Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
This weekend Saturday Mornings Forever celebrates TWO YEARS! That's right, two years of Saturday morning memories...and we've still barely begun!
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 15. Just over a decade ago, these are what entertained us (or our younger associates) on Saturday mornings in the day's twilight years.
Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
In 1974, Filmation had licensed and
produced a live-action show around the DC
Comics character, Captain
Marvel (also known as Shazam, due to rival publisher Marvel Comics also having a character named Captain Marvel).
The series proved to be a hit and was renewed for a second season. Wanting to
expand on their success with the addition of a female counterpart, something
unseen at that time, Filmation opted to create an original character rather
than license yet another from DC. The result was Isis.
Isis and Tut.
The Secrets of
Isis was developed by Marc
Richards, who suggested the Egyptian theme. Initially, the series was going
to have more of a mystery angle with the characters actively involved in
situations as forensic investigators, but the network requested that it instead
be moved to a school setting. As a result, the heroine was Larkspur High School
science teacher Andrea Thomas (Joanna Cameron), a descendant of Egyptian
Pharaoh Queen
Hatshepsut. While on an archaeological dig, Andrea discovered the Isiac
amulet which bestowed members of that bloodline with the powers of the animals
and elements when exposed to the sun and the name of the goddess Isis
invoked. With the words “Oh mighty Isis”, Andrea was transformed into Isis and
able to access a wide array of powers through the recitation of a rhyming
couplet related to the desired ability. Amongst her powers were superhuman
strength, flight, control of the elements and matter, summoning of living
things, divination of the recent past, and time manipulation. Although not as
powerful in human form, Andrea could still communicate with her pet raven, Tut
(whom Cameron hated working with and was difficult to wrangle), and was able to
use light reflected off her amulet to restore lost memories. Aiding Andrea and
Isis were her student assistant, Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang), colleague Rick Mason
(Brian Cutler), and school principal, Dr. Barnes (Albert Reed).
Andrea and Rick.
Isis was
the first television series to feature a female superhero lead character,
beating out the premiers of The Bionic Womanby
four months and Wonder Womanby seven. Like most 70s superhero programs, Isis never fought
supervillains. Most of the time, she dealt with problems that arose when her
students or other kids made poor decisions and wound up in peril. On the rare
occasion, Isis would fight legitimate thieves and people with evil intent. This
allowed Isis to deliver Filmation’s customary pro-social message at the end of
each episode related to the story’s plot. Because both shows were produced by
Filmation, Isis and Captain Marvel (John Davey) crossed over into
each other’s programs for three episodes apiece after a special arrangement
with DC.
The series proved successful, getting renewed for a
second season alongside Shazam! Inexplicably,
Pang was dropped from the show and replaced by new student assistant, Rennie
Carol (Ronalda Douglas). The second season ran for seven episodes and ended
with the show’s first two-part episode, “Now you See It…” and “…And Now You
Don’t.” The episodes introduced three crime-fighting teens who called
themselves “The Super-Sleuths” that Filmation was hoping to spin off into their
own series. Unfortunately, that series never materialized.
DC acquired the rights to the character and
introduced a reworked version of Isis in their maxi-series 52in
2006.This version was Adrianna Tomaz (a play on
the character’s original name) who became the wife of Captain Marvel’s nemesis,
Black Adam, and
attempted to reform him until their mutual death and resurrection turned them
both evil. Another version of Isis appeared on the 2010 episode of Smallvillecalled
“Isis”, where Lois Lane
(Erica Durance) was possessed by Isis
through the amulet. Smallville’s version
blended elements from both the 1970s and 52
portrayals of the character. In 2013, Tomaz appeared again as a support card
for the mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us.
The episode collection DVD.
In 2007, BCI Eclipse
released The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Serieson DVD. Episodes were presented in
original airdate order and the exorcised moral messages were included as bonus
features. The set also included the first issue of Bluewater
Productions’ The Legend of Isis, which while sharing similarities to
the character was actually completely unrelated. In 2008, BCI released a
compilation of their Filmation box sets called Heroes and Heroines, which included the first disc from the
complete series set. When the BCI set went out of print, Classic Media acquired the
rights to the show and released the 7-episode collection The Secrets of Isisin 2010. The series was made available
for streaming on Hulu.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Lights of Mystery Mountain” (9/6/75) – Isis investigates if UFOs
are responsible for the disappearance of local residents of the mountain.
