TVSquad

Road Runner, that Coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you your through. -- Theme to The Road Runner Show, which premiered in the fall of 1966.

Showtime! After years of playing around on Saturday mornings to find the right mixture to bring in the young viewers, the networks took the bull by the horns in the fall of 1966 and ushered in the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoons. No less than 11 new cartoon series appeared during the 1966-67 season. Many of them were action and superhero-oriented thanks to the popularity of ABC's live-action Batman series.

The 1966 season also began the domination of Saturday mornings by two animation studios -- Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. For Hanna-Barbera this would be the second year of original Saturday morning programming. For Filmation this would be the first of many years producing fairly entertaining and slightly better animated fare that featured more action and adventure and less in the way of talking animals.

So, if you have your bowl of Cocoa Puffs in front of you, let's see what you were watching back in 1966.

No, not the wacky talk show version on The Cartoon Network. I'm talking about the original cartoon that aired in the mid-60s.

Space Ghost and Dino Boy will be released on July 17. And since this is one of those "it's not official yet but it's definitely happening" deals, no details about extras or features have been announced yet, but expect something in the next week or so.

I remember watching Space Ghost when I was a kid, the repeats not the original (I'm not that old), but I remember the show as being teamed up with another superhero named Frankenstein, Jr. Anyone else remember that? I distinctly remember the deep-voiced announcer saying, "Space Ghost!...And Frankenstein, Jr...Jr...Jr," the word echoing for a few seconds. Was this maybe two Hanna-Barbera shows being repackaged for the 70s?

[via TVShowsOnDVD]

Who happy?

Me happy.

Cartoon Planet, a personal favorite of mine, is being re-aired during Adult Swim. The series was a spin-off of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and was geared towards a younger crowd but still maintained the surreality and goofiness of the original. Space Ghost hosted the show with his sidekicks/enemies Zorak and Brak. Of course, the show airs at 5:30 a.m., but hey, that's why God invented the DVR*, right? Cartoons from Bugs Bunny and Popeye and the like would be shown between segments featuring songs, poems, and other assorted nonsense from Space Ghost and his pals.

*Matthew 13:5: "And so it was in the town of Bethlehem the Angel Gabriel did descend from heaven with DVRs for all the people, for they had crops to tend to, but none could stand to miss the Lakers game, and were low of spirit."

A sad piece of news came across the wires today: Alex Toth, a comic book artist who designed Hanna-Barbera characters such as Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids and The Superfriends, died on May 27 at the age of 77. According to his son Eric, Toth died at his drawing table -- the way most artists would love to go, I'm sure -- and the cause of death is yet to be determined.

Toth's style was very simple compared to most comic artists of the '50s through the '70s (and even today), which made it perfect for the animation style of H-B's "serious" cartoons of the '60s-'70s era. He has legions of fans, many of whom have left their rememberances at Toth's official web site. I encourage you to go over there and see some of his remarkable work.