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.
He played Chef Pierre Goulash/Mr. Gordon in an episode of A Pup
Named Scooby-Doo, as well as provided additional voices to other episodes;
Magneto in Pryde of the X-Men; Lugg Brother #1 in three episodes of The
Pirates of Dark Water; General Massey in “Liberty and the Littles” and
Monostatos in “The Magic Flute” episodes of ABC Weekend Specials; Rhino
in three episodes of Batman: The Animated Series; Zeus in an episode of Animaniacs;
Kilrathi Commander in an episode of Wing Commander Academy; Principal
Blumford on California Dreams; the President in an episode of The
Mask: The Animated Series; Santa Claus and Earth in episodes of Pinky
and the Brain; the Red Skull (2nd voice) and the Beyonder in Spider-Man:
The Animated Series; Vice President Obsequious in an episode of The
Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries; Nick (aka Santa) in an episode of Buzz Lightyear
of Star Command; and an Event Judge in an episode of The Zeta Project.
He also provided voices for The Addams Family (1992), Skeleton
Warriors and What-A-Mess.
As Doc Brown once said: "30 years. It's a nice round number." We Agree, and with that thought in mind, and what with it being September when new programs traditionally began airing, we figured we'd show you the Saturday morning television schedule for all the major networks (alphabetically) that debuted 30 years ago. AND! As a bonus, since we were so busy with our 70th anniversary celebration last year, we're doing a double shot and bringing you the Saturday morning hits from 1990 AND 1991! Without further ado, while watching on Saturday morning, you may have seen these*:
1990
8:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
8:30 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
9:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
(1 HOUR)
9:30 A.M.
10:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
10:30 A.M.
11:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
(1 HOUR)
11:30 A.M.
12:00 P.M.
*FOX was airing local programming for the noon hour.
12:30 P.M.
1991
8:00 A.M.
8:30 A.M.
9:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
9:30 A.M.
10:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
10:30 A.M.
11:00 A.M.
(1 HOUR)
(1 HOUR)
*FOX aired local programming beginning this hour.
11:30 A.M.
12:00 P.M.
*FOX was airing local programming for the noon hour.
12:30 P.M.
*Shows and times may have differed between markets.
A star of stage and screen, she also had a prominent voice over career playing Admiral Rhea Bergstrom in an episode of Wing Commander Academy, Ashlee Walker Club Dupree
in an episode of The Magic School Bus (1994), and Athena in an episode
of Justice League Action, and starred as Meteora Butterfly in Star vs.
the Forces of Evil. She also provided additional voices for The Pirates
of Dark Water.
He voiced a pirate, the mayor and a man in “The Secret World of Og”
episode of ABC Weekend Specials; a
travel agent in an episode of The 13
Ghosts of Scooby-Doo; an angry neighbor in an episode of Pound Puppies (1986);Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers and King
Arty in two episodes of DuckTales (1987);
and Elliot in an episode of Batman: The
Animated Series. He also provided additional voices for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Space Stars,
Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Dukes, Galtar and the
Golden Lance, Wildfire, The Smurfs, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Popeye and Son, The Flintstone
Kids, The New Yogi Bear Show, Snorks, and The Pirates of Dark Water.
Ellison was a notable science-fiction author who also dabbled a bit in acting. He had unspecified voice credits for Mother Goose and Grimm and The Pirates of Dark Water, and contributed a story for an episode of Silver Surfer.
The
Pirates of Dark Water was created by then Hanna-Barbera
CEO David
Kirschner. The series was set on the alien planet of Mer, which
was comprised of 20 seas and varied lands on islands that were constantly being
destroyed and created by the planet. The planet one day became besieged by Dark
Water; a semi-sentient, domineering force that rose up from the planet’s crust
and engulfed whatever it touched. The only thing that could reverse the flow of
Dark Water and restore the planet to its former glory were the lost Thirteen
Treasures of Rule: mystical stones that were used to keep Dark Water from
rising.
Map of Mer.
The quest for the Treasures fell on
17-year-old Ren (George Newbern). Ren was the prince of the once
technologically advanced city of Octopon, now in ruins because of the Dark
Water. His father, King Primus (Peter Renaday),
set out to find the Treasures shortly after Ren was born and left him in the
care of the lighthouse keepers with his identity hidden to protect him from
threats. Primus wound up the prisoner of the evil pirate Bloth (Brock Peters),
who sought the Treasures in order to take control of Dark Water and rule the
planet with it. Primus escaped and was rescued by Ren, to whom he passed his
mission to before he died. Ren tracked the Treasures through the amulet he wore
around his neck, and used the half sword his father gave him as a weapon.
