Yikes! I find it hard to believe I used to watch this. I love it.

Wow...I haven't seen one of these since I was about 4. Minerva was gorgeous.

@DavidLS1

Жыл бұрын

I remember being afraid of the Baron.

Always loved the smoking fish!

Ya gotta love that one of the fish has a cig dangling from his mouth. That would NEVER happen today! I loved this show when I was a kid.

What a great show.

Wow, I haven't seen this in around 55 years when I was little growing up in southern California! I wish I was a kid again, no problems, no worries...

Where else but KZread. This really dates us who identify with Diver Dan. Hearing the character voices really takes one back, like smelling fresh crayons. Thanks for the memory lane.

Toonarama, Thank you for posting this. I have not seen it in years. Now I can share it with my kids...

I love that Trigger Fish is smoking a cigarette underwater.

@StevenErnest

7 жыл бұрын

I know, that's hilarious. Plus, they don't allow any portrayal of smoking on kids' shows anymore.

@bozsongz3652

6 жыл бұрын

Poor bastard, he died of gill cancer.

@whisky2roxy

6 жыл бұрын

I thought it was emphysema

@misterwhitman4368

5 жыл бұрын

That confused me at the time!

@statesideqsod

4 жыл бұрын

He looks like a Sheepshead fish

I grew up on Ray Raynor, Bill Jackson and Bozo's Circus. This was a gret find for me! Believe me, in the 1960's this cartoon and Clutch Cargo were the best!! Diver Dan never saw Miss Minerva. The tension was always there if they would meet or not. It was great to be a kid in Chicago when Ray and Bill and Bozo were on TV.

& the barracuda sounds like Bela Lugosi. Awesome !

Puppet shows were a blast growing up in the 1960's!

Me too Nerdy , I was 4 in 1960 the best time of life...

I used to watch this in early and mid 1960s..I have the theme,mIIRC:)

I was in love with Diver Dan when I was 6 years old, hahahaha.

I watched this on the Capt Sacto Show, KCRA in Sacramento. I must have been about 6, but I remember watching for the puppet strings.

my son loves old skool stuff like this

I can't believe I grew up watching this stuff. Must have been Miss Minerva ...

In Chicago, DIVER DAN was also seen on RAY RAYNER AND FRIENDS, a weekday-morning cartoon showcase. Good old Ray--weekday mornings aren't the same without him.

@sherriesteele-petty2998

2 жыл бұрын

True that!

@m.oriley7700

Жыл бұрын

Ray Rayner and Garfield Goose. We Chicago (actually I lived in Lake Forest) kiddies had it so good.

@privatsitazen

Жыл бұрын

Lol. It was great! I used to still watch Ray when I first started working! Every morning while getting ready!

I was only about six, but I remember that I had a massive crush on Minerva the Mermaid.

Love it. Takes me back to So Cal, in the early 60's. So innocent were those day. Did anyone notice the gangster fish was smoking a cigarette? I love Miss Mannerva. Love the opening and closing song too!

I remember this show in Philadelphia

This is how I fell in love with mermaids. Miss Minerva rocks!

@pgroove163

2 жыл бұрын

I had a serious Jones for her

@LDiamondz

Жыл бұрын

Same here! ❤

it is JUST LIKE THIS at the jetties in St. Andrews. Just like this!

Yep this actually made it to New Zealand. I'm now in my fifties and I get goose bumps to see this again.

@user-if6tr5rm8j

11 ай бұрын

I,M IN MY 70S N I REMEBER EACH EPISODE

Boy oh boy..I remember this from the 60's..I remember Baron Baracuda and Minerva the mermaid.. and of course Diver Dan..I saw it on the Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead show on channel 11 in Los Angeles they also hosted Tobar the 8th Man and I think Aquaman...I guess I'll probably find Gigantor on youtube also.

This show..Diver Dan...along with Sea Hunt..inspired me to become a scuba diver! We were squirts when this was on TV! Love it!

