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.
Real
Scary Stories was a documentary-style series that saw a different group of
teenagers from around the country set out to confront an unusual occurrence in
their area; from haunted mansions and firehouses to urban legends. The viewers
would then follow along as the teens trapsed around spooky locations, being
terrified by various sounds or near-encounters.
Exploring the U.S.S. Hornet.
Created,
produced and co-directed by Don
Wells through his production company, Highland
Entertainment, the series relied on the submissions of real teenagers who
have had ghostly encounters or knew of a local legend. Once the production
selected the story they wanted to follow, they organized an expedition to bring
those teens into a direct encounter with whatever entity was involved; most
commonly by having them spend the night in a haunted location or an
investigation of an affected area after sunset. Of course, since the
supernatural really doesn’t appear on camera on demand, these adventures were
often sweetened by clever sound design, specific editing cuts, and intentional
camera angles. Supplementing the main action and were interviews with other
locals and relatives to add more details to the phenomenon. After the encounter,
the teens would gather for a recap of what they just experienced.
Spending the night in a haunted firehouse.
Real
Scary Stories debuted on FOX Family (now Freeform)
on October 21, 2000; renamed Scary…But True for international airings.
Depending on length, two or three different story segments aired per half-hour episode.
Hollie Ralph and Patrick Russell served as the monotone narrators; introducing
the scenario and the players involved. The two would alternate turns, generally
marked by briefly overlapping and reading the same line together as one faded
in and the other faded out in order to create an eerie, otherworldly effect
with their voices. Each episode would end with a P.O. Box address that viewers
could send submissions to potentially wind up as a future segment. The series
was written by Wells along with Michael
Koegel, Christopher Manahl
and Helen Demeranville. Music was composed by Shuki Levy, Haim Saban (as Kussa
Mahchi), John Majkut and Barry Kolsky.
Strange emanations appear in photographs of Diane.
After 13
irregularly scheduled episodes, the series ultimately ended up being cancelled
in favor of the very similar Scariest Places on Earth, which debuted on
the network two days later and featured star power in the form of The Exorcist’s Linda Blair and Poltergeist’s Zelda Rubinstein. Real
would remain on the network for a while as a schedule-filler, even after it was
taken over by Disney and renamed ABC
Family. It last aired during 2002’s 13 Nights of Halloween
programming block, but would return for one more time in 2010 on the
now-defunct channel Chiller
TV under its Scary title. In the years since, almost every episode
has found its way to YouTube through fan
uploads.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Rest in Peace / Haunted Home Video / Green Man Tunnel”
(10/21/00) – After buying a new bed from an antique shop, Jason feels a
presence in his room. / Heather discovers a ghost on her family’s Christmas
tape. / An antisocial figure haunts the train tunnels in a Pennsylvania town.
“Cell Block Four / Seacoast Theater Poltergeist” (10/28/00)
– Danny explores Eastern State Penitentiary with a team of ghost hunters. / A
poltergeist haunts a local theater and causes havoc during the final
performances of shows.
“Jersey Devil / The Grey Ghost / Ray the Banisher”
(11/18/00) – The 13th generational descendant of the Jersey Devil
decides it’s time that they meet. / Four teens investigate the possible
haunting of the USS Hornet. / Ray is your average teenager—except he’s
able to communicate with the dead.
“Bachelor’s Grove / The Vortex” (11/25/00) – Mark and his
classmates investigate the hauntings at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. / Ray and
his friends see if ghosts remain at the ruins of an exploded munitions factory.
“The Haunted Lighthouse / The Altamaha Sea Monster / Martha”
(12/2/00) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Anges, Are You There? / Room 347 / Bodie’s Curse”
(11/16/00) – Erin attempts to communicate with the ghost of the woman entombed
in her school’s walls. / C.J. returns to the hotel where he once befriended a
ghost girl. / Two girls investigate the curse of bad luck that befalls anyone
that removes something from the ghost town of Bodie.
“Virginia City Dare / 13 Curves” (1/20/01) – Jaena and Chris
dare each other to stay in Virgina City’s two most haunted houses until
midnight. / Joe sets out to make a documentary about a dangerous stretch of
road, complete with a séance led by a psychic.
“Gurdon’s Light / Condie’s Ghost” (1/27/01) – Teens
investigate the railroad tracks where a railroad foreman was murdered and his
headless ghost now roams. / While visiting her friend at college, Sarah
discovers that her dormitory is haunted.
“McPike Mansion / The Search for Bigfoot / The Haunting of
Diane” (2/3/01) – Drew and his friends investigate the ruins of the most
haunted mansion in town. / Richie leads an expedition into the woods to try and
discover if Bigfoot is really out there. / Diane looks into why strange objects
appear around her whenever she’s photographed.
