You can 100% hear Charlie Brown's voice coming from the boy who played the son. So cool!

@lenb7275

Жыл бұрын

The Late Peter Robbins

My parents were two of the few people who watched the first episode. I remember nothing about it, but one week later, when the show was about to come on for the second episode, I remember my father shouting "NOOOOOO!" and changing the channel himself!

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I always visualized Dick York as being what a live-action Dagwood would be like. Peter Robbins was also in an episode of Get Smart.

@jehobden

Жыл бұрын

RIP, Peter Robbins.

@cpcva724

Жыл бұрын

Doubt that Dick York could've given his back issues

Love your new opening PBS-style promo, Pab. The only decent thing about the 1968 Blondie was the great Jim Backus as Mr Dithers and his wife Henny as Mrs Dithers. But Will Hutchins was definitely no Arthur Lake, and Patricia Harty was no Penny Singleton. But we did get Charlie Brown and Lucy (Peter Robbins and Pamelyn Ferdin) as Alexander and Cookie.

Penny Singleton... The real Blondie AND the voice of Jane Jetson!

@richardranke3158

Жыл бұрын

The Jetsons was a future-set Blondie when you think about it. A couple with a son,daughter and dog-and a husband who got into regular fights with his boss.

@SG-jw8mo

10 ай бұрын

@@richardranke3158 yes indeed. I love hanna barbera, but they were nothing, if not derivative.

@ebwarg

10 ай бұрын

@@richardranke3158And if you age up Elroy a little, the voices fit their progenitors perfectly!

"Blondie" returned to TV with animated specials in 1987 and 1989, starring Loni Anderson as the voice of Blondie. I wonder if they intended to make an animated series out of it. Meanwhile, Hanna-Barbera's "The Jetsons" saw some success unoffically using "Blondie's" formula in an animated series and even featured ex-Blondie Penny Singleton as the voice of Jane.

Because I saw Jim Backus and heard the "Ginger Grant" sultry theme cue, I was expecting Tina Louise to show up.

This TV show was shown on British television in the late summer of 1986 around midday on a Saturday. My then 16 year old self was obsessed with it and the theme tune.

Pamelyn Ferdin is awesome! Met her at several comic cons

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

Never met her but always admired her work on and off the tube.

@traceyrich

Жыл бұрын

Pab didn't even need to say her name; I knew exactly who she was as soon as I saw her. She was everywhere on television when I was a child. But this show looks absolutely dreadful.

@jehobden

Жыл бұрын

I got to speak w/ her on the phone once when she was on an Internet radio show. She was very nice and still has that distinctive voice.

For the first few Blondie movies, a house in Studio City was used for exterior photography(it still stands). Columbia Pictures built a replica of the house on their "ranch" backlot and used it for the remaining films. The Blondie house would later be used for the Anderson home on _Father Knows Best_ , Mr. Wilson's home on _Dennis the Menace_ and Tony Nelson's home on _I Dream of Jeannie_ .

As someone who always found the funniest thing possible to be a sprinting goofball running over a postal worker, I'm so very grateful you shared this! I now have over thirty years of the best joke the human brain can fathom! Does Much Ado About Nothing have a doofus running over a postal worker? No! Does The Great Dictator have a doofus running over a postal worker? No! Does Young Frankenstein have a doofus running over a postal worker? No! No! No! All of these so-called comedies have fundamentally missed the mark on what humanity finds funny. They made the classic mistake of trying to make people laugh by creating a relatable world and then showing an unexpected perspective on interpersonal relations, be it sexual, political, or pop-cultural. Nobody wants that, Hollywood! We want to see a brainless caricature of a man sprint out of his house so quickly he runs right across the mail man, sending his letters all askew! And when I say we want to see that, I don't mean literally. That would be too funny to handle! People would be dropping dead from laughter all over the country! Society would collapse! I believe the safest solution is to keep the camera focused on this dingbat's wife and family while the action happens off-screen; the audience can infer that something humorous has occurred from the reactions on people's faces and liberal use of zany sound effects. Many times have I written to the Hollywood elites with my joke notes, and every time I have been ignored. But I have finally met a kindred spirit! The Blondie team was of a shared mind as me, that you don't need a variety of jokes to capture an audience, just one absolutely amazing joke repeated exactly for decades on end! Thank you, Blondie. Thank you for making the world a brighter place. I guess I can put that suicide note I've been working on in the shredder. I've got several decades of joke to watch.

