Special post-Memorial Day list: 10 military-themed shows from the BOTNS era we'd like to see on streaming

We hope you had a great extended holiday weekend. Before we abandon Memorial Day--and really the sentiment behind the occasion is valid all year round--we continue our regular look at shows that are not on official streaming video outlets with a summary of some military-themed programs of the 1970s and 1980s.

1) China Beach: We covered this recently. Beach is out on video courtesy of Time Life after being thought unreleaseable due to music clearances. The show has been in reruns since its original run. Do either of these things mean a streaming appearance is possible? It's Warner Brothers, and I could see it being licensed to Tubi if it's clearable.

2) Baa Baa Black Sheep: This is one of the Stephen Cannell shows not floating around all over the place. The 190s NBC show featured Marine fighter pilots and has made some appearances on TV, plus received a full DVD release. It currently airs on Heroes and Icons, and NBC Universal could put it on Peacock and make a lot of Dads happy in June!

3) Operation Petticoat: Another short-lived Universal show; this sitcom with John Astin is a lot more obscure than the Cary Grant movie. I was surprised to see it on..hmm, was it RTV years ago? It had a short stint on TV Land many years ago, too. Don't hold your breath waiting for this one, though.

4) Call to Glory: I believe this Craig T. Nelson drama is all but forgotten today after its single season on ABC in 1984. Nelson played a USAF pilot in the 1960s, and the series focused on his family life. Keenan Wynn and a young Elisabeth Shue co-starred. I believe Paramount owns this now, and any chance of an appearance on streaming is minimal.

5) Emerald Point N.A.S.: A single-season CBS primetime soap set a Naval base, this Dennis Weaver show gained no traction. I believe Fox produced it, so if Disney owns it, forget about seeing it again in any official platform.

6) At Ease: Here's a series even shorter than the previous two: 14 episodes was all this Jimmie Walker sitcom got. It's produced by Aaron Spelling and owned by Paramount, and I doubt we ever see it again.

7) It Ain't Half Hot Mum: I have never seen this Britcom, but it's a long-running show set in WWII-era Burma by the creators of Dad's Army and--hmm, features blackface. Nope, never seeing that one again!

8) Roll Out: This is one I really would like to see, a sitcom created by Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds set in WWII France and starring Stu Gilliam, Hilly Hicks, and Garrett Morris. It appears to be a failed attempt by CBS to get more juice from MASH, but it sounds interesting. Some footage is on YouTube, but since BET aired it in its early days, it might be available someday..except that as a Fox show it's in Disney vaults and likely buried forever.

9) Laverne and Shirley in the Army: This cartoon series somehow got a DVD-R release several years ago, and I think it may have had a short stint on Hulu with Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. It's the kind of thing you'd think Boomerang could show, but I think Paramount controls this Hanna-Barbera show, so it would probably cost money, which eliminates Boomerang!

10) The World at War: This outstanding docuseries is nearly 50 years old, but it had a huge impact, and I don't think we should just shove older nonfiction shows under the rug. There is no lack of WWII material available elsewhere, but this is a seminal work that deserves a spot somewhere. Maybe Britbox could pick it up. I don't think there are rights issues preventing it from being anywhere; it's probably just a bias against "old" material.

Happy Memorial Day from BOTNS!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone here in the United States, with special greetings to those who have served our country and the loved ones of those who sacrificed their lives in service to the country.

One of the first things I think of when I consider the military and TV is the ad campaigns the armed forces ran in the Eighties. The Air Force had some impressive ads.

Top Ten #179: Special "Summer is just about here" edition

1) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: We had a blast this week on the podcast, and I really think we could have talked for two hours about the series. Hey, could the gang be eligible for a Batty this year?

2) Professor X: He's a class act (You gotta hear the podcast this week for that one).

3) The Incredible Hulk: They said it couldn't be done, but somehow, someway, this 1982 cartoon has tied with Quincy for "most whiny references to it not being available on streaming." Congratulations, 1982 Hulk!

