February 25, 2017

SATURDAY SUPERCADE: SPACE ACE


SPACE ACE
(CBS, September 8-December 1, 1984)


Ruby-Spears Productions

MAIN CAST:
Jim Piper – Space Ace
Sparky Marcus – Dexter
Nancy Cartwright – Kimberly
Peter Renaday – Space Marshall Vaughn


            Four months after the release of Dragon’s Lair in 1983former Disney animator Don Bluth revealed his second videogame creation: Space Ace.



            The game was developed by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems (later RDI Video Systems) and was similar to Dragon’s Lair. It allowed a player to play through an adventure story with feature film-quality animation. At certain points, the player would have to move the joystick in a certain direction or press a particular button at the right moment in order to continue advancing through the story. A few upgrades were made from the Dragon’s Lair game with the addition of difficulty settings, multiple choices and paths for player actions, and the ability to shift between the handsome hero and his smaller, younger self.

Promotional poster for the game.

            Space Ace followed the adventures of dashing hero Ace (Jeff Etter) as he endeavored to stop the sinister Borf (Bluth) from conquering the Earth. He planned to do so by using an “Infanto Ray” to turn everyone into helpless infants. Ace was hit by the beam and changed into his younger self, Dexter (Will Finn), and his sidekick, Kimberly (Lorna Cook), was taken captive by Borf. Using a specialized wrist gadget to “ENERGIZE,” Dexter was able to turn back into Ace for a period of time and take the fight to his enemies. Like with Dragon’s Lair, the production costs were kept low by foregoing professional actors in favor of members of Bluth’s studio voicing the characters. The only exception was Michael Rye, who was hired to handle the game’s narration as he had done with the previous game.



            Space Ace was adapted into cartoon form by Ruby-Spears Productions for the second season of their video game-based umbrella program Saturday Supercade on CBS. Ruby-Spears already had an association with Bluth as they also produced a Dragon’s Lair cartoon that aired at the same time on rival network ABC. Some liberties were taken with the source material. Ace (Jim Piper) and Kimberly (Nancy Cartwright) were members of Space Command working under Space Marshall Vaughn (Peter Renaday). They continually fought against the evil alien commander Borf (Arthur Burghardt) and his plans to try and conquer the Earth. Unfortunately, being hit by the Infanto Ray caused Ace to constantly revert into Dexter (Sparky Marcus) at inopportune times. Ace and Kimberly attempted to keep Ace’s “wimping out” a secret by claiming Dexter as Kimberly’s little brother until the effects wore off. Borf’s primary minions included the cat-like Groots, amongst a variety of humanoid agents.


Promotional flier for the Space Ace cartoon.

          Space Ace debuted as part of Supercade on September 8, 1984, with William Woodson providing the opening narration for the segments. Plots generally centered around Borf’s latest plans to conquer Earth and destroy Space Command, and typically involved the Infanto Ray modified for some specific purpose. As with the Dragon’s Lair series, the character designs were made to closely resemble their game counterparts, but lacked Bluth’s distinctive styling and the fluidity found in the game. Also, Kimberly was less of a damsel in distress and more on equal footing with Ace during their adventures; more so whenever his transformation hit.


Ace and Kimberly in the show.

            Although Space Ace ran its course with the cancellation of the Supercade, it would soon make a return in rerun form after Turner Entertainment purchased the Hanna-Barbera library, which by then also included the Ruby-Spears library as both studios were under the same ownership. Space Ace was shown on Cartoon Network late nights in the 1990s and as filler between shows on its sister station, Boomerang


Borf overseeing repairs to the Infanto Ray.


As for the game, despite an impressive marketing campaign headed by Bluth that was usually reserved for film promotion (press books, press kits and theatrical posters), it didn’t perform as well as Lair did when it hit arcades. It had a few things going against it: firstly, that initially the game was offered as a new cabinet before later being offered as a conversion kit for existing Lair cabinets; secondly, the increased difficulty level was cited as a problem; and thirdly it was released during the 1983-84 videogame crash when consumers weren’t as interested in games. Also, owners and players were more eagerly anticipating a sequel to Lair, rather than a similar game. Regardless, Ace ended up ported to various home consoles like Lair with varying degrees of success. In the early 2000s, Ace again followed Lair and was adapted into comic form in two series by CrossGen Entertainment and Arcana Studios.