I wish more "views" would hit "like" to increase your numbers. i LOVE your content and your presentation style.

I loved the Blondie movies. Wish more of this had survived.

@taylordowning2533

Жыл бұрын

I wish that the original studio logos were put back on them

It's honestly impressive HOW successful Blondie was. ALL THOSE MOVIES!! But, this sitcom looked as dead as can be. Even with Jim Backus and Pat Morita!!

@SG-jw8mo

10 ай бұрын

You know it crossed my mind it was Pat Morita, but he looked so different to Arnold in Happy Days, I thought he must have been someone else I knew.

@ebwarg

10 ай бұрын

And in rare (for the time) American-accented role! I also have to give the show some props for properly wrapping Blondie’s kimono left over right.

Will Hutchins was a customer of ours in the early 2000s . I used to pick his brain about this and that - but had NO CLUE about this show !! He was best friends with Betsy Palmer (they both lived in the NY area). I asked him about Joan Crawford (he escorted her to a Broadway opening once!) and Lucille Ball ( said "Lucy was a clean freak-- she would run around the house checking to make sure the maid cleaned all the ashtrays properly before party guests arrived" ) . Nice guy. Aside from that ; one of our local TV stations would show the Blondie movies Saturday morning - EARLY before the cartoons started. I watched all of them starting at 6:30 AM ! Brings back warm memories of childhood. LOVED that end music with the King Features logo part ! AL BRODAX from King Features was producer on the Beatles Yellow Submarine movie. SADLY : till this day , many adults think PETER MAX created and animated Yellow Submarine ! He had nothing to do with it . 😈

Charlie Brown voice and his little sister Lucy too! I noticed another crossover by way of the sultry music they often played for Ginger Grant during the scenes with Dagwood's lunch with "Honey"! Not to mention the plot in the Japanese restaurant being pretty much lifted from the Japan episode of The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour!

@mandymayne8759

Жыл бұрын

Lucy was not Charlie Brown’s little sister. Sally was Charlie Brown’s little sister. Lucy was a neighbor (and not exactly a friend) to Charlie Brown. Lucy was the sister of Charlie Brown’s best friend Linus.

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

The little sister reference was to Cookie.

@mandymayne8759

Жыл бұрын

That explains it! Got it. Thanks

Let's talk about The Associates, an excellent show that only ran 9 episodes in 1979 because ABC was beginning to get too cocky. It had everything going for it: A stellar ensemble cast led by a young Martin Short! The creative team from Taxi! Great reviews and praise from the critics! Too bad ABC scheduled it against Top 10 hit One Day at a Time on CBS' Sunday night lineup, which might have been the best lineup in tv history, save for NBC's Thursday night lineup of the mid to late 80s. Despite being nominated for several awards it got canceled, without the chance to prove itself in another time slot. Hopefully it gets reviewed because it's always nice to talk about short-lived shows that shouldn't have been short-lived.

@taylordowning2533

Жыл бұрын

That sounds like a great show

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

@Taylor Downing There are a few episodes floating around KZread if you want to check it out for yourself.

@LannieLord

11 ай бұрын

Ironic that by that time One Day at a Time REALLY started to suck !!

It’s so interesting how often this same thing seemed to happen. Incredibly popular book/books/comic! Incredibly popular movie/movies! They attempt to do what they hope will be an incredibly popular TV show! Why not? The IP is solid gold! We can print our own money- Aaaand it flops.

9:28 - Mr. Howel as Mr. Dithers was not a bad casting idea, though...

