THE ABC SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE

THE ABC SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE / THE NEW SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE

(ABC, September 9, 1972-November 17, 1973)

Various

MAIN CAST:

Various

            With movie studios still viewing television networks as a threat to their business, they often charged high fees for the broadcasting of their films. The networks decided to experiment with producing films specifically for television as a way to significantly lower expenses. NBC was the first, creating the weekly World Premiere Movie in 1966. ABC, who was running last place in the ratings, came up with their own in 1969 called the ABC Movie of the Week. That, combined with Monday Night Football, significantly improved ABC’s ratings and raised it up as competition for the other networks.

Ad for the first episode of Saturday Superstar.

            In 1972, ABC brought the concept to Saturday mornings as The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. It was the first Saturday morning anthology series presented in much the same way as the regular Movie of the Week., Saturday Superstar would feature one-hour predominantly animated (although some contained live-action) specials by the various animation studios at the time. The selection of specials were typically pilots for shows the studios wanted to do and used Saturday Superstar as a proving ground; although some of them were sequels of previously established properties or just a showcase for a one-off production.

Dr. Smith, Robon and Link from Hanna-Barbera's Lost in Space.

            Hanna-Barbera’s only successful pilot offering was “Yogi’s Ark Lark”, which would become the slightly reworked Yogi’s Gang. For one of their failed pilots, they once again partnered with Screen Gems to make “Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family”, which centered on the adventures of the now-teenaged children from the sitcom Bewitched (which they made the animated opening titles for); who both naturally inherited their mother’s supernatural powers. The other was a reboot of Lost in Space, which only featured the returning characters of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris), this time an actual passenger on the Jupiter 2, and the robot (now named Robon, voiced by Don Messick). The new characters included Space Academy graduate Craig Robinson (Michael Bell); his little brother, Link (Vincent Van Patten); and geologist Diana Carmichael (Sherry Alberoni). They took off on a routine mission from Earth to Saturn and ended up thrown wildly off course by a sudden meteor shower. Hanna-Barbera also released a follow-up to The Banana Splits Adventure Hour with “The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park”, an animated entry in the Gidget book/film/television franchise with “Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection”, an interpretation of the legend of Robin Hood with animals in “The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik” (a year before Disney’s), and a sequel to the novel Oliver Twist with “Oliver and the Artful Dodger” (which happened to be the series’ only two-part episode).

Animation cel featuring The Groovie Goolies and some of the Looney Tunes.

            Filmation found a bit more success with their pilots, as both of their offerings led into a show. “The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island” was later broken up into the first two episodes of The Brady Kids, as was “Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain” for Lassie’s Rescue Rangers. “Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies” presented a rare instance in which Warner Bros. loaned out their characters for use by another studio (normally, those studios would be making the cartoons for Warner Bros., who at this time didn’t have their own animation department). The special was a follow-up to The Groovie Goolies which had Filmation’s characters interact with most of the Looney Tunes (save Bugs Bunny and Speedy Gonzales). This was the only time the legendary Mel Blanc worked on a Filmation project; which he not only hated doing but came to regret doing as an error in the sound mixing ended up making most of his characters sound off.

Herman Munster driving around his son Eddie's band.

            Fred Calvert Productions attempted to translate two sitcoms into animated shows. The first was the 20^th Century Fox Television production The Nanny and the Professor; a sitcom featuring a magical British nanny (Juliet Mills) inspired by Mary Poppins. She took care of a family comprised of college professor Harold Everett (Richard Long), his sons Harold (David Doremus) and Bently (Trent Lehman), and daughter Prudence (Kim Richards). Calvert made two specials based on the show, “Nanny and the Professor” and “Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus”, with the cast all reprising their roles. The second series was Universal Television’s The Munsters; the sitcom about a family based on the classic Universal Monsters who were blissfully ignorant of their differences compared to other people. The special, “The Mini-Munsters”, only saw Al Lewis reprise his role of Grandpa from the original series. Neither show was picked up. Calvert would have better luck on NBC with Emergency +4, an animated spin-off of the medical drama, Emergency!