Ioz, Niddler, Ren and Tula.
Joining Ren on his quest was the
monkey-bird Niddler (Roddy McDowall & Frank Welker) from the Island of
Pandawa, who saved Ren’s life and became a loyal companion (despite being
somewhat selfish and child-like); Tula (Jodi Benson), an ecomancer and warrior
from the island of Andorus; and Ioz (Hector Elizondo & Jim Cummings), a
mercenary from the island of Tayhoj who never shied away from an opportunity to
make some money. Together they sailed on The
Wraith, a ship Ioz stole that was imbued with the life-force of the
mystical trees from which it was built. The
Wraith’s original owner, Joat (Andre Stojka),
was set to have a larger role in the series but was dramatically reduced. The
crew often received help and information from gamehouse owner Zoolie (Dick Gautier),
who worked at one of the ports.
Ren and Bloth change bodies.
Ren’s primary foe was Bloth and his
crew on The Maelstrom, a massive and
deadly warship built from the carcasses of leviathans. Bloth’s crew consisted
of Mantus (Peter Cullen), his second-in-command and calculating strategist;
Konk (Tim Curry), who lost his leg to Bloth’s pet Constrictus and was the only
one to ever survive an encounter; and The Lugg Brothers (Earl Boen and Welker),
two dimwits who assisted Konk. But, Ren also faced the threat of The Dark
Dweller (Welker), the evil creature that created Dark Water. He was served by
Morpho (also Welker), leader of his Dark Disciples who was an alchemist
researching Dark Water before the Dark Dweller transformed him. Morpho served
as a liaison between the Dark Dweller and Bloth.
The Maelstrom crew concept art.
The
Pirates of Dark Water was one of Hanna-Barbera’s few attempts at a serious,
straightforward fantasy series. As such, Hanna-Barbera recruited animation
houses that could provide high-end animation not usually seen on regular
television. Fil-Cartoons
provided most of the art for the show, with additional animation rendered by Big Star Enterprises
and Kennedy
Cartoons. Episodes were constructed in a serial fashion, with
each leading right into the next, and contained a subtle message about ecology.
The
show actually began as a five-episode mini-series entitled simply Dark Water. It debuted on Fox Kids
on February 25, 1991 before moving to ABC
for its full series order as The Pirates
of Dark Water on September 7th. The original five episodes were
re-aired for the first month with some animation tweaks before the all-new
episodes began in October. In that time, McDowall had left the show as he was
refused a higher salary. Welker took over his role of Niddler, having already
been proving the sound effects for the character. The new episodes were also
slightly lighter in tone than the original five, although it still retained its
overall seriousness. The series’ music was composed by Thomas Chase
and Steve
Rucker. Sean
Roche penned the series’ bible, but only wrote one episode
himself. The rest of the show was written by Lane Raichert,
Bill Matheny,
Kristina Luckey,
Laren Bright,
Peter Lawrence,
Matthew Malach,
Glenn Leopold,
David Ehrman,
Sam Graham,
Chris Hubbell,
Michael Maurer,
Brian T. Gaughan,
Kim Costalupes
and Mark
Kavanaugh.
The Wraith concept art.
While
the show was a success with older audiences, it didn’t quite reach the younger
audiences coveted by the networks to justify the high production costs the
series generated. ABC opted to not renew the series for a second season after
its initial 13 episodes aired. During this period, Turner Broadcasting
was in the process of acquiring Hanna-Barbera and their executives wanted the
studio to focus more on their own ideas. Kirschner and producer Cosmo Anzilotti pushed
to keep the series going. FOX
picked the series back up and a second season of 8 episodes was aired as part
of the syndicated Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.
Ren and his half sword.
Unfortunately,
the final nail in the coffin for the show came when Fil-Cartoons experienced
difficulty in animating the final four episodes of the series. As a result,
Hanna-Barbera was unable to meet their airdate deadlines and the series was
cancelled in November of 1992. The final episodes wouldn’t air until 6 months
later in May, leaving a total of eight of the Treasures found. By that time,
most of the show’s crew was working on the production of SWAT
Katsand
Anzilotti had moved on to Captain
Planet and the Planeteers.
