Monday, August 15, 2011

NBComics #1



Learn about the shows you DIDN'T wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch!



139 comments:

  1. Hello... there was an odd glitch during the credits... obviously the entity's plan masterplan is to attack your production. (which explains why this episode is a little early.

    Being from the UK (and spending most of my childhood watching Star Trek, Dr Who, Batman TAS) I have virtually no clue as to what any of these shows were. Something I'm glad off. I complain a lot of how kids shows are going down hill these days, but it looks like it's just that the good ones are getting thin on the ground.

    I'm wondering how much the Comic would have cost. It's more a last, desperate, gasp of advertisement for the line up than anything else, as such it shouldn't have cost very much.

    Given the rate of inflation I'd calculate you'd get $1.43 and a half chewed copy of Bloodgun (from where 90's kid drooled on it).

    It truly is worrying just what crap can get commissioned and produced, in any era. Be it comic or TV.

    Good review

    Thomas

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  2. Great review as always Linkara.

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  3. Dead Planeteer?...MAAAATTTTTIIIIII !!!!!!!!!!! :(

    Nice review Linkara. I was 3 at the time NBC cancelled its line-up, so I have literally no memory of any of this, short of I do remember the Mario cartoons from runs on other networks as well.

    I, like you, loved Fox Kids and Kids WB, and I really hate that Saturday morning cartoons are really a thing of the past now. Digimon, Pokemon, Power Rangers, pretty much all those you showed and mentioned were my favorites, and really makes me nostalgic talking about them. Not that there are enough good shows to sustain a block like those these days, but hey, they could at least try.

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  4. Mightily Murdered/Murderin' Power Ringers?

    Ok, now I'm intrigued as to if that's a real comic or a fake one brought on by your wish. Great review as always, Linkara! And your History of Power Rangers series has me mildly interested in Power Rangers now.

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  5. Hey Linkara, what would you think if someone made a tv show about Arthurian lore mixed with D&D?

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  6. Actually, Linkara, regarding the Pro Stars story...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonite

    The villain's plan is still stupid, since it apparently can't be found in the Amazon River area anymore.

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  7. I must be even older... that's NOT the original Pro Stars intro. The original was a take on Queen's "We Will Rock You..."

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  8. Man, oh MAN! I have to watch this twice, I was laughing so hard. Next week you're promoting a milestone episode, and this feels like the comic I've been waiting your entire run for!

    I'm a fellow child of the 90's, so I can sympathize with your viewing rituals on FOX and WB, and with them having the best stuff. I also had cable, but are not sure if you did, so I had a wider selection also including Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

    As far as the other lineups go, the most I've seen was glimpses of ABC and CBS (ABC had Sonic SatAM). The best show the other guys had was "Garfield and Friends", which I recall watching religiously and entirely in syndication. That show was funny and elevated the comic, and I ultimately only saw a fraction of its run. It wasn't until 2004 when the first DVD sets came out when I realized the underscore I heard in some episodes was the theme song that got cut out!

    I was already familiar with the lineup before you gave this thing a run-through. On the Cartoon Network back in the day, I watched some old Hanna-Barbera cartoons and surprisingly enough my young mind enjoyed them. I was a little dorky about them, and I may as well confess that my earlier internet days had me research this infamous lineup without any real info on them. Looking back, this is something I'm ashamed to admit.

    But I never watched any of these shows. Okay, I actually saw "Yo Yogi" once on YouTube. And as Oglethorpe once said, "That was one time too many." I don't recall hating it per se, but if I wasn't so nostalgic for the characters I would have had a worse time watching it.

    Now, it's been years since I watched a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, although not as long time as you. Watching this video today, I don't blame you for glossing over the "Yo Yogi!" comic, especially since all these "stories" don't have any resolution. Your Snagglepuss voice was also pretty spot-on, although that's not something to be proud of.

    Your comment of "It's the last Yogi Bear cartoon, not that that surprises me" only reminds me that a few years later, Fred Seibert took over the Hanna-Barbera studio and started up all these creator-driven shows. From the likes of "Johnny Bravo" and "Dexter's Laboratory", this tradition continues today with "Adventure Time" and "Regular Show". They mostly stuck to cable (and thus were ahead of their time), and I can say with the utmost confidence and sincerity that it was all uphill from there.

    And did they really publish it like that, leaving cliffhangers in every story to try and attract viewers to the NBC lineup?

    God, that just reeks of desperation!

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  9. Bo Jackson most dated celebrity ever and yes he did talk like that. Every time you see an athlete talking in third person in movies, that's who there referencing.
    Btw, one guy gets a laser bat, one guy gets a spear gun. Michael Jordan gets a gravity repulser. Yeah, can't say I blame the lady. You save the good stuff for Jordan

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  10. I would watch the HELL out of Makeover Fairy, PI. But only if she investigated grisly murders.

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  11. I live in the static.
    I live in every dream.
    My plot is chaotic.
    You can't know my scheme.

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  12. Amazonite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonite

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  13. Wow. Three years of reviewing sucky comics must give you incredible tolerance to stupid, because I don't know I could ever wade through this tribute to idiocy. I really could feel your pain and stunned disbelief with the long takes which really just let it all sink in.

    You're going to need that kind of tolerance next week for "Mighty Murdered Power Ringers", Ugh, even the name leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

    Also, I LOVED your look at spin off that became to Detective Shows. I think the only spin off formula to match its frequency of use would be "secret agent/ espionage, and even then thats usually limited to one episode of the actual show and always played for laughs in a typical James Bond/ Mission Impossible parody.

    I do recall that Michael Richards (Kramer of "Seinfeld) went on to try and do a detective show after Seinfeld's cancellation. It wasn't the same character, but it shows the dominating nature of the genre in television.

    I would so watch Makeover Fairy PI. She'd probably be a master of disguise. The only thing that could be better is a spin off series were 90s Kid starts a detective agency set in ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!! Oh, and of course he'd team up with Neutro to solve crimes.

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  14. "The lost beast has found a home." Sounds like you have something to worry about, Linkara.

    My captcha word was crool, presumably the fate of the people behind this comic.

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  15. To answer your question, Lewis... No. Nobody gets up to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons anymore.

    Last time I checked there wasn't a single Network with a Saturday Morning Cartoon block anymore. They're all gone.

    Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon have won.

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  16. Wayne Gretzky as a superhero? It's kinda funny when you think about it: In the Marvel universe, The Great One is considered a Canadian National Treasure because there...he actually has legit superpowers, the full nature of which is a closely guarded Department H secret.

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  17. The only show I remember out of that line up was Captain N and Super Mario, and I really wish I could forget Captain N. Just keep telling yourself that Simon Belmont didn't not appear in Captain N, it was just his younger, dumber, and cowardly little brother Simone.

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  18. Say whatever else you want to about this comic, but that closing one panel story captures the spirit of "Saved by the Bell" masterfully. :P

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  19. Honey West was a spinoff? Of what? I know there were books, but I wasn't aware the character came from a prior series.

    P.S. You missed The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries

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  20. Pro-Stars: Stereotyping Brazilians as a faux-spanish speaking Ma-ti's!

