TVSquad

"Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer. He's a demon on wheels." -- The beginning lyrics to the theme song of Speed Racer.

In this week's installment of 'Saturday Morning' we take a break from our regularly scheduled coverage to talk about a cartoon near and dear to many readers' hearts. A cartoon that, while not the first anime to reach the shores of America of the 60s, it was certainly the most influential.

Even though it was never part on any official network schedule, Speed Racer was on somewhere at sometime during the era of Saturday morning cartoons. And, why wouldn't it be? It had everything that a child hopped up on sugar-coated, chocolate-filled cereal could want: action, drama, comedy, mysterious heroes, villains, gadgets, cars, and a boy and his chimp. It also featured animated characters with more natural characteristics than those previously seen on American television. Plus, it had a kick-ass theme song that dug into your brain.

Much has been written on the history of Speed Racer since it premiered over four decades ago. However, with the new Speed Racer live-action film now in theaters, it's a good time to revisit the origins of Speed, Trixie, Pops, Racer X, and the rest of the players. So, if you have your Mach 5 model kit in front of you, let's Go, Go, Go!

Here is a pleasant letter I got this week from a fan named Everett Mason...

Everett writes, "Hi Paul, I'm trying to remember a 70's anime. I know it was about a boy from outer space that had powers. It was in black and white. It might have been called space boy or something like that."

Well, clearly the answer is Astro Boy. Even if you have never seen the show, I'm sure most of you are at least familiar with it. The character has been one of the more successful crossovers from Japanese animation to America.

Here's some animation news from the last few days:

First, both Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake are coming back to television as part of a new Saturday morning animation block on CBS called KEWLopolis. Care Bears: Adventures in Care-A-Lot and Strawberry Shortcake join brand new series Sushi Pack and Dino Squad. Returning shows include Cake, Horseland, Sabrina and Trollz.

Tom Ruegger and Nicholas Hollander (Tiny Toons, Animaniacs) are behind Sushi Pack, about a gang of crime-fighting sushi. The characters are vaguely fish-like, which is odd since "sushi" refers to rice, and not fish. I guess animated rice isn't that interesting.

Great news for Adult Swim fans who wanted an extra night to watch episodes of Family Guy and Futurama for the three-hundredth time: the late night block of (im)mature cartoons now airs on Friday evenings, which means you'll never be without it again, shivering cold and alone in the corner praying for tomorrow to come so you can watch all your favorite shows again.

Basically, there won't be anything new on Fridays, just the usual repeats and anime. Saturdays will still be anime night (with episodes of Astro Boy starting July 14) and Sundays, as always, will be home to original series and premieres. Look for the final two episodes of Harvey Birdman July 15 and 22, new Robot Chicken and Frisky Dingo in August, and the premiere of Lucy, Daughter of the Devil in September.

Check out the schedule grid here.