“Fool’s Dare” (9/14/75) – A young girl finds herself on the run from
car thieves who use the junkyard she snuck into as a base.
“Spots of the Leopard” (9/20/75) – Isis has to prove a former jewel
thief isn’t behind a recent robbery.
“The Sound of Silence” (9/28/75) – A desperate student steals Andrea’s
force field device and sells it to a local crime boss.
“Rockhound’s Roost” (10/5/75) – Isis rescues a runaway boy from a bear
in the forest.
“Lucky” (10/12/75) – Isis saves a boy distraught over the death of his
dog at sea.
“Bigfoot” (10/19/75) – Some students head to the mountains to
investigate the rumors of Bigfoot.
“How to Find a Friend” (10/26/75) – Tom’s attempt at making a new
friend leads this “friend” to steal his father’s souvenir handgun.
“The Show Off” (11/1/75) – Steve’s showing off lands him in the
clutches of a gorilla.
“The Outsider” (11/8/75) – Some boys who don’t like the new student
attempt to frame him for the theft of a rival school’s mascot.
“No Drums, No Trumpets” (11/15/75) – After Fred takes his poor showing
at the science fair badly, he, Andrea and Dorothy take a drive to a ghost town
inhabited by a gang of thieves.
“Funny Gal” (11/22/75) – Isis and Captain Marvel team-up to rescue a
girl who stole a boat for a publicity stunt.
“Girl Driver” (11/29/75) – A boy cheats during a safety driving
competition and ends up in danger.
“Scuba Duba” (12/6/75) – A rebellious scuba student ends up trapped
underwater.
“Dreams of Flight” (12/13/75) – A girl designs model planes, but the
men in her life want to keep her from competing with them.
Season 2:
“Seeing Eye Horse” (9/11/76) – Andrea teaches a blind student to ride
a horse to help build his self-confidence.
“The Hitchhiker” (9/18/76) – Isis saves a habitual hitchhiker from a
near-fatal car accident.
“The Class Clown” (9/25/76) – Rudy’s practical jokes end up causing a
deadly problem in the chemistry lab.
“The Cheerleader” (10/2/76) – A cheerleader attempts to thin the field
by framing another for cheating on a test.
“Year of the Dragon” (10/16/76) – Julie is embarrassed by her father’s
adherence to his old customs.
“Now You See It…” (10/23/76) – Rick is framed for stealing a
weather-manipulating machine.
“…And Now You Don’t” (10/30/76) – Isis and Captain Marvel have to
rescue Rick from the real thieves who want the rest of the machine’s plans.
Some people dream about starting a band, these kids
went and did it.
Richard, Sly, Tony, Gail, Matt, Dennis, Jenny and Tiffani.
California Dreams was created
by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon. The sitcom
had a dual focus on the Garrison family and their children’s band, which shared
its name with the series. The Garrisons had moved from Iowa to Southern
California. Guitarist Matt Garrison (Brent Gore) had, at some point, formed the
band with the friends he made in his new home and his younger sister, Jenny
(Heidi Noelle Lenhart), who played keyboard. The other band members included
Tiffani Smith (Kelly Packard) on bass and vocals, Antoine “Tony” Wicks (William
James, who got his role by sending in an audition tape) on drums, and the
“ba-boom!”-exclaiming Sylvester “Sly” Winkle (Michael Cade, whose agents
initially passed on the series to hold out for something better), who served as
the band’s obnoxious and constantly scheming manager. Also featured were Matt
and Jenny’s parents Richard (Michael Cutt) and Melody (Gail Ramsey), and their
younger brother Dennis (Ryan O’Neill). The show would blend real-life issues
with zany adventures, juggling between the typical family situations of the
Garrisons and the Dreams’ attempts at making something of their potential
musical careers in between classes and homework.
Although the series didn’t sit well with critics, who considered it an
unoriginal blending of Saved by the Bell, The Partridge Familyand
Beverly Hills 90210, it did gain a loyal following as evidenced
by the packed houses the cast experienced when they would go on mall tours in
between filming. Despite its respectable ratings, the show had come around in a
time when NBC was shifting focus to more teen-oriented programming after the
massive success of Bell, which was in
its final season when the show debuted. As a result, NBC dumped all its
animated programming and reworked its Saturday schedule to include more teen
sitcoms similar to Bell. To that end,
NBC asked for some changes to be made to the show in order for it to be more at
home in its new Teen NBC (TNBC)
programming block.