    Also the idea that the Amazon rain forest is the "lung of the world" providing 25% of the planet's oxygen is absolute bullshit, as the rain forest itself consumes most of it's oxygen.

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  21. Kitland54 said...
    Mightily Murdered/Murderin' Power Ringers?

    Ok, now I'm intrigued as to if that's a real comic or a fake one brought on by your wish.


    Yeah its real, just googled it, made by Parody Press back in 1995

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  22. Oddly enough, with all of the stupidity that was in that comic, the thing that irked me more than anything else was that Saved by the Bell mini-story just because Kelly Kapowski WAS a cheerleader in the show (and I'm pretty sure the other two girls were as well now that I think about it) so the whole setup and punchline make absolutely no sense.

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  23. your making me feel old linkara and i'm only 21.


    the lost beast has found a home

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  24. The sad thing, is that I vaguely remember watching wish kid.

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  25. The theme song you posted for ProStars was actually the second theme song for the show. The original was such a blatant rip-off of Queen's "We Will Rock You" that lawsuits were threatened and the show was taken off the air for a few weeks while a new one was made. I can't seem to find the original theme anywhere on the internet though.

    Wasn't Kelly already a cheerleader (the cheerleaders captain no less if my memory is correct) in several earlier episodes of Saved by the Bell? I remember a definite first season episode where she was a cheerleader and Screech turned her face purple. That was back when Saved by the Bell was AWESOME!!!

    SpaceCats was also awesome by the way (lower case awesome in this situation, since it was slightly less awesome then early Saved by the Bell). It was made by the same guy who created ALF, so it would just about have to be though.

    So... the lost beast has found a home, huh?

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  26. Im going to start crying. This is so FREAKING stupid. I am so glad I watched Fox Kids and WB. By the by, what did you think of Mystic Knights of Tyr na nog?

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  27. Lewis... I watched Pro-Stars and yes, its insane. However I grew up in the era of Thundercats, Smurfs, He-man... We didn't need plots that made sense or characters that were sane, there was no cartoon network back in the day and I don't think even Nickelodeon was widely available yet.

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  28. I can promise Saturday Morning programming, even on NBC, used to be better, although most of the stuff I watched in my youth was on ABC. NBC and CBS had some good stuff (for a kid in the late 70's to early 80's) but I think ABC dominated my SatAM watching.

    None of the shows seen in this comic were on the list of watched shows.

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  29. Most comics here get burned for being bad, but this one should be burned just for how stupid it was.

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  30. Poor, Poor Ma-Ti. *Sniff*
    It does say something about the kid's character that revenge takes the backburner to helping his parents. Still an Idiot, though.
    The detective agency spinoff precedent was odd. I must say though that the agency run byt he protagonists in Angel did tend to take a backburner to the demon fighting. When it was relevant it usually led to something supernatural being involved, and it was abandoned in later seasons.
    Movie Theaters in Malls? It's more common than you'd think.
    And thus we have another example of famous people getting a show barely related to their real life skills that ended up sucking. You can count the good ones on one hand with spare fingers.
    Amazonite? That's almost as bad a name as "Australium".
    And to think, these were all greenlit only for NBC to come in last behind ABC's Saturday Monring programming block--and I don't recall that one lasting past 1994. I think NBC has more failed shows on their main network than all their Cable affiliates combined.
    You'll probably hit this next time, but what was with the Pink Ranger's Skirt? Where's the Dragon shield? Why are the eyes of the animals on the helmet bulging? Why is there a bag with dollar signs in the corner? Is the comic maker not even pretending this was an attempt to cash in on a popular show at the time? On the other hand, there is forming a precedent for Power Rangers comics having something either plot or Mechakara related.

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  31. What is this weird Power Rangers comic Linkara found? Was it put there by The Entity? Did it also cause the glitch in the credits AGAIN?

    Tune in next week and see if our hero can 'link' the clues together. Only on THE INTERNET*!

    *Available on most computers, cellphones, and PADDs.



    -M4A

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  32. You know, this comic makes me wonder, if "Mom" has enough resources to fund this team and equip them with highly advanced technology, then why doesn't she just hire professionals to fight crime full time instead of relying on athletes who are unable to do during big games and practice sessions. For that matter, if they are so famous why don't criminals schedule there crimes during those times so they won't have to deal with them. Also, why do their coaches let them go out and fight crime? There is serious possibility of injuries that could prevent them from playing. Are their teams in dire need of good PR or something?

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  33. You wished that this comic didn't exist therefore this episode never happened, non canon.

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  34. OMG a power rangers parody comic book? Also the only cartoon i recall vaguely watching was the yogi one. Good video

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  35. Why did the invisible submarine captain have a video communicator?

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  36. Two Americans and a Canadian. Wayne Gretzky is Canadian. Just want to make that clear. As I am a Canadian.

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  37. Commander Mor'aye'ahnAugust 15, 2011 at 3:05 PM

    As someone who grew up during the late 80's to 90's I will admit that I enjoyed watching TV for kids... because I was one. During my day (yes I will freely admit that that does make one sound incredibly old just by using those three words) I found the programming on NBC, CBS, FOX, and Kids WB (when I finally discovered it) to be quite entertaining but during my youth my favorite shows were on USA and TNT (back before those channels were 100% taken over by programming aimed towards adults) on my grandmothers basic cable.

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  38. Nice review and did the next comic say Mighty Morphed Power Rangers? I guess we will find out next week.

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  39. This was a really funny episode. Like you, I grew up mostly watching WB and Fox Kids cartoons but when I was around 4 or 5, I remember only ONCE seeing the NBC cartoons.

    This comic book reminded me why it was only once.

    And I had to do a double take on that issue for next week. At first I thought it was some foreign rip off but...now I'm actually a bit frightened to find out what it really is...

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  40. Nice review Linkara!

    I too gravitated more toward Kids WB and FoxKids when I was younger. I was more into animation those days, so I don't think a promo comic about cartoon TV shows would have done much for me. It seems like this comic was printed solely for $, a marketing gimmick at best. If they wanted to do it right, I would have commissioned original stories based on the TV series for this anthology book.

    Still, raring and pumped for next week's 150th episode!

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  41. I had this comic growing up and the most insulting part of it was that all the teasers were shown on NBC's yearly Sat AM preview show that aired during prime time.

    During childhood the best/worse part of the summer were the tv stations Saturday Cartoon Lineup preview show where they announce what new toons were coming and what old ones were coming back.

    Sad part was this was always at the end of the summer just before school started like they were saying sorry your vacation is over but look Saturday will still kick ass.

    I feel sorry for kids these days(god I feel old saying that). All they have is the CW4kids Toonzai (no I don't count Cartoon network or any other purely toon channel)and last I checked all they show is Sonic X, DBZ Kai(with blue popo), Yugioh, and 5Ds.

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  42. I have never even heard of any of those shows except for Saved By The Bell....Thank the gods AFN never aired those overseas....

