''Saturday Supercade'' is an American
animated television series
An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
produced for
Saturday mornings by
Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on
CBS.
Premise
Each episode is composed of several shorter segments featuring
video game characters from the
golden age of arcade video games.
The segments included:
* Frogger (from the ''
Frogger'' arcade game)
*
Donkey Kong with
Mario and
Pauline (from the ''
Donkey Kong'' arcade game)
* Donkey Kong Jr. (from the ''
Donkey Kong Jr.
is a 1982 arcade platform game that was released by Nintendo. It is the sequel to ''Donkey Kong'', but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor: Mario (previously named "Jumpman") is now the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. is trying to ...
'' arcade game)
* Q*bert with Coily, Ugg, Wrongway, Slick and Sam (from the ''
Q*bert'' arcade game)
* Pitfall Harry with his pet
mountain lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda (unlike the others which are arcade games, this segment is from the
home console game ''
Pitfall!''). The cartoon was simply called "Pitfall!".
Pitfall! and Q*bert rotated weekly while the other three were weekly.
During the second season, Q*bert (now weekly) and Donkey Kong remained while the Frogger, Pitfall! and Donkey Kong Jr. segments were replaced by shorts featuring:
* Kangaroo with friends and the "Monkey Business Gang" (from the ''
Kangaroo'' arcade game).
* Space Ace with Space Ace/Dexter (depending on his form), Kimberly, and Borf (from the ''
Space Ace'' arcade game).
Segments
Frogger
Frogger (voiced by
Bob Sarlatte
Bob Sarlatte is an American actor, comedian and sports announcer known for such films and television series as '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''EDtv'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman''.
Sarlatte was also the on-field stadium announcer ...
) is an ace
reporter
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
of the swamp who works at ''The Swamp Gazette''. He and his friends Shellshock "Shelly"
Turtle (voiced by
Marvin Kaplan) and Fanny
Frog (voiced by
B.J. Ward) go out in search of crazy stories (sometimes about human behavior) to publish in the newspaper. Frogger also has to deal with his gruff boss and
editor-in-chief Tex Toadwalker (voiced by
Ted Field, Sr.). As in the game, he often has an encounter with an
alligator or gets flattened by a passing car. Unlike the game, Shelly revives Frogger using an ordinary air pump.
Episodes
# "The Ms. Fortune Story" (September 17, 1983) -
# "Spaced Out Frogs" (September 24, 1983) -
# "The Who Took Toadwalker Story" (October 1, 1983) -
# "Hydrofoil and Go Seek" (October 8, 1983) -
# "The Great Scuba Scoop" (October 15, 1983) -
# "The Headline Hunters" (October 22, 1983) -
# "The Legs Croaker Story" (October 29, 1983) -
# "The Blackboard Bungle" (November 5, 1983) -
# "Good Knight, Frogger" (November 12, 1983) -
# "Fake Me Out at the Ballgame" (November 19, 1983) -
# "I Remember Mummy" (November 26, 1983) -
# "Here Today, Pawned Tomorrow" (December 3, 1983) -
# "Hop-Along Frogger" (December 10, 1983) -
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (voiced by
Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus. He is on the lam and
Mario (voiced by
Peter Cullen) and
Pauline (voiced by
Judy Strangis) are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline and Mario has to save her. Plots typically centered on them encountering crime with the villains conning the slow-witted Donkey Kong into doing their work and Mario and Pauline exposing the truth. After Mario and Pauline reveal the truth to Donkey Kong, the three of them team up to stop the antagonists' plans followed by Donkey Kong evading Mario and Pauline again.
Episodes
=Season 1
=
=Season 2
=
Pitfall!
Pitfall Harry (voiced by
Robert Ridgely), his niece Rhonda (voiced by Noelle North), and their cowardly pet Quickclaw the
Mountain Lion (voiced by
Kenneth Mars) explore jungles for hidden treasures, having many different adventures along the way. Quickclaw and Rhonda later appeared in ''
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns'' and ''
Super Pitfall
is a 1986 side-scrolling platform video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, NEC PC-8801, and TRS-80 Color Computer 3 published under Activision's license. Despite the title screen stating that it was developed by Pony Inc, the actual ...
''.
Episodes
Q*bert
In a 1950s-inspired world set in the town of Q*Berg, a teenage fur-covered creature named
Q*bert (voiced by Billy Bowles), his girlfriend Q*Tee (voiced by Robbie Lee), his brother Q*Bit (voiced by
Dick Beals), and his friends Q*Ball (voiced by
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
), Q*Val (voiced by Robbie Lee), and Q*Mongus (voiced by Frank Welker) must deal with the resident bullies Coily, Ugg and Wrongway (all three voiced by Frank Welker), and Coily's girlfriend Viper (voiced by
Julie McWhirter). As with the
video game, the segment features "block-hopping" scenes, "swearing" bubbles, and occasional flying discs from the original game. New to the cartoon was Q*bert's use of "slippy-doos", a black ball projectile which he loaded and fired through his nose, producing an oil slick wherever the balls splattered. Slick and Sam (both voiced by Frank Welker) are also featured.
