THE SUPER GLOBETROTTERS
(NBC, September 22-December 15, 1979)
Hanna-Barbera Productions
MAIN CAST:
Frank Welker – Crime
Globe, Attila
the Hun, Eagle, Fenwick, igor, Weird Beard, Make-Up Master, Putt Putt
Michael Rye –
Narrator, announcer, Lightning Man, Mayor of Breadbasket City, Whaleman
Spinning off from Hanna-Barbera’s earlier The Harlem Globetrotters, The Super Globetrotters saw The Harlem Globetrotters serving
as the cover for their true identities: The Super Globetrotters. To protect the
world from evil, the Globetrotters would challenge the villains and their
henchmen to basketball games for whatever goal or object they have in mind for
their nefarious plans.
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Character model sheet. |
Like the earlier series, while the show featured the
names and likenesses of members of the actual Globetrotters team, they were
instead voiced by professional voice actors. Reprising their earlier roles were
Stu Gilliam as Freddy “Curly” Neal and Johnny Williams as Hubert “Geese” Ausbie.
Scatman Crothers also returned, but as his original character of George “Meadowlark” Lemon
was no longer a Globetrotter by the time the series entered production, he was
instead cast as Nate Branch. Replacing the other departed Globetrotters were
James “Twiggy” Sanders (Buster Jones) and Louis “Sweet Lou” Dunbar (Adam Wade).
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Multi-Man, Super Sphere, Gizmo, Spaghetti Man and Liquid Man. |
Each Globetrotter possessed incredible powers granted
to them whenever they stepped into magical portable lockers. Hanna-Barbera
recycled the powers, identities and moves of three of the Globetrotters from
the Impossibles segment of Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles: Branch was Liquid Man (sometimes
referred to his Impossibles counterpart’s
name of “Fluid Man” or “Aquaman”, and still bore the former’s “F” logo on his
suit) and could turn himself into water; Sanders was Spaghetti Man (based on
Coil Man), who could stretch and manipulate his body; and Ausbie was Multi Man,
who could create duplicates of himself. New for the series was Neal as Super
Sphere, who could retract his limbs into his basketball head in order to
bounce, smash and grow; and Dunbar as Gizmo, who could pull an unlimited supply
of gadgets for any situation out of his afro. They were alerted to problems and
aided by a basketball-shaped satellite called Crime Globe (Frank Welker).
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Attila and his Huns. |
Facing off against the Globetrotters was an eclectic
blend of colorful one-off foes voiced by an assortment of frequent
Hanna-Barbera players. Amongst them was Museum Man (Herb Vigran), a disgruntled
janitor who had a remote control that could bring fossils and statues to life;
Facelift (John Stephenson,
who also portrayed several other villains), a nuclear-powered alien that could
steal anyone’s face for use on his Demon Droids; Whaleman (Michal Rye), a
pirate who used a mechanical whale in his crimes; Bad Blue Bart (Paul Winchell), a western outlaw
who used a remote-controlled Phantom Cowboy (also Winchell) to take over a
ranch; The Time Lord (Don Messick),
who could alter time using a crystal and summoned villains of history to aid
him; and Count Bragula (Lennie
Weinrib), a vampire with ambitions to dominate Transylvania. A real person
also crossed paths with the Globetrotters in the form of Attila the Hun
(Welker), who was shunted forward in time following a scientist through his
time machine.
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Teamwork makes the dream work! |
The Super
Globetrotters followed executive Fred Silverman from CBS, home of the original, to NBC where it debuted on September 22, 1979. The
series was written by Tom Dagenais, Rowby Goren, Andy Heyward, Robby London and Larry Parr. It ran until
December 1st when it was combined with Hanna-Barbera’s Godzilla to create The
Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour. Both shows played out their
respective seasons as part of this block and continued on as reruns until
September 20, 1980. Instead of using the team’s theme song “Sweet Georgia
Brown” by Brother
Bones, the series employed a sound-alike whistle theme composed by Hoyt Curtin.
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Ad for the DVD release. |
Because the series was solely produced and owned by
Hanna-Barbera, it was the first of the two shows to be released to DVD through Warner
Archive’s Hanna-Barbera
Classics Collection. The original Globetrotters
series was co-owned by CBS Productions who
maintain its rights. This was also the final series starring the Globetrotters,
although they were the stars of the 1981 television movie The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. The team and their various members
continued to appear or be referenced on television programs, films and
documentaries over the years while also continuing to perform on the court
almost 500 times a year shared between three different rosters.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Museum Man” (9/22/79) – Museum Man brings
dinosaur skeletons to life in order to take over Big City.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Bwana Bob” (9/29/79) – Bwana Bob plans to
hunt the passengers of a grounded cruise ship and the Globetrotters.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. The Facelift” (10/6/79) – The alien
Facelift plans to put the faces of world leaders on his Demon Droids to control
the world.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Whaleman” (10/13/79) – Whaleman uses a
mechanical whale to steal supertankers full of oil.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Robo and the Globots” (10/20/79) – Robo
builds robotic duplicates of the Globetrotters in order to discredit them and
get revenge on G.G. Godfrey.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Tattoo Man” (10/27/79) – Space pirate
Tattoo Man comes to Earth to steal gold.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Movie Man” (11/3/79) – Movie Man plans to
steal a top secret robot full of Globetron.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. The Phantom Cowboy” (11/10/79) – The
Globetrotters try to put an end to the Phantom Cowboy’s western crime spree.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. The Time Lord” (11/17/79) – Time Lord
steals a time machine and recruits criminals from history.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Transylvania Terrors” (11/24/79) – Count
Bragula and his Terrors plan to take over Transylvania.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Bull Moose” (12/1/79) – Bull Moose steals
the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs to complete his golden ray.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Merlo the Magician” (12/8/79) – Merlo and
his knights steal the world’s monuments.
“The Super Globetrotters vs. Attila the Hun” (12/15/79) – Atilla and
his Huns follow a scientist through his time machine and raid San Francisco.
Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.
Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.
Didn't hold a candle---or the match that lit it---to the 1970-3 original, which had more pizzazz.
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