calls to her sister; and Ricardo “Sharkey” Alvarez (Marc Brandon Daniel), the engineer and computer technician that suffered from claustrophobia due to childhood trauma, who was being punished for hacking the Academy’s mainframe. They took up residence in an abandoned space station, Star Ranger 7, which was occupied by the onboard computer AI, Horton (Lewis Arquette).


The Gloose, part puppet, part CGI.


            The Hypernauts met and befriended Kulai (Carrie Dobro, who appeared on Babylon), the last spiritual leader (or “Chalim”) from the planet Pryus. The spiritual leaders of her race are long-lived (centuries) and are necessary for the psychic bond that united all Pryans to keep the members of the race strong, healthy and able to procreate. She used her long life of experience to help mentor and guide The Hypernauts in their conflict with the Triiad. They also adopted a three-legged alien they found on a decimated planet, The Gloose (operated by Evan Brainard). Their primary foe was Paiyin (Ron Campbell), a Pryan who joined forces with the Triiad and led to the destruction of their home world.


The evil Paiyin.


            Hypernauts (known as Voyager in Japan) debuted on ABC mid-season on March 1, 1996. The series had a tremendous sci-fi pedigree behind it as the members of the crew were plucked from various franchises in the genre, including many from Babylon. Brainard designed a simplified mechanism for Gloose’s head motions based on the ones he utilized for the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (this ate up a huge chunk of the show’s budget, but they felt it was worth the investment). In keeping with the intention of the show’s creation, a great number of the sets were CGI along with the machinery. A typical episode could have upwards of 100 effects shots--nearly as much as a feature-length movie. Along with Marx, writers for the show included Katherine Lawrence, Larry DiTillio, Richard Mueller, Len Wein, J. Larry Carroll, David Bennett Carren, and Star Trek veteran D.C. Fontana, with music composed by Christopher Franke. The special make-up effects were designed by Optic Nerve Studios (now Alchemy Studios).


The cast with developer Christy Marx.


            Once the season was wrapped, pre-production work began on a second season that would never be. Despite all the cast and crew’s efforts to make a quality show that didn’t talk down to their intended audience simply because it was on Saturday morning, the show’s days were ultimately numbered from the outset. When it was set to air, Disney had just finalized its purchase of ABC and would soon begin purging all of the content not from the studio off of the network. Ultimately, ABC decided to speed things along by ending the show before the final five episodes were aired. Interestingly enough, The Disney Channel would air several episodes edited together into a single movie for a time. The largely-forgotten series has only seen several VHS releases outside of the United States from Von VPS Video. It also received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Lawrence’s script.



The Triiad attacks.


            Despite changing the look of sci-fi forever and making Lightwave 3D an industry standard throughout the 1990s, Foundation found itself in dire straits when Netter started his own effects company, Netter Digital Entertainment, and convinced the Babylon production that they could do their effects cheaper using the same equipment and techniques. Foundation was ousted for Babylon’s final two seasons, films and spin-off series, Crusade. Fortunately, Foundation was able to secure a spot working on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. With the end of Crusade, Netter attempted to stay afloat working on the animated series Dan Dare, Max Steel and Robotech 3000, but ended up folding in 2000 and replaced by Foundation in a bit of karmic irony. Unfortunately, Foundation found themselves out of business as well the following year.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“First Contact” (3/1/96) – Sent to retrieve a satellite on a punishment mission, the Hypernauts are forced to make an emergency jump to escape its explosion and wind up in a strange galaxy.
 
“The Star Ranger” (3/9/96) – The Hypernauts take up residence in Star Ranger 7 which has a map that can take them home, but Kulai warns that the Triiad could follow them back.
 
“Icebound” (3/9/96) – The Hypernauts make a run to an ice planet to refill their water supply, and Max and Sharkey end up stranded below the surface.
 
“Battle at Vekara” (3/16/96) – The Hypernauts head to a trade planet for repair supplies and attempt to warn them of the Triiad, while Paiyin sets a trap for them.
 
“Cloudholm” (3/23/96) – The Hypernauts make a gamble that creatures’ ability to cloak themselves could protect a planet’s inhabitants from a Triiad probe.
 
“A Walk in the Garden” (3/30/96) – Tried of the bland food on the station, the Hypernauts head down to an Earth-like planet for clippings to allow Max to start a garden.
 
