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March 2021 No. 13 $9.
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There is nothing
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ANTHOLOGIES
Exclusive interviews
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K G O D DA R D
MAR and
MARTA KRI
STEN
THE MULTITALENTED
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BOB CRANE Wham-O’s
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1 82658 00430 9 FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury
Lost in Space © Space Productions. Dynomutt and Blue Falcon © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Frisbee © Wham-O. All Rights Reserved.
RetroFan: The Pop Culture
You Grew Up With!
If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties,
editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!
RETROFAN #11 RETROFAN #12

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with Hollywood interviewer CHRIS MANN
DARK SHADOWS’ Quentin Collins, goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sit-
DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie com THREE’S COMPANY—and NANCY
Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, JULIE MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN
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JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cere- of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye
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RETROFAN #6 RETROFAN #7 RETROFAN #8 RETROFAN #9 RETROFAN #10

Interviews with MeTV’s crazy creepster With a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with the NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty
SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and ’60s grooviest family band THE COWSILLS, ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY
BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original visit the Guinness World Records’ largest and TV’s coolest mom JUNE LOCKHART! Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady
Saturday Morning GHOST BUSTERS, with Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: interview Mars Attacks!, MAD Magazine in the ’70s, WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN”
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T! T!
OL D OU D OU
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ALM ALM
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goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ing’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, in Hollywood, remembering monster maker Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR
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interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” ment park! History of BEN COOPER paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the LANDING MANIA, SNUFFY SMITH AT
of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), TOM HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunch- (home of the Superman Celebration), SEA- Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV
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15
The Crazy Cool Culture 30

We Grew Up With
CONTENTS Issue #13 March 2021

28 35
Columns and Departments

Special Features
2
3 Retrotorial
Retro Interview
Lost in Space’s Mark Goddard 12
and Marta Kristen Retro Travel Photo Gallery
The Lost in Space
15 Jupiter Experience
Ernest Farino’s Retro
Fantasmagoria 28
68 Sixties’ Sci-Fi Anthology Series RetroFad
Lava Lamps
52 35
Andy Mangels’ Retro 30
Saturday Morning Retro Toys
Dynomutt and Blue Falcon The Frisbee
59
47 44
Scott Saavedra’s Secret Too Much TV Quiz
Sanctum Magazine Column
Generic food 46
Celebrity Crushes
47 52
Will Murray’s 76
20th Century Panopticon Super Collector
Who Created Archie Andrews? Partridge Family Trading Cards
3 59 78
Retro Radio RetroFanmail
Bob Crane, from Behind the
Mic to Behind Enemy Lines on
Hogan’s Heroes
80
ReJECTED
RetroFan fantasy cover by Scott
68 Saavedra
Oddball World of Scott Shaw!
The World Famous San Diego
Zoo, Part One
RetroFan™ #13, March 2021. Published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Lost in Space
Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael © Space Productions. Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen photos by Michael Eury. Dynomutt and
Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: Blue Falcon © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Bob Crane photo courtesy of Scott Crane; used with
RetroFan, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, permission. Frisbee © Wham-O. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies.
New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and
subscriptions: $68 Economy US, $103 International, $27 Digital. TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. ISSN 2576-7224
by Michael Eury
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF While RetroFan is an escape from real-world problems like the

Michael Eury COVID-19 outbreak, if not for the pandemic our cover feature might have been somewhat different.
PUBLISHER
When I approached Lost in Space co-stars Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen to ask permission to
John Morrow conduct the interviews you’re about to read, I mentioned to them that I intended to group their fea-
tures with interviews with Angela Cartwright and Bill Mumy. This would have complemented Shaun
CONTRIBUTORS Clancy’s June Cartwright interview in RetroFan #8 to bring to you discussions with each surviving Lost
Michael Eury
in Space cast member.
Ernest Farino
Carol M. Ford Then we all got lost in place as the pandemic hit and forced us indoors. The editorial slowdown I
Douglas R. Kelly mentioned last issue affected a variety of plans for the magazine, including my ability to reach out to
Andy Mangels Angela and Billy in time for this issue. So hopefully we’ll circle back to those Space Family Robinson
Will Murray
siblings for a future edition. Still, you’ll find the behind-the-scenes anecdotes shared by Mark and
Ron Plourde
Scott Saavedra Marta a fascinating peek into the world of Lost in Space for both fans and casual viewers of the classic
Scott Shaw! Sixties series.
Ernest Votto As I write this editorial on August 31, 2020, RetroFan #10 has been available for less than one
week, arriving three weeks after its stated release date. That, unfortunately, was another side effect
DESIGNER
Scott Saavedra of the pandemic, beginning with inspection delays that occurred when the magazine, which is
printed in China, arrived at the California port. Even subscription copies arrived later due to slow-
PROOFREADER downs at the U.S. Post Office. This is frustrating for us here at TwoMorrows, as we’re as anxious to
Rob Smentek share each issue with you as you are to read it, but in this crazy world some things are simply beyond
SPECIAL THANKS our control. We appreciate your patience and support, and hope our distribution has returned to
Jim Amash normal by the time this issue goes on sale in February.
Ivan Briggs The pandemic has also put the kibosh on our “Retro Travel” feature for a while, since about the
Sam Calvin only exotic place ye editor and our writers can visit during Stay at Home quarantines is the grocery
Shaun Clancy
Scott Crane
story (which we actually go to this issue, through Scott Saavedra’s “Secret Sanctum” column about
Hake’s Auctions generic food). Luckily, this issue’s “Oddball World of Scott Shaw!” column doubles as a “Retro
Heritage Auctions Travel” piece, vicariously taking readers to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. Scott has written a
Victor Malafronte trivia-loaded history about Southern California’s renowned animal planet, also known for its media
Joanne Marshall
ubiquity including Joan Embery’s appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Beach
Mark Thomas McGee
Monster Bash Boys’ Pet Sounds LP. Scott provided enough vintage photographs to wallpaper a lion’s den, so we’re
Dan Roddick serializing his piece to conclude in the next issue (which will include a look at TV’s Zoorama series,
Rose Rummel-Eury which has been requested by some readers).
Ted C. Rypel NEXT ISSUE
Most of us grew up watching the late Bob Crane
John Sargent
David J. Schow on Hogan’s Heroes—maybe you still catch the show May 2021 No. 14 $9.95
WICC-600 AM Radio each night on MeTV. Fewer people are aware of Crane’s Who loves ya,
baby?
Mark Wolf pre-Hogan fame as a popular L.A. disc jockey, so this

issue guest writer Carol Ford, Crane’s biographer,
VERY SPECIAL THANKS
Mark Goddard brings us the story. No matter what you think you
Marta Kristen know about Bob Crane, you’ll discover a richer portrait TV TIE-IN TOYS NO KID WOULD WANT!
of a multifaceted creative artist in Carol’s superb Star Holy Backstage Pass!

Trek
Don’t STEAL our retrospective. The Lean Saturday
Years Morning
Digital Editions! And that’s not all, RetroFans! In the pages that Sasquatch!
Bigfoot
C’mon citizen,
DO THE RIGHT
follow are Ernest Farino’s far-out photo journey on TV
THING! A Mom
& Pop publisher
through The Twilight Zone and other classic sci-fi anthol- Behind
the Scenes
of Your
like us needs
every sale just to ogies, Will Murray’s search for Archie Andrews’ creator, Favorite TV
Shows!
The Man Behind the Mask
survive! DON’T
DOWNLOAD Andy Mangels’ look at Saturday morning’s Dynomutt, Van Williams
OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE!
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and guest writer Doug Kelly’s dizzying history of the Ready WWF
www.twomorrows.com to WrestleFest
or through our Apple and Google Apps!
Frisbee. All that and more is waiting for you, making Rumble? Game
RetroFan #13 yet another groovy grab bag of the crazy, Zoorama • The Saint in the Sixties • Scooby-Doo Super Collection & more!
& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS cool culture we grew up with. FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury
Batman © DC Comics. Bigfoot and Wildboy © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. WWF WrestleFest © Technōs Japan Corp. Kojak © Universal Television. All Rights Reserved.
OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep

producing great publications like this one!
2 RETROFAN March 2021

RETRO INTERVIEW
Lost in Space © Space Productions.

MarTa
MarK KrIsTEN
GODDarD by Michael Eury
A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Mark starred with Elinor Donahue), The Fugitive, soon be entwined. She rose to stardom as
Goddard, born Charles Harvey Goddard, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, The Streets of San Judy Robinson, eldest child of the Space
quickly became a familiar face on Francisco, Quincy M.E., One Life to Life, and Family Robinson on Lost in Space, but, as
television once he, a graduate New York General Hospital. His film credits include she discusses in the interview following,
City’s American Academy of Dramatic A Rage to Live, the Disney comedy The her role was diminished as the show
Arts, arrived in Hollywood in 1959. He Monkey’s Uncle, Blue Sunshine, Roller Boogie, progressed. Kristen’s other television
played Cully the deputy on the TV Western and the 1998 Lost in Space reboot. He acted credits include The Loretta Young Show,
Johnny Ringo (1959–1960), and was next opposite Liza Minnelli on Broadway in The Leave It to Beaver, The Eleventh Hour, My
seen as Sgt. Chris Ballard on the crime Act in 1978. Three Sons, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mannix,
drama The Detectives (1959–1962). Soon A native of Oslo, Norway, Marta Project U.F.O., Remington Steele, and more
thereafter, he acted in a pilot for a sci-fi Kristen, born Brigit Annalisa Rusanen, recently, The Vamps Next Door. Her screen
series that he at first thought would never lost her birth parents early in life and credits include Beach Blanket Bingo, The
make it to the air. Fate had other ideas, spent her first five years at a Norwegian Mephisto Waltz (uncredited), Battle Beyond
and Lost in Space, where Goddard played orphanage. She was adopted in 1949 by the Stars, 1998’s Lost in Space, and Inspirit.
the brash, handsome Major Don West, an American couple that relocated her Mark Goddard’s and Marta Kristen’s
enjoyed an 83-episode run during its three to Detroit, Michigan. A decade later her talents are many and varied, but it is as
seasons on the air (1965–1968) before family moved to Los Angeles, where Don West and Judy Robinson that fans
becoming a pop culture icon. Goddard’s teenage Marta began acting. A breakout have come to adore them. I had the
other television credits include Perry role for her occurred on the 1961 Alfred pleasure of meeting and interviewing
Mason, The Virginian, Many Happy Returns (a Hitchcock Presents episode “Bang! You’re Mark and Marta during their appearances
one-season family sitcom, in which he co- Dead,” where her co-star was a young at the Monster Bash Conference near
Billy Mumy, with whom her career would Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October
18–20, 2019, and both have shared their
recollections about Lost in Space and other
topics in these back-to-back exclusive
interviews for RetroFan readers.
RETROFAN March 2021 3

retro interview
MeeT from the captain because he didn’t

want him to know that he wasn’t doing
anything. That’s how it was.
MajOr Mark Goddard,
Irwin called all the shots and people
weren’t scared of him, but they had a
DON October 2019. Photo

by Michael Eury.
respect for him that if you don’t do it
right, he won’t be pleased with you. You’d
get that look. I didn’t want that, so I just
WesT stayed away from him.
MarK
RF: What exactly was that “look”? Did he
stare at you from under his glasses?
MG: He’d just glare at you. You’d just
know he meant business. He was a good
GODDarD producer. He knew what he was doing.
FA ST FAC TS
Lost in Space
` No. of seasons: Three
` No. of episodes: 83 (84, counting
RetroFan: Let’s start with a question I have something to play off of. As they pilot)
normally would ask you at the end. What came into the show, they became more ` Original run: September 15, 1965–
is it about Lost in Space, a show that you of the favorites of the writers or whoever March 6, 1968
did 50 years ago, that commands all this because they were easy to write for. ` Primary cast: Guy Williams,
attention? Jonathan Harris, Dr. Smith, he was a June Lockhart, Mark Goddard,
Mark Goddard: It’s all about nostalgia. brilliant actor. He knew how to capture an Marta Kristen, Bill Mumy, Angela
It’s about people who were watching the audience and he knew what to do. In any Cartwright, Bob May (Robot),
show when they were nine, ten years old. scene with Jonathan Harris, he always had Dick Tufeld (voice of Robot)
They’d come home and Mom would tell to have the last word to it. I might have a ` Network: CBS
them, “If you don’t eat your dinner, you’re scene with Dr. Smith and if you look at the ` Creator/Producer: Irwin Allen
not going to get to watch the show.” It end, he would say, “Indeed.”
was a good-feeling show and a show from
the heart, whereas Star Trek was from RF: [chuckles]
the head—it was cerebral. People would MG: That’s how it would end. He had a way
Spin-offs and remakes:
get a feeling from our show. It was silly, of knowing that the camera ended on him. ` The ABC Saturday Superstar
it was inane, but it had some values to it. That’s a technique. I couldn’t do that. I’d be Movie: Lost in Space (airing
We showed the relationship between the like, “Okay, let’s go… let’s do some more.” September 8, 1973, a Hanna-
father and the son that was homey and Barbera-produced cartoon
very good. The mother was respected, RF: Was Harris easy to work with? reimagining the series with a
and so were her daughters... That’s why— MG: He was great to work with. He and I slightly altered cast with the
it’s a family show. got along great. Very well. exception of Jonathan Harris
as Dr. Smith and “Robon” the
RF: That’s a good observation, but as you RF: Tell me about Irwin Allen, who Robot)
know, better than I, when Lost in Space created the show. ` Lost in Space (1998 movie
started, it was darker in tone. Once the MG: I didn’t get to know him very well. reboot, starring William Hurt,
show shifted to color, the humor and Irwin and I had a relationship like… Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers,
emphasis on Dr. Smith evolved. remember the movie, Mr. Roberts, with and Matt LeBlanc, and featuring
MG: In black and white, it was about Jimmy Cagney and Jack Lemmon? cameos by original LIS actors)
a family lost in space. It was about ` Lost in Space (2018–present
adventure, and the adventures they’d RF: Uh-huh. Netflix reboot, starring Toby
have being lost in space—with aliens or MG: Irwin Allen would be the Jimmy Stephens, Molly Parker, and
monsters, or whatever it might be. Cagney character and I’d be the Jack Parker Posey)
Then, they added Dr. Smith and the Lemmon character. Jack Lemmon’s
Robot to the show because they had to character always wanted to stay away

retro interview
RF: Definitely a visionary, not just your Mark Goddard as

show, but Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Don West in an
Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants… autographed public-
MG: Yeah, yeah. He knew how to make ity photo. Lost in Space
explosions. He didn’t like actors. He liked © Space Productions.
explosions—that kind of stuff. I don’t Courtesy of Heritage.
think he was crazy about actors.
Look at all the actors he had in The
Poseidon Adventure—Gene Hackman and
others. He didn’t use them—they were
drowning half the time! [Michael laughs]
The movie The Towering Inferno, with
two of our finest actors, Steve McQueen
and Paul Newman. Did he make them
[act]? He was a visionary, but had a
different kind of vision than someone like
Stanley Kubrick would have.
What he did—he was the master my lines, go home to my wife and child,
of disasters, but not that I respected it go the races with Guy Williams, and
because I was an actor and I knew he have a good time and play golf on the
wasn’t crazy about me. I don’t think he weekends with the likes of Tony Curtis
liked me, to tell you the truth. I did my and Buddy Hackett. I couldn’t put up
work, I didn’t give him a hard time, never with any negativity that would come
went in his office. He didn’t know I was from thinking Lost in Space was not the
around. He came on the set one time and show that I wanted in life.
I hid behind one of the phony rocks. He
said, “Goddard, what are you doing there?” RF: Goes to show you that everybody’s
I said, “Eh.” I just didn’t want him to know got a boss looking down his nose at
I existed. I was happy to come to work, do you at one time or another.
MG: I’m probably the only actor that
will say this about him. She’ll [nods to
Goddard’s earliest TV series were Marta Kristen] say he was great. He just
adapted into comic books by Dell. (TOP) wasn’t my kind of guy.
Four Color #1142, from late 1959, starring
Johnny Ringo. (BOTTOM) Four Color #1219 RF: He was the master of disaster and
from early 1962, starring The Detectives maybe favored explosions over actors,
(including a future Caped Crusader of but had the good fortune to work
Gotham City). © CBS.

retro interview
What’s in the cards for Major West and Judy? Goddard and
Kristen-focused Lost in Space trading cards, plus the illustrative box
from which they were sold. © Space Productions. Courtesy of Heritage.
with talented actors who could bring the don’t want to do science fiction—I don’t RF: You grew to appreciate the role and
emotion to his disasters. like science fiction.” They said, “But, the show over time…
MG: That’s nice of you to say, but I don’t yeah… it’s about a family.” I said, “No, I MG: I don’t mean to put it down. It’s been
see that. I don’t see any actors he worked don’t want to do science fiction.” I did great. It’s the gif t that never stops giving.
with that had emotions—not on Voyage, Westerns, I did The Detectives, but I’m I love seeing the fans and the fans love
not on Lost in Space… not a fan of science fiction. “I don’t want the show. That’s why I like to do these
to be Flash Gordon, I want to be Paul shows [like Monster Bash]. I love to see
RF: What about Gene Hackman in The Newman.” But the agent said, “Just do the fans. They say, “I love you, I love the
Poseidon Adventure, where he’s hanging the pilot. It pays good money. It pays [for] show.” You can’t go wrong with that. They
on over the fire and let’s himself go, 21 days. Just take the money and run. No care about it.
sacrificing himself? one’s going to see this show.” When I did The Act with Liza Minnelli on
MG: That’s not acting, that’s just… “I fell off So, I did it and it turns out a lot of Broadway, if you read the playbill, I don’t
a chariot into the sea and went, ‘Ahhhhh.’” people saw the show. They were all four mention Lost in Space at all. I don’t mention
That’s not acting, that’s just making a years old! They were watching it at age 11. it. To me, it was a kid’s show and that’s it.
sound. I didn’t realize at the time, but the kids
RF: Lost in Space’s costumes are about watching it grew up to be astrophysicists
RF: So, how did you get the role of Major as famous as the show itself. But I and doctors and computer experts and
Don West? understand your initial reaction to people who did very well in life and were
MG: Irwin Allen and I had the same agent. wearing silver lame wasn’t a positive inspired by this crazy little show I was
In those days, agencies would package one. involved in. Then I respected it more. I
people. They’d put the producers, the MG: [When getting into costume to shoot came to respect it.
directors, the writers together and the pilot,] I looked in the full-length mirror
package the deal. The actors would come and saw a grown man cry. … I was dressed RF: At its time it was part of the Space
along and they’d put them in where they in a shiny silver space costume with silver Race, which captivated kids and the
wanted them to fit. painted boots that appeared to be size culture during the Sixties. I was a kid at
I was with GAC, General Artists 17. … I took a deep breath, took a second the time and was fascinated by Lost in
Corporation. [Lost in Space] came along look at the image of a wrapped aluminum Space.
and my agent there said, “You want to do baked potato, and said to myself, “How the MG: The fans are loyal and wonderful. It
this science-fiction show?” I said, “No, I hell did this happen?” wasn’t the best show in the world, but kids

retro interview
enjoyed it and they grew up to be loyal to RF: You and Guy Williams hung out, went
it. It’s wonderful. to the races together. Were you ever
When I do shows like this, I can say recognized as the guys from Lost in Space?
hello. They want to buy a picture or MG: Nobody notices anybody at the
one of my books, that’s fine. People like horse races. Nobody notices anybody in
yourself who want to interview me. I’m California—too many stars there! When
not involved in the industry anymore, but I was in New York doing The Act with
I’m happy to do it for you. You’re creative Liza Minnelli, I got noticed a lot more—
enough to write a book, a magazine, especially when I went to Studio 54.
an interview. I’m happy to do it for you, [chuckles] That was a lot of fun. That was
although I’m not getting anything out during the heyday with Mick Jagger’s wife,
of it. I’m not getting a job out of it. The Bianca, and the artist—pop artist [Andy
industry has passed me by, but knowing Warhol]—they were all friends of each
you is not over—knowing you is an other and friends with Liza Minnelli. Those
experience. were exciting days—those were good
days. I had a good life.
RF: I appreciate that.
Let’s talk about another of your cast RF: You began a whole new act of your
members—Bob May, the actor inside the life’s story after your acting career.
Robot. MG: I’ve had a blessed life. I was an
MG: Bob May was in the shell of the Robot. actor for 30 years and became a special-
Irwin Allen was very adamant that the education teacher for 26 years. I worked
viewers not know that someone was with kids with behavioral problems in Mark’s memoir, To Space and Back
inside. One day Billy [Mumy], friendly as he Massachusetts. I’ve tried to do the right (iUniverse, 2008), is available from
was, asked Bob if he wanted to join us for thing in my life. I’ve messed up, as I write Amazon. © Mark Goddard.
lunch. Bob said, “No thanks. I’m going to in my book [To Space and Back, by Mark
the bank during break.” Now, picture this. Goddard]!
Bob wore a black turtleneck jersey, black RF: Sometimes people with special needs
pants, and black paint around his eyes RF: Tell me a about teaching special-ed. are overlooked by others.
and nose so as not to be detected while in MG: These kids have behavioral problems. I MG: I had some impact, and that’s good.
the silver-painted contraption. I thought chose that because I had a blessed life. I had
to myself, “He’s going where, looking like friend growing up with an alcoholic father RF: You positively impacted lives.
that?” and a mother working at the A&P and he MG: Some. Maybe more than I realize.
After lunch, I asked Bob how didn’t have it good. He went to a reform
everything turned out at the bank. He school in Newton because he got in trouble, RF: I bet you did.
boastfully said, “Mark, you wouldn’t and I realized that if Pete and I could have MG: It reaches out. I’ve been lucky and
believe it. There I was, waiting in line, and changed lives, it was just a matter of birth. wanted to give it back. When I was
everyone in the other lines was looking at I was born to my parents and he was born in trouble, Buddy Hackett gave me a
me.” He then added with a cocky smirk, “I to his parents. But we were the same. We hundred-dollar bill. I said, “Buddy, I can’t
guess they all recognized me as the Robot had the same athletic ability, we had the pay this back.” He said, “Don’t worry about
from Lost in Space.” same mind, both fairly intelligent, nice it, just pass it on.”
looking, sense of humor—except
we happened to be brought up in RF: That’s the best advice to give. My wife
different atmospheres. That made and I had a friend who died of cancer
me want to work with kids from who kept a wad of money in his pocket
difficult environments and then because, “You never know who you might
maybe I could help them a little meet who might need it.”
bit—have a better life. MG: Oh, God bless him.
RF: Well, thank you for your time!

