''Fabulous Funnies'' is a 1978–1979 American animated children's show produced for

Saturday morning television "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

. The show aired for one season from September 9, 1978, to December 1, 1978, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, airing 13 episodes. The show was an anthology of stories based on American comic strips, including '' Broom Hilda'', ''

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...

'', '' The Captain and the Kids'', '' Nancy'', ''

Emmy Lou Marty Links (September 5, 1917 – January 6, 2008) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist best known for her syndicated comic strip ''Emmy Lou''. Biography Born Martha B. Links in Oakland, California, she moved with her family ...

'' and (for one episode) ''

Tumbleweeds A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure. Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to: Films * ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film * ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935 film), Gene Autry film * ''Tumbleweed'' (1 ...

''. The character designs closely mimicked the comic strips, so the animators had to animate in several different styles for the program. It was noted by critics that the show's comic potential was blunted by NBC's demand that the show promote pro-social messages for the child audience. This was especially noticeable when rowdy characters like

the Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called the show's moralizing "heavy-handed."

The Fantastic Funnies

In 1980, CBS released a special called The Fantastic Funnies. Produced by Mendelson-Melendez Productions, it brought back most of the characters from the show, with new ones, most famously

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

and

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

Episode structure

Each episode contained ''Broom Hilda'', ''Alley Oop'' and ''The Captain and the Kids'', with other segments appearing on a rotating basis. Foozy from ''Alley Oop'' served as the show's host, and mainly spoke in rhyme. Each episode had an overall theme, based on a pro-social message. For example, "Fear" dealt with overcoming trepidation, and included Foozy's narration, "We're here to make one thing clear, a lot of woe comes from undue fear." Other topics included drinking, smoking, schoolwork, health, voting and the environment.

Rights problem

The first episode of ''Fabulous Funnies'' aired with a segment based on ''Tumbleweeds'', but Filmation didn't actually have the rights to the strip. The strip's creator, Tom K. Ryan, said that he would give approval for his comic to appear in the show pending a look at the scripts and designs, but the producers believed that he had already given permission. After the first episode aired, Ryan called producer Lou Scheimer and said that he wouldn't sue, as long as the strip didn't appear in any further episodes.

Voice cast

The voice cast included: *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...

: Broom Hilda, Sluggo, Ooola, Hans and Fritz Katzenjammer * Jayne Hamil: Nancy, Emmy Lou *

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

: Captain Katzenjammer, Gaylord, Irwin, Grelber, Inspector, Tumbleweeds * Bob Holt: Alley Oop, King Guzzle, Foozy

Reception

In ''The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows'', David Perlmutter writes: "For the most part, they were effective adaptations on a visual level. However, the advanced age of most of the properties (''Katzenjammer'' dated to 1898, ''Alley Oop'' and ''Nancy'' to the 1930s, ''Broom Hilda'' to 1970) meant that adapting them to the restrictions of television animation in the 1970s required unwelcome compromises to the material that impaired their abilities to tell stories as effectively as they had in the comics." George Woolery agrees in ''Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years'' that the show "sacrificed humor and fun for preaching." In ''Television Cartoon Shows'', Hal Erickson adds, "What, pray tell, did the media critics ''expect'' when such marvelously uninhibited, havoc-wreaking characters like Alley Oop and the Katzenjammer Kids were required to warn the kids at home to behave like responsible ladies and gentlemen? Especially in the case of the Katzenjammers, the whole point of newspaper strips in the first place was to give rule-bound children (and adults!) a cathartic outlet for their latent antisocial tendencies. With the noblest motivations in mind, ''Fabulous Funnies'' managed to rob its characters of their very reason for being."

Episodes

The 13 episodes were:

References

1978 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings 1970s American animated television series 1970s American anthology television series American children's animated anthology television series English-language television shows Television series by Filmation Television series by Universal Television The Katzenjammer Kids NBC original programming