The Hanna-Barbera machine was showing its age by the 1970s. After producing countless hours of programming for the three networks’ Saturday morning schedules, it was clear that the creative juices were drying up. They were also struggling to come with creative variations on the talking animals theme, especially as the hand-wringing parents were getting increasingly…
God bless the deranged maniacs at the Warner Archives and their desire to not let anything be forgotten. As part of their exponentially-growing manufacture on demand DVD program, they’ve added to their already impressive list of animated releases with a 2-disc release of Hanna-Barbera’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. Martin Short has had…
I was informed that the Atlanta-based network would launch a 24-hour “Cartoon Network.” The thought was mind-blowing! … I’d always been a reluctant follower of Hanna-Barbera’s post-1960 TV cartoon roster, but I’d always acknowledged how the potent narcotic of nostalgia could jostle my level of taste. via When Cartoon Network was born – Imprint –…
One of the more enduring concepts introduced on Saturday morning television in 1967 was Hanna-Barbera’s Herculoids. Some of this has to do with its fabulous Alex Toth design work and much of it has to do with the unusual assortment of people and creatures that band together to fight for survival in a hostile environment….
On the one hand, you have to wonder what took so long for Hanna-Barbera to get around to having their two most famous franchises meet. On the other, maybe they should have waited for inspiration. Today, Warner Archive is releasing The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones and the 96 minutes went by at a glacial pace….
Hanna-Barbera ruled Saturday morning television in the 1960s, cannily finding trends and adapting them to their pint-sized audience. Working in tandem with CBS Saturday morning chief Fred Silverman, they spotted a fad and capitalized on it. As the lids were galvanized by the super-hero trend which led to ABC’s surprise smash success with Batman in…
Merrill Markoe (the person who dated David Lettermen before dating him was controversial) has unearthed the most existential episode of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon ever. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go kill myself now.
