Saturday Morning TV from 60's and 70's by Warner Bros - Page 4

Originally Posted by Mark Y

I would bet that most of it is little more than guesswork. Which is to be expected for info compiled by fans on the internet -- but it's kind of sad that so little original documentation appears to be available, that official DVD releases largely have to rely on guesswork and reconstruction too.

The way the "Huckleberry Hound" DVD set is configured, it's confusing. I understand and appreciate the intent of presenting the shows in the original running order -- it would have made great sense if these had been the complete shows, rather than just the cartoon shorts only. (Since the cartoon shorts are presented on their own, the repeats are rather pointless -- especially since they are then presented again in the "reconstructed episodes.") Also, in the show's original run, the three segments "rotated." Yogi Bear would be the first cartoon on one show, then Pixie & Dixie would lead off the next, Huck the next, and so on. Still, I'm glad these sets exist and I am grateful that WB made as much of an effort as they did to get things right, to whatever extent was possible or feasible given what they had to work with.

Actually, some information regarding the original running orders of certain shows can be found in contemporary TV listings of the era, which often (though not always) included descriptions and sometimes even the titles of the cartoons to be featured on that day's show. The Chicago Public Library has TV Guide on microfilm -- it was a great resource when I compiled an episode guide for "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour." A friend researched "Huckleberry Hound" the same way years ago -- the information is out there. Although TV listings are not infallible (they were always subject to changes) and I recall some of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon titles were listed under "working titles."

As far as episode guides on the internet on sites like TV.com, I would think there are many varying degrees (not to mention definitions) of "accuracy" -- I have seen some which depend on listings at the Library Of Congress site. But then, some episode guides are listed in supposed "production order," some are in supposed "airdate order," and some might be random. In some cases, how do you even know? I think ultimately, if something is called "the complete series" or a "complete season," as long as everything's in there, then that's what matters.

I note that for the "Magilla Gorilla" show included in the new set, it's great to have the show opening and closing (though there are no interstitials) -- but I also note that the three cartoons don't match up (as far as running order) with the "complete series" set. If you compare these cartoons with the "complete series" DVD set, if the latter's running order is correct, then we are looking at Magilla Gorilla #2 ("Gridiron Gorilla"), Punkin Puss #2 ("Small Change"), and Ricochet Rabbit #1 ("Atchison Topeka And Sam Jose") on the new collection. So I guess the short answer is, who knows?

One other thing -- it's almost pointless to even try to reconstruct the "original running order" of a pre-1980s syndicated show, because in those days, distributors would usually send out shows in the form of 16mm film prints (and later on tape). Even in first-run, to keep things simple and keep costs down, a station in one city might be running a different episode than a station in another city, and then they'd swap later, so different stations could use the same copies. This is addressed in the notes of the "Muppet Show" Season 1 set, which presents the shows in "production order" specifically for this reason.