“The Lady in Gray / The Deacon” (2/10/01) – Zach plots to
make a ghost angry enough to manifest in the library she haunts. / Local kids
investigate a ghost known as The Deacon that supposedly watches over the
Depreciation Lands Museum.
“Lemp Mansion / The Haunted Firehouse / The Winchester
Mansion” (2/24/01) – Teens investigate the abandoned home of a family driven to
extinction by madness. / Kurt plans to spend a night in the firehouse where a
heartbroken fireman killed himself. / Three teens investigate the mansion of
Sarah Winchester, designed to keep her safe from the spirits of those killed by
Winchester rifles.
“The Myrtle Plantation / Manresa Castle” (3/3/01) – Erin and
Shalita plan to spend the night at a haunted plantation. / Joey and Kasey spend
the night in a castle haunted by the ghost of a priest that committed suicide.
“Mansfield Prison / The Ghost of the Inyos” (3/10/01) – Rob
and his friends investigate the most haunted prison in the country. / Chareen
and Felicia see if the ghost of mass murderer Antoine Benoit is still haunting
the Inyo Mountains where he died.
Tommy
Dawkins (Brandon Quinn) was having a pretty good life. He was a star player on
the Pleasantville High football team, he was well-liked, and the girl of his
dreams--head cheerleader Stacey Hanson (Rachelle Lefevre)--was finally taking
an interest in him. Unfortunately, his life was turned upside-down when a wolf
bit him on a camping trip and turned him into a werewolf. Forming an unlikely
friendship with social outcast and goth Merton Dingle (Danny Smith), who
happened to possess as much knowledge about the macabre as he did movie trivia,
they worked together to try and remove Tommy’s curse (or convince Tommy to turn
him into one) while also dealing with supernatural trouble that found its way
to Pleasantville.
Tommy's original werewolf look.
Big Wolf
on Campus was essentially an expansion of the concept seen in the 1985 film
Teen Wolfwith
a mixture of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer. However, unlike the film, Tommy hid his lycanthropy
from everyone and seemed to possess his abilities when he wasn’t transformed;
including super strength, increased speed and agility, rapid healing and
enhanced senses. Tommy would come to be revealed as an aberration, as most
werewolves succumb to the dark side of their curse that Tommy had somehow managed
to repress (however, that dark side was still there and managed to be brought
out by certain circumstances). Despite protecting the town from various
creatures and entities such as blood bank-robbing vampires, a pack of evil
werewolves, ghosts, a mummy, a cyclops and zombies, most people considered the
werewolf as big or equal a threat. Further, Tommy often found his dates with
Stacey being interrupted by his need to “wolf out”, leading her to think he was
constantly ditching her. Stacey also ended up being targeted by some of those
entities who found her just as appealing as Tommy.
Tommy finally getting some time alone with Stacey.
Other
characters included Tommy’s family: His father, Bob (Alan Fawcett), the mayor of
Pleasantville and the biggest proponent for taking the werewolf down, his
mother, Sally (Jane Wheeler),
a local reporter, and his brother, Dean (Jack Mosshammer), a couch potato
who never left his chair (although his television knowledge came in handy at
times); Merton’s family, although only his sister, Becky (Natalie Vansier), was ever seen
and was embarrassed to be related to him; Tim (Domenic Di Rosa) and Travis (Rob deLeeuw) Eckert, two
dimwitted bullies that dubbed themselves “TNT” and dedicated themselves to finding
the Pleasantville Werewolf; and Hugo Bostwick (Richard Jutras), the
overzealous security guard of the high school. Tommy and Merton would
frequently meet in Merton’s basement, which he converted to his “lair”
containing all of his accumulated occult items and various screenplays he was
working on. They would also hang out at The Factory, a teen hangout where kids
could dance, bowl and eat.
Promo shot of Stacey, Tommy and Merton.
Big Wolf
on Campus aired on YTV in Canada and Fox
Family Channel in the United States, debuting on April 2, 1999 and running
for a total of 3 seasons. The show was created by Peter Knight and Christopher Briggs, who after a
successful stint writing for Sweet Valley Highand
Breaker Highdecided
to approach Saban
Entertainment with some show ideas for their impending takeover of The
Family Channel. Due to its similarity to Teen Wolf, Saban actually
contemplated just securing the rights to the film and its characters, but
ultimately settled for the cheaper option of just making their own original
interpretation. To further save money, the production was filmed in Canada, to
take advantage of various incentives Canada offered. It was produced by Telescene,
and then CinéGroupe when the former went
bankrupt. Knight and Briggs served as creative consultants, producers and wrote
several episodes; however, Briggs would depart during the first season over
frustration with the power struggles behind the scenes as they found themselves
constantly being undermined because of their comparative youth and perceived inexperience.
