Saturday 18 January 2014

Rentaghost

Today next post is a comedy about ghosts. You could hire one if you wanted, Just visit Rentaghost for details!



The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which rented out the ghosts for various tasks.
The company, located in South Ealing, is run by Fred Mumford, a recently deceased loser who feels he can find work for ghosts whose lives were as failed as his. His first (and only) recruits are Timothy Claypole, a mischievous jester with a comical lack of knowledge about modern technology; and Hubert Davenport, a delicate Victorian era gentleman who is morally shocked by the modern world. The ghosts work from an office, which they rent from Harold Meaker, who discovers the truth about them in the third episode.
Over the course of several series, other characters were added: Hazel the McWitch, a Scottish witch; Nadia Popov, a Dutch ghost who suffers from hayfever and teleports away when she sneezes; and the pantomime horse Dobbin, who first appears in a one-off Christmas special called "Rentasanta" and is brought to life by Claypole, who is unable to cancel the spell afterwards – thus allowing Dobbin to remain in the show for the rest of the run.
Adam Painting, a local entrepreneur played by Christopher Biggins, frequently appears in episodes and tries, with limited success, to involve the ghosts in his latest business enterprise.

Moondial

Morning folks!

This weeks Saturday Matinee is a favourite of mine, Moondial!

The story deals with a young girl, Minty, staying with her aunt after her mother is injured in a car accident. Minty spends much of her time wandering around the grounds of a nearby mansion, and is drawn to a moondial that enables her to travel back in time, where she becomes involved with two children, Tom, who lives in the Victorian era, and Sarah, who seems to live in "the previous century" to that, and must save them from their own unhappy lives.

A lot of the exterior scenes of the mansion and it's grounds were filmed at Belton House, a country house situated a couple pf miles outside of my home town of Grantham, this is probably why I have such a fondness for this serial.


Friday 17 January 2014

Monkey

Time for a piece of pure cult class now, with Monkey!



It tells the story of the Buddhist priest Tripitaka, and his three disciples Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, as they travel from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. They have been sent by Buddha, and getting these scriptures will bring peace to the people of the world. On this journey, they must face many dangers and challenges. All the characters have very distinctive personalities. Monkey is a brave fighter, who has magical powers, and is very mischievous. Pigsy is less brave, and has a weakness for food and women. Sandy is the thinker, much more a thinker than a doer. Tripitaka is a sometimes naive young man, who trusts everyone, and is unaware of the evils of the world.

Rainbow Brite

It's been a bit gloomy out lately hasn't it? I think we need to brighten the world up with a rainbow!

Rainbow Brite to be precise!


Rainbow Brite is the story of a small orphan girl called Wisp who is taken to a place called the Colorless World. Wisp is determined to locate the "Sphere of Light". During her quest, she meets two new friends: a sprite called Twink and a majestic white horse named Starlite. The Sprites are actually the assistants to the Color Kids (named for each color of the rainbow). Wisp rescues the seven Color Kids and locates a tool called the Color Belt, which will help her colorize the world again. The Color Belt also helps Wisp defeat the the Evil Force (aka the King of Shadows and the Dark One), Wisp is re-christened Rainbow Brite by the same force that brought her to the Colorless World. Rainbow Brite, the Color Kids and the Sprites live in Rainbow Land. Together, they are in charge of all the colors on the entire world!

Thursday 16 January 2014

The Littl' Bits

Following the last post, here is another group of tiny people, The Littl' Bits!


The series describes the adventures of a race of tiny people (pixies) who live in a simple village in Foothill Forest. It focuses in particular on a group of children: Lillibit, Willibit, Snagglebit, Chip, and Browniebit. Snagglebit, the spoiled son of the mayor, is enamored of the beautiful Lillibit, but she's best friends with Willibit, the moral role model and main protagonist.
Thus, even though they generally get along well, Willibit and Snagglebit often butt heads, especially over Lillibit. Snagglebit usually pals around with the short-in-stature Browniebit, who is something of a coward (and is often teased by Snagglebit for this), and Chip, who idolizes Lillibit's uncle, Dr. Snoozabit, and wants to be a doctor like him.
Another frequently recurring child character is Teenybit (Willibit's younger sister), who befriends Scarybit, an ill-tempered, superstitious old woman assumed to be a witch and shunned by most of the other villagers. Teenybit can see that, under Scarybit's tough exterior, she's just a lonely old lady who needs a friend.
The children are watched over by, and often scolded by, the older Littl' Bits including the doctor Dr. Snoozabit, the wood-cutter Chopabit, the baker Bakeabit, Willibit's father Grumpabit, Helpabit, the elder Elderbit, Mayor Bossabit (Snagglebit's father), and others.

