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.
Li’l Abnerwas a
satirical comic strip created by cartoonist Al Capp. The strip focused on the
titular character: a simple and gullible sweet-natured hillbilly that lived in
the fictional backwater town of Dogpatch, which was populated by a variety of
colorful characters. It was the first strip to be based in the southern United
States, as most other strips at the time dealt with northern urban areas. It
debuted on August 13, 1934 and ran an impressive 43 years. At its height, the
strip had 60 million readers across 900 domestic and 100 foreign newspapers in
28 countries. The strip’s final years were marked by a severe decline in
quality, as admitted by Capp, due to his waning interest and failing health. He
decided to end the strip on November 13, 1977 with an apology to his fans for
not doing so sooner, and ultimately died two years later from emphysema caused
by his smoking habit.
Abner learns about the shmoo.
In 1948, Capp debuted his most unique character yet
in the strip: the shmoo. Shmoos
were creatures that resembled bowling pins with legs and faces and a few
whiskers. They had no arms or discernable ears of any kind. They were
essentially a living, breathing resource factory as every part of a shmoo could
be consumed in some way. They tasted delicious and happily gave themselves over
to anyone who was hungry; they laid eggs already in cartons and gave milk
already bottled; their eyes could be used as suspender buttons and their
whiskers as toothpicks; their pelts could be used for various materials depending
on their thickness; and since they had no bones there was no waste. Shmoos
reproduced asexually and at a greater speed than rabbits, and all they required
was air to live. Their gentleness made them great pets and companions for
children, and their ability to perform “Shmoozical Comedies” made them
entertaining for all.
The shmoo extermination begins.
Abner discovered the shmoos when he was thrown into
their forbidden valley by a primitive “large gal”. After learning about them,
Abner realized “Wif these around, nobody won’t nevah havta work no more!” and
led them out of their valley into Dogpatch, and then the rest of the world. With
no one having to work or purchase products and services anymore, society
eventually broke down. Those most affected by this, namely wealthy fat cats,
organized “Shmooicide Squads” to eliminate the creature and restore the status
quo. Abner ended up saving a boy and girl shmoo (sidestepping their
gender-neutral nature in a plot twist) who were married, had a family, and
returned to the Valley of the Shmoon. The shmoos, dubbed in the strip as a
menace by the U.S. Military and a threat to national security, made a few more
appearances in the 50s and 60s before disappearing altogether.
The shmoo savings bond.
The shmoo proved immensely popular. It sparked years
of debates over their supposed commentary on society and the allegory of greed tarnishing
everything that’s good in the world. It also became an unprecedented cultural
phenomenon; especially considering its popularity stemmed solely from the strip
without a marketing campaign of any kind. The character was heavily merchandised,
with the shmoo’s image being used to adorn a wide variety of products and
clothing. In a single year, shmoo merchandise saw over $25 million in sales.
Articles about the shmoo appeared in a variety of major magazines and
newspapers. The word “shmoo” became a part of everyday language, generally
replacing the word “new” in phrases, and it was immortalized in a variety
of novelty songs. In 1949, the shmoo replaced Mickey Mouse as the face of the
Children’s Savings Bond. Simon
& Schuster collected the original comics in The Life and Times of the Shmoo, which became a best-seller that sold
over 700,000 copies within the first year. Capp’s family-owned Toby Press brought the
shmoo to comic books in Al Capp’s Shmoo Comics.
The cast of Fearless Fosdick with the humanized Shmoozer (up front with the whiskers).
Given the character’s popularity, it was only natural
that attempts to adapt it outside of the strip would be made. A more humanized
version named Shmoozer appeared in the short-lived puppet series Fearless
Fosdick, which was based on the Dick
Tracyparody
strip-within-a-strip featured in Li’l
Abner. Shmoos were intended to appear in the 1956 Broadway
musical adaptation of the strip, but were nixed due to impracticality. In
1979, Hanna-Barbera
Productions acquired the rights to bring the shmoo to television in
full-color, animated glory.
Promo for the show.
The New Shmoo debuted
on NBC on September 22, 1979. The series
employed Hanna-Barbera’s tried and true Scooby-Dooformula, ignoring any of the characterizations or allegory from
its source material. The Shmoo (Frank Welker) was now the companion of Nita
(Dolores Cantu-Primo), Mickey (Bill Idelson) and Billy Joe (Chuck McCann);
three kids who worked for Mighty Mystery
Comics and traveled around investigating paranormal happenings for material
for their publication (similar to Goober and the Ghost Chasers). The
Shmoo served as both comic relief and a useful tool in their investigations, as
his malleable form allowed him to assume the shape of anything required in a
pinch (pogo sticks, slides, platters, mice, etc.). During the original run, the
program included a short segment called “Sing Along with the Shmoo” in which
Shmoo became a bouncing ball that helped highlight song lyrics so that the
audience could sing along. The series was written by Gene Ayres, Doug Booth, Arthur Browne Jr., Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut, Len Janson, Dale Kirby, Glenn Leopold, Chuck Menville, Michael Reaves and Jim Ryan, with Menville also
serving as story editor. Hoyt
Curtin composed the series’ music.
Working hard to make those deadlines.
While the comic strip shmoo may have taken the
country by storm, the animated Shmoo failed to repeat that success. After the
first eleven episodes, the series was absorbed into the more successful Fred and Barney Meet the Thing package
program, airing its remaining episodes alongside The Thingand reruns of The New Fredand Barney Show. This new 90-minute block was renamed Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo and the Shmoo episodes were broken up into two-parters to further mix the
segments of the program.As with the
previous incarnation, the characters of the respective shows never interacted
with each other outside of the introduction and commercial bumpers; however,
the Shmoo would star with Fred Flintstone (Henry Corden) and Barney Rubble
(Mel Blanc) in a segment of The Flintstones Comedy Show that debuted
the following year.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Amazing Captain Mentor” (9/22/79) – A new superhero arrives in
town and seems to spend his time rehabilitating bank robbers.