Major West, front and center, MG: Thank you!
with some of the cast in a behind-
the-scenes Lost in Space set photo. Mr. Goddard’s answers to the questions about
(Join us next issue as Ernest his Lost in Space costume and Robot actor Bob
Farino shares more set pics from May are excerpted, with his permission, from
LIS and others Sixties TV favor- his memoir, To Space and Back (iUniverse,
ites). © Space Productions. Courtesy of 2008).
Ernest Farino.

retro interview
MeeT MK: I think because, as you said, there

were so many things on the outside of
our society in the Sixties going on—the
JuDy Vietnam War…
RF: …civil rights protests…

RoBiNsON MK: …all kinds of social issues changing—
it was an evolution in our society in so
MarTa
many different ways. I think the darkness
of the first season changed because it
went into color and became visually more
like a cartoon and the flavor of the show
changed. The black and white made a
KrisTeN huge difference in visually how it was

presented. I think they went hand-in-
hand in many ways. I think with Jonathan
[Harris]—Dr. Smith—wanting to change
Marta Kristen, his character and not be the villain.
October 2019. Photo by
Michael Eury. RF: He was the saboteur that got the
Robinson family lost in space to begin
with…
RetroFan: I want to start with a question

Marta Kristen as
that I often end an interview with:
Judy Robinson.
Let’s talk about the legacy of Lost in
Lost in Space © Space
Space. What is it, 50 years into this
Productions. Courtesy
phenomenon, that has given it this long-
of Ernest Farino.
lasting mystique?
Marta Kristen: I always tell people that I
think the reason why it has lasted so long
is because the center of the show is about
family. It’s not an overt message—but it’s
an underlying message. There’s a morality
tale throughout the show and eventually
what happens at the end of the show is the
family wins and the family stays together
and we’ve struggled together. That sounds
very idealistic, because it’s a family
adventure series about monsters and
spaceships and meteors… but the basic
premise and the basic theme of the show is
the struggle we go through and we survive
as a family.
RF: I was a kid back then and largely

remember watching the color episodes.
But as an adult I’ve gone back and re-
watched the show and am absolutely
fascinated by the first season, in black
and white. At that point, there was more
a sense of menace, and as you’re aware,
over time Lost in Space became lighter and
campier and comedic, much like the tone
of the mid-Sixties. Tell me about that
evolution.

retro interview
MK: He was the saboteur… but Jonathan

felt he would be eliminated in the show.
He began to, in a way, manipulate the
writing by doing his own writing and
becoming the villain you love to hate—
the coward. So that began to change and
through that, the flavor of the show began
to change as well in the second season,
out of necessity because it became about
the Robot and Bill [Mumy] and that
threesome. It was funny and became
© Space Productions. Courtesy of IMdB.

lighter in tone.
RF: To tie into your earlier comment, the

original villain of the piece became sort
of the dysfunctional family member.
MK: Exactly, and we couldn’t get rid of
him because he became beloved by so
many people. He was a wonderful actor
and a charming man in person. He knew
how to present himself. He knew how to
save his character. He ended up loving Dr.
Smith as the character that he created. He like a sunrise. I was in yellow and orange. It children and it would have been quite
said he was always doing [an impression was quite beautiful. lovely. I would have interesting issues
of actress] Martita Hunt, “Ooohh, oooh.” dealing with having a relationship in space.
[laughter] You could see that because he RF: The Easter colors. It was a disappointment to me, frankly.
had worked with her on Broadway. MK: And the third year was more like Before I started doing this show, I had
the Easter colors. I was in purples, or been the ingénue that you would call to
RF: The colorful costuming is part of lavenders, soft yellows. do serious pieces. I was on the first two-
the appeal of the show. When you parter [crossover] on television, and it
were filming the first season, were the RF: A missed tie-in: “Lost in Space Peeps.” went from Dr. Kildare to Eleventh Hour, with
costumes as colorful? MK: [laughter] That’s right! What Tony Dow. I was very involved in theater,
MK: No. I was wearing a red top and happened? so I considered myself a serious actor. I
navy blue, but yes, it was done for black had dreams of going to New York prior to
and white. Later on, we became, as Mark RF: When the show changed, was it more coming to Los Angeles. My father was a
[Goddard] said, “the Easter colors.” I liked difficult? How did you, as an actress, professor of philosophy and my mother
the second year because I thought it was adapt? was a schoolteacher and they both took
MK: I never had a lot to do after the first a sabbatical for a year to come to Los
year. Angeles and for my father to write a book.
My mother had family in Los Angeles. I
RF: Yes, when the menacing tone went had ambitions of continuing in theater
away and the show became lighter and and started a theater company eventually
more kid-oriented, your character was in Los Angeles, by the way. It was voted
seen less… and even Don West, to a one of the top theater companies by NPR,
degree—he ended up being more of a foil “The Best Small Theater Company.” We
to Dr. Smith. So some of the original cast did Pinter and O’Neill, all the wonderful
dynamic changed. playwrights—serious theater.
MK: I had been promised before I did the So I was very disappointed that I didn’t
show that I would have a great deal to have much to do. I accepted it in a way,
do, and Major West and I would have a but carried the disappointment with me.
relationship and it would go from there. I would talk to Irwin Allen, the producer,
We would probably get married and have about it. He’d say, “Yes, we’re going to have
more for you to do. We already have it in
the can.” It turns out in the fourth year I
Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson in a would have had more to do. There was
color publicity still on the Lost in Space talk about a lot of changes they were going
set. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy to make and part of it—because people
of Ernest Farino. were writing in saying, “Why don’t Don
retro interview
and Judy have more to do? Why aren’t they MK: Right, and I don’t think CBS was my great fear. [chuckles] They said, “Oh,
together?” thrilled with that. They were also, as I said, that’s interesting.” Both of them being
Irwin had plans to change the show and educators, they recognized how to enrich
RF: That was what the fans were they wanted to hear more about that. I’ve the potential.
expecting. been told after the fact that there were
MK: Yes, they were contacting CBS and a lot of changes planned, and Mark and I RF: How wonderful that they gave
saying, “We want more.” would be having the center [stage]. encouragement.
MK: I didn’t speak English at first. They
RF: So the cancellation was a surprise to RF: It’s unfortunate that wasn’t realized. got me into dance and musical theater.
you because you were all expecting to go MK: Yes, it was, but as an actor, you just I did community theater from the time
into Season Four. Had the ratings slipped? say, “Well, what’s next?” I was eight years old. I actually was in
MK: It was a surprise. The ratings had not a group that was very well known in
slipped. Irwin Allen was involved in his RF: Any disappointment you felt, Bloomfield Hills [Michigan] and got a lot
other projects and was sort of putting Lost we weren’t aware of it from your of press doing that. When we came out
in Space on the back burner while he did performance. to California, I was in a Jewish deli and a
other things. The head of CBS was saying, MK: Oh, well, good. man came up and said, “My name is James
“Where are the storylines? We want to see Harris. I’m producing a movie with Stanley
them for the next year.” Irwin kept putting RF: You were very much a professional. Kubrick called Lolita.” This is when I was
him off and ignoring him, and you don’t Your credits and experience, and of 15. “I would be very interested in meeting
ignore the head of CBS. He was the guy course June’s and Guy’s… this cast had with your parents and see if you would be
who made all the decisions. Now you’d some considerable credits. Even Billy. able to do a screen test for Stanley Kubrick.
have a gaggle of people making decisions. MK: Oh, Billy! Of course, I’d like your parents to read
He said, “If you’re not going to give me the Lolita.” My parents said no, that it wasn’t a
information, then you’re cancelled.” RF: Before Lost in Space, you had worked good direction, but James Harris, without
with him on Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ any strings attached, got me an agent—
RF: Then at the same time, he was “Bang! You’re Dead.” one of the top agents—Kurt Frings in
developing and launching The Time Tunnel MK: “Bang! You’re Dead,” and Hitchcock Los Angeles, who represented Elizabeth
on a competing channel. directed it. That was such an honor. I had Taylor. He was just wonderful and helped
done a previous Hitchcock me from the very start. He saw a potential
show, where I played a girl in me and a certain “light,” which he talked
that was killed. about. He said, “You could do some very
great things,” and that started my career.
RF: Did he direct that Also Ruth Roberts, who worked with
episode? Loretta Young and was good friends with
MK: He did not direct that, Loretta Young, she got me my first show
but he saw it and wanted and that was playing the daughter of two
to use me for “Bang! You’re alcoholics—a little different from Lost in
Dead.” So it was wonderful Space!
to see Billy on the set of Lost
in Space. I said, “Wow, here RF: What year was that?
we are again!” MK: I think that was 1961 or 1962. I started
working right away and having the great
RF: How old were you when representation I did, people took that
you started acting? seriously. After a while, I didn’t have to
MK: I started acting… I audition. They’d say, “We want Marta
was adopted when I was Kristen,” and there I’d be—on the set.
five from Norway. I got off Irwin…
the plane, and my parents
said that I walked like RF: Tell me about him.
Charlie Chaplin. I guess MK: I remember my audition—I didn’t
I was trying to diffuse have to audition, I went to meet him.
I wore a pink bouclé suit and it was a
beautiful pink, and big, round earrings.
Christmas fun on the Lost He said, “I want that girl.” I guess he liked
in Space set with Marta the color and the earrings, and I guess he’d
Kristen and Bob May as seen some of the things I’d done.
Robot. © Space Productions.
Courtesy of Ernest Farino. RF: He made a good choice.

retro interview
Marta Kristen and the artist of the Judy

Robinson portrait she’s holding, John
Sargent (johnsargentartstudio.weebly.
MK: Thank you! CBS apparently saw the same thing and com). Photo by Michael Eury.
sent a note that said, “No touching.”
RF: There was nothing that was askew
with that cast. Everyone had chemistry RF: It was the times. Rob and Laura Petrie your shoulders back.” My mother would
and worked well together. still slept in separate beds! tap me on the back. My father said, “Be
MK: Yes! My granddaughter was big in MK: That’s right! proud.” At one time I was going through a
musical theater and now she’s in casting. In fact, the two-parter show [Dr. Kildare/ difficult time and said, “What am I going
She’s still interested in acting, but she Eleventh Hour crossover] I did was about to do?” He said, “Reach out to people
loves casting. Casting is everything! If abortion. You couldn’t even say “pregnant” and look them in the eye and smile and
it’s not cast well, things don’t work. It’s a on television at the time. engage.”
machine in many ways—the ensemble.
RF: Things were starting to change. On RF: That is advice we should heed today,
RF: Then you have the challenge of The Flintstones, Wilma was pregnant, since so many of us keep our heads buried
outlandish plots and a robot and other and that was a cartoon! They never in our smartphones or devices.
things taking the viewer’s eye off the said, “pregnant.” They probably said, Well, I certainly enjoyed our chat.
cast. “expecting”… Thank you for your time!
MK: It was a very difficult time for June MK: …“with child.” More Biblical point of MK: Thank you!
and Guy because they were supposed to view!
be the stars of the show. They had great Special thanks to Marta Kristen for fact-
chemistry together—almost too great. RF: You’re very gracious, and I see you checking the interview. For more about Marta’s
Recently we were watching the Blu-ray enjoy the fans. career or to book her for a personal appearance,
for the 50th anniversary. I said, “Oh, my MK: I do. As an actor, you’re a people visit www.martakristen.com. Special thanks
God. They’re touching all the time. They’re observer. I used to be very, very shy. I’d also to Monster Bash for providing the venue
looking at each other lovingly and holding walk in a room and didn’t want to be seen. for both interviews, and to Rose Rummel-Eury
each other.” Then the music would start. My father would say, “Stand up, Marta. Put for the transcriptions.
RETRO TRAVEL PHOTO GALLERY
THe JUpiTer
by Michael Eury
The Jupiter Experience is a traveling exhibit of Lost in Space

original show props, costumes, and collectibles and a
recreation of the Jupiter 2’s flight deck. Shown on these two
pages are photographs taken by ye ed of the Jupiter Experience
at the October 2019 Monster Bash in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(for more on that show or to learn about the next Monster
Bash Conference, which is coming June 18–20, 2021, visit
www.monsterbashnews.com/bashscrap19october.html). If you’re
interested in booking the Jupiter Experience for a convention,
contact Tom Pfrogner at tompfrogner@sprintmail.com. In the
meantime, enjoy these photos.

ExperieNce

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ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA
Misty
Regions
Alfred Hitchcock Presents a Way Out ride One
Step Beyond The Twilight Zone to The
Outer Limits—it’s a Thriller!
Collage by Ernest Farino.

The Classic Sci-Fi, Horror, and Mystery TV Anthology Series of the Sixties
by Ernest Farino today’s Svengoolie on MeTV. [Editor’s note: See RetroFan #2 and 6
for more on TV horror hosts.]
“To a child caught in the middle of turmoil and conflict, Television networks saw green amidst the blood red and soon
a doll can become many things: friend, defender, FCC chairman Newton N. Minow’s “vast wasteland” (TV) was
guardian. Especially a doll like Talky Tina, who did talk, crawling with all things that go bump in the night. In addition to
and did commit murder—in the misty regions of The the sitcoms The Addams Family, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian,
Twilight Zone.” and Bewitched, a serious approach was taken with a spate of
anthologies: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock
— Rod Serling (“Living Doll,” 1963) Presents, Thriller, One Step Beyond, and Way Out. There were a few
others, such as The Veil and Great Ghost Tales, but these six series
Shock Theater and Son of Shock, packages of classic Universal represented the most notable, popular, and enduring examples of
horror films released to television syndication in 1957–1958, mystery and imagination.
launched the Silver Age of “all things monsters” in the late By 1960, 30 Western series aired in primetime, including
Fif ties to the mid-Sixties, including Famous Monsters of Filmland Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, and
magazine, the Aurora monster model kits, the Mars Attacks Bonanza. Time magazine reported on April 30, 1959 that “Last
cards, and much more. Although Vampira was the original week eight of the top ten shows were horse operas.” Those were
television horror host (1954–1955), the Shock packages also all great shows, but clearly it was time to shake things up in
rejuvenated the television “horror host” including Zacherley, suburbia. To paraphrase Rod Serling, the monsters were due on
Ghoulardi, M. T. Graves, and Moona Lisa, all the way up to Maple Street…
As Bette Davis said in All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts—it’s going to be a bumpy
night.” It’s almost impossible to discuss these sci-fi/horror/mystery anthology series
without occasionally giving away something, so if that spoils things for you, avert
your eyes…

ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria
“Good Evening”—Much has been written in books and magazines (and blogs and Facebook groups) about
these series. Given space limitations, a magazine like RetroFan cannot expect cover them in depth. Thus, “for
your consideration,” we offer a short overview of each series followed by a closer look at a favorite episode
or two. Photos from other episodes captioned with scintillating trivia will hopefully round things out. Your
mileage will vary—everyone has their favorites and odds are yours will be overlooked. But there you are…
The Twilight Zone Frankenheimer told Alex Simon of The Hollywood Interview, “We
were very good friends. He was a terrific writer. I did a Playhouse
90 once where we were in really bad trouble with the script. So I
Rod Serling (LEFT). went to see him and he asked a lot of questions. He’d never read
The original the script, mind you, but in a matter of hours the new scene was
opening narration ready and it worked beautifully. Rod was a genuinely good man
claimed that “There and he died much too young.”
is a sixth dimension, The series describes “the twilight zone” as “the middle ground
beyond that which between light and shadow, and it lies between the pit of man’s
is known to man. fear and the summit of his knowledge.” In fact, Serling got the
It is a dimension as name from the term airline pilots use for the area when both the
vast as space and as clouds and ground blend together causing them to lose their
timeless as infini- bearings.
ty.” When producer The iconic opening title sequences were produced by UPA
Bill Self asked what (United Productions of America), famous for their Mister Magoo
happened to the cartoon shorts and the animated features 1001 Arabian Nights and
fifth dimension, Gay Purr-ee. Herb Klynn and Stephen Bosustow were in charge
Serling said, “I don’t and the animation team that consisted of Rudy Larriva (director/
know. Aren’t there animator), Sam Clayberger (layout/backgrounds), and Joe
five?” They could Messerli (title logo/overlays).
Rod Serling: “Well, The Twilight Zone is only think of four, At one point, programming head Jim Aubrey ordered that
in essence an imaginative itinerary of so the narration was the cost per episode had to come down and mandated shooting
storytelling in which we utilize bases rewritten to what on videotape instead of 35mm film. However, after six episodes
of fantasy, science fiction, the occult, we’re familiar with: it was determined that little was being saved, so the show went
extrasensory perception, anything that is “There is a fifth back to shooting on film. The Sixties video quality is marginal,
imaginative, wild, or, as in the States we dimension…” which makes these six episodes hard to watch. The six episodes
call it, ‘kooky.’” were shot consecutively but placed randomly throughout the
For months Serling argued that a broadcast schedule. Since today’s on-screen guides often list
mystery-suspense show could compete with all the medical episode numbers, the six are listed here in the order of broadcast,
and Western shows. The series was finally greenlit by CBS and not production: “The Lateness of the Hour” (Ep 8), “Night of the
premiered on October 2, 1959. The first narrator was The March Meek” (Ep 11), “The Whole Truth” (Ep 14), “Twenty-Two” (Ep 17),
of Time’s Westbrook Van Voorhis, but he sounded “a little too “Static” (Ep 20), and “Long Distance Call” (Ep 22).
pompous.” Serling then wanted Orson Welles, but Welles asked The Twilight Zone spanned 156 episodes from 1959 to 1964 (TV
for too much money. Despite skepticism that a “writer” could do “seasons” were much longer in those days), and there are many
the job, Serling stepped in, everybody loved his introduction, and exceptional episodes. (Yes, there are some clunkers, but that’s
he stayed on as the series host. inevitable, just based on the law of averages.) Standout episodes
Serling held to an exhaustive schedule. When his home office include “The After Hours” (with Forbidden Planet’s Anne Francis),
door was closed, that’s when he would dictate his scripts into a “Perchance to Dream,” “The Midnight Sun,” “The Dummy,”
recorder. “I remember him on the Dictaphone,” recalled Serling’s “Twenty-Two,” and “It’s a Good Life” (with youngster Billy Mumy
daughter Jodi to SyFyWire in 2019, “and waving to us to go away, sending adults “off to the cornfield”).
I’m busy right now. But he was always around for us as children. “Living Doll” starred future Kojak Telly Savalas. Tracy Stratford,
He was a great father.” as the little girl, would later voice Lucy Van Pelt in 1965’s A Charlie
Film director John Frankenheimer (The Train, Seven Days in May) Brown Christmas. The Talky Tina doll was voiced by June Foray
first worked with Rod Serling in 1954 on a TV drama called A Knife (Rocky of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) and is the same
in the Dark, for which Serling was paid $200 (about $1,900 today). voice used by Mattel for their actual Chatty Cathy doll.

One of my personal favorites is “And When the Sky Was Unfortunately, Foray’s voice work, while excellent as usual, is
Opened,” in which three astronauts return from space only noticeably different than Badham’s own voice as heard in the
to disappear one by one. Even on the printed page, Richard interior scenes.
Matheson’s original short story ends in a chilling fashion. Jodi Serling said that “‘Walking Distance’ was my father’s
“The Bewitchin’ Pool” aired June 19, 1964 as the series finale. I favorite episode. There were pieces of him in it, dealing with the
always liked this episode—perhaps as a kid I related to the idea loss of his father because he wasn’t able to be released from the
of disappearing from the real work into a fantasyland. Due to Army in time before his father died. So it was a personal story
problems with production sound most of the actors had to re- for him, a lot about loneliness and loss. He evoked themes of
voice their dialog for the exteriors. Unfortunately, Mary Badham prejudice and love and war, subjects that were all part of what he
(who previously starred in To Kill a Mockingbird opposite Gregory had dealt with for most of his life.”
Peck) had returned home to Alabama and it was too costly to So now, a few photos to highlight some of the standout
bring her back to L.A. Voice actress June Foray was once again episodes…
called in, this time dubbing Badham’s lines for the exterior scenes.
(RIGHT) “Eye of the

Beholder” director Douglas
Heyes’ own sketch of
the makeup for William
Gordon (the doctor). © CBS.
Now, see what happens when you smoke

cigarettes…? © CBS.
(ABOVE) “Two” takes

place in a post-apoca-
lyptic city and starred
only Charles Bronson
and future suburban (LEFT) Donna Douglas as the unveiled “Janet,” personally
house-witch Elizabeth autographed to this author several years ago. Douglas was
Montgomery (RetroFan most well known for playing the sexy but innocent “Ellie
editor Michael Eury and May” in The Beverly Hillbillies. © CBS.
this writer still carry a
brightly burning torch Maxine Stuart played “Janet”
for La Liz, so if you under the bandages, as she was
thought she might be a more experienced actress with
skipped over here you’re a voice that was less feminine
sadly mistaken…). The than Donna Douglas. Maxine
episode was filmed Stuart said, “I loved doing the
on the backlot of Hal show. I thought it was beauti-
Roach Studios in Culver fully written. And we got the
City, which was falling shock factor that Rod was going
apart due to disuse, thus for with the unveiling of Donna
requiring very little set Douglas: ‘If that’s not beautiful,
decoration. © CBS. I don’t know what is!’ Beauty is
truly in the eye of the beholder!”

(LEFT) Rod Serling visits

the lovely Inger Stevens,
star of “The Hitch-Hik-
er.” The punch line of
this episode is a little
predictable, and has since
been appropriated in TV
and films such as Jacob’s
Ladder and The Sixth
Sense, but Stevens’ subtle
but effective performance
is engaging and holds the
In “The Odyssey of Flight 33,” a 707 airliner is caught in a time episode together.
warp, and at one point, briefly back in prehistoric times, they look © CBS.
down and see a Brontosaurus. The stop-motion dinosaur was
animated only once but shot with two cameras to get a wide view
and close-up at the same time. Project Unlimited used the model
created a year before for the feature film Dinosaurus! © CBS.
(ABOVE) Grant Keate applies the

William Tuttle-designed makeup
to “gremlin” actor Nick Cravat, a
lifelong friend of superstar Burt
Lancaster. Cravat later appeared
with Lancaster in The Crimson
Pirate, Run Silent Run Deep, and The
Island of Dr. Moreau. © CBS.
Future Captain Kirk William Shatner delivers a riveting performance as he experiences a

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” Written by Richard Matheson and directed by Richard Donner
(Superman, 1978), is a terrific, energetic episode and remains one of the most famous and
well-remembered episodes of the entire series. © CBS.
(LEFT) Author Charles

Beaumont visits Devil actor
(ABOVE) “To Serve Man” is one of the Robin Hughes during “The
most famous episodes. Ted Cassidy, as Howling Man.” Beaumont
the Kanamit, would later play Lurch on wrote 22 episodes as well
The Addams Family, and in Butch Cassidy as 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and The
and the Sundance Kid he is the recipient Masque of the Red Death.
of what William Goldman described in Sadly, Beaumont died of a
his screenplay as “the most aesthetically combination of Alzheimer’s
exquisite kick in the balls in the history and Pick’s disease, aging
of the modern American cinema.” © CBS. him rapidly along with the
progressive dementia to
the extent that he looked 95
at the time of his death—at
age 34. © CBS.

“The Invaders”’ Agnes Moorehead has no dialog and her

tour-de-force performance becomes a valuable example of
top-flight pantomime for acting students. Moorehead’s career “Little Girl Lost” is one of this writer’s favorite episodes, and shows
ran the gamut from Charles Foster Kane’s mother in Citizen how helpful it can be to have a physicist living next door. Most kids
Kane to Samantha Stevens’ mother in Bewitched. © CBS. fear “monsters under the bed” at one time or another; here the little
girl falls out of bed—and into another dimension. © CBS.
(LEFT) Rod Serling appeared on

the cover of local and national TV
Guide magazines and newspaper
supplements as the series gained
in popularity.
(ABOVE) “To Agnes – With Love,” proclaims meek Wally Cox to his room-sized computer. The real
object of his affections is Millie, played by none of than Mayfield’s heartthrob schoolteacher, “Miss
Landers,” Sue Randall. (Where was “Miss Landers” when I went to school…?) A profile on Sue
Randall is coming soon in RetroFan. This episode was also directed by Richard Donner (see Retro-
Fan #3 for Glenn Greenberg’s interview with Donner). © CBS.
(LEFT) The Twilight Zone comic book first appeared in 1961 in Dell’s
Four Color series. Then Gold Key’s version premiered in 1962 and ran
for 91 issues until 1979. Many comics notables contributed, including
Len Wein, Alex Toth, Walt Simonson, George Roussos, Leo Dorfman, The paperback Stories from the
Joe Certa, and Frank Miller (of The Dark Knight and Sin City fame, Twilight Zone was first published
whose work on this title was his first professional job in comics). © CBS. by Bantam Books in 1960 and
contained “The Mighty Casey,”
(RIGHT) If full size comics were “Escape Clause,” “Walking
too much for you, there were Distance,” “The Fever,” “Where is
“Mini-Comics,” including a Twilight Everybody?,” and “The Monsters
Zone story about a Xerox copier with Are Due on Maple Street.”
a mind of its own. © CBS.

(LEFT) This photo, which also appeared in the September 8, 1964

issue of LOOK magazine, may have been shot at Leslie Stevens’
Hollywood home. (LEFT TO RIGHT) Andro from “The Man Who
Was Never Born,” the Box Demon from “Don’t Open Till Dooms-
day,” the Empyrian from “Second Chance,” Allyson Ames (Leslie
Stevens’ third wife. who appeared in “The Galaxy Being” and
“Production and Decay of Strange Particles”), an Ebonite from
“Nightmare,” and the Bifrost client from “The Bellero Shield.”
The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits premiered Monday, September 16, 1963 and
continued on Monday nights at 7:30PM (ET). And lemme tell
ya, my life was never the same. The Twilight Zone was intriguing,
intelligent, thought-provoking, and sometimes unnerving. But
it was, shall we say, “gentler.” The Outer Limits, on the other hand, (LEFT) The Outer Limits promo artwork by Charles Schneeman, who
had monsters! Now we’re talkin.’ had previously created artwork for the pulps Astounding Stories
Similar to the Serling’s introductions for The Twilight Zone, and Wonder Stories. The original painting is owned by producer
The Outer Limits opened with dramatic, sometimes foreboding Joseph Stefano’s son, Dominic. © MGM/UA. (RIGHT) Co-creators
voiceover introductions. This format became something of a Joseph Stefano (LEFT) and Leslie Stevens. Stefano was previously
standard for anthology shows, including the tape recorded known for adapting Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho into a screenplay
“instructions” launching each Mission: Impossible. For Outer Limits, for Alfred Hitchcock.
Stefano and Stevens struck gold with the casting of Vic Perrin,
whose serious but intriguing vocal quality instantly drew the sigh. (Looking back it feels like I must have held my breath for the
viewer in. whole hour).
Author David J. Schow tells RetroFan: “When I was eight years
“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do old I had no idea that The Outer Limits was poised to become not
not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling only a lifework for me, but a life partner. The success of Marc
transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will Zicree’s Twilight Zone Companion in 1982 cleared the path for
bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we my own Outer Limits Companion book in 1986, not to mention a
will tune it to a whisper. We can reduce the focus to a second book, The Outer Limits At 50 (2014) and two sprawling,
soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. We will control supplement-rich Blu-ray releases from Kino-Lorber and Via
the horizontal. We will control the vertical. For the Vision. I can honestly claim that The Outer Limits was one of the
next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you reasons I became a writer in the first place. It thrilled me as a
see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and child and enriched me as an adult. Moreover, I still enjoy it. I still
mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The notice oddities on each new viewing, and that, to me, denotes
Outer Limits.” something of durable artistic value. It’s my single favorite
television series of all time (but you probably guessed that
I can distinctly remember my younger brother already).”
walking over to the TV set to adjust the picture Ted C. Rypel paved the way for organized
(long before remote controls) and my shouting, Outer Limits fandom with his two-volume fanzine
“Don’t touch it! They are controlling the TV!” Kind The Outer Limits: An Illustrated Review. “I was at
of silly even for an 11-year-old, but that’s how ground zero on September 16, 1963 when ‘The
compelling the opening was at the time (and how Galaxy Being’ first slid through Cliff Robertson’s
naïve we were about technology). How many TV monitor into my living room,” recalls Ted for
times did the TV actually talk directly to you…? My RetroFan. “The cosmic probing bit deeply into
brother jumped back from the set as if hit by an my soul. In the late Seventies I was compelled to
electric shock and sat on the floor motionless write and publish the first fanzine dedicated to
for the next hour. And at the end of the episode, The Outer Limits. That zine put me in touch with
when the Control Voice said, “We now return control Joseph Stefano, as well as the world’s leading
of your television set to you…,” I let out an audible expert on Outer Limits, David J. Schow. The series

continues to haunt my imagination I don’t recall if I started off with

with its darkly intelligent, dramatic “The Galaxy Being,” but I definitely
probings into both untold remember the third episode, “The
universes and the uncomfortable Architects of Fear.” Partly because
recesses of the human condition. the first issue of Famous Monsters
That The Outer Limits has of Filmland that I came across was
maintained its eerie fascination for issue #26 with the Thetan from that
new generations of viewers—and episode on the cover (and a feature
© Philip Kim.
laid the groundwork for shows like article on the series inside).
The X-Files and Black Mirror—is a Precursors to this story include
tribute to its lasting, spellbinding, Theodore Sturgeon’s 1948 short story
and sometimes disturbing power.” in Astounding Science Fiction, “Unite
“Awe and mystery,” indeed… and Conquer,” which describes humans unifying against a fake
alien threat, an idea Sturgeon explored again in “Occam’s Scalpel”
(If magazine, 1971). In the comic story “The Last War on Earth” by
Harvey Kurtzman (Weird Science #5, Jan.–Feb 1951), science creates
a fake threat from another world, and finally, in Kurt Vonnegut’s
novel The Sirens of Titan (1959), a fake invasion is carried out to
unite Earth and eventually leads to world peace.
Remarkably, the final appearance of the Thetan was blacked
out by many TV stations as being too frightening. Letters to TV
Guide ranged from complaint to compliment—
• “What happened? Channel 5 censored out the best part of
the show, that’s what! I don’t think I’ve ever been so mad in my
whole life.”
• “This action reminds me of something a police state
(LEFT) Vic Perrin’s “Control Voice” narrations for each season would do.”
were recorded all together in one or two sessions and thus he rarely • “Why put the program on the air at all…?”
had any idea what the episodes were about. He joked that he had a • “This policy is a great service. I am sure the viewing
God-given ability to sound authoritative on things he knew nothing audience will be more than happy to watch Monday Night at
about. After recording engineer Peter Cutler worked with Vic the Movies.”
Perrin on numerous commercials in the Eighties, Perrin record- • “I felt they had a personal interest in my five children. It
ed an Outer Limits-style outgoing message for Cutler’s answer- would be nice to know that our other two TV stations were
ing machine. Cutler said that Perrin “was a real class act, always just as concerned.”
professional, and just a joy to be around.” (RIGHT) Bob Johnson,
Daystar Productions’ account manager, added yet another vocal
Make-up artist Fred B. Phillips begins
talent. Best known as the voice who recited the tape recordings
the process of transforming Robert
on Mission: Impossible, Johnson provided alien voices on The Outer
Culp. The make-up would go through
Limits and can be heard in “Counterweight,” “Fun and Games,”
several stages leading up to the final
“The Guests,” “Specimen: Unknown,” “The Invisibles,” “ZZZZZ,”
monster suit. © MGM/UA.
“Don’t Open Till Doomsday,” “The Mice,” “The Zanti Misfits,” “It
Crawled Out of the Woodwork,” and “Corpus Earthling.”
Cinematographer
Conrad Hall, Oscar®-win-
ner for Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid, Ameri-
can Beauty, and Road to
Perdition, gave The Outer
Limits its distinctive
“look” in 15 episodes with
chiaroscuro lighting and
unusual camera angles. Stark lighting was frowned upon back then
due to the limited contrast range of TV sets in the Sixties, but fortu-
nately Hall and Stefano and Stevens ignored those constraints.
Conrad Hall went on to photograph many excellent feature films,
including two of my favorites from director Richard Brooks, In Cold
Blood and The Professionals.