Diver Dan was a puppet show controlled by strings above. Miss Minerva was a beautiful mer maid. Trigger fish got a cigarette hanging from his mouth lol.

God, how this show gave me the creeps almost 60 years ago. Don’t ask me why! Just a four-year old’s inexplicable sense of menace. And not just the villain fish. Dan scared me even more.

God bless the 60's.

OMG Diver Dan!!! I loved this!!!

Baron Barracuda,Classic

How I loved watching this show as a young child.

Miss Minerva was hot, but my fave was always Baron Barracuda. He had that Bela Lugosi thingi going...

We are good friends with Miss Minerva’s daughter ❤

WOW...thought I was the only one on the planet who remembered Diver Dan.

WOW! Have not seen this stuff since I was a kid! 1960... I would have 3 years old. Still remember it tho, good old Baron Barracuda!

why am i watching this i really need to examine my choices in life.

The height of Aussie sophistication ....BTW Diver Dan loved the Mermaid...but later said "i couldn;t get Mynerve up !

OMG'SH, I had forgotten about this show!!! What a blast from the past!! Thanks for the memories...

I kinda remember this but mostley Ray Rayner and Friends (my favorite)Garfield Goose and of course Bozo!

Oh my gosh. Lived in Highland NY when this was on. All B and W, I'm afraid. Still, it's nice to share some space here with people who remember this long lost kids' program.

My childhood 🥲❤️

Remember this.. I loved this show

I had a crush on Miss Minerva.

Now there is a blast from the past! Haven't seen or thought of this in 50 years.

thanks for posting

Why is it that the cheesiest cartoon shows had the coolest tunes? To this day I remember Diver Dan like it was yesterday. I also loved the filming through fish tanks! And they got paid for this! LOL!

Big fan of this show back in 1962. An after school treat. I could draw and I would make up stories of Diver Dan and Minerva and the rest of the gang and illustrate them. Whatched this show in Atlanta, GA on channel 11. In my Diver Stories, Minerva the mermaid and Diver Dan do finally meet after epicsode when the Baron and Trigger Fish kidnap Minerva. Thanks for posting. Brings up childhood memories--will be 61 in August.

Always LOVED this show. The theme song even stuck in my head all these years. Go, DIVER DAN!

I loved the cigarette in Trigger's mouth, and the moustache and glasses on "The Baron".

This show was surprisingly entertaining and kinda' hip,in an innocent way.And Miss Minerva was waaay hot in 1960,and still is in 2010.

I remember being afraid of the Baron.

OMG this used to sooo be my show!!!

I loved this show as a kid.. Look at the fish with ciggie,My Bro in law had a crush on Minerva too.

i remember seeing this in southern california in my youth.:)

I remember there was a show like this when I was kid in the early 2000s on nickeldon it was weird but cant remember if it was this or not

He got demoted to transport services, and now he's Driver Dan. He was in the army too, during Vietnam, as a Lieutenant.......

This makes Clutch Cargo look like a masterpiece.

@sherriesteele-petty2998

2 жыл бұрын

LOL

@whisky2roxy

2 ай бұрын

Clutch Cargo was a masterpiece.

I grew up on the North Shore. I was terrified of Baron Barracuda and the music but I was 6. Yes the Mermaid is timelessly beautiful. Great days - that and Captain Kangarro - better days.

When I was a kid in Chicago, Diver Dan was one of my nicknames.

I think someone said (either on this thread or on another Diver Dan page) that this particular episode could have been a pilot. I believe that the regular series was filmed entirely in black & white. The pilot ep was filmed in color for the purposes of shopping the series around

Baron Barracuda..OMG.

I'm 72 and I have a couple of Spong Bob t shirts. One thought led to another, and I had to check out DD - and Miss Minerva, who has lost none of her charm. I love the low production values - fish obviously on wires, or held from off-camera. I love Baron B's Bela Lugosi voice, and Trigger's amazing underwater cigarette. I was always hoping that something would develop between Miss Minerva and Diver Dan, though I suppose it would have to remain platonic.