David the Gnome

Wise words indeed from the intro to today's first show, David the Gnome!


Davis is a gnome of the forest. David is 358 years old, making him the oldest gnome around (since most gnomes live no more than 360 years), although he is in good health. David is a doctor, and he uses his knowledge of many fields, such as hypnosis and acupuncture, to heal his patients, usually animals, such as his faithful friend Swift the fox, or other gnomes. David also befriends a bird that, when he whistles, immediately arrives to quickly transport him to wherever necessary. For longer trips, he sometimes travels in a basket attached to the neck of the bird.
The series presents the gnomes as a kind species, of 15 centimeters (6 inches) of height, and between 250 and 300 grams (8 and 10 ounces) of weight depending on gnome body mass. According to their habitat, different types of gnomes are distinguished: the ones of the forest, the ones of the garden, the ones of the farm, the ones of the house, the ones of the dunes, those of Siberia, and nomadic "gypsy" gnomes (commonly looked down upon by other gnomes). A gnome's lifespan is usually 400 years, though there is one example of a couple in the Balkans living 550 years.
Gnomes such as the main characters live in pairs in comfortable caves or holes under trees (in their case in the company of a pair of mice and a cricket). Their diet is mostly vegetarian. They are helped by the animals of the forest when traveling long distances or when they need to arrive quickly at a specific location. Gnomes work in various ways to repair the damage inevitably caused by humans. They also have the power of telepathy and mind control.
Their main enemies are the trolls, malevolent and clumsy creatures who always make trouble for the other inhabitants of the forest, as well as gnome poachers.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Metal Mickey




Today's next show is an old Saturday afternoon sitcom about an ordinary family with an extraordinary robot, Metal Mickey!!

Metal Mickey was a robot built by young Ken to do chores around the house. Ken was the eldest child of a typical British family--well, almost typical. Metal Mickey was endowed with a number of magic powers, which enabled it to battle aliens, travel through time, survive extreme temperatures, and other outlandish situations. Mostly Metal Mickey just caused trouble for the Wilburforces, but the family loved him anyway.

Captain N - The Game Master


Hey everyone! Ever wondered what it would be like to get inside a computer game and meet the characters inside? Bet Kevin didn't before he became Captain N - The Game Master!!




At the outset of the first episode the hero of the series, Kevin Keene, a teenager from Los Angeles, and his dog Duke are taken to another universe known as Videoland when they are sucked into a vortex called the Ultimate Warp Zone that formed in his television. In order to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Kevin is destined to become the hero "Captain N: The Game Master" and save Videoland from evil forces led by Mother Brain from the floating world/fortress called Metroid. By the time Kevin arrives on the scene, Mother Brain has almost succeeded in capturing the Palace of Power and conquering all Videoland. Kevin (who in Videoland is armed with a Zapper and a belt buckle shaped like an NES controller) and Duke appear suddenly on the other side of the Ultimate Warp Zone before the N Team, which consists of Princess Lana (the acting ruler of Videoland), Simon Belmont, Mega Man, and Kid Icarus.
In most episodes, the N Team's enemy is a group of video game villains, usually led by the boisterous and loud Mother Brain who is accompanied by her minions, the Eggplant Wizard, the thuggish King Hippo, and the scheming Dr. Wily.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

The Renford Rejects


Time for a sporty show I think. How about The Renford Rejects?

The show concerned a five-a-side school football team, made up of aspiring players who had been turned down by their school's main team. They were named "Renford Rejects" when a rival player sabotaged their league entry form, but decided to stick with the name as it suited their "outcast" nature.

After failing to be selected for the Renford Comprehensive school football team, Ben, Bruno & Jason are encouraged by the injured Stewart to form their own five-a-side team to play in the Renford Sunday League. But the three aren't pleased when the remaining players turn out to be Ronnie, who's a fashion victim, and Robin, who's a girl! 


Swat Kats



Time for some high powered action, and who better to deliver it than the SWAT Kats?!