Episodes
# "Disc Derby Fiasco" (October 1, 1983) -
# "The Great Q-Tee Contest" (October 15, 1983) -
# "Q-Bowl Rigamarole" (October 29, 1983) -
# "Crazy Camp Creature" (November 12, 1983) -
# "Thanksgiving for the Memories" (November 26, 1983) -
# "Dog Day Dilemma" (December 10, 1983) -
# "Take Me Out to the Q-Game" (September 8, 1984) -
# "Noser, P.I." (September 15, 1984) -
# "Hook, Line & Mermaid" (September 22, 1984) -
# "Q-Historic Daze" (September 29, 1984) -
# "Q-bert's Monster Mix-Up" (October 6, 1984) -
# "Game Shoe Woe" (October 13, 1984) -
# "The Wacky Q-Bot" (October 20, 1984) -
# "Q-Beat It" (October 27, 1984) -
# "Q-Urf's Up!" (November 3, 1984) -
# "Little Green Nosers" (November 10, 1984) -
# "Rebel Without a Q-Ause" (November 17, 1984) -
# "Looking For Miss Q-Right" (November 24, 1984) -
# "The Goofy Ghostgetters" (December 1, 1984) -
Donkey Kong Junior
Donkey Kong Jr.
is a 1982 arcade platform game that was released by Nintendo. It is the sequel to ''Donkey Kong'', but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor: Mario (previously named "Jumpman") is now the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. is trying to ...
(voiced by
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
) is sad to find that his father has run away from Mario and the circus. He befriends a
greaser nicknamed "Bones" (voiced by
Bart Braverman
Bartley Louis Braverman (born February 1, 1946, Los Angeles) is an American actor, best known as "Binzer" during the entire run of the ABC prime time series ''Vega$'' (1978–1981). Braverman has also guest starred on many television shows.
Earl ...
) who has a motorcycle and offers to help Junior by finding his dad together. Donkey Kong Jr's catchphrase is "Monkey muscle!", which he tells to himself and Bones to inspire self-confidence. Bones often serves as the voice of reason when Donkey Kong Jr. bites off more than he can chew.
Episodes
# "Trucknapper Caper" (September 17, 1983) -
# "Sheep Rustle Hustle" (September 24, 1983) -
# "Rocky Mountain Monkey Business" (October 1, 1983) -
# "Magnificent Seven-Year Olds" (October 8, 1983) -
# "The Ventriloquist Caper" (October 15, 1983) -
# "The Great Seal Steal" (October 22, 1983) -
# "The Jungle Boy Ploy" (October 29, 1983) -
# "Junior Meets Kid Dynamo" (November 5, 1983) -
# "The Amazing Rollerskate Race" (November 12, 1983) -
# "A Christmas Story" (November 19, 1983) -
# "Gorilla Ghost" (November 26, 1983) -
# "The Teddy Bear Scare" (December 3, 1983) -
# "Double or Nothing" (December 10, 1983) -
Kangaroo
Joey
Kangaroo (voiced by
David Mendenhall), his mother
"K.O." Katy Kangaroo (voiced by Mea Martineau), and Sidney
Squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
(voiced by
Marvin Kaplan) must stop the Monkeybiz Gang members Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Fred (all four voiced by
Pat Fraley
Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tele ...
and Frank Welker), four meddlesome
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s who are known from making trouble at the local zoo run by the
zookeeper Mr. Friendly (voiced by
Arthur Burghardt). The Monkeybiz Gang would cause trouble by trying to escape from the zoo and Katy would have to help keep them in line.
Episodes
Space Ace
Space Ace (voiced by Jim Piper) is the always smiling self-confident champion of the "Space Command", whereas when always "wimping out" to Dexter (voiced by
Sparky Marcus) after being hit by the Infanto-Ray, he becomes clumsy and weak. With officer Kimberly (voiced by
Nancy Cartwright), he works for Space Marshall Vaughn (voiced by
Peter Renaday) to keep the peace in the universe. They fight the evil alien commander Borf (voiced by
Arthur Burghardt) and keep him from invading Earth. Ace and Kim try to keep his 'wimping' situation secret and pretend that Dexter is Kim's little brother to Vaughn.
