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.
The
Twilight Zone was an anthology series created, produced and written by Rod
Serling that delivered morality lessons and delved into modern day issues with
often fantastical and science-fiction elements to make the messages more
palatable to the average viewer. Serling had gained prominence in American television
during the 1950s, but dealt with the constant aggravation of his stories being
altered on the whims of the networks and their sponsors. He figured that
robots, aliens and the supernatural might significantly remove things from
reality and give him more leeway to present thought-provoking controversial
ideas. In 1957, he wrote the pitch pilot “The Time Element”,
depicting a man sent back to 1941 Honolulu who
tried to warn everyone about the eminent attack on Pearl Harbor unsuccessfully, but
it was ultimately rejected and shelved. Bert Granet rediscovered it a
year later and produced it as an episode of Westinghouse
Desilu Playhouse, and its success allowed Serling an opportunity to do
his series.
The
Twilight Zone debuted on CBS on October
2, 1959, running for 5 seasons. While reviewers praised the series, it
initially struggled in the ratings with audiences until close to the end of the
first season. Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of the show’s 156 episodes and served
as the narrator, delivering monologues that set up the moment when the story’s
characters “entered the Twilight Zone” and the story’s moral at the end. While he
appeared in promos for the series, it wouldn’t be until the second season that
he would appear on screen to deliver those monologues. Additional writers
included Charles Beaumont
(until complications from a developing brain disease reduced his involvement), Richard Matheson,
George Clayton
Johnson, Montgomery
Pittman, Earl
Hamner Jr., Reginald
Rose, Jerry
Sohl, John
Tomerlin (both of whom ghostwrote for Beaumont), and Richard De Roy.
Bernard
Hermann composed the series’ theme for the first season, but was replaced
from the second season on by Marius Constant’s
more-familiar composition. As it was an anthology series, it had no permanent
characters and a rotating roster of actors; some well-known at the time, and
others just beginning their careers. Several actors would make return
appearances in various episodes as other characters, including William Shatner, Burgess Meredith, William Windom, Jack Klugman and Martin Landau, with Robert McCord having appeared
in the most.
Difficulties in finding a sponsor
for the 4th season resulted in the show being replaced by Fair Exchange,
although it was ultimately renewed as a mid-season replacement for the
replacement. To fill that timeslot, CBS demanded the series be expanded to an
hour-long format, which didn’t sit well with Serling and the production crew.
Serling’s involvement as an executive producer was reduced this season, and his
monologues were filmed against a gray background back-to-back during his
infrequent trips to Los Angeles. “The” was also dropped from the title. The 5th
season returned to the half-hour format, but was plagued by a number of unpopular
decisions by new producer William
Froug; such as shelving a script for “The Doll” which was later made an
episode of Amazing
Stories (and won a Writer’s Guild
Award nomination) and alienating Johnson by having De Roy rewrite and
dilute his screenplay for what would become “Ninety
Years Without Slumbering”. CBS head Jim Aubrey ultimately
decided to cancel the series, having disliked it since his instatement during
the 2nd season as it was an expensive series to produce and using the
season’s middling ratings as further justification. Serling, severely burnt out
by this time, sold CBS his 40% share of the series and left it behind until
returning in 1969 with the similar series Night Gallery on NBC.
The Twilight Zone was nominated
for 4 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 2,
and continued to be broadcast in syndicated reruns, initially less the episodes
“Sounds and Silences”,
“Miniature”
and “A
Short Drink From a Certain Fountain” due to copyright lawsuits, “An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” which was a French short film whose airing
as part of the series as a limited-time agreement, and “The
Encounter” due to racial overtones. Notably, the series airs on Syfy regularly in late-night slots and as part
of marathons for New Year’s and the 4th of July, although they’re
usually altered to allow for more commercials. Three revivals have been attempted—one
in 1985 lasting two
seasons, one in 2002
lasting one, and one in 2019
which concluded after two—as well as an infamous film version in 1983
that resulted
in the deaths of actor Vic
Morrow and two children, and a 1994 made-for-television film
comprised of two stories found by Serling’s widow, Carol.
For the history of the Looney Tunes, check out the post here.
The Porky Pig
Show was the second anthology show featuring Warner Bros.’ stable of Looney Tunesand Merrie Melodiestheatrical
shorts and was the first show centered around the original Looney Tune, Porky
Pig (Mel Blanc).
Daffy and Sylvester helping to celebrate Porky.
Similar to its predecessor, The Bugs Bunny Show, The Porky Pig Show featured new
animation showing a group of Looney
Tunes characters and kids gathering at a barn for a hootnanny and a
viewing of Porky’s show. Amongst the featured characters were Daffy Duck, Sylvester Cat, Tweety Bird, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn,
Sam Sheepdog, Granny and Elmer Fudd, although
Porky was the only one to ever speak. Linking the various shorts were new
segments in the barn with a brief comedy bit inspiring Porky to segue into the
short--such as Sylvester chasing Tweety as Porky tried to address the audience--or
a clip from a short with new dialogue dubbed over it, like from “Fool Coverage”
where a mishap with Daffy and a rocking chair prompted Porky’s line “You’ll go
off your rocker too when you see the next cartoon.” Each episode ended with a
tearful ending song and Porky giving a plug to that episode’s advertiser.
Yosemite Sam plays with the band.
TThe Porky Pig
Show made its debut on ABC on September
20, 1964. The animation for the new segments in comparison to the featured
shorts was noticeably different. Following the conclusion of The Bugs Bunny Show’s original runin 1962, Warner Bros. shut down their animation studio
in 1963. As a result, animation duties fell to the New York-based Hal Seeger Productions. Each
episode was a half-hour and comprised of three different shorts, with the first
typically featuring Porky. The series’ opening and closing theme was composed
by Barbara Cameron and were sung by the on-screen characters.
They're watching the show we're watching. Whoa...meta.
The series ran for 26 episodes, with the last
original compilation airing on March 14, 1965. It remained on the network until
1967. In 1971, ABC revived the show as Porky
Pig and His Friends, reusing the same animated segments but with a
different collection of shorts. In 2004, the show’s intro was featured as a
bonus feature in the compilation DVD Looney
Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2. The first episode was included as part of the 2009 compilation
DVD Saturday
Morning Cartoons: 1960s Volume 1, and the third episode on Volume
2.
First final issue of Marvel's first Captain America series, not even starring the titular hero.
In the
years following World
War II, superheroes, which had dominated comics
since Superman’s first appearance in 1938, began to lose relevance with
readers. Without the Axis powers to fight against--which was the basis for many
of the characters--they were basically just treading water and the tastes of
their readers had changed towards a desire for sex and violence. Many
publishers ended their various hero titles and began to expand into other
genres such as western, romance, crime and, relevant for this particular entry,
horror.
The unholy trinity: the first Crypt-Keeper, the first issue of Crypt, and the first issue to don the familiar Crypt title.
1947’s Eerie Comicsby Avon Periodicals is often regarded as the first true horror comic. The
following year, American Comics Group’s Adventures
into the Unknownbecame the first ongoing horror comic title. In 1950, Entertaining Comics (EC)
publisher William
Gaines and editor Al Feldstein discovered
they had similar tastes in horror. They began to experiment with horror tales
in their crime titles, leading to the publication of Feldstein’s story “Return
from the Grave!” in Crime Patrol#15, cover-dated
December 1949/January 1950. The character of the Crypt-Keeper made his debut as
the host of that story. #16 featured a larger assortment of horror stories over
crime before the book ultimately shifted format entirely with #17. The title
was changed to The Crypt of Terror, although it kept the same numbering to save money on
second-class postage permits (a common practice throughout the early years of
the comics industry, which is why there are many titles out there without a #1
issue). With #20, the book finally became Tales
from the Crypt. Gaines would read many horror
stories and use them as springboards that he crafted new stories from with
Feldstein.
The Crypt-Keeper, the Old Witch, and the Vault Keeper hover over their publisher William Gaines.
As the
horror genre began to take off in comics, EC created two more horror books like Crypt.
With April/May 1950’s issue #12 of War Against Crime, the title became The Vault
of Horror, hosted by the Vault-Keeper. May/June 1950’s issue #15
of Gunfightersaw the series become The Haunt of Fear, hosted by The Old Witch after four issues. The hosts were
a lot more horrific at their inception. The Crypt-Keeper was a sinister hermit
whose face was hidden by his long hair and often seen within a half-opened
door. The Vault-Keeper was an ancient inquisitor in a hooded robe that presided
over the empty dungeon representing his bloody past. The Old Witch was inspired
by “Old Nancy, the witch of Salem”, host of radio series The Witch’s Talethat ran from
1931-38. Gradually, the hosts would be softened into comedic and pun-laden characters
designed to offset the horrors of the stories they presided over. Despite each
having their own books, they frequently crossed over into each other’s titles and
developed a comedic rivalry where they would try to usurp each other as the
ultimate singular host. Together, they were dubbed the GhoulLunatics.
Senator Robert C. Hendrickson displays an exhibit of "offensive" titles at the Senate hearings.
EC planned
to launch a fourth title in 1954, reusing The Crypt of Terror title,
but that was that year when everything changed for the comics industry. Comics,
especially in the crime and horror genres, came under fire as being harmful to
the well-being of children’s mental states. The highly publicized Senate
Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings
did all but accuse those kinds of comics as being a catalyst for juvenile
delinquency.
Advertisement for the seal that appeared on all approved comics.
Reeling from the negative press, publishers,
led by Gaines (who had unsuccessfully testified at the hearings), quickly banded together to head off outside influence
and created two self-regulatory agencies: the Comics
Magazine Association of America and
the Comics Code
Authority. They placed strict guidelines on
publications, such as forbidding the use of “horror” or “terror” in titles, the
use of horror-themed beings and other gruesome characters, disrespect for
authority figures, excessive violence, sexual perversion, seduction, rape, and
other similar restrictions. Not what Gaines intended, he felt his books were
being directly targeted by the Code and was forced to cancel his three horror
books, publishing the one produced Crypt of Terror story as
the final issue of Tales from the Crypt.
As the guidelines of the Code began to
gradually loosen over time, Ballantine Books reprinted selected Crypt stories in
a series of EC anthologies in the 1960s. Later, the series was reprinted in its
entirety by Russ Cochran in The Complete EC
Libraryin 1979. Further reprints would come in the 1990s through
Cochran and Gemstone
Publishing. In the interim, a 1972 film
from Amicus
Productions adapted five stories from all
three horror titles, as did its sequel, The Vault of Horror, in 1973 (however, the sequel didn’t use any stories from
the comic for which it was named).
The new look for the Cryptkeeper.
In 1989, HBO, along
with The
Geffen Film Company and Warner
Bros. Television, collectively known as Tales
from the Crypt Holdings, developed a live-action anthology series based on the
original EC comics. Tales from the Crypt featured the
Cryptkeeper (John Kassir), now a rotting skeletal puppet created by Kevin Yagher,
who introduced the tales from his lair. Much like the comic Crypt-Keeper, the
show’s Cryptkeeper started off with a much deeper voice and had a more sinister
presence. Gradually, his voice and tone lightened up to become the pun-laden
host that his comic counterpart ended up being.
The series aired on HBO until 1996, allowing it
to avoid censorship that would come from being on a network and implant liberal
amounts of gore, profanity, nudity and sex more than even the original stories
had. Along with stories from all three horror titles, they used EC’s other
books Crime
SuspenStories, Shock SuspenStories, and Two-Fisted Talesfor inspiration. Following the Cryptkeeper’s introduction, each story
would begin with a comic book cover done by Mike Vosburg and Shawn McManus that resembled the covers used on the original books.
The series also featured a wide assortment of notable guest-stars and
directors, five of which served as executive producers on the show and owned
the rights to the EC stories: Richard Donner, David
Giler, Walter Hill, Joel
Silver and Robert Zemeckis.
The Cryptkeeper had never been so animated.
At the height of the series’ popularity, it was
decided that there was potential to tap into the children’s market with an
animated spin-off to replace Beetlejuice. Nelvana Limited and ABC partnered up
and set about toning down the series to be an acceptable Saturday morning program with
the aid of child psychologist Brian Newmark. The result was an anthology series that served a moral
lesson at the end of each story as the villains of the tales always received
their comeuppance. It was originally planned to use the puppet Cryptkeeper in
the show, but he was deemed too potentially frightening for younger viewers.
Instead, a full-bodied animated version with green skin (but emaciated to
retain a somewhat skeletal appearance) was used. Kassir was retained as the
voice, and he continued to deliver pun-laden one-liners from his lair while
being sure to strike the story’s message home for viewers.
Better run to your TV set before you miss the show.
The Vault Keeper and the Old Witch attempt to steal Cryptkeeper's show.
Renewed for a second season, some changes were
made to the overall format. The Vaultkeeper (David Hemblen) and the Old Witch
(Elizabeth Hanna) were introduced to the show. Their rivalry was reignited from
the old EC comics over the fact that they were jealous the Cryptkeeper had his
own show while they did not. This resulted in the Cryptkeeper leaving his lair
and heading to other locations to stay one step ahead of his rivals. There were
a couple of episodes where they would tell stories together, and even some of
the story characters from the previous season made appearances in sequel
stories. During this time, Ace Novelty released two
series of four figures based on the show:
two versions of the Cryptkeeper and the rest generic classic
monsters. Other merchandise included a wrist watch, silly putty, play slime, a board
game, a lunch box, monster-faced balls, an electronic handheld game, googely eyes, and talking
Cryptkeeper dolls.
Traversing the graveyard in Secrets of the Cryptkeepr's Haunted House.
At the end of the second season, ABC cancelled
the series. But, that wasn’t the end of the story. CBS had acquired
the licensing rights to Crypt and created a kids’ game show
called Secrets
of the Cryptkeeper’s Haunted House that
aired on Saturday mornings from 1996-97. Following the end of that show, CBS
decided to make further use of the license and revived the Cryptkeeper cartoon.
Titling it New Tales from the
Cryptkeeper, the new batch of episodes debuted on October 10, 1999. They retained
Kassir as the voice but featured radically different animation. The style was
more rounded and cartoony when compared to that of the ABC episodes, which used
a more realistic style that almost emulated a comic book. The Cryptkeeper bore
greater resemblance to his puppet counterpart while maintaining his green skin,
and had a prominent tooth in each gum. Because of new FCC regulations
demanding more educational value from cartoons, the New episodes
were simplified and included more streamlined morality lessons. The Vaultkeeper
and Old Witch were also jettisoned in favor of having the Cryptkeeper in
“disguise” interacting with the characters in the episodes as well as
addressing the viewers, rather than bookending the story with an introduction
and the moral. The revival only lasted for a single season before the show was
cancelled once again.
An issue of the all-new Tales series by Papercutz.
Although Crypt left the
airwaves before the turn of the century, the producers of the HBO series
attempted to keep it going through another medium: radio. 8 of 13 radio shows
were recorded, still starring Kassir, and premiering for free on Seeing Ear Theater, an online subsidiary of the Sci-Fi Channel. 7 of
those were later released on CD by Highbridge Audio. In 2007, Crypt returned to comics
through Papercutz featuring the original GhoulLunatics and covers
reminiscent of the EC books. The new comics ran for 13 regular and 9 digest-sized issues, with
an editorial by Gaines’ daughter, Cathy Gaines Mifsud, on
censorship appearing in regular issue #8. Parodies and homages of the
classic Crypt covers pop up from time to time on various
modern comics and other visual merchandise.
“While the Cat’s Away” (9/18/93) – Two brothers plan to rob an
abandoned mansion and fall afoul of the Cryptkeeper’s monstrous security
system.
“Nature” (9/25/93) – Two brothers torment some ants before they’re
mysteriously shrunk down and forced to deal with the tribulations of being an
insect.
“Pleasant Screams” (10/2/93) – A teacher and his student find
themselves trapped in the fantasies of another student they have tormented.
“Gone Fishin’ / A Little Body of Work” (10/9/93) – A boy tries to warn
his wasteful fisherman uncle that the fish are looking for revenge. / Two thugs
challenge a boy to race them in the Mustang he’s restoring, but little do they
know the car has a mind of its own.
“The Works…In Wax” (10/16/93) – The statues in a boy’s favorite wax
museum come to life.
“The Sleeping Beauty” (10/23/93) – Vain prince Chuck and his nerdy
twin brother Melvin quest to awaken a sleeping princess, not knowing she’s
really a vampire.
“Cave Man” (10/30/93) – A caveman is thawed out and befriended by a
scientist’s son, but has trouble adapting to the modern world.
“Hyde and Go Shriek” (11/6/93) – Wendell drinks a formula that turns
him into a werewolf and allows him to torment his tormentors.
“Fare Tonight” (11/13/93) – Camille and Mildred create a vampire
detector and discover one is much closer than they ever thought.
“Gorilla’s Paw” (11/20/93) – An unpopular boy steals a gorilla’s paw
to get into a secret club, but discovers the wishes it grants come with twisted
results.
“This Wraps It Up” (12/4/93) – A girl teased because of her massive
height suddenly becomes the hero when a mummy unleashes a curse on everyone.
“Grounds for Horror” (12/11/93) – Campers befriend an invisible entity
who plays tricks on their no-nonsense counselor.
“Ghost Ship” (12/18/93) – Two shipwrecked joyriders are rescued by a
haunted ship full of pirates.
Season 2:
“Game Over” (9/10/94) – Two boys skip school to play video games, but
end up in for a fright when the game characters come to life.
“Cold Blood, Warm Hearts / The Spider and the Flies” (9/17/94) – A man
and woman investigating a monster in a lake discover they have much in common.
/ When spiders infest a town, two siblings discover the exterminator isn’t what
he appears to be.
“The Avenging Phantom / Myth Conceptions” (9/24/94) – Jimmy wishes he
could get revenge on bullies like his favorite super hero and gets his wish,
but with dire consequences. / An archaeologist discovers the tomb of Medusa and
discovers how his predecessors died.
“All the Gory Details” (10/1/94) – Two reporters try to track down an
old scientist for a story.
“The Weeping Woman” (10/8/94) – Camille and Mildred investigate a
woman’s ghost that haunts a local inn.
“Dead Men Don’t Jump” (10/15/94) – A boy challenges a monster to a
basketball game for his very life.
“The Haunted Mine” (10/22/94) – A boy ends up in an abandoned mine
that contains a dark secret.
“Growing Pains” (10/29/94) – Wendell returns as a plant enthusiast and
falls for a girl named Rose, whose family has a secret.
“The Brothers Gruff” (11/5/94) – A troll follows Eddie after he
crosses a bridge and kidnaps his brother, leaving Eddie and his friend Sheldon
to get her back.
“Uncle Harry’s Horrible House of Horrors” (11/12/94) – A boy’s
birthday is being spoiled by a skeptical uncle, but a frighteningly realistic
haunted house soon changes his tune.
“Hunted” (11/19/94) – A heartless hunter becomes the hunted when a
shape shifting monster frees his prey and comes after him.
“Chuck (and Melvin) and the Beanstalker” (12/3/94) – Chuck and Melvin
return to steal the treasure of the giant Cyclops Beanstalker.
“Transylvania Express” (12/10/94) – Two surfer dudes accidentally get
on a train headed for Transylvania--and a load of vampires.
Season 3:
“Sharon Sharalike” (9/9/99) – A selfish teenager steals her sister’s
doll and learns the doll doesn’t like when its owners don’t share.
“Imaginary Friend” (9/16/99) – A young kid’s imaginary friend gets
back at two bullies.
“Waste Not, Haunt Not” (9/23/99) – A bog monster is created when two
boys dump the chemicals from their science project into the bog.
“Unpopular Mechanics” (9/30/99) – Destructive inventor Randall creates
a remote control that causes machines to go haywire, but the machines revolt
against him.
“Competitive Spirit” (10/7/99) – Victor tricks his rival into thinking
a ghost lives in the mountains, but the real mountain spirit comes after Victor
for his ways.
“Trouble in Store” (10/14/99) – Two boys locked in a store after hours
discover the mannequins are alive and very protective of their home.
“So Very Attractive” (10/21/99) – An insecure girl buys a beauty cream
that makes her irresistible to everyone, regardless of species or status of
life.
“Drawn and Quartered” (10/28/99) – A magic pencil allows a boy to get
revenge on his bullies through his drawings.
“All Booked Up” (11/4/99) – A boy who hates to read ends up trapped in
a library and literally engulfed in the world of literature.
“Town Gathering” (11/11/99) – A girl discovers a group of businessmen
are actually carnivorous aliens, but no one will believe her because of her
tendency to pull pranks.
“It’s For You” (11/18/99) – A boy uses his new phone line to make
prank calls, and one of his pranks ends up becoming his phone stalker.
“Monsters Ate My Homework” (11/25/99) – A boy tells his teacher
monsters ate his homework, which comes true when monsters come after him for
his homework.
“Too Cool for School” (12/2/99) – Playing around in the school science
lab leads to two girls accidentally creating monstrous half-dinosaur, half-frog
creatures.