Briggs would return as a consultant and writer for the third season.
Three episodes into the series,
Tommy’s werewolf appearance was changed as Quinn proved to be allergic to the glue
used. He went from having a wolf-like face with scraggly hair and pointy ears
to just having the ears, fangs, and more hair that expanded to his face in
mutton chops leading to an incomplete mustache. This look would come to be
enhanced and refined as the series went on. The special make-up effects were
done by Twins F/X 11 Inc., Erik
Gosselin, Karl Gosselin,
Marie-France Guy, Marti Jutras,
Frédérick Guilbert, Pascal Hérbert and Caroline Aquin. Special effects
were rendered by Big Bang Animation (1997) Inc. for the first two seasons,
Covitec for the third.
Meet the new girl: Lori.
Stacey was written out of the show
after the first season as having gone off to college early. This was done
because Knight felt that the character was poorly fleshed out and needed a
reset. This allowed him to add Lori Baxter (Aimée Castle), a transfer from
Pleasantville Catholic school who was kicked out for vandalism when helping
Tommy and Merton deal with a ghost of a football star destroyed a tribute to
him. She became the second person to know about Tommy’s secret, as well as his
on again/off again girlfriend (they often found being together was distracting
from their mission, and while Tommy wanted to stop working together, she wanted
to end the relationship to keep up the fight). As a trained kickboxer, she
often helped him battle the bad guys. Additionally, the characters of Hugo and
Tommy’s parents largely disappeared due to budgetary constraints and wanting to
focus more on the essential characters.
Corey Haim (top) and Corey Feldman really sucking (blood) in their guest-spots.
While it maintained a “villain of
the week” type format for its entire run, it did have several recurring
villains: Butch (Adam MacDonald), a bully and
escapee from old 1950s educational films; the Evil Werewolf Syndicate, who
wanted to make Tommy one of their own and use him to create more werewolves
(since Tommy was turned by an Alpha and became an Alpha himself); and the
personification of Death (Lawrence
Bayne). Notably, the Coreys guest-starred in two episodes: Corey Haim as a vampiric
version of himself, and Corey Feldman
as Haim’s friend who came to town looking for him and to make Merton’s movie.
Frank Stein's monster.
Because of declining budgets, power
struggles and issues such as Telescene’s bankruptcy and Saban selling out to Disney, it was a struggle to get each
additional season into production. After 65 episodes, enough to reach
syndication levels, the series came to an end as it just wasn’t making enough money
to justify keeping it going. However, the production was given enough notice to
deliver a proper finale and give their characters a send-off. The series
remained on Fox Family’s successor, ABC Family (now Freeform), until September when it was
removed for Disney’s own programming. To date, only the first season has seen
home release on a VHS box set dubbed in French. Starting in 2020, Canadian
media company Encore+
Media released the
entire series to YouTube.
EPISODE GUIDE: Season 1: “Pilot” (4/2/99) – Tommy is attacked by a wolf on a camping
trip and becomes a werewolf. “The Bookmobile” (4/9/99) – Tommy has his chance to get rid
of his curse, but the arrival of a bookmobile leading to mysterious
disappearances takes precedence. “Butch Comes to Shove” (4/16/99) – A character from a 1950s
educational film exits into Pleasantville and decides to bring Stacey back with
him. “Cat Woman” (4/30/99) – A foreign exchange student comes to
the school who gets along with Tommy very well, much to Stacey’s
annoyance. “Witch College” (5/7/99) – When a sorority sets their sights
on Stacey, she suddenly becomes a real witch. “The Pleasantville Strangler” (5/14/99) – Hugo and Merton
accidentally release the spirit of a serial-killer who can possess anyone. “Stage Fright” (5/21/99) – A crazed cable man comes to town
and punishes those who steal their cable by sending them into the shows they
watch. “That Swamp Thing You Do” (5/28/99) – A teacher who fell
into the swamp 25 years ago returns as a mutated monster searching for his old
fiancée. “Muffy the Werewolf Slayer” (6/4/99) – A new girl gets
information on the werewolf from Merton while Tommy is dealing with a
soul-sucking salesman. “Stalk Like an Egyptian” (6/11/99) – Tommy and Merton
accidentally resurrect a mummy on a field trip who becomes a teenager and wants
to make Stacey his queen…forever. “Flugelhoff!” (6/18/99) – A lychanthropist arrives in town