“Into the Dark So Deep” (4/6/96) – The Hypernauts go to rescue people left behind as their planet is processed by a maker, and Sharkey has to confront his fear in order to stop Paiyin.
 
“Gone to Meet the Maker” (4/13/96) – The Hypernauts have to stop a maker from destroying the asteroid field where the Star Ranger hides.
 
“Reunion” – Max goes with Kulai to watch her people’s regeneration ceremony while Ace and Sharkey try to keep the robot they took from the maker from contacting the Triiad.
 
“Hole in the Sky” – The Hypernauts have to protect a ship of refugees from the Triiad as they make an attempt to escape the Sphere of Interception.
 
“New Alliances” – Kulai introduces the Hypernauts to a powerful being, the Sacul, that could help them in their battles should they pass its test.
 
“The Challenge: Part One” – The Hypernauts have to prove their presence into to blame for the Triiad by plotting an attack against them while Paiyin tricks Kulai into a trap.
 
“The Challenge: Part Two” – The Sacul gives the Hypernauts tools that combine to create the power of a star and they launch an attack on the Triiad’s main fortress.

October 13, 2020

CONCHATA FERRELL DEAD AT 77

 


You can read the full story here.


She played Aunt Jill in the “Runaway Ralph” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, Williamina Bubask in an episode of The Mask, Simpah in an episode of Aaahh!! Real Monsters, Ma Munchapper in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Dr. Greer in an episode of The Zeta Project.








October 10, 2020

LIFE WITH LOUIE

 

LIFE WITH LOUIE

(FOX, December 18, 1994-March 2, 1998)

 

Fox Kids Network, Hyperion Animation, The Anderson/Hassan Company

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Louie Anderson – Louis “Louie” Anderson, Andrew “Andy” Anderson
Debi Derryberry – Jeannie Harper
Justin Shenkarow – Michael Grunewald, Glen Glenn
Edie McClurg – Ora Anderson
Miko Hughs – Thomas Anderson
Justin Jon Ross – Toddler Tobolinski

 

 

            Comedian Louie Anderson didn’t have an easy childhood. He was one of 11 children (technically 15, four of his siblings didn’t survive) living in the Minnesota projects with an abusive alcoholic father. That abuse led to his own addiction: food. In 1978, Anderson went into stand-up comedy where his self-depreciating routine would focus on his weight and family; particularly his father, who died in 1979. In 1981, Anderson won a competition that led him to become a joke writer for Henny Youngman, who served as the host. That further led to his appearing on a variety of late-night TV shows, sticoms, and in feature films.

The animated Anderson family.

            While on tour with Roseanne Barr in 1987, Anderson kept a diary of letters he wrote to his father that said everything he was never able to say to him when he was alive. One of those letters was published in People magazine and had a tremendous response. Anderson decided to publish the rest in Dear Dad: Letters from an Adult Child, which became a best-seller. This began a series of cathartic projects for Anderson.

Ora being the voice of reason to Andy and Louie.

            Seeing there was an interest in his early family life, Anderson attempted to shop around the idea of a sitcom based on it with very little interest from studios. Margaret Loesch, head of Fox Kids, approached Anderson about doing a cartoon instead, but Anderson didn’t think it could work in animation. A few years later, Loesch approached Anderson again; this time armed with a promotional video she had made featuring what Anderson’s family would look like. That was when Anderson became sold on the idea. The series was developed by Anderson with Matthew O’Callaghan.

Louie with little brother, Tommy.

            As advertised, Life with Louie focused on the comedian’s childhood—albeit, a sanitized version of it. The show was set in the fictional suburban town of Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin where the Anderson family lived in a two-story house. Anderson himself appeared in live-action wraparounds and provided narration, as well as voiced his younger self and father (renamed “Andy” from “Louie” to avoid confusion). Andy Anderson was a stereotypical early 20th century father figure: stern and seemingly aloof when it came to his family, but showed he cared about them in his own way. He was a World War II veteran who constantly talked about his experiences and had a superiority complex often undercut but his own limitations. Aside from his wife, the love of his life was his car; a barely-running 1959 Rambler Rebel. Louie’s mother, Ora (Edie McClurg) was the kind, loving, sweet-natured matriarch who often served as the voice of reason for the family. Louie had four older brothers—Sid, John, Danny and Peter—and four older sisters—Laura, Carol, Charlie and Julie—but his little brother, Tommy (Miko Hughes), was often featured the most.