EPISODE GUIDE:
“Cute Groots” (9/8/84) – Borf modifies the Infanto Ray to turn his Groots into cute kittens, which the then tricks Ace and Kimberly into letting into the moon colony.

“Cosmic Camp Catastrophe” (9/15/84) – Vaughn assigns Ace and Kimberly to accompany his nephew’s class on a camping trip that gets interrupted by Borf.

“Dangerous Decoy” (9/22/84) – Borf sets his sights on the young winner of a science fair for her video dematerializer device.

“Moon Missile Madness” (9/29/84) – Ace and Kimberly infiltrate a space cycle gang in order to prevent them from stealing a missile a missile for Borf.

“Perilous Partners” (10/6/84) – Commander Parch steals Earth’s water in order to power his weaponry and conquer the universe, which Borf can’t allow to happen.

“Frozen in Fear” (10/13/84) – Dexter accidentally flies too close to warm meteors, thawing out a frozen prehistoric creature just as Borf plans to use various creatures to attack Earth.

“Age Ray Riot” (10/20/84) – When Borf is hit by the Infanto Ray, a race is on between him and Space Ace to acquire another ray that can reverse the effects.

“Wanted: Dexter!” (10/27/84) – Space Ace and Kimberly are sent after an outlaw that resembles Dexter.

“Phantom Shuttle” (11/3/84) – Space Ace is lured to a phantom space ship so that Dregulon can use his lifeforce to power his universe-conquering monster.


“Spoiled Sports” (11/10/84) – Borf decides to conquer Space Command while its crew are competing in intergalactic games.

“Calamity Kimmie” (11/17/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“Three-Ring Rampage” (11/24/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“Infanto Fury” (12/1/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.


Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2020.

DARKSTALKERS: THE ANIMATED SERIES

DARKSTALKERS: THE ANIMATED SERIES
(UPN, September 30-December 23, 1995)


Graz Entertainment, Capcom USA

MAIN CAST:
Michael DonovanDemitri Maximoff, Terramon’s ship computer, various
Ian James CorlettVictor von Gerdenheim, Huitzil, Pyron’s ship computer, various
Zoltan Buday – Anakaris (2 episodes)
Richard NewmanPyron, Merlin, Terramon


            Emboldened by the success of Final Fight in the arcades, Capcom decided to revisit their Street Fighter concept and try to make it a better gameStreet Fighter II: The World Warriorreleased in 1991, followed a lot of the same conventions as its predecessor, but it allowed players the options of playing with eight characters each with distinct fighting styles and the ability to chain moves into combos. Coupled with brilliantly animated sprites and a soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura, the game became a hit and helped to revitalize the arcade game industry and redefine the fighting genre.

Street Fighter II print ad.

            Over the next few years, Capcom would refine the play mechanics, graphics, character roster and more. They would release a series of updated versions of Street Fighter II in both the arcade and later on home consoles. While each version was better than the last, the endless revisions became a running gag in the video game community. Meanwhile, other game publishers looked to latch on to Capcom’s success and began developing their own fighting games. Soon, there was Mortal KombatKiller InstinctSamurai ShowdownKing of Fighters and others. The fighting genre was beginning to become saturated, and another Street Fighter II revision just wasn’t going to cut it to maintain Capcom’s dominance in the field.

The Darkstalkers universe.

            Capcom decided to use their unique Street Fighter II game engine for a new kind of fighting game. Producer Alex Jimenez suggested making a game involving the Universal Monsters, based on his love of the properties. Capcom petitioned Universal Studios for the license but were subsequently denied. Jimenez decided to create their own characters based on those and other monsters; a process which he claimed took about an hour. The resulting game became Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (known as Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan). The game was similar to Street Fighter, but was rendered with the most fluid sprite animation at the time to convey each character’s distinct personality, gorgeous background level designs, and introduced the concepts of midair blocking and extra-powerful attacks.

Character sprites (from top): Demitri, Victor, Raptor, Morrigan, Jon Talbain, Pyron, Sasquatch, Anakaris, Felicia, Bishamon, Rikuo and Huitzil.