Marlo Thomas in animated form.

            Rankin/Bass Productions took the opportunity to introduce an animated prequel to their 1967 stop-motion film, Mad Monster Party. “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” followed Baron Henry von Frankenstein (Bob McFadden) creating a bride (Rhoda Mann) for his monster (Allen Swift), but his assistant, Igor (Swift), got jealous and wanted the bride for himself. While the special was praised for its visuals, the story was found lacking by critics. Rankin/Bass also made a special centering around baseball legend Willie Mays in “Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid”. It was basically about a guardian angel named Casey (after Casey Stengel, voiced by Paul Frees) tasking Mays with looking after an orphan in exchange for help winning the National League Pennant. An odd one was their take on “The Red Baron”, which recast the infamous WWI fighter pilot as a heroic anthropomorphic dog (Swift) who sets out to rescue the “kidnapped” princess of Pretzelstein (Mann) from a rival kingdom. Their final offering for the series was a spin-off to the Marlo Thomas-led sitcom, That Girl. “That Girl in Wonderland” saw the show’s characters in the stories of Alice in Wonderland, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella. Only Thomas reprised her role of Anne Marie.

Promo image for "Luv-cast U.S.A."

            Depatie-Freleng Enterprises’ only offering for the series was “Luv-cast U.S.A.” It was a mini-anthology, loosely based on Love, American Style. The special was centered around a radio station, where DJ Ranton Rave (actual DJ “Sweet” Dick Whittington) would receive calls from people with various romantic problems, and their answers would be seen in a series of vignettes. All the while, the DJ would play rock and roll classics music. The special landed Depatie-Freleng an opportunity to do further work on ABC’s other anthology series, The ABC Afterschool Specials. 

The comedy comic strip characters board for their free cruise.

            King Features Syndicate decided to throw their hat into the ring by producing a special combining just about every comic strip under their control. “Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter” not only featured the characters of Popeye, but also characters from Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Steve Canyon, Snuffy Smith, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Hi & Lois, Tiger, Tim Tyler, Quincy, Prince Valiant and The Little King. This marked the first—and for some, only—time many of these strips were ever adapted into animation. The special was directed by Hal Seeger and featured Jack Mercer reprising his roles as Popeye and Wimpy. McFadden and Corinne Orr provided every other voice in the special.

            The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie debuted on ABC on September 9, 1972. It returned the following year as The New Saturday Superstar Movie for a brief 3-episode second season. After that, ABC decided to abandon the experiment with the 1974 season; however, that hiatus didn’t last too long. In 1977 they brought back the anthology concept with ABC Weekend Special, this time with a more focused message of encouraging children to read.

Ad for "Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid".

            Because of the multiple licenses and studios involved, a complete comprehensive collection of Saturday Superstar has never been released. However, individual components have seen their own releases on home media. Released to VHS was “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” in 1998 by Sony Home Entertainment; “Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid” by Star Classics; and “Oliver and the Artful Dodger” in 1989 by Warner Home Video. “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” was released to DVD in 2012 by Universal Home Entertainment, as was “Oliver and the Artful Dodger” together with “The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik” in the Hanna-Barbera Specials Collection by Warner Archive in 2015. “Yogi’s Ark Lark” and “The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island” were part of the complete series releases for Yogi’s Gang and The Brady Kids. “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Some of the foreign VHS covers for "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies".

“Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies” has seen numerous VHS releases under various titles, predominantly in the United Kingdom and Germany by Select Video between 1983-86 with its live-action segment removed. It also saw rebroadcasts on Sky One, Cartoon Network as part of Mr. Spim’s Cartoon Theater and USA Network before they stopped airing cartoons. A restored two-part version of the film began making the rounds in Germany in 2002 and aired as late as 2013.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island” (9/9/72) – A balloon race lands the Brady kids on a mysterious island where they meet and befriend some special animals.

“Yogi’s Ark Lark” (9/16/72) – Yogi and his animal friends gather on an ark on a mission to find a place to live that’s devoid of pollution and the destruction caused by mankind.

“Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” (9/23/72) – Baron Henry von Frankenstein creates a bride for his monster, but his assistant Igor becomes jealous and wants the Bride for himself.

“Nanny and the Professor” (9/30/72) – Nanny and the Everetts get caught up in a mystery involving a microdot.

“Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter” (10/7/72) – Prof. Morbid Grimsby plans to cinch this year’s prestigious “Meanie” award by eliminating all laughter from the world.

“Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid” (10/14/72) – An angel promises to help Willie Mays win the Pennant if he looks after an orphaned girl.

“Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Part 1 & 2” (10/21/72, 10/28/72) – Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver, but upon his death his will goes missing and his sinister nephew tries to take his fortune.

“The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik” (11/4/72) – A retelling of the legend of Robin Hood starring a cast of anthropomorphic animals.

“Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain” (11/11/72) – Lassie tries to figure out who’s scaring the Native American people away from Thunder Mountain.

“Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection (a.k.a. The Odd Squad)” (11/18/72) – Teenager Gidget and her friends run into gold smugglers.

“The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park” (11/25/72) – The Banana Splits give a little girl a tour of an amusement park, only to have her kidnapped by a witch.

“Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family” (12/2/72) – Tabitha and Adam Stevens use their magical powers to try and save a circus.

“The Red Baron” (12/9/72) – The Red Baron and his fellow dogs do battle with the sinister army of cats.

“Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies” (12/16/72) – The Groovie Goolies help the Looney Tunes solve a mystery.

“Luvcast U.S.A.” (1/6/73) – A wacky deejay plays some romantic hits while various characters engage in romance-themed escapades.

“That Girl in Wonderland” (1/13/73) – Ann Marie imagines herself in a variety of fairy tales.

Season 2:

“Lost in Space” (9/8/73) – A meteor field sends the Jupiter II far off course.

“The Mini-Munsters” (10/27/73) – When Grandpa fixes Eddie’s car so that it runs on music, gangster who took over the fuel company want his invention destroyed at any cost.

“Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus” (11/17/73) – Nanny and the Everetts end up involved in a mystery about a traveling circus.

COOL McCOOL

COOL McCOOL

(NBC, September 10, 1966-January 21, 1967)

Cavalier Productions, King Features

MAIN CAST:

Bob McFadden – Cool McCool, Harry McCool, various

Chuck McCann – Number One, Mr. Riggs, Breezy, Dick, Tom, The Owl, The Rattler, Dr. Madcap, Hurricane Harry, Jack-in-a-Box, various

Carol Corbett – Friday, Greta Ghoul, Pussycat, Bellows Belle various

            Cool McCool was the second animated series featuring the involvement of Bob Kane after Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, which spoofed his greatest-known creation: Batman.

Cool McCool being briefed by Number One.

            Cool was also a spoof, but this time of spy genre; which it achieved by aping another spoof: Get Smart. The central character was the titular Cool McCool (Bob McFadden, doing a loose imitation of Jack Benny rather than Smart’s Don Adams), a bumbling spy for Secret Inc. who only succeeded by pure accident and luck. Like a stereotypical spy, he always went around in a long trench coat and gloves. His long-suffering superior was Number One (Chuck McCann). He was obscured from the audience behind his huge chair, with only his arms and cigar ever seen. A running gag saw Cool foul something up in Number One’s office after solving the case, to which he uttered “It will never happen again” before Number One used a control panel to eject Cool from the building. Mr. Riggs (McCann) was the agency’s technician and repairman who created the gadgets Cool used on his missions, which often backfired and hurt Cool (the only thing Cool was blamed for that wasn’t his fault). These devices included Cool’s transport the Coolmobile, which he could summon with a whistle and change into any kind of vehicle needed, and his mustache communicator, along with various specialty weapons. Other members of Secret Inc. included Number One’s klutzy secretary, Friday (Carol Corbett), who had a crush on Cool, and Cool’s soft-spoken and more competent occasional sidekick, Breezy (McCann).

