Brilliant TV Shows That Noone Apart From Me Appears To Have Seen

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I'll be patron saint of the Semi Cool Animated Show here, and say that "Downtown", "Space Ghost Coast To Coast" and "Home Movies" (this last one done by the same ppl as Dr.Katz I believe) are sorely underrated.

Oh, I was big Downtown buff. Me and my flatmates used to watch it every thursday, but no one else seems to know about it. I remember me and my flatmate having discussions about how we totally related to the characters: I was like the shy bespectacled dude and she was like the not-so-social Chinese girl. That show was a million times more credible than any live-action show about "young adults".

Does anyone remember this: "Cap-tain Pla-net, he's a he-ro!" Did Captain Planet have the best eighties-style mullet or what:

http://www.turner.com/planet/static/graphics/captain.gif

Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:28 (twenty years ago) link

When I was a kid I really liked this cartoon called "The Galaxy Rangers" which was prolly very ahead of its time (a bit violent with people getting killed occasionally).

I've seen The Great Space Coaster... always hated it.

I remember watching this game show all the time where kids play video games and have to score a certain amount of points in 60 seconds or something. It was on USA and no one ever knew what I was talking about, but I saw it on the Video Game Channel (or whatever) when I had digital cable. So I didn't make it up!

Aaron W (Aaron W), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:41 (twenty years ago) link

First Class in the UK had a couple of rounds where the schoolkid contestants had to play Paperboy or that old skateboarding game

stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:42 (twenty years ago) link

Those sound like the most boring TV shows ever.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:43 (twenty years ago) link

I vaguely remember this show in the early 80's about gangs being crime fighters or something. I think it may have been called the Warriors or Nighthawk or something. I also think it was on Friday nights.

Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:48 (twenty years ago) link

Nighthawk... Wasn't that one sort of a Knight Rider ripoff, but with a motorcycle instead of a car?

Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:58 (twenty years ago) link

ok there was this programme that was set in a morris minor garage. they had these stoopid escapades and shit. it was sort of 4.00 pm time. i think it was just called 'morris minor' or something. i am almost i was dreamt this though, becasue no one has ever been able to verify my story. i've never had a tv, so i just have hazy memories of watching it at a friends house, hence the confusion

ambrose (ambrose), Monday, 11 August 2003 15:08 (twenty years ago) link

Ambrose, you've just jogged some kind of memory in me there. Wasn't it Tony Hawks (not the skateboarding one, the one who played Moldovans at tennis and went round Ireland with a fridge) and that's where the Stutter Rap came from. Or they might have got a show on the back of the record. Or am I making my nostalgia up?

Yikes, Kelly Monteith. He was shit.
The thing on the ark was Noah and Nelly (hence the ark) - she used to knit everything, including (I think, but my mind may be playing tricks again) the smoke out of the funnel. Do arks even have funnels?

The Cops was utterly fuXoring great :)

ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:36 (twenty years ago) link

Tuomas you're thinking of Street Hawk

stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 19:30 (twenty years ago) link

only i watch Ed and enjoy it it seems

stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 19:53 (twenty years ago) link

Does anyone remember this: "Cap-tain Pla-net, he's a he-ro!"

I don't think I saw more than a couple episodes of this, but I was a big fan cos I thought Capt. Planet was a turquoise Macguyver with superpowers.

Leee (Leee), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:24 (twenty years ago) link

its the NEW ZOO REVIEW comin right at YOU!
http://www.otmfan.com/graphics/lyric/NZR.jpg

chaki (chaki), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:38 (twenty years ago) link

Am I the only one who saw any episodes of "Action" ? it ran briefly on Fox a couple years back, nobody watched it, got cancelled - I caught perhaps two shows and thought it was genius, esp. Jay Mohr. Maybe it's just my puerile sense of humor or the fact that I like jerks.

I'd read that upon finding out the show was cancelled they hurriedly shot a final episode in which the lead character has a heart attack and dies. Wonder if that ever aired..

daria g (daria g), Monday, 11 August 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link

Action was great. I sort of understood why it was cancelled -- you could see the potential it was working up to but hadn't reached yet, and I guess they weren't patient enough -- but I wish they'd waited.

I haven't read the entirety of upthread. Anyone mention On the Air, the summer replacement sitcom Mark Frost and David Lynch did after Twin Peaks? Probably even stranger as a sitcom than Twin Peaks was as a soap opera.

Tep (ktepi), Monday, 11 August 2003 21:21 (twenty years ago) link

i'd forgotten about Action - it was weird

stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 22:40 (twenty years ago) link

Oh! I just remembered two more, both on MTV a long time ago. One was called Pirate TV and the premise was that these pirate broadcasters stole MTV's signal. I think it was a comedy. All I remember was that there was this character who lived in the galley and when he said, "STOP YOUR YAMMERING!!!" I would crack up.