            The game was centered on the conflict of supernatural beings known as Darkstalkers. Cosmic being Pyron came to Earth with the intentions of conquering and devouring it, and only the Darkstalkers stood a chance of stopping him and saving the world. The Darkstalkers came to inhabit Earth through the gradual merging of the Earth realm with the demon world known as Makai. The game featured ten playable characters: Demitri Maximoff, a vampire lord who was banished to Earth from Makai; Morrigan Aensland (named for the Celtic Phantom Queen), a succubus (changed from a female vampire due to Demitri already being one) and adopted daughter of Belial, the king of Makai; Felicia, a catwoman (or bakeneko) raised in a nunnery with a desire to become an actress; Jon Talbain (after the character John Talbot from the Wolfman movies), a werewolf struggling to control his animalistic urges through the study of martial arts; Anakaris, a 5,000-year-old resurrected mummy; Bishamon (based on Japanese god of war Bishamonten), a cursed suit of samurai armor that takes over whoever wears it and fills the host with its bloodlust; Rikuo (named after Ricou Browning who played the Gill-man in Creature from the Black Lagoon), a merman whose race was wiped out by the coming of Pyron; Sasquatch, a member of a race of yetis in the Canadian wilderness with a fondness for bananas; Victor von Gerdenheim, a dim-witted Frankenstein monster whose creator died shortly after making him; and Lord Raptor, an Australian speed metal guitarist resurrected as a zombie that could transform his limbs into chainsaws. The two unplayable boss characters were Pyron and his robotic minion, Huitzil (named for the Aztec god of sun and war, Huitzilopochtli). Initially, Jimenez wanted Felicia to be from Africa with the ability to turn into a panther as her special move, as well as the sexy character. Morrigan’s change to a succubus made her the default sexy one, leaving Felicia to become a cute white cat at Capcom’s request.



            The arcade game was released in Japan in June of 1994 to generally favorable reviews. Pleased with the results, Capcom was quick to give Darkstalkers the Street Fighter II treatment and released an updated version the following March in Japan, which also saw a North American release in April. Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (Vampire Hunter in Japan) featured new combos, two types of special moves that required different levels of the special gauge, and made the bosses playable. It also introduced two new characters: Hsien-Ko, and Donovan Baine. Hsien-Ko was transformed into a jiangshi, a type of Chinese reanimated corpse, with formidable magical powers. Her sister, Mei-Ling, keeps her in check as the fu (or ward-paper) on Hisen-Ko’s hat. Donovan was a dhampir that wielded a magical sword called “Dhylec” that can channel divine and elemental powers. Donovan traveled with and protected emotionally-detached young girl Anita, who possessed powerful psychic powers. Both Hisen-Ko and Donovan were Dark Hunters and gave the sequel its Japanese name.  

Pyron and Huitzil hold Rikuo captive.

            The series proved popular enough for Capcom to begin marketing it in other media. Graz Entertainment optioned the license to produce an animated series based around the game in North America (it should be noted Night Warriors was that market’s first exposure to the franchise, as the original game wouldn’t be released to home consoles until 1996). Expanding upon the game’s limited story, Pyron (Richard Newman) had returned to Earth to find it teaming with humans. To restore the balance where Darkstalkers ruled them and, in turn, served him, Pyron recruited Demitri Maximoff (Michael Donovan, using a slight Transylvanian accent) and Morrigan Aensland (Saffron Henderson, using an Irish accent) to head up his army.

Morrigan and Demitri take down Victor.

            Demitri used Pyron’s ship’s tractor beam to recruit said army. He awakened Anakaris (Scott McNeil & Zoltan Buday, using an Egyptian accent) from his deep sleep, which seemed to have warped his mind causing him to speak gibberish at times; Bishamon (Colin Murdock, using a Japanese accent), who was dismayed to discover his curse persisted; and Lord Raptor (McNeil, using a British accent), after resurrecting him from the plane he crashed in while on tour in 1970. He also attempted to recruit Jon Talbain (Lee Tokar) while he was on a hunt; the vain Rikuo (McNeil) as he lamented the loss of his kind while also admiring himself; Victor von Gerdenheim (Ian James Corlett, impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger) who was dormant in a movie studio prop room; Bigfoot (Sasquatch renamed, voiced by Dale Wilson) as he was with his nephew, Hairball (Laura Harris); and Felicia (Lisa Ann Beley) as she was rejected from yet another stage role. However, they avoided his efforts to recruit them.

