"Looks like the ultimate warp zone brought us the ultimate Saturday Morning Cartoon Show."

Happy Saturday everyone! Break out your Power Gloves and stock up on your potions, because we're following Kevin down the rabbit hole into Videoland for two hours of Captain N: The Game Master. 

Of all the cartoons based on video games, and there are myriad, we've had more requests for Captain N than anything, which I love, because it shows that there are many of us who have no problem enjoying something as geeks that is ridiculous and flawed without driving ourselves crazy over the glaring inconsistencies between the games we play and the animated interpretation of them. Well done, nerdlingers! ;) I'm proud of us all.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of this show, the adventures begin when young Kevin Keene lives the dream of many a gaming culture forefather and gets sucked through his TV into Videoland, where he not only gets to use his Nintendo brand accessories to save the day on numerous occasions, but also enter into a "will they?/won't they?" pseudo relationship with the resident princess. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Zack Morris. Kevin and his new friends do have an overarching mission to restore Princess Lana's father to the Videoland throne, but they usually end up wandering around different worlds and do-gooding with random guest stars, like today's not-quite-video-game-heroes Bo Jackson and Larry Bird. I'm not kidding about that. You're in for quite a thing.

Podcast for 01/16/10 - Captain N: The Game Master

Now, if you've yet to listen to today's show, you've yet to get in the know about the latest, and I must say coolest addition to the SMCS universe. Our beloved DJ Beta has started a blog, Beta Is Dead, in which he can fully vent about all of the things in our featured cartoons that either get his goat or he loves with a fiery passion that burns his very soul. I also suspect there will be other goodies posted from time to time, so bookmark this bad boy, subscribe to the RSS feed, and get even more vitamin B in your 'toon lovin' day.

As always, you can make your requests any time of the day or night via comments on this blog, our e-mail, or the SMCS Facebook page, all of which can be found if you look to your left. Handy, no? Now that we're done for the day, there's naught left but to say "See you next week for dino-riffic mayhem with Transformers!" but since I just said it there's no need to repeat myself.

Have a great week and enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"There's no need to fear, The Saturday Morning Cartoon Show is here!"

Some of you may know that my computer went more than a little haywire this week, thus preventing me from doing anything digital until I could get to the studio. As you can imagine, that kept me from getting the blog done. Here's the podcast for the Underdog show. The next entry will be back to normal. ;)

Podcast for 01/07/10 - Underdog

Listener Vince sent me this link, though I didn't see it until today, and it is awesome on so many fronts. I couldn't not share it. Thanks Vince. :) Yay Ted!

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"Okay, Merle, bring on The Saturday Morning Cartoon Show!"

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you heeded my pleas last week and have returned to us in one piece and unscathed, ready for 52 more weeks of animated awesomeness. I know I have.

Due to a technical snafu, we were unable to bring you Underdog the week as we'd originally planned, but unless you're the world's biggest Underdog fan, I think you'll be most pleased with the show we aired in its stead, Blazing Dragons. It's historical, it's irreverent, and it's made by Monty Python alum Terry Jones. Totally sweet, no? He's such a delightful geek for and about this era and it shows in the quality of the writing and general ambiance of this show. 

Podcast for 01/02/10 - Blazing Dragons

My guess is that most of our American listeners never got to experience the show, but even if you have, you're still in for quite a treat. This is a great cartoon for radio, but the animation and physicality that makes the visual aspect so much fun should also be checked out at least a little bit, so here's a nifty little sample for you. You can, of course, find the rest of the episode on YouTube.

This episode of the SMCS also features a wide variety of theme songs, many of which made their debut on the show this very day. If there's ever anything you want to hear and it's not show time, you can always e-mail us or drop a line via Facebook, the links for which you'll find just to your left. :) Please use them. We do so enjoy pandering to our audience! That goes for song and cartoon requests, so don't be shy.

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"I never thought it was such a bad little Saturday Morning Cartoon Show."

We've made it through! Things got downright crazy this month for ol' DJ Muppet and I must apologize for the lack of updates, but I shall make up for that right now with a massive post featuring all of the holiday special shows. Here you go! :)

Podcast for 12/05/09 - How The Grinch Stole Christmas & Twas The Night Before Christmas

Podcast for 12/12/09 - The Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

Podcast for 12/17/09 - Eureeka's Castle Christmas & A Rugrats Chanukah

Podcast for 12/26/09 - A Wish For Wings That Work & A Charlie Brown Christmas

We'll see you in the new year for a day for this gem, by very special request.

Be safe on the 31st and come back to us on the 2nd in one piece, ready for another totally sweet year of cartoons, giant puppets, and chicanery of all kinds. Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"Do you want to try it, Pokey?" "No thanks, I prefer The Saturday Morning Cartoon Show."

Claymation rules! Today is Gumby day, so hopefully you lot are in the mood for some short, but action packed clay-based adventures.

Begun as a student project at USC by creator and Michigan native Art Clokey,  Gumby ended up being not just a beloved TV show, but a merchandizing machine. The 233 episode run inspired everything from lunch boxes and figurines to endorsement deals from the Library of Congress and a video game, made nearly fifty years after the first cartoon air. That's some mighty powerful mojo, my friends. 

Podcast for 11/28/09 - Gumby

And as promised, here are a couple of episodes that don't really work on the air, but are super cool nonetheless. Plus what's Gumby without at least a little bit of visual? You can totally see Davey & Goliath in these designs.