claiming he can cure Tommy. “Invisible Merton” (6/25/99) – Merton’s nemesis comes back
to town, armed with magic that makes Merton invisible. “The Wolf is Out There” (7/2/99) – While Tommy tries to
battle his wolf cravings and expanding waistline, the mayor ups the battle against
the town werewolf. “Interview with a Werewolf” (7/9/99) – Merton gets set up on
a date with a woman who sucks the youth right out of him. “Fangs for the Memories” (7/23/99) – Retrieving the blood
Tommy donated so as not to spread his curse becomes complicated when vampires
raid the blood banks. “Time and Again” (7/30/99) – Merton is thrilled with his new
watch that can reverse time; unfortunately, each use drains more and more of
his intelligence away. “Big Bad Wolf” (8/6/99) – Tommy and Merton recite an Indian
chant that brings Tommy’s dark side out. “Scary Terri” (8/13/99) – Mistaking his friendship for
affection, psychic Terri seeks revenge on Tommy when she finds him with Stacey. “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” (8/20/99) – A new substitute
teacher claims to be the one who turned Tommy and seeks to bring out his bad
side. “The Exor-Sis” (8/27/99) – Merton’s sister ends up with a
locker that contains an inter-dimensional portal. “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (9/3/99) – When Tommy saves a man from
the Grim Reaper, the Reaper comes for Tommy. “Game Over” (9/24/99) – Tommy’s beating a high score on an
arcade game unleashes a villain that seeks to destroy him and Merton. Season 2: “Hello Nasty” (3/18/00) – Tommy, Merton and their new friend
Lori must take on the ghost of a football player responsible for the team’s
61-year-old curse. “Frank Stein” (3/25/00) – A quiz bowl turns Merton into a
target for a strange man who wants his brain. “Commie Dawkins” (4/1/00) – A Russian man follows Tommy and
Merton through a wormhole and changes the outcome of the Cold War. “The Girl Who Spied Wolf” (4/8/00) – Lori discovers Tommy’s
identity just as the Evil Werewolf Syndicate tries to force him to join them. “Apocalypse Soon” (4/15/00) – Tommy and his friends have to
prevent a wrestler’s next potentially world-ending win. “The Sandman Cometh” (4/22/00) – Tommy and Merton have to
deal with a Sandman who seeks to enslave people through contact with a special
sleep sand. “The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth” (5/6/00) – Tommy and
Merton learn they picked the wrong side in a battle between a teen and a demon. “Imaginary Fiend” (5/13/00) – Donating his old toys causes
Merton’s imaginary friend to get free. “101 Damnations” (5/20/00) – Tommy finds a stray puppy that
turns out to be the legendary Cerberus. “Mind Over Merton” (6/3/00) – After being rejected by a
genius society Merton creates a potion to make him smarter, which unfortunately
helps Tim and Travis figure out who the werewolf is. “Blame it on the Haim” (6/10/00) – Corey Haim comes to town
to shoot a vampire flick, but is it possible he’s actually a real vampire? “Pleased to Eat You” (6/17/00) – Becoming Homecoming King
causes Tommy to neglect Merton and allow him to fall into a new crowd that doesn’t
have his best interests at heart. “The Manchurian Werewolf: Part 1” (7/15/00) – The Evil
Werewolf Syndicate brainwashes Tommy and causes him to bite Lori. “Manchu: Part Deux” (7/22/00) – Tommy and Merton must
prevent Lori from becoming a werewolf. “Mr. Roboto” (7/29/00) – A cyborg infiltrates the school and
implants students with mind-control devices. “Rob: Zombie” (8/5/00) – Lori breaks up with Tommy and
convinces Merton to revive her dead boyfriend. “Fear and Loathing in Pleasantville” (8/19/00) – A demon
terrorizes the populace to feed on their fear. “Faltered States” (8/26/00) – Merton becomes a test subject
at a lab to impress a girl, only to end up turned into a caveman. “Butch is Back” (9/2/00) – Butch emerges from another film
and captures Lori. “Voodoo Child” (9/8/00) – The new school nurse offers to let
Merton become a voodoo apprentice. “She Will, She Will Rock You” (9/9/00) – The new transfer
student turns Merton into stone. “Clip Show: The Kiss of Death” (10/7/00) – Tommy, Merton and
Lori go over all of their good deeds to keep Death from claiming Tommy. Season 3: “Stone Free” (10/27/01) – Tommy and Lori must save Merton
from being a stone golem, but the cure may be worse than the disease. “Everybody Fang Chung Tonight” (11/3/01) – Merton’s radio
show attracts a vampire and her clan who just happen to feed on werewolf blood. “I Dream of Becky” (11/10/01) – Becky unleashes a genie from