Cool's regular rogues: Greta Ghoul, Dr. Madcap, Hurricane Harry, The Rattler and Jack-in-a-Box.

            Cool frequently faced off against a kooky assortment of villains (many patterned after Batman villains). Among them was The Owl (McCann), an owl-themed supervillain who often used birds in his schemes and had a cat-themed girlfriend named Pussycat (Corbett); The Rattler (McCann), a snake-like cyborg with a passion for art and control over plant life; Dr. Madcap (McCann), who could control hats and make them do his bidding with various effects; Greta Ghoul (Corbett, impersonating Greta Garbo whom she was modeled after), Dr. Madcap’s vampy wife who often doesn’t feel appreciated or loved by him; Hurricane Harry (McCann), an overweight man who could blow mighty gusts of wind and could be deflated by knocking out his buck tooth; Bellows Belle (Corbett, speaking with a wheeze), was Harry’s fiancé and often aided in his plans or re-inflated him with a bicycle pump; and Jack-in-a-Box (McCann), a crook patterned after a jack-in-the-box who used a variety of kooky gadgets in his thefts.

The Komedy Kops: Tom, Dick and Harry.

            A second feature of the show focused on Cool’s father, Harry McCool (also McFadden), who was a police officer. Harry was partnered with his brothers Dick, the rotund member of the group, and Tom, who spoke in gibberish that only Harry could understand and had to translate for Dick (both brothers voiced by McCann). They were known as the Komedy Kops (a play on the Keystone Kops), as well as having their names based on the phrase “Tom, Dick and Harry.” Harry was the most intelligent of the three (which wasn’t saying much) and thus the de facto leader, although he was even more of a bumbler than his son. As none of the brothers knew how to drive, their primary mode of transportation was a three-seater bicycle.

Cool in the Coolmobile talking on his wrist watch communicator.

            Cool McCool debuted on NBC on September 10, 1966. As the series was co-created by Albert Bordax, it was produced by King Features’ film division and animated by London-based TVC Studios, just like Bordax’s other program, The Beatles. Every episode consisted of two short Cool segments with a Harry segment in between. Each Harry segment was introduced by Cool being bounced into his house by all of his villains and singing about being a great law-enforcer like his father before dozing off, and ended with Cool bumbling up his exit somehow; like shooting off half of his clothes as he tried to holster his gun, or a live grenade blowing up in his face. Outside of the episode “College of Crooks”, those intros were the only place where the villains ever teamed up against Cool. Kane served as the series’ script editor while Bernie Green provided the music.

The Owl behind bars.

            Unlike The Beatles, Cool McCool wasn’t that big a hit. The series was pitted against Filmation’s brand-new The New Adventures of Superman on the schedule, didn’t have the mass-appeal of a major band behind it that The Beatles did, and didn’t have a big merchandising push. After its initial 20 episodes, production on the program ceased; however, NBC continued to air the program through most of 1968 and part of 1969. Nearly 20 years after its last airing, Best Home & Video Co. began releasing several episodes to VHS in North America, while Castle Vision released VHS compilations in the United Kingdom. The UK releases were transferred to DVD by Hollywood DVD beginning in 2003; two of which were paired up with releases of G-Force and Felix the Cat. BCI/Eclipse put two episodes on their 2006 Animated All Stars vol. 1 compilation and released the complete series to DVD in 2007. The entire series was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Big Blowout / The Phantom of the Opera House / Fine Feathered Fiends” (9/10/66) – Hurricane Harry demands a million dollars to spare the world’s monuments. / Tom, Dick and Harry go after the Phantom of the Opera. / The Owl uses the world’s birds to steal for him.

“If the Hat Fits…Watch It / Horsehide and Go Seek / The House That Jack Built” (9/17/66) – Dr. Madcap uses his hats to steal money. / Tom, Dick and Harry are assigned to protect a famous baseball. / Jack sends Number One a raging bull and traps Cool in a circus with two lions.