I honestly remember that episode where Dagwood takes karate lessons.Of course, being 7 years old at the time, I didn't connect the instructor being Kato. I bet the films exist in some Hearst corporation warehouse.

WOW, that one clip so so clear if I didnt know that was Aurthur Lake I'd be sure it was filmed recently as a send-off of old sitcoms.

Like the PBS logo and tag line parody. Also that "jingle" played before the King Features film package is similar or the same as the tune before the Beatles cartoons episodes, of couse since Al Brodax was involved with both.

I kept expecting to see Marmaduke. It took 6.5 mins to get through my sleepy haze enough to remember this is Blondie, a totally different comic strip! 😂

@fortynights1513

6 ай бұрын

What comic strip was Marmaduke from?

Any chance of a future Sydney episode? Matthew Perry's recent accusations and Valerie's excitement of being divorced a second time! The Van Halen theme song was so cool.

@HerrEllsworth

Жыл бұрын

I remember that show. Valerie Bertinelli was so hot back then but she couldn't cut it as a PI. Not even an appearance by Pat Harrington could save that series.

@michaelrochester48

Жыл бұрын

Valerie Bertinelli was smoking hot in that show! Lots of miniskirts

1968 was a very poor season for new sitcoms. Anything the networks learned in the last four years went right out the window. Blondie films were also packaged with Ma & Pa Kettle and sold to independent stations in the late 1960s. We used to watch them every Sunday morning on a rotating basis. (BTW, that was a "very young" Pat Morita in the clip you showed here) Great job as always.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

I believe the only sitcom that debuted in 1968 that lasted for several seasons was "The Doris Day Show", and that was only because Doris' husband, Martin Melcher, had signed a five year contract for her to do the show without her knowledge. She quit as soon as the contract had run out and the show was immediately canceled. EDIT: Looking over the 1968-69 fall schedule, "Here's Lucy" also premiered that season, but we all know that's only because Lucille Ball no longer owned "The Lucy Show" and had it canceled. "Mayberry R.F.D." had good ratings, but CBS was clearing out rural shows, so out it went in 1971. "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" was not bad and lasted two seasons on two different networks. Every other sitcom from that year was mediocre to downright rotten.

@LannieLord

11 ай бұрын

Not only was Marty Melcher a con man; he was FAR from good looking and his son (a record producer ; also VERY strange looking) Terry befriended Charles Manson in the late 1960s (!) . Back then- the hippies mingled with the celebrities and anyone who was taking drugs. Charles Manson sent his followers to the Melcher home - that was vacated by he and girlfriend ..Candace Bergen. Then Roman and Sharon moved in around March ..... and we all know what happened in August of 1969. 🥵@@Quartzquiz333

@LannieLord

11 ай бұрын

Candace Bergen's book sheds NO LIGHT on the topic . All she said was "It could have been US!". Idiot.

@fortynights1513

6 ай бұрын

⁠@@Quartzquiz333According to at least one account I saw, the initial CBS schedule for 1971-72 had Mayberry R.F.D as well as another sitcom called Family Affair being renewed instead of Gunsmoke, but Barbara Paley (wife of CBS president William Paley) convinced the programming heads to renew Gunsmoke, and Gunsmoke would go for another four seasons (reaching number four in the ratings the season afterward even). Mayberry R.F.D as well as Hee Haw were two top 20 programs that were canceled at the end of the 1970-71 television season. Those two were obviously rural and not the kind of programs that executives were aiming for going forward, but if the Prime Time Access Rule hadn’t been implemented starting the next season (which took away the entire 7 PM hour from the network), then I think there would’ve been a possibility that those two shows could have gotten renewed. The 1970-71 TV season gets my vote for the most interesting season in television history because of the rural purge, coupled with the fact that we saw the old and the new on one lineup (on CBS alone we see a lineup that features the Ed Sullivan Show, Lassie, All in the Family and the Mary Tyler Moore Show). Truly an inflection point in television history.