New members, same sound.
The Garrisons were phased out in order to focus solely on the band and
the antics of its members, with Richard reduced to a recurring character and
Gail only being a guest-star. Matt remained for the rest of the second season,
but Jenny was sent off to an Italian music conservatory after the third
episode. The first episode introduced the band’s second guitarist, bad boy Jake
Sommers (Jay Anthony Franke, singing voice by Barry Coffing), whose image
initially led to the band to consider him an ill fit for the group. The fourth
episode introduced Samantha Woo (Jennie Kwan, who actually auditioned for the
role of Tiffani the previous year), a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong
that stayed with the Garrisons. While staying in Jenny’s room, she eventually
took Jenny’s place as the band’s new vocalist and keyboardist.
The Dreams with Jake, Lorena, Mark and Sam.
For season 3, the last vestige of the original premise was removed
entirely when Matt was written off of the show, the in-story explanation being
that the Garrisons had moved once again. In reality, Gore had conflicting
notions about how his character should be portrayed with the producers and left
the show as a result. In his place came Mark Winkle (Aaron Jackson, singing
voice by Zachary Throne), Sly’s cousin from New York who was his complete
opposite in personality. Samantha was taken in by the Costa family, which was
headed by a wealthy land developer. Their daughter, Lorena (Diana Uribe) became
a groupie and occasional benefactor of the group when her lack of talent
prevented her from joining them outright.
The band members would undergo the standard trials and tribulations of
high school as they struggled with grades, money, getting gigs and romance
(usually between each other), in between hanging out at the beach or Sharkey’s.
After five seasons, the series ran its course. The final episode, “The Last
Gig”, was set months after the band graduated from Pacific Coast High School.
Jake wanted to keep the band going and tried to get his band mates recording
contracts, but each of them wanted to embark on a new journey: Tiffani went to
study marine biology at the University of
Hawaii; Sam went to study physics at Oxford
University; Mark returned to New York to attend Juilliard; Tony went off to study acting;
and Sly and Lorena stayed in town to study at Pacific
University. Jake takes the recording deal on his own with his friends’
blessings. Upon the conclusion of the series, the entire cast and crew received
a special 2-disc collection of all the songs from the series.
The 10-episode DVD.
The series was nominated for four Young
Artist Awards between 1993 and 1994, as well as an NCLR Bravo Award in 1996. In 1992, MCA Records released an album
collecting the songs from the first season. Between 2009-2011, Shout! Factory released the first four
seasons on DVD, with 1
and 2 together in the same set. Season
3 and 4
were initially offered exclusively through Shout!’s online store. In 2011, Mill Creek Entertainment released a best-of
collection, featuring 10 episodes from the first three seasons. On March 4,
2010, Jimmy Fallon hosted
a reunion of the teenaged cast on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with the exception of Aaron Jackson
and Diana Uribe, with a special appearance by Dennis Haskins (who helped
Fallon eventually get a Bell reunion). Together, the cast
played the show’s theme for Fallon’s audience.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The First Gig” (9/12/92) – Matt and Jenny have to decide between
going to their first gig or going on a trip with their family.
“Battle of the Bands” (9/19/92) – The band convinces Matt to go out
with one of the judges of the upcoming battle of the bands, but he soon
develops feelings for her.
“Double Date” (10/3/92) – The band gets a gig the same night Tony
planned to throw a luau with money he “borrowed” while watching Sharkey’s
restaurant.
“It’s a Guy Thing” (10/31/92) – Jenny and Tiffani try to teach Tony
and Sly how to treat women while Melody becomes frustrated with the guys
“fixing” things around her house.
“They Shoot Videos, Don’t They?
(11/21/92) – Sly convinces the band to shoot a music video for a
contest, but having Matt kiss another girl in it causes problems with his
girlfriend.
“Sleazy Rider” (10/2/93) – Jake lets Matt take care of his motorcycle
when he leaves town, and Sly takes it for a joyride promptly wrecking it.
“The Sly Who Came to Dinner” (10/9/93) – Sly stays with the Garrisons
and attempts to win over Sam, while Tony and Jake fear Tiffani’s secret admirer
is a stalker.
“High Plains Dreamer” (10/30/93) – Tony dreams about having a Wild
West shootout with his date’s ex.