4) Stan Lee: Watching Amazing Friends confirmed for us that Stan the Man narrating just about anything is gold. Heck, Stan just talking is usually pretty cool.

5) Family: I watched the first batch of 6 episodes (originally intended as a limited series, then designated season 1 when the show continued) since the show was leaving Tubi in June. What a shame that Tubi licensed it for less than a year. Hopefully someone else picks it up since as of now, only the first two seasons got DVD releases.

6) Lisa Whelchel: Happy birthday! If you take the good and you take the bad, which category holds Facts of Life and which holds this:

7) Oceans: Silent Crisis: On this night in 1972, ABC News presented this special at 8:00. Narrated by newsman Frank Reynolds, it explored the effects of pollution on the world's oceans. 

Very noble, yes, but I bet most people watched reruns of Gunsmoke or Laugh-In instead. If only it were narrated by Stan Lee.

8) Love, American Style: Decades has a marathon this weekend, which by my calculation means approximately 89 episodes, 547 segments, and 213 of them featuring Jo Anne Worley.

9) You Can't Do That on Television: Shout out to Toy Galaxy for an interesting recent YouTube video exploring the surprisingly convoluted history of the Eighties Nickolodeon hit.

10) R.I.P. Ray Liotta and Bo Hopkins: Before breaking through as a movie actor, Liotta had recurring roles on several TV series, including Another World and the David Soul 1983 Casablanca series.

Hopkins had a recurring role on Dynasty in addition to a long movie and TV acting career.

Inside the Guide: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends premieres in September 1981

Our podcast subject this week, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, premiered September 12, 1981, and that just happened to be the week of the TV Guide Fall preview issue. So we have a few references to the show in the magazine, but with an odd twist.

First up, in the Daytime section, the Guide mentions the newcomer and lists Spidey's friends as Iceman and "Fire-Star."

In the actual listings, though, we see her named...Heatwave?

Who the heck is Heatwave? And what about that extra hyphen in "Fire-Star"?

We know, of course, that the character's name is FIRESTAR, and I will prove it to you by showing you the display ad NBC paid for to showcase its Saturday morning lineup.

Wait, I can't do that. NBC DID NOT buy an ad in this issue to showcase its Saturday morning lineup!

I tell you, this is a real letdown. ABC and CBS come through, even though CBS' ad is actually in the Friday section of the mag, which is a bit confusing because that's the end of the mag. That in itself is odd because it's not like the shows debuted a week late; the likes of Blackstar and Trollkins already premiered the previous Saturday along with most of the new ABC and NBC shows.

I won't leave you hanging! Here are the ABC and CBS ads:

Power Rankings: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends characters of whom I want an action figure

We enjoyed talking about Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends this week, and I enjoyed flaunting my recent purchase of a Marvel Legends Firestar action figure. There are plenty of other characters, even some big ones, that to my knowledge don't have a decent figure out there right now. Here is my list of what I want to see (screencaps from marvel.fandom.com except as noted):

1) Iceman: I don't want a bluish Iceman or a "modern" Iceman. I want a Legends-scale Bobby Drake cartoon Iceman with ol' Frost Face sporting a goofy grin.

2) Aunt May: MY Aunt May is elderly, frail, and really, really oblivious. They should make an Amazing Friends May for our collections.

Gotta be an improvement over this 1990s effort (picture from CBR.com):

There's a happy medium between Gary Busey and Marisa Tomei.

3) Videoman: Somehow this would-be super villain showed up in no less than 3 episodes of the series, and while he doesn't necessarily lend himself to a clean figure at first glance, we should give him the proper respect. We should give him a figure. Someone was really trying to make Videoman happen, but maybe he was 40 years ahead of his time.

4) Swarm: I think this character bee my favorite villain of the series--er, that is, I think he is my favorite. His overall look, his raw power, his tendency to say "SWARM!" all the time--all add up to a formidable and, dare I say, toyetic character.