The other show was by that Alex Winters guy who was either Bill or Ted, I forget. The only sketch I remember wasn't very funny, but he played a "flying gimp."

Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 17:51 (twenty years ago) link

Am I the only one who saw any episodes of "Action" ?

Nope. I absolutely loved that show and went so far as to burn all 13 episodes to VCD

I'd read that upon finding out the show was cancelled they hurriedly shot a final episode in which the lead character has a heart attack and dies. Wonder if that ever aired..

It was the last one aired on Fox, but there were four more episodes that Trio aired when they reran the series last year. Oh, and the lead character survived the heart attack.

Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:03 (twenty years ago) link

More from the annals of CBC's 'East Germany' era - 'Homemade Television', a show so cheap that it once featured a televised table-hockey game

dave q, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:10 (twenty years ago) link

'Parker Lewis' - was that the show that was done really arty '3 O'Clock High' style?

dave q, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:11 (twenty years ago) link

Even better was a pilot with the actor from "Parker Lewis" called "What's Alan Watching?" It was executive produced by Eddie Murphy and he had all these cameos playing TV characters. I had it on tape and used to watch it all the time.

Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:15 (twenty years ago) link

The other show was by that Alex Winters guy who was either Bill or Ted, I forget.

I'm pretty sure that was called The Idiot Box, but that was the name of the course I taught on television, so I might be mixing. It was close, though (and it was Bill, yeah). That had a lot of good moments.

I kinda sorta vaguely remember the pirate thing ... almost.

Oh, my next entry: PROFIT, for the love of God. (Another one Trio's done, I know, but I've never had Trio available).

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:21 (twenty years ago) link

I forgot about Jossy's Giants!

Children's BBC.......

"we're called Jossy's Giant's

football's just a branch of science"

lol!

Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 14:17 (twenty years ago) link

re. ambrose and ailsa messages -

did you mean 'Morris Minor and the Majors' song Stutter Rap?

"well no-one's ever seen what I mean

from the age of ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-nineteen..."

?


They had another release, I think it was the same band anyway, 'John Kettley is a weatherman, a weatherman, a weatherman,

John Kettley is a weatherman

and so is Michael Fish!

and so is Ian McKaskill!"

etc.

Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 14:26 (twenty years ago) link

Nah, that wasn't Morris Minor And The Majors, was it?

They *did* have another song, though. It went:

This is the chorus
It goes around and around, and gets into your brain
This is the chorus
And thirty seconds from now, you'll hear it again

caitlin (caitlin), Friday, 15 August 2003 14:41 (twenty years ago) link

Yes it was them! The Stutter Rap was in the charts in the UK, so it should be indicated in the usual Top 40 single releases.

I'm pretty sure the John Kettley is a Weatherman was their song too.

Never heard of the chorus one tho'. But they obviously had other releases and B sides, etc.


From what I recall they looked like a sort of spoof of The Beastie Boys and Public Enemy during that time.

Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 17:35 (twenty years ago) link

John Kettley song definitely not by Morris Minor - i think caitlin meant this

'John Kettley Is A Weatherman' was credited to Tribe Of Toffs - i vaguely recall them on TOTP, and the singer didn't resemble Tony Hawks at all - they sounded Scottish anyway

stevem (blueski), Friday, 15 August 2003 17:50 (twenty years ago) link

The Voyage of the Mimi: A young Ben Affleck (whom I wanted to befriend as a little girl) tools around in a working ship with his gruff grandfather.

B.Aff was in that?? We watched that in 5th-grade science class!!

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 15 August 2003 17:58 (twenty years ago) link

Holy Shit New Zoo Review, I was addicted to that as a child, and I even had all the characters as finger puppets.

anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 15 August 2003 18:27 (twenty years ago) link

Mr Don and Mr George own this thread. Ignoring fourteen imperatives on the way.