My favorite one was the one where he runs into the mailman

Speaking of Pamelyn Ferdin, she also appeared in a 2004 episode of "Penn and Teller's Bullsh!t" along with her then-husband Jerry Vlasak making their voices heard about animal rights. She and hubby came off as a bit kooky and unhinged...

An interesting fact, was that Peter Robbins, who recently passed away, was the brother of actress Ahna Capri, who co-starred in Warner Bros' "ENTER THE DRAGON" (1973), which put Bruce Lee on the martial arts superstar map! but Bruce Lee also guest starred on an episode of "BLONDIE" called "Pick on Someone Your Own Size", which aired on January 9, 1969, and directed by Alan Crosland, Jr, who also used Wende Wagner as Mr, Dithers secretary in this episode. both Bruce Lee and Wende Wagner were series regulars on ABC and 20th Century Fox Television's "THE GREEN HORNET" (1966-67) and, look for "THE KARATE KID"s Pat Marita in this pilot episode to the short-lived 1968-69 CBS series from King Features and Universal Television.

@johnlargan6045

11 ай бұрын

I've heard that the Bruce Lee episode is considered lost

Speaking of Blondie....Ann Jillian deserves her own 13 Week Theatre episode.

@tomflorio7363

Жыл бұрын

She was featured in the "Jennifer Slept Here" episode

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

@Tom I think Andrew is talking about Ann's short-lived self-titled sitcom from 1989 that also starred Lisa Rieffel.

@tomflorio7363

Жыл бұрын

@@Quartzquiz333 Ha, thanks for the correction. Never heard of that one, and, might I say, calling a show "Ann Jillian" i/o "The Ann Jillian Show" is straight up weird! I mean, it's one thing if it's a talk show (like "Donohue"), but a show where she plays a character with a different name? 😄

@GeminiladyJackson-xq6hc

11 ай бұрын

Ann Jillian was a child actress, who appeared with Annette Funicello in the 1961 film, Babes in Toyland and she also appeared with Natalie Wood in the 1962 film, Gypsy.

They did an animated cartoon that aired as a primetime special in the late 80's.

Please do a 13-week theater on the 2003 WB sitcom Like Family

Interestingly, when prime time animation was being temporarily revived by the Simpsons, Blondie came back to CBS as two animated specials. With Loni Anderson doing the voice for Blondie. Side note: Penny Singleton would later become the voice for another famous female character, Jane Jetson.

The timeslot competition to Blondie as well on Thursday nights was NBC's Daniel Boone, a show ranked in the Top 30. Daniel Boone had been on the air since 1964, so pretty established. Launching the same time as Blondie on ABC was The Ugliest Girl In Town starring David Kastner and the late British actress Patricia Brake. The latter would go on of course to appear in Eldorado, the notorious BBC failed soap opera. The Ugliest Girl In Town didn't last long either, and was replaced in the 7.30pm slot by The Flying Nun, relocated from 8.00pm. (That Girl was moved from the post Bewitched slot of 9pm to be The Flying Nun lead out at 8pm).

@andrewbarton2590

Жыл бұрын

*Peter Kastner, not David Kastner.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

I saw a picture of Peter Kastner in drag from that show. No amount of suspension of disbelief can be done to convince any sane person that he was a female. If Pab is a brave enough man to review it there are several episodes of The Ugliest Girl in Town on KZread.

@andrewbarton2590

Жыл бұрын

@@Quartzquiz333 The Australian soap Prisoner Cell Block H did a storyline where a young man was mistaken for a woman and sent to Wentworth, a woman's prison. (This around the time of Joan Ferguson in the show). Utterly absurd. Val Lehman thought so too, hence the scripting of Bea escaping so she didn't have to be part of it.

If at first you don't succeed, fail, fail again.

11:00 That's Pat Morita from the TV show Happy Days and The Karate Kid films.

@GeminiladyJackson-xq6hc

11 ай бұрын

Pat Morita also appeared on several episodes of Sanford and Son.