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  43. I love this. By the time this came out Smurfs had either been canceled or was towards the end when they were time traveling (ugh). That was only real NBC cartoon I ever really watched. Either then maybe Alf one but I don't remember much about it. Mighty Murdered Power Rangers? Sounds like a parody comic book that has been rage on and off for years. Never heard of it personally but surprised it exists.

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  44. Weird coincidence, but the 150th episode comes a day before my birthday.

    Great review and can't wait for the next one.

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  45. Wow, now I think I understand why NBC took off it's Saturday Morning Cartoons. I did wonder why they did that when the other networks had their own cartoons during the '90s. I do remember watching The Smurfs and a couple of other shows on there.

    Those early '90s shows didn't really have a chance since they were bad ideas and the character designs didn't look so good.

    And that comic is pretty badly written even for a kids comic.

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  46. Angel at least had a reason to start one. He wanted people to come to him with problems. Also he didn't have many other marketable skills besides 'mentally torture and horrifically kill people' so it was detective work or human resources.
    On that Prostars comic it's a pity you didn't have the Critic making another cameo about already doing it. Now you're doomed to have Nitpicks all over attack this one.

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  47. Yes, Saturday Morning cartoons the basically dead form of entertainment. In the past Saturday morning cartoons was the only way of seeing cartoons, but was replaced by syndication and then cable (which killed syndication).

    Man, that was some bad cartoons. I was more of kid of the 80's so bad cartoons was the norm, but those were especially bad. In many cases they remind me more of 70's style series then early 90's.

    The Yogi Gang looked like making kid version of popular characters (did same thing for Scooby Doo and similar series.) Also having series based on live action ones was a bad idea.

    One thing with the weapons, back then because of parent groups no real guns was allowed to be shown. Some series got away with lasers, but the big three really limited what could be shown. Thus the dumb weapons on these series.

    Of course looking at the NBC 80's schedule the only series I did watch was Alvin and the Chipmunks, Smurfs and Gummi Bears also the Alf adaptions. Out of that group the best was Gummi Bears. So NBC had a very weak kids line up excluding the Smurfs which was really big in the early 80's.

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  48. Oh god, that's the most racist presentation of Brazil i've ever seen.
    Seriously, as a Brazilian I feel ungodly offended

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  49. The shows on ABC weren't that bad.
    Lost In Space had a cartoon didn't it?
    Beast was my favorite character in X-men.
    Has the show Samurai Pizza Cats been on since?
    Found an old copy of the Turtles cartoon on VHS.
    A friend of mine actually never watched TMNT.
    Home Alone puns scare me.

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  50. To clarify something, Amazonite is a real gemstone. It's a green variety of feldspar and is not all that uncommon in jewelry. Doesn't change the fact that controlling the world's supply of Amazonite wouldn't be as profitable as hijacking the supply of other, more precious, stones could potentially be. It's supply is pretty abundant so it's price is moderate, increasing between one sample to another for cosmetic reasons than rarity. On a more comical note, the stone was once near exclusively mined in Russia and the US, not Brazil (though it is found and mined there there days).

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  51. Dang it, every time I try to see what the glitch (which is obviously the entity) says, I'm always a split-second too late! Can someone tell me what it says?

    Also... I feel really sorry for you sometimes, Linkara. I'm surprised "Combine Harvester" didn't play at any point during this review, considering how this comic was clearly driving you nuts with its stupidity.

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  52. This book DID lead to Harvey publishing a line of 'Saved by the Bell' comics, consisting of five issues of a 'main' series (published quarterly from May 1992 to May 1993), a 'Summer Break' special (dated October 1992), and a 'Holiday Special' (dated March 1993), although the 'specials' have the same cover price and page count as the 'regular' issues!

    Harvey also did some Yogi Bear comics at that time, too... which featured the 'traditional' version of Yogi.

    J.A.P.

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  53. Are you still watching???

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  54. Wait... are you not a fan of Angel?

    Or was that just to prove your point?

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  55. Lost beast? Found a home?! Perhaps Linkara's own home?!?!

    Also, I must say that this episode had some of your best reactions. I especially like the one where you laugh slowly and pause for about seven seconds. That and the newsboy bit was hilarious as well. :D

    Can't wait to see what's up with the Power Rangers comic!

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  56. Can someone tell me how a laser bat makes SENSE?

    Wait there's 2 intros!?

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  57. Say... Is Saved by the Bell usually this sexist?

    Too young to have seen it.

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  58. Oh, Goodnight, do I wish I could have done a crossover review on this one! Yes, I have actually reviewed Yo Yogi on my show, and it's not as dumb as you make it out to be - IT'S DUMBER. Check it out at rowdyc.com.

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  59. Sadly I remember all of these shows, and none of them fondly. It was really when cartoons started to suck. Now I see cartoon when I watch my nieces and nephews, most of them make me want to vomit. Why did quality have to become a rarity?

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  60. Dude, nice review, I also grew up in that same time frame of watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, but I have to ask for a review request, An actual "Saved By The Bell" Comic book issue,By the By if you want to, check out RowdyC.com for a full review of the series "Yo, Yogi"

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  61. "Laser bat?" Of course! Know this...the death of Batman must be nothing less than a masterpiece!

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  62. First off, this is an awesome birthday present. It never fails to amaze me just how many stupid, ripe for the mocking things there are in the world.

    Secondly, Mightily Murdered Power Rangers? It's that Power Rangers/Youngblood crossover you mentioned back in Power Rangers Zeo #1, I'm guessing.

    Yay, more creepiness in the credits

    Would so watch Makeover Fairy PI.

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  63. ironically, some of the shows that were on the NBC Lineup are on TV Trope's so bad it's Horrible page, the Western Animation section.

    As for current kids shows, well, CBS and NBC just airs mainly preschoolers shows, fox abandoned it's lineup for informercials, CW airs 4kidstv but the only thing new they ever air nowadays is new eps of yu-gi-oh 5ds and they just lost the license to it.

    ABC just airs syndicated disney shows on saturday mornings along with a Power Rangers hour.

    in other words, Saturday Morning Cartoon blocks are fading away :(

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  64. OH SNAP!! You see what happens when you screw with existence Linkara!! Now you have to review something called The Mightily Murdered Power Ringers ? (did I read that correctly?) and The Lost Beast has found a home. I hope you're happy!

    I know I am, GREAT review. I'm wondering...is The Entity the driving force that made "One More Day" the horrific garbage that it was?

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  65. Another thought about the credits message (the lost beast has found a home), hasn't it been in Linkara's home since Vyce's defeat? Why is this message turning up six months after the fact? Either it simply took some time to settle in (maybe it needed to attack a certain number of victims first?) or...

    Off to WMG!

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  66. Oh, that looked painful to review...the things you go through to educate and entertain us. =D

    The "laser bat" reference at first reminded me of the souped up aluminum bat Ace got from the Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks...until he used it to get out of the cage. Couldn't he have just bent the bars? We saw in the intro to the cartoon that Bo Jackson had super-strength.

    And was it just me, or did Paco in that story remind anyone else of Mahti? (poor, brave Mahti). *sniff*

    Gleefully awaiting your 150th episode. (Wait...someone seriously made what looks like a zombie-parody of the Power Rangers? Oh boy.).