(To clarify...Harmon played a few other characters in those syndicated shows, but never appeared as Bozo--Bozo was played by Frank Avruch on the Boston show from 1959 to 1970--those syndicated half-hours are from 1965-67.)

I always had fun watching shows like this back then. Today's kids cartoons are full of filth. No wonder todays kids are all screwed up.

I had to show this to my 7 year old granddaughter. She wanted to know the identity of the "thing" hanging out of Trigger's mouth. Had to tell her it was a cigarette- and from the looks of it, filter-tipped, too.

I remember Ray Rayner! Especially the joke segment, and one joke in particular! "What did they say when they hung Tojo?" "There's a Nip in the air!" Can you imagine that on television today?!!

@KeithE4

3 жыл бұрын

Not now, but Rayner deserves a break. He was a POW in Germany during the war, and jokes like that were still fresh in people's minds in the 1960s, and were not considered offensive.

@junkdeal

3 жыл бұрын

@@KeithE4 My, my, how the world does change!!!` I kinda miss the old way!

@nealbradleigh5069

3 жыл бұрын

Part and parcel for the post-war culture at the time. The noted journalist STUDS TERKEL noted how the national culture rationalized its xenophobia, polluting even the creative arts. Listen to old radio broadcasts and hear CLARENCE NASH (the voice of DONALD DUCK) working OT on shows like BURNS AND ALLEN to cartoons for DISNEY ( i e "DER FURHER'S FACE). See if you can access the creations of the WB for the war effort as well. Odd, no interment camps for millions of German-Americans, while Jaoanese-Americans were reduced to second-class citizens (their children soldiered on to make their marks in society, such as the design of GM's most iconic design, the CORVETTE STINGRAY (LARRY SHINODA) and to "boldly go where.blah blah (GEORGE TAKEI)

At 10 years old, I thought Miss Minerva was the prettiest woman in the world. Now, at 50, I still think the same.

THIS REALLY BRINGS BACK CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. I WATCHED DIVER DAN ALL THE TIME. I WAS IN ST. LOUIS.

this was syndicated in LA in the 60's

Miss Minerva married diver Dan in 1983!!! and we are still married.

Allen Swift just passed away a few days ago (at age 86). God, what a talent! : (

I have been trying to find this series, because as a child over 45 years ago in New Zealand I absolutely loved it, thank you you tube for bringing back my memories.

Thanks for posting this. I've asked many from the Chicagoland area if they remember this and everyone says no. Great memories from early childhood!

@privatsitazen

Жыл бұрын

I m from Chicago ( city ) and I definitely remember it!

minerva looks like singer julie london

OH MY GOD!!! Unbelievable! So COOL! Thanks. And even with Baron Baracuda!

This was syndicated in serial form that played on local kid's shows like Sheriff John in Los Angeles. I haven't seen this in over 40 years! Thanks for sharing!

another 100 years of technology will never replace the gloriously insane production values of Diver Dan. I've long suspected that the reason you never see Miss Minerva and Diver Dan in the same scene is because they're played by the same actor.

That's The Unicorn Song! They played it whenever the guy from Lincoln Park Zoo would visit the Ray Rayner show. "There was green alligators and long-necked geese; Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees; Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born; The loveliest of all was the unicorn"

I never saw it on tv, but once for my birthday I received a "Diver Dan board game", which was basically a tug of war game between Diver Dan and a giant octopus. You would roll the die and advance or regress a certain number of spaces. The octopus could win or Dan could win. I enjoyed the game without knowing it was based on a real tv show. Must have been a mainly Chicago show, but it became a Milton Bradley board game.

@sherriesteele-petty2998

2 жыл бұрын

Wow.... Never knew there was a board game.