Fun Fact: Hal Le Roy replaced Arthur Lake in two comics based films Arthur Lake first played the comic book character, "Harold Teen" in 1928. Hal Le Roy played "Harold Teen" six years later in 1934. Arthur Lake first played Dagwood Bumstead opposite Penny Singleton in "Blondie" in 1938. Hal Le Roy played Dagwood Bumstead opposite Pamela Britton in the 1954 "Blondie" TV pilot before Arthur Lake returned to the role.

This looks good

Another series you might wanna consider is ABC's Emily's reasons why not. It got axed after only one episode.

@kariharper8649

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidTSmith-jn5bs ooh, I hope that show gets found. I would LOVE to see Pab rip it a new one.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

​@kariharper8649 The entire series in on the Internet Archieve.

The only positive thing about the 1968 Blondie was that catchy logo and theme song from King Features Syndicate.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

And that was made for the old movie series when it went in syndication!

*SPOILER: HORRIFIC TV SHOW THEME AHEAD!!!!!* If I was around in the fall of 1968 and realized that CBS wouldn't give the wonderful He & She a second season to find an audience, but greenlit this antiquated dinosaur from a bygone era I'd be genuinely pissed!!!

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

Relax. I have spared the innocent viewers the worst of the theme song.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

@Pab Sungenis You're a hero. I actually looked up and tried to listen to that theme. Not enough brain bleach in the world...

@teresapflaumer5717

Жыл бұрын

I have episodes of the 1968 Blondie and He & She and the later should have never been axed. This Blondie was awful. Arthur Lake is the only true Dagwood Bumpstead.

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

If you have any complete episodes be sure to share them! Only one complete episode and clips from the pilot are believed to exist right now.

@andrewbarton2590

Жыл бұрын

There were a couple of animated Blondie specials later, with the likes of Loni Anderson, Frank Welker, Russi Taylor and Ike Eisenmann in the voice cast.

Lorenzo y Pepita in Spanish, I do not remember any version on our local TV.

Fun fact. The Dagwood sandwich was named after the strip.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

Yep. We used to have a sub shop here in Buffalo named Dagwood's for many years.

Wow what a terrible theme song thank you for making it somewhat easier to listen

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

Do yourself a favor...DON'T go searching for the full version of it on KZread. Save yourself the pain.

What? Wow!

I really liked this show.BTW,The Jetsons were based on Blondie.

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience, I wanted to ask you if there is the possibility of seeing the 13th episode " Pick on Someone Your Own Size" where Bruce Lee appears, thanks.

Was that Pat Morita playing the maître d’ at the Japanese restaurant?

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

IMDB says yes. Didn’t recognize him.

@HerrEllsworth

Жыл бұрын

He didn't have that trademark moustache or goutee.

@tomflorio7363

Жыл бұрын

@@HerrEllsworth but you can't mistake the voice :)

Loni Anderson voiced Blondie on an animated TV special. Which seems her last TV appearance.

@andrewweisneck1102

Жыл бұрын

There were two animated specials: Blondie & Dagwood (1987) And Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout (1989) Both specials aired on CBS. Blondie & Dagwood were first seen in animated form (Not counting the 1968 CBS series intro) on ABC's Saturday Superstar Movie in the episode "Popeye Meets The Man Who Hated Laughter" in 1972.

@fortynights1513

6 ай бұрын

That couldn’t have been Loni Anderson’s last TV appearance. She appeared as a guest on two episodes of the New WKRP in Cincinnati; that show didn’t debut until 1991.

@Scatscar1985

6 ай бұрын

@@fortynights1513 I was definitely wrong....

HEY BLONDIE!!!!!!

You failed to mention that Adolph Hitler was fan of the comic strip and even named his dog, "Blondi."

Idea for future show: Bionic Woman remake (2007).

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

Boy, that show came and went FAST!!!

@HerrEllsworth

Жыл бұрын

@@Quartzquiz333 It was awful. If you were a fan of Lindsay Wagner and the original, this show would have turned you off.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

@@HerrEllsworth I saw one episode. That was enough for me and, to quote Popeye, "Enough is too much!"