    Great review as always.

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  67. Demoversi reviewed an episode of ProStars and... Well, this comic matches his review of the episode perfectly.

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  68. Any bets Linkara will fight the entity on the 150th episode?

    By the way, the comic at the end. I think I saw it on a store shelf once. There after I always thought it was just a bad dream.

    Also, If the entity is who I think it is, I bet Linkara will utilize is "ability" to gain unlimited weapons and items.

    I hope I didn't spoil it if i was right.

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  69. Man, this review practically had me on the floor laughing! Who thought *any* of these shows were good ideas?

    Incidentally, you inspired me to go onto youtube and watch an episode of "ProStars" and... yeah. Bo really did talk like that, Wayne was a thinly-veiled human version of TMNT's Michelangelo, and the less said about Mom, the better. I recommend it, if only for the fact that it is *hilariously* awful.

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  70. For "Laser Bat", you didn't think of Ace's baseball bat from Rememberance of the Daleks?

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  71. Oh boy, I'm going to show my age with this...

    The period around 1991 when talking about Saturday Morning cartoons was essentially about one network: CBS. ABC probably had a couple of the Disney shows around then (never watched it sadly...I think they also had Looney Toons but they had those for a while), NBC had junk, and FOX...well let's say this: Batman TAS and X-Men started in 1992, so in 1991 they didn't have what made them the major force of the 90s. (and yes, Tiny Toon Adventures was on around then...in syndication...usually on a Fox station but in syndication) CBS, on the other hand, had TMNT...and thus by having TMNT, they were essentially the big shot and mostly what I was watching back around this period. Though sad to say, I did actually watch one or two of the NBC shows mentioned here: I think I've seen Chip and Pepper, Captain N and...yes, I've even seen an episode or two of Prostars. (and yes, the theme is terrible but sort of has this "We Will Rock You" vibe...and I was into sports then even though all Philly teams sucked circa then)

    With that embarrassment out of the way, this episode sort of reminded me why NBC went to teen drama crap after this. By this point they were just trying to get anything they could on the air regardless of how good or bad it was and try to get kids to watch it. It was obviously attempts to go for the extremeness and it failed miserably, forcing them out of the picture by the time Fox came around with real alternatives the next season. With those said, a brief on all the entries:

    -Wish Kid: what, no "Home Alone" scream scene? Anyway, he was sort of the it kid around then and obviously I know the Nostalgia Critic probably threw it around all the time with those 90s movies. And yeah...Captain Mayhem does sound more like a name for a Liefeldian monstrosity than...that.

    -Yo Yogi: I think this is why CN never showed any reruns of it. No one deserves to know of its' existence. On the other hand, if you want to see how awesome potentially Atom Ant can be, they did make this short a few years back (though more tied to his 60s show):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHCDN7Gr3KU

    -Prostars: No wonder I blocked this show from my head. I mean for one thing, a major factor of the destruction of the rainforest is partially the corporations but moreso the indigenous people who want to farm the land and end up deforesting the area with such massive biodiversity just to feed cows. Furthermore, as someone with several friends from Brazil, including one I commisioned art from who lives in Manaus (which is a city in the Amazon rainforest), that kid was just as offensive as the superheroes. And yeah...you need to see some "Bo Knows..." ads to get why Bo Jackson did all that.

    -Spacecats: Well...as silly as it was, at least it tried more than the others.

    BTW: the Entity is messing with the credits again...and with October rapidly approaching...hmmm....

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  72. I kinda felt like I should watched this episode with cereal, sucks that I don't have any good cereal brands right now though. Cinnamon Toast Crunch would've been awesome right about now.

    Anyway, it's pretty awesome in general to hear about the old Saturday Morning blocks. They were always good fun. And seeing the Gozilla Series and Big Guy and Rusty pieces during the introduction was also a nice bit of nostalgia. Same when you mentioned Digimon. It reminds me about this ultimate Saturday Morning line-up I've always wished could come true.

    But that's for another day. As other people have pointed out the existence of all cartoon channels have ended the Saturday Morning Blocks on many networks. Truth be told though I think, unlike one person so far, that there are plenty of shows worthy of being put on Saturday morning blocks.

    Hell, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon all have their own Saturday morning blocks themselves, it's just they're not as special because, well, you can always catch those shows pretty much every day.

    I think a good line-up using shows that are on and running today would be "Power Rangers Samurai", from what I've seen it's nice little nostalgia trip for old fans, The new Transformers Series "Transformers Prime", (ARCEE KICKS ASS!) "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes", "GI Joe Renegades", "Generator Rex", (Haven't seen much but what I have I liked), "Thundercats", (Yes there is a new series of that going around)and quite a few others but I'd be here all day listing them probably.

    It's just, well, those shows are all owned by other networks and, yeah, kinda pointless to outsource for your shows. Seeing as how traditional blocks had the networks themselves hold copyrights to the series.

    But, there's no reason to give up hope on good cartoons. Even with the loss of the Saturday morning block. There's good stuff out there, you just gotta learn to have faith is all. I'm not saying that to you LEwis by the way, I'm saying that to other people.

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  73. Wait a second. Diagnosis Murder did not involve Dick Van Dykes character opening a detective agency. He was merely a doctor who constantly got involved in crime, either because he couldn't keep his nose out or because he was forced into such a situation.

    Also it was a spinoff? I have to admit i've never watched any other Dick Van Dyke show, so i can't really tell.

    About the comic itself. Wow these cartoons must have been some boring stuff because i can't remember any of them appearing on TV here in germany back when i was a kid (and i'm around as old as you). Those WB and Fox ones, yep i remember them being shown here, but of those NBC seem to have only the disney ones.

    Also i remember waking up early on saturdays and sundays for cartoons aswell. Damn now i feel old too.

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  74. If memory serves me right Space Cats was actually pretty amusing but not so much to survive among this sad, sad programming block.

    As bizarre as "Chip 'n' Pepper's Cartoon Madness" was it actually had a crossover with an equally odd NBC show "The Adventures of Mark & Brian" where two radio DJs inexplicably got paid to go on wacky adventures like driving a giant statue of Elvis cross-country to Memphis.

    Also to be fair Harry McGraw was already a detective before he got his own spin-off so.

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  75. Great Episode!

    I remember in the country I used to live in, the only network people got was a pirated NBC Colorado station. I never remember looking forward to saturday mornings, for that I had to go to a friend who had cable.

    Coming to the USA I remember wanting to see Spider-Man on saturday mornings more than anything.

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  76. Whisky Tango FoxtrotAugust 15, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    I dimly recall watching a couple of episodes of Wish Kid when it was on, and I think there was a recharge time in between wishes so the kid couldn't just make an arbitrary number of them.

    And Space Cats wasn't that bad.

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  77. Why of course it must be

    Mayhem (law) The crime of wilfully maiming or injuring a person.

    "Under the common law of England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions, [Mayhem] originally consisted of the intentional and wanton removal of a body part that would handicap a person's ability to defend himself in combat. Under the strict common law definition, this required damage to an eye or a limb, while cutting off an ear or a nose was deemed not sufficiently disabling. Later the meaning of the crime expanded to encompass any mutilation, disfigurement, or crippling act done using any instrument." (Wiki)

    So he really is a 90's hero!

