1978 NBC "NB See Us" Promo

NB See Us is the name of a NBC campaign from 1978. Shows being launched that year on the network include Waverly Wonders, Lifeline, Grandpa Goes to Washington, W.E.B., Sword of Justice, Dick Clark's Live wednesday, Who's Watching the Kids and Capra.

I personally don't remember any of these shows... Anybody else??

Speed Buggy

Speed Buggy was a Saturday Morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1973-1975 on CBS. Speed Buggy followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic, fiberglass Dune Buggy, Speed Buggy (nicknamed Speedy), his driver Tinker, and Tinker's friends, Mark and Debbie. The three young adults and their car traveled from race to race, often encountering spy capers and mysteries along the way.

Speed Buggy's trademark quotes were always "Roger-Dodger!" and "Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!"

Battle of the Network Stars

Battle of the Network Stars was a television special featuring competitions among teams of popular television performers representing the three major broadcast networks at that time: ABC, CBS, and NBC. The first Battle was broadcast on ABC starting in November 1976, with subsequent episodes airing approximately every six months until May 1985. It returned to the air for a final show in December 1988. It consisted of a two-hour sequence of physical challenges, which were real and sometimes even aggressively competitive. Sports broadcasting legend Howard Cosell hosted or co-hosted almost all of the specials, and commented on the action with a semi-serious version of the style for which he was famous.

Mattel Motor Putt Putt Railroad

The Mattel Motor Putt Putt Railroad was released in 1972. To make the train go, you simply had to twist the smoke stack and off it went! I can remember that it didn't work perfectly... That's probably because we set it up on shag carpet which made the track uneven! Oh, that harvest gold shag!!

"Harvey's Hideout" Book

Harvey's Hideout was written by Russell Hoban in 1969. It's a fun little book about a brother and sister muskrat who start out quarrelling and bragging to one another about being invited to parties or secret club meetings that the other sibling isn't invited to. They each pretend to go off to a party of their own for a few days until one day they stumble upon each other's hideouts --Harvey accidentally digs a tunnel into his sister's hideout cave -- and discover that neither of them really have friends to play with. They resolve their mutual loneliness by playing together and being good friends instead of quarrelsome siblings.

Battleship Game

You sank my Battleship!!

Battleship is an age-old pencil-and-paper public domain game, kept continuously in print by Milton Bradley (now owned by Hasbro) since 1967.


Each player deploys his ships (of lengths varying from 2 to 5 squares) secretly on a square grid. Then each player shoots at the other's grid by calling a location. The defender responds by "Hit!" or "Miss!". You try to deduce where the enemy ships are and sink them. First to do so wins.

Commercial from 1981

70's Woodsy Owl "Water Pollution" PSA

Woodsy Owl was an owl icon for the United States Forest Service. He is most famous for the motto "Give a hoot — don't pollute!" which was created in 1970. Woodsy's target audience was children 5 to 8 years old and was designed to be seen as a mentor to children, providing them with information and advice to help them appreciate nature.

Here is one of his Public Service Announcement's about water pollution.

1979 Reese's Pieces Commercial

Here is a 1979 commercial for Reese's Pieces Candy. It's got quite a catchy tune!

Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera from 1969-1970). The show included four teenagers (Freddie, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy) and a large goofy dog (Scooby-Doo, of course!) who solved supernatural-related mysteries.

My favorite memories of the show include:

• The Mystery Machine, the gang's van that always broke down in the vicinity of a large, mostly-vacated property (ski lodge, hotel, factory, mansion, etc.) that suffered from a "monster" problem (ghosts, Frankenstein, Yeti, etc.).
• Velma losing her glasses.
• "Scooby Snacks" - a favorite of both Scooby Doo and Shaggy.
• Scooby Doo falling in nearly all of their traps.
• The phrase "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids" said by the offender before being taken away to jail.
  
  
  1969 Scooby Doo Intro
  
  

1970 Scooby Doo Intro (slight differences)

What's Happening!!

What's Happening!! was a television sitcom that aired on ABC from 1976-1979. What's Happening!! follows the lives of three working-class African-American teens living in the Watts section of Los Angeles. Most episodes focused on the goals of teenage males — meeting girls, finding after school jobs, and planning for the future.