 Chance "T-Bone" Furlong and Jake "Razor" Clawson were members of Megakat City's paramilitary law enforcement agency, known as the Enforcers. Unfortunately, the Enforcers were commanded by Ulysses Feral, an incompetent, overbearing and inflexible Enforcer who was believed to have owed his position entirely to political machinations. While in pursuit of Dark Kat, the two rebelled against Enforcer Commander Feral's orders to fall back and leave Dark Kat to him. When they objected, citing their already-acquired target lock, Commander Feral used his jet to slap their wing, sending Chance and Jake's jet crashing into Enforcer headquarters and allowing Dark Kat to get away. In his anger, Feral discharged Chance and Jake from the Enforcers and reassigned them to work at the city's military salvage yard to pay for the damage to the Enforcer Headquarters that Feral caused.

Using discarded military parts and weapons from the salvage yard, Chance and Jake built themselves a three-engine jet fighter called the Turbokat, which resembled several different jet fighters, along with a handful of other vehicles such as the Cyclotron, the Turbo Mole, the Hoverkat, and the Thunder Truck. All these vehicles were stored, along with a training area and other equipment, in a secret hangar below the yard.

T-Bone and Razor now patrol Megakat City as the SWAT Kats, defending it against any kind of menace that threatens the city. Their enemies include the criminal mastermind Dark Kat, the undead sorcerer Pastmaster, the mutant evil genius Doctor Viper, and the robotic gangsters the Metallikats.

Monday 13 January 2014

Simon and the Witch


Today's next programme is another fond memory for me, Simon and the Witch!


Simon is a very sensible young schoolboy who has a friend who is a real witch. She is very silly, and a huge showoff.

Based on books by Margaret Stuart Barry, this children’s comedy starred Hugh Pollard as Simon, a boy who befriends Elizabeth Spriggs’ fantastically mischievous witch, who actually didn’t do much harm at all. Simon was friends with spiteful schoolgirl Sally and Cuthbert, who was rather feeble and lived with his frightfully posh aunt, Lady Fox-Custard, played by Joan Simms. Fox-Custard had her own butler, Hopkins, but between them they were unable to thwart the witch and her pranks - in fact, Simon was the sensible one, and had to keep this mad granny-figure in check. 

Droids


Following up on yesterday's Ewoks post, I give you the other Star Wars cartoon of the 80's, Droids!





Droids was set in the nineteen-year time period between the rise of the Empire in Star Wars Episode III, and the events of Star Wars Episode IV. Many times during the show, agents of the Empire were shown to enforce this idea.
The famous droid duo faced off against gangsters, criminals, pirates, Boba Fett, IG-88, the Galactic Empire and other threats throughout the series. During their adventures, the droids always found themselves with new masters and new difficult situations as a result.
The Emperor was mentioned multiple times within the series, but never appeared.

Sunday 12 January 2014

Ewoks


Today's seconds cartoon is the first of two cartoons made in the 80's that were based on the Star Wars franchise. Here, we have the Ewoks!


The series focuses on the adventures of Wicket W. Warrick and his friends on the forest moon of Endor during the years before the events in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Unlike the films, the characters speak English (called Basic in the Star Wars universe) instead of their native language (though Ewokeses phrases and songs are occasionally used). The primary recurring villains are Morag the Tulgah Witch, who had a personal grudge against the tribe's shaman, Master Logray, and the Duloks, a rival species that is related to the Ewoks.

The Get Along Gang

It's another lazy Sunday morning, so I think a gentle cartoon to ease you into the day is in order, so I bring you The Get Along Gang!


The Get Along Gang are a group of twelve (and later, fourteen) pre-adolescent anthropomorphic animal characters in the fictional town of Green Meadow, who form a club that meets in an abandoned caboose and who have various adventures whose upbeat stories intended to show the importance of teamwork and friendship.
Each of the characters also has obvious faults, which they learned to overcome with the help of friends. For instance, Montgomery Moose, the group's leader, is quite clumsy; Woolma Lamb is extremely vain and self-centered; Dotty Dog could be careless; Zipper Cat could be overbearing, Portia Porcupine could get upset easily; Bingo Beaver could be greedy and tended to get himself and/or others into trouble (although he was not mean-spirited like the Gang's enemy, Catchum Crocodile).