Harry tries to keep Donovan from killing Felicia.

Felicia attempted to find help against Pyron’s forces by heading to the home of Elijah Grimoire; a powerful wizard descended from the legendary Merlin (Newman). Instead, she found young Harry Grimoire (a new character originally named Bobby Bridges, voiced by Kyle Labine) who had inherited his ancestor’s power, but not the knowledge to use it. Complicating matters were the Darkstalker hunters Donovan Baine (Garry Chalk) and Hsien-Ko (Beley, using a Chinese accent), who attacked without discrimination regardless of their targets’ intent. Felicia and Harry served as the series’ primary protagonists as they sought to increase Harry’s powers and thwart Pyron’s plans by teaming-up with the random Darkstalker they’d encounter. Likewise, Morrigan and Dimitri served as the primary antagonists with the others appearing every so often.

Jon Talbain, Rikuo, Klaus, Bigfoot, Harry, Felicia and Victor at Victor's castle.

Darkstalkers: The Animated Series premiered on UPN on September 30, 1995. The series was written by animation veterans Richard MuellerChristy MarxKatherine Lawrence, and Douglas Booth, along with Kat Likkel and Brooks Wachtel. Mueller also served as the story editor. Hyun Young Enterprise Co. LTD. handled the animation while William Anderson and Anderson Scores composed the music. Jimenez, Yoshiki Okamoto, Eric LutherPhillip Reed, and Nobuko Tomita served as consultants on behalf of Capcom.

Anakaris joins a video conference on Pyron's ship.

The show took some liberties with the source material in order to make it more suitable for their intended young audiences. Instead of using the Japanese character designs, the characters’ models were redesigned by Frank BrunnerPatrick GleasonJames Glader and Paula LaFond. As a result, Morrigan and Felicia’s bodies were toned down and covered up a bit more. While still a succubus, Morrigan was made the descendant of Morgan le Fey (also Henderson). Donovan’s sword was simply called the “spell sword”, and Anita (renamed “Amanda” as she was in the North American versions of the game) absorbed the power of the sword after surviving an attack by Demitri (her origin remained consistent, but the identity of the attacker tended to change between media). Raptor relied on sonic attacks from his guitar rather than transforming his limbs into chainsaws as in the game, and often spoke in song titles. Bishamon’s curse was housed in the sword he possessed, rather than in the armor, and once freed from the curse he had to fight on the side of good in order to be reunited with his dead wife. Victor was made a bit more intelligent and was given a manservant in his father’s castle in the form of Klaus Schmendrick (Gerard Plunkett), whose family had always served the von Gerdenheim’s. Similarly, Hsien-Ko was in the service of the goddess Quan Yin (Venus Terzo), who was responsible for her creation and her mission.



The series didn’t perform well with audiences. Many criticized the series’ writing and poor animation, as well as the addition of the annoying lead character, Harry. As a result, the show was cancelled after its single season. A second attempt at a Darkstalkers animated series came when Madhouse and DR Movie produced a four-episode OVA in Japan called Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge. McNeil was retained to once again voice Lord Raptor (called Zabel Zarock), while Kathleen Barr, who played Harry’s mother, became the voice of Morrigan. In comparison, the OVA was better received than the North American series.

Concept art for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011) showcasing the Darkstalkers members of the roster.

Morrigan and Felicia proved to be the most popular with gamers, and appeared in many of Capcom’s later games outside of the Darkstalkers series. UDON Comics published two Darkstalkers comics as part of their license with Capcom, and in 2017 put their Street Fighter franchise with them for a crossover mini-series. However, on the game side, the Darkstalkers series proper had been allowed to suffer and stagnate under a series of revisions and re-releases. Lackluster reception to these efforts prompted Capcom to cancel any plans for future installments of the franchise.


EPISODE GUIDE:
“Out of the Dark” (9/30/95) – Pyron returns to Earth and summons the Darkstalkers to help him conquer it, and the only one Felicia can find to stop him is the descendent of a powerful sorcerer.

“Donovan’s Bane” (10/7/95) – Harry and Felicia head to Great Britain to find a ring connected to his family, while Morrigan seeks out her own heirloom to take on the Dark Hunter.