a lamp and gets three wishes, unaware that they come at a price. “Stormy Weather” (11/17/01) – Tommy and Lori are suspicious
of the first candidate for Merton’s new superhero club. “Hellection” (11/24/01) – Tommy loses the class president
election to a girl who made a deal with a demon to win. “Being Tommy Dawkins” (12/1/01) – Trying to escape an
ex-convict leads Merton to a portal that lets him enter Tommy’s body. “Save the Last Trance” (12/8/01) – Merton’s new girlfriend
ends up being a real witch. “Anti-Claus is Coming to Town” (12/15/01) – Tommy and his
friends must help keep a Santa impersonator from ruining Christmas. “N’Sipid” (1/12/02) – Becky is kidnapped by aliens posing as
a boy band. “Very Pale Rider” (1/19/02) – Merton is put into his
favorite role-playing game. “Play it Again, Samurai” (1/26/02) – While Tommy does
community service, Merton falls in love with a 900-year-old Japanese princess. “Dances Without Wolves” (2/2/02) – Tommy finds himself in an
alternate universe where he never became a werewolf, but unfortunately his
rival has and has given in to his dark side. “Baby on Board” (2/11/02) – An alien encounter leaves Merton
pregnant! “The Boy Who Tried Wolf” (2/18/02) – Just as a werewolf
comes to town, Tommy accidentally bites Merton turning him into an evil
werewolf. “The Mertonator” (2/25/02) – A killer cyborg from the future
that resembles Merton is after Tommy. “What’s Vlud Got to Do With it?” (3/4/02) – A werewolf
princess falls in love with Tommy. “There’s Something About Lori” (3/11/02) – A factory phantom
believes Lori is his long-dead love. “Switch Me Baby One More Time” (3/18/02) – Lori ends up
switching bodies with a girl that’s jealous of her. “What’s the Story, Morning Corey” (3/25/02) – Corey Feldman
comes to town to produce Merton’s script and to meet up with his old friend,
Corey Haim. “Thanks” (4/1/02) – Tommy and Merton are interested in the
same girl, unfortunately she’s a supernatural assassin with the kiss of death. “The Sum of All Fears” (4/8/02) – The stars of the show
count down the fans’ favorite moments.
For the history of Casper, check out the post here.
In 1995, Casper made
a big return to the public consciousness with the release of his first
full-length feature film by Amblin
Entertainment and the Harvey
Entertainment Company, featuring live-action mixed with computer animated
ghosts.
Directed by Brad Silberling
from a script by Sherri Stoner
and Deanna Oliver, Casper followed greedy heiress Carrigan
Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty)
and her sniveling sidekick Paul “Dibs” Plutzker (Eric
Idle) as they attempted to find a treasure in the run-down Whipstaff Manor
she had inherited from her father. The only thing blocking her way was that the
house was haunted by The Ghostly Trio: elongated leader Stretch (Joe Nipolte),
foul-smelling Stinky (Joe Alaskey) and the aptly-named Fatso (Brad Garrett). The
trio had been a staple of Casper cartoons and comics since first
appearing in the short “Fright
from Wrong” in 1956; however, their appearances and names have undergone
several revisions.
Serving up a heaping helping of Casper.
After several failed attempts to remove the ghosts--including an exorcism
by Father Guido
Sarducci (Don Novello)
and paranormal extermination by Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd, reprising his role
from Ghostbusters, which was ironic considering Harvey once sued Columbia Pictures claiming
their logo was too
reminiscent of Fatso)--Crittenden was turned on to the services of one Dr.
James Harvey (named after Harvey
Comics and played by Bill Pullman),
a ghost therapist, through the machinations of the fourth Whipstaff ghost:
Casper (Malachi Pearson). Casper, having seen a news report about Harvey,
immediately fell for his daughter, “Kat” (Christina Ricci), and figured
Crittenden’s greed was his best chance to meet her. The film also served as an
origin story for Casper, providing him with a pre-ghostly background as the son
of an inventor.
Kat and Casper.
Releasing on May 25, 1995 by Universal
Pictures, the film proved a box-office success despite mixed reviews;
although not as much of one as was projected. A sequel movie was planned, but
with Pullman and Ricci’s commitments to other projects, the sequel was
ultimately scrapped. Fortunately, the producers had already decided to continue
the franchise in the form of a new animated series based on the movie, which was announced by Fox Kids head Margaret Loesch months before
the film came out. It would be Casper’s third on Saturday mornings and the
second based on a movie starring Ricci (the first being 1992’s The Addams Family).