At Project Unlimited in Hollywood, Gene

Whether this close-up of Robert Culp in Warren, Sr. (in white shirt) helps put the final
advanced stages of “transformation” is touches on the full monster suit. © MGM/UA.
actually in the episode has been debated,
but I can confirm that it is there—for a split (ABOVE) Hungarian stuntman/actor Janos Prohaska practices with the arm extensions
second prior to a dissolve to the next scene. for the monster suit. Animator Jim Danforth, working at Project Unlimited, built the leg
A tantalizing few frames of the nearly stilts. Sadly, Janos Prohaska died in a plane crash in 1975 at age 54 while working on the
complete creature. © MGM/UA. ABC series Up from the Ape. © MGM/UA.
So now, a few photos highlighting other episodes…
(RIGHT) Jacqueline Scott played Cliff Robertson’s wife in the premiere episode, “The
Galaxy Being,” in 1963. As she signed this photo for the author, he asked her about working
with Robertson. Ms. Scott smiled and remarked, “It was great. We’d known each other
since we were kids!” Ms. Scott passed away July 23, 2020 at age 89.
(ABOVE) The Galaxy Being was cleverly

created by fitting actor William Douglas
in a dark gray, rubber wet suit. By revers-
ing the image to a “negative” and matting
that element into the normal scenes, the
creature appeared to be bright white with
shimmering spots of energy glinting across
its surface (the pinpoint light reflections on
the shiny rubber suit). © MGM/UA.
(RIGHT) Robert Culp and Arlene Martel

contemplate the “Demon with a Glass Hand,”
from a story by Harlan Ellison. Culp would
achieve TV prominence opposite Bill Cosby in
the espionage series I Spy. Arlene Martel was
also known as T’Pring, Mr. Spock’s betrothed,
in the Star Trek episode “Amok Time.”

(LEFT) The creature most symbolic of the show was Gwyllim

from “The Sixth Finger,” the result of accelerated evolution.
Here, Jill Haworth checks him out. Under the make-up is David
McCallum, star of films such as The Great Escape and, of course,
as “Illya Kuryakin” in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series [coming in
RetroFan #15].
(RIGHT) Diana Sands grapples (ABOVE) The stop-motion Zanti Misfits produced by
with a globular alien in “The Mice.” Project Unlimited were animated by Al Hamm (not
It was unusual in 1964 to cast an Jim Danforth, as has been incorrectly stated in the
African American as a central past). Hamm had animated Speedy Alka-Seltzer in
character, and as a female doctor the Fifties. In 1997 “The Zanti Misfits” was ranked
to boot (not a nurse). She interacts #98 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.”
closely with Henry Silva’s character
at a time when blacks and whites
rarely touched each other on televi-
sion. While excellent here, Sands’
standout performance has to be as
Sidney Poitier’s sister in A Raisin in
the Sun. Sadly, Diana Sands passed
away from cancer in 1973 at the
all-too-young age of 39.
(LEFT) Even mutants have to

eat. Robert Duvall, later famous
for the Godfather films, Apoca-
lypse Now, and the Lonesome Dove
miniseries, takes a lunch break
during “The Chameleon.” Author/
publisher Sam Calvin cites this
as a favorite, remarking that
“Duvall, with his too-low eyes and
high-pitched giggle, is more than The Helosian alien from “O.B.I.T.” stopped in at 1313
a little unnerving. His delight in Mockingbird Lane during The Munsters episode “If
his new incarnation adds to the a Martian Answers, Hang Up” in 1965. The Munsters ©
nightmare. ‘You do look a little NBCUniversal.
peculiar, man.’”
(RIGHT) The Outer Limits board game

by Milton Bradley. One of the prima-
ry collectibles from the series, and
nowadays a bit pricey if found in good
condition and complete. © MGM/UA.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

money, Hitchcock used his TV crew to make Psycho, capitalizing
on the “well-oiled-machine” of professionals used to working
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the granddaddy of anthology shows, together, resulting in a more efficient and cost-saving production.
airing on CBS and NBC from 1955 to 1965 for 268 episodes (from The opening theme, now commonly thought of as “the
1962 to 1965 it was renamed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour for 93 Hitchcock theme,” was actually a short classical piece, Funeral
episodes). Hitchcock directed 17 episodes and one of the hour- March of a Marionette (Marche funèbre d’une marionnette) by Charles
long episodes. The series capitalized on Hitchcock’s fame as a Gounod, originally written for solo piano in 1872 and orchestrated
film director and, conversely, in 1879.
his droll on-camera There are some terrific episodes in this series, though many
introductions (written by fall into the category of rather mild murder mysteries. However,
James B. Allardice) made him the show is almost always interesting for the range of seasoned,
all the more famous to the as well as “before-they-were-famous,” actors, including Dick
general public. Hitchcock, York, Phyllis Thaxter, Mildred Dunnock, Alan Napier, Robert
a master of publicity and Vaughn, Vincent Price, Robert Redford, Inger Stevens, Sir Cedric
promotion, evolved from Hardwicke, Steve McQueen, Bruce Dern, Walter Matthau, George
being a “we-know-the- Segal, Claude Rains, Joan Fontaine, Thelma Ritter, Joseph Cotten,
name” director to a genuine Vera Miles, Peter Lorre, Bette Davis, Jessica Tandy, Roger Moore,
personality. His promotional John Cassavetes, and Barbara Bel Geddes.
featurette for Psycho in which The series also employed notable directors, including Paul
he personally conducts a Henreid, Norman Lloyd, Arthur Hiller, Robert Altman, and Ida
guided tour of the Bates Lupino. William Friedkin, who would later direct The French
Motel was innovative and Connection and The Exorcist, was thrilled when Hitchcock visited
further contributed to his the set of the episode he was directing. Years later, when asked
visibility. if “the master of suspense” imparted any words of wisdom or
The TV series provided advice, Friedkin said that Hitchcock’s only comment was, “It is
TV Guide, May 16–22, 1964. © TV a practical benefit as well: customary, Mr. Friedkin, that our directors wear a necktie.”
Guide. financed with his own Here are just a few of the notable episodes…
“The Jar” was scripted by James Bridges from Ray Bradbury’s

1944 Weird Tales story. Pat Buttram, Mr. Haney in 144 episodes
of Green Acres, brings his down-home persona to this episode
as well. Buttram purchases a mysterious “jar” from a circus
sideshow, mystifying his neighbors and gaining much popular-
ity. Except from his young, coquettish wife, Thedy, in an engag-
ing performance by the underrated Collin Wilcox (who played
Mayella Violet Ewell, the object of the trial in To Kill a Mocking-
bird). Thedy gets her comeuppance in the end, having made fun
of the Jar for the last time. © Universal Television.
(RIGHT) Good
clean fun…
Even a show
like Alfred
Hitchcock
Presents can
benefit from
merchan-
dising, and
here we have
a bar of Ivory
soap with
the famous
profile.

(BELOW) “Man from the South” starred (LEFT TO RIGHT) Peter

Lorre, Steve McQueen, and Neile Adams (married to McQueen at the
time). Lorre bets gambler McQueen that he can’t light his cigarette
lighter ten times consecutively. If he wins, the man gives him his new
car. If he doesn’t, the cost is—a finger. This episode ranked #41 on
TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time” and was later remade
in the film Four Rooms with Quentin Tarantino directing a segment
called “The Man from Hollywood.” © Universal Television.
“An Unlocked Window” concerned a serial killer in the neigh-

borhood where some private nurses have locked themselves in
a large house (the Psycho house for the exteriors)—except for
one basement window… Dana Wynter, known to sci-fi fans for
the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) starred, and
the episode earned an Edgar Award for writer James Bridges
(who went on to write and direct The Paper Chase and The China
Syndrome). According to TV Guide, the cast was not given the final
pages of the script to safeguard its shocking ending. Says Ernest
Farino: “My family’s two-story house in Massachusetts had a long,
narrow room that became the TV room. My mother, grandmother,
and aunt would faithfully watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry
Mason, and others. Following ‘An Unlocked Window’ (which I did
not see at the time), all they could talk about for a week was ‘the
nurses episode,’ possibly freaked out more than normal because
they—and the cast—are women. Pre-internet, it took me years to
identify ‘the nurses episode.’ But the search paid off—the episode
holds up well.” © Universal Television.
(RIGHT) Putting a Face to the Name: Staff hairstylist Florence Bush

coifs Jean Hagen. Mostly at Universal, Florence tallied an aston-
ishing 1,644 TV episodes, with a handful of feature films and TV
movies to boot. You have no doubt seen her name on the Hitchcock
series (and the film Psycho), as well as everything from Wagon Train
to The Jack Benny Show to Leave It to Beaver. Even so, Thriller produc-
er William Frye told movie poster archivist Ron Borst that he [Frye]
was often frustrated since, in his view, Florence kept giving all the
actresses the same hairstyle over and over! © Universal Television.
Thriller Douglas Heyes, who directed some of the best Twilight Zone
Thriller was a show that I generally didn’t care for so much, episodes including “Eye of the Beholder,” “The Invaders,” and
although there are some excellent episodes. The series seems to “The Howling Man,” seemed to feel the same way. He told Ben
be too “soft” in terms of murder mysteries and dramas. Nothing Herndon for Twilight Zone magazine in 1982: “Thriller was not a
wrong with any of that, but when the host ends his introduction scary show when it first began. The first five or six episodes were
by saying, “It’s a thriller—or my name isn’t Boris Karloff!” you gangster stories, crime stories, and adventure stories, and the
expect a little more. (Of course, his name wasn’t Boris Karloff—it series was not doing well. Universal asked me why Thriller wasn’t
was William Henry Pratt—so maybe that should have been a getting the good ratings. To me, it seemed terribly obvious.
tipoff…) When you say, ‘Boris Karloff presents Thriller,’ the audience
believes you’re going to show them something scary, something and portraits that moved. I threw in everything! Clanking chains,
spooky. They asked me to write and direct one which had those candles that blew out—everything in the genre. The ratings
elements in it to see if that was really what the public wanted. began to rise af ter that.”
So I wrote and directed “The Purple Room” and I threw in Even so, there are a few episodes worth noting…
ghosts and people rising from the dead and secret passages
(ABOVE) In “The Incredible Doktor Boris Karloff with director Robert Florey. Florey
Markesan,” newlyweds Fred and was the original director of Universal’s 1931
Molly visit Fred’s mysterious uncle Frankenstein, only to be replaced by director
Konrad Markesan. Turns out Marke- James Whale. Thirty-one years later, these two
san has kept his dead colleagues legends finally worked together.
alive, reviving them to recite over and
over the testimony against Doktor
Markesan that led to his dismissal at (BELOW) Issue #1 of the Boris Karloff Thriller
the University. Actor Dick York (Fred) comic book was cover-dated October 1962. The
told John Douglas in Filmfax how title was changed to Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery
they got Karloff’s face to decompose: with #3 (Apr. 1963) when the TV series was
“Make-up man Jack Barron ground up cancelled, then continued to issue #97 (Feb. 1980).
Bromo Seltzer and put it on his face. Artists included Ray Bailey, Tom Gill, Alber-
They sprayed him with water and it to Giolitti, Mike Peppe, Jerry Robinson, Mike
went pop, pop, pop and his face just Sekowsky, and Giovanni Ticci. © NBCUniversal.
‘deteriorated.’ It was a great idea.” ©
NBCUniversal. (ABOVE) A promo photo of Carolyn
Kearney as Molly, turned into a
zombie for meddling. In the episode
Molly lies back in her coffin and
closes the lid, which Sam Juliano
described on the website Wonders
in the Dark: “What may well be the
most horrifying image in the history
of television is the zombified Molly
closing the lid to her coffin, a ghastly
image as terrible as any imagination
could ever conjure.” Kevin Hoover
agreed, posting online that he “first
saw this episode as a child, and the
final scene with Molly closing the
NBC certainly went the distance in promot- coffin lid has haunted me all my life.”
ing Thriller, complete with large billboards, © NBCUniversal.
as shown here. © NBCUniversal.

ONE STEP BEYOND

As Jean-Marc Rocher wrote on the IMDb, One Step Beyond
“was an extension of the tradition of radio horror and
supernatural dramas such as Lights Out and The Witches
Tale. However, no solutions to these ‘real’ mysteries were
ever found, and viewers were left to wonder, ‘was it real…?’”
For example, Virginia Leith, sultry, statuesque model
and actress, appeared in “The Bride Possessed,” the first
episode of One Step Beyond. Leith’s character has a startling
change of personality and accent, leading back to a woman
killed in an accident—or was it murder? (Leith is most
well known for the cult film The Brain That Wouldn’t Die as
the talking head, affectionately known by fans as “Jan in
the Pan.”) Many such
episodes of One Step
Beyond are intriguing,
but for me, none are
as memorable as
key episodes from
The Twilight Zone
or The Outer Limits.
One thing’s for sure,
the theme music by
Harry Lubin remains
one of the creepiest
supernatural themes Host John Newland introduces an
ever written. episode. © CBS.
Ottola Nesmith as the Zuvembie, Eula Lee Blassenville in the
WAY OUT
Thriller episode “Pigeons from Hell.” Nesmith enjoyed a lengthy
career as a supporting actor, although often in small parts that
Way Out ran from March to July 1961 with strong ratings, went uncredited. For horror fans, she can be seen in The Wolf Man,
but failed to sustain its audience and was cancelled after 14 Invisible Ghost, The Leopard Man, The Return of the Vampire, and The
episodes. Author/host Roald Dahl introduced each episode. Son of Dr. Jekyll. © NBCUniversal.
Married for 30 years to actress Patricia Neal (The Day the
Earth Stood Still), Dahl’s novels for children include James
and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He
That wraps up our brief journey through the misty regions
also wrote the screenplay to the James Bond film You Only
of shadow and substance, of things and ideas. We now return
Live Twice. In “False Face,” a stage actor plays Quasimodo
control of this magazine to you, until next issue when the
and after a successful opening night, the actor discovers
Control Editor will bring you the astonishing story of a hirsute
that he cannot remove his make-up. This episode features
missing link named Bigfoot who prowled the wilds of Saturday
a spectacular make-up by Dick Smith, who later created
morning television.
the make-ups for The Exorcist, and a version of this make-
up was included in Smith’s Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-
Special thanks to Sam Calvin, Mark Thomas McGee, Amy Roy,
Up Hand Book published by James Warren in 1965. Mark
Ted C. Rypel, David J. Schow, and Mark Wolf. All pictorial matter
Shostrom, make-up artist on Men in Black and many others,
reproduced herein derives from the voluntary, non-compensated
said that he once showed one of Dick’s handwritten notes
contributions of pictorial or other memorabilia from the private
to a court-certified
collections of the author, and from the select private archives of
handwriting analyst and
individual contributors.
asked what she could
determine about the
ERNEST FARINO recently directed an
writer (she had no idea
episode of the SyFy/Netflix series
who Dick Smith was).
Superstition starring Mario Van Peebles,
She looked at it, then
as well as serving as Visual Effects
looked up and said, “This
Consultant.
man is a genius.”

RETROFAD
Fire is mesmerizing. Despite the would work in an electric lamp without
LAVA
destruction it can cause, we love to burning down the house. (Incidentally,
gawk at it, from a single candle just like Colonel Sanders’ chicken, this
flame to a blazing inferno. Same “secret recipe” remains unknown
with water. We’re soothed by to the general public today.) The
the ripples of a pond, and result was what Craven-Walker
entranced by the ocean’s called an “Astro Lamp”: a clear
LAMPS
crashing waves. Face it— glass cylinder in various
people are like cats (self- shapes containing a mixture
licking aside), tantalized of colored wax and luminous
by wiggling, shimmering liquid, where the wax, when
movements such as hula heated, would bubble up and
dancing, The Blob, and swirl down the tube, heated
twerking booty in hip-hop and irradiated by a 25 to 40
videos. watt iridescent light bulb.
So what could be a better by Michael Eury By 1965, Craven-Walker was
eyeful than lava, which mixes marketing his Astro Lamp in
the flash of fire with the fluidity of Europe. At a European trade show, a
water? pair of American businessmen, Adolph
How about a Lava Lamp, Wertheimer and Hy Spector, acquired the
that conduit of counterculture American rights for the product and brought
coolness, which brings the beauty it to the States as the Lava Lamp, or “Lava Lite,”
of magma into the home without a initially operating out of Chicago’s Lava Manufacturing
firestorm of devastation! Corporation.
In 1963, the year before The Beatles Originally, the U.S. Lava Lite was marketed to
invaded the U.S.A. on their first American cosmopolitan sophisticates. Ascot-wearing swingers who
tour, a different Brit, Edward Craven- reeked of Hai Karate found the bubbly, hallucinogenic
Walker (1918–2000), conceived a glow of the lamp a perfect complement for the Mantovani
“motion lamp” after seeing the Hi-fi LPs they played in their shag-carpeted bachelor pads.
contents of a pub’s improvised “The lite of a Million Moving Shapes,” the Lava Lite was
egg timer—actually, a loaded hawked as the “in” gift of the year and as “head trips that
cocktail shaker—dribble over offer a motion for every emotion.” Lava lamp models
onto a stovetop. Then again, reflected a variety of tastes, such as
Craven-Walker was known “The Aristocrat,” “The Consort,” “The
for having a watchful eye. As a Regency”… and yes, ladies, “The
World War II pilot in the Royal Empress,” with its hot pink glowing
Air Force, he courageously flew goo, was available for you, too. The
aerial photographic reconnaissance units were marketed in the U.S. for
missions over Germany. By the time anywhere from $10.60 to $149.50,
the Swinging Sixties rolled around, with most models averaging in the
Craven-Walker had reinvented $18.95–$29.95 range. Lava Lamps
himself into one of the first were soon the rage in American
naturalist filmmakers, using households, and were
the name “Michael Kaetering” common in the living rooms
DMGualtieri/Wikimedia Commons.
to produce a short film titled and kids’ bedrooms of the

Traveling Light, where a female traditional family home.
dancer (Craven-Walker’s wife, You could also find a
a fellow nudist) performed an (ABOVE) Ain’t nothin’ Lava Lamp alongside
underwater ballet in the buff. like the real thing, Rolodexes and staplers on
(I wonder how many of you will baby! An “Astro Lamp” many office desks.
Needpix.com.
search for this on YouTube before model Lava Lamp from Meanwhile, on the other
finishing this article.) Mathmos, produced in side of the pond, Edward
For his motion lamp, the Nineties during the Craven-Walker continued to
Craven-Walker brought product’s resurgence of peddle his Astro Lamp, and
in inventor David George popularity. © Mathmos quite successfully, at that.
Smith to concoct a Ltd. Photo: Novemberchild/ He founded a lighting
chemical compound that Wikimedia Commons. company that ultimately

Sixties-era ads for the “Lava Lite.” For every taste imaginable! © LAVA®.
took the name Mathmos, and by the late Sixties he was moving Craven-Walker, aware of the Lava Lamp’s fascination among
seven million Astro Lamps a year, making him fabulously wealthy. people imbibing in the drug culture, purportedly said in a
The Lava Lamp/Astro Lamp blasted off in worldwide marketing pitch, “If you buy my lamp, you won’t need drugs.”
popularity during 1967’s Summer of Love, and why wouldn’t During the mid-Seventies, the plug was pulled on the Lava
it, being the perfect marriage of Space Age technology and Lamp craze, with sales tanking to a mere 200 units per week
psychedelia? It began to pop up as a prop on various British in 1976. The fad soon bubbled away. Remarkably, in the late
television shows, being seen on Doctor Who, The Avengers, The Eighties and early Nineties, the Lava Lamp enjoyed a mind-
Prisoner, and elsewhere. blowing resurgence in popularity, reportedly selling more
No two Lava Lamps were alike, each plopping out a unique and units in the Nineties than it did in the previous three decades
ever-shifting light show. It was sort of like combined! Like the tie-dye T-shirt and the Smiley
a tactile acid trip with no harmful side Face emoticon, the Lava Lamp has become
© New Line Cinema.
effects. immortalized as an icon of Sixties hipness, a

Young people were particularly perennial item that blends mood lighting with
enchanted by it, and Lava Lamps retro chic style. This image was fortified by the
became standard college dorm décor 1999 film comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who
in the Late Sixties and early Seventies. Shagged Me, when Austin’s extracted mojo (“the
Really, Joe College, what could be more essence of Austin Powers’ sex drive,” according to
outasite than a Lava Lamp swirling its the Powers Wiki) swirled and jiggled like a Lava
purple (or whatever color) haze across Lamp. (A miniature Lava Lamp was an accessory
your blacklight-poster-decorated for the “Austin ‘Danger’ Powers” action figure.)
dorm room wall? In addition to being While there have been ownership changes over
a beacon of counterculture fashion, it the years, both the American company, LAVA®,
provided hours of entertainment for the a subsidiary of Schylling (www.lavalamp.com),
deliriously stoned student who no longer and the product’s originator, the U.K.’s Mathmos
had to freak out by simply staring at a (www.mathmos.com), continue to produce their
blank wall. Lava Lamps became party magma light shows in a range of sizes, colors, and
favorites, of ten being the only light in a shapes that include copper platforms, spaceship-
darkened room pulsating with dancing shaped bases, and wall-mounted units. Here’s to
kids whose evenings and brain cells were the far-out ooze that refuses to snooze!
going up in smoke.
RETRO TOYS
Magical What makes us

grab that Frisbee
Flight and throw it back?
by Douglas R. Kelly
For most of us,

the Frisbee has
always been
around: flying
across the backyard,
across the parking lot,
across the quad, across
the golf course. In fact, when
you think of the Frisbee, dollars to
donuts that you picture it in flight rather than sitting on a table or in
a gym bag. If it had a tongue (okay, and a brain and a central nervous
system), that round piece of plastic would say, “Throw me, launch
me, put me out there so I can see the world the way the birds see it.”
It wasn’t always plastic. The earliest flying discs were made of
metal, and they weren’t designed to be thrown through the air—
they were designed to hold pie. Beginning in the late 19th Century,
the Frisbie Pie Company, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, sold
its products in metal tins measuring approximately nine and a
half inches in diameter. According to most sources, it wasn’t long
before workers at the bakery were chucking the empty pie tins back
and forth on their breaks, along with
students at Yale University, in nearby
New Haven. (The Frisbie Pie Company
also made cookies, which they sold in
tins, the lids of which reportedly sailed
back and forth along with the pie tins.)
(LEFT) A seven-year-old Dan Roddick

prepares to make a leaping catch, circa
1955. Note his expression of pure joy. Jack
Roddick. (INSET) This postcard from the Thirties shows the Hartford,
Connecticut, location of the Frisbie Pie Co. (TOP) An original Frisbie
pie tin, used by the Frisbie Pie Company and thrown around parking
lots and college campuses in the first half of the 20th Century. All product
photos shown herein are by and courtesy of Doug Kelly.