“Pyramid Power” (10/14/95) – Morrigan, Demitri and Anakaris travel back in time to find out the fate of an ancient gem while Mrs. Grimoire heads to Egypt to investigate a floating pyramid.

“The Game” (10/21/95) – Pyron pits Morrigan and Demitri against each other to see who can capture the most heroes.

“And the Walls Come Tumblin’ Down” (10/28/95) – Raptor’s guitar, Harry’s ring and Anakaris’ computer all detect something strange that sends their respective owners to investigate.

“Ghost Hunter” (11/4/95) – Raptor investigates a possible Darkstalker to be recruited while Felicia asks Rikuo to look into the mysterious death of a man in Africa.

“Little Bigfoot’s Last Stand” (11/11/95) – Pyron abducts Harry and Hairball, leaving Felicia and the Bigfoot tribe to figure out how to rescue them both.

“My Harry’s in the Highlands” (11/18/95) – It’s a race to retrieve a magical ring from Harry’s ancestor before Morrigan gets her hands on her own.

“Aliens Keep Out” (11/25/95) –Rikuo recuperate in Atlantis after escaping the Dark Hunter, but their rest is cut short when Pyron appears and is captured by an ancient robot.

“Samurai’s Honor” (12/2/95) – Donovan stops Demitri from devouring a young girl and takes her to Felicia and Harry for help, only to discover there’s more to her than there seems.

“There’s No Business Like Dragon Business” (12/9/95) – Harry and Hairball find a dragon in the snow who’s turned against Felicia by Raptor.

“Darkest Before the Dawn” (12/16/95) – Demitri comes to possess a powerful mystical crystal.

“Everyone’s a Critic” (12/23/95) – Pyron is forced to team-up with the heroic Darkstalkers in order to save the world from his brother, Terramon.


Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2018.

February 18, 2017

DONKEY KONG JR. CEREAL

DONKEY KONG JUNIOR CEREAL


Ralston

            Following the incredible success of arcade hit Donkey Kong, Nintendo commissioned the creation of a sequel. Donkey Kong Jr. hit arcades in 1982 and followed the son of Donkey Kong as he set out to rescue his father from the clutches of Mario (in his only turn as a videogame villain). Ralston, having already produced a cereal for Donkey Kong, quickly snatched up the license to Jr. and created a cereal based around that.



            Unlike Donkey Kong Cereal, Donkey Kong Junior Cereal was fruit-flavored and featured shapes reminiscent of bananas and apples. The commercials for the cereal featured two kids sitting down to breakfast, then becoming immersed in an animated jungle once they start pouring the cereal into their bowls. Unlike how he appeared in the game art, Junior wore a full-body red outfit with a yellow “J” and white cuffs. The cereal offered several premiums, including baseball cards, three different game books, free fruit flavored Pez, and a mail-away offer for a Junior Pez dispenser (which was just their standard gorilla dispenser with a “J” stuck onto its hat).  

SATURDAY SUPERCADE: DONKEY KONG JR.

DONKEY KONG JR.
(CBS, September 17-December 10, 1983)


Ruby-Spears Productions

MAIN CAST:


            After the major success of the arcade hit Donkey Kong, Nintendo was eager to duplicate that success and commissioned the creation of a sequel. The game’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, went to work on the first of many entries into the franchise: Donkey Kong Jr.




            Jr. was the culmination of ideas Miyamoto had for Donkey Kong but was unable to incorporate due to graphical limitations of the time. It was a departure from the previous game, as it focused on Donkey Kong’s son, Junior, who had to rescue his captured father from Mario. This marked the first and only time that Mario was a villain in a video game. The reason Junior was made the star was because Miyamoto wanted the player to be able to play as Donkey Kong, but again graphical limitations prohibited the use of such a large character in an action game. The style of platforming was also different as this time around Junior had to climb a series of vines in order to reach Donkey Kong’s cage at the top while knocking objects onto enemies to destroy them. Like its predecessor, it featured four distinct levels repeated with increasing difficulty. The game would end after the player lost all their lives or reached the level 22 kill screen.