Some...radical therapy by Dr. Harvey.
Casper debuted on FOX on February 24, 1996 as part of the Fox Kids
programming block. The series featured most of the movie’s cast returning to
voice their respective characters, with Dan Castellaneta and Kath Soucie
replacing Pullman and Ricci in their roles. Even Ben Stein, who played
Crittenden’s father’s attorney in the film, made an appearance in an episode as
a teacher at Kat’s school. Casper hit
the top of the ratings and remained there for its first two seasons. The series
also earned an Emmy for Bruce Babcock’s
score during the second season. Other music was provided by Charles Frenandez, Harvey Cohen, Ron Grant, Michael Tavera and Thomas Richard Sharp. The
series’ animation was handled by Akom
Production Company.
The Ghostly Trio: Stinky, Stretch and Fatso.
Changes were naturally made to better transition the movie to the series.
All references of Crittenden and how the Harveys arrived to Whipstaff were
removed; however Dr. Harvey remained The Ghostly Trio’s therapist. Casper’s
attraction to Kat was downgraded to simply being her best friend. Casper was also
made a student at a ghost school, which opened up a new set of supporting
characters and plot lines. The series was able to reintroduce characters from
the Harvey books such
as Spooky (Rob Paulsen), a black-nosed ghost who spoke with a Brooklyn accent
and wore a derby hat, and Poil (Miriam Flynn), originally introduced as Pearl,
Spooky’s blonde-haired dim-witted girlfriend. A new character for the show was
Ms. Banshee (Tress MacNeille), a teacher at Casper’s school who often lived up
to her name. Kat’s nemesis from the film, Amber Whitmire (Debi Derryberry) was given new
sidekicks in the form of three girls all named Jennifer (and all voiced by Sherry Lynn). They were portrayed
as rich, spoiled Valley
girl types despite the setting of the show being Maine and not California.
Interestingly enough, while the movie pointed out that the four-fingered Casper
once had five when he was alive, the cartoon chose to give its human characters
the traditional four fingers cartoon characters are often depicted as having.
Poil and Spooky.
Many of the people involved with the show had worked on Animaniacsand Pinky and the Brain(including the film’s writers, who also
worked on the series), resulting in the show having a very similar style. Set
in a sitcom atmosphere, the show featured quick deliveries, pop-culture
references, songs and fourth-wall breaking gags. Also like the previous shows,
each episode consisted typically of three segments of varying lengths. Additional
writers for the show included Michael
Merton, Sean Hogan, Alex Borstein, Bob Claster, Ken Koonce, Scott Kreamer, Chris Otsuki and Mark York. When shows ran
short, the end credits were often filled with shots of a cemetery with humorous
inscriptions on the tombstones and the movie version of
Casper’s theme song by Mack David and Jerry Livingston
playing over it. The opening titles were simply the Casper logo materializing like a ghost on the screen, typically
with a few chords of the theme.
The show was marketed as The
Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper during its second season (although
only Casper ever appeared on the
title screen). For the third season, Jess Harnell would replace Garrett as the
voice of Fatso for the remainder of the series and the subsequent live-action
direct-to-video movies as Garrett went on to star in the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. It also aired concurrently on Monday
afternoons before eventually being removed from its Saturday timeslot to make
way for reruns of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutationafter its original replacement, Ned’s Newt, was delayed.
Stretch sending Casper to his new network via air mail.
In February of 1998, the show aired on Fridays in both the morning and
afternoon timeslots before being completely removed from the line-up. It ended
up on sister channel FOX
Family Channel where it played out in both reruns and the final six-episode
fourth season. Although Casper was
still getting respectable ratings, Saban
Entertainment, who took over Fox Kids in 1996, and 20th Century Fox, who had
acquired distribution rights, wanted to focus on the live-action sequel films.
From 1996 through 1998, Universal Studios
Home Video would release various episodes from the first three seasons onto
VHS. In 2007 and 2008, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released two
DVDs containing the first and last five episodes of the first season. In
1997, Trendmasters
produced a small line of action figures for the show. The first wave featured
all four ghosts disguised
as humans at various jobs. The next wave, “Hide & Seek Friends”,
had the ghosts able to hide inside an included accessory. Finally, there was a Whipstaff Manor playset
which featured miniature figures of the ghosts, Dr. Harvey and Kat.
The future of Casper.