Major characters included:

• Roger "Raj" Thomas is an intelligent, well-mannered, young man who sports large, black horn-rimmed glasses and has aspirations of becoming a writer. Many episodes find Raj taking steps to pursue his dream, such as saving up for a screenwriting course or a typewriter.
• Frederick (Freddy) "Rerun" Stubbs is an overweight, bumbling, comedic young man, commonly seen wearing a red beret and matching suspenders. He is often teased by his friends for being overweight and unintelligent. Rerun is a very skilled dancer and is commonly seen entering dance contests.
• Dwayne Clemens Nelson has an unassuming, good-natured demeanor and suffers from debilitating shyness and acute Nyctophobia (fear of the dark). Dwayne's character is well known for his greeting, "Hey, Hey, Hey".
• Mabel Thomas is Raj's 'large and in charge' mother. She is typically the voice of wisdom, and the parental authority over the main cast.
• Dee Thomas is Raj's younger sibling. She personifies the typical 'annoying little sister'. Dee is obsessed with making money, usually by blackmailing her brother and his friends a quarter at a time. She is also shrewd, and difficult to keep secrets from. Her trademark phrase is "Ooooohh, I'm tellin' Mama!" Her favorite food is peanut butter.
• Shirley Wilson is a portly waitress at the local restaurant, "Rob's Place", where the main cast is constantly eating. She is a brash person who likes to take shots at the boys, and most often clashes with Rerun (with whom she exchanges fat jokes, both characters being overweight).

The Electric Company

The Electric Company was an educational children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS. There were 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons, from 1971 to 1977. It employed sketch comedy and other devices to provide an entertaining program to help children of elementary-school age develop their reading skills.

The Electric Company Intro

My favorite segment was the 2 faces forming words together. FYI... Morgan Freeman is the face on the left.

More Stickers

Garbage Pail Kids was a series of trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Each sticker card featured a Garbage Pail Kid character with some comical abnormality or suffering some terrible fate, and a humorous, word play-rich character name.

Lite Brite

Lite-Brite was an electric toy introduced in 1967 by Hasbro that allows lighted pictures to be created. The picture was created by placing multi-colored translucent plastic pegs through opaque black paper. The light from the illuminated light bulb was blocked by the black paper except though where the pegs conduct the light.

1970 Commercial

1987 Cheese, Glorious Cheese Commercial

I loved this catchy tune! Here is a 1987 commercial for cheese...

"A Horse for Charlie" Book

A Horse for Charlie was written by Ann Tompert and illustrated by Elfrieda. A Whitman Tell-A-Tale Book published in 1970, it was a charming vintage picture book about a little boy who wants a horse!

Dancerella Doll

Dancerella was one of my favorite dolls. She was released in 1978 by Mattel. When you held her crown, pushing it up and down, she would spin and pirouette. She was 17" tall and dressed in her ballerina outfit and her ballet shoes.

The Tom and Jerry Show

The Tom & Jerry Show was produced for ABC Saturday mornings by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Television in 1975.

In a much toned down, non-violent format, the long-popular Tom and Jerry, after years of rivalry, became the best of friends in episodes wherein they roamed the world competing in sports, enduring on-the-job misadventures, running afoul of dastardly villains, solving mysteries and helping others.

My favorite episode (although I love them all) was called An Ill Wind. In it, an old traveler in the desert gives Tom and Jerry a map to a gold mine to thank them for saving his life. During the search for riches the two of them have to deal with outlaw Black Barney who also wants it.

1984 Frosted Flakes Cereal Commercial

Here is a Frosted Flakes Cereal commercial from 1984. They're gr-r-r-r-r-r-r-eat!

Fashion Plates

Fashion Plates were released by Tomy in the early 1970s. Choosing from a large variety of indented plates that contained drawings of various fashion items – dresses, tops, pants – you would choose the combination that suited your tastes and assemble them into a base. By placing a piece of paper over the base, you could then glide a black crayon over it, which would create an image of your fashion statement. Then, by turning the paper over and selecting from a number of textures, you could take the set of colored pencils out and begin adding a splash of color to the designs. The process itself wasn’t all that time consuming – but it was somewhat addictive, given the seemingly endless number of choices you had at your disposal.

Fantasy Island

Airing from 1978 to 1984, Fantasy Island was where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price. The original series starred Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of the mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and his energetic sidekick, Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize.

