M.A.S.K.!
So first off, WOW, I got sooo many great submissions for After Dark’s Halloween season. Thanks a ton to all who sent emails! It’s almost universally stuff I wouldn’t have thought to search for on my own, too. If you wanna participate, there’s still time! I haven’t counted the submissions yet, but with over 60 days to fill, I’m guessing there are still quite a few slots left.
Tonight’s video is the first episode of M.A.S.K., from 1985. I think it’s fair to say that the toy line was more popular than the animated series, though for what it’s worth, the series did manage to last for 75 goddamned episodes.
M.A.S.K. is actually one of my few ’80s toon/toy blindspots. I certainly had some of the toys and I’m sure I caught the cartoon more than once, but the fact that I had to look up what M.A.S.K. stood for (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, fyi) indicates that I’m hardly an expert. That said, I bet this one will land for some of you.
Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears!
Here’s the first episode of Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, from… shit… 1985?! Wow, I had no idea this show went back that far. I’m mostly familiar with the series from its Disney Afternoon stint, which would’ve started in 1990.
My strongest memory of the cartoon is how I desperately wanted to drink Gummiberry Juice. (I used to employ Ocean Spray cranberry juice as a reasonable facsimile. Sadly, it did not dramatically increase my hopping abilities.)
Call for Halloween Videos!
Okay guys, it’s time for my annual plea for y’all to send in video suggestions to carry After Dark through the Halloween season!
The Halloween Countdown begins next Friday night, and will last through October 31st. Dino Drac After Dark will be updated every single night throughout those 2+ months, so I need all of the videos I can get!
Good suggestions would include, but are not limited to:
– Full horror movies.
– Halloween TV specials or animated specials.
– Spooky-themed sitcom/cartoon episodes from the ’80s and ’90s.
– Commercial compilations.
– Haunted/spooky documentaries.
– “Friendlier” Halloween stuff for the non-horror crowd.
– You may also suggest SURVEY TOPICS instead of or in addition to videos.
…course, feel free to get creative, too! The videos needn’t necessarily be super long, so if you find a good one that’s only a few minutes, that’s cool, too.
To submit a suggestion:
Email me at matt @ dinosaurdracula.com
Please include the following info:
– NAME you’d like to be credited with.
– NAME of video.
– LINK to video. (YouTube preferred, but can work with Dailymotion.)
– DESCRIPTION of video — can be as long or short as you like, really, but try not to go beyond a couple of paragraphs.
Thanks so much for participating, should you choose to! The Countdown is a busy time of year for me, and if I do it right, there definitely won’t be time to go on a massive video hunt every single night. You’ll be doing your part to keep After Dark active through its most important season!
Stupid Talents Survey.
Random survey night!
What are some of your stupid talents?
(And by “stupid” I guess I mostly mean odd or offbeat — but stupid is cool, too.)
I’ll start: I can write upside-down and backwards nearly as fast as right-side up and forwards. I can only do that trick if I write in all uppercase letters, but basically, if you’re sitting across from me, I can lean over the table and write you a letter that you won’t need to flip over, just as quickly as one you would. Dumb enough?
Spill it, in the comments!