Louie with Jeannie.

            Other characters included Louie’s best friend Jeannie Harper (Debi Derryberry), who often defended him from bullies and who he had a crush on; Mike Grunewald (Justin Shenkarow), Louie’s sarcastic friend and neighbor whose wealthy family often proved a point of jealousy for the Anderson men; Toddler Tobolinski (Justin Jon Ross), Louie’s other friend who loved recess; Glen Glenn (Shenkarow), the local bully who often picked on Louie; The Melvins, a group of chess nerds (although one of them was actually named Franklin, voiced by Eddie Deezen); and Pepper, Louie’s obese goldfish.

Friends Toddler Tobolinsky and Mike Grunewald.

            Life with Louie made its debut on FOX with a prime-time Christmas special on December 12, 1994 before the full season began on June 18, 1995. It was one of the more grounded offerings from Fox Kids, focusing on slice of life stories and the moral lessons that accompany them. One popular topic was bullying, particularly over Louie’s weight. When Mary Wickes, who played Louie’s grandma in several episodes, died in real life, her character also died on the show to teach a lesson about dealing with death.

A man and his car.

The series was written by O’Callaghan, Andy Rose, Alex Taub, Bernie Ancheta, Greg Cope White, Sean Dwyer, Natasha Hayworth, Matthew Negrette, Mary Gray Rubin, David Silverman, R.P. Halke, Ed Driscoll, Robert Rabinowitz, Bruce Clark, Marc Peterson, Shawn Ryan, Alex Zamm and Mike Gandolfi. O’Callaghan also served as a story editor with Taub and Corey Powell and as one of the character designers along with Tom Owens, Martin Fuller, Kimie Calvert, Bret Ring, Dan Root, John Dubiel, Cristi Lyon, Phil Mendez, Steve Aguilar, Douglas McCarthy and Chris York. The music was composed by Randall Crissman, John Zuker, Matt Muhoberac and John Given. Animation duties were handled by Shanghai Morning Sun Animation, Wang Film Productions Company and Sichuan Top Animation.

Getting picked on by Glen Glenn.

The show’s success came as a big surprise to Anderson. It ended up running for three seasons before the network finally cancelled it as a result of ownership changes behind the scenes. It racked up multiple Emmy and Humanitas Prize nominations, earning three of each. The show became a cult favorite in Eastern Europe and Russia due to its being aired on Fox Kids/Jetix and quality dubbing work, as well as the grounded nature of the program and characters which made it different from other programs on the air at the time. Anderson claimed in a 2016 interview that over 300,000 of his Twitter followers alone came from those regions.

One of the VHS releases.


Life with Louie had a massive merchandising push behind it with toys released through Taco Bell, Hardee’s, Jack in the Box and Dairy Queen; various kinds of apparel; a CD-ROM comic book from Inverse Ink that adapted the episode “Lake Winnibigoshish”; a book series adapting six episodes from HarperCollins; and special Spaghetti-O shapes. In 1998, 20th Century Fox Home Video released “For Pete’s Sake” and “The Masked Chess Boy” onto VHS. In 2006, Anderson announced during a radio interview that the series would be coming to DVD. However, no release had ever materialized in the United States. But in 2007, Boulevard Entertainment released three 2-episode DVDs as part of the Jetix programming brand in the United Kingdom and Studio Printel released six 5-episode DVD sets in Poland.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:

Special:

“A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman” (12/18/94) – Andy and Louie decorate their elderly neighbor’s house.

 

Season 1:

“Dad Gets Canned” (6/18/95) – Andy loses his job and Louie is upset that he has to work instead of relaxing all summer.
 
“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Bed” (9/9/95) – An argument with the new neighbors is put on hold when a massive rainstorm causes a flood in the town.
 
“Lake Winnibigoshish” (9/16/95) – While on vacation, Louie meets a girl that has a crush on him but he doesn’t like in return.
 
“A Fish Called Pepper” (9/23/95) – Jeannie moves away for her father’s new job while the family gets a new pet fish.
 
“Behind Every Good Coach” (10/7/95) – Andy takes over the baseball team for the injured coach, but they can’t seem to win until Ora gives them a few pointers.
 