I can remember going to school was right after Diver Dan "Let's go" my mom would say. I don't remember a whole lot but Maundie the sea monster keeps lurking in the back of my mind.

@elderlypoodle9181

6 жыл бұрын

Margaret O'Brien Yes!!! Had to leave for school when the ending came on. I wanted to stay home and live under water 😂

I think most of us remember this in black and white. I have color programs from the 1960's and turn the color off on my tv,to watch them as i remember them. Thanks for putting this video on.

I used to watch these on Sheriff John's show. Mid 60s.

I remember Diver Dan! I tell people about it, but no one knows it. I was like 5 and Diver Dan was my first TV crush, pretty weird since you never really get to see his face.

Only the best! I have to wonder though, how that worked out for him, being underwater and all...

Looks like this half episode was in color. Interesting.

I loved him. I've never seen it in color before. We never had a color tv.

I was just short of 3 years old when show debuted. It's amazing I still remember it.

arms and a long snake with a head That's not a monster that's miss minerva's dream come true.

I always wondered what Flounder would look like as a stoner.

As Seen on Ray Rayner and His Friends

Any one besides myself ... Remember ... Diver Dan?

@johnrobinsoniii4028

8 жыл бұрын

+Christopher Preston MEEEEE!!!!! I remember him....I was seven-and-a-half years old.

@ronmccann7552

8 жыл бұрын

+Christopher Preston Very well ! Even at 7 yrs. old I thought Minerva was hot and wanted to see her and Diver Dan meet.

@mokilechat

8 жыл бұрын

+Christopher Preston Absolutely! No one else in my family remembered this, and I was so happy to see it!

@unclebillmusic

7 жыл бұрын

Early 60's ! Minerva was BEAUTIFUL !! I LOVE THE SONG !!!

@elderlypoodle9181

7 жыл бұрын

Christopher Preston Oh yes!!!!! I showed this to my younger friends. They said " Now we know why you are so weird " HA !

My mom says this was my fav show when I was about 3, all I remembered was the title. Ariel, eat your heart out!

Ha, good ol' Diver Dan! I once wanted to be a commercial (hard hat) diver because of him. This was an entertaining show for me when I was growing up in a 'burb of Chicago, back in the '60s. d8^)

@kevinstewart1228

7 жыл бұрын

I miss those days

@elderlypoodle9181

7 жыл бұрын

CatalinaThePirate Yes!!! we had just moved from Illinois to California. watched before going to school.

@millerdlv541

6 жыл бұрын

Catalina The Pirate Same here, I grew up in Morton Grove, must have been around '64, probably watched on WGN.

@Nezmund

5 жыл бұрын

Grew up in Des Plaines in the 60's. As I recall, they would show Diver Dan on Ray Rayner and Friends weekday mornings.

As Seen on Garfield Goose & Friends

Hey, calm down, you two! New Shimmer is a floor wax AND a dessert topping!

If Frank Freda had a hand in the writing, he didn't receive screen credit for it--at least not under that name. The credited writers were Joseph Bonaduce and Ron Ronszel.

Some of the "Diver Dan" segments have been released on public domain DVDs by Alpha Video and East-West Video. I have seen the latter at Dollar Tree, so if there is one in your area, check it out. Alpha's DVD is on Amazon.

The story I've read is that in Boston, they'd been doing their own show since 1959, and Larry Harmon decided to syndicate their show. He flew to Boston, took it over, created new characters, appeared on camera, for half of the one-hour local show. That half was then syndicated. After 26 weeks, Harmon and all his characters disappeared from the show never to be seen again, and those 130 half-hours have played in syndication ever since!

@KeithE4

3 жыл бұрын

Frank Avruch was the Boston/syndicated Bozo, not Larry Harmon. Harmon had been a "Bozo actor," and had bought the rights to the character sometime earlier from Capitol Records. But while he voiced the cartoons, he didn't appear as Bozo in the most famous versions, in Boston and Chicago.