Don't forget to put in your requests for holiday specials, as next week is our big kick-off and we want to have plenty of time to find the ones you want that we may not already have.

And for those of you who might've missed the announcement on the show, Cookie Jar Entertainment finally did something with all the amazing properties they own and it is called (for better or worse) Jaroo. It's essentially a Hulu for cartoons and it's awesome. We're not getting anything from them for mentioning it or saying we like it, I'm just really happy with what's been made available (DREAMSTONE!!!) and couldn't not share with you guys. :)

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"Is there a Saturday Morning Cartoon Show in every century?"

Welcome back, everyone, or should I say welcome back...to the future! :p Yes, I know, that was awful, but if you say it in a Michael Scott voice it's actually pretty funny. No, no it's not... 

Anyway, today's cartoon is in fact Back To The Future: The Animated Series, a smart, silly romp through both time and space featuring good writing, surprisingly impressive voice acting, and anachronisms that only lead to fun, something Quantum Leap couldn't say. The live action sequences with Christopher Lloyd that opened and closed the show are as much of a hoot as the show itself, plus they're all sciencey.

Podcast for 11/21/09 - Back To The Future

I'm not writing a ton today because a) this is one of those shows that is a lot of fun, but doesn't have a lot of historical or cultural significance and b) I have a friends Thanksgiving tonight and I need to get home to cook! I'm sure you understand. ;)

Join us next week for a show filled with daring do, car chases, and unnaturally living clay as far as the eye can see! Yup, we're doing Gumby.

For those of you in The States, have a great Thanksgiving, and for everyone else, enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"Can you tell me how to get, how to get to The Saturday Morning Cartoon Show?"

"You've never seen a street like Sesame Street. Everything happens here. You're gonna love it!" - Gordon, the first lines ever spoken on Sesame Street.

While the current incarnation of Sesame Street has the squeaky clean feel of Giuliani's Disneyfied Times Square, its roots, much like the city it calls home, are funky, anarchistic, and full of vibrant, unpredictable life reminiscent of early Saturday Night Live or The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. When you think about it, can't you see Grover getting a part time job with The Ministry of Silly Walks or the Two Headed Monster paying a visit to The Pit of Ultimate Destruction for a lesson on sharing? Everything really could happen on Sesame Street, because the people and puppets who inhabited it were fully realized individuals with unique personalities and real problems to deal with, from worrying about making friends in a new place or facing the harsh realities of life. Today, though we have a scant two hours to cover 40 years worth of stuff, we dive head first into this exceptional world that gave so many of us a classroom with no walls, a family who always loved us, and a safe place even in hard times.

One of the things I do think is a loss for kids and adults alike is no longer having musical guests on Sesame Street play their own songs rather than parody or learning-ified versions. As much as I like the changes to "Two Princes," kids deserve exposure to good music for its own sake. While no one will argue the benefits of giving Mozart and Chopin to younglings, the same is rarely said about Talking Heads or Mos Def, but anyone with kids in their lives knows that they love to head bang along with "The Immigrant Song" just like the rest of us. I don't know if a moment like the one below would even be possible today, the spontaneity of the kids, the gritty feel, and the undeniable funk, but man, am I ever glad it was once upon a time. Even if things have changed, it means a lot to know that Sesame Street was once a place for a dirty bass line and a soul filled horn section.

Though I have a wide range of opinions and analyses on the subject of all things Street related, I think I'll limit you to what was said on the show. If you'd like to know more about the development of Sesame Street, its impact on culture, or the mountain of general trivia that's out there, follow the links in this blog, make use of the Muppet Wiki, check out the articles done by the New York Times over the years, and get your hands on any of the historical/memoir books about the life of Sesame Street. If you're lucky, you might even get a chance to see the stuff in the Jim Henson traveling exhibit when it swings by your corner of the globe. (Kalamazoo folks? Yeah, we have just under a year until Chicago, but then, oh boy!)

Podcast for 11/14/09 - Sesame Street

We didn't have time to get to so very many things I would've liked to, some controversial nowadays and some just a whole mess of fun, so I've included a few videos that I hope you'll enjoy. If you're old enough to remember these beauties, share them with someone in your life who isn't, and if you're new to them, well, just remember that there are a gazillion more out there just as good waiting to be seen. YouTube is your friend. ;)

As with all things, age has brought changes to how we experience and use the world of Sesame Street. We've seen Bert and Ernie doing gangsta rap, Grover getting his near and far on with The Todd, Big Bird and Elmo on The West Wing, outtakes with comic geniuses, and an entire stage production lovingly satirizing the entire Sesame Street experience and life throughhilariously filthy musical numbers, but none of that changes how so many of us feel when we hear those first few chunky notes on the piano. No matter what crazy things happen in the world around us, we can always count on a vampire obsessed with numbers, a neurotic triangle lover, and an incorrigibly lovable trash can dweller. Well done, Sesame Street.

"Hope you liked it. Now scram!"

- DJ Muppet

P.S. Massive Beta and Muppet congrats to superfan Ray, who informed us today that he and his wife (also a fan of the show) are expecting a baby! SQUEE! We could not be happier for them and wish them all the best. Now I need to learn how to knit baby booties that look like Optimus Prime. :p