Anything shaped like a disc, of course, can be sailed through
the air, and there are stories of people in other parts of the
country doing so. One of these was Fred Morrison, an inventor
living in California who enjoyed throwing paint can lids and pie
tins around as a kid. In the late Forties, with his business partner
Warren Franscioni, Morrison started experimenting, first with
metal and then with plastic, in an effort to come up with a disc
that would fly well and be durable enough to last more than a few
throws. The two men formed a company, Pipco, which was short
for “Partners in Plastic.” Their first plastic disc, the Flyin-Saucer,
was relatively crude by today’s standards, but the partners
worked at refining the design. In the early Fifties, after Morrison
and Franscioni had gone their separate ways, Morrison formed a
company, American Trends, which produced an improved version
of the Flyin-Saucer.
All of this led to Morrison’s Pluto Platter, which was a
substantial improvement flying-wise over the Flyin-Saucer and
eventually became the basis for the Frisbee of the future. In 1955
or 1956, Morrison met and began working with Rich Knerr and
A. K. Melin, the founders of the Wham-O company in southern Pluto Platters, like this late Fifties example, featured the
California, and together they introduced the first flying discs names of planets around the rim. © Wham-O.
bearing the Wham-O name in early 1957. Some time later, after
hearing that students at Harvard University used the word Frisbie
to describe the throwing of pie tins around the campus, Knerr
adopted the word for his company’s flying disc. Technically, he
spelled it incorrectly—Frisbee—but that was the name that went
on to become synonymous with the flying disc. (Wham-O would
also score major hits with its Superball and Hula Hoop toys.)
Cultural Phenomenon
Sales of the Frisbee were slow at first, but as the Sixties
dawned, the plastic discs increasingly were seen flying through
neighborhoods all across the U.S. The idea that the Frisbee
was some kind of fad fell by the wayside as time went on and
sales went through the roof. What was it about the Frisbee that
attracted people? “There was a fascination with its flight,” says
Dan Roddick, multiple-time Frisbee champion and a legend in the
world of Frisbee. “I’ll never forget doing a tour to Australia in the
1970s… it was the first time I had ever shown a Frisbee to people
who had never seen it fly before. We’re inured to it now because
we know what it does, but when you’ve never seen it, your eye is (LEFT) This c. 1970 regular Frisbee (85 grams in weight) is still in
fooled because you’re expecting gravity to take effect, like when the original packaging. © Wham-O. (RIGHT) World Frisbee Champi-
someone throws a ball.” on Victor Malafronte gets some air as he executes a between-the-
Roddick believes the way those early Frisbees were made legs catch in Berkeley, California, in 1977. Photo by Jodi Stein.
helped fuel this perception. “I think that, in the early going, that
‘magical flight’ felt more magical because the early discs were a
lot lighter in construction. A typical Flyin-Saucer or Pluto Platter
was probably 90 grams, and now, an Ultimate disc is 175 grams,
The 108-gram Pro
a golf disc can be 160, or 180. That’s twice as heavy, so [today’s
model Frisbee
discs] are less vulnerable to the wind. I think that people were just
was introduced by
enamored with this brand new kind of flight.”
Wham-O in 1964,
It’s impossible to tell the Frisbee story without Roddick in the
and it represented a
frame. Growing up in Pennsylvania, he had his first contact with a
big step forward in
Frisbee at an early age. “For my fifth Christmas, my parents gave
flying disc perfor-
me a Pipco Flyin-Saucer. We really started playing with it when I
mance. © Wham-O.
was five. We played back-and-forth games… we camped a lot, my
dad was a motorcycle rider and it traveled easily in the saddlebag,
so we took it everywhere we went.” During visits as a teenager to
the 1963 and 1964 World’s Fairs in Seattle and New York, Roddick
retro toys
and his father took part in Frisbee demonstrations presented by Competition

Wham-O, which opened the Roddicks’ eyes to the fact that there Frisbee the toy was becoming Frisbee the sport. Most people
were other people out there who were as into Frisbee as they were casual Frisbee players—throwing and catching for fun and
were. enjoyment—but competitions involving distance, accuracy,
Nicknamed “Stork” (a moniker that stuck) during a 1972 and other Frisbee action had been around since the Fifties.
Ultimate Frisbee game between his alma mater Rutgers Things picked up big-time when Wham-O introduced the Pro
University and Princeton University, Roddick’s style of play model Frisbee in 1964. “Pros represent the start of modern
resulted in the concept of constorksion. “I’m long-limbed, 6-5 day Frisbee sports, and I started collecting Pros in 1969,” says
and a half, probably 175 pounds, and I tended to make a lot of Victor Malafronte, author of The Complete Book of Frisbee. He
very convoluted catches, with pretzel-like positioning with arm also started collecting titles, one of which was “Original World
going through leg, over around shoulder, catching the disc over Frisbee Champion” when he won the first Invitational World
head, that kind of thing. ‘Contortion’ and ‘Stork’ got tied up, and it Frisbee Championships in Pasadena, California, in 1974. “It was
ended up being constorktion.” an invitational event, I think like, 100 people got invitations to
compete. It was at the Rose Bowl and I just happened to win it
“Constorksion” in action:
that year. It makes me the first one, which is all I really wanted.”
Dan “Stork” Roddick shows
Malafronte became known for a specific, and at the time,
how it’s done at a Seventies
unorthodox way of throwing, dubbed the Two Finger Macho
disc tournament. Doug Fluitt.
Sidewinder throw. Using this grip, he set a distance world record:
“It was over level ground, and I did 538 feet. That was with a
Wham-O World Class 40 mold, which was about 117 grams. It was
what’s called the ‘classic’ Frisbee design.”
Success breeds competition, and numerous companies got
into the act and produced their own versions of Wham-O’s market
leader. But none of these competitors could call their product a
Frisbee, as Wham-O owned the rights to that name. So Skyway
Products came out with the Finger Flinger, Voss-Reynolds made
the Turbo Disc, Wiffle Ball put out the Wiffle Flying Saucer, C.P.I.
introduced the Saucer Tosser, Superflight produced the Aerobie
Superdisc, and there were many more. Brumberger may have
come the closest to infringing the name with its Giant Frizzy.
Glow-in-the-dark Frisbees Guts Frisbee was one of the earliest games to be developed,
have been popular since going back to 1958. Typically, five players on each side attempt to
Wham-O introduced throw the disc through the opposing side’s goal space without the
the first one in 1969. disc being caught. The winner is the team that reaches 21 goals
Just hold this mid-Sev- first; if the teams are tied at 20 points apiece, the winner must win
enties example under by two goals.
a light for a minute or Ultimate Frisbee got its start in the late Sixties as a high school
two, then head out into game, which then caught on in a big way on college campuses.
the night for a moonlight- That 1972 Ultimate game between Rutgers University and
er session. © Wham-O. Princeton University reportedly was the first college Ultimate
game, and it was played on the same piece of ground, at Rutgers,
on which the first intercollegiate football game had been played,
103 years earlier to the day. That was
Novelty discs, like these “Flying Cuckoo appropriate as the two games have some
Saucer” mini discs (3.75 inches in diameter), similarities to one another, as well as to
included as prizes in boxes of Cocoa Puffs soccer. Ultimate is played between two
cereal during the Sixties, make for a color- teams on a field with end zones, and the
ful collecting theme. object of the game is to score by catching
the Frisbee—a “pass”—in the other team’s
end zone.
Today, there are Ultimate Frisbee leagues all over the U.S.,
Wham-O had plenty of including at many colleges and universities.
competition almost from the But many believe that the king of Frisbee sports is disc golf,
start. This is an early Wiffle which has grown exponentially since the Sixties. If you’ve been
Flying Saucer, produced by living on Mars (or under a Pluto Platter) for the last 30 years, disc
the Wiffle Ball Company. golf is just what it sounds like: players throw discs toward a “hole”
(usually a chain link basket) on a dedicated course. The score is
kept, much as in the standard game of golf, according to how
many throws each player makes before putting the disc into the

retro toys
(FAR LEFT) Today’s golf

discs, such as this Leopard
fairway driver by Innova,
offer greatly improved
accuracy and distance
over the golf discs of 30
and 40 years ago. (LEFT)
Wham-O’s Frisbee Fantasy
Series discs, produced
during the early Eighties,
are popular with collectors
for their sharp artwork. ©
Wham-O.
basket. The player with the lowest total score (for the 9-hole or A recent reissue (or reproduc-
18-hole course) wins. tion) Frisbee, sporting a retro
Disc golf is perhaps the best example of the ongoing name look. This package is easily
debate. Although it’s known both as disc golf and Frisbee golf, spotted as a reissue as it has
Wham-O is just one player in the disc golf market. “Wham-O does a copyright date of 2017 on
a little bit in Frisbee golf, because it would take a lot for them to the back of the cardboard
try to get a piece of that market,” says Victor Malafronte. “Now along with Wham-O’s
there are six or seven big companies that are making golf discs. website URL. © Wham-O.
You have Discraft, you have Innova, you have Dynamic Discs,
you have Prodigy.” In general, golf discs are smaller and are more
dense and flexible than standard Frisbees, characteristics that it’s surfing, or golf, or
enable a golf disc to be thrown further and with greater accuracy. whatever… they all
work with various manufacturers.
Strength in Numbers That was a very hard transition for Wham-O to make,
The growth of Frisbee and related games and sports because it’s good to be king! Why share lunch, especially when
inevitably resulted in the creation of organizations to manage, you’re buying lunch? A hard transition, and I was right in the
encourage, and facilitate participation. Even the names of these middle of it, and I had my critics on either side. In retrospect,
organizations point up the Frisbee-versus-disc question. Dan particularly with people in the sport, it gave me a lot of latitude.
Roddick, along with winning numerous championships over I was still working for the company that made Frisbees (Mattel
the years, served both as director of the International Frisbee Sports owned Wham-O, at that point) and I was the director
Association (IFA) from 1975 to 1982, and as president of the World of the World Flying Disc Federation. You can imagine that that
Flying Disc Federation from 1986 to 1992. Does he see the names would raise eyebrows.”
of these organizations as reflecting the growth of disc sports and
the fact that Wham-O was getting more and more competition Tracking ’Em Down
from other manufacturers? “Absolutely,” Roddick says. “And the There’s bad news and good news when it comes to vintage
interesting twist to it is that, my first journalistic effort, when I discs. The bad news: early examples of some of them, such
was at Rutgers, was Flying Disc World. So I probably put in print the as the American Trends Flyin-Saucer and Pluto Platter, often
generic term first. Many of the early things done under the aegis come with big price tags. Like, many hundreds-of-dollars big,
of the IFA were done by Wham-O, exclusively. It was all Wham-O and occasionally into four figures. The good news is that, with
money. Once they put me in place there [at the IFA], I had regional more than 70 years of flying disc history to dig into, there’s an
directors out there, I had Frisbee World magazine, we had the enormous number of cool and wonderful discs out there waiting
Frisbee World Championships… Frisbee Frisbee Frisbee. It made to be found.
sense for Wham-O, because any publicity that came with the You won’t be surprised to learn that condition is king with
activity, guess where the shelf action was? Frisbee. older discs. “You can get a Pluto Platter for anywhere from $10 for
“But as the market started to broaden, with companies like a common color one that has dog bites all over it, to thousands of
Innova and Discraft and others beginning to get a foothold—first dollars for a pristine example in a rare color,” says Roddick. “If you
just through enthusiasts and then actually getting shelf space— just want a cool Pluto Platter to put in a frame and hang on the
and going into major [outlets], it just increasingly made sense wall, you can get away pretty cheap. But if you want a significant,
for it to become a generic sport, like virtually all others. Whether important disc that potentially will gain in value, then you need
retro toys
to become more knowledgeable and find out what the key

components are. When someone tells me something like, ‘I have
DEEPER DIVE
There are some cool resources available for furthering
an old Mars Platter that we used to throw around up at the camp
one’s Frisbee education. Many books have been written,
for years, would you like it?’ That might be interesting to see, but
but two stand out for their history content and details
if it’s a beat-up and dog-bitten disc, I generally advise them to
on specific discs. Dr. Stancil E. D.
keep it as a family heirloom and enjoy it because it
Johnson wrote Frisbee: A Practitioner’s
usually doesn’t have much value as a collectible.”
Manual and Definitive Treatise,
Many (though not all) discs came in some kind of
published by Workman Publishing
packaging, whether a plastic bag attached to a header
Company in 1975. Johnson gives
card, or a cellophane-wrapped piece of cardboard.
the reader a picture of the world of
The older the disc, the less likely it is that it’s still in it’s
Frisbee in the Seventies, including
packaging. If it is, depending on the condition of the
pointers on various types of throws
packaging, the asking price can easily double.
and catches, and key Frisbee events
Stickers, on those discs that originally came with
and organizations of the time. He
them, are another challenge. Some collectors consider
even includes a section on canine
a disc incomplete if it doesn’t have its intact original
Frisbee that features the legendary
sticker in its center. These often gradually wore off
Ashley Whippet, whose vertical leap had to be seen
discs due to repeated use, of course, but others were removed
to be believed.The Complete Book of Frisbee, written by
intentionally by owners intent on improving a disc’s flying
Victor Malafronte and published by American Trends
performance. Either way, an original sticker not only looks sharp,
Publishing Co. in 1998, examines in-depth the history of
but also can help in identifying the model (name) of the disc.
Frisbee and features a detailed identification and value
Any scratches or other marks (yes, including dog bite marks)
guide to collectible discs. If you want to know what to
lower the value of a disc, as do stains or writing on a disc. But
look for in older discs, or just want to learn more about
an exception might just be made if you have a disc with Ashley
the discs you already have, get this book.
Whippet’s bite marks… if you could prove that the legendary
The website marvinsflyingdisccollection.com is
Frisbee dog actually did the crunching! (See the “Deeper Dive”
stuffed full of photos and
sidebar.)
descriptions of discs of
Victor Malafronte believes one of the most-wanted Frisbee
all kinds, sizes, and eras,
items isn’t even an actual disc—it’s an original pie case (also
and is a great way to get
known as a pie safe) from the Frisbie
the lay of the land Frisbee-
Pie Co. in Connecticut. These
wise. The same can be said
wooden cabinets were used
of flyingdiscmuseum.com.
by the company to display
And look up “The Invisible
the product, and likely
String” on YouTube.
were most often thrown
It’s a 94-minute 2012
out once a shop closed
documentary tracing
down or stopped
the history of Frisbee
carrying Frisbie’s
and how these spinning
products.
pieces of plastic get into
Flying discs have
people’s heads.
a built-in advantage
over many other kinds
of collectibles when it
comes to display: they make The “Chip Chucker” is, yes, a plastic cow chip disc. The
wonderful “art” when hung underside states that it’s the original Old West throwing
on a wall, and due to their size, they disc, which may be just a load of… baloney.
can be inter-changeable. Put a push pin in a strategic place,
hang up your 1959 Pluto Platter or 1973 C.P.I. Saucer Tosser, and my kids loved them—no need for nightlights, just those discs
you’re in business. But be careful, because these things tend to hanging on the walls. Probably the most fun was collecting
multiply, and it can get out of hand before you know it. “Nobody novelty discs… things like the B.F. Goodrich tire, the flying pickle,
understands… relatives and friends will think you’re a hoarder,” the flying cow chip, the sailing sombrero. People love these… they
says Dan Roddick, “if you just take them into a back room and see these and go, ‘Oh, that’s really cute, it looks just like a pizza.
say, ‘Look at this, I have 800 Frisbees.’ They’re going to think And it can fly!’”
you’re crazy. But if you organize it in a rational way and say, ‘Oh,
I specialize… I only have discs that have (for example) states on DOUGLAS R. KELLY is editor of Marine Technology magazine. His
them. I have one of every state, here’s the wall with the states on byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider, Back Issue,
it. I don’t have them all yet, and I’m really looking for a Wisconsin.’ Model Collector, and Buildings magazines. He thinks Wham-O
That makes sense, then you’re not a crazy person. My specialties should get with it and produce a gasoline-powered Frisbee. Or maybe
included a wonderful glow-in-the-dark disc collection, because a hybrid.

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING
Dynomutt
and Blue
Falcon by
Andy
Mangels
Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning. Since

1989, I have been writing columns for magazines in the U.S. and
© Hanna-Barbera
foreign countries, all examining the intersection of comic books
Productions, Inc.
and Hollywood, whether animation or live-action. Andy Mangels
(HBP).
Backstage, Andy Mangels’ Reel Marvel, Andy Mangels’ Hollywood
Heroes, Andy Mangels Behind the Camera… three decades of
reporting on animation and live-action—in addition to writing
many books and producing around 40 DVD sets—and I’m still
enthusiastic. In this RetroFan column, I will examine shows
that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and 1957—NBC’s The Ruff and Reddy Show—and in later years, under
capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit cross- the name Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. since 1959, they would
legged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday produce such hits as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, The Yogi Bear
Morning! Show and The Adventures of Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and many
more. Often the shows were for primetime viewing, but by the
Since September 1969, one particular Great Dane ruled Saturday end of the Sixties, they and Filmation Associates were producing
mornings, courtesy of the team at Hanna-Barbera Productions most of the material shown on Saturday mornings.
and CBS. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Working side-by-side at Hanna-Barbera as sound editors were
Movies had aired every week, with the ever-hungry Scooby and Joseph Ruby and Kenneth Spears, and in 1959, the pair began to
his human friends—Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, write episodes of series together and develop shows. Their first
and Velma Dinkley—in the Mystery Inc. van, foiling the plans of big hit was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which they co-created,
spooks, monsters, crooked real estate dealers, and others. But by but they left shortly after all the new episodes for the series were
1976, CBS’s option on the show was at an end, and CBS executive completed, frustrated that they couldn’t move up on the ladder to
Fred Silverman had moved to rival network, ABC. Silverman the role of associate producers. After a period of time at DePatie-
snapped up the series… with a caveat; he wanted Hanna-Barbera Freleng Enterprises, Ruby and Spears began working for Fred
to add a new element to the series, a companion show to Silverman at CBS—and then ABC—taking West Coast pitches
freshen it up. Super-heroes were all the rage with Super Friends, for the New York-based executive. Silverman then asked them to
Shazam!, and The Secrets of Isis on Saturdays, reruns of Adventures help supervise the Saturday morning shows, especially the new
of Superman and Batman in syndication, and The Six Million Dollar Scooby-Doo series he had just nabbed for ABC. Because networks
Man, The Bionic Woman, and Wonder Woman on primetime. worked closely with studios on content at that time, Ruby-
Silverman wanted super-heroes, Hanna-Barbera loved mystery- Spears not only contributed to the series, they actually created its
solving dogs… and thus was born the legendary Blue Falcon and companion, working for both ABC and Hanna-Barbera.
Dynomutt, Dog Wonder! Speaking in a 2005 DVD interview, Fred Silverman said of the
network switch for Scooby-Doo, “I said, ‘You know we really ought
The Birth of a Robotic Dog to take this and make it big and important, and do an hour. But
New Yorker Joseph Barbera and New Mexico’s William Hanna let’s introduce second characters. It’s a great opportunity to
had worked together for over three decades by 1978. They met create a new star. And basically, let’s take the same thinking that
while working for legendary animator Rudolf Isling at his MGM went into Scooby-Doo, where we kind of made fun of the horror
animation department. Their first major collaboration was 1940’s genre, and do this with the super-heroes.’ The Dynomutt concept
Oscar-nominated theatrical short Puss Gets the Boot, a cat-and- was basically kind of a put-on of Batman, you know, where you
mouse story that would birth the Tom and Jerry characters. They had a very, very stern Batman kind of character, and Dynomutt
produced hundreds of cartoons for MGM until the company was the equivalent of Robin, but he was going to kind of be a
closed in 1957, after which they founded their own studio. H-B goofball, where he could never get anything right, much to the
Enterprises produced the first original animation for television in consternation of his boss.”
Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning
Ruby and Spears started developing an idea called “Wonder they both dash to the Falcon’s lair, jump into the Falcon car, and
Mutt” that was a dog from outer space that had contraptions and speed off to the scene of delightful comedy and adventure.”
super-powers. Changing directions, they took the idea of a talking Like Batman, the Dog-namic “Daring Duo” has their own kind
dog to its next level, altering it to add robotics and telescoping of alert system. When alerted to a crime by the Falcon Flash,
limbs to create the goofy Dynomutt; robots and bionic powers Crown and Dynomutt would switch to more super-heroic garb
were looming large thanks to primetime television hits (and in and head to the Falcon’s Lair (conveniently also in the penthouse),
fact, The Bionic Woman eventually got a Bionic Dog named Max). where they would be briefed on a giant TV screen by secret
As suggested by Silverman, Ruby and Spears also “borrowed” agent Focus One. Then, with crimes to be fought, and costumed
heavily from the popular Batman series to create blue-caped, evildoers to vanquish, they would dash off in the Falconcar (or
gadget-carrying, millionaire crimefighter Blue Falcon. other assorted Falcon vehicles) and engage in daring do… or
Although no origin was ever given to Dynomutt or Blue Falcon, attempt to, as Dynomutt often caused unintentional trouble.
they existed in the same universe as the Scooby-Doo characters; Through the stories, Blue Falcon would often refer to Dynomutt
in fact, the Scooby gang appeared as guest-stars in multiple as “Dog Blunder,” and Dynomutt would nickname Blue Falcon
episodes. Unlike the globetrotting teens, though, Blue Falcon “B.F.”
was based in a big city known as… Big City. Blue Falcon was Quoting the sales sheet again: “These endless gags, created
secretly a millionaire playboy art dealer named Radley Crown, a through the magic of animation are sources for a continuing
dashing man who lived in a deluxe penthouse apartment. Unlike series of comical situations. Humor is the key ingredient, with
Batman with his Robin “the Boy Wonder,” Crown had a super- suspenseful cliff-hanger scenes, where Dynomutt and the Blue
sophisticated robotic pooch known as Dynomutt, also known as Falcon stumble into exotic clever traps. But always, the duo
Dog Wonder. makes equally clever, funny escapes.” In a 2005 DVD interview,
The closest thing to an origin for Dynomutt is actually culled
from Hanna-Barbera promotional sales sheets for the series. It
states about the “Outrageous comedy about a screwed up robot FA ST FAC TS
dog and his caped crusader master” that: “Modern science invents
a perfectly developed robot Doberman. Then someone in the lab
crosses a wrong wire when assembling the dog’s computerized The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour
brain. The result—a robot dog with the mind of a mechanical ` No. of seasons: One
nincompoop. Viewers never know what to expect from this ` No. of episodes: 16 episodes
nuts-and-bolts, electrically short-circuited canine detective. And ` Network: ABC
neither does his partner, the famous Blue Falcon, who is almost ` Original run: September 11, 1976–September 3, 1977
reduced to tears when he realizes what he’s stuck with for a ` Segment title: Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
partner. But Falcon persists, and accepts his robot’s shortcomings,
always allowing him back for another caper.
“Dynomutt’s brain may malfunction, but his futuristic
body remains true to its design. He can stretch his head and
Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics
legs around corners and under doors. In a moment, he can ` No. of seasons: One
instantaneously activate a helicopter blade from the top of his ` No. of episodes: Four two-part stories/eight parts
head and fly into the sky. When not engaged in zany escapades, ` Network: ABC
Dynomutt works as a janitor in an art gallery run by Blue Falcon, ` Original run: September 10, 1977–March 11, 1978
who is disguised as an art dealer. But when trouble threatens, ` Segment title: The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt

co-creator Joe Ruby said that “It’s just the counter-play of the
two… he’s a hero, and you’ve got a moron for your sidekick. He
was always getting messed up by his dog, it was mechanical, and
[had] two left feet.”
As noted, the Dynomutt stories had cliffhangers, as well as a
blustery, knowing narrator who reminded viewers of the Batman
show’s narrator. The first ten minutes’ segment of Dynomutt
always ended with the pair of heroes caught in a trap from the
villain of the week. The cliffhanging peril would, of course,
be solved after a quick commercial break, often through a
combination of Blue Falcon’s skills and Dynomutt’s bumblings. By
episode’s end, all was well in Big City.
Dog Designs and Dyno Debuts