            Donkey Kong Jr. was released to arcades in August 1982, just weeks apart in both Japan and North America. The game proved as successful as its predecessor, earning the 1984 Arcade Award for “Best Video game Audio-Visual Effects”. It was selected among five arcade games for history’s first official video game world championship in January of 1983, filmed at Twin Galaxies in Ottumwa, Iowa by ABC reality program That’s Incredible! Like its predecessor, Jr. was ported to the home consoles, with the Coleco Adam version gaining an exclusive fifth stage, and to the Game & Watch series of handheld games which reproduced the first level. The third and fourth levels of the game were reproduced in the follow-up, Donkey Kong II.  Jr. also had its own direct sequel in the form of educational game Donkey Kong Jr. Math for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game, however, was poorly received and future entries in the series were quickly cancelled.


1983 ad for the CBS line-up.

In 1983, CBS was looking to get in on the video game craze and to combat ABC’s Pac-Man produced by Hanna-Barbera. Figuring to hedge their bets, they licensed several gaming properties and commissioned former Hanna-Barbera employees Joe Ruby and Ken Spears to handle it through their company Ruby-Spears Productions. The resulting series was Saturday Supercade. Making up the Supercade every week were segments based on Frogger, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., while Q*bert and Pitfall! rotated weekly. 

 

Junior and Bones.

Donkey Kong Jr. aired concurrently to Donkey Kong and featured Junior (Frank Welker) travelling from the jungle to see his father, Donkey Kong (Soupy Sales), in the circus. Learning of his escape and desperate to find him, Junior partnered with clumsy biker, Bones (Bart Braverman), and took off on Donkey Kong’s trail. Ken Boyer and Patrick A. Ventura created the character models that adapted the cabinet artwork easily animated television stars. The theme music was composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.


Height comparison character model sheet.

            Junior and Bones would often end up following a false lead and instead find some kind of trouble they would get involved with; be it foiling a robbery or protecting children from bullies. Junior was the most headstrong of the pair, always charging forward into situations and even taking over the operation of Bones’ own motorcycle. Bones generally stood to be the voice of reason and usually ended up taking the fall when Junior’s schemes went awry. Junior’s battle cry was “Monkey Muscle!”, which he exclaimed whenever they were about to encounter a problem or felt Bones needed a bit of encouragement. 


Bones' motorcycle.

            Although the Supercade ran for two seasons, Jr. wasn’t carried over and ended after its 13-episode run. It, along with Frogger and Pitfall!!, were removed and replaced with Space Ace and Kangaroo. Like most of the Supercade, rights issues regarding the various properties have prohibited much in the way of home media releases, although Warner Archive had reportedly begun investigating the possibility of doing so back in 2010. While Junior in his established form wouldn’t be a starring character again, he was continually featured as a character in compilations and re-releases of Donkey Kong and other Nintendo games, such as Super Mario Kart. However, it has been heavily implied that the Donkey Kong that debuted in the Donkey Kong Country series of games was a grown-up Junior or the son of Junior.



EPISODE GUIDE:
“Trucknapper Caper” (9/17/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“Sheep Rustle Hustle” (9/24/83) – Junior and Bones help protect a ranch from sheep rustlers.

“Rocky Mountain Monkey Business” (10/1/83) – An escaped convict and his pet bear sets their sights on a park ranger to help them find stolen loot they buried somewhere in the forest.

“Magnificent 7-Year-Olds” (10/8/83) – Junior and Bones end up in a conflict with bullies stealing bikes from all the local kids.

“The Ventriloquist Caper” (10/15/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“The Great Seal Steal” (10/22/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“The Jungle Boy Ploy” (10/29/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“Junior Meets Kid Dynamo” (11/5/83) – Trying to stop a robbery leads Junior and Bones to encounter real-life superhero, Kid Dynamo.

“Amazing Rollerskate Race” (11/12/83) – Crooks hide stolen gold as roller skate wheels on skates accidentally given to a team of kids.

“A Christmas Story” (11/19/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

“Gorilla Ghost” (11/26/83) – A gorilla ghost kidnaps animals from the zoo where Junior’s uncle lives in a plot to use them to steal some gold.

“Teddy Bear Scare” (12/3/83) – Babysitting at a carnival leads to Junior winning a teddy bear stuffed with stolen loot.

“Double or Nothing” (12/10/83) – When his cousin Lucy Belle ends up abducted, Bones disguises himself as her to attend the reading of a will.


Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2020.