5) Hiawatha Smith: The only reason he's not higher is because he is in only one episode, and that one isn't even on Disney Plus (listen to our pod this week to learn why). The Michael-Ansara-voiced character is a dynamic addition to the usual formula, and I'd love to have a figure of the enigmatic yet highly skilled adventuring professor!

6) The Gamesman: A surprisingly potent foe who shows up in Season 3 along with the final appearance of Videoman.

7) Lance Macho: Angelica's favorite movie star shows up in the early Hollywood-themed episode.

8) Chameleon: They could do him with alternate heads of all the people he impersonates in "Little Superheroes."

9) Lightwave: Why not get another female character in the line? I think this would be a little more family friendly than Shanna the She Devil--er, Shanna the Jungle Queen as she is known in "Little Superheroes.". Also considered: Buzz Mason from the same episode, the series finale.

10) Ben Parker: Seriously, how about a cool Uncle Ben figure for the Spider fans out there? He's a minimal presence in the series, but he should be on Hasbro's list.

Show Notes and Video Playlist: Episode 10-5: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

*Thanks again to friend of the show James and his daughter Lucille for suggesting this week's podcast!

*Our video playlist for this episode, featuring theme songs, toy ads, Stan Lee on CBC, and James Mason for Thunderbird wine, is below!

Remember to visit our official YouTube channel anytime for all of our past podcasts and episode-specific playlists for each one!

*Before we get into the episode, I want to mention 3 things I LOVE about the cartoon that we somehow didn't mention on the pod.

1) This logo that begins each episode:

2) The incredible (but not Hulkish) theme song, including the stellar shot of the trio running to the camera:

3) The musical score for each episode, which often recycles the same stock bits over and over and over again. No kidding, I grew to love that music.

*The 1981 Spider-Man series we mention (with mucho Dr. Doom-o) aired in first-run syndication. Here's a decent summary of the differences and similarities! It premiered the same day as Friends as part of a package that included the 1960s Spidey-toons. I wasn't able to find a listing for the show on September 12, 1981 (the debut of both), but it must have aired somewhere! I remember seeing the 1960s ones but not this one.

*Here is a pic of the Treasury Edition I mention that features Dr. Doom and is cover-dated July 1981:

*Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends aired 3 seasons (1981-1983) and 24 episodes on NBC, with reruns continuing into 1987.

*We give props again to Dan Gilvezan, who we both credit as being "our" Spidey voice of the era based on his work on this show. Due credit as well to Kathy Garver and Frank Welker, the other Spider Friends.

*Ka-zar appears in an episode of the Spider-Man cartoon co-starring Kraven.

*"The Quest of the Red Skull," the final Season 1 episode, is the one missing from Disney Plus.

*"The X-Men" Adventure, the episode we spotlight, premiered Saturday, October 29, 1983 at 11:30 AM (most markets) on NBC.

*For the record, I like this version of Iceman!

*Laurie showed her Crack Research Team-worthy credentials by doing some digging on Ms. Lion, discovering the lovable canine is a Lhasa Apso. Sorry we don't feature Ms. Lion more on the podcast, but she isn't featured in the episode!

*Here is a website devoted to the series and packed with lots of info.

*Spider Friends, GO FOR IT!

Ep. 10-5: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Before Spider-Man teamed up with Spider-Man and, uh, Spider-Man (let-alone Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen, and Spider-Ham) at the movies, he teamed up with Ice Man and Firestar on Saturday morning TV in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Not only that, but in "The X-Men Adventure," Spidey and his friends also join forces with the X-Men to defeat a deranged cyborg with a personal connection to one of the heroes. By fan request from our celebrated 2-11-year-old demographic, we nerd out over this standout eighties cartoon. Excelsior!

#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #spidermanandhisamazingfriends #spiderman #marvel #cartoons #superheroes #xmen

 

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