TVSquad

I was sitting around thinking, because I really had nothing better to do, and I wondered why you don't see cartoon characters acting as pitchmen for different products much anymore. If you're nostalgic for the days when 'toons weren't afraid to put their names behind different products, you might enjoy the following videos.

If you were a fan of the Sesame Street: Old School DVD set, the one with episodes from the series' earlier, and arguably better, years, you'll be happy to know that a second set will be released sometime this year. Muppet News Flash has the scoop, which is that the sets should come out sometime between August and October. Sorry I can't be more specific than that, but who cares, it's more of the classic Sesame Street folks my age and older grew up with, and I ain't complaining.

Oh yeah, and despite whatever warnings they may put on the DVD, I say plop your kid down and let them enjoy a show that managed to combine educational material with some truly funny writing, songwriting and animation. There's never been another show like Sesame Street, and that includes today's Sesame Street.

I grew up on a farm, so I could only watch cable when visiting friends in town, at least until I was in high school and my family got a satellite dish. This was in the '90s, and one of our favorite channels to watch as a family was Nick at Nite: we'd watch The Donna Reed Show, The Patty Duke Show and Mr. Ed. You know, classic TV.

Fast forward to today and you have shows like Home Improvement, George Lopez and Saget-era America's Funniest Home Videos slated to appear on the cable channel, none of which feel especially "classic" to me. And George Lopez is still on, for the love of God.

Adam De La Pena, creator of the Adult Swim series Minoriteam and creator and co-star of the Comedy Central series I'm with Busey has created a new animated series for G4 called Code Monkeys. The series, which was recently picked up for fourteen episodes, takes place in a world that resembles an actual video game from the '80s and will include several allusions to games from that era. De La Pena will direct all the episodes, and will also serve as a writer and the voice of the main character.

Meanwhile, he's also developing another animated series for FOX with the working title Think Tank. The series will spoof office politics and is based on the idea that everything in pop culture is controlled by a single "think tank."

Out of the two projects, I must say Code Monkeys looks the most interesting to me. The idea of a cartoon set in a world resembling the blocky look of old Atari games could be really cool. The series will hit G4 this spring.

[via Toon Zone]

While poking around YouTube for something completely different, I serendipitously stumbled upon a bunch of Roosevelt Franklin clips from Sesame Street. Some of you youngsters out there may be asking who the heck Roosevelt Franklin is, so let me inform you: he was a hip, rhyming, purple Muppet who appeared on the show in the 1970s, voiced by Matt Robinson, the original Gordon on the series.

In the 1970s, Sesame Street was not the perfectly sterilized children's show it is today. The show never advocated bad behavior, but it understood that sometimes kids can be rowdy and disruptive. Even in those more carefree days, however, some felt Roosevelt Franklin was a bad influence on kids, not to mention a negative cultural stereotype, so he was booted from the show. I personally don't see anything negative about the character. If anything, I think he taught kids that it's okay to be proud of who you are, to stand up and let the world know you're special, too.

Oldies 1510 WRNJ in Hackettstown, New Jersey broadcasts a show called "Time Travel," hosted by Dan Hollis and Jeff O'Boyle. The program focuses on pop culture of the past, television included. If you're like me and don't live in "Joyzee" you can now download and listen to some of the interviews from the show's archives through a new Web site that could really use a redesign.

The archives include interviews with a bunch of folks associated with the golden age of animation, not to mention other great TV from the past, including voice actress June Foray, Noel Blanc (son of Mel), Joan Benny (daughter of Jack), Lee Mendelson and Marty Krofft. If you dig all that old timey stuff, this is definitely worth checking out. As you can see from the archives, many of the greats from the past have long since gone on to that great TV in the sky, but hearing their own children talk about them is the next best thing.

[via Cartoon Brew]

I mentioned these old commercials created by Jay Ward Productions (Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle) over on our sexy sister site Ad Jab, but I thought you folks would enjoy them as well. It wasn't unusual for cartoon characters from television to appear in ads for cereal back in the day: General Mills used Rocky and Bullwinkle in their ads (I know for certain they were in ads for Cheerios, I'm sure there were others), and Kellogg's and Hanna-Barbera had a partnership as well (here's some examples, also from Ad Jab).

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a boat for sale...

This web site is selling what they say is the original S.S. Minnow from Gilligan's Island. Boing Boing readers aren't so sure, saying the show started before that, but others say that this could have been one of several boats used during the show's run. Looks liegit to me.

It's $99,000, with an engine rebuilt in 1999.

If you're like me, and I know I am, you grew up watching Knight Rider on TV. Or, if you're a bit older, you probably listened to the old Knight Rider radio program featuring Orson Welles.* Anyway, if you enjoyed the adventures of Michael and his car pal KITT but always wished that KITT were much smaller and much, much slower, I invite you to check out an old toy commercial for the "Knight Rider Impossibles" race set. Between this, America's Got Talent, and reruns of Baywatch, I think your Hasselhoff quota should be met for the day. That's why I'm here, to make those things happen. Check out the video after the jump.

*(said radio program may not have actually existed)

(S06E06) When I first started covering the sixth season of The Simpsons for Retro Squad, some of you asked why I didn't cover one of the earlier "better" seasons. Well, there is a reason I chose this season instead of say, the fifth season (which includes one of my top five episodes, "Rosebud") but that reason no longer applies. What the heck am I talking about? Let's just say we had something cool planned, but it didn't pan out.

Nevertheless, this season had some great episodes, so I'm not at all sorry I chose to revisit them. Besides, if I hadn't picked this season I wouldn't be able to talk about possibly one of the best Halloween episodes ever. So if you'll take my bloody, severed hand, we'll get started:

Well, not really, but C. Martin Croker, who provided the voice of both Zorak and Moltar on Space Ghost: Coast to Coast has a blog, and it's quite interesting if you're interested in older comics, animation, and toys. Right now Croker has posted an interview from the early '90s conducted by John K. with Flintstones designer Ed Benedict, and check out this page from an old Dennis the Menace comic where Mr. Wilson explains to the boys what a hookah is. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure in the next issue Dennis' father shows the neighborhood kids how to turn an apple into a bong. Packed with important lessons those old comic books were.

[via Cartoon Brew]

(S06E03) The Simpsons has done more than a few clip shows in its almost two decades of existence, and while these looks back at past episodes usually tend to be the least favorite among fans for obvious reasons, I will say that at least the episodes are framed in such a way as to still make them worth watching. Besides, you get to see some great scenes from past episodes. It's like a slideshow that's not quite so boring, you know?