Jayne
Barbera also lost her position as the executive in charge of
production as a result of the blunder, replaced by Catherine Winder
for all productions following the failed prime-time co-production Capitol
Critters.
Fans of Pirates have always wondered if there was any chance for a
resolution to the storyline. When the series aired on Cartoon Network,
the network played to these questions during one of their comical commercial
bumper segments. They claimed to have a tape of the “unaired episodes” of the
show and proceeded to perform a psyche-out with footage of a kitten lapping
milk as if someone had “taped” over the episodes. There has also been fan
speculation that Kirschner’s film, Titan
A.E.,
shared
so many similarities to Pirates that
it could be viewed as Kirschner’s attempt to finish the story. With fans having
succeeded in getting the show released to DVD, and with constant reboots and
revivals of long-dormant franchises, a completion to the story may still be a
remote, but not necessarily improbable, possibility.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The
Quest” (2/25/91) – Rescuing a man who claims he’s his father, Ren is set on a
quest to recover the thirteen treasures of Rule along with Niddler, Ioz and
Tula.
“Dishonor”
(2/26/91) – Escaping Bloth in a cave leads Ren and the crew to be captured by
Atani warriors.
“Break
Up” (2/27/91) – Following the stolen compass and treasure leads the crew to
Pandawa, where Niddler’s people are in the middle of fighting for their
independence.
“Betrayal”
(2/28/91) – Ren and Niddler end up captured by Bloth, and Ren meets one of his
father’s most trusted captains.
“Victory”
(3/1/91) – The crew tries to escape from Bloth and recover the first treasure.
“Andorus”
(10/12/91) - A supply run is interrupted by Bloth and the crew escapes to
Andorus, where they learn that Tula is an ecomancer.
“A
Drop of Darkness” (10/26/91) – Rescuing an acquaintance of Ren’s father leads
to trouble as she puts a spell on Tula to force them to give her Dark Water for
her potion.
“The
Beast and the Bell” (11/2/91) – Ren’s vision from his father telling him to
ring a bell to destroy the Dark Water turns out to be a trick to free the evil
Keroptus from his prison.
“Panacea”
(11/9/91) – The crew’s guide for the next treasure plays both sides and helps
Bloth as well.
“King
Niddler” (11/16/91) – Niddler ends up the king to a tribe of non-flying monkey
birds and it falls on him to defeat a dangerous creature.
“The
Collection” (11/23/91) – While trying to rescue Ioz, the crew ends up part of a
wizard’s shrunken ship collection.
“The
Little Leviathan” (11/30/91) – Ren rescues a baby leviathan who imprints on
him, but they and Ioz end up captured by Bloth.
“The
Dark Dweller” (12/7/91) – Ren takes the treasures and enters the realm of the
Dark Dweller to free Tula from the Dark Water.
Season 2:
“The
Dark Disciples” (11/8/92) – The Wraith must pull into port for repairs, but the
nearest one is the port of Octopon overrun by servants of the Dark Dweller.
“The
Ghost Pirates” (11/15/92) – Ioz steals a treasure from a deserted ship and ends
up targeted by its ghostly inhabitants.
“The
Dagron Master” (11/22/92) – While shipwrecked Ren and Niddler are led to a
treasure by a being they encounter, but it turns out to be a trap and Ren is
turned into a reptile.
“The
Game Players of Undaar” (11/29/92) – Ren and Bloth are captured and chained
together, made to compete in the deadly games of two strange creatures.
“The
Pandawa Plague” (5/2/93) – Niddler is called on to defend the egg of the future
Pandawa queen from a deadly plague.
“Sister
of the Sword” (5/9/93) – After they refuse to help her treasure hunt on a
dangerous island, Ioz’s sister Solia steals the crew’s gold and compass and
gets Konk to help her.
“The
Soul Stealer” (5/16/93) – After learning only Ren is destined to gather the
treasures, Bloth switches bodies with Ren and puts Konk in Niddler’s.
“The
Living Treasure” (5/23/93) – Tula tricks a tribe of Amazon warriors into
accepting her so she can free the crew and protect a little creature they want
to kill.