“Bwa Ha Ha Means I Love You” (11/6/93) – Jake takes an embarrassing
job to get Tiffani a present at the same music store where Sly convinces the
manager to carry their demos.
“21 Jake Street” (12/25/93) – The band plans to get fake IDs in order
to play a 21+ club, a new girl is drawn to Jake, and Tony and Matt use Tiffani
and Sam in their art projects.
“Dirty Dog Days” (1/29/94) – The guys broadcast their music over an
old radio as “The Dirty Dogs”, but nobody believes it’s them when the songs
become a hit.
“Indecent Promposal” (2/5/94) – When Jake doesn’t want to go to the
prom, Tiffani considers going with a friend who promises the band a summer-long
gig in return.
“Yoko, Oh No!” (10/8/94) – Lorena is convinced to become a member of the
band, but they’re afraid to tell her the truth about her skills as it might
hurt future opportunities.
“The Princess and the Yeti” (10/29/94) – Lorena’s father hires the
band to play at his ski resort, which has been plagues by rumors of a yeti in
the area.
“Winkle/Wicks World” (11/12/94) – A class project leads Sly and Tony to
land their own TV show, which means time away from the band.
“Daddy’s Girl” (11/19/94) – Tiffani sets her dad up with a woman that
starts cutting into their time together, meanwhile a dating program deems the
other band members incompatible.
“Family Tree” (11/26/94) – A family history project takes interesting
turns for Tony, Mark and Tiffani.
“Harley and the Marlboro Man” (12/3/94) – Jake takes up smoking after
his Uncle Frank while the band tries to figure out to do with the money they
found on the beach.
“Rebel Without a Nerve” (12/10/94) – Jake joins the safety patrol when
his title as school tough guy is threatened.
“Boyz R Us” (12/17/94) – While the band delivers singing telegrams, an
old friend of Tony comes to him to help get another of their friends out of a
gang.
“Junior Achievement” (12/24/94) – An economics project leads the gang
to sell Sam’s great, great grandmother’s cold remedy while Jake and Mark become
music teachers.
“The Treasure of PCH” (12/31/94) – Lorena and Jake send their friends
on a treasure hunt to see if money could destroy their friendships.
“The Dateless Game” (10/7/95) – Jake ends up winning a charity dating
game and has to go out with another girl on the same night as his anniversary
dinner with Tiffani.
“Fallen Idol” (10/14/95) – Jake’s musical idol agrees to listen to the
band while Tony suffers a bout of bad luck.
“Lorena’s Place” (3/30/96) – Lorena tries to impress a guy who is only
interested in serious poets and ends up losing her father’s special poem to her
mother.
“Dancing Isn’t Everything” (4/6/96) – Tony wants to take over the band
from Jake while Lorena must consider Sly being her replacement partner in the
dance competition.
“Shaken, Rattled and Rolled” (9/14/96) – Tony wants to move someplace
without earthquakes while Sly tries to get a music producer to listen to the
band.
“Diss-Honored” (10/5/96) – Sam’s new position as president of the
honor society leaves her little time to spend with Tony.
“Reel Teens” (10/12/96) – Jake is chosen to be followed around by a camera
crew for a TV show.
“Father Knows Bets” (10/19/96) – Sly takes up gambling when he feels
ignored by his father while Tony tries to keep what award Jake is going to win
a secret.
“Letters from Woo” (10/25/96) – Sam sends a video letter to her family
back home.
“Senior Prom” (11/2/96) – Jake and Tiffani and Tony and Sam are tied
for prom king and queen, while Sly books the band for a gig on the day of the prom.
“Graduation” (11/23/96) – Drinking at Lorena’s party leads to Mark
crashing his car and ending up in jail, while Jake and Tiffani have to finish a
project in order to graduate.
“A Band Divided” (11/30/96) – Lorena buys the band a new amp in
exchange for being the band’s co-manager, which ends up causing conflicts with
Sly.
This weekend Saturday Mornings Forever celebrates TWO YEARS! That's right, two years of Saturday morning memories...and we've still barely begun!
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. To kick things off, we're going to celebrate those programs turning 10 this year. Why 10? Well, 2011 was a relatively empty year for original Saturday programming. So, join us in welcoming these young bucks to the hallowed halls of Saturday posterity!
As you take this walk down memory lane with us, feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