With the series plotted and scripts in the works from Hanna-
Barbera’s usual suspects, work began on designing the look of the
series. The job chiefly went to Alex Toth, a celebrated comic artist
who had been working with Hanna-Barbera from 1966–1968,
designing characters and vehicles, and drawing storyboards. Toth
had designed the looks of Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost, Birdman
and the Galaxy Trio, Dino Boy and the Lost Valley, Herculoids, and (ABOVE and BELOW) Model sheets for Dog Wonder and his feath-
others. In 1973, he had returned to Hanna-Barbera to adapt the ered friend. Courtesy of Andy Mangels.© HBP.
famed DC Comics heroes for the Super Friends series.
Aided by Steve Nakagawa, Toth turned out dozens of pages
of beautifully moody designs for Dynomutt, many of them
a bit more serious than the comedic show needed. He also
designed a cowl and look for Crown/Birdman that has had fans
asking for decades if he was some relation to Space Ghost; the
resemblance was clear and distinct. Toth also devised the show’s
mayor—reportedly the first African-American elected official
on Saturday morning cartoons, the Mayor was also played by a
black actor—as well as the looks of the show’s many villains: Mr.
Hyde and Hyde Dog, Lowbrow, the Gimmick, the Worm, Fishface,
Manyfaces, Superthug and Zorkon, Mr. Cool, the Queen Hornet,
Beastwoman, and others. The villains even had their own super-
group in one episode: the Injustice League of America!
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt’s arsenal was also designed mostly
by Toth. The Falconcar originally had a giant “F” on its top, but
that only appears in one episode and was eliminated; unlike the
Batmobile, the Falconcar flew through the air! Other items for
Blue Falcon included the Falconclaw, the Falconlift elevator, an
Instant Delayed Action Falcon Balloon, a Falconbelt with Falcon
communicator, Falcon Suctioncup Feet, the Falcon Instant
Anti-Car Thief Ejection Seat, a Falcon Garbage Can, the Falcon
Fan Snapper, and more. Dynomutt’s extra features included a
Dyno-Parachute, Dyno-carving Knife, Dyno-Mallets, Dyno-Jets,
Dyno Dum-Dums, a Dyno Power Pack, a Dyno Rocket Lever, a
Dyno Car Wash, a Dyno Flotation Collar, the Dyno Bubble-Trap,
the Dyno Enlarging Powerpack, a Dyno-Yo-Yo, Dyno-Antivacuum
Vacuum, Dyno-Helium Sniffer, Dyno-Winch, Dyno Bad Guy Box,
Dyno Paint Kit, and Dynomutt’s Dynocopter and Dynocycle! Holy
Batman, that’s a lot of gadgets!
The voice cast was full of Hanna-Barbera regulars, including
the deep voice of Gary Owens—who had also voiced Space Ghost
for the company—as Blue Falcon. In a 2005 DVD interview, Gary
Owns said, “Dynomutt and Blue Falcon were really favorites of
mine. I enjoyed them very, very much. You see the storyboards
first, and you see what kind of character it is. He’s authoritative…
Blue Falcon used his wits, and the wits of Dynomutt, to help him
out. But usually, Dynomutt would get klutzy.”
The role of Dynomutt went to Frank Welker. In a 1997 interview
with a Los Angeles newspaper, Welker said, “I remember they
originally wanted an Art Carney-type voice. I tried different
voices. We actually recorded about eight shows doing an Art
Carney voice. And then we decided we didn’t like it and I didn’t
have quite as much ad-libbing ability in there, and we switched to
more of a Freddie the Freeloader (Red Skeleton’s hobo character)
voice. We could ad lib and be goofy with Gary (Owens who played
the Blue Falcon). It was really a blast.”
Sixteen 30-minute episodes of Dynomutt, Dog Wonder were
created for the first season of the series. Announced to the press
in late March with the rest of the fall season announcements,
the show finally debuted on Saturday, September 11, 1976 on ABC
as the second half of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, along with
following week. This has confused fans for years, as those four
stories were technically aired as eight segments.
Perhaps to make up for the dis to Blue Falcon and Dynomutt
of only four new stories, Hanna-Barbera made their characters
a part of the Laff-A-Lympics series. The concept for the show was
based on a popular sporting event called Battle of the Network
Stars, but instead of featuring TV stars getting wet in bikinis and
short shorts, this one did a mega-mix on the Hanna-Barbera
library. Suddenly, all of the Hanna-Barbera animated characters,
human or animal, lived in the same universe, and knew each
FA ST FAC TS
Primary Voice Cast
` Frank Welker: Dynomutt/Dog Wonder, Freddy Jones
new half-hour episodes of Scooby-Doo that occasionally featured ` Gary Owens: Radley Crown/the Blue Falcon
Scooby’s country cousin, Scooby-Dum. Episodes aired weekly, ` Ron Feinberg: Narrator, FOCUS One, the Worm
except for a special airing on Thursday, November 25, 1976, which
was Thanksgiving Day; it was part of ABC’s Thanksgiving Funshine
Festival.
A little more than a week later, on December 4, 1976, ABC
Guest Characters
changed its schedule and renamed the show The Scooby-Doo/ ` Don Messick: Scooby-Doo, Mumbly, the Gimmick,
Dynomutt Show. It was essentially the same series as before, but Lowbrow
now in a 90-minute slot, with a rerun of Scooby-Doo, Where Are ` Casey Kasem: Shaggy Rogers, Fishface, the Swamp Rat
You! filling the last third. That incarnation ran for the rest of the ` Heather North: Daphne Blake
season, through September 3, 1977, when ABC decided to change ` Pat Stevens: Velma Dinkley
the format again. ` John Stephenson: Chief Quimby/Wiggins, Eric Von Flick,
the Shadowman, the Red Vulture, the Blimp, the Glob
Laughing at Laff-A-Lympics ` Allan Melvin: Superthug
Although the real-life sporting event the Olympics had been held ` Bob Holt: The Gimmick
in 1976, ABC decided that the title still held a cache. Debuting ` Dick Beals: The Dyno-Handy Helpers
September 10, 1977 was Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, a two- ` Henry Corden: Willie the Weasel/Mr. Hyde, the Prophet
hour Saturday morning block by Hanna-Barbera Productions. ` Joan Gerber: Madame Ape Face
Smushed into the two hours were five segments: The Scooby-Doo ` Julie McWhirter: The Queen Hornet
Show, the new Laff-A-Lympics, The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, the ` June Foray: The Beastwoman
new Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, and reruns of Scooby- ` Larry McCormick: The Mayor
Doo, Where Are You! Four new Dynomutt adventures were created, ` Lennie Weinrib: Superthug
though they were split into two-part stories; half would show one ` Ralph James: unknown
week, leading to a cliffhanger, and the second half would air the ` Regis Cordic: unknown

other. In total, 45 Hanna-Barbera characters were featured, Creepley, Orful Octopus, the Great Fondoo, Magic Rabbit, Daisy
competing in Olympics-styled events for gold, silver, and bronze Mayhem, and her pig, Sooey.
medals. Sixteen episodes were produced for 1977–1978. Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ran in its two-hour block for
The characters were split up into three teams, two heroic, half of the season, throughout 1978. ABC also reran old episodes
and one villainous, while hosting/commentary duties were by of Dynomutt, Dog Wonder as a solo series, airing them Saturday
Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf, and characters such as Fred mornings from June 3, 1978–September 2, 1978 (just before the
Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Jabberjaw, and Peter Potamus made teen-skewing American Bandstand in most markets). For the fall
guest appearances. The Scooby Doobies were: Scooby-Doo, 1978–1979 season, ABC dropped Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and the
Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby-Dum (from The Scooby-Doo Show); reruns of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The newly retitled Scooby’s
Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon (from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder); All-Stars was now 90-minutes, and eight new Laff-A-Lympics
Captain Caveman, Brenda Chance, Taffy Dare, and Dee Dee were produced (which still included Blue Falcon and Dynomutt
Sykes (from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels); Speed Buggy as competitor characters). This series ran until Fall 1979 before
and Tinker (from Speed Buggy); Babu (from Jeannie); and Hong leaving the air; Laff-A-Lympics would, however, return to ABC
Kong Phooey (from Hong Kong Phooey). The Yogi Yahooeys, mostly during the latter part of 1980, and again in 1986.
anthropomorphic animals from H-B cartoons of the Fifties and Dynomutt didn’t disappear completely. ABC resurrected him
Sixties, were: Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Cindy Bear, Yakky Doodle once more, with reruns as part of The Globetrotters/Dynomutt Hour
(from The Yogi Bear Show); Huckleberry Hound, Pixie, Dixie, Mr. from September 8–October 27, 1979, before letting him go. The
Jinks, and Hokey Wolf (from The Huckleberry Hound Show); Quick show went into syndication worldwide in 1979, and the Daring
Draw McGraw, Snooper, Blabber, Augie Doggie, and Doggie Duo left for a new network; the reruns transitioned over to NBC,
Daddy (from The Quick Draw McGraw Show); Wally Gator (from which aired The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour with the Funky Phantom
The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, a.k.a. The Wally Gator Show); from September 27–November 15, 1980.
and Grape Ape (from The Great Grape Ape Show). Finally, the Really Repeats of Dynomutt, Dog Wonder later aired on USA Network’s
Rottens were: Mumbly (from The Mumbly Cartoon Show); Dinky Cartoon Express during the Eighties, often showing materials used
Dalton, Dirty Dalton, and Dastardly Dalton (from The Quick Draw only in the complete episodes of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour.
McGraw Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show); and original Cartoon Network later broadcast it as part of their daily Cartoon-
villain characters Dread Baron, Mr. Creepley, Mrs. Creepley, Junior A-Doodle-Doo, through February 1999. Boomerang showed the
Heavens to Murgatroyd, the Daring Duo competed in the

star-studded Laff-A-Lympics show. © HBP.

run off and on from January 2008 to January 2015, but some of
the episodes were not complete. Most unusual was the choice to
THE SCOOBY-DOO/
remove the series’ laugh-track…. DYNOMUTT HOUR
As with many Hanna-Barbera comedies, Dynomutt, Dog
Wonder, had been originally recorded with a laugh track. Its
THEME SONG
Written by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, and Hoyt
airings on ABC, NBC, and USA all included the track, but when
Curtin
Turner took over the Hanna-Barbera library in 1991, it removed
Dynomutt’s laugh track! Thus, if you see episodes taped (or
(BF) The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour
uploaded) from Cartoon Network or Boomerang or watch the
(SD) Scooby-Dooby-Doo!
modern DVDs, you’re not seeing the complete show!
(DM) And Dynomutt, Dog Wonder!
(both laugh)
A Falcon’s View of Later Appearances
During the years that Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (and Blue Falcon)
They’ve got it all together, and do you know what?
were on the air, Hanna-Barbera licensed them out to toy
(SD) No, what?
companies, but there wasn’t a significant amount of licensing.
Scooby-Doo is hangin’ ’round with Dynomutt!
Rand McNally published some storybooks and coloring/
(DM) That’s me!
activity books. The duo appeared in some card games, on a set
While Scooby-Doo is tanglin’ with a spooky ghost,
of PrestoMagix transfers, on puzzles, and on a board game.
(SD) Yeah?
Dynomutt got a parachute toy, while Blue Falcon got a Halloween
Dynomutt is catching crooks or folding clothes.
costume. The most famous Dynomutt item is a metal lunchbox
(DM) You betcha!
and thermos. The Daring Duo also appeared on some items
They make a super pair, with a super show to share:
marketed as Laff-A-Lympics, as well as items under the catch-all
(SD) Scooby-Dooby-Doo!
title of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.
(DM) And Dynomutt, Dog Wonder!
Interestingly enough, a live-action Dynomutt was seen by
(both laugh)
the public at Hanna-Barbera’s Marineland attraction in Rancho
Palos Verdes, California. The costumed character (BELOW)
(Instrumental)
posed for pictures and charmed kids alongside Huckleberry
Hound, Jabberjaw, Yogi Bear, and Scooby-Doo! Hanna-Barbera’s
Yeah, they make a super pair, with a super show to
Marineland opened on May 27, 1978, but was sold off in 1981.
share:
Dynomutt and Blue
(BF) Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder!
Falcon also appeared
(SD) Scooby-Doo!
for a time in comic
(DM) And Dynomutt!
books, when Marvel
(both laugh)
licensed The Funtastic
World of Hanna-Barbera
characters for a line
of adventures. Many DYNOMUTT DOG WONDER
of these were written THEME SONG
by Hanna-Barbera Written by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and Hoyt
writer Mark Evanier, Curtin
and some were drawn
by animation staffers. Flashing through the sky, he’s a go-go guy!
The books were then Stronger than a train, with a so-so brain!
reprinted in foreign (DM) Uh, you talkin’ about me, Blue Falcon? Gosh!
countries, most He’s fearless, scareless… a little too careless!
famously in England, Dynomutt… he’s a go-go dog person!
where some stories (DM) That’s me: Dog Wonder!
never published in
the U.S. saw print. (Instrumental)
[Editor’s note: For
more information about Hanna-Barbera comic books, please He’s fearless, scareless… a little too careless!
see issue #129 of our sister publication, BACK ISSUE, on sale from Dynomutt… he’s a go-go dog person!
TwoMorrows in July 2021.] (DM) That’s me: Dog Wonder!
Warner Home Video finally released The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt
Hour: The Complete Series as part of its Hanna-Barbera Golden
Collection on DVD in March 2006. The four-disc set did contain
all 16 first-season episodes, but it was far from complete. The
original opening and closing titles for the combined show

were missing; instead, the individual series titles were used.

Additionally, the laugh track was gone, as were any bridging
elements from between the shows. There were Special Features
however, including some documentary shorts and interviews
with the creators and voice actors including Fred Silverman, Joe
Ruby, Ken Spears, Gary Owens, Frank Welker, and others!
Sadly, when Warner rereleased the DVD set in 2017 as part of
its Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection, they removed all of the
Special Features, so buyer beware. Get the black-border Golden
Collection, not the red-border Diamond Collection!
The release of the Laff-A-Lympics episodes—which featured
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt—to home video is a complicated
affair. In January 2010, Warner released Scooby’s All-Star Laff-
A-Lympics vol. 1, containing episodes #1–4. Target got a second
volume that same day, Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics vol. 2, with
episodes #5–9. That second volume was finally released to other
stores and online October 2010. That still left episodes #10–16 of
Season One unreleased, as well as episodes #1–8 of Season Two.
In July 2012, Warner released a two-disc DVD set titled Scooby-
Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games, which featured a new Scooby-
Doo special, plus 12 episodes of Laff-A-Lympics. But they weren’t
just any episodes: they were #1, 4–5, 8–16. Later in the year,
Warner re-released that set as Laff-A-Lympics: The Complete First
Collection… even though it only contained 13 of the 16 shows and
was thus, not complete!
For those trying to keep track in the confusion, Warner has not
released—in any format—the four later episodes of Dynomutt,
Dog Wonder, aired as two-parts each on Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-
Lympics. The company has also not released any of The Scooby-
Doo/Dynomutt Hour series in its original, unedited form. Finally,
Warner has not released the final eight second-season Laff-
A-Lympics episodes from Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics in any
format. Fans wanting to compare the edited versions with original
versions, or who want to see the original The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt (ABOVE) Marvel Comics’ Dynomutt #2 (Jan. 1978). Cover art by Paul
Hour opening theme and ending credits theme, should check out Norris. (BELOW) Blue Falcon is one swinging super-hero!
YouTube. © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
In the last decade-plus, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon have had
more merchandising than when they were on the air. Action
figures, maquettes statues, retro Mego-style dolls, mini-figures,
and Funko Pops have been created for them. Newer comic
appearances at DC Comics have included a team-up with the
Super Sons and Scooby-Doo.
Both heroes appeared in later Hanna-Barbera shows on
Cartoon Network. In a May 1998 second-season episode of
Dexter’s Laboratory, titled “Dyno-Might,” Blue Falcon asks genius
Dexter to help him repair a damaged Dynomutt. That episode,
which saw Gary Owens and Frank Welker reprise their roles of
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, was nominated for an Emmy Award!
In August 2004’s Johnny Bravo episode “Johnny Makeover,” Blue
Falcon (voice of Gary Owens) teams up with “Weird Al” Yankovic
and Don Knotts to redesign Johnny’s show! And on the series
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, both Blue Falcon and Dynomutt
made numerous appearances… including as Spanish versions of
themselves! Maurice LaMarche voiced “Azul Falcone,” while André
Sogliuzzo provided the accented voice of Dynomutt.
In 2000, Cartoon Network’s Toonami site released a four-part
Flash-based comic of Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. The storyline has

apparently not been archived online, and remains an elusive Miller’s Batman of The Dark Knight Returns and lines like “a guilty
element of Dynomutt history. man’s bones snap like twigs beneath the grip of justice”—this
Returning from whence they started, Dynomutt and Blue episode is generally considered to be apocryphal for Dynomutt
Falcon later appeared in the August 2012 second-season Scooby- purists. Frank Welker returned to voice Dynomutt, but Blue
Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode, “Heart of Evil.” This show gave Falcon was voiced by Troy Baker.
an origin for Dynomutt; security guard Radley Crown’s dog On February 26, 2013, Warner released a new direct-to-DVD
Reggie is injured by a robot dragon, and brought back to cyborg movie, Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, bringing the Scooby
life as Dynomutt by Dr. Benton Quest (from the Jonny Quest gang into a metatextual crossover with their old friend. This
series). Between Crown’s occupation and the violent and grim time out, the gang traveled to San De Pedro California to attend
depiction of Blue Falcon—including multiple homages to Frank the Mega Mondo Pop Comic-Con-a-Palooza; any resemblance
to San Diego’s Comic-Con International was intentional, as
they’re even at the same convention center! There, Shaggy and
Scooby—cosplaying as Blue Falcon and Dynomutt—run into TV
actor Owen Garrison (voiced by Jeff Bennett, channeling Adam
West), who played the Blue Falcon for a TV series. The aging star
is bitter that Hollywood has rebooted his character in a dark new
film, starring Brad Adams (the voice of Diedrich Bader) as a “new
and improved” Blue Falcon that relies heavily on technology, and
whose robot dog Dynomutt (returning voice actor Frank Welker)
is more dangerous Robocop-dog than goofy super-pooch.
Mask of the Blue Falcon is a fun romp, and the metatextual
content offers Easter Eggs aplenty, including cameos by Super
Friends characters Wonder Woman, Wonder Twins, Apache
Chief, and Black Vulcan, plus Frankenstein, Jr., the Impossibles,
Space Ghost, the Herculoids, Speed Buggy, and more. Purists
DYNOMUTT – EPISODE TITLES
The first 16 episodes are included on the Warner Bros.
DVD Collection The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour: The
Complete Series. The four later episodes, aired as two-
parts each on Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, are not yet
included on any DVD set.
#1 Everyone Hyde! (Production No. 83-4)

#2 What Now, Lowbrow? (Production No. 83-5)
#3 The Great Brain… Train Robbery (Production No.
83-1)
#4 The Day and Night Crawler (Production No. 83-2)
#5 The Harbor Robber (Production No. 83-5)
#6 Sinister Symphony (Production No. 83-6)
#7 Don’t Bug Superthug (Production No. 83-7)
#8 Factory Recall (Production No. 83-8)
#9 The Queen Hornet (Production No. 83-9) © HBP.
#10 The Wizard of Ooze (Production No. 83-10)
#11 Tin Kong (Production No. 83-11)
#12 The Awful Ordeal with the Head of Steel (Production
No. 83-12)
#13 The Blue Falcon vs. the Red Vulture (Production No.
83-13)
#14 The Injustice League of America (Production No.
83-14)
#15 The Lighter Than Air Raid (Production No. 83-15)
#16 The Prophet Profits (Production No. 83-16)
#17 Beastwoman (Production No. 83-21, 83-22)
#18 The Glob (Production No. 83-17, 83-18)
#19 Madame Ape Face (Production No. 83-19, 83-20)
#20 Shadowman (Production No. 83-23, 84-24)

In the film, the gang meets up with the second Blue Falcon
(bombastically voiced by Mark Wahlberg) and Dynomutt (voiced
by Ken Jeong). Blue Falcon II is Brian Crown, the son of Radley
Crown, who became a crimefighter when his father retired to
Palm Beach, Florida. Dynomutt is smarter now, having had
his intelligence increased, and Falcon is aided by teen female
assistant Dee Dee Skyes (one of the Teen Angels from the series
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, here voiced by Kiersey
Clemons) and male assistant Keith (voice of Henry Winkler). The
Falconcar is now a much cooler spaceship-like craft known as the
Falcon Fury.
Directed by Tony Cervone, Scoob! is a fun romp of a film,
though the near-wholesale re-voicing of the iconic cast members
is jarring for a while. There are Easter Eggs aplenty to not only
other Hanna-Barbera characters, but also to many of the iconic
Hanna-Barbera producers, writers, artists, and voice actors. The
movie’s end credit sequence offers a coda that shows Blue Falcon
establishing a new super-hero team, the Falcon Force, but you’ll
have to watch it to find out the chosen members!
Looking to the future, Dynomutt—and possibly Blue Falcon,
too—will appear in Jellystone! on HBO Max, likely in 2021. The
new animated series is being developed and produced by C. H.
Greenblatt, and is said to be a show that features many Hanna-
Barbera characters living and bedeviling each other in the central
town of Jellystone.
Dyno-Legacy
While Dynomutt and Blue Falcon may not be Hanna-Barbera’s
greatest super-hero creations—that honor belongs to Space
Ghost by any measurement—the characters have survived
and thrived for 45 years on television, toys, media, and in the
memories of fans. If you have yet to partake in the adventures
of the Daring Duo, Blue Falcon has a quote for you from Scoob!:
“Guys, adventure’s calling, and it’s for you!”
Artwork and photos are courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels, unless
otherwise credited. Quotes from Fred Silverman, Joe Ruby, and Gary
Owens are from the short documentaries “Eerie Mystery of Scooby-Doo
and Dynomutt’s History” and “In Their Own Words,” from the March
have noted that by presenting characters directly outside of the 2006 Warner DVD release The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour: The
Scooby-Doo franchise to be fictitious it negates the shows like Complete Series.
Laff-A-Lympics and crossover comics in which the Scooby gang
share reality with the other cartoon characters. But given that ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today
both DC and Marvel have had comics and TV shows based on bestselling author and co-author of 20
their characters fictionally set within their fictional universe—i.e., books, including the TwoMorrows book
Spider-Man reading a Fantastic Four comic or Wonder Woman Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation
viewing Adventures of Superman on TV—it’s easy enough to bend Generation, as well as Star Trek and Star
Mask of the Blue Falcon into continuity. Wars tomes, Iron Man: Beneath the
The most recent appearance for the Daring Duo is their largest Armor, and a lot of comic books. He recently
yet, though it was not without its birthing pains. In production wrote the bestselling Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic
since mid-2015, the computer-animated Scooby-Doo crossover Woman series for Dynamite and DC Comics, and has written six
movie, Scoob!, telling the origin of the Scooby gang, was set for Fractured Fairy Tales graphic novels for Junior High audiences,
theatrical release in September 2018, but was pushed back to May for Abdo Books (January 2021). He is currently working on a
2020. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic shut down movie book about the stage productions of Stephen King and other
theaters, and Warner was forced to make an unprecedented projects. Additionally, he has scripted, directed, and produced
decision. They released Scoob! for digital sales online in the U.S. Special Features and documentaries for over 40 DVD releases.
on May 15, 2020, although it did screen theatrically in some His moustache is infamous. www.AndyMangels.com and www.
worldwide markets, and even a few American sites. WonderWomanMuseum.com
Too
Much
TV
If your old man used to gripe that you’d never learn anything with your nose glued to the
boob tube, here’s your chance to prove him wrong. (Father doesn’t always know best.)
Each of the TV characters in Column One corresponds to a musical instrument he or she
played in Column Two. Match ’em up, then see how you rate!
COLUMN ONE
1) Maynard G. Krebs
2) Morticia Addams
3) Tracy Partridge
4) Fat Albert
5) Radar O’Reilly
6) Briscoe Darling
7) Data
8) Beaver Cleaver
9) Veronica Lodge
10) The Siren,

Batman villainess
RetroFan Ratings
10 correct: Fine-Tuned RetroFan
Sock it to me, baby! I bet you know
theme song lyrics too!
And 7–9 correct: Rabbit-Eared RetroFan
a’one-a, Dy-no-mite! You wasted your
childhood with the rest of us!
and 4–6 correct: Fuzzy-Receptioned
a’two-a! RetroFan
Up your nose with a rubber hose ’til you
spend more tube time!
0–3 correct: Tuned-Out RetroFan

Ya big dummy! Put down that book and
go watch some classic TV!
COLUMN TWO
A) Bugle
B) Clarinet
C) Harp
D) Shamisen
E) Violin
F) Accordion made
from a radiator
G) Electric keyboard
H) Bongos
I) Moonshine jug
J) Tambourine
The Addams Family © Filmways Television Productions. The Andy Griffith Show
© Mayberry Enterprises. The Archies © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Batman
© DC Comics/Warner Bros./Greenway Productions. Fat Albert and Leave It to
Beaver © NBC Universal Television. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and M*A*S*H
© 20th Century Fox Television. The Partridge Family © Sony Pictures Television.
Star Trek: The Next Generation © CBS Studios, Inc. All rights reserved.
ANSWERS: 1–H, 2–D, 3–J, 4–F, 5–A, 6–I, 7–E, 8–B, 9–G, 10–C
CELEBRITY CRUSHES
Connie Stevens
by Ron Plourde novelty song with Edd Byrnes
from 77 Sunset Strip called
The date was October 7th, 1959. “Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me
Cupid let go his arrow and it Your Comb),” scoring #4 on
pierced my breast and from Billboard’s Hot 100. As a solo
that day forward I was in love. artist she placed #3 with her
Head over heels in love! I had biggest hit, “Sixteen Reasons.”
just seen a vision of beauty In addition to television,
that only heaven could create. film, and music careers,
The object of my affection, you Connie has also been active
ask? Her name was Concetta on Broadway and nightclubs
Rosalie Ann Ingoglia. You might through the years. In 1968 she
know her better by another name, starred in Neil Simon’s production
Connie Stevens, and the television of The Star Spangled Girl with Anthony
show was Hawaiian Eye. Perkins and Richard Benjamin. She was
Oh, by the way, I was four years old. also a regular on the Las Vegas nightclub
As you might imagine, Hawaiian Eye quickly circuit during the Seventies and was always well
became one of my favorite show. Her character of received by audiences and critics alike.
Cricket Blake was a singer in a nightclub. She would And now we come to a chapter in her career that
sing a popular song just about every week, and for me has endeared her to me even more than her beautiful looks
that would be the highlight of the show. I would love to have and voice, and that is her work with the USO. Being a veteran of
this series on DVD, but rights issues with the very music she sang both the U.S. Army and Navy, this organization has always been
make this series cost prohibitive. So, alas, I have to content myself so important to our service members around the world.
with clips from her singing on YouTube. In 1969 and 1987 she toured with Bob Hope in Southeast Asia
Starting in 1959 she had a contract with Warner Bros., so and the Persian Gulf. In 1997 she wrote, edited, and directed a
she would pop up on a lot of the shows of that period, such as documentary entitled A Healing, about Red Cross nurses who
Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Cheyenne, and many others, and I would served during the Vietnam War. Among her other charitable
sometime be lucky enough to catch these. works is the Windfeather Project, which awards scholarships to
My first movie experience with Connie was in 1965. The film Native Americans.
was Two on a Guillotine, with Dean Jones and Cesar Romero. Her Unfortunately, the sad part of my unrequited love is I have
filmography started in 1957 with Young and Dangerous, all the way never personally met the object of my affection. She has been
to Just Before I Go in 2014, with Sean William Scott. I have several at many shows signing autographs, but the stars have just not
of her films in my collection, but Two on a aligned for a meeting, although I wrote
Guillotine has always been my favorite. her a letter some years ago and she
She also has had a wonderful graciously sent me a beautiful color 8 x 10
television career, starting in 1958 on The autographed photo.
Bob Cummings Show, with highlights At 81, she is still going strong, so I can
including so many great TV shows of only hope to someday meet my celebrity
the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties such crush in person and have my photo taken
as Love, American Style, The Muppet Show, with her.
Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and Murder,
She Wrote. Plus many others too numerous RON PLOURDE served in the U. S. Army for
to mention here. seven years and switched over to the U. S. Navy
Oh, and did I mention my angel could sing? Submarine Service for another seven years. He is
Aside from her singing on Hawaiian Eye, she also has an incurable collector of pop culture. (Realizing you
a varied recording career. Her first of nine albums titled have a problem is the first step to recovery.) He currently
Concetta in 1958, she recorded some popular standards resides in his native Massachusetts with his wonderful wife of
of the day, scoring minor single hits. In 1959, she recorded a 38 years and their two ragdoll cats, Ariel and Sebastian.
Hey, lovelorn, quit sobbing into your pillow and writing diary entries—instead, share your Sixties/Seventies/Eighties
Celebrity Crush with RetroFan readers! You can become famous, get three free copies of the magazine, and earn a
whopping $10 as well. Submit your 600-word-maximum Celebrity Crush column to the editor for consideration at
euryman@gmail.com.