“The Beast of Black Lake” (9/29/79) – Is the Black Lake monster
real—or a hoax?
“The Ber-Shmoo-Da Triangle” (10/6/79) – As the gang sets out for the
Bermuda Triangle, they’re unaware that their pilots are jewel thieves.
“The Crystal Ball of Crime” (10/13/79) – Billy Joe suspects that
crime-predicting Madame Natasha may be crooked herself.
“Dr. Morton’s Monster” (10/20/79) – Dr. Morton’s robot is programmed
to repair damage, but the townsfolk believe it caused it instead.
“The Energy Robbers from Space” (10/27/79) – A scientist helps the
gang get to the bottom of extraterrestrial energy thieves.
“The Flying Disc of Doom” (11/3/79) – Aliens arrive with the seeming
ability to control time.
“The Haunting of Atlantis” (11/10/79) – The gang joins in on a quest
to find Atlantis.
“Monster Island” (11/17/79) – A distress call brings the gang to an
island full of mythological monsters on the loose.
“The Pyramid of Peril” (11/24/79) – The gang tries to prove to a
billionaire that a youth-restoring pyramid isn’t what it seems.
“The Return of Dracula” (12/1/79) – The gang learns that Dracula
lives!
“Swamp of Evil” (12/8/79) – Ending up lost on their vacation, the gang
gets involved in a mystery to find who’s polluting the swamp.
“The Terror of the Trolls” (12/15/79) – The gang investigates reports
of a horde of trolls menacing an island.
“The Valley Where Time Stood Still” (12/22/79) – While visiting a
ranch the gang discovers a lost prehistoric valley.
“The Wail of the Banshee” (12/29/79) – A banshee haunts the Dalton
estate.
“The Warlock of Voodoo Island” (1/5/80) – The gang investigates a
warlock terrorizing the lighthouse where Mickey’s grandmother works.
The series saw an advance in the Popeye story with Popeye (Maurice
LaMarche) and Olive Oyl (Marilyn Schreffler) having finally tied the knot and
settling down in the town of Sweethaven. Although Popeye still owned his boat,
the Olive, he traded in his sailor
suit for a Hawaiian shirt and part ownership in a fitness center with Olive.
Oh, and they also had a kid--aptly named Popeye Junior (Josh Rodine). Junior
shared Popeye’s ability to get enhanced strength by ingesting spinach, however
he didn’t share his father’s love of the vegetable; detesting the taste and
begrudgingly downing it when the situation called for it.
Popeye and Junior being harassed by Bluto and Tank.
Surprisingly enough, Popeye’s rival, Bluto (Allan Melvin), also managed
to settle down into a life as a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman seen
hobnobbing with the who’s who of the town. He married Lizzie (Schreffler), one
of Olive’s friends, and had a son named Tank (David Markus). Tank was very much
a chip off the old block as he often antagonized Junior whenever the
opportunity presented itself. Other Popeye
characters made frequent appearances, including J. Wellington Wimpy
(Melvin) as the owner of a local diner, and the magical Eugene the Jeep (Don
Messick) as the Popeye family’s pet. New characters included Junior’s friends
Woody (Nancy Cartwright), Dee Dee (Kaleena Kiff) and Poly (Penina Segall), as
well as Tank’s thuggish buddies Puggy (Schreffler) and Rad (B.J. Ward).
Junior leading Woody, Dee Dee and Polly on an adventure on the Olive.
Popeye and Son debuted on CBS
on September 9, 1987. The series was a blend of family and adventure stories
with a larger focus on Junior and his world. Like the previous series,
stringent rules for children’s television kept the outright violence of the Popeye franchise from being featured in
favor of off-screen conflict and slapstick antics, and Popeye’s pipe was more
of a tool than something to be smoked. Each episode was broken up into two
segments written by Cliff Roberts,
Eric Lewald, Anthony Adams,
Mark Cassutt,
Bruce Faulk,
Charles M.
Howell IV, Kelly
Ward, Pamela Hickey, Dennys McCoy, Ken Koonce, Bryce Malek, Scott Shaw, David Weimers
and John Loy,
who also served as the associate story editor. Jeff Segal
and Ward were the primary story editors, and Hoyt Curtin produced the
series’ music; with the exception of Popeye’s theme composed by Sammy Lerner.
Model sheet.
Unfortunately, the series didn’t prove a hit and was cancelled after a
single season of 13 episodes. Once it left the network it did make brief rerun rounds
on cable, particularly as part of USA
Network’sCartoon Express programming
block. Beyond that, future Popeye media
has chosen to ignore the characters and events of the series. Merchandising for
the show included a bundle
of play money featuring Popeye and Junior and ball
puzzles featuring scenes inspired by the show by Ja-Ru; Thermo-Serv
made a lunchbox
that had an embossed image of the characters and show’s title on the lid; Milton
Bradley made a puzzle;
and a stationery set that was based on the “Attack of the Sea Hag” segment.
Father-son bonding time.
Channel 5 released three VHS collections in the United Kingdom as Popeye and Son: A New Generation.
Each tape contained two episodes and released episodes 1-4 and 9-10 overall. In
2008, Warner
Home Video had planned to release eight episodes of the show onto DVD as Popeye & Friends Vol. 2, which would
follow up the previous collection’s selection of The All-New Popeye Hour episodes. However, the poor sales of Vol. 1prompted Warner to cancel its wide release and instead only released
it in Australia. It contained episodes 1-2 and 5-6. Hollywood DVD Ltd.
released their own
collection in the UK containing episodes 1-5 and 10. That release had also
been combined in collections with other series, including Prince Valiant, Defenders of the Earth, Galaxy Rangers,Krazy Kat & Popeye Hour. The entire series has been made
available for streaming as part of Amazon
Prime Video.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Attack of the Sea Hag / Happy Anniversary” (9/19/87) – Junior finds a
wooden mermaid that ends up in the hands of the Blutos—and the sights of the
Sea Hag. / Believing Popeye forgot their anniversary leads him and Olive to
recount the day they were married.