This would be Casper’s last foray into Saturday morning television. Casper
would eventually return to film beginning with 1997’s live-action/CGI
direct-to-video film Casper: A Spirited Beginningwith two others following. In 2006, the
completely CGI film Casper’s Scare School
was spun-off into a new computer animated series.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Spooking Bee / Fugedaboudit / The Flew” (2/24/96) – Casper and Spooky
try to outdo each other in a spooking bee. / Fatso explores his depths in a
musical number. / The trio pass their ghost flu to the Harveys, making them
think they’re ghosts.
“Paws / The Alphabet Song / Is So Too” (3/2/96) – A ghost puppy
follows Casper home, but the trio hate dogs. / Stinkie keeps messing up Stretch
and Fatso’s educational song. / Casper follows Kat on a study session with a boy,
constantly ribbing her that it’s a date.
“Legend of Duh Bigfoot / The Ghostly Day / Invasion of the UGFO’s”
(3/9/96) – A bonding camping trip with James and the trio leads to an encounter
with Bigfoot. / Kat recalls visits from scared scientists. / Dinosaur ghost
aliens visit Whipstaff.
“Rocket Booster / A Really Scary Casper Moment / Day of the Living
Casper” (3/16/96) – Casper tells Kat about the time he went into space. /
Casper proves that he can be scary if he wants. / Casper uses Kat’s make-up to
pretend he’s human for a day.
“Three Boos and a Babe / The Whipstaff Inmates / Elusive Exclusive”
(3/30/96) – A parent-teacher conference leads the trio to falling for Ms.
Banshee. / Introducing the primary cast. / A reporter tries to achieve fame by
broadcasting the Whipstaff ghosts.
“Paranormal Press / Another Spooky and Poil Moment / Deadstock”
(4/20/96) – A bored Casper helps Kat get revenge on Amber and the Jennifers in
the school paper. / Poil helps Spooky get into further trouble with Ms. Banshee.
/ Casper has to fill Whipstaff with ghosts to keep his family from being
evicted.
“Poil Jammed / The Who That I Am / A Picture Says 1000 Words”
(4/27/96) – Spooky refuses to take Poil to a big shindig. / Casper goes to Dr.
Harvey to better himself. / A picture-haunting ghost manages to annoy everyone
with his authoritative stance on everything.
“Spooks, Lies & Videotape / Ghostfather” (5/4/96) – Casper tries
to show he’s creative by filming a movie to send into a show. / The Trio tries
to scare out the Harveys before the Ghostfather pays them a visit.
“Rebel Without a Date / Don’t Bank on It” (5/11/96) – Casper turns to
James Dean for help in winning the new exchange student from Spooky. / A new
bank puts James in deep debt.
“Casper vs. the Ultimate Fan Boy / Field of Screams” (5/18/96) – Casper
and Kat meet an overly-obsessed fan at a comic convention. / The ghosts help
Kat’s softball team win.
Season 2:
“Grim and Bear It / Fatso of the Opera” (9/7/96) – Casper tries to
stall the Grim Reaper from taking James. / Fatso gets the chance to be a famous
opera singer.
“Dead of the Class / A Spooky and Poil Moment / Y-Files” (9/14/96) – The
Trio’s 150th High Ghoul reunion reveals Stretch never graduated. /
Spooky tries to find out what Poil wants to see on TV. / Skully and Moldy try
to figure out why everyone but Casper disappeared.
“Losing Face /
Galloping Ghost” (9/21/96) – Doc’s old school rival is coming to visit after he
lied and told him he had reformed The Ghostly Trio. / Casper befriends a ghost
horse.
“Aunt Misbehavin’ / Split Personalities” (9/28/96) – The trio change
themselves into women to prevent Casper from being taken away. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Something to Stink About / Pulp Friction” (10/5/96) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Ectoplasms / Stink of the Road / Doc’s Depression” (10/12/96) – NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / Stinkie sings about himself. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Boo to the Future / All That Falderal” (10/19/96) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Spooky and Poil Meet the Monsters / You Know You’re Alive When… / 13
Ways to Scare a Fleshie / The Trick’s a Treat” (10/26/96) – Spooky wants to
haunt a house, but encounters monsters instead. / How to tell the difference
between being alive and dead. / The trio responds to fan mail about how to
scare a fleshie. / Casper promotes Kat’s party with the promise of real ghosts,
but the union forbids scaring on Halloween.
“Frightening Storm / The Ghostly Trio / The Legend of Whitebeard”
(11/2/96) – / The trio decides to leave when they feel ignored. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Three Ghosts and a Baby / I Wanna Be Rude / Leave it to Casper” (11/9/96)
– Casper changes into a baby on James’ suggestion and is in danger of being
stuck that way. / Spooky tries to prove he’s rude after sparing Poil’s
feelings. / The ghosts pose as fleshies to escape a ghost hunter.
