10 Worst Hanna-Barbera shows
 

This December 14th will mark 50 years ago that Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera launched their first cartoon made specifically for television, Ruff & Reddy. In the 44 years to follow, they were the go-to guys for Saturday morning TV.

However, due to TV's insatiable appetite and the need to expand Saturday morning schedules, many of H-B's shows were stillborn, badness that if they didn't gestate from bad animation, it was from the concepts and stories alone. H-B had some good shows, and even some guilty pleasures while others were just not important or interesting enough to warrant. But here are ten Hanna-Barbera shows that I wouldn't set a TiVo for, in order of when they premiered:

1. Frankenstein Jr. & The Impossibles (1966). This derivation of Mary Shelley's literature monster-turned-superhero and three Beatle-esque crime fighters was so corny the only thing missing was butter and salt. Didn't help that it looked bad as well.
2. Where's Huddles? (1970). This was a primetime summer series on CBS, about two neighbors who play pro football. The comedy is completely inert and wastes the voice talent of Paul Lynde (as o-fay football-hating neighbor Claude Pertwee).
3. The Amazing Chan & The Chan Clan (1972). Charlie Chan as a single dad to ten kids and a rather clumsy catch phrase "Wham bam, we're in a jam." Beware especially of episodes animated by Eric Porter Studios in Australia (where H-B farmed out work at the time).
4. Goober & The Ghost Chasers (1973). Rightly described at Warner Bros.' page Saturday Morning Forever as "Scooby Don't." Not even H-B knew what breed of dog Goober was supposed to be.
5. Devlin (1974). I hate to rag on a show whose heart is in the right place (orphaned family of performing cyclists) but it is so badly animated and the backgrounds look like first-graders painted them.
6. Jabberjaw (1976). Think "Josie" meets "Jaws" meets "The Jetsons" with the shark channeling Curley Howard and Rodney Dangerfield. On second thought, don't even think about it.
7. Kwicky Koala (1981). The great Tex Avery died shortly after conceiving this series that H-B would produce. If Tex had lived to oversee this show, it wouldn't have become the tedious, pedantic mess it turned out to be.
8. The Dukes (1983). A cartoon of "The Dukes Of Hazzard." 'Nuff said.
9. Popeye & Son (1987). Elsie Segar must have been turning in his crypt over his creation being done to a turn like this. Conceptually wrong on all levels.
10. The Addams Family (1992). H-B had done an Addams Family cartoon in 1973, and they used the designs from Charles Addams' original Saturday Evening Post cartoons. Here the studio takes liberties with the designs then jams in every unfunny macabre joke they can think of.

So there it is. Hanna-Barbera had always been reviled by animation purists and TV critics, but there are some of us out there who accept them and will judge their shows on how well they entertain in spite of their production values. Still, when a bad show comes along, the fish (to quote Col. Flagg on M*A*S*H) stinks from the head down.

Hey!! :terrence: :terrence: :terrence:

I liked most of those cartoons, and would rather watch some of those episodes than play on a gaming consol.


Monti :-[

I like a few of those myself. In my book, Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home is about as bad as it gets though.

Wait Til Your Father Gets Home was originally made for prime time access in 1972 (airing at 7:30 PM Eastern mainly) and was intended as an adult animated comedy. But what worked against it was its production values (animated in Canada and Australia) and it's way too talky. It wasn't in my top 10 worst, obviously, but not something I'd set a DVD for (it airs late nights on Boomerang).

Wait Til Your Father Gets Home reminds me a lot of King of the Hill. Particularly in the wacko neighbor department.

Actually, "Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home" always seemed to remind me of "Family Guy". It might have to do with the vague similarities in their character designs I guess.

I used to watch "Hair Bear Bunch" every morning before school on CBBC when I was about five. I always thought it was pretty good...

I loved their cave; like how all their funky furniture folds up into the walls and stuff with the push of a button...

I listed Hair Bear Bunch in the "Guilty Pleasures" topic. It had some clever dialogue as well. The bears scare off a watchdog by barking at it, and Hair says "That dog has a deep psychological problem." Square adds, "Yeah, I'd hate to be his psychiatrist...he'd rip the couch apart."

Oh yes, I see, sorry about that. Both topics are quite similar and I was only aware of the guilty pleasures one, but couldn't remember the name of the topic. So I got confused... Sorry about that :-[

I was always quite fond The Addams Family series as well. I'd always been into the more creepy cartoons when I was small, like Beetle Juice, for example... Sadly, both shows were taken off CN years ago. I can't really remember them...

i dont like any of them. but didnt she make "wacky racers" to?

<-90's boy