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  78. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think they may have given that comic away for free at Toys R Us.

    If I remember correctly, the Pro Stars weren't even played by the real athletes.

    In the opening of one episode of Garfield and Friends (which aired on CBS), Garfield informed the viewers "Don't bother watching NBC, kids! There are no cartoons there!"

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  79. Speaking as a Graphic Designer, I abhor the logo for this comic. I spent 5 years studying fonts, typographic techniques, etc. I understand how to present something to have it read correctly while still having it in a creative way. This is just sad. To me it reads N.B. Comics, and I'm trained to read it correctly!

    I vaguely remember these cartoons. I can't remember details or if I watched them, but I remember them. WB and Fox had waaaaayyy better Saturday morning cartoons. We are a dying breed, Lewis -- you and I.

    Really the "Laser" bat seemed more like a "Sonic" Bat -- Surprised you didn't reference that being a Doctor Who fan and all. (me too)

    My family (well my dad) is from Brasil (it's only spelled with a Z in English) and I'm the first generation born in the US; but I do have knowledge of my family's homeland. While Brasil contains the largest rain forest in the world, it is a technologically advanced country. In fact they will be hosting the 2016 Olympics and are renown for the world's most formidable Fútbol (soccer) team (Yay Brasil!) I've actually been there a few times, it is a beautiful country, and is shamed by this comic and the subsequent cartoon. I won't go into detail about mining in the Amazon mainly because I'm not that knowledgeable about it. I do know that Gold is mined in areas. But what I am concerned about is that these 3 superstar athletes travel into the Amazon to meet a native boy who kind of looked like Ma Ti (who is named Paco for some reason -- which is highly unlikely because the Natives of Brasil are not related to Central American Natives nor was Brasil colonized by the Spanish. The national language of Brasil is Portuguese -- I won't get on to you about your pronunciation. Why would a native be named Paco?) But the thing is that in some parts of the Amazon, the Natives are in fact cannibals, head hunters in some cases. I can just imagine that they fabricated this story of Ipanema to lure them to the feast. Gruesome.

    Great video. I can't wait to see what's next. Nice subliminal stuff lately. Molto bene!

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  80. "Wait a second. Diagnosis Murder did not involve Dick Van Dykes character opening a detective agency. He was merely a doctor who constantly got involved in crime, either because he couldn't keep his nose out or because he was forced into such a situation.

    Also it was a spinoff? I have to admit i've never watched any other Dick Van Dyke show, so i can't really tell."

    According to wikipedia, it was a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman.

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  81. I feel like I should ask Nash for the hammer hes been using lately after siting through this one...

    Fiery Little One

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  82. Speaking of Yo Yogi...wasn't there also A Pup named Scooby Doo?

    That show had animation from Glen Kennedy, towards whom I've heard some criticism.

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  83. the lost beast has found a home? that shows up when the so called glitch happen

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  84. Oh, god, Yo Yogi? Those outfits... It's like the worst parts of the 80s and 90s COMBINED.

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  85. I watched Fox Kids pretty much exclusively, but that wasn't often, as we didn't have a TV at my mom's house for some time. Neither my mom or dad ever got WB, as far as I remember (it definitely wasn't a standard network channel in my hometown, but my dad had cable, so he may have had it). I loved Spider-Man and X-Men espcially, but liked watching Sam and Max and some of the others (including Power Rangers, which I hid an actual fondness for, for fear of being made fun of by my brothers--though Beetleborgs was fun to watch for the stupidity)... and then Digimon started airing.

    My little brother was into Pokemon but I was getting to be too old to be in the target demographic. We both laughed at the absurdity of Digimon (especially making fun of the theme song before we changed the channel) and I thought Spider-Man Unlimited was so much less than its predecessor. Really, I stopped watching Saturday morning cartoons around the time Fox Kids became Fox Box.

    That said, I can remember watching a grand total of one NBC Saturday morning show, and this was at other people's houses: Alvin and the Chipmunks. It wasn't my thing but not terrible (though I had no idea how anybody with those voices could become a popular music group). If I would have seen any of the shows from this comic, I would have changed the channel at the intro (the only one I might have recognized was Yo Yogi because I'd seen some old Yogi Bear episodes--and was bored). They reek of desperation and there were just better shows on the air.

    Also, I have a Parody Press comic: The Amazing Skin 13 #1/2. Considering I'm going to go foreward with my own comic reviews (superhero media, actually, though focusing on good and bad), I should really plan to review it. It's just--I never really read any Image in the 90s (aside from some Spawn toy tie-in comics we had and the second Spawn/Batman team-up, which I didn't know was a sequel in part because the thing acted like the two had never met). The jokes do kind of go over my head. But I do have X-Force #1 (and #2! I can torture myself even more) and things like an Amazing Spider-Ham issue which I must review, because Spider-Ham is awesome, and it's one of the first comics I ever read). But you will always be king of comic reviewing, Linkara. I'll just put my own spin on things (and try to see if it's right for me while also creating my ow characters that I might be able to use for other things if it turns out reviewing is not my strong suit).

    And wow do I ramble sometimes. I can't wait for the Entity storyline conclusion, because it should be good, and for you to get to Mantra (I want to see what the problem is--it seems like a great concept and the issue I have isn't too bad; unless it's the post-Infinity Mantra).

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  86. Hehe... something to wrack your brain about Link. It applies to the magic glove comic. It often happens that, whenever in a comic book or movie, someone comes across a magical item of untold power, they're chastised for using it for limited or self oriented reasons.

    If you had a magic genie or glove or what not and COULD wish away all war in the world, SHOULD you? First off, what right would you have to make such a move as to force everyone to get along, and would you be prepared for the consequences? Remember, you didn't wish away evil, just war. The quickest way to end all war is either total genocide of the human race, or foregoing that, putting everyone under a dictatorship so harsh, it makes war impossible. Either that, or you would just make a world with an absence of conflict where everyone just gave themselves over to each other's demands in order to avoid conflict. (Think I remember reading a story about that somewhere... where was that story?)

    Even ending world hunger could have bad side effects. If everyone just magically had food, they would have no respect for that food and probably not take care of it right. In an ideal world, ending world hunger would just mean no one starves and that's it but... well as evidenced by world hunger, this world isn't ideal, now is it?

    I think in most kid shows, they default to say that world curing wishes aren't possible for one reason or another, being that the person philosophically doesn't have the right (got to get an advanced show for that) or that isn't the point of the wishes (as in the case of Fairly Odd Parents)or the item isn't anywhere near powerful enough to actually do that (example, same show I think). (And that was a run-on sentence.)

    I'll say, that likely as not, on the show, the boy probably thought to use his mit for the betterment of man kind at some point, but for one reason or another, probably got shut down at the beginning of the series.

    (I do find it odd no one ever points out this flaw in genie related stories that they like. For instance, Aladdin never wish for world peace.)

