In fact, when the kids put their rings together and called on him, Shazzan would only be in the picture for 30 seconds – that’s all it would take to subdue any foe, no matter how numerous or deadly. He had no vulnerability whatsoever – no kryptonite type plot device to stifle his awesome powers and make things interesting. He literally had total control of time and space, could create and destroy matter at will, and make any villain his bitch within seconds. The biggest liability was Shazzan’s godlike powers. Recycled story elements wasn’t the shows biggest problem. It was repetitive, and we liked it that way.
HUDSON BROTHERS RAZZLE DAZZLE SHOW IMAGES TV
and yet, 70s kids didn’t really need much variety sitting in front of the TV in their PJ’s, sporting a bad case of bed head, and munching on Count Chocula.
Scooby Doo was repetitive, but this was extreme…. Saturday after Saturday, it never swayed from the format: (1) Chuck and Nancy get into trouble, so they call on their genie for help, (2) Shazzan busts some ass and saves the kids, (3) the kids get into even worse trouble and have to call on Shazzan again, (4) Shazzan opens an even bigger can of whoop ass, saving the kids once more. I think Shazzan, repeated the same storyline more than any other show in history. Puffinstuf and did the voice of that miserable piece of shit, Scrappy Doo. He was voiced by Lenny Weinrib – the same guy that played H. Stanley Chan is the guy in the greenish shirt on the left (in the image below) who always said the catch phrase that never caught on, “Wam Bam, We’re in a Jam!”. That’s Anne Chan below in the baseball cap. Subsequently, all the original Chinese voice actors were ditched, and were replaced by more Anglo voices…. When the show was initially dubbed, it was determined that the Chinese accents were too thick and us 70s kids would be confused. The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan combined both elements: The Chan kids solved mysteries with the help of their loveable dog (voiced by the same guy that voiced Scooby Doo!) and were in a pop group with music sung by Ron Dante (the guy that sang The Archies songs!) and supervised by Don Kirshner (the guy that supervised The Archies… and The Monkees!). With the further success of The Archies and their number one hit “Sugar, Sugar”, the formula of the teen pop band was also recycled ad nauseum in Hanna Barbera Saturday morning offerings. With the success of Scooby-Doo, the formula of mystery solving teens with comedic pet was repeated endlessly on Saturday mornings (see a previous article: Those Meddling Scooby Doo Kids: Saturday Morning Mimicry!). Initially, I was inclined to think VOTD was a cheap knock off of the brilliant LOTL, but these two shows actually both premiered on the same day in 1974! Both families encounter a primitive tribe and ally themselves with them the youngster of the primitive tribe (Tan in VOTD and Chaka in LOTL) then becomes very close to the family, a good friend to the children. The only difference was VOTD also had the mother with them (who was voiced by the same lady who did Wonder Woman on Superfriends).ģ. Both families consisted of a straight laced dad and his two kids – a boy and a girl. Both families (the Butlers in VOTD and the Marshalls in LOTL) were river rafting when they were mysteriously transported to another time/spaceĢ. What 1970s kid didn’t love Valley of the Dinosaurs? As a kid, I didn’t pick up its striking similarity to Land of the Lost.
So, put on your Star Wars footie pajamas, grab a bowl of Frankenberry, and let’s dive in! There were so many great shows in the 1970s, where does one begin? Let’s start by exploring five examples. Soon it would be back to Kojak and Maude, but for a few hours every Saturday, the kids ruled the living room. Back before there were 24 hour kids networks, children cherished Saturday mornings as that brief moment when the Boob Tube was actually playing something for them.
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