“Alive! Miracle in Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin” (11/4/95) – Louie and Tommy are left home alone just as a blizzard causes a blackout.
 
“Pains, Grains and Allergy Shots” (11/11/95) – Louie develops a food allergy.
 
“The Fourth Thursday in November” (11/18/95) – The Andersons hosts Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family.
 
“Tracks of My Deers” (11/25/95) – While on a hunting trip Louie befriends a deer and tries to keep it safe from the others.
 
“When Cedar Knoll Freezes Over” (2/3/96) – The Andersons fail at every competition at the winter carnival while Louie develops a crush on Jeannie’s sister.
 
“A Fair to Remember” (2/10/96) – Andy wins a pig at the fair while Tommy gets angry with Louie for only taking him on the baby rides.
 
“Born a Rambler Man” (2/17/96) – Ora buys Andy a new car when his Rambler gets damaged, but Andy just can’t seem to like the new car.

 

Season 2:

“Caddy on a Hot Tin Roof” (9/14/96) – Louie works as a caddy to earn some money.
 
“Summer of My Discontent” (9/21/96) – Louie goes to camp to get away from Glen Glenn only to end up lost in the woods with him.
 
“Anderson Ski Weekend” (9/28/96) – To celebrate his promotion, Earl and the Andersons go on a ski trip where Louie pretends he’s a ski master.
 
“Roofless People” (10/5/96) – A tornado that hits the town terrifies Louie and he hides in his room long after it’s over.
 
“How to Succeed in Washington Without Really Trying” (10/19/96) – Louie buys a speech from Glen Glenn in order to win a trip to Washington.
 
“An Anderson Dozen” (11/2/96) – Ora finds out she’s pregnant and Louie is afraid a new baby will mean he has to leave the family.

“Buzz Stop” (11/9/96) – Andy takes up beekeeping in order to make enough money to buy a bigger TV than the Jensens.
 
“The Masked Chess Boy” (11/23/96) – Louie learns he’s adept at chess, but after his father makes fun of chess players he disguises himself when he enters a chess competition.
 
“For Pete’s Sake” (12/25/96) – After a homeless man saves Louie, Louie lets him stay in their garage.

“The Good, the Bad, & the Glenns” (12/27/96) – The town celebrates when the obnoxiously loud Jen Glenn loses her voice.
 
“Kazoo’s Coming to Dinner” (2/1/97) – Louie befriends Ora’s ex-boyfriend.
 
“Mr. Anderson’s Opus” (2/15/97) – While his parents fight over when they got married, Louie becomes jealous when Jeannie gets a crush on the new kid in school.

“The Thank You Note” (2/22/97) – Louie procrastinates writing his grandma a thank you note, and when he finally does he finds out she died.

 

Season 3:

“Loui’s Gate” (9/6/97) – To stave off Louie’s constantly going to the new movie theater, Andy and Ora give him a movie camera which inspires him to film his own movie.
 
“The Making of a President” (9/13/97) – Louie and Mike try to win the school election by spreading lies about their opponents.
 
“Military Reunion” (9/20/97) – Louie learns Andy was actually a cook in the army, but he did manage to save his company.
 
“Go Packers!” (9/27/97) – Andy and Louie go to a Packers game.
 
“The Undergraduate” (10/11/97) – When Louie falls for his substitute teacher, Andy tries to get rid of her.
 
“Louie’s Harrowing Halloween” (10/25/97) – Louie steals some candy and tries to get rid of it during Halloween.
 
“Mr. Louie’s Wild Ride” (11/1/97) – The Andersons head to an amusement park for their vacation only to learn it moved to Florida.
 
“Close Encounters of the Louie Kind” (11/8/97) – Louie and Mike’s spaceship leads to Andy becoming the ambassador of Earth.
 
“The Kiss is the Thing” (11/15/97) – Louie ends up as the prince in a school production of Sleeping Beauty.
 
“Family Portrait” (12/20/97) – When Louie learns one of his friends is an orphan he invites him to his house for Christmas.
 
“Blinded by Love” (2/16/98) – Louie adopts a dog trained to guide the blind.
 
“Do It or Donut” (2/23/98) – Andy supports Louie’s newfound love of playing basketball.
 
“Project: Mother’s Day” (3/2/98) – Louie does Ora’s chores when she gets sick, which leaves him with no time to get her a Mother’s Day present.