Roarke was best known for his white suit and cultured demeanor. Tattoo was best known for running up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout "De plane! De plane!" to announce the arrival of a new set of guests at the beginning of each episode.

The usual format of each episode consisted of an introduction in which Roarke would describe to Tattoo the nature of each person's fantasy, usually with a cryptic comment suggesting the person's fantasy will not turn out as they expected. The episode would then alternate between two or three independent storylines as the guests experienced their fantasies and interacted with Roarke. Often, the fantasies would turn out to be morality lessons for the guests, sometimes to the point of putting their lives at risk, only to have Roarke step in at the last minute and reveal the deception.

80's ABC "After These Messages" Montage

Here is a montage of the ABC Saturday morning bumpers, "After these Message... We’ll be Right Back"

Fisher-Price Merry-Go-Round

The Play Family Merry-Go-Round was released in 1972 by the Fisher-Price Company. The set centered around a Swiss movement music box that propeled the carnival ride into action when it was wound up. It was ran by the ever cranky mad boy, who lets all the riders know that he's woefully underpaid and overworked. The song featured in the Merry-Go-Round was "The Skaters Waltz". The Merry-Go-Round had 4 seats for Little People riders. The seats resembled animal figures: a giraffe, pig, turtle, and a swan.

Heidi, Child of the Mountains

Heidi, Child of the Mountains was adapted and abridged from the famous story by Johanna Spyri. This is a 1974 Wonder Books Printing.

The story takes place in the Swiss Alps and revolves around the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care.

1982 CBS "Great Moments" Promo

Great Moments is the name of a CBS campaign from 1982. Shows being launched that year on the network include Mama Malone, Square Pegs, Gloria, Newhart, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

1982 Coke Commercial

Here is a Coke commercial from 1982. It looks like they got their inspiration for it from the movie/TV show Fame!

Coke Is It!

The Smurfs

The Smurfs was a classic Saturday-morning cartoon series that ran from 1981-1990. It featured tiny, magical, blue creatures called Smurfs. The Smurfs, named for their personalities, inhabited a village of mushroom houses in an enchanted forest. These loveable creatures were led by Papa Smurf and mostly lived carefree lives. There was one major threat to their existance: Gargamel, an evil but inept wizard who lived in a stone-built house in the forest; and his feline companion, the equally nasty Azrael. Typical stories dealt with the Smurfs' efforts to fight off Gargamel, who wanted to eat them, make them slaves or gain their magical secrets in order to gain dignity among the wizard's fraternity.

My favorites Smurfs were: Lazy Smurf, Handy Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, Tailor Smurf, Dreamy Smurf, Smurfette, Jokey Smurf, Grouchy Smurf, Baker Smurf, and Greedy Smurf.

ABC Afterschool Special

The ABC Afterschool Specials was a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the early afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly teenagers. The series ran from 1972-1996.

Holly Hobbie Doll

Here is another doll I had when I was a child. This Holly Hobbie Knickerbocker Ragdoll was released in the 1970's. She had long, blond braids, a floral and gingham bonnet and long nightgown. She originally carried a little pet in her pocket and her name was embroidered across the pocket.

The Love Boat

Welcome Aboard!The Love Boat aired on the ABC Television Network from 1977-1986. The sitcom was usually set aboard a cruise liner called the Pacific Princess, whose passengers and crew had romantic and funny adventures every week. The series' attraction was in the casting of well-known actors in guest-starring roles, with many famous film stars of yesteryear making rare television appearances.

The show's main characters included

• Captain Merrill Stubing
• Dr. Adam "Doc" Bricker
• Burl "Gopher" Smith, "Your Yeoman Purser"
• Bartender Isaac Washington
• Cruise Director Julie McCoy
• Vicki Stubing, the captain's daughter

Later main characters included:

• Cruise Director Judy McCoy
• Ashley "Ace" Covington Evans
• Emily Hayward Stubing

1977 Dr. Pepper Commercial

Here is a classic 1977 Dr. Pepper commercial.

TRIVIA: David Naughton is the actor - he went on to star in the movie "An American Werewolf in London" (1981).

Little Golden Book: Baby Dear

Baby Dear was a very delightful story and a much sought after Little Golden Book that was inspired by the very popular Vogue doll "Baby Dear". The doll was designed by the illustrator of this book, Eloise Wilkin, in the early 1960s. The book was originally written in 1962.