Yes I was pat marita in that episode

they finally got it right when they had Blondie become a rock singer ...lol

Bruce Lee’s missing, but Mr. Miyagi’s scenes are still available.

@HerrEllsworth

Жыл бұрын

I was wondering if Bruce Lee's widow (his estate executor) might have the episode somewhere. Bruce Lee was a meticulous person who seemed the type to save his footage. However, I'm certain the episodes remain locked in the CBS vault.

Question how was Jim Backus able to do Mr. Dithers when he was contracted to do Gilligan’s Island?

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

Gilligan's Island was canceled in 1967. Notice Pab said "Fresh off that damned island."

Please do the judy garland show

I never got why they would show like 4 or 5 minutes of the movie before the syndicated credits.

@patrixspringer2753

Жыл бұрын

I heard that was done for Television--it was to lengthen the features just a bit so the films would fill a 90 minute time slot ----with commercial breaks of course.

What's the kazoo music you replaced for theme with?

@PabSungenis

Жыл бұрын

It’s a clip from Jason Shaw called “You So Zany.” As with the rest of the music on 13WT you can get it at audionautix.com.

You can hear peter Robbins charlie browns voice in this show

Oddly, live-action comic strips have had much more success on the stage ("L'il Abner", "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", "Annie", "The Addams Family") than on television (Only "Dennis the Menace" succeeded and "The Addams Family"'s success was modest.)

@andrewbarton2590

Жыл бұрын

There was an attempt by Thames Television in the UK to do the comic strip Andy Capp as a live action comedy drama. That too flopped. Not that it hurt the careers of James Bolam and Paula Tilbrook though. (James went on to other shows like Second Thoughts, and Paula of course later joined Emmerdale as Betty Eagleton)

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewbarton2590 Thanks! Didn't know about that one! I'd be interested in watching it!

@andrewbarton2590

Жыл бұрын

@@Quartzquiz333 You can get the Andy Capp series on DVD. (Region 2).

Blondie now runs a catering business.

Being a fan of Bruce Lee, that really hurts.

the strip is funny, and the 30s movies are silly fun. but trying for a tv show so many times and never updating the concept (or the jokes)? not a good move, king features. does kind of make me wonder how a modern updating would go...

Bad theme song aside, I love the opening credits.

@fortynights1513

6 ай бұрын

The song was mid at best, but the title sequence as a sequence was not half bad. We have the animations coupled with the actors playing the roles, and that’s fine.

There was a cartoon special that aired in the mid 1980’s along with a Kathy special. It worked better as a cartoon, though the Kathy one one a lot funnier, and both were just a one time airing.

@andrewweisneck1102

Жыл бұрын

There were two Blondie and Dagwood specials and three Cathy specials. Blondie & Dagwood (1987) Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout (1989) Cathy (1987) Cathy's Last Resort (1988) Cathy's Valentine (1989) Cathy also appeared in McDonald's commercials at that time.

Edward BERNDS

I know why the show didn’t last: Jim Backus is wearing absolutely the worst toupee ever made. Did a squirrel 🐿 crawl on to his head and then die? No one could take the show seriously with character wearing a rug like that.

i dont remember this show, and at 7, i watched almost everything rip peter robbins you kind of made it sound like this was pamelyn's first gig....she did a ton of work before and after worked right up till she was 20....and came back to do voice over work in the early 2000s because of the amount of work she did, she never got typecast and she never hit that awkward stage, so she was able to work right through her teens into young adulthood wonder why she didnt become another jodie foster.....guess she got tired of the industry....she did become a huge animal rights activist

Why is there a credit "No Thanks to NBC/Universal & Carson Productions"? Neither of them had anything to do w/ this show, unless it's just a running joke for the whole 13WT series.

@Quartzquiz333

Жыл бұрын

Watch "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" episode of 13 Week Theatre and you'll understand. Pab has added it to the credits ever since.