“The Sea Monster / Poopdeck Pappy and the Family Tree” (9/26/87) –
Bluto decides to capture and sell the sea monster the kids have befriended. / Junior
becomes embarrassed by the relatives Poopdeck Pappy tells his class about.
“Bluto’s Wave Pool / Here Today, Goon Tomorrow” (10/3/87) – Tank and
his friends ruin the beach in order to get people to visit Bluto’s Wave Park. /
Woody ends up kidnapped by the Goons and taken to Goon Island.
“Don’t Give Up the Picnic / The Lost Treasure of Pirate’s Cove”
(10/10/87) – Bluto and Tank cheat to win the competitions at the town picnic. /
Junior and his friends head out to follow a treasure map with Tank and his goons
right behind them.
“Junior’s Genie / Mighty Olive at the Bat” (10/17/87) – Finding a genie
causes Junior to behave more like Tank. / Olive volunteers to replace an
injured Popeye in the father-son baseball game, but there’s a problem: she’s a
lousy player.
“Junior Gets a Job / Surf Movie” (10/24/87) – Junior ends up working
for Bluto to earn some quick money for Olive’s birthday gift. / Junior ends up
cast in a movie being filmed in town and Bluto and Lizzie scheme to get him
replaced with Tank.
“Junior’s Birthday Roundup / Redbeard” (10/31/87) – Junior refuses to
celebrate his birthday if Tank is invited to his party. / Stowing away on Redbeard’s
ship leads Junior to witness his being captured by pirates.
“The Girl from Down Under / Olive’s Dinosaur Dilemma” (11/7/87) – When
a new girl from “down under” arrives in town, all the marine life begins
disappearing. / A hot-air balloon lands Olive in a lost prehistoric land.
“Dr. Junior and Mr. Hyde / Popeye’s Surfin’ Adventure” (11/14/87) – Junior
and Woody accidentally drink Professior Whatasnozzle’s formula, turning them
into monsters. / Believing surfing doesn’t take much skill, Popeye challenges
Junior to a surfing contest.
“Split Decision / The Case of the Burger Burglar” (11/21/87) – When
Polly spends a lot of time with her new basketball team, Dee Dee joins a
hang-gliding club and gets blown away. / Francis and Junior tries to find who’s
been stealing burgers from Wimpy.
“Orchid You Not / Ain’t Mythbehavin’” (11/28/87) – Eugene snatches a
lot of orchids, leading Popeye and Junior to follow him to a cave full of
Jeeps. / Popeye and Junior go on a quest for the Golden Fleece.
“There Goes the Neighborhood / Prince of a Fellow” (12/5/87) – One of
Junior’s classmates turns out to be a werewolf, and Bluto is determined to run
his family out of town. / Junior trades places with Rex, a young prince that he
resembles.
“Olive’s Day Off / Damsel in Distress” (12/12/87) – Olive takes the
day off leaving Popeye and Junior to clean up the house in time for Granny
Popeye’s visit. / Popeye and Bluto race to see who can rescue a damsel, which
turns out to be a trap set by the Sea Hag.
In 1984, political cartoonist Mike Peters wanted to branch
out and begin his own daily comedy strip. He always imagined it based on a dog
that acted like a real dog, unlike the anthropomorphic Snoopy over in Peanuts, because he found he could relate to a
dog. Mother
Goose and Grimmwas centered
on Mother Goose who lived in a shoe (combining the fairytale Mother Goose
with The
Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe) with her dog, hyperactive yellow Bull Terrier
Grimmy (named after the Brothers Grimm),
dimwitted Boston Terrier Ralph, and belligerent purple cat Attila (named after Attila the Hun). They lived
in a world populated by a mix of fairy tale creatures and normal humans. The
strip is steeped in pop culture, often spoofing or referencing things that are
big at the time and notable fictional characters. When the muse descends, the
strip could abandon its core cast and continuing story in favor of stand-alone
one-panel gags. The strip debuted on October 1st and is distributed
by King Features Syndicate to over 800
newspapers.
The first Mother Goose & Grimm strip.
At the height of the strip’s
popularity, Tribune Media decided the
time was right to try and duplicate the success fellow comic strip Garfieldfound in being translated to animation.
To hedge their bets, they contracted Garfield and Friends’ production
companies, Film Roman and Lee Mendelson Productions, to
produce the series, and the show’s story editor, voice director and primary
writer, Mark Evanier, to perform the
same duties (which also meant hiring a number of the same staff). Hell, they
even found a home for it on the same network--CBS--and
had commercials with
Garfield (Lorenzo Music)
promoting the show.
Grimmy and Attila.
Mother
Goose and Grimm debuted on CBS on September 14, 1991. It starred husband
and wife team Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall as Grimmy and Mother Goose,
respectively, with veteran voice actor Greg Burson as Attila. Wang Film Production
Company and Cuckoo’s
Nest Studios handled the animation and duplicated Peters’ style perfectly;
making it seem like the show jumped right off of the newspaper page. Peters
himself designed the series’ opening of Grimmy trying to elude overzealous
dogcatcher, Sven Rottweiler (Hal Rayle,
impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger),
which was directed by producer Phil
Roman. Ron Grant
composed the series’ music.
Mother Goose and Ham.