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  87. Well link you and I are similar in that watching saturday morning cartoons was a ritual and the NBC lineup was rather alien. Though im a bit more a fogie than you as I was a youngin in the late 80's so I would get up early and watch ABC (Real Ghostbusters for the win) and CBS to a lesser extent.

    I eagerly await Makeover Fairy PI she can do a crossover with Teal/c PI.

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  88. I live in the mist.
    I cannot be fought.
    There is quite a twist.
    Your efforts will be naught.

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  89. Amazing stuff as always, Linkara. And this is one of those things where if it makes you feel old, it makes me feel older. I grew up with Saturday mornings in the 80s, before there were such things as Fox Kids and Kids' WB to any real extent and was in the throes of outgrowing such things when these shows came out. I feel lucky now, having watched this review. It was a good reminder that it wasn't just me becoming a "big boy" that made these shows suck. It really was that American Saturday morning cartoons, by and large, really were going to shit at the time, if you'll forgive the language.

    Of course, that's not to say that there weren't /any/ good shows on Saturday morning at the time. Chances are, though, most, if not all, of the good ones have already been mentioned.

    Looking forward to next wee. Should be interesting.

    If you'll all excuse me now, I think I'd better go make a note of what my next Looking Back series should be about...

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  90. Thinking about wishing for world peace, I remember an episode of the X-Files where they showed the folly of that line of thinking. In it, Mulder unrolled a genie from her magic carpet (I'm not saying the premise isn't silly) and was given three wishes. He wished for world peace. Since she was a literal genie, she granted the wish by making everyone in the world disappear, apart from Mulder. It exemplifies that world peace is too difficult a concept. We later see Mulder after typing up a revised verson of the wish on computer, to account for any problem in wording. It was at least a page long. And we never did find out what he wrote (he wished for something else).

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  91. Ah, this brings back memories, I actually watched pro stars when I was little, it was on on Sundays so it wasn't competing against much. As for most of the other stuff...yeah. Also, since I can't find an email thing so I might as well put it here. Have you ever thought of reviewing the comic Liberality for All, it's a fairly horrific creation but it might be somewhat improved with mockery.

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  92. The Lost Beast has Found a Home...

    Interesting!
    (weird glitch in credits)

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  93. Maybe I'm just crazy, but that jet ship thing really looked like a tennis shoe.

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  94. People are placing the blame on the wrong target for the demise of SatAM blocks.
    So far every comment directed towards the situation blame Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Which is usually one of the various targets cited for the decline of shows.

    NBC does have a block now, but it's not real cartoons. It's the main reason no channel wants to air a SatAM block.
    Because if you do: You need to air at least three hours of Educational shows in portion.

    It's why Nick Jr. was created.
    Yep, I remember when Nickelodeon never had a Nick Jr. and would just show Nick at Night during that dead hour.
    Cartoon Network has trouble with it, as we keeping seeing it's horrid attempts such as: the Loony Tunes babies show.

    The main problem is that a law was passed during the 90's that made it mandatory for every channel to air educational shows along with cartoons. Some channels could get away with this by faking it or end up making a whole educational show block (Nick). Some channels never had to worry about this at all (the golden age of PBS).
    Many learned to do without so they wouldn't be forced by the FCC if they did.

    So all of you can all thank the FCC for the state SatAM blocks are in.

    You can read more at:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_morning_cartoon#Current_state_of_Saturday_morning_cartoons

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  95. This was a GREAT review. Well done, good sir.

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  96. Ah, yes, this brings back memories of the days when you can find good cartoons and shows on your local TV station or Fox Kids and Kids WB, as well as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, or even Disney Channel. I can list some favorite shows of mine: Pokemon, Power Rangers, X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman/Superman/Batman Beyond/Justice League, Teen Titans, etc. I wish we could go back to the good old days . . .

    Anyway, I got to be honest with you. I never watched any of NBC's Saturday morning line-up, and somehow, after looking at this episode, I'm actually glad I never got into NBC. If the NBC comic was any indication, I got this feeling that the cartoon may be just as bad. Even shows like Captain Planet or James Bond Jr. got nothing compared to these!

    P.S.: I think the Entity is messing with your shows. I've seen glitches and sinister messages during the credits. You might want to look into it . . .

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  97. Quoting: Lewis Lovhaug
    >According to wikipedia, it was a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman.

    Wow, that's a fun info.

    Still this actualy makes the series an exception from the rule of the list you made. The list was about spin off series which involve characters from an otherwise not crime solving centered show opening a detective agency.

    Diagnosis Murder not only does not involve anyone opening a detective agency but it IS actualy a spinoff of a crime solving focused show, so there is not even a sudden genre change in it.

    HOWEVER, this is merely meant as an observation by me and not as serious accusation towards you not doing your research well, so please don't feel attacked by this. It's not meant to be nitpicking.

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  98. Lewis, you're a southpaw? Man, the things you don't notice when you're not looking for them.

    The Bo Jackson thing came about because he played multiple sports. Bo knows baseball. Bo knows football. There's even a Wikipedia page for the ad campaign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Knows Oh, and hey, it's even got a link to the page for the ProStars show. Looks like it was a running gag. Color me unsurprised.

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  99. "Lewis, you're a southpaw? Man, the things you don't notice when you're not looking for them."

    Nah, I'm right-handed. I just don't know anything about baseball. XD

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  100. Lewis, I really like your reviews, but this is the second episode in a month that felt a bit lackluster somehow (the other one being the ads). NBC Comics or whatever it is called is just too easy a target. It seems to be a free comic book giveaway involving b-list cartoons (and to be fair, at the time this was produced, there weren't too many a-list shows around, most of the stuff you mentioned didn't exist back then). Unlike trainwrecks like Ultimatum, Cry for Justice and Rise of Arsenal, this comic book never tries to be serious entertaimnent. Making fun of silly cartoon comedy is never as entertaining as making fun of the All-Star Batman and Robins or Silent Hills of this world.

    And I remember seeing Space Cats here in Germany and liking it. I don't remember the channel it was on, might have been Tele 5 or Kabel 1.

    P.S. That's the second time that people mention a glitch in the credits that I just didn't see.

    P.P.S. Anonymous, are you Rhymin' Simon by any chance?

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  101. The Offender said...
    "Sadly I remember all of these shows, and none of them fondly. It was really when cartoons started to suck. Now I see cartoon when I watch my nieces and nephews, most of them make me want to vomit. Why did quality have to become a rarity?"

    Cartoons started sucking after the 40s

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  102. Ah yes, whenever someone tries to tell me how cartoons nowadays suck and how awesome the 90s were, I remind them of this stuff

    That's how Nostalgia goggles work
    you forget the shit, and remember only the good stuff, which makes you think that there used to be nothing but hits
    Yeah, I freaking hate these people with a murderous passion

    Also, we may very well have found someone who's worse with wishes than Timmy Turner (at least the first three season, the characters became painfully stupid later-on)

    Also, I'd call the exterminators to check on the glitch. There seems to be a lost beast hiding in the static.