Matt (Matt), Friday, 15 August 2003 21:46 (twenty years ago) link

"John Kettley is a Weatherman" was by A Tribe of Toffs - F**k all to do with Morris Minor & the Majors

ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:09 (twenty years ago) link

Ayrton Senna's got the voice of a tenor
Peter Snow sings very low
Mark Barano is a soprano
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman
a weatherman
a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
and so is Michael Fish

Simon Parkin's always larkin
Eric Lane is the same
Jonothan Ross collects moss
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Lester Piggot couldn't dig it
David Icke rides a bike
Richard Keys has got no knees
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Debbie Thrower's got a lawnmower
Johnny Marr he plays guitar
David Steele lives in Keele
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Chuck Knox has blue socks
Andy Crane has got no brain
Bernard Davy left the navy
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman
a weatherman
a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
and so is Michael Fish
and so is Billy Giles
and so is Ian McGaskill
so is Wincy Willis

ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:14 (twenty years ago) link

three months pass...
early eighties BBC Scotland drama called 'Maggie': 'Maggie, so far , so far, so good', went the theme song.

james nope, Tuesday, 9 December 2003 11:45 (twenty years ago) link

I get confronted with "are you a mentalist?"-type stares when mentioning are Kinvig (strange sub-Doctor Who bollocks starring Maxine's mum off Coronation Street)
-- ailsa August 10th, 2003 3:35 PM. (ailsa)

Big shout out back in time to ailsa -- there is a listing on TV Cream so we're not hallucinating. It bugs me that nobody remembers this - it was Nigel Kneale (Quatermass fella) attempting what felt like a sitcom and it had Rula Lenska in it too.

Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 11:51 (twenty years ago) link

I too had a tape of "What's Alan Watching" and thought it was the shit. Don't remember much about it now. Eddie Murphy did some James Brown impersonations.

I loved:
The Mighty Orbots (cartoon. I knew it was silly, but I liked it. And the way the robot team ran when they were heading for action was funny and I would mimic it to entertain myself)

Clyde the Frog (bizarre frog marionette with a strange woman's voice. public television. often on around midday when i was home sick from school. clyde would always fuck up and use the opposite of good judgment and by doing so would teach the kids a lesson. Like he'd get cocky and decide not to use hand signals while riding his bike and end up being mangled by a car. It all looked so strange. wish i had a tape.

andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 17:40 (twenty years ago) link

eight years pass...

Fans of Action should check out the Illeana Douglas episode of Jay Mohr's podcast where they tell all the inside stories about the show and how messed up things were behind the scenes.

Elvis Telecom, Friday, 21 September 2012 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

omg was Crooooooooow our first sock puppet - and none other than Ned Raggett at that?!

free-range chicken pox (Matt P), Friday, 21 September 2012 02:50 (eleven years ago) link

a sock puppet is not a person who posts regular things without any false persona under a handle taken from the name of a famous puppet

some dude, Friday, 21 September 2012 02:59 (eleven years ago) link

I can totally believe that this thread has no mention of RUBICON on it. still sad that AMC cancelled it after one season

El Tomboto, Friday, 21 September 2012 03:01 (eleven years ago) link

tbf this thread has only had like 5 posts since Rubicon aired

some dude, Friday, 21 September 2012 03:15 (eleven years ago) link

well RUBICON

El Tomboto, Sunday, 23 September 2012 02:58 (eleven years ago) link

four years pass...

Really happy to discover that the complete run of both Pasadena (Mike White's dark soap opera loosely based on the LA Times Chandler family) and East Side West Side (1963 gritty drama with George C. Scott as a social worker) are up on YouTube.

Elvis Telecom, Monday, 26 September 2016 06:55 (seven years ago) link

Psi Factor. It's the Canadian X Files. It's hosted by an Ackroyd, and it's got the bloke from Max Headroom in it. And no one except me has ever seen it!
― masonic boom, Saturday, June 23, 2001 5:00 PM (fifteen years ago)

i used to make the radio promo spots for this show

sarahell, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:38 (seven years ago) link

i didn't think Pasadena was that great when it was on. i might have been wrong though.

scott seward, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:43 (seven years ago) link

just makes me wish they'd put China Beach on Hulu or Netflix.

scott seward, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:44 (seven years ago) link

four years pass...

idk about brilliant but INTERBANG‽ def made an impression growing up & ive never heard anyone else mention it

The 💨 that shook the barlow (wins), Sunday, 27 June 2021 18:03 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

I remember 'The Ugliest Girl in Town.' I remember thinking he was cuter than Marlo Thomas. I also remember 'T.H.E Cat' at least I think that was the name of it. It was like 'It Takes A Thief' meets 'Man From Uncle.' Some former cat burglar all dressed in black using a grappling hook and rope to fight crime and uncover espionage. Always jumping from rooftops and such. Another fave was 'My World and Welcome To It' based on James Thurber. I think the star was the same guy that kamakazied a Federation shuttle craft into a giant ice cream cone that ate planets on Star Trek.

This post otm. Found it whilst thinking about starting a thread about It Takes a Thief, which I still may do.

Think Fast, Mr. Mojo Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 13 March 2023 10:52 (one year ago) link


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