SCOTT SAAVEDRA'S MAGAZINE COLUMN
ARTICLEContents: Processed Words About Generic Label Food

Weight: Light
by A Writer
This is an article about generic label food products written by a Jewel Markets has been credited as the first national
writer. It will contain all of the most basic facts and a minimum supermarket chain to carry generic label products beginning in
of colorful commentary of the type you would expect to find in 1977. But the concept of unbranded consumer goods appears to
a brand name article written by a brand name writer. It may not, have begun in France a year earlier at Carrefour, a hypermarket
however, use the Grade A Fancy words or sentence formulations (a combination of supermarket and department store). Other
that you have grown accustomed to in a Secret Sanctum grocery retailers followed due to consumer interest. Generic label
column. This, however, benefits the consumer. A generic writer products are not to be confused with store or off-brand labels
allows the publisher to save money on brand name writer perks which are designed to be appealing to consumers in the manner
(a lotto ticket in the pay envelope, back rubs, etc.). These savings of better known national brands and can be of better quality.
are passed on in the form of more words at no increase of “[Generic label food products] experienced a period of
charge to you. popularity in the United States
in the late 1970s and early 1980s,
The Article, Section One during a period of high price
Late-era Baby Boomers and a majority of the Generation X cohort inflation.” This is a quote from the
in the mid-to-lower income segments of the U.S. population likely Wikipedia entry on the subject.
were aware of generic label food products in their childhood to That source is now exhausted.
late teen years. Generic label products were found in packaging The Seventies were indeed
that was simply white (or sometimes yellow) with minimal—if a time of high inflation. The
any—design flourishes. The name of the product (such as “Light Gerald Ford administration
Beer”) would be the most prominent element with required attempted to help ease inflation
content information such as weight and ingredients added in in 1974 by encouraging more saving,
much smaller type. Such products would often be found confined less spending, and home vegetable
to a dedicated area of the store rather than next to their brand- gardens. This initiative was called “Whip
name counterparts. This helped shoppers be aware of items Inflation Now,” or WIN. Several
The WIN button
that otherwise did not receive advertising to create interest. In promotional WIN button designs were
was a fail. Wikimedia
addition to canned and prepared foods, generic labels were found issued, and this is perhaps what is most
Commons..
on consumables for the home, paper towels, bleach, beauty aids, recalled of that effort as the buttons
and the like. were widely mocked. In fairness, the
Scott Saavedra's magazine column
An opened generic can of Mixed Nuts has survived the

decades by being used to hold mixed nuts and bolts (this
is true). Photo by the Writer.
WIN-emblazoned sweaters were even worse. Increasingly, executive leadership, sales, marketing, product, support,
families went from single-earner households to two-earner operations, and corporate culture all align and mature in
households just to pay for normative expenses. Finding ways a compelling manner that is meaningful to anyone who
to economize on basic needs was a priority for all but the most encounters the collection of people…” [The Writer, annoyed by
financially secure. corporate-speak, takes a cof fee break.]
Personal Recollection #1
The Writer’s mother would purchase supermarket newsstand
periodicals directed at America’s housewives (a group of persons
whose main job was to have zero personal time), such as Woman’s
Day and Family Circle. Such periodicals would regularly feature
© Turner Entertainment.
articles on ways to economize. Ever hopeful, the mother would
closely read each set of recommendations and with sad regularity
she would be annoyed by the suggestions. The mother was
already doing most of them (“I was already making my own
clothes!”) and the others simply would never apply. The frequent
“eat out less” suggestion in particular was a source of her ire
as if her family of nine regularly going out to eat was even a
consideration. Okay. America in the 20th Century (the RetroYears) is a story
of branded products and their impact on our lives. Ford, Coca-
Article, Section Two Cola, General Electric, McDonalds, IBM, Apple, and Starbucks
In the beginning, as the generic label foods popped up around were—and are—brands (businesses) producing brands
the country they were popular with consumers who had to (products) that made their reputations and fortunes. Brands
find savings where they could. The minimal design and lack can have meaning to consumers. Some want only Coca-Cola
of branding did not in anyway convey an aspect of quality or while others prefer Pepsi while others still—
exceptionalism. They looked basic and that was part of the like the Writer’s father—was a Royal Crown
reason they were cheaper than brand name items. man.
To better appreciate the lack of branding it may help Smith Brothers Cough Drops were one
to understand exactly what branding is. The Mojo Media of the first products to sell in branded
Lab describes branding as ”knowing and consistently packaging. Their popular drops had
living from a true identity, from a real story, so that previously been sold loose in glass jars but,

tired of losing sales to imitators, they began packaging them

in 1872. Smith Brothers Cough Drops are still sold today.
Branded products live or die by reputation. The brand owner
NO NAME OF THE NORTH
The still-active generic No Name brand in Canada
is responsible for that reputation which must be nurtured for
is sort of a generic label living fossil, much like the
continued success. No such expectations are placed on the
oelacanth fish grizzled sea-farers pull up in their nets
generic product since it is nothing beyond what it says on the
every few years. No Name, which first appeared in 1978,
package (“Pre-Creamed Shortening”). However, the upkeep
was inspired by the French generics from Carrefour
and care of national brands cost incredible amounts of money.
hypermarkets and used similar yellow packaging
That cost is passed on to the consumer.
rather than the plain white originally seen in the U.S.
In the case of generics little to no advertising was used to
However, while U.S. generic foodstuffs were uneven
promote them. The packages were often grouped together in
in quality and manufacture, No Name worked to have
a kind of “value huddle” with plenty of signage indicating the
the highest possible quality in each category to provide
savings to be had versus brand products. The minimalism of
the best possible value (there’s that word again). The
the early generics was certainly striking compared to a market’s
end result was that the generics of the Seventies and
usual stock, but what exactly constitutes generic design was
Eighties faded away while No Name, and this is crazy,
not written in stone. A white package with black lettering was
for a time at least was, wait for it, one of Canada’s most
considered to be a “true generic” since it cannot be simplified.
popular brands. No Name has spruced up its packaging
Yellow packaging with secondary identification such as Ralphs
over the years and has even run advertising campaigns,
Supermarket’s old “Plain Wrap” brand was a semi-generic. And
a definite departure from generic protocol.
a private label or store brand designed to look like a generic was
an imitation generic. You weren’t expecting this level of detail,
were you?
If you don’t believe that package design is important,
think of all the stuff you wanted as a kid. The packaging (and
advertising) was a huge part of why you had to have Mr. Bubble,
Mr. Potato Head, or Cap’n Crunch. Would you really need, and
I mean really need, the Aurora Frankenstein model without that
wonderful James Bama artwork on the box?
Economic pressures sent many families to search for ways
to stretch their weakening dollar. But what markets discovered
to their surprise was that the price of a generic was not a
primary purchasing motivator. It was the fact that the consumer
was getting a savings of 20% to 50% off national brands on
nearly every generic purchase. What they wanted was value.
Unfortunately, the means by which that value—an illusion,
really—was created was what helped ultimately end the generic
label foods as an appealing category.
How generic manufacturers (sometimes a major brand
producer, sometimes not) brought prices down was to cut costs
by changing formulas, simplifying manufacturing, and by using One of Canada’s favorite brands is the No
cheaper grade of ingredients. In the case of generic beer, name- Name brand. © Loblaws Inc. All Rights Reserved.
brand brewers were known to not use a specific formula but
rather whatever was leftover from their main production. To
Packaging as generic as it gets. Two screen captures from a commercial.

better understand what this means for the consumer, let us look
at the humble frozen pea.
The average consumer may not pay much attention to frozen
peas, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has given
the subject quite a bit of thought. There are four grades of
frozen peas.
` U.S. Grade A (or U.S. Fancy) possesses “a good color…

practically free from defects… tender.” You’d date this
pea.
` U.S. Grade B (or U.S. Extra Standard) has “fairly good
flavor… a reasonably good color… reasonably free from
defects… reasonably tender.” Sounds reasonable.
` U.S. Grade C (or U.S. Standard) possesses “fairly good
flavor… fairly good color… fairly free from defects… An Eighties Ralphs commercial screen save shows that the grocery
fairly tender.” Reasonable and fair seem so close in chain could really capture the zeitgeist (a Grade A Fancy word) of
definition but okay. the generics moment by having the shopper wear a generic style
` Substandard. Avoid. T-shirt. © Kroger Company.
(For the advanced

consumer, USDA measuring officially—one step above substandard (one supposes—hopes,
tools are available so that you really—that this is still within the range of human edibility). There
may determine food quality have been reports that generic label foods were sometimes better
for yourself. The USDA Pea than brand name products. That was not the Writer’s experience,
Sizer works on both canned so for now, it’s just crazy talk. Adding to generic food quality
and frozen peas and sells for concerns was the fact that they weren’t consistently produced.
$24. Another useful inspection aid is the set of frozen pea color Ingredients, formulations, and even manufacturers could change
cards that can be yours for $110. These prices are believed to be from batch to batch. Consumers had no way to truly know what
accurate at the time of publication.) they had until it was in their collective mouths. This led to a
There is actually one other grade that the USDA uses: human reputation not so much as products that were affordable but
grade or edible grade. Thankfully, this applies to pet food, which mostly as something cheap and, ultimately, undesirable unless
almost never truly meets that standard (it would make the you truly could not afford anything better.
product too expensive). Some may say that the edible grade just
barely applied to generic label foodstuffs, but they’re just being Personal Recollection #2
churlish. As an older teen in the late Seventies, the Writer was perhaps a
It is true, generic label foods were usually made of standard bit too much aware of the reduced reputation of the generic label
grade ingredients which doesn’t sound impressive, but if foods. Oat Circles (or whatever the Cheerio’s knockoff was called)
you’d like to look on the bright side, it certainly doesn’t sound came nowhere near the perfection of its branded counterpart.
dangerous. But then we are talking about products that were— The Writer wondered if there was any concern about buying
THE GENERICS YOU CAN’T BUY William Shatner

The Earl Hays Press in blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sherman Oaks, California,
makes generic props for film and television and has done so since 1915 (!). gets a smoke
You may have seen their handiwork via an internet meme showing various from his pack of
performers over the last 60 years reading the exact same prop newspaper. Morley cigarettes,
The most popular images show actor Ed O’Neill reading the same news over a popular fake Earl
a decade apart on Married with Children and Modern Family. Hays brand, in
Why use fake, generic brands in film and television? Producers don’t the hyper-classic
want to give free advertising to real brands and brand owners don’t want 1963 Twilight Zone
their precious products associated with whatever stupid things a character episode “Nightmare
may do with it. at 20,000 Feet.”
A wide variety of fake food labels are also a part of the Earl Hays catalog, Morley cigarettes
which can be viewed at www.theearlhayspress.com, but finding screencaps feature a variety of
of them in use was difficult. Which is too bad since they make some designs. Morley was the Smoking Man’s brand
interesting food items like SMEAT (a SPAM lookalike), canned Porkchops O’ of choice on The X-Files and has been seen more
Chunky (?), and Healthy Oats O’s (another fool-hearty attempt at Cheerios). recently on The Walking Dead. Morley package © The
I did, however, find Bill Shatner with generic cigarettes so... enjoy. Earl Hays Press. The Twilight Zone © CBS.

generic products or shame at not being able to afford brand

names since, in this Writer’s memory, there were many, many
generic products of all types in the home. The stress of such a
difficult financial time. The struggle to make ends meet. Having
to buy such low-grade consumables certainly had to make one
feel… poor?”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” said the Writer’s mother.
Well… good.
Then there was the mystery of the single generic label can of
red kidney beans. It spent at least a decade in the panty and only
disappeared when the kitchen was remodeled. Why didn’t the
beans get eaten?
“Did I forget to use something?” The Writer’s mother is unable
to explain the generic label kidney beans long, unloved existence. Emilio Estevez glares in front of generic food products in 1984's cult
science fiction comedy, Repo Man. © Universal Pictures.
Article, Section Three
As the reputation of the generic product waned and, perhaps
more importantly, the economy improved, consumers largely Marvel Comics, often referring to
returned to familiar brands. Such was the concern about themselves (ironically?) as the House of
product quality. In a New York Times article on the subject Ideas, produced in 1984 The Generic Comic
(Oct. 5, 1986), a consumer researcher noted that shoppers Book to, well, ride the wave of excitement that
who would buy generic products avoided generic dog food, generic products must have produced. It was
thinking it a “sign they didn’t care about their pets.” a prime example of a plain package holding
Retailers weren’t fans of the generics as a category substandard ingredients.
either because such items took up just as much space as the On the surface, generic labels had elements
© Marvel.
branded items but had very thin profit margins. The sales of being a fad. They seemed to be everywhere,
of generics peaked around 1983. By the end of the Eighties, they were successful, mocked, and then they
generic label products of all types essentially disappeared were gone. The national brands, dominant even
from the shelves. At least in the U.S. during the generic heyday, continue to appear on your grocer’s
But they were noticed. Repo Man is pretty much the best- shelves. These days they fight for sales against other enemies.
known popular culture reference to the generic era. The 1984 Private label brands (think of Costco’s Kirkland or Whole Foods
movie, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez, has been 365) that feature higher quality than the generics and lower prices
described as a science-fiction cult comedy. The Writer saw the than the better-known brands are one. The other danger comes
movie and remembers only the generic labels (the Writer is also from millennials who are prone to shun national products and
a designer, loves package design, and maybe has an attention shop both local and internationally when possible.
disorder). There were plenty of real generics and some created for There is no doubt that the business of selling foodstuffs to
the movie such as “drink” and “food,” which the Writer to this day a fickle audience of millions of consumers remains a challenge
thinks is very funny (that’s not weird, is it?). requiring constant vigilance and innovation. One thing never
In 1985, Public Image Limited, fronted by John Lydon (the artist changes, though—there remains no viable substitute to the
also known as Johnny Rotten), put out a 12-inch vinyl that featured original, one-and-only Cheerios.
a generic design (inspired by the Ralphs generic products of the And that is the end of the article about generic label food. The
time). Writer is done.
Very useful to the understanding of generics were two books, Retailing

Strategies for Generic Brand Grocery Products by Jon M. Hawes
(UMI Research Press, 1982) and Private Labels: Store Brands &
Generic Products by Philip B. Fitzell (AVI Publishing Company, 1982).
Also, thanks must go out to the Writer’s mother, who owns the mixed
nuts generic can found sitting in her garage where it has been since
purchased new in the later quarter of the Twentieth Century. It was the
inspiration for this article.
THE WRITER is a Retro Explorer operating

from his Southern California-based Secret
Sanctum. In addition to word-smithing he
is a graphic designer and artist. Check out
his Instagram thing, won’t you? instagram/
An Albertsons’ newspaper ad (from May 28, 1981) for various gener- scottsaav/
ic food stuffs including “slices.” © Albertsons, Inc.

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON
e d Archie
at
A
e
nd
Who Cr
rews?
by Will Murray
America’s teenager (sorry, Dick Clark) shares a malt with Veronica and Betty in
If you were young and read comic books back in simpler, pre-pandemic times. Recolored Bob Montana art originally produced
the day, you read Archie Comics. It was almost for the cover of 1952’s Archie Annual #4. TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
unavoidable. This has been a fact of life to the
present day. For nearly 80 years, Archie and his
friends have been an American institution. And popular that by 1942, he headlined his own comic book. Before
he’s been a teenager for most of that time! long, Archie muscled the super-heroes out of Pep.
When first introduced, Archie Andrews was about ten years Originating artist Bob Montana always claimed that he created
old, give or take. That was how artist Bob Montana first depicted the character: “John Goldwater, the president of the firm, came
him. Almost immediately, this changed. to me and said they’d like to try and create
But I get ahead of myself…. a teenage strip. John
thought of the name
This Kid’s Got Pep ‘Archie’ and together
Archie emerged out of a pulp-magazine- we worked it out. I
turned-comics company named MLJ after its created the characters
founders, Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkliet, and developed it and
and John L. Goldwater. They produced the eventually ‘MLJ’ was
original patriotic super-hero, the Shield, changed to ‘Archie
months before Marvel’s more famous Comics.’”
Captain America. Their roster competed Shield artist Irv Novick
with Marvel and DC super-heroes, and while backed up Montana:
they sold well, MLJ produced no breakout “Bob created the character ‘Archie…’ John
characters. What to do? Bob Montana, Goldwater is claiming that he created the
John Goldwater conceived the idea: Archie illus- character. That’s not true. I was in the office
“The year 1942 was a time when people were just beginning trator, at when Bob walked in with that character and
to realize that youth was making an impact on the world. I was his drawing presented it to MLJ. Goldwater did not create
a young man, and I could write draw and write, and I wanted to board. Photo the character; Bob did.”
start a comic strip that would benefit by the trend. Superman was courtesy of Ivan Contrast this with the publisher’s 1988
the really big smash. Where do you go from a super-hero? You Briggs. (INSET) remembrance: “Innumerable sleepless
go the opposite of super-hero, and that is the ‘normal’ man. The Archie comics nights, dreaming and writing and rewriting
‘normal’ man in an age of teen awareness––who would it be?” president John characters that would catch the public’s
Louis Silberkliet’s son, Michael, declared: “The inspiration Goldwater. fancy as Superman had, was not just an
was the Andy Hardy movies.” Reportedly, Goldwater noticed ‘idea,’ but a conscious appraisal of my
kids lining up to catch the latest installment and recognized an experiences in the Middle West, California,
untapped audience. and elsewhere.” Goldwater also claimed to have doodled the
Those Mickey Rooney comedies were big box office between prototype Archie sketch.
1937 and 1946. Rooney played a teenaged Midwesterner forever Sadly, this is a common creative conflict, especially when a
getting in and out of harmless trouble. Ten installments had corporate property unexpectedly snowballs into a multi-million
appeared by the time Archie Andrews debuted in Pep Comics dollar bonanza. Everyone remembers events dif ferently––
#22 in 1941. The gap-toothed redhead from Riverdale proved so sometimes because they want to.

Also present at the birth, artist Joe Edwards offered his own
eyewitness account:
“One day, John Goldwater called me and Bob in, and said,
‘We’re a little troubled. Everything out there is Superman and
there is a lot of competition. I know you two guys just got out
of school. Write whatever you know.’ So Bob and I sat down and
worked it out. ‘Well, how about a teenage boy?’ It was a simple as
that because we knew it. So we wrote stories about a guy going
out to get girls and dating, and how to get a job to make it, which
was a simple formula, adding a blonde and brunette. If you recall,
everybody used to have a buddy. That’s where Jughead came in.”
Edwards always credited Montana more than Goldwater:
“Bob was the catalyst to really develop these things. He had kept
a scrapbook when he went to high school, which I saw. He drew
people at the soda shop and all that, so when it came time, we
used the material. In other words, we relied on something that
(ABOVE) Mickey Rooney
was true, and we developed it.”
as Andy Hardy, an Archie
One drawing depicted a crude caricature of Montana
influence. (RIGHT) Archie
himself—looking like a primitive Archie Andrews.
#1 (Winter 1942). Cover by
Another influence loomed large. Not Andy Hardy, but a
Bob Montana. Love Finds
similarly popular teenager. This one had his own radio show.
Andy Hardy © MGM. Archie TM
“Have you ever heard of Henry Aldridge?” asked Joe Edwards.
& © Archie Comic Publications,
“Well, that was part of our template. We realized that was good.
Inc. Both, courtesy of Heritage.
We enjoyed that radio show because it was part of our life. As a
result, we put it down on paper and made a comic book out of it.
We all relied on experiences in our own life with the girls, taking
the girls out.” No doubt Goldwater named
Contrary to John Goldwater’s account, Henry Aldrich was the character, giving him the last
a seminal influence, although Andy Hardy fed into the early name of Andrews, perhaps after
thinking as well. Writer William Woolfolk, then scripting MLJ Andy Hardy’s formal first name.
super-heroes such as Steel Sterling, remembered editor Harry He always claimed he conceived
Shorten inviting him to dinner at a restaurant in Greenwich the first name as well.
Village. “I had gone to school with a boy named Archie, who was
“I thought: how nice! Shorten is dining me to show his always in trouble with girls, parents, at school, etc. Therefore, I
appreciation…. Instead, he pulled out a yellow pad and pencil. resolved to reverse the usual procedure. Instead of boy-meets-
How nice! He wants to sketch me! Instead of No. 2, he wanted girl, etc., I would have rivals for Archie’s affections. So was born
to ‘pick my brains’ for a series like the hugely successful Henry the girl-next-door, Betty, and glamorous and rich Veronica.”
Aldrich radio serial––which became the ‘original’ Archie. I don’t In another account, Goldwater revealed that both women
know how many of the writers’ ‘brains’ that he ‘picked.’ He didn’t were modeled on a pair of amorous “novitiates” who pursued
pick mine. I told him I could pay for my own dinner. And that was him on shipboard during his return to New York after years of
that.” traveling the country.
Shorten never disputed this influence. “Henry Aldrich was a But these factors were only part of the story. Montana’s
popular radio show and the kid made a tremendous impact. I experiences at Haverhill High School in Massachusetts were
suggested… that we start a strip with a Henry Aldrich-type kid.” just as significant. The son of Vaudeville performers, young Bob
The Aldrich Family, which ran from 1939 to 1953, was famous toured with his parents, finally settling down in time for high
for its opening, where the teenager’s mother caterwauls, “Hen- school.
reeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!” Thus began a rare period of stability, what Montana later
MAD magazine’s Jerry DeFuccio knew Bob Montana and called “the best four years of my life.”
recalled a conversation about how Archie Andrews got his name: “Bob Montana modeled his comic strip after his own high
“We had some schnapps… and he commented on Archie being school experience,” asserted Jeff Cuddy, who inked him. “He was
named Calvin, as a possibility. You could lean on the Cal… as in quite shy himself and would watch the passing parade, and, as it
the shouted Hen… in Henry Aldrich. Calvin was ruled out as it was passing him by, he would sketch it.”
suggested the Protestant reformer. Archie was entrenched as “To me, he appeared to be a shy guy from the outside looking
Archie the bartender in Duffy’s Tavern.” in and wishing he could be hellions like some of them were,” said
Duffy’s Tavern was another popular radio show. In the first Ruth Harding, who also assisted Montana.
strip, Archie tells Betty to call him ‘Chick.’ Chick was Montana’s “He traveled all over,” recalled Peg Bertholet, the artist’s
preferred name for the character. The nickname was never widow. “He didn’t have many years of associating with actual
mentioned again. schoolchildren. In Haverhill, it was the first time he went to a
Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon
school that he really liked. He met the kids and had a good time. I Edwards recalled, “We were looking for a name that would
know he was very happy at this point in his life. I think he enjoyed be common, ordinary, and they said, ‘You can’t get any more
high school so much that he was more the average American high common than “Betty.’ So it stuck.”
school student than most high school students are.” Veronica Lodge was a mix of sultry actress Veronica Lake,
“He had the best memories of Haverhill High,” agreed and an upperclass classmate. Although named after the Boston
daughter Lynn. “Haverhill is where the characters are from.” blueblood Lodge family, originally she affected a Southern
“Your ideas come from life and its experiences,” Montana accent.
pointed out. “High school was the most interesting part of my life. “Veronica was a couple of things that we put together,”
It was what I knew most about.” Edwards said. “Veronica was a real woman that lived up near
That “Archie” was semi-autobiographical is difficult to dispute. Bob’s town. Bob had a crush on her. She was the sexy belle of the
Peg Bertholet confirmed this. “Bob described himself as Archie. town. All the high school kids loved her and were after her, but
He did have Archie’s two front teeth, and he wore his hair brushed they couldn’t catch her. So we put that into the feature.”
over with a wave the way Archie does.” The faculty, Mr. Weatherbee, Miss Grundy, and others,
Not to mention his freckles plaid pants and polka-dot bowtie. Montana took from life.
Artist Sam Burlockoff noted, “Bob Montana reminded me “The other characters are teachers I knew and persons in
of Archie because he had red hair and a grin like Archie’s. It was my hometown,” he admitted. “Archie characters look much
almost like a caricature of Bob Montana: like the persons they are patterned after, though they’re highly
he drew himself as Archie.” exaggerated caricatures.”
Vic Bloom, who dialogued Archie’s Still others were adapted from media
debut, may have been just as important. personalities.
In 1940, he scripted “Wally Williams, “We used to kick ideas around,” noted
American Boy,” which reads like a trial Edwards. “‘Which comedian do you like best?’
run for Archie. Especially given the I said, ‘Laurel and Hardy.’ So when it came
presence of a blonde named Betty time for a second banana, Laurel’s name came
and a best friend nicknamed Jughead. up. We designed Jughead [after him]. Look
This college-themed strip was set in at the comics: you’ll see Stan Laurel. And Pop
Riverview, not Riverdale. Bloom’s byline Tate was Oliver Harvey. We just gave him a
soon vanished from the strip. little bit different mustache.”
Archie was an All-American Everyteen,
Pals, Gals, and Places average but amiable, continually stumbling
Originally, Archie was barely teenager. from one pickle to a fresh predicament,
“I created ‘Wilbur’ with Lynn Streeter struggling to balance school and girls.
as the artist and the character came out “Everything that happens to Archie
looking exactly like him,” remembered happened to me in school,” Montana joked.
Harry Shorten. “Later we signed Bob “There’s one great difference. Archie always
Montana to draw ‘Archie’ and the kid came gets out of his troubles in the end, but it
out as being about eight-years-old; he was seems to me that I was always stuck. Guess
much too young. I was writing the script I didn’t have a Jughead to get me out of
and wrote him as being a teenager and he tight places.”
came out just right.” (TOP) The Archie brand grew in Once, a piece of apparatus Montana was
Overnight, Archie experienced a growth the Fifties with these and other operating in science class blew up and struck
spurt. After that he got stuck as the eternal titles starring Archie’s pals and the ceiling. His teacher quipped, “You finally
American teenager, perpetually 17. gals. (BOTTOM) In the Sixties, got the highest mark in the class!”
By the end of 1942, Archie had been given the red-headed teen fought “We never made Archie malicious,”
his own title. For 21-year-old Montana, who bad guys as a super-spy and a observed Edwards. “If anything happened, it
was fresh out of art school, Archie was a relief super-hero! TM & © Archie Comic was always because something happened that
from having to draw super-heroes. Publications, Inc. he didn’t intentionally do. He wouldn’t hurt
“Archie is such a pleasure to draw,” he anybody, but circumstances would work out
commented. “None of the intricacies of [the where he was always in hot water at school.”
company’s super-heroes,] the Web, Black Hood, or Hangman.’” The early stories used localities familiar to Haverhill residents,
The supporting characters also came from Montana’s days at but after Montana moved on, more and more Riverdale became
Haverhill High, whose replica statue of Rodin’s The Thinker was associated with New York’s tri-state area. John Goldwater
prominently displayed at the fictitious Riverdale High. Blonde claimed it was modeled after Hiawatha, Kansas, but that appears
Betty Cooper was the first. revisionist in hindsight. Eventually, the setting was established as
“I was going with a girl named Betty when I started the strip,” simply Midwestern.
Montana explained. The real Betty’s brother, Harry Lucey, later Montana and Edwards worked on the strip for about a year,
became an important Archie artist. overseen by Harry Shorten, who remembered, “That was the
greatest time of my life. We worked on ‘Archie’ in hotel rooms

