Swamp Thing & Toxic Crusaders!
It’s Friday, so I’ll give ya a double, tonight.
Here’s the first episode of the Swamp Thing cartoon, from 1991. (Which corresponded with Kenner’s amazing toy line!)
…and here’s the first episode of Toxic Crusaders, from 1990. (Another series made to sell an amazing toy line!)
Enjoy!
Tonight’s survey:
Name a toy line, video game, movie or live action TV show that totally SHOULD’VE inspired its own cartoon series, but didn’t.
If you can’t think of one, just have fun watching these old creepy cartoons. Happy Friday!
Bride of Boogedy!
We’re halfway to Halloween, my friends.
Actually, since many of us begin celebrating in late August, it’s more like we’re three-fourths of the way to Halloween. Granted, that’s not as catchy.
Here’s something appropriate for the occasion:
Bride of Boogedy was the unlikely sequel to another spooky TV movie, Mr. Boogedy. It premiered back in ‘87 as part of ABC’s The Disney Sunday Movie.
(It wasn’t originally run as a Halloween special, but since it premiered in April of that year, maybe they meant it as a halfway to Halloween special? Everything connects!)
Tonight’s survey:
…isn’t necessarily about Halloween.
Name your all-time favorite made-for-TV movie. If it isn’t super famous, describe it, too!
Phantom of the Mall!
In honor of my latest Video Store Adventure, I checked to see if any of the old movies I picked up had found a second home on YouTube.
One did! Here’s Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, from 1989:
I’ll borrow the plot summary from the mystery uploader, who himself borrowed it from Wikipedia:
Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge is a 1989 horror film about a young man who apparently dies in a suspicious house fire after saving his girlfriend, Melody.
A year later, at the new mall built over the site of the burned-out house, thefts and murders begin to occur as a mysterious figure secretly prowls around the shopping center and takes a keen interest in watching over and protecting Melody.
Sounds okay, yes? Enjoy.
Tonight’s survey:
Share a random memory about something that took place in a shopping mall.
God knows where this survey will lead us. Keep it clean!
Spill it, in the comments.
The Dick Tracy Show!
Someone mentioned the old Dick Tracy cartoon in the previous thread, so I figured, why not?
The Dick Tracy Show premiered in the 1960s. I never heard of the series until 1990, when FOX dusted it off for an afternoon run to cash in on the Dick Tracy movie hype.
Longtime readers know of my obsession with that film, which extended to the toys and this cartoon. Tracy himself mostly had a Crypt Keeper sort of role in the show — the actual crime-fighting was left to a ragtag bunch of wacky coppers.
That led to some problems, because the good guys — Joe Jitsu and Go-Go Gomez, in particular — were thought to be racist caricatures by 1990s standards, and seem to be in even worse taste today. (As I recall, viewer complaints led FOX to only air the episodes starring Hemlock Holmes, who skirted the worst of the criticisms in light of the fact that he was a literal police dog.)
Controversy aside, I loved the villains on this series. They were split into duos, so you’d get to see two in each episode. (My fave team included Pruneface and Itchy, of course.)
Enjoy!
(Or watch it for a minute and give up. Your call.)
Tonight’s survey:
Back in 1990, I was all alone in my love for the Dick Tracy universe. As kids, we all had those few things that we were hopelessly fascinated with even if none of our friends were.
So, name something you grew up loving that *none* of your friends were into. Did you try to keep it a secret, or were you proud of your quirk?