Each episode was broken up into two segments with Evanier writing most of
them. Gordon Kent and Earl Kress penned the remaining
ones. The strip’s sarcasm was toned down in favor of more traditional cartoon
slapstick, particularly centered around Grimmy’s fascination with household
appliances (a trait shared by his creator) and his love of fire hydrants and
garbage, as well as 4th wall-breaking humor reminiscent of Garfield. A recurring gag in the end
credits featured Peters’ wife Marian
performing a variety of imaginary functions on the show (like choreographer)
with a corresponding nickname (like “Flash Dance”).
Grimmy at the mercy of neighborhood bullies.
Along with the normal (exaggerated) ordeals of a dog’s life, Grimmy
sometimes had to deal with a gang of neighborhood bully dogs on top of the
dogcatcher. A major recurring character on the show was Mother Goose’s neighbor
Ham (Eddie Deezen), one of the Three
Little Pigs (actually numbered four including a sister, all voiced by
Deezen) that was constantly afraid of the Big Bad Wolf (Gregg Berger) coming for them.
A silent fish named Lassie (named after the dog)
was Mother Goose’s other pet.
Unfortunately, despite duplicating nearly
all the components of Garfield and
Friends, the actual success of the series was not as easily duplicated. The
show struggled through its 13-episode run, although it did bring in respectable
enough ratings to be brought back for a second season of reruns. CBS conducted
research on its failings and determined that kids were put off by the title,
believing it to be just “nursery rhyme” stuff. They changed the name to simply Grimmy for the second season complete
with a new opening. The name change did the series no favors and it was permanently
cancelled by March of 1993.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Puppy Love Story / Brotherhood of Ham” (9/14/91) – Grimmy falls for a
dog he met in the park that ends up being a cat. / Ham alerts his brothers to a
wolf sighting in town, however it turns out he’s given up pig eating for real
estate development.
“Expensive Taste / Lassie Swim Home” (9/21/91) – Mother Goose wins the
lottery but Grimmy ends up eating the ticket. / Grimmy takes Lassie for a walk
and ends up losing him while trying to prevent some cats from eating him.
“Funny Business / The Boogie Man” (9/28/91) – Needing to pay for
destroying Mother Goose’s garden, Grimmy gets a job as a court jester’s
assistant. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Grimm Encounter / The Grocery Grabber” (10/5/91) – While camping,
Grimmy encounters alien dogs. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Ham Alone / Sheep Thrills” (10/12/91) – Ham is worried that the wolf
is after him and holes himself up in Mother Goose’s house. / Mother Goose writes
an updated version of Little Bo Peep starring
Grimmy.
“Hero Worship / Search for Soap” (10/19/91) – Grimmy tries desperately
to meet his hero, Carl the Wonder Poodle, only to discover he is a she. / After
Grimmy accidentally destroys the TV, Mother Goose stops at nothing to try and
get to watch her favorite soap.
“The Fur Flies / It’s a Flea Country” (10/26/91) – Getting a chance to
enter Attila in a cat show, Mother Goose tries to ensure Grimmy doesn’t scare
the fur off him. / While Mother Goose tries to teach Grimmy a trick to beat
Jack Sprat’s dog, his fleas drive him nuts as they go camping.
“Bone of Contention / The Sweeper Creeper” (11/2/91) – When two bully
dogs steal Grimmy’s food, he ends up in a museum trying to feast on a dinosaur
bone. / Grimmy and Attila find themselves at the mercy of Mother Goose’s vacuum
cleaner.
“The Wickedest Witch / Motel Mutt” (11/9/91) – A wicked witch turns
Mother Goose into a frog as payback for all her stories making witches look
bad. / Grimmy tries to fight getting a bath while one of his fleas checks into
a motel to get away from his nagging wife
“Pussycat Pooch / Open All Night” (11/16/91) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Getaway Grimmy / Tail of a Puppet” (11/23/91) – Overhearing a phone
call, Grimmy and Attila believe Mother Goose wants to get rid of them. / Being
pursued by the dogcatcher for not having a leash, Grimmy uses a puppet with a
leash on his tail to fool him.
“The Egg and Us / Hyde and Go Seek” (11/30/91) – When Humpty Dumpty
falls off a wall, Grimmy, Attila and Ham have to find a Dr. Gleep to fix him
up. / Grimmy accidentally drinks some of the formula Dr. Jekyll left behind on
his last visit.
“Trash Night Trouble / Mirror Monster” (12/7/91) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
For the history of Popeye, check out the post here.
In 1978 CBS had
acquired the television rights to Popeyeand approached Hanna-Barbera
Productions about making a Christmas special centered around the character. Instead,
that involved into an all-new Saturday morning television series.
Popeye with Olive, Swee'Pea, Eugene, Wimpy, Poopdeck and his nephews.
The All-New
Popeye Hour was an hour-long program featuring one-eyed strongman sailor
Popeye (Jack Mercer, reprising the role he’s held since 1935), his girlfriend
Olive Oyl, adopted son Swee’Pea (both Marilyn Schreffler), his hamburger-loving
moocher friend J. Wellington Wimpy (Daws Butler, impersonating W.C. Fields), his father
Poopdeck (also Mercer), and his lookalike nephews Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and
Pupeye (Mercer and Schreffler, respectively). Rounding out the cast to provide
troubles for him were fellow sailor, Bluto (Allan Melvin), and the pirate
witch, the Sea Hag (Schreffler). Long-time Olive performer Mae Questel auditioned for the
role again, but was turned down in favor of frequent studio collaborator
Schreffler.
Publicity cel of Popeye giving chase to Bluto giving chase to Olive.
Hanna-Barbera attempted to maintain the style of the
original Thimble Theatercomic strip (where Popeye starred until it was renamed Popeye that decade). As a result, the all-white
Navy uniform Popeye had worn in theatrical
and television shorts since World War II was
replaced by the sailor uniform he originally wore in the strip. The only exception
was his hat, which maintained its Navy styling. Notably, Bluto’s name was
restored, having been changed to Brutus by King
Features, publisher of the Popeye strip,
for their 1960s televised shorts. King Features had been under the belief that Paramount Pictures, distributor of the
original theatrical shorts, owned the character and decided to change the name
to avoid any legal hassle. In fact, the character was created by E.C. Segar
for the comic strip a year before the first Popeye
short had debuted.
Balancing the line between violence and comedy.
However, the faithfulness ended there. Due to
increasing restrictions on violence for children’s cartoons, Popeye and Bluto
didn’t fight as they once had. Bluto was more concerned with outwitting Popeye
in whatever they were doing by any means necessary, and Popeye often got his
vengeance by using his spinach-powered strength to outperform or simply toss
Bluto away. At the end of every episode, Bluto would even admit that his
cheating is what did him in, providing the prosocial moral message as the
capper. Popeye was also no longer
allowed to smoke his trademark pipe. Instead, it served merely as a musical
instrument for him to toot; particularly when singing his theme song.
Popeye, Olive and Eugene on the hunt for treasure.
The All-New
Popeye Hour debuted on CBS on September 9, 1978. Each episode was broken up
into several segments. The Adventures of
Popeye, or simply Popeye, was a
standard Popeye adventure that would see Popeye overcome adversity (usually
caused by Bluto) on land, sea or other time periods. Popeye’s Treasure Hunt followed Popeye and Olive as the co-owners
of Treasure Seekers, Ltd. Together, they would travel to various parts of the
world to search for hidden treasure with the aid of Eugene the Jeep (Don
Messick). Bluto of Bluto’s Treasure Salvage would follow close behind, looking
to steal the treasure for himself. The Treasure
Hunt segment was often broken up into two parts shown at different times
during the episode and aired every other week. Rounding out the hour was the
completely unrelated Dinky Dog, which
was not created by Segar and had nothing to do with any of his comic strips.It followed the adventures of sisters
Monica (Julie Bennett) and Sandy (Jackie Joseph) who had adopted a tiny puppy
(Frank Welker) that ended up growing into an enormous handful (more on Dinky in his own entry). In between the
segments to further the prosocial content, there would be Popeye’s Safety Tips; quick 30-second bits where Popeye would educate
his nephews on safety and lead them away from the bad influence of
anthropomorphic wolf Mr. No-No (John Stephenson). 1979 saw the addition of Popeye’s Sports Parade, in which Popeye
and Bluto would compete in various athletic competitions as Wimpy played
referee. There was also a special: the half-hour The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea, which was the
first time a singular story took up the entire running time.
Popeye giving his nephews an edumikashun.
In 1981, the show was reduced to a half hour and
renamed The Popeye and Olive Comedy Show. Dinky Dog was spun off into his own
show, and two new segments were added. The first, Prehistoric Popeye, followed the standard Popeye story format
except he and his friends now lived in the stone age. Private Olive Oyl, inspired by the 1980 film Private Benjamin, saw
Olive and Alice the Goon (Schreffler) as part of an all-female platoon in the U.S. Army. Olive and Alice would often
accidentally cause chaos that would set off their superior, Sergeant Bertha
Blast (Jo Anne Worley), but would somehow continually put them in good favor
with the oblivious Colonel Crumb (Hal Smith) by solving one of his problems. The
segment didn’t really focus on war and instead was centered on life in the
barracks.
18 segments were released to DVD by Rhino Home Video in 2000: “The Spinach Bowl”,
“Pedal-Powered-Popeye”, “Olive’s Shining Hour”, “The Loneliness of the Long
Distance Popeye”, “Popeye’s Self Defense”, “The Umpire Strikes Back”, “The
Decathlon Dilemma”, “Take Me Out to the Brawl Game”, “Olive Does Dallas”, “The
Great Speckled Whale”, “Shark Treatment”, “Popeye the Sleepwalker”, “A Goon
Gone Gooney”, “Popeye Goes Sailing”, “Pappy Falls in Love”, “Ships that Pass in
the Fright”, “Popeye Snags the Seahag”,
and “The Game”. In 2008, Warner
Home Video released Popeye & Friends Volume Onewhich contained eight additional segments:
“Abject Flying Object”, “Ship Ahoy”, “I Wouldn’t Take That Mare to the Fair on
a Dare”, “Popeye Goes Sightseeing”, “Chips off the Old Ice Block”, “Popeye the
Plumber”, “Swee’Pea Plagues a Parade” and “Polly Wants Some Spinach”. In 2011, Visual Entertainment Inc.
released the complete collection of Dinky
Dog segments onto its
own DVD.
EPISODE GUIDE (Dinky Dog segments will be handled in
its own entry):
Season 1:
“Popeye the Carpenter / I Wants Me Mummy” (9/9/78) – Bluto and Popeye
end up destroying Olive’s house while competing to hang a picture for her. /
Popeye and Olive are hired by a mummy enthusiast to find Cleopatra’s treasure.
“The Ski’s the Limit / Popeye and the Beanstalk / The Big Wheel”
(9/16/78) – Popeye is hopeless on skis until Swee’Pea is threatened by an
avalanche. / Popeye trades his cows for some beans that end up growing a giant
beanstalk. / While hanging out at the amusement park, Bluto plots to get rid of
Popeye to be alone with Olive.
“Popeye the Sleepwalker / The Terrifyink Transylvania Treasure Trek”
(9/23/78) – Olive tries to keep Popeye from hurting himself when he sleepwalks
after a tiring expedition. / Count von Dracula hires Popeye and Olive to find
his family’s treasure in Transylvania.
“A Whale of a Tale / Olive’s Shining Hour / A Bad Knight for Popeye”
(9/30/78) – To help his nephews sleep, Popeye tells them the story of a mighty
sailor who was swallowed by a whale. / Eager to show off her new tennis skills,
Olive enlists Popeye as his partner in a game against Bluto and his girlfriend.
/ In the Middle Ages, farmer Popeye takes up the task to rescue Princess Olive
from evil knight Bluto.
“Popeye Goes Sailing / The Sword of Fitzwilly” (10/7/78) – Bluto is
determined to get Olive onto his boat, so he sinks Popeye’s. / Popeye and Olive
head to England to find a special sword.
“A Seal with Appeal / A Day at Muscle Beach / The Crunch for Lunch Bunch”
(10/14/78) – Popeye’s nephews adopt a seal and try to hide from him that they
let it in the house. / An outing at the beach is interrupted by its king,
Bluto. / When cavemen Popeye and Bluto fail to bring any food to Olive’s diner,
she decides to go out hunting herself.
“Wilder Than Usual Blue Yonder / Play It Again Popeye” (10/21/78) –
Olive refuses to go flying in Popeye’s newly-restored biplane. / The treasure
hunters are all hired to find the same Casablanca Falcon.
“Popeye Out West / Popeye the Plumber / Spinach Fever” (10/28/78) – The
Bluto Boys come riding into the Western town where Popeye is sheriff to cause
trouble. / Olive hires Popeye and Swee’Pea to fix her plumbing and they end up
making a mess of her house. / While out at a disco, Popeye gets jealous when
Olive is impressed by Bluto’s dance moves.
“Heir-Brained Popeye / Captain Meno’s Sunken Treasure” (11/4/78) – Popeye
gives chase to his uncle’s will when it blows away. / Marvin Meno hires Popeye
and Olive to find his grandfather’s lost treasure.
“Popeye and Bigfoot / Popeye’s Engine Company / Getting Popeye’s Goat”
(11/11/78) – Bluto dresses up as Bigfoot to spoil Popeye and Olive’s camping
trip. / When Olive’s oven smokes, firemen Popeye and Bluto compete to see who
will put it out. / Popeye babysits the Navy Reserve’s goat mascot who happens
to have a monstrously ravenous appetite.
“Close Encounters of the Third Spinach / The Delmonica Diamond”
(11/18/78) – Popeye finds a message from Princess Olive-Pit and sets out to
rescue her from Darth Bluto. / Popeye and Olive are hired by the queen of
Delmonica to find their stolen crown jewel.
“Popeye’s Finest Hour / Popeye and the Pest / Popeye Meets the
Blutostein Monster” (11/25/78) – A computer error recalls Popeye to the Navy
where he ends up in a unit with Bluto’s nephew. / A mosquito disturbs Popeye’s
peaceful fishing trip. / A mad scientist’s creation falls in love with Olive.
“Ship Ahoy / The Treasure of Howe’s Bayou” (12/2/78) – Bluto ruins
Popeye’s attempts to teach his nephews how to sail. / Bluto tries to help
himself to Olive’s inheritance.
“Here Stew You / Popeye and the Pirates / Popeye Goes Hollywood”
(12/9/78) – Popeye and Olive end up shipwrecked on an island inhabited by
Goons. / Popeye and Princess Olive are set upon by Blutobeard the Pirate. /
Popeye and Bluto compete for the same stuntman job.
“Popeye’s Roots / Spring Daze in Paris” (12/16/78) – Poopdeck teaches
the nephews about their ancestors. / Popeye and Olive’s Paris vacation is cut
short when Olive volunteers to find a treasure for Marie Antoinette’s
descendent.
“Popeye Snags the Seahag / The Three Ring Ding-a-Ling / A Day at the
Rodeo” (12/23/78) – P.I. Popeye is called upon to stop the Sea Hag from
hijacking ships. / At the circus, strongman Bluto attempts to ruin Popeye’s
trapeze routine. / Bluto cheats at the rodeo for a date with rodeo queen Olive.
“The Decathlon Dilemma / Coldfinger” (1/6/79) – Poopdeck and Eugene
teach Popeye a lesson about ageism. / Popeye and Olive are tasked by the
government to retrieve a satellite from a notorious master villain.
“Chips off the Old Ice Block / Popeye of the Klindike / Popeye Goes
Sightseeing” (1/13/79) – Bluto decides he’s the better ice skater and should
teach Swee’Pea how to skate. / Olive relays the story of Popeye and Bluto’s
time in Alaska during the Gold Rush. / Popeye loses Swee’Pea in New York and
sets out to find him before Olive learns about it.
“Shark Treatment / A Horse of a Flying Color” (1/20/79) – Popeye and
Poopdeck head out for a sea adventure where they encounter old enemies of
Poopdeck’s. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Bluto’s Bike Bullies / Mother Goose on the Loose / Steeple Chase at
Ups and Downs” (1/27/79) – Bluto challenges Popeye to a game of chicken, and he
accepts not knowing what it is. / Popeye and Bluto compete in telling stories
to Swee’Pea while babysitting. / Olive inherits a horse and tries to fulfill
her uncle’s final wish of seeing it win the steeplechase at Up and Downs.
“A Camping We Will Go / The Mask of Gorgonzola” (2/3/79) – When bears
eat their food, Popeye teaches his nephews how to live off the land. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Take Me Out to the Brawl Game / I Left My Spinach in San Francisco”
(2/10/79) – Popeye and Bluto are tasked with getting attendance up at a ball
park. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Popeye Versus Machine / A Trio in Rio” (2/17/79) – Popeye and Bluto
compete for a contract by building a 22-mile freeway through the mountains. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Spinach Bowl / Popeye at the Center of the Earth” (2/24/79) – Popeye
and Bluto’s football teams play against each other. / Underground creatures
take Poopdeck and Popeye has to get him back.
“Ballet-Hooey / Boola Boola Hula” (3/3/79) – Popeye gives chase when
Bluto steals his basketball. / On a Hawaiian vacation, Olive ends up buying a
parrot that knows the way to a treasure in ancient ruins.
“Yukon Country Mountie / Treasure of Werner Schnitzel” (3/10/79) – Popeye
and Bluto volunteer to guard the payroll, which ends up stolen along with
Olive. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
Season 2:
“Queen of the Load / Plunder Down Under” (9/10/79) – Trucker Bluto
decides to improve his business by getting Olive as his partner. / An
Australian treasure hunt leads Popeye and Poopdeck to encounter a couple of
Goons.
“Love on the Rocks / Popeye the Lone Legionnaire / Roller Rink-a-Dink”
(9/17/79) – Popeye builds a monument to his love for Olive, but Bluto tries to
interfere. / Popeye has to retake his desert fort from desert pirate Bluto. /
Bluto tries to butt in on Popeye and Olive’s skate date and Popeye challenges
him to a skating competition.
“Old McPopeye Had a Farm / King of the Rodeo” (9/24/79) – Popeye and
his nephews help out at his uncle’s farm as Bluto keeps stealing from it. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Polly Wants Some Spinach / The Loneliness of the Long Distance Popeye
/ Popeye’s High School Daze” (10/1/79) – Opening a window to let the dust out
allows Olive’s parrot to escape. / Bluto cheats as he runs the Boston Marathon
with Popeye and Olive. / Their yearbook sets Popeye and Olive into a daydream
about their school days.
“Mule-itary Detail / The Reel Hollywood Treasure Hunt” (10/8/79) – Popeye
tries to return a mule to the army base but keeps being outsmarted. / Popeye
and his nephews head for a treasure hunt in Hollywood.
“Boo-Who / Building Blockheads / Olive’s Bugged House Blues”
(10/15/79) – When Popeye and Olive take refuge in a spooky old castle, Bluto
tries to scare them away. / Popeye and Olive try to build the world’s tallest
building before Bluto. / Popeye brings Olive a cricket for a housewarming
present, but instead of luck it just brings her misery.
“The Game / Sky High Fly Try” (10/22/79) – Popeye and Olive end up
stranded on hunter Bluto’s island, and he’s eager to hunt humans. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Free Hauling Brawl / Pedal-Powered Popeye / Wotsa Matterhorn?”
(10/29/79) – Popeye and Bluto compete in a cross-country truck race for a
driving job. / Popeye and Olive compete against Bluto in a cross-country bike
race. / Popeye and Bluto compete to climb the Matterhorn first.
“Popeye’s Aqua Circus / The Great Decathlon Championship” (11/5/79) – Bluto
wants to take over Popeye’s circus and tries to ruin each act to make him look
bad. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Popeye’s Poodle Problem / Take It or Lump It / Westard Ho! Ho!”
(11/12/79) – Popeye takes Olive’s new poodle to the dog show but encounter
Bluto and his dog on the way. / Bluto takes the place of the MC on the game
show Popeye and Olive are on. / Popeye tells his nephews about how he dug the
Grand Canyon.
“Bad Day at the Bakery / Popeye in Wonderland” (11/19/79) – Popeye and
Bluto’s fighting causes him to mix cement into his bread batter. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Bully Dozer / Popeye the Painter / Popeye the Robot” (11/26/79) – Popeye
and Bluto battle over who gets to wake up sleeping Olive with a kiss. / Popeye
and Bluto compete to paint a building to win a lucrative contract. / Bluto
unleashes a robotic Popeye to ruin National Popeye Day.
“Swee’Pea Plagues a Parade / Fantastic Gymnastics” (12/3/79) – Swee’Pea’s
parade debut is spoiled by his desire to chase a balloon. / NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Paddle Wheel Popeye / Water Ya Doin’” (12/10/79) – Popeye and Bluto
compete in a boat race. / Popeye and Bluto compete in a water competition being
judged by Olive and Wimpy.
Season 3:
“Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras / No Fuel Like an Old Fuel”
(12/17/79) – Bluto uses multiple costumes to spoil Popeye’s enjoyment of Mardi
Gras. / O.G. Wotasnozzle calls on Popeye to drive the car powered by his new
fuel in the National Energy Saving Cross Country Race.
“A Goon Gone Gooney / Bad Company / Popeye of Sherwood Forest / Top
Kick in Boot Camp” (12/24/79) – Popeye, Olive and Bluto end up stranded on Goon
Island and their queen wants to make Popeye her own. / When the nephews choose
to go to a picnic with Bluto, Popeye and Olive follow in disguise to make sure
they’re okay. / Popeye and his men steal from the crooked Sheriff of Rottenham
and give the money back to the poor. / Corporal Popeye and Sergeant Bluto are
ordered to conduct Private Olive’s physical training.
“Peask and Quiet / Dublin or Nothin” (12/31/79) – Needing a break from
his nephews, Olive takes them camping while Popeye and Eugene head to a
mountain cabin. / Popeye and Olive head to Ireland to help his uncle find his
lost silver shillelagh.
“Spa-ing Partners / Abject Flying Object” (1/7/80) – Popeye and Bluto
compete for instructor jobs at Olive’s health spa. / While Olive and Popeye
befriend a visiting alien, Bluto tries to capture him to get rich.
“Ships that Pass in the Fright / Around the World in 80 Hours”
(1/14/80) – Bluto comes to save a stranded Popeye and Olive, but attempts to
leave Popeye behind. / Popeye makes a bet that he can go around the world in 80
hours without transportation for a donation to his favorite orphanage.
“Olive Goes Dallas / Popeye’s Perilous Pursuit of a Pearl / Popeye’s
Self Defense” (1/21/80) – Olive tries out to be a cheerleader and Bluto
attempts to become a judge to ruin her chances. / The Sea Hag wants a Black
Pearl for its magical powers and decides to let Popeye and Olive find it for
her. / Popeye takes an exercise class to be strong without Spinach only to
discover Bluto is the instructor.
“Pappy Falls in Love / Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here” (1/28/80) – Poopdeck
and Bluto compete for the affections of a woman they meet on a cruise. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Alpine for You / Popeye of the Jungle / Tour Each His Own” (2/4/80) –
Popeye tries to recover Olive’s pet lamb from Bluto. / Popeye tells Swee’Pea
about a jungle-dwelling relative. / Popeye and Bluto compete to get Olive’s
business for their struggling tour guide operations.
“The Umpire Strikes Back / Beyond the Spinach Brick Road” (2/11/80) – Popeye,
Olive and Swee’Pea aren’t doing well in their baseball game against Bluto. / NO
SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Tough Sledding / Unidentified Fighting Object / W.O.I.L.” (2/18/80) –
Popeye and Olive go to see how they can help keep her granny’s ski resort from
closing. / Bluto refuses to return Popeye’s nephews’ ball out of spite for not
being invited to their cookout. / Popeye and Olive compete against Bluto’s
radio station.
“I Wouldn’t Take that Mare to the Fair on a Dare / Cliff Hanger”
(2/25/80) – Wimpy refuses to let Swee’Pea enter his old nag into the strong
horse competition at the state fair. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Great Speckled Whale / Forum or Against ‘Em” (3/3/80) – Popeye
and Olive have to protect a whale from capture by Bluto. / While exploring
ancient Roman ruins, Popeye and Olive discover a key to Caesar’s safe.
“Popierre the Musketeer / In a Little Spinach Town” (9/8/80) – Blutomus
steals a crown meant for the king from Olivella. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
Season 4:
“Reptile Ranch / Mission Improbable / So Who’s Watching the Bird
Watchers?” (9/12/81) – Popeye and Bluto compete for a job at Olive’s
prehistoric ranch. / Colonel Crumb sends Blast, Olive and Alice to deliver some
secret plans, but Olive ends up reading the map upside-down. / Olive puts Popeye
and Bluto in a bird-watching club to keep them out of trouble.
“Computer Chaos / Chilly Con Caveman / Here Today – Goon Tomorrow”
(9/19/81) – Colonel Crumb places a new robot sergeant in charge of Olive and
Alice. / Bluto discovers snow. / Blast has to find Olive and Alice when they
follow her orders to “get lost”.
“Olive’s Devastatingk
Decorators / Troop Therapy / Come Back, Little Stegosaurus” (9/26/81) – Olive
asks for Popeye’s help to decorate her house, resulting in his almost
destroying it while fighting with Bluto. / Blast is ordered to schedule a
training session for Olive and Alice that she hopes will finally get them
kicked out. / Popeye and Bluto compete to catch Olive’s pet stegosaurus.
“Goon Native / Cheap Skate Date / Alice in Blunderland” (10/3/81) – Olive
and Alice take their assignment to raft to an island as a vacation. / Popeye
attempts to teach Olive how to skate when Bluto comes along to bother them. /
Blast, Olive and Alice are sent to retrieve some spring water for an important
visitor.
“The Incredible Shrinking Popeye / Wreck Room / Neanderthal Nuisance”
(10/10/81) – Stopping to pick flowers for Olive leads Popeye to be exposed to a
shrinking formula. / Crumb assigns Blast, Olive and Alice to build a new rec
room. / Olive’s neighbor Bluto won’t let them enjoy a day of sunbathing.
“Private Secretaries / The First Resort / Goon Balloon” (10/17/81) – Ordered
to do Crumb’s paperwork, Olive and Alice keep messing up his office while Blast
tries to clean it. / Popeye and Bluto both decide to go to Olive’s resort, but
neither is in for a relaxing time. / Alice accidentally causes herself, Olive
and Blast to take a hot air balloon ride.
“Vegetable Stew / Tanks a Lot / Winner Window Washer” (10/24/81) – After
Wimpy eats all of Olive’s food, she sends Popeye and Bluto out with a shopping
list. / Olive and Alice cause trouble when they find an abandoned tank. / Popeye
and Bluto complete to finish washing the windows of a skyscraper for a job with
Olive’s company.
“Rocky Rolls / Hogwash at the Car Wash / Snow Fooling” (10/31/81) – Olive
and Alice are put on KP duty. / When Bluto dirties Olive’s car, she takes it to
Popeye’s carwash. / Olive and Alice are ordered to remove the snow so that
Crumb can get to an airplane on time.
“Bronto Beach / “Infink-try / The Midnight Ride of Popeye Revere”
(11/7/81) – Popeye tries to teach Olive how to fish at the beach but Bluto
keeps bothering them. / Swee’Pea and Wimpy visit the base, but after visiting
hours Swee’Pea sneaks back. / Popeye tries to get his nephews interested in
history.
“Goon Hollywood / Popeye Stumps Bluto / Basic Train-ning” (11/14/81) –
Crum makes Blast the director of a new training film. / Popeye and Bluto
compete for a job from Olive. / Olive and Alice are sent to clean the new
silent troop train and end up taking off with it.
“Up a Lizard River / Jeep Thrills” (11/21/81) – Bluto interrupts
Popeye and Olive’s camping trip. / Eugene visits the base and drives Blast
crazy.
Special:
“Sweethearts at Sea” (2/14/79) – Olive decides to take a romantic
cruise on her own when Popeye forgets to send her a valentine, and Bluto
intends to take advantage of their split.