and at Montana’s summer home in New Hampshire and had a When comics sales started softening after the war, super-
great time.” heroes lost their appeal. Not Archie Andrews.
“Archie was mainstream,” explained Jeff Cuddy. “It just clicked
Just as Archie #1 was released, military duty called. Montana with people. The war was over. The guys were coming home. They
joined the Army Signal Corps. Another artist, Harry Sahle, wanted normalcy. They were tired of killing, tired of traveling.
stepped in to continue the feature, refining Archie’s look as an They want to settle down, have their families, their jobs. They
evolving replacement team coalesced around Shorten. wanted normalcy, and Archie filled the bill.”
Another MLJ artist, Gil Kane, saw Sahle as transformational. By 1949, rich foil Reggie Mantle was starring in Archie’s Rival,
“He was very fast, and he turned out what Reggie Mantle. Archie’s Pal, Jughead debuted
became the new Archie character. In other that year. Archie’s Girls, Betty and Veronica
words, his work was based on Montana, but followed in 1950.
with adaptation and interpretation. Sahle “They recognized that the sales were
became the center point.” good,” Joe Edwards noted, “so Betty and
Edwards recalled, “Bob and I were in the Veronica got more attention. They were in
Army and they asked [Sahle] to take over for, the ‘Archie’ stories, but they were like side
I think the third or fourth of Archie. Harry was characters; then MLJ realized that there was
very gregarious. He was doing Archie, and something [there].”
then they groomed Bill Vigoda. When Bob By this time, the cast had grown to include
and I went into the service, we were worried Moose McGee, his girlfriend Midge Klump,
whether or not Archie would be carried a little and Jughead’s occasional gal, Big Ethel.
further.” “We needed a character,” said Edwards.
They needn’t have. The Adventures of Archie “Ethel was taller than most, because the tall
Andrews radio show was launched in 1943. girl always felt out of place, so we needed
Sahle, too, disappeared into the service while somebody who would fill the bill. So a design
Montana continued working on the feature went out. Sam Schwartz worked on it, and
from his Army base. when it came to ugly, he knew how to draw
“We recognized it immediately,” said ugly, so he designed Big Ethel. If you read his
Haverhill resident Charles Hayden, who was stuff, he really used her.”
stationed overseas when he first saw the strip. Artist George Frese, who also wrote Archie
“Bob used ‘The Thinker!’ I was in the Army in stories, created the dim-witted jock whose
Italy and I said, ‘I know him! Bob Montana!’ last name kept changing. “He needed a sports
I said, ‘This kid used Haverhill High School character, and George Frese’s son, who is
as a setting. This is my school.’ I saw so many going to high school, knew a guy like Moose.
things in that strip that were familiar.” And this guy also used to go, ‘Duhh.’ George
Aside from the Thinker statue, the names put him in the comics, and he caught on.”
of the school papers were identical. The Yet Montana’s classmates insisted that
main teenage hangout was the Chok’lit Moose Mason was inspired by a fellow
Shop, a thinly disguised Haverhill ice cream student, Arnold Dagget.
emporium. In the Fifties, the Archie line exploded.
“The Chocolate Shop––we all knew darn One writer was Sy Reit, who had created
well where the Chocolate Shop was,” laughed Casper the Friendly Ghost, and had informally
Mrs. Rita Walker, who lived two streets away Promotional brochure from 1964 introduced the public to Archie, drawing a
from Montana. “He used to go there all the touting the syndication success of preview for the feature which hit print a week
time and draw cartoons on napkins.” the Archie newspaper strip. TM & © before the official debut.
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Courtesy “Perhaps my longest stint was writing for
War Hero, Postwar Boom of Heritage. Archie Comics, first under the editorship of
Stateside, Archie was a hit. Overseas, he was Harry Shorten and later Richard Goldwater,”
a lifeline. According to Michael Silberkliet: he recalled. “In those years––mainly the
“It wasn’t so much what it meant to kids as what he meant to 1950s––we created many new Archie titles––some still in use. I
GIs. There were letters from soldiers who said that after a battle, remember starting Life with Archie, Archie’s Madhouse, and Archie’s
they read Archie comic books. It reminded them of home. Betty Joke Book. Harry and Richard had terrific artists working for
represented the girl-next-door and they wrote how much she them––I recall Bob Montana and Sam Schwartz (whose fine work
reminded them of their girls.” has been unfortunately neglected).”
Returning to civilian life, Montana launched an Archie Sam Schwartz is best remembered for developing Jughead.
newspaper strip, never to revisit the comic books, which had “He made Jughead!” Joe Edwards asserted. “Jughead was a
become a virtual factory. second banana. If you look at some of them, Jughead makes
“It’s impossible for one man to do it all,” explained Montana. remarks that came out of vaudeville. Sam was given the
“The newspaper is about all I can handle.”
assignment to do ‘Jughead.’ He put in personality and that’s what Editor Victor Gorelich explained, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was
makes the [characters] live.” very popular, and so was Get Smart. We were unsuccessful with
Assistant Jeff Cuddy saw the character as another aspect of the super-hero books, and John Goldwater decided to make the
Bob Montana. “Jughead was his personality, but his looks he gave Archie characters into super-heroes. Frank Doyle wrote the first
to Archie. The twist on that eternal ‘Pureheart the Powerful’ story and many of
triangle was that instead of the boys the other stories, too.”
chasing the girls, the girls were chasing Bob White drew the Pureheart stories,
Archie.” where Reggie was called Evilheart and
Montana himself gave differing Jughead was Captain Hero. Bill Vigoda
accounts of the origin of Forsythe drew the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.
P. “Jughead” Jones––(Van Jones, episodes, as well as some Pureheart and
according to the artist). Sometimes, he Evilheart installments.
was a composite of various classmates; In the Sixties, serious efforts were
at other times, he simply sprang from made to license the property. A TV pilot
the artist’s inkwell. “I never knew him,” was filmed in 1962, starring Frank Bank,
Montana said flatly. with Cheryl Holdridge as Betty and Mikki
An important new artist entered Jamison as Veronica. Jerry Brite played
the picture in the early Fifties. Dan Jughead. Network executives passed on Life
DeCarlo was hired by Harry Shorten with Archie because they felt viewers would
to draw some episodes to supplement be reminded of Leave It to Beaver’s Lumpy
Harry Lucey and the other regulars. Rutherford when they recognized Bank.
DeCarlo recalled, “The pay wasn’t Retaining the other cast members, a
too good, but I did it and he liked it–– new pilot was shot with John Simpson as
but I didn’t go back right away. Finally… the lead (see inset). The renamed Archie
he called me up and wanted to know show depicted a cheerful but lazy high
what happened, why I wasn’t around. schooler with a Rube Goldberg streak of
The gang as rendered by longtime Archie
I said, ‘Well, you know I’m very busy…. inventiveness. The story revolved around
artist Dan DeCarlo. Original cover art to
The people that I’m working for now Archie’s misadventures with a primitive
Archie’s Pals ’n’ Gals #165 (Sept. 1983). TM
let me do my own thing. But when I matchmaking computer, with Betty
& © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Courtesy of
do work for you, it’s ‘Draw like Bob and Veronica’s romantic machinations
Heritage.
Montana.’ And it’s hard to look at your complicating the existing complications.
reference, and then back at your own This version also failed to sell.
page. It’s very slow, and very tedious The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis had
and I didn’t like it too much.’ He said, ‘Come on in, and you can apparently cornered the teenage
draw any way you like.’ That made me go back with him.” comedy market [see RetroFan #5—
Freed of such artistic limitations, DeCarlo evolved into the ed.]. Except for playing a zombie in
seminal Archie artist, whose sexy but innocent rendition of Betty Night of the Living Dead, Simpson’s
and Veronica became the standard that still stands today. acting career ended here.
Bob Montana stuck with his newspaper strip until the day in Undaunted, the owners turned
died in 1975, having vowed, “I’ll go on as long as to animation, where the characters
Archie will––as long as Archie keeps me young.” could be recognizably themselves. Success soon
Stan Goldberg, who took over from Montana, followed. In 1968, The Archie Show centered around
once said of DeCarlo, “He was always considered the familiar gang as an animated rock band, The
to be one of the greatest cartoonists in the Archies. Emulating The Monkees, the producers
business. Forget Bob Montana and all the other release a single. It charted. “Sugar Sugar”
guys. For the past 45 years, there’s only been one followed in 1969, knocking the Rolling Stones out
look for Archie, and that’s Dan’s.” of the #1 spot.
It was bubblegum music, yes. But teens and
Trend Chasing preteens gobbled it up. Three hit albums followed. TV and
Decade by decade, Archie followed the ever-changing teenage film adaptations of Archie have been with us ever since, each one
trends. In the Fifties, there were the Beatniks. In the Sixties, targeted toward a new generation. But that’s another column.
it was Hippies. After that, they battled drugs and dealt with The eternal question of the unbroken triangle of Archie, Betty
discrimination and environmental issues. Even AIDS prevention. and Veronica, has never been definitively settled [alternate
Whatever was trending, the unchanging Archie gang leapt upon reality tales aside—ed.]: Who does Archie prefer?
it. Dan DeCarlo admitted, “You know, I’m always asked that
During the Sixties, there was a brief secret agent incarnation, question! But Betty is by far the more popular one. I can’t warm
“The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.,” followed by a super-hero up to Veronica. I don’t understand her. But I love Betty.”
experiment, Archie as Pureheart the Powerful. “We’ll never tell,” stated Michael Silberkliet.

John Goldwater allowed, “I figured Betty to be the nice “Archie is Americana,” asserted Michael Silberkliet. “Archie is a
girl-next-door, the kind of girl Archie would marry if he ever kid you’d like to see your kid be, with two legs under the car, with
got married. Of course, he won’t. Archie will never marry. He’ll wrenches.”
always be 17.” Always self-effacing, Bob Montana took a much simpler view:
There, Goldwater and Montana agreed. “We all need to laugh at ourselves. We all need a good sense of
“Archie will never get married,” Montana vowed. “That would humor.”
destroy the strip.”
And there it must rest…. Special thanks to Shaun Clancy and Jim Amash.
Perennial Popularity WILL MURRAY is the writer of the Wild

How has Archie and the gang stayed popular from bobbysoxers Adventures (www.adventuresinbronze.
to Generation Z? Opinions vary. com) series of novels, which stars Doc Savage,
Joe Edwards: “We would say, ‘Look, it’s a good character.’ The Shadow, King Kong, The Spider, and
[Montana] seemed to hit a right nerve with ‘Archie.’ Of course, Tarzan of the Apes. He also created the
there was no teenage strip so we were lucky, and it developed.” Unbeatable Squirrel Girl with legendary artist
“It was good, clean fun,” said Montana’s daughter, Lynn. “I Steve Ditko.
don’t think he ever wrote Archie for the teenagers. He wrote for
the adult looking back on his teenage years and reminiscing.”
“It’s the adults who read the comics—adults and small Want more Archie?
children,” insisted Goldwater. Check out the September
“And they get a feeling of security from seeing small-town 2018 edition of our sister
family life, as we do it in Archie.” mag, Back Issue #107, for
“It rang a bell with teenagers certainly, in whatever era,” an “Archie in the Bronze
countered Jeff Cuddy. “It was a normal subject: teenage boys
Age” issue! Order at
and girls and their relationships, their complaints, gripes, and
insecurities, the teenager awkwardness that never goes away.
twomorrows.com.
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RETRO RADIO
Bob Crane
Radio Legend
by Carol M. Ford
From Behind the
It’s six o’clock in the morning on
March 9, 1962, in Los Angeles. Alarm Mic to Behind
clocks all over Southern California
start ringing. Coffee pots begin to
Enemy Lines on
percolate, and bleary-eyed residents
crawl out of bed to start the day. For
Hogan’s Heroes
those who tune in to KNX 1070 on their AM
radio dial, they are greeted by the wild and
outlandish morning show hosted by the future
Colonel Robert E. Hogan. The man behind the
microphone is none other than Bob Crane.
Throughout the morning hours Monday
through Friday, replays during the afternoon, and
occasionally, special broadcasts on Saturday,
Bob Crane would entertain his radio listeners.
Before annoying Colonel Wilhelm Klink behind
enemy lines at Stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, Bob
was causing a ruckus in his listeners’ homes. The
Bob Crane Show radio program was extremely
popular with listeners and advertisers alike.
Considered a radio genius by his broadcasting
colleagues on both East and West Coasts,
Bob did things in radio that had rarely,
if ever, been done before. Dubbed the
“King of the L.A. Airwaves” and often
called the “shock jock” of his day,
Bob Crane revolutionized radio
for generations to come.
Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes

(circa 1966). From the personal collection of Carol M. Ford. Hogan’s
Heroes © Viacom.

retro radio
Humble Beginnings Bob Crane on the air at his first

Bob Crane was born in radio station, WLEA, in Hornell,
Waterbury, Connecticut, on New York, 1950. Courtesy of Scott
Friday, July 13, 1928, to parents Crane. Used with permission.
Alfred and Rosemary Crane. He
had one older brother, Alfred
Thomas, who went by Al, Jr., and fronting a jazz band—The Crane-
who was born in 1926. Shortly Catino Jazz Band, which would
after Bob was born, the Cranes play not only for high school
moved to Stamford, Connecticut, assemblies, but also for events
about 30 miles south of in Stamford and surrounding
Waterbury and situated on the Connecticut towns. While in
banks of Long Island Sound high school, he also played with
across from Manhattan. the Connecticut Symphony
Bob had a happy childhood Orchestra (but he was never a
and grew up in a Russian/Irish-Catholic home. When Bob was paid member; his participation was through a statewide program
about ten years old, his parents took him and his brother to the for high school music students to rejuvenate the orchestra during
1939 World’s Fair in Flushing, New York. There, on that fateful tough financial times). He had an army of school friends, and
trip, Bob saw for the first time Gene Krupa in person—playing the whether they traveled in his circle or not, everyone knew Bob
drums. Crane, Stamford High School’s “Drummer Boy.”
And oh, those drums! World War II was raging around the globe when Bob was in
Bob was mesmerized from the start, and Krupa became one high school, and his brother Al served in the United States Navy
of Bob’s musician idols, along with Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, on the U.S.S. Bunker Hill in the Pacific Theater of War. On May 11,
Arte Shaw, Cozy Cole, and many more. As a little boy standing 1945, the Bunker Hill was attacked by two Kamikaze planes, and
in the Fair grounds and from that moment on, music and drums Al was badly injured. The war and his brother’s serious injuries
would be omnipresent in Bob’s life. He would dream of sitting in would have a lasting effect on Bob throughout his life, and later
on drums with the name bands of the day. He could never have on, it would play a major part in his decision to accept the role of
known that one day, those dreams would come true. Later on, Colonel Hogan.
as a Hollywood star, he got to know and befriend many of his Bob Crane graduated from high school in 1946. He had
musician idols, and in turn, to Bob’s delight, they were happy to aspirations of becoming a drummer with a Big Band, but by 1946,
let him play drums on occasion with their band. the Big Band era was coming to an end. He decided to turn his
Growing up, Bob was a happy-go-lucky kid and quite popular sights to radio, figuring it would allow him to stay close to the
in school. In junior high school, he organized neighborhood music he loved so much. As with drumming, he had been drawn
parades and community sports teams, and he taught his friends to radio and the radio personalities who entertained him. As a
how to play drums. By the time he got to high school, Bob was kid, he used to put on mock/pretend radio shows in his room for
IN-DEPTH BIOGRAPHY Heroes star personally and better than most (family; friends as
far back as elementary school; colleagues in radio, television,
Since his untimely death on June 29, 1978, Bob Crane’s theater, and film) have spoken out on Bob Crane’s behalf, and
unofficial biography has become akin to a broken record. in many instances, for the first time. Within the pages of this
Like a skip in the acetate, his murder and the scandal that book, they share their memories and thoughts about a man
grew from it have been the whom they knew as an exceptional and talented musician,
repeated focus of attention, a genius in radio, a sharp-witted comedian, a gifted actor
to the exclusion of nearly and director, a man driven to success, a doting and loving
everything else. Over time, father, a loyal friend, and a kind and gentle spirit with a sunny
the line between fact and personality, a man who, while not perfect, was vastly different
fiction blurred, and his life from how he has been presented over the decades. Bob Crane:
story became distorted. All The Definitive Biography balances the scales and sets the record
perspective on Bob Crane as straight, providing a full and complete history of Bob Crane,
a human being was lost, and clarifying who he really was, and just as importantly, who he
he became nothing more than was not.
a two-dimensional cartoon
character without depth, Learn more: www.vote4bobcrane.org
understanding, or definition.
Now, nearly two hundred Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AM Ink
people who knew the Hogan’s Publishing, and major book retailers worldwide.

retro radio
his best friend Charlie Zito and his sweetheart (and later his first no ad-libbing. These were paid ads, and if you know anything
wife) Anne Terzian. Soon after graduation and while working at about advertising, changing the ad copy for a product or service is
a jewelry store in Stamford, Bob started sending out tapes and verboten!
letters to radio stations throughout Connecticut, New York, and Enter Bob Crane. Bob broke all the rules when it came to radio,
elsewhere on the East Coast. and he reinvented the medium.
But no one nibbled. At WLEA, Bob would, as he called it, “enhance” paid promos.
He even made a cold call on his honeymoon! In May 1949, Bob Borden’s Milk was one of WLEA’s sponsors that had bought
and his new bride Anne were honeymooning in the Poconos in airtime during Bob’s show. Bob wouldn’t just read the ad. Oh,
Pennsylvania, and a short distance from the hotel, there was a no! Instead, he took a little saltshaker and filled it with water. As
radio station—WVPO, whose call letters stand for the “Voice of he read the copy, he ad-libbed, “Borden’s Milk is so fresh, we’re
the Poconos.” Bob was so determined that one day, he just walked milking the cow right here in the studio.” He then took the water-
right over to the WVPO station, located in Stroudsburg, and filled saltshaker and shook it over a glass of water, creating the
asked for a job! The station said no, and dejected, Bob returned sound effect of milk dripping into a pail. He then continued, “The
to his hotel, where hotel staff chided him as their “Voice of the
Poconos.”
Bob was not deterred. In March 1950, his persistence paid
off. He received a call from WLEA in Hornell, New York. He was
eager to accept, and after packing up what his cousin Jim Senich
called the “broken down jalopy,” Bob made his way north. Before
he could make it to the station, however, his car really did break
down! A local farmer, pulling a cart of hay in a horse-drawn
wagon, kindly offered Bob a lift to Hornell. Bob arrived at WLEA,
with bits of hay sticking up out of his suit jacket.
“I’m here for the job!” he announced, beaming with pride.
“Great!” WLEA said. “Here’s the broom!”
To Bob’s shock and dismay, the offer was to work as the
station’s janitor, not on the air. Bob took the job, anyway, and for
about a week, he swept the floors and emptied trash bins. Then
something remarkable happened.
During Bob’s first week at WLEA, the station went through a
major staffing upheaval, and WLEA was soon in need of a new
morning host. They thought their new janitor was pretty funny,
cracking jokes as he cleaned. After one week, Bob was offered the
job as WLEA’s weekday morning host. Within the month, he was
promoted to program director.
A star was born.
The Radio Genius

Bob Crane believed in learning. He once remarked that while
in school, he didn’t pay as close enough attention to his lessons Crane at WICC, c. 1953. Bob was the morning drive-time person-
as he should have. After graduation, he became serious about ality at WICC Radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, from 1952–1956.
education and started reading books on just about everything, One of his many on-air gimmicks was the hen that rated the
from English grammar to music and radio. In 1949, he took a records. Courtesy of WICC-600 AM Radio, Bridgeport, CT. Used with
course in station operations/radio techniques at the University permission.
of Bridgeport, but aside from that one course, his learning was
through keen observation and self-study. He analyzed many
different radio personalities—how they ran their shows, told milk is so fresh, why, the eggs are fresh, too!” At that moment, he
their jokes, and delivered their lines. He kept notes on what cued up a record and played a quick sound effect of a hen cackling
he liked and what he believed worked, and he tossed the rest. as she was laying an egg. Immediately after, he returned to the
As time went on, he started to develop his own show style by commercial. The gimmick worked, and Bob began to ponder—if
meshing certain elements together. he could do sound effects, then why not voices. He began doing
WLEA served a smaller market share of listeners. Thus, WLEA different voice impersonations as part of his radio show, working
was the perfect station for Bob to get his feet wet and experiment them into his program. In addition, he kept a drum in his studio
with a unique show style. One gimmick he used almost booth, and for the entire length of his radio career, he would
immediately was the use of sound effects, which he applied to drum along to songs as he played them on the air.
paid advertising spots. Bob remained at WLEA for about nine months. In early 1951, he
During the Golden Age of Radio and even today, a DJ or radio returned to Connecticut—first for a short, three-month stint at
personality would read the ad copy as typed—no alterations, WBIS in Bristol, and then he hopped over to WLIZ in Bridgeport.
retro radio
Bob often explained that he was hired at radio stations for the (RIGHT) Crane with
strangest reasons. At WBIS, they had played his demo reel too WICC colleague Morgan
slow, and thinking Bob had a deep voice, like Edward R. Murrow, Kaolian (as Angie the
they hired him. When Bob arrived at the station, and they Antenna Man) performed
heard him talk (Bob talked fast, with a higher pitch), WBIS was skits together on live
stunned. But WBIS also thought he was funny. After working as television on WICC’s
the station’s morning man for a short time, Bob was promoted Channel 43, c. 1953. Courte-
to program director. Not long after, WLIZ was looking to replace sy of Morgan Kaolian and
their morning host, who had an apparent drinking problem. In WICC-600 AM Radio, Bridge-
April 1951, WLIZ offered Bob the job under one condition: he must port, CT. Used with permission.
not drink! Bob didn’t have a problem
with that stipulation because he
neither drank nor smoked. So he
transferred to WLIZ.
Bob was only one year into his
radio career, and already, he was on a
meteoric rise to the top. (LEFT) WICC lobby card for radio
personality Bob Crane, c. 1955. Courtesy
The Mighty WICC of WICC 600-AM Radio, Bridgeport, CT. Used
WLIZ is usually missed in the telling with permission.
of Bob’s story, if his radio career is
spotlighted at all. Bob started at
WLIZ in April 1951. In November The deli owner was livid. He
1951, WLIZ bought out WICC, home called WICC’s general manager and
of the New York Yankees (WICC is screamed, “I want you to fire that guy,
still home of Yankees’ broadcasts). right now!”
WICC had a stronger signal than But within the hour, the deli
WLIZ, so in February 1952, WLIZ owner called back. “Never mind!” he
management fired all of WICC’s staff exclaimed. “I’ve got a line out the door
and transferred its own WLIZ staff and around the block! I’ve never been
to WICC. From WICC’s original on-air so busy in my whole life! People want
line-up, they only kept the Yankees’ to know what I’m actually putting in
baseball games. It was, without a my sandwiches, and they are buying
doubt, a hostile takeover. them to find out!”
However, this takeover propelled It was a double lesson for Bob. First,
Bob’s radio career to even greater be more careful. Not every advertiser
heights. He became WICC’s morning is going to like having their product or
drive-time host, as well as program service “enhanced.” Second, when done
manager, program director, and properly, it works. He had discovered a
Junior Achievement Advisor. At key to keep a listener’s interest. Instead
WICC, Bob continued to improve his show. He played his drums of turning the dial when the commercial came on, his audience
on the air along to the records, and he continued to “enhance” stayed and listened, curious to know what this radio Mad Hatter
the commercials. Within a very short time, he was taking New was going to do next. Think of when you watch the Super Bowl.
England by storm. Even if your team isn’t playing, you watch often out of curiosity to
He also started taking some on-air risks. Bob’s cousin Jim see the commercials. That is akin to what Bob Crane was doing in
Senich told us about the grinder shop incident. (Author’s note: radio—over 60 years ago.
For non-New Englanders, a grinder is a hoagie or a submarine Rating songs was another of Bob’s on-air antics. These were
sandwich.) One of WICC’s paying advertisers was a local grinder not the hits of the day, however. These were the bombs. The songs
shop/deli. This deli had developed a new specialty sandwich, people hated. The goose eggs. His ratings system consisted of the
and they paid WICC to promote their new sandwich during Bob’s sound effect of a hen that cackled and laid eggs to rate a record.
show. Bob was to read this ad as it was written, and he did—but The more eggs that plopped into the basket, the worse the record
not without taking some liberties. He read on the air, “You won’t was!
believe what they put in their specialty sandwiches! They have By 1955, Bob was a tremendous success at WICC, and he
ham and cheese and roast beef and turkey. And not only that, but wanted to expand his horizons. His sights were fixed firmly on
these sandwiches are also made with sticks and rocks and dirt New York City. He wanted more than anything at that time to
and bits of concrete!” make the move across Long Island Sound and get into the New
Imagine if you were that deli owner, and you heard that York radio market. He knew program directors in Manhattan
coming out of your radio! could hear WICC across Long Island Sound, and he wrote