Again, as with Donkey Kong, Ruby-Spears took artistic license; in the video game, Dexter had certain chances to revert to Ace, his full-grown self, whereas in the cartoon the Ace/Dexter phases seemed to happen on their own and often at inconvenient times for the hero.
It was aired late night on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
in the late 1990s, and segments have been shown between programs on
Boomerang.
Episodes
# "Cute Groots" (September 8, 1984) -
# "Cosmic Camp Catastrophe" (September 15, 1984) -
# "Dangerous Decoy" (September 22, 1984) -
# "Moon Missile Madness" (September 29, 1984) -
# "Perilous Partners" (October 6, 1984) -
# "Frozen in Fear" (October 13, 1984) -
# "Age Ray Riot" (October 20, 1984) -
# "Wanted: Dexter!" (October 27, 1984) -
# "The Phantom Shuttle" (November 3, 1984) -
# "Spoiled Sports" (November 10, 1984) -
# "Calamity Kimmie" (November 17, 1984) -
# "Three Ring Rampage" (November 24, 1984) -
# "Infanto Fury" (December 1, 1984) -
Cast
*
Soupy Sales - Donkey Kong
*
Dick Beals - Q*Bit
* Billy Bowles - Q*bert
*
Bart Braverman
Bartley Louis Braverman (born February 1, 1946, Los Angeles) is an American actor, best known as "Binzer" during the entire run of the ABC prime time series ''Vega$'' (1978–1981). Braverman has also guest starred on many television shows.
Earl ...
- Bones
*
Arthur Burghardt - Borf, Mr. Friendly
*
Nancy Cartwright - Kimberly
*
Peter Cullen - Mario
*
Ted Field, Sr. - Tex
*
Pat Fraley
Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tele ...
- Bingo
*
Marvin Kaplan - Shellshock "Shelly" Turtle, Sidney Squirrel
* Robbie Lee - Q*Tee, Q*Val
*
Sparky Marcus - Dexter
*
Kenneth Mars - Quickclaw the Mountain Lion
* Mea Martineau - "K.O." Katy Kangaroo
*
Julie McWhirter - Q*bertha, Q*Mom, Viper
*
David Mendenhall - Joey Kangaroo
* Noelle North - Rhonda
* Jim Piper - Space Ace
*
Peter Renaday - Space Marshall Vaughn, Legrin
*
Robert Ridgely - Pitfall Harry
*
Bob Sarlatte
Bob Sarlatte is an American actor, comedian and sports announcer known for such films and television series as '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''EDtv'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman''.
Sarlatte was also the on-field stadium announcer ...
- Frogger
*
Judy Strangis - Pauline
*
B.J. Ward - Fanny Frog
*
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
- Bango, Bongo, Donkey Kong Jr., Coily, Fred, Q*Ball, Q*Dad, Q*Mongus, Sam, Slick, Ugg, Wrongway
Additional voices
*
Michael Bell
*
Jack DeLeon
* Alan Dinehart - Mac
*
Walker Edmiston
*
Marshall Efron
* Al Fann
* Teddy S. Field III
*
Takayo Fischer
*
June Foray
*
Linda Gary
* Kelly Glen
* Joe Higgins
*
Bob Holt
*
David Landsberg
* Lucy Lee
* Shawn Lieber
*
Tress MacNeille
* Tysun McMullen
*
Shepard Menken
* Nancy Merwan
*
Don Messick
Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...
- Q*Dactyl (in "Q*Historic Days")
*
Tim Rooney
*
Marilyn Schreffler
*
Avery Schreiber
*
Hal Smith
*
Steve J. Spears
*
John Stephenson
*
Russi Taylor
Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...
*
Herb Vigran
*
Janet Waldo
*
Alan Young
* Cameron Young
Rebroadcast and home video
The ''
Space Ace'' segments from the show occasionally appeared as filler in between shows on
Boomerang and
Toonami.
The series has become considered partially
lost in recent years due to a lack of rereleases and rebroadcast. In 2010,
Warner Archive announced via their Facebook page that ''Saturday Supercade'' would be released through their made-on-demand DVD program, but some segments may be cut due to rights issues. As of 2022, no further information has been released.
In November 2015,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
released ''The Best of Q*Bert'' on DVD in Region 1.
'The Best Of' the Cartoons from the CBS 'Saturday Supercade'
The two-disc collection features 17 of the 19 episodes of the series. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively in the US via Amazon.com and their CreateSpace MOD program.
References
External links
*
*
''Saturday Supercade'' podcast
at The Retroist
{{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s
1980s American animated television series
1980s American anthology television series
1983 American television series debuts
1984 American television series endings
American children's animated anthology television series
Animated series based on video games
English-language television shows
CBS original programming
Television series by Ruby-Spears
Television series by Sony Pictures Television