“Luck of the Spookish / Day Care Nightmare” (11/16/96) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Scream Card / You Know When Your Alive When / Lady Screams the Boos”
(11/23/96) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“A Christmas Peril / Ms. Banshee’s Holiday Hits / Good Morning Dr.
Harvey / Fright Before Christmas” (12/21/96) – The trio fill in for the ghosts
of Christmas. / An ad for Ms. Banshee’s holiday album. / The trio interrupts
James and Casper’s singing session. / Kat tales the tell of how the trio
spooked Santa.
“A Midsummer’s Night Scream / Auntie Maimed” (2/1/97) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Gargoils / Ms. Banshee’s Public Domain Hits / Boosom Buddies”
(2/15/97) – / An ad for Ms. Banshee’s new album. /
“What Goes Around / Scavenger Hunt” (2/22/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
Season 3:
“Columboo / All About ‘C’” (9/6/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Hat Sick / Cancion De Olor / The Boo-Muda Triangle” (9/13/97) – Spooky
bets Poil his hat Casper won’t make the scare team. / Stinkie sings to Kat
about smells to help with her project. / Casper tries to save the Harveys’
cruise ship from the Bermuda Triangle.
“Intensive Scare / F-A-T-S-O / Stench!” (9/20/97) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE. / At a network executive’s request, the cast sings a song about
Fatso. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Phantom of the Oprah / Stretch’s Information Tidbit / The Crying
Game” (9/27/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Free Goldie / I’d Pick Your Nose / Birthday Boos” (10/4/97) – The
trio decide to return Kat’s goldfish to the wild. / Poil sings about why she
likes Spooky. / James enters a midlife crisis.
“Rats! / Stinkie Time Theater / Great Ghouly Governess” (10/20/97) – A
bet of servitude has the trio taking jobs as exterminators. / Stinkie’s version
of Cinderella. / Scay Ploppins answers Casper’s ad for help minding the trio.
“Above the Law / Ten Little Fatsos / Haunt-A-Thon” (10/31/97) – NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / A song about Fatso. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“This Old Manor / Scareobicize” (11/3/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Gingersnap Out of It / Send a Good Stink Up Their Noses / Ghostly
Locks and the Three Scares” (11/10/97) –
“Booparty / Do You Like Me? / MacDeath!” (11/17/97) – / Poil sings her
wonder if Spooky likes her or not. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Scummies / Three-Ring Whipstaff / It’s Best to be the Most”
(11/27/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / Stretch and
Stinkie ruin Fatso’s magazine with him on the cover, prompting him to break
into song.
“The Son Also Rises / Stretching is Good For You / Ghostfinger”
(12/12/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Mom Always Likes Ghouls Best / Bury Maguire / Dare to Scare”
(12/19/97) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / The trio sing
about why they love to scare.
“Four Funerals and a Wedding / I Can Be Anything / Family Reunion”
(2/6/98) – The trio try to ruin Ms. Banshee’s wedding. / Fatso tries to
convince Ms. Banshee to date him in song. / James convinces the trio to attend
the McFadden family reunion.
“Horrid Copy / I’m Nothing Without My Hat / Caspeer Pressure”
(2/13/98) – / Spooky loses his hat and finds out he’s useless without it. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“That Thing You Boo! / A Good Walk Poiled” (2/13/98) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Jasper / It’s Great To Be a Ghost / The Boo-Bloods of Whipstaff”
(2/20/98) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Ghost Jam / Do the Spooky / Dr. Harvey and Mr. Gruesome” (2/20/98) – NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Politically Co-Wrecked Casper / Three Little Letters / Pen and Tell
Her” (2/27/98) – / The trio sing to Casper after he fails his scaring test. /
Fatso’s pen pal is coming to visit, but Fatso lied about himself in his letters
to her.
“Jack and the Scream Stalk / Boo Bash a Bone Bag / Artistic? That’s a
Stretch!” (2/27/98) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / The trio sing about going
scaring. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
Season 4:
“Scaredy Boo Where Have You Got To? / Casper’s New Theme Song / The
Daunting Game” (9/12/98) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“At the BOO-vies / Sing Yourself Happy / Snowball’s Chance” (9/19/98)
– NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“NYPD BOO / Three Cool Ghouls / Working Ghouls” (9/26/98) – NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Scream Test / Ms. Banshee’s Kid Songs / The Doctor is Out” (10/3/98)
– NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / An ad for Ms. Banshee’s new album. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Miami Nice / If You’re Unhappy and You Know It / That Advice Stinks”
(10/10/98) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