retro radio
letters to them (on WICC (LEFT) A drummer since about ten years of age, Crane took
letterhead, no less!). He his drum set and drumsticks with him wherever he went,
wanted desperately to including to every radio station where he worked, and
work in New York City. later, to his dressing room on the set of Hogan’s Heroes. His
But it was not to be. drumming talents are featured in two episodes of Hogan’s
While Bob was gazing Heroes. Here, c. 1956, Bob is drumming on the air, which he
across Long Island Sound did daily, along with the song being broadcast over KNX-CBS
and envisioning the Radio. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.
Manhattan skyline, CBS-
owned WEEI in Boston was (BELOW) Crane at KNX-CBS Radio, c. 1964. Bob Crane’s
struggling. At WICC, Bob work in radio was innovative and revolutionary. Accord-
was destroying WEEI in the ing to a KNX promotional flyer: “The Bob Crane Show [is]
market share ratings. CBS the wildest, funniest morning program in radio. Besides
reached out to Bob and keeping you posted on sigalerts, weather, sports, and the best
offered him a job at WEEI. of the ‘good’ music, Bob Crane
Stubborn and confident pokes fun at just about every-
that New York was only a body, including his boss, his
matter of time, Bob turned sponsors, and his guests. He’s
it down. the only radio personality who
CBS was not going to hosts leading film and TV stars
take “no” for an answer. for live, unrehearsed inter-
They made him a counter offer he couldn’t views daily.” Photograph by Sylvia
refuse, and soon, Bob Crane’s whole life was Norris. From the personal collection
about to change. of Carol M. Ford.
Hollywood Calling
On August 11, 1956, Bob Crane signed off shows, and his own skits
WICC for the last time as Bridgeport’s and voice impersonations.
morning “town crier.” He had been lured With everyone satisfied, Bob
by CBS to relocate to the West Coast, and accepted the job at KNX and
specifically, Hollywood. Long-time KNX entered a five-year agreement
morning man Ralph Story had decided to with CBS.
depart KNX and host the $64,000 Question. On September 13, 1956,
This left CBS in a bind. They needed a new Bob Crane went on the air
KNX host for their morning drive slot. They for the first time at KNX
also needed to boost WEEI’s ratings. CBS got in Hollywood, and a radio
creative, killing two birds with one stone. legend came into his own.
They offered the KNX morning slot to Bob. Listeners who were used to
They believed that if he accepted, it would the deep, quiet, subdued
get him out of WEEI’s market and solve their intonation of Ralph Story
problem at KNX. were in for a shock. Like glass
Bob was not so easily tempted, however. shattering on the kitchen
He was used to doing his radio show his way. Having worked at floor, Bob burst onto the radio scene in Southern California, and
radio stations without contractual obligations to the Engineers’ he changed radio forever.
Union, Bob got away with a lot, including the ability to play—or Everything he had learned at stations WLEA, WBIS, WLIZ,
spin—his own records. In the Fifties/Sixties, that was something and WICC were put to the test at KNX. At first, listeners were
only engineers who worked for unionized stations could do, not not too sure about their new morning radio host. Bob Crane’s
DJs. DJs could not touch the records. Bob said he would consider style was brash and is best described as “organized chaos.” It
KNX, but only if he could do his radio show his way, and that was a significant change for Bob, too. KNX broadcast out of CBS
meant playing his own records. Columbia Square in the heart of the entertainment industry. This
CBS wanted Bob Crane, and they wanted him badly—badly was not a small or even medium-size station. This was Columbia
enough to enter into negotiations with the Engineers’ Union Square.
and fight for Bob’s demands. Those who worked with Bob at Columbia Square began operations in 1938, and throughout
KNX explained to us that it almost led to a big strike between the Golden Age of Radio, it had been home to the best and
the Engineers’ Union and KNX. In the end, KNX prevailed, and brightest stars in radio, including (but not limited to) Bob
special dispensation was made to allow Bob to play some of the Hope, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen,
records. Bob’s engineer would play songs and commercials. Bob Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks), and Steve Allen. Dramas included
would play sound effects, gimmicks, segments from variety Gunsmoke, Man Behind the Gun, Dr. Christian, Yours Truly, Johnny
retro radio
(LEFT) Bob Crane getting into make-up for The Donna Reed Show. During the time that Bob was on Donna Reed (1963–1964), he was also
working full-time at KNX-CBS Radio. He would do his morning show from 6:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m. every day, then run over to Columbia
Studios to rehearse or film his segments of Donna Reed, then run back over to KNX to prepare for his next day’s show. From the personal collec-
tion of Carol M. Ford. (RIGHT) Crane interviewed thousands of celebrity guests on his KNX radio show. He’s pictured here with legendary
actor Jack Lemmon, one of Bob’s idols. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.
Dollar, and The CBS Radio Workshop, to name just a few. Musical precise grooves on an album just by looking at it. I compare it
performers included Eddie Cantor, Rosemary Clooney, Bing to the movie The Matrix, and the characters’ ability to read the
Crosby, and Gene Autry. The Bing Crosby Show and The Ed Wynn green coding lines in the film. At one point, Bob had over 20,000
Show were broadcast from Columbia Square, and the pilot albums in his collection, many of them his own creations of
episode of I Love Lucy was filmed “on the Square.” skits, voice impersonations, and sound ef fects. KNX dubbed
As a child, Bob had listened to and idolized such radio Bob Crane radio’s “Man of a Thousand Voices” and a “radio
shows and performers, and this was a far cry from his humble genius.”
beginnings on the East Coast. Would he be able to match such Bob’s show seemed to be spontaneous, as if everything was
radio royalty? just springing to his mind. However, he prepared extensively for
Over time, Bob proved that he not only could match such his show. He would arrive at the station right at six o’clock in the
esteem, but in some cases, surpass it. He perfected his program morning, fly into his studio, and run The Bob Crane Show until nine
and invented the technique of sampling; in other words, he made o’clock in the morning. After he got off the air, he would go to his
his show seamless from start to finish. It was not segmented in office, where he would work throughout the day preparing for the
any way. An ad (which he would usually “enhance”) would run next day’s show, meeting with song pluggers, writing skits, and
through into a skit, which would overlap a song (during which reviewing advertising.
he would drum along with it—again, he kept his drums in the
studio with him), and then time and weather reports would have The Live KNX Celebrity Interviews
additional flare. He would just roll the entire show together, In October 1958, KNX decided there would be a new component
and something he had done during the first hour would be added to Bob’s show: the live celebrity interview segment. This
revisited later on and perhaps throughout his show, almost like portion extended Bob’s show by 45 minutes, and they aired
a running theme. live Monday through Friday beginning at nine o’clock a.m. The
He was able to control his records—the sound ef fects, interviews were rebroadcast Monday through Friday between
gimmicks, skits, and pre-recorded voice impersonations (that two and five o’clock p.m.
he would interact with, live on the air, as if that person were Bob’s live celebrity interviews were an instant success. In
real and sitting in the studio with him). He and his engineer their promotional materials, KNX hailed The Bob Crane Show
(first Dave Jarecki, and later on, Jack Chapman) had what was as “the wildest, funniest morning program in radio. Besides
referred to as “mute communication.” Since his engineer played keeping you posted on sigalerts (pollution reports), weather,
records and commercials and Bob played the other records, sports, and the best of the ‘good’ music, Bob Crane pokes fun at
they had to communicate quickly and silently through the glass just about everybody, including his boss, his sponsors, and his
window separating them in the booth. They knew exactly when guests. He’s the only radio personality who hosts leading film
to pick up and place the needle/stylus on the records to make and TV stars for live, unrehearsed interviews daily.” By this time,
the show work. At one point, Bob had six turntables around Bob indicated that he was more than a DJ. He preferred being
him in his studio, which he called “the horseshoe.” No engineer called a radio personality.
could have kept up with Bob and his innate ability to identify

retro radio
Bob ran his interviews in the same manner as a late-night he could not act professionally. As Bob recalled to Del Moore in
television host, such as Jack Paar, and later, Johnny Carson, an early Sixties interview, CBS told him: “You will not do television
Jay Leno, and David Letterman, and currently, Conan O’Brien, unless we give you the approval—and we’re not gonna give you
Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel. Celebrity guests included approval!”
the A-listers of the day, including but not limited to Jack Lemmon, It didn’t mean he didn’t try. His first known amateur acting
Jonathan Winters, Gene Krupa, Richard Chamberlain, Paula role was in a 1959 community theatre production of the play
Prentiss, Dick Van Dyke, Dick Clark, Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Serling, Tunnel of Love. In 1960, Bob returned to community theatre and
Danny Kaye, Angela Lansbury, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, performed in Who Was That Lady I Saw You With? His acting idols
and more, as well as a horde of others, from a young adventurous included Jack Lemmon, Gig Young, and Jonathan Winters, among
New Zealander named Alan Hall to “the gentleman who shines others, so these plays were a perfect fit for him. And if he couldn’t
the shoes.” Over the next seven years, Bob interviewed close to act professionally, he figured he could perform in community
three thousand prominent individuals from the entertainment theatre to gain acting experience.
industry. Back in Bridgeport, Bob had a taste of television when, in
Bob Crane became one of the most successful radio 1953, WICC launched a fledgling UHF station, Channel 43. Bob
personalities at KNX and in Southern California. In fact, The Bob and fellow WICC artist, traffic reporter, and funnyman Morgan
Crane Show was so successful that advertisers had to pay KNX a Kaolian performed improvisational skits in the style of Ernie
premium to advertise their product Kovacs. The station was a failure
or service during his program. Not because UHF was in its infancy and
only that, but advertisers could expensive, and very few owned the
never buy time only on Bob’s show. special bowtie antenna required
Advertising on The Bob Crane Show to receive the signal. Morgan
was always bundled with other relished telling the story of when
programs, so advertisers were Bob held up a $100 bill on camera
forced to buy time elsewhere in and announced, “Whoever calls
addition to Bob’s show. the station first, wins the money!”
As popular as he was, Bob But nobody called! It was enough,
never quite made it to the top however, to give Bob a bit of TV
spot in the Southern California confidence.
market share. That honor would In 1959, KNX allowed Bob to film
always remain with his radio rival, a small, 45-second stint in the pilot
Dick Whittinghill, at KMPC in Los episode of a proposed television
Angeles. The argument was made, series, Picture Window. Producer
however, that while Whittinghill Max Schulman (The Many Loves of
may have had the market share Dobie Gillis) was from Westport,
(and just by a slight margin), Bob Connecticut, and had listened to
had the people “in the industry” Bob at WICC. Schulman practically
because of his celebrity interviews. begged KNX to allow Bob to take
And because he had the industry part in the series, first as the lead,
insiders, it was easier for him to take then as a co-star, until finally, KNX
his next step: to become an actor. agreed to a bit part in the pilot. The
But he had to wait. CBS wasn’t series was never produced, but it is
going to let him go that easily. considered Bob’s first professional
acting performance.
The Transition to Acting What Bob did not want was
When Bob first accepted the offer to be was a television talk show
from KNX, CBS had a feeling that host. He wanted to act. When
their new, good-looking, talented, Bob Crane in his KNX-CBS Radio booth, 1964. From the Jack Paar stepped down as host of
and exceptionally driven radio personal collection of Carol M. Ford. The Tonight Show, Bob was given
personality might have acting the opportunity to replace him.
on his mind. Being in Hollywood, the risk was always high for He refused the offer. Bob explained, “I wanted to make it as an
DJs in Southern California to “get their start” in radio but then actor, which is something the TV personalities can’t do. My wife
very quickly transition to acting. CBS had invested a lot in Bob, kept looking at the Jack Paar show and telling me that’s what
bringing him out from the East Coast and settling with the I should be doing on television. But I kept telling her she was
Engineers’ Union for him to run his show his way. They needed to wrong. A guy like Jack Paar [was] a brilliant host on The Tonight
ensure he was going to stay put, at least for a little while. Show, but he couldn’t go into movies and play different parts. It’s
At the time he was hired at KNX, Bob signed a five-year almost impossible for anyone, in fact, to do both. I’ve had loads of
contract with CBS. This contract contained a “no acting” clause. opportunities to do a Johnny Carson-Jack Paar-Steve Allen-type
This meant that for the duration of Bob’s first contract with KNX, show. It’s the easiest thing for somebody to say, when they see
retro radio
what I do with guests, ‘Let’s just stick

a camera in the studio,’ but I’ve never
wanted to do that. Art Linkletter and a
lot of other good friends in broadcasting
told me I was a fool not to branch out
into the television emcee business and
maybe become another Jack Paar or
Johnny Carson. But I couldn’t see it. Once
you become identified as a TV emcee,
you’re dead as an actor, and actor is what
I wanted to be more than anything else.”
The moment Bob’s five-year KNX
contract came up for renewal, he
renegotiated. By this time, Bob was a KNX
moneymaker and a radio celebrity, and
CBS did not want to lose him. To keep their
star radio personality happy, CBS lifted
the no-acting clause and allowed him to
professionally act. From 1961 on, Bob had
a yearly contract review and renewal,
and while still formal by CBS standards,
it had become more of a gentleman’s
agreement. After Bob signed one contract
(dated June 6, 1963), KNX’s then-program
director Harfield Weedin included a note
to Bob that read, “You’ve made Mr. Sutton
[KNX general manager] and me very
happy men. Thanks again.—HW.”
The acting door was now wide
open, and Bob stepped through it.
Immediately, Bob started receiving
offers and accepting small roles in films and television series. Bob drumming while in costume as Colonel Robert E. Hogan,
These included Man-Trap (1961), Return to Peyton Place (1961), The c. 1967. Hogan’s Heroes fans should take note that the Liberty
Twilight Zone (1961), The Dick Van Dyke Show (December 1962), The Aviation Museum (www.libertyaviationmuseum.org/) in Port
Alfred Hitchcock Hour (January 1963), and The Donna Reed Show Clinton, Ohio, is the official home of the Hogan’s Heroes props and
(March 1963–December 1964). While on The Donna Reed Show, Bob costumes/uniforms display. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.
continued to work full time at KNX. Donna Reed coached Bob in
acting, and in 1964, at her suggestion, Bob took an acting course
taught by American actress and acclaimed acting instructor Stella chemistry was instant, and they clicked. Bob was offered the role
Adler. of Colonel Hogan.
Bob Crane left The Donna Reed Show of his own accord in The pilot episode for Hogan’s Heroes began filming on January
December 1964. There were no hard feelings. He did not leave 7, 1965, and it wrapped on January 19, 1965. Remembering his
because he wanted more money. He was not fired for allegedly older brother Al and other relatives and friends who had fought,
hitting on Donna Reed or costar Ann McCray (he did not). were injured, and died in the war, Bob was sensitive to the
The reason Bob gave was that he had become bored with the feelings of veterans. He wanted their feedback, and in fact, he
premise. He wanted to act, not play the husband/father/next door insisted upon it. While he loved the premise of Hogan’s Heroes,
neighbor. Offers for a leading role came flooding in, including if veterans were going to be offended by it, then he wanted no
for Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and My Mother, the Car. Throughout this part of it. The pilot episode (minus the laugh track) was sent to
entire time, Bob continued his radio show at KNX and stayed active in veterans’ groups across the country. After screening it, veterans
community theatre. In addition, he performed a small part in the film relayed their approval, stating that without humor, they never
The New Interns, released in theaters on June 1, 1964. would have made it through the war. Bob was sold. He accepted
Then he had a fateful meeting with producer Jerry Thorpe. the role of the brash, ingenious American Army Air Force officer
A new situation comedy was in the works, and it was set during Colonel Robert E. Hogan.
World War II behind enemy lines in a prisoner of war camp. Bob Bob continued to work at KNX for at least half of the first
wasn’t so sure, but nonetheless, he decided to meet with co- season of Hogan’s Heroes, and now, he was holding down two
producers Edward H. Feldman and Bernard Fein about then- high-profile, full-time jobs. In June 1965, shortly after signing a
called Hogan’s Raiders. He liked the idea, so on December 22, 1964, new contract with KNX, he abruptly changed his mind. He had
he agreed to screen test with Werner Klemperer. Their screen to choose between KNX and Hogan’s Heroes; he couldn’t do both

retro radio
A REMARKABLE, YET
without endangering his health. He rolled the dice and gambled
on Hogan’s Heroes. And he won.
COMPLICATED MAN
On August 16, 1965, Bob Crane aired his final show over the
KNX airwaves, formally surrendering his career in radio and to
Since June 29, 1978, Bob Crane’s radio career has been give the world “a gift of laughter” as Colonel Hogan. Hogan’s
merely a footnote to the three over-arching statements Heroes is still, to this day, beloved by many. People have fond
about his life and death: Hogan’s Heroes, his memories of watching the series with their
brutal and still-unsolved murder, and the sex father and/or grandfather. It airs regularly
scandal that came to light during the murder on MeTV and the Sundance Channel, and
investigation. is available on DVD. Fans simply cannot get
The truth is not as sensational as one enough.
might think, and Auto Focus and other While Bob was starring on Hogan’s Heroes, he
resources contain much misinformation— continued to stay close to radio. In 1967–1968,
sometimes deliberately. In an interview with he donated many hours of his time for the
The New York Times on September 29, 2002, U.S. Armed Forces Radio Network, producing
Auto Focus director Paul Schrader stated: recorded broadcasts for American troops
“You know, [John Henry] Carpenter was not serving overseas. In the 1970s, he went back on
as important in Crane’s life as he is in the the air at KMPC, filling in for his radio rival Dick
film. It is a distortion… My intent with Auto Whittinghill and broadcasting a year’s worth
Focus is not to be true or definitive. People’s of specials for the station. He guest-hosted
actual lives are not really that interesting. at several stations across the country, and in
And with Crane I wanted to get at something January 1976, Bob Crane returned to WICC to
meaty. Otherwise, who cares? Would you help the station celebrate its 50th anniversary,
want to watch a movie about Alan Hale?” going on the air with WICC host “Big Al” Warren.
It must be made clear that the scandal surrounding Dee Young, who also worked at WICC as the station’s assistant
Bob Crane was and is nothing more than media glare. business manager and is now retired, met Bob that day. She
It has been proven by law enforcement and others that recalled: “I always remember his smile. He had the greatest,
Bob had consensual sex with adult women only, and Bob greatest smile. He was so nice and pleasant to everybody, and he
occasionally photographed or videotaped some of these seemed very happy to be back in Bridgeport and visiting WICC.”
women with their knowledge. It is also important to stress Bob Crane may be best known for Hogan’s Heroes, his murder,
that Bob recognized he had a sexual addiction and and a tabloid scandal. But there was so much more to this
was seeking professional counseling shortly before his talented, driven, kind, multifaceted man—not the least of which
murder. Remember the era: This is 1978, a time when was his unprecedented and revolutionary career in radio.
talking openly about one’s addiction—any addiction—
was taboo and unaccepted in society. Bob turned to CAROL M. FORD has worked in the
one person—his counselor—who talked with us in publishing industry since 1997. She earned
great detail about Bob’s struggles, decision, and strong her BA degree with Honors in English/
determination to change. Liberal Arts from Glassboro State College
As Bob Crane’s official biographers, Linda J. (now Rowan University) in Glassboro,
Groundwater, Dee Young, and I spent over a decade New Jersey. She is the Director of Editorial
talking with more than two hundred prominent Services, an editor, and a managing
individuals from Bob Crane’s life—family; friends as editor for Anthony J. Jannetti, Inc., a health care association
far back as grade school; coworkers in radio, television, management, marketing, and publishing firm located in
theatre, and film; and the minister who was counseling Southern New Jersey near Philadelphia. Working with nurse
Bob shortly before his murder. We also carried out an leaders, she oversees the production of several clinical peer-
extensive literature review of more than 600 published reviewed nursing journals, publications, and textbooks.
articles, audio recordings, radio airchecks, and video Carol is the author of Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography,
documentaries pertaining to Bob Crane’s life and career. which details the life of the late radio personality and Hogan’s
This was all done in the effort to discover Bob Crane’s Heroes star, and among other written works, is the editor and
true and complete life story, which we present in our owner of Golden Linings, a charitable book series that raises
book Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography, on our website money for shelter and rescue animals. She is owner and CEO of
www.vote4bobcrane.org, in our podcast Flipside: The True Carol M Ford Productions, LLC. In addition to managing podcast
Story of Bob Crane, and via multiple social media accounts. post-production services for clients, she is also currently
With endorsement from Bob Crane’s family and estate, producing the podcast Flipside: The True Story of Bob Crane
we continue to research his life so we can provide clarity (available for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify,
about this remarkable yet complicated man. TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, Spreaker, and everywhere podcasts are
found). Visit Carol’s website at www.carolmford.com for all of her
work.
THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!
WGASA and Other

ODDBALL SECRETS of the
World Famous San Diego Zoo!
Part One
by Scott Shaw!
If you’ve been binge-watching Animal Planet’s The Zoo: San Diego me, growing up in San Diego, everyone referred to it as “world
as I have, I’m sure you’ve noticed the dedication, enthusiasm, famous”—without the hyphen—because the world famous San
and pride of SoCal’s world famous zoo’s employees. They’re not Diego Zoo was the #1 tourist attraction in town. Promotional
acting—that’s all genuine. Although I no longer know any current signage for the Zoo was ubiquitous, and every single one of ’em
employees of the world famous San Diego Zoo, 50 years ago, I included the phrase “world famous.” So I’m sorry, but you’ll just
knew many Zoo staffers who were exactly like this new batch. have to get used to it. Blame San Diego for my “world famous”
I’ve had a lifelong relationship with the compulsion. In fact, to make things
Zoo, including: I first visited the Zoo at the easier on you, I’ll only use its initials,
age of three; served as the first president WFSDZ, most of the time. (But the
of the San Diego Junior Zoological Society; Zoo really is “world famous!”)
displayed my artwork at the Zoo’s public
nexus; worked there during college as
a “waste control technician”; and had a
father who was in a key position there. I
loved the Zoo then and I love it now, even
though it’s completely dif ferent—and
even better!—from the San Diego Zoo I
grew up with during the first two decades
of my life.
But first, here’s a history of Balboa Park’s
“world famous” San Diego Zoo. And believe
(RIGHT) San Diego Zoo founder Harry

Wegeforth and lion cub pal. (FAR RIGHT)
Wegeforth and Galapagos tortoises, 1928.

(OPPOSITE & ABOVE) Collection of mid-century San Diego Zoo postcards.
Zoo History asked her for funding to build fences around its boundaries.
The world famous San Diego Zoo came into existence over a (That’s when the Zoo began charging admission at the whopping
century ago, so it’s built up a lot of history. Here’s some essential amount of ten cents an adult.) She also financed the Scripps Flight
background information. Cage, at 96 feet high and 115 feet long, at the time the biggest
The San Diego Zoo is considered to be one of the finest zoos on aviary in the world. Receiving international attention in 1925, the
the planet, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, it began in 1916, WFSDZ added a number of marsupial animals from Australia,
when San Diego physician Dr. Harry Wegeforth and his brother including two koalas. Things grew from there, and are continuing
drove past Balboa Park (once known as “the gem of San Diego”) and to grow every day.
heard the roar of a lion. Investigating, they found its source: a male The Zoo still calls Balboa Park its home, which stretches
lion from a small zoo exhibit at the 1915–1916 Panama-California 100 acres across the park. It contains more than 3,700 rare and
Exposition. This got Dr. Wegeforth thinking about endangered animals representing over 600 different species.
how San Diego needed its own zoo. After forming The WFSDZ’s collection of exotic plants is worth even more
a team that founded the “Zoological Society of than the critters. Known for its global projects and endangered
San Diego,” the doctor approached the Exposition species breeding programs, the Zoo has a “sister,” the San
and asked if he could have its no-longer-exhibited Diego Zoo Safari Park, in nearby Escondido. The San Diego
array of wolves, coyotes, bears, monkeys, lions, Zoological Society also operates the San Diego Zoo Institute for
bison, elk, and deer. The Expo agreed, and that Conservation Research, and the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife
menagerie became the core residents of what was Conservancy.
often referred to as “Wegeforth’s Folly.” Harry also
adopted the hairy former mascot of a Navy ship, a My Zoo and Welcome to It
young female brown bear named Caesar, who he But before we delve into the secrets, I want to make it clear
drove to the Zoo in the passenger’s seat of his car. that I’m mostly describing the WFSDZ I grew up in, from 1954
Although the public didn’t take him seriously, in to 1979. And although I’ve checked my facts on Zoo history, I’m
1921 Dr. Wegeforth talked the city of San Diego into describing my own experiences from memory. In no way should
granting him permanent land for his zoo in Balboa I be construed as a representative for the San Diego Zoo. I’m just
Park. When local San Diego philanthropist Ellen a proud San Diego boy with some cool and funny true stories for
Browning Scripps expressed interest, the doctor RetroFan readers.
The Oddball World of Scott Shaw!
(LEFT) Goat Mountain, 1926. (RIGHT)

Scripps Flight Cage, which stretches 96
feet high.
The first time I ever visited the WFSDZ was in 1954, when I was or watch television because at that time it was believed that
all of three years old... or less. I was already obsessed with jungle light could permanently damage a measles patient’s eyesight.)
animals. (I didn’t know about dinosaurs yet.) And I could spell [Deprive a kid of TV? Barbarism!—ed.]
“zoo,” since the word was all over San Diego. Anyway, my parents The WFSDZ’s Children’s Zoo opened in 1957, a maze-like
took me to the thing that I knew how to spell. I was very young, so “zoo within the Zoo” project spearheaded by the Zoo’s director,
I’m sure we didn’t stay all day. Dr. Charles Schroeder, intended to be the best petting zoo
The two experiences that are still clear in my mind are seeing imaginable and enjoyable for parents as much as their children.
the giraffes strolling in and out of their incredibly tall wooden Its paddocks were full of goats, sheep, and other safe-to-pet
barn and walking across an overhead walkway that stretched critters, where a kid could buy an ice cream cone full of carrot and
over every one of the water-filled lanes that contained alligators, celery strips to feed the critters… or himself. Plus—and this was
crocodiles, and a monstrous alligator turtle. That memory is discontinued by the Seventies—children had the opportunity
especially vivid. When we returned home from the Zoo, my to ride atop the thick carapaces of gigantic Galapagos tortoises.
parents asked me, “So what did you see today?” I must have been Animal health and insurance issues put an end to that. What
very angry about the cages themselves, because according to my would Charles Darwin say? In 1958, the Children’s Zoo added a
mother, my disgusted answer was, “I see’d da wire.” Feh. mouse tunnel, a snake pit, a turtle aquarium, and a house of
Of course, that was only the first of countless trips to the Zoo. spiders, scorpions, and insects. Charles Shaw, the Zoo’s Assistant
The WFSDZ soon became one of this kid’s two most favorite Superintendent and Curator of Reptiles, noted that “adults at the
destinations in San Diego. (I also loved Balboa Park’s nearby San Children’s Zoo outnumbered the kids, and unlike kids, