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.
While most people are more likely
familiar with R.L. Stein’s Goosebumpsseries of
children’s horror books, there was another series running at the same time.
Created and mostly written by Betsy Haynes, Bone
Chillerswas a horror anthology series published by HarperCollins. The first book in the
series, Beware
the Shopping Mall, was published in 1994 and was followed by 26
more entries; with the last book published in 1998.
The cast: Fitz, Sarah, Brian and Sarah.
A year after Goosebumps
got its
own television show, Bone Chillers followed suit. Developed by Adam Rifkin, the series decided
to abandon the anthology format in favor of a continuing cast. The series was
set at the fictional Edgar Allan Poe High School, named after the noted writer,
and focused on four freshmen: Brian (Esteban Powell), Lexi (Saadia Persad),
Sarah (Linda Cardellini) and Fitz (John Patrick White). There, they encountered
monsters brought to life by magic spells and lightning, creatures that invaded
their dreams, homicidal plant life, and even an evil principal (Arthur Burghardt). Aiding them
in dealing with the weirdness of school was the school janitor, Arnie (Charles
Fleischer), who lived in the basement (and considering the school was a
cobwebbed-covered mess, he probably should have focused more on his actual job).
Despite being one of
ABC’s top-rated Saturday morning programs, the show unfortunately had a case of
bad timing. Disney had purchased ABC in
1996 and proceeded to expel any show from the network that wasn’t produced or
owned by them outright. As a result, Bone Chillers was cancelled after a
single season of 13 episodes. Ironically, Disney’s home-distribution arm, Buena
Vista Home Entertainment, would release three VHS collections of the series
containing two episodes each: Art
Intimidates Life, Frankenturkeyand Back
to School. The VHS episodes
featured a slightly modified opening sequence, with the show’s title giving way
to also include the tape’s subtitle. The episode “Romeo and Ghouliette” was
also adapted as the
last book in the series, utilizing the show’s characters.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Art Intimidates Life” (9/7/96) – Things that are drawn end up
becoming real.
“Teacher Creature” (9/14/96) – The school’s new teacher is turned into
a frog when he accidentally eats the toxic eggs found by Fritz and Brian in the
swamp.
“Back to School” (9/21/96) – The school’s food is usually disgusting,
but Fitz realizes something is wrong when his classmates begin fighting for
second helpings.
“Frankenturkey” (9/28/96) – Fritz and Brian create a decoy for the
school turkey meant to feed the students, but it ends up struck by lightning
and comes to life.
“Mummy Dearest” (10/5/96) – A mummy interrupts the school play.
“Charlotte’s Revenge” (10/12/96) – The school finds itself under siege
by a giant spider.
“Romeo and Ghouliette” (10/19/96) – Lexi is determined there is
something wrong with new girl Julie, especially since she’s taken an interest
in Fitz.
“Gorilla My Dreams” (10/26/96) – Everyone’s dreams end up invaded by a
gorilla.
“Mr. Fitz and Dr. Hyde” (11/2/96) – Fitz repeatedly transforms into an
insane monster.
“Root of All Evil” (11/9/96) – Plants come to life and attack the students
of the school.
“Edgar Allan Poe-Session” (11/16/96) – When the principal removes Poe’s
bust from the lobby, the writer’s ghost becomes angry.
“Scmendel’s Comet” (11/30/96) – Kirk and his friends find stealing an upcoming
test’s answers a challenge when a passing comet unleashes strange abilities
within the school.
“Full Moon Goon” (12/7/96) – Fitz and Briand discover that Sarah’s new
friend Lobo is a werewolf.
He guest-starred in an episode of Godzilla: The Series as a
police officer and Jack Chapman, and played reporter Jack Kurtzman in several
episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
He starred as Deputroll Flake in Trollkins, Ratso in The Kwicky
Koala Show, Sloppy Smurf in The Smurfs, Mooch in The Biskitts,
and Fat Cat in Kidd Video. He also guest-starred as Howl in Pink
Panther and Sons, Lousy Lizard in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and Quint
in Kenny the Shark as well as provided additional voices for Shirt
Tales, Saturday Supercade and Snorks.
He starred as The Grump in Here Comes the Grump; Sheldon the Sea
Genie in Sigmund and the Sea Monsters; Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (1992); and The Royal
Record Keeper and the Royal Judge in The Emperor’s New School. He also
guest-starred as Mr. Wackypants in an episode of What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and
provided additional voices for Popeye and Son, Snorks and Garfield and Friends.
Created by AmToys, a
subsidiary of American Greetings,
My Pet Monster was a plush doll targeted towards boys; the first of its kind.
Designed to be simultaneously cute and terrifying, the large doll came came with bright
orange manacles that had a trick link that would allow the simulation of his
escaping from them. The manacles could also be removed and worn by kids to act
like the monster themselves.
To promote the doll,
American Greetings went all-out for a major media push by commissioning a
direct-to-video live-action special based on the toy. It was produced by Nelvana with The Global Television Network and Telefilm Canada. Also titled My Pet
Monster, the special finds young Max Smith (Sunny Besen Thrasher) being transformed
into a monster whenever he was hungry due to a strange statue in a museum. Dr.
Snyder (Colin Fox), the man who found and brought back the statues, sought to
capture Max to prove that the legends of their power were true and to validate
his work. The special was written by J.D. Smith and directed by Timothy Bond. It would be
released onto
VHS by Hi-Tops Video
with the doll in 1986.
Monster with Chuckie, Max and Jill.
The doll proved a
hit, and American Greetings sought to keep up the momentum by commissioning
Nelvana to expand the special into an animated series. However, changes were
made to the overall concept. While it still featured Max (again played by Thrasher,
although depicted as blonde and without glasses), this time Monster (Jeff
McGibbon) was a separate entity that could become an inanimate toy when magical
manacles were placed on him. The only others to know about the monster were Max’s
sister, Jill (renamed from Melanie in the special and also made blonde, but
again played by Alyson Court), and Max’s friend, Chuckie (Stuart Stone). Fox
also returned as a new character: next door neighbor Mr. Hinkle who lived with
his dog, Princess (Tracey Moore). Hinkle knew about Monster but always failed
in trying to prove he existed to others. A new antagonist was introduced in the
form of Beastur (Dan Hennessey), who came from Monsterland like Monster and sought
to drag him back home by any means. Beastur was briefly mentioned in the
special in relation to the statues.
The show actually
proved popular enough to warrant a continuation, but American Greetings felt no
need to pursue a second season at let it end after 13 episodes. The My Pet
Monster toyline continued to thrive into the early 90s, spawning dolls of various
sizes, spin-off characters and other merchandise like books,
lunch
boxes and puzzles,
until the appeal had run its course. In 2001, a company named ToyMax
attempted to cash in on nostalgia by releasing a new 22-inch
talking version of the doll. Somewhere along the way, My Pet Monster came into
the possession of Saban Brands and was included in the Hasbro buyout in 2018.
“Goodbye Cuffs, Goodbye Monster” (9/12/87) – Max discovers his new
monster toy is alive while another monster comes looking to bring him home.
“The Wolfmen are Coming!” (9/19/87) – Max tries to get tickets for The
Wolfmen concert while Jill’s costumes make Mr. Hinkle think there are real
wolfmen loose in the neighborhood.
“Boogie Board Blues” (9/26/87) – Max’s friends come to his aid to help
him win the Junior Boogie Board Competition.
“Rock-a-bye Babysitters / Monster Cookie Mix-Up!” (10/2/87) – Max and
Chuckie have to babysit Mr. Hinkle’s niece for Jill, and Monster wants to help.
/ Monster devours the cookies Jill baked for a charity drive and Beastur
interrupts the attempts to replace them.
“The Masked Muncher!” (10/17/87) – Chuckie and school bully Leo make a
bet for the upcoming pie-eating contest, and if Leo wins, he gets Monster.
“Runaway Monster” (10/24/87) – Monster decides to run away when he
thinks everyone forgot his birthday.
“Finders Keepers / My Poet Monster” (10/31/87) – Everyone is after
Monster when he decides to keep the stolen jewels he found. / To thank Max for
teaching him to write, Monster signs Max’s badly-graded essay so that his
mother won’t see it.
“Escape from Monsterland!” (11/7/87) – The kids and Monster end up
trapped in Monsterland.
“Little Bigfoot” (11/14/87) – The kids and Monster go camping with Mr.
Hinkle in an attempt to solve the mystery of Bigfoot.
“Monster Makes the Grade!” (11/21/87) – Intrigued by the school
elections, Monster poses as an exchange student to get involved in the process.
“Monster Movie Mayhem! / Superhero For Hire!” (12/5/87) – The kids
make a movie with Monster that accidentally gets switched with a video of a
show dog. / Monster becomes a superhero and fights crime.
“Gorilla My Dreams” (12/12/87) – Beastur crashes the gang’s trip to
the zoo.
“The Monster Hunter” (12/19/87) – Not only does Monster have to evade
Beastur, but a monster hunter that’s looking for him.
He was an animator on Fractured Fairy Tales, The Gumby Show and
George of the Jungle; served as a producer on Disney’s Adventures of the
Gummi Bears, DuckTales, Darkwing Duck and Aladdin; and directed
episodes of The Smurfs, Snorks, Galtar and the Golden Lance, The 13 Ghosts
of Scooby-Doo, Challenge of the GoBots, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Disney’s
Adventures of the Gummi Bears, DuckTales, Darkwing Duck and Aladdin. He
also provided titles for The Smurfs and served as story director for Space
Stars.
When you're around for a long time, chances are you're gonna end up with some endorsement deals. As part of the Scooby-Doo 50th anniversary, we take a look at some of the commercials starring the cowardly canine. While watching on Saturday morning, you may have seen these...
To celebrate Scooby-Doo's 50th Anniversary, we present to you our latest infographic highlighting the many people who have lent their talent to the franchise from Where Are You? through next year's Scoob. Click on the image to enlarge it.
(Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boomerang SVOD, October
5, 2015-March 18, 2018)
Warner Bros. Animation
For background information on Scooby-Doo, check out the post here.
The 12th incarnation of
the Scooby-Doo franchise decided to
change some things up. Be Cool,
Scooby-Doo! decided to do away with the darker take of its predecessor, Mystery Incorporated, and put a greater
focus on comedy. The characters were given traits and outfits taken straight
from the original 1969 incarnation, but with redesigned character models
described by producer Zac
Moncrief as a “simplistic, edgy design to match the comedic
styling of this latest version.”
New Scooby, same scares.
Be
Cool followed the Mystery, Inc. gang after they had just finished high
school and were determined to spend one last summer together travelling; and,
of course, they constantly encountered monsters and mysteries along the way.
This was the first series in the franchise to not feature any kind of
involvement from Casey
Kasem, who had died the year before, and the first to have Kate Micucci
as Velma, replacing Mindy
Cohn.
Grey Griffin
remained as Daphne and Matthew
Lillard as Shaggy, as well as Frank Welker--the
only original cast member--as Fred and Scooby. It aired between Cartoon Network,
Boomerang
and the Boomerang streaming service for two seasons. It was decided to end the
series in favor of staring a new one: Scooby-Doo
and Guess Who?, which would update The New Scooby-Doo Moviesformat of the kids
encountering various famous and fictional guest-stars. In the meantime, Be
Cool continued to air in reruns on Boomerang.
For background information on Scooby-Doo, check out the post here.
The 11th incarnation of
the Scooby-Doo franchise and the
first not to air on Saturday mornings where Scooby had lived since his 1969
debut (at least until it began airing in reruns). Developed by Mitch
Watson, Spike
Brandt and Tony Cervone,
the series sought to do a few new things while also paying respect to what came
before. It took a tongue-in-cheek approach to the classic Scooby formula by
giving outlandish technology and backstories to the villains which utilized a
character design reminiscent of the original Hanna-Barbera
models with modern flourishes and several design tweaks. It was also done in a
more semi-serious and darker tone, like the original entries in the concurrent
direct-to-video movie series, with a serialized ongoing story arc (with
elements recycled from an unproduced cartoon based on The Goonies).There was a greater focus placed on the
characters’ personal relationships; including seeing Fred and Daphne and Shaggy
and Velma ending up romantically involved.
Sometimes you don't have to leave home for a good mystery.
Unlike the other Scooby shows, instead of
traveling around the country/world, the Mystery, Inc. gang was mostly located
in their hometown of Crystal Cove (replacing Coolsville as established in A
Pup Named Scooby-Doo); the self-proclaimed “Most Hauntedest Place on
Earth”. With that came the reintroduction of genuine supernatural elements to
the television franchise for the first time since The
13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. Frank Welker,
Grey Griffin
and Mindy
Cohn
continued to voice Fred and Scooby, Daphne and Velma, respectively. However,
this marked the animated debut of Matthew Lillard
as Shaggy after having portrayed him in the first two live-action movies.
Original Shaggy Casey
Kasem, who had retired from voice acting in 2009, played
Shaggy’s father in several episodes in what would be his final animation role
before his death in 2014. The series aired on an inconsistent schedule on Cartoon Network;
taking frequent hiatuses after airing blocks of episodes. The ultimate fate of
the show was left in question until it
was finally revealed that it would be ending after 2 seasons and 52
episodes.
He starred as Dragos in Jason of Star Command. He also
guest-starred as a fur smuggler in an episode of Wonderbug, Chief Running
Nose in an episode of Monster Squad (1976), and The Genie in two episodes of
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.
While What’s
New, Scooby-Doo?was a return to the classic Scooby-Doo formula
of the 70s, the 10th incarnation decided to jump ahead to the next
era from the 80s.
Shaggy and Scooby enjoying their patented hot dog tacos.
Shaggy &
Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! put a renewed focus on the titular characters, who
weren’t as much of one in the previous series. The series introduced yet
another uncle for Shaggy (Scott Menville), Dr. Albert Shaggleford (Casey
Kasem): a brilliant inventor who had managed to become targeted by some
despicable people and was forced to go underground. He leaves his estate,
fortune and inventions to Shaggy and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) and they become
his agents in stopping the world-conquering schemes of the nefarious Dr.
Phineus Phibes (named after a Vincent
Price character, voiced by Jeff Bennett). Dr. Phibes was a technology thief
with a prosthetic hand that could change into a variety of devices, as well as
attract lightning strikes leading to his rarely venturing outside himself. To
achieve his goals, Dr. Phibes wanted the nanotech formula Shaggleford invented
that had a variety of applications; including giving random special abilities
to a person if they happened to be ingested (Shaggy frequently baked the
formula into Scooby Snacks). Instead of the Scooby “mystery of the week”
formula, the show only had the one ongoing mystery of where Shaggleford was
since his disappearance; focusing instead on the comedic action and spy-like adventure
elements.
Character models for Mystery, Inc., Robi, Albert, Dr. Trebla and Dr, Phibes.
Warner Bros. had wanted to give the
franchise a fresh new take, which was developed by Ray DeLaurentis and overseen by
Eric Radomski. The decision
was made by Warners to once again dump Fred (Welker), Daphne (Grey DeLisle) and Velma (Mindy Cohn) from the show in
order to streamline the ultimate focus and further cement that this was a new
incarnation of the franchise. The Mystery, Inc. gang did make a couple of cameos
and were full-on guest-stars in one episode, and also continued to be featured
in the ongoing direct-to-video movie series. Once again Shaggy had possession
of the gang’s transport, the Mystery Machine, which he upgraded to be able to
transform into a variety of vehicles (usually the wrong ones for a given
situation).
Agent 1 & 2, Ricky, Mark and Trebla look on as Robi joins Dr. Phibes?
Taking their place
was Shaggleford’s defective robotic butler, Robi (Jim Meskimen). Robi tended to
break through objects instead of going around them, was a lousy cook, and an
impressionist. However, his primary function was to serve as a communication
device between Shaggleford and Shaggy; often appearing as a hologram projection
to warn of Dr. Phibes’ next scheme. Aiding Dr. Phibes was his army of nondescript
agents. They all wore the same uniforms with a number designation on their
chests. Agent 1 (Meskimen) was the no-nonsense second in command of Dr. Phibes’
forces, and was often paired with the dimwitted Agent 2 (Bennett). There was
also his right-hand man and advisor, Dr. Trebla (Menville), who turned out to
be Shaggleford in disguise as a means to spy on Dr. Phibes’ operation. Rounding
out Dr. Phibes’ crew were his own personal inventors Ricky (Bennett) and Mark
(Meskimen), who were based on the titular character and his brother from Napoleon Dynamite,
and Menace (Welker), a recipient of the nanotech formula that made him super
strong and steadily drove him mad.
Pimp My Ride: Scooby Edition.
Shaggy and
Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! debuted on The CW
as part of the Kids’ WB
programming block on September 23, 2006. This would end up being the last
series with the involvement of Hanna-Barbera co-founder
Joseph Barbera, who would pass
away during its production, and the last to originally air on Saturday mornings—Scooby’s
lifetime home. The series marked the first time Kasem had not voiced Shaggy on
a television show, although he continued to do so in the animated films
(notably, Shaggy would return to eating meat in the series), as well as the
first time that the episode titles would be shown at the start of the end
credits instead of at the beginning of the episode. It was also the third to utilize
character designs other than the Hanna-Barbera originals. As animation
production had gone mostly digital, it was decided to alter the character
designs to best utilize the technology as well as compensate for tight budgets and
schedules. The designs were done by Lois M. Lee, taking a strong
inspiration from the live-action Scooby films for the Mystery, Inc.
gang.
Get a Clue! aired
sporadically over the course of two seasons, taking frequent breaks of a few
weeks after a grouping of episodes. Ultimately, the series failed to connect
with viewers who were put off by its radically different art style and changes
to the well-known format. Although what ended up being the series finale ended on
a bit of a cliffhanger, it’s unknown if a third season was ever planned.
“Shags to Riches” (9/23/06) – Shaggy and Scooby explore the mansion
Shaggy’s uncle left him after a villain forces him into hiding.
“More Fondue for Scooby-Doo” (9/30/06) – Albert sends Shaggy and
Scooby to Switzerland to stop Dr. Phibes from interrupting an anti-global
warming conference.
“High Society Scooby” (10/7/06) – Shaggy and Scooby sneak into a
country club to protect three scientists from being abducted by Dr. Phibes.
“Party Arty” (11/4/06) – The homeowners’ association comes down on
Shaggy and Scooby’s housewarming party, which Dr. Phibes plans to crash.
“Smart House” (11/11/06) – Intercepting Dr. Phibes’ computer virus
causes Shaggy and Scooby to release it inside their mansion.
“Lighting Strikes Twice” (11/18/06) – Scooby has to face his fear of
lightning to stop Dr. Phibes’ weather machine.
“Don’t Feed the Animals” (2/3/07) – Dr. Phibes plans to destroy the
rainforest to find the leaves that could lead to eternal life.
“Mystery of the Missing Mystery Solvers” (2/10/07) – Shaggy and Scooby
get so caught up in being honored as mystery solvers that they fail to prevent
people from disappearing.
“Chefs of Steel” (2/17/07) – Dr. Phibes creates a hypnotic hibachi to
use on Scooby and Shaggy to make them reveal the nano-tech formula.
“Almost Ghosts” (2/24/07) – Mystery Inc. reunites to stop Dr. Phibes’
invisible agents from infiltrating an army base.
“Pole to Pole” (3/3/07) – Shaggy and Scooby enter a race to stop Dr.
Phibes’ EMP bomb from wiping out all technology, which they discover has been
planted on the Mystery Machine.
“Big Trouble” (4/28/07) – Albert alerts Scooby and Shaggy to Dr.
Phibes’ attempt to destroy them with a giant robot.
“Operation Dog and Hippy Boy” (5/5/07) – Dr. Phibes assembles a team
of ruthless criminals to destroy Shaggy and Scooby.
Season 2:
“Shaggy and Scooby World” (9/22/07) – Dr. Phibes turns Shaggy and
Scooby’s amusement park into a death trap.
“Almost Purr-fect” (9/29/07) – Shaggy and Scooby’s dog show is
infiltrated by Dr. Phibes in a cat disguise.
“Inside Job” (10/6/07) – Shaggy and Scooby have to figure out how to
purge the nano-bots that Dr. Phibes ingested before he becomes unstoppable.
“Zoinksman” (10/13/07) – Shaggy dons a defective super suit in order
to stop Dr. Phibes from raining nuclear winter upon the world.
“The Many Faces of Evil” (11/3/07) – Dr. Phibes produces an army of
nano-clones that represent a different aspect of his personality.
“Cruisin’ For a Bruisin’” (11/10/07) – Shaggy, Scooby and Dr. Phibes
all decide to take a vacation and end up on the same cruise ship.
“There’s a Doctor in the House” (12/1/07) – When Dr. Phibes’ evilest
clone kicks him out of his lair, he ends up shacking up with Shaggy and Scooby.
“Super Scary Movie Night” (1/26/08) – Dr. Phibes builds versions of
the Universal monsters onto discs and plans to duplicate them.
“Runaway Robi” (2/2/08) – Robi runs away from home when he overhears
Shaggy and Scooby declare he’s not a good personal trainer.
“Don’t Get a Big Head” (2/16/08) – Dr. Phibes makes a new nano formula
to make himself super smart and decides to make the world super dumb.
“Scooby-Dudes” (2/23/08) – Dr. Phibes returns to the ranch he grew up
on and creates giant vicious animals to help him conquer the world.
“Zoinks The Wonderdog” (3/8/08) – When Shaggy’s original dog returns,
Scooby gets jealous and he seeks out his previous owner.
“Uncle Albert Alert” (3/15/08) – Dr. Phibes discovers he has a mole in
his organization: Uncle Albert!