Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Old Farts Rule: Jonny Quest

Perhaps it was the nostalgia of my high school (McDonogh, Maryland) reunion, or the lingering excitement of the new Iron Man movie (behold the old cartoon in the May 2 post below)...but here I've managed to find archives of old ABC commercials for Jonny Quest from 1964. Yes, 1964. No, I wasn't in high school. I was a toddler, however. Wasn't even allowed to stay up past 730pm back there in No'theast D.C. and then Brooklyn, so primetime was a blur. And Jonny Quest started on primetime. ABC, being the poorest of then three networks, was actually innovative (imagine that) in those days--programming cartoons and other shows like Batman (Adam West's version) and The Green Hornet (with a very young Bruce Lee) in 66-67 for kids and the primordial fanboy nation. By '67-68, ABC put Jonny Quest on Saturday mornings, ending around 1pm. At 1pm, once that "This is a Screen Gems presentation" dancing sticks graphic ceased, that magical time of Saturday morning was done and it was time to go outside. Imagine that...go outside. Play. Tag, ride bikes, shoot baskets, toss a Frisbee, pee on girls...even read. Yeah--read.
Laughing, are you kiddies? Old crap. Well, we old people whose imaginations were born in cradles such as this now dictate and finance the games you play on Xbox and online, the adventure and Special FX films you pay $9 to see, the fantasy/horror/sci fi/manga books you read, the stacks of graphic novels and comics you keep on your nightstands. Laugh now, whippersnappers. Of course, we can do better. Marketing turds and the mean green tend to sniff out creativity. But hey, at least we had some classics to nuture us. I apologize for not bequeathing the best stuff to you youngfolks.



[addendum, by popular demand!]

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Put on the theme song, oh god of nostalgia!

tchaka owen said...

I have vague memories given that I'm younger than you and lived outside the country most of my younger years. I don't have a problem with the low-def graphics, but the scratching noise from the TV and the script across the screen before the film runs is annoying as hell!

Anonymous said...

I checked this with my brother who is 50. Yep these are authentic TV commercials from ABC and Hanna Barbera when Jonny Quest was on weeknights. Must be comforting to see that there are people even older than you, Prof. C!!!
Please DO post the theme song in honor of Barack.

plez... said...

i was a child (literally) of the 60's, but all i remember is Jonny Quest coming on saturday mornings in color! cool vintage commercials.

...and Batman (with Adam West) came on every afternoon when i came home from school!

Anonymous said...

Nat Turner: we DEMAND the Johnny Quest cartoon song.

plez... said...

thanks man... with the Jonny Quest music, this site is now worth the price of admission! *smile*

Anonymous said...

I agree. This was when TV theme songs had some meaning. Now is a mess.

I was a kid in the early 80s when they brought the cartoon back and it was pretty lame compared to the old show. The Marvel stuff, when updated in that same time period, including the X-men cartoon, Spider Man, were much better by contrast.

Anonymous said...

Finally something I can understand which doesn't involve African American lit and with which you and I can agree that doesn't involve politics!!!

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

what u know and Haji - u not that old lol

Kristopher Militant Mosby said...

Thanks for that blast to the past

Anonymous said...

You're middle age wistfulness is pissing me off. You are a talented, imaginative author. You got a posse of MORE talented...LOL... "old farts" as friends and acquaintances. Why don't you OLD guys and girls all re-create the cartoon? My roommate's cousin's review of "Speed Racer" was in New York mag. and the film sucked. I bet you can do better with this raw material.

That's the difference between your generation and mine. As blind or ignorant or spoiled or supposedly text-message addicted we are--we DO. We don't just DREAM or get fucked up and tell old war stories, bigman!

Anonymous said...

Hey anonmynous, I hear what you are saying BUT you are speaking from the perspective of youth (however young you may be). Chris and his posse of "old farts" have already DONE SOMETHING -- more than you probably have, and they continue to DO MORE. Looking back at something that was good and true and meaningful to a generation is just a part of growing older. Trust me, it will happen to you too. In 10 or 15 20 years when you are looking back at your youth, you will doing the same... I say more power to you Chris, and old farts do rule!!

Lisa said...

Dear texting-addicted: you spelled "you're" wrong, dude. hehehe