“The Odd Boxes Caper / The Vanishing Shoehorns / Garden of Evil” (9/24/66) – Jack decides to crash a dinner honoring detective Sherlock Klotz. / Mighty Morris steals shoehorns and launches Tom, Dick and Harry into orbit. / The Rattler develops a venom ray that causes anyone to hate the closest being.

“Rocket Racket / Here’s Pie in Your Eye / Queen’s Ransom” (10/1/66) – Jack sets his sights on stealing the moon. / Tom, Dick and Harry happen upon a spy stealing Mrs. Plotz’ pie recipes. / Hurricane Harry kidnaps Queen McQueen and rather than pay the ransom, the Foreign Office decides to send Cool after her.

“The Big Brainwash / The Wood-Chopper / Shrinking the Slinker” (10/8/66) – Dr. Madcap uses a giant hat to steal an armored car. / Tom, Dick and Harry pursue a nefarious lumberjack. / The Rattler steals a shrinking formula and uses it on Cool.

“The Box Fox / Gym Dandy / Bagging the Windbag” (10/15/66) – Jack robs an armored car using giggle grenades. / Unable to capture a practical joker, Tom, Dick and Harry decided to hit the gym and get in shape. / Hurricane Harry demands to be crowned king of the world or else he’ll pump it full of air until it pops.

“Will the Real Cool Mobile Please Stand Up / Big Top Cops / Owl on the Prowl” (10/22/66) – Dr. Madcap sells hats that rob their owners. / Tom, Dick and Harry investigate the sabotage of a circus. / The Owl manages to steal a secret formula from Cool and Number One.

“Sniffin, Snoozen, and Sneezen / The New Car / How Now Foul Owl” (10/29/66) – Hurricane Harry uses sleepy smoke to put the world to sleep. / When they allow a crook to get away, the Sarge insists Tom, Dick and Harry learn how to drive a car. / The Mockingbird tricks Cool into believing The Owl is really a secret agent.

“Caps and Robbers / Three Men on a House / The Romantic Rattler” (11/5/66) – Dr. Madcap steals a priceless jewel with a hat that turns the wearer into a mindless fool. / Sarge orders Tom, Dick and Harry to whitewash the jailhouse. / The Rattler falls for the agency’s new female robot.

“Jack in the Boxer / Fowl Play / Love Is a Gas” (11/12/66) – Jack poses as a photographer to steal a movie star’s valuable necklace. / Tom, Dick and Harry crash their bike into a chicken truck and the chickens escape. / Dr. Madcap invents a love gas that causes people to just give him their valuables.

“Who Stole My 32 Secret Agents? / The Jet Set, Yet / The 500lb. Canary Caper” (11/19/66) – Dr. Madcap captures 32 British agents and plans to drain the secrets from their heads. / The Flying Demon steals the key to the city. / The Owl uses a giant canary with a sonic cry to rob banks.

“Fun and Games / McCool Jazz / Mother Greta’s Wrinkle Remover” (11/26/66) – Jack’s new toys rob their owners. / Tom, Dick and Harry investigate the racket at the Pushkey Piano Factory. / Dr. Madcap’s new wrinkle remover is only temporary and leaves the user’s face plaid.

“The Sombrero Affair / Dog Tired / The Moon Goon” (12/3/67) – Cool chases Dr. Madcap and Greta to Mexico. / Tom, Dick and Harry have to find a little old lady’s puppy. / The Owl uses the moon as his new hideout after his latest caper.

“Two Fats and a Fink / High Jokers / Rockabye for Rattler” (12/10/66) – Hurrican Harry plans to kidnap the Maharajah of Mish Mash. / Tom, Dick and Harry give chase to a candy apple thief who absconds with a hot air balloon. / The Rattler steals an armored truck from under Cool’s nose.

“High Jacker Jack / Time Out / The Wind Goddess” (12/17/66) – Jack steals an armored car and seemingly disappears. / Tom, Dick and Harry discover that the town clock has been stolen. / Hurricane Harry steals an ancient Egyptian idol.

“Hot McHot / Monkey Dizziness / A Growing Problem” (12/24/66) – Hurricane Harry uses the sun’s rays to penetrate safes and armored cars. / Tom, Dick and Harry pursue the monkey that stole the hair ribbons from their shared infatuation. / The Rattler covers the planet in vegetation and holds it for ransom.

“Oh Say Can You Seed / Green Dragon / What Goes Up…Must Come Down” (12/31/66) – The Rattler robs a bank with a seed grenade. / A thief is robbing the city and leaving behind the mark of a green dragon. / Cool uses his fog gun to try and retrieve the Statue of Liberty from Hurricane Harry.

“Birds of a Feather Flop Together / A Lot of Ballooney / The Box Popper” (1/7/67) – The Owl uses a flock of birds to rob banks. / Gaston Gaswell gets his revenge on the Kops by creating life-sized balloons that look like them. / Cool unleashes the Box Popper to stop Jack’s latest crime spree.

“Owl’s Well that Ends Well / Goat Chasers / A Tree is a Tree is a…Tree?” (1/14/67) – Cool’s vacation is interrupted by The Owl’s latest crime spree. / While on patrol, Tom, Dick and Harry spot a goat eating a man’s clothing. / The Rattler sells Cool a rare tropical plant that eats everything in Number One’s office.

“The Whistler’s Mommy Case / In the Dough / The College of Crooks” (1/21/67) - The Rattler uses his plants to rob the museum. / Harry’s birthday party is interrupted by the robbery of Ronald Bun’s Bakery. / Cool is confused when a mansion is robbed using the methods of all of his regular foes.

BLONDIE (1957)

BLONDIE (1957)

(NBC, January 5-July 5, 1957)

Hal Roach Studios, King Features Production

            Blondie is a comic strip created by Chic Young. Beginning on September 8, 1930, it originally focused on young, blonde, carefree flapper Blondie Boopadoop who spent her days in the dance halls with her boyfriend, Dagwood Bumstead; a bit of a bumbling playboy and heir to a fortune. When the Great Depression hit, the strip’s relevancy began to wane and was steadily dropped by various newspapers. Young decided to change things up in 1933 by having Blondie and Dagwood become married, resulting in his being disinherited by his father and forcing them to live like an average couple. Dagwood, who was originally the straight man, became the primary comedic source as Blondie assumed the sensible role as head of the family. Because of the strip’s popularity, the marriage was a largely publicized event. Eventually, they gained children, Alexander and Cookie, and a dog, Daisy. The strip features a variety of running gags, including Dagwood colliding with the mailman as he rushes out of the house, being always late for his ride to work, his impossibly tall sandwiches and midnight snacks, his interrupted naps on the couch, and more. While very little has changed about the strip as it continued under the stewardship of Young’s son, Dean, newer elements were gradually integrated in the form of current technologies and fashion.

The characters of the Blondie comic strip.

            In 1938, Blondie was adapted into a long-running series of low-budget films by Columbia Pictures. Starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake as the lead characters, Columbia took great care in incorporating as many elements as possible from the strip into the films, including the running gags, and to ensure they followed a continuity with each other. When the series began to slip in profits in 1943, Columbia released what was to be the last Blondie film as Footlight Glamour (removing the Blondie name from the title to try and lure in curious patrons) and Singleton and Lake moved on to other projects. However, fan demand brought the series back until it was finally ended with the 28th film, 1950’s Beware of Blondie. Singleton and Lake also starred in a radio adaptation that began in 1939 and was heard across all three major networks. It ran concurrently with the films and ended in 1950 with them.

The cast of the television show.

            In 1954, NBC commissioned a pilot episode for a proposed Blondie sitcom from Hal Roach Studios. Pamela Britton and Hal Le Roy assumed the lead roles, however the series wasn’t picked up until 3 years later. For the actual show, Le Roy was replaced by Lake. The Blondie television series was essentially a half-hour version of the films, attempting to maintain the same faithfulness to the source material. The series ran for a single season of 26 episodes, running from January 1957 until it was cancelled that July due to poor ratings.