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  103. I don't if any gouys noticed or said this but, that thing with the brazil boy is just wrong. To begin they don't say "Buon" they say "Bom" or "Bons". "Señor" is actually "Senhor", and the kid's name is Paco, overall to them spanish is portuguese to them. One last thing i'm pretty sure Buon doesn't exist it should be Buenos.
    Hope i'm not being to preachy lol

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  104. The 1st Comic damaged me, the 2nd comic stabbed me. By time you reached Pro Stars I was dead. SERIOUSLY? Pro effing Stars? I haven't felt this way sense PR Mystic Force aired on TV. I'm glad that I only watched FOX Kids and Kids WB on TV growing up. Linkara, you finally found a comic that really really killed me. XD

    P.S. @17:15 MAAAAA-TIIIII!!!!! :_(

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  105. Sorry if this is an awkward question, but it was something bugging me at the end of the video.

    In that Saved by the Bell strip, would you have been just as insulted if the genders had been reversed? You know, men giving up dignity and being presented as slaves to their libidos.

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  106. "Sorry if this is an awkward question, but it was something bugging me at the end of the video.

    In that Saved by the Bell strip, would you have been just as insulted if the genders had been reversed? You know, men giving up dignity and being presented as slaves to their libidos."

    Yeah.

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  107. " Oh god, that's the most racist presentation of Brazil i've ever seen.
    Seriously, as a Brazilian I feel ungodly offended"

    Somos dois, conterrâneo...

    When people will learn we were colonized by Portugal, not Spain? For God's sake, if you want to include a country in a work at least have decency to know what language they speak. Or not mention it at all.

    By the way, the oxigen we breath mostly comes from algae of the ocean, not the Amazon, though the rainforest is still important for the world's climate and diversity.

    Amazonian soil is poor in nutrients, but the forest keeps it's own cicle, so humidity and organic matter are always avaiable (it rains all the freaking time). So if you devastate, many areas suffer from droughts, rivers disappear desertification and erosion, everything goes to crap and so on.

    "Paco" is a spanish nickname for Francisco, which is a name we use here, but the nickname would be Chico or Cisco, something like that. If he even had a latin-sounding name, instead of indian.

    Okay, stress relieved. Rant over.

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  108. Quick comment on the Yo Yogi part: if anyone here wants to see a review of THAT stupid show, check out Rowdy C's TV Trash episode on the subject. Not my favorite episode of his, but still good. You can find him at blip.tv/rowdy-c or in assorted TGWTG blogs.

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  109. I loved the dig at 1/2 issues. Any chance you might cover Wizard Magazine at some point? They started out fine but did some pretty stupid stuff now and again to fuel the speculator market (they seem pretty outdated in the internet age.)

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  110. Man I'm glad my childhood was rotted with Fox Kids and Kids WB. After listening to your Yo-Yogi stuff about Detective spin-off I thought "Oh hell" I'm guilty of this too of a character I created. I bet Alan Moore be guilty of it too from that time I heard he wanted to make a Rorschach spin-off only difference is Rorschach doesn't suck. The cartoon and shows today seem to have gotten most of its crap together we got MLP FiM Thundercats 2011 Superhero squad Avengers EMH TF Prime (if your desperate) Gumball Power Ranger Samurai LAB legend of Korra will be coming soon hopefully someone will adapt Kamen rider W. We had Symbionic Titan as a great action cartoon before CN screwed over Genndy Tartakovsky and replaced that great show with that abomination from the internet Problem solverz.

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  111. in regards to pi and mystery shows:
    sylvester and tweety mysteries
    and Cosby mysteries

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  112. Linkara, you said you watched Fox Kids, and Kids WB on saturday mornings? Did you ever watch One Saturday Morning on ABC in 1998, when Fox Kids was having a major lull in quality(Power Rangers Turbo was running then and my Marvel Cartoons were only airing reruns as they finished their original runs)

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  113. Awesome review and Yay! Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century! Show had to have had one of the weirdest premises ever in that Holmes had his corpse preserved in honey, placed into a crate, and then put in Scotland Yard's basement in case Scotland Yard for some reason ever needed him again and had also developed reanimation technology.

    I wouldn't put it past him but still...

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  114. I was confused for a moment, going "Wait a second. How did I miss all these shows?". Then I looked at the lineup for that year. This is the year of Pirates of Dark Water, TMNT, and the warmups for the Disney Afternoon. Quite literally every other station had incredible quality shows(Especially Pirates of Dark Water). NBC was probably desperate for any eyes that year, and it's no wonder, given this line up, how they crashed and burned. Which is sad, because that started the death of the lineups. However, NBC deserved it.

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  115. I would have been a senior in high school the season of cartoons that comic was advertising. I don't think I watched ANY of them. Though I may have seen Saved by the Bell and Pro Stars in previous years.

    I honestly can't remember what cartoons I really watched that year.

    I was becoming a big anime fan by then and silly kiddie shows weren't enough unless it was more action or comic book based.

    The 80s really were the last decade of big network Saturday Morning cartoons. Honestly looking back most were terrible and short runs. Real Ghostbusters and Pirates of Dark Water were the exception not the rule. The best stuff was all syndication or Nickelodeon even then. (Count Duckula, You Cant Do That on Television, Robotech, Mysterious Cities of Gold)

    This isn't even counting the shows we thought were awesome then but are AWFUL to my now long since adult eyes. (Transformers and Thundercats as an example.)

    Stuff like Tiny Toons and Batman TAS were like MINDBLOWING when they arrived because of how damned good they were.

    But to keep this short there were really 4 or 5 genres of shows nearly every Saturday, Sunday, and weekday syndicated show fit in:

    Old shows from previous decades. (Looney Tunes, Josie & the Pussycats, Casper)

    Toy Commercials. (He Man, Wheeled Warriors, Laser Tag Academy)

    Cutesy Wutesy. (Smurfs, Gummy Bears, Muppet Babies)

    Fads/Other Media Tie Ins. (Alf, Dragon's Lair, WWF Cartoon)

    Imported Anime. (Tranzor Z, Little Prince, Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs)

    Most shows really came and went FAST. Some may have been good for their time, some probably hold up well, others are complete garbage.

    Most were in the last category which is why some folks consider it the golden age. There were well over a hundred different NEW shows that came through in that decade for cartoons, maybe more.

    For every Mighty Orbots you had... Rubik the Amazing Cube.

    Yeah.

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  116. This is my new favorite episode of AT4W... because I mailed this comic to Lewis. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see a review of any of the comics I mailed to him so I can't begin to express how pleased I am right now. Thank you for ripping this apart Lewis!

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  117. dj1107 said...
    "We had Symbionic Titan as a great action cartoon before CN screwed over Genndy Tartakovsky and replaced that great show with that abomination from the internet Problem solverz."

    Sorry, but I have to call you a moron for this
    Those two shows don't even have the same time-slot.
    Problem Solverz was picked up around the same time as Symbionic Titan.
    Symbioonic Titan was cancelled do to budget issues, since the show did not spawn enough merchandise to finance it's rather high production costs (a common practice nowadys, ever wondered why Ben 10 is in it's 9th season?).
    Problem Sovlerz would air even if ST was still around. These show's have no relation besides airing on the same network.

    Make some damn research before spitting out accusations

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  118. Hmm, I presume that you forgot Torchwood? It's pretty close to a detective agency.

    Also, a mall in Dubai has a chairlift system. It's on a ski hill, but a mall with a chairlift does exist.

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  119. Kids don't watch Saturday morning cartoons anymore, or at least I hope to God they don't.

    I woke up abnormally early one recent Saturday and decided to check out what was on, and... wow.

    WOW.

    All crap, all of it.

    Mind, it was YTV, so it may be different in the USA, but in Canada... yeah, boy, we've got a bad case of stupid shows infecting early Saturdays, not a single one was what I would even call noteworthy, much less decent or, god forbid, good.

    It's too bad, I grew up with an extended childhood (which meant I watched cartoons till I was at least 16), so I was familiar with a full decade of great shows, classics from the late 90's to early 2000's, from at least four separate channels, so it was pretty disappointing to see awesome cartoons like Batman Beyond and ReBoot get phased out and replaced with crap like "Almost Naked Animals" and "Fanboy & Chum Chum". (these are real shows and they are god awful)

    I really, really do hope that kids today simply don't watch TV anymore, because it's become a wasteland of absolute garbage, severely deprived of anything resembling "wit" or "compelling" or even basic "action". (seriously, the only show I would say had any fights was Power Rangers Samurai, and that was on at 12:30pm)

    Poor kids of today... nothing of the caliber of Pinky and the Brain or Beastwars exists for them, and they think nothing of sitting down for a half hour to watch twelve minutes of commercials and twelve minutes of Kid vs Kat or Sidekick, because that's all they have on TV now...

    Oh, wait, kids have the internet, I forgot, here's hoping TV dies sooner rather than later.

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  120. Nothing is the sound of stars...

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  121. 1) I remember the "We Will Rock You" ProStars opening mentioned by a few people above. I still have a habit of referencing it to this day anytime I hear Queen's song. The chorus was mainly, "We Are, We Are, ProStars".

    2) I remember watching Yo Yogi. I mainly recall a brief period when they did 3-D segments using those clear & translucent type glasses, which later was used more prominently in the great DiC show BotsMaster.

    3) WishKid, which later aired repeats on the pre-ABC, pre-Fox, The Family Channel, was essentially a "Home Alone" spin-off. Remember in the movie when he wishes for his family to disappear? Not the same characters, obviously, but the entire inspiration comes from the movie.

    4) Hey, those Fox Kids promos come from my Youtube uploads! I recognize the data stuff on the upper edge of the frame (which I think was due to the VCR I used to record them). Good to see them being of use to someone.

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  122. "4) Hey, those Fox Kids promos come from my Youtube uploads! I recognize the data stuff on the upper edge of the frame (which I think was due to the VCR I used to record them). Good to see them being of use to someone."

    Well, thank you for them! ^_^ There was a stunning lack of Kids WB promos on youtube, though.

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  123. Shut up BEAR!!! I'm not reading your comments... That's clearly you... Your behind it all... We all know... BEAR!!!

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  124. Blunt lazers. The way of the future.

    About Pro Stars. It's a coincindence you mention that as there's a wii game that has recently come out called Jerry Rice & Nitus' Dog Football. It's become a sort of in joke of sorts. It's american football with dogs wearing shirts. But they are not anthro, they are dogs as in animals, playing american football with this 1 human dude in some kind of weird reverse airbud situation.

    Also, the hockey stick speargun reminds me of actionman who basicly put missiles in everything, including his dog.

    -Sabre

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  125. This was a great review as ever! I never watched or knew about any of these shows except a few like the sports ones! I'm surpriced you didn't use a clip from that one movie where that kid was a psycho killer for that Wishkid comic!
    So a MMPR comic is coming up next!?

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  126. Also, I'm surpriced you didn't make more fun of the fact of how 90s looking that Yogi comic looked with all those characters dressed like hip-hop rappers of the time!

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  127. I have been watching the Dnd Sesions from Lordkats Stream... I know about the Puns that must go around your home Linkara! xD!

    Lovely Episode!

    Oh and "The Lost Beast Has found a home" have you found a pet :D?

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  128. I'd just like to point out something interesting regarding the Entity. I think 90's kid may have something to do with it.

    Remember when 90's Kid said;

    "I'm 90's Kid and what you see is what you get...OR IS IT?!"

    Take that into consideration and then when Ninja Style Dancer was "taken", who called Linkara ? 90'S KID! When Harvey Finevoice was "taken" who did he meet with before hand ? THE 90'S KID!!

    Call me crazy but I think The Entity is going to posses 90's Kid or IS possessing him. Just wanted to get this theory in before the next episode.

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  129. A frightening thing: I remember some of these shows. The All-Stars thing in particular is familiar, though I only think I saw a couple episode.

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  130. Man, if they were going to make a comic about an NBC character, it should've been Norm Peterson. I'd've read every issue of that when I was a kid.

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  131. At least where I live, the Hub has sort of a Saturday Morning Cartoon block. It includes My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That's all it really needs, now isn't it?

    But yeah, anyone who keeps talking about how great old cartoons were, I'm going to direct them to this when my pointing out the flaws in their precious Thundercats and Transformers fails.

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  132. I would totally read Bloody Mayhem 1/2

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  133. Goofy news: This TV will be bringing back ProStars starting October 2!

    Also, they will air 'Sabrina: The Animated Series'!

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  134. Oh god, I remember this horrible, second-rate programming block, because I DID wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch it. I have no idea why NBC (along with USA, but they were better) was my network of choice when I was 5-7, but I had mercifully forgotten shows like "Wish Kid", "Space Cats", and (ugh) "ProStars" until now.

    I did remember "Camp Candy", the Super Mario cartoons, "Captain N", and (DOUBLE UGH) "Yo Yogi!", but only because they were based on existing characters I've stayed familiar with.

    Really, the ONLY thing NBC had going for it was the Smurfs. No wonder they cancelled their entire Saturday morning cartoon block.

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  135. You know Linkara? it's funny, Your biggest complaint is that the comics were all "to be continued..." stories in which the reader would have to watch the respective shows the comics were based on to find out what happens next.

    To me, this is just an example of laziness on your part. Why? Because "to be continued" storylines are actually pretty common in fiction. Heck, there are even entire FRANCHISES based on various parts of the story being told in multiple media to get a full understanding of what's going on.

    Plus, um, Did you forget that there are SEVERAL comic arcs that end in "to be continued" and that they don't have any resolution until the next chapter?

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  136. "You know Linkara? it's funny, Your biggest complaint is that the comics were all "to be continued..." stories in which the reader would have to watch the respective shows the comics were based on to find out what happens next."

    THAT was my biggest complaint? No, I believe my biggest complaint was the utter stupidity of the characters and the general plots.

    Also: LASER BAT?!

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  137. This was just before NBC turned Saturday Morning into a Teenage Affair with a bunch of Saved by the Bell knockoffs and reruns in addition to Saved by the Bell. The pro stars series looks cool actually...in theory.

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  138. Don't forget Linkara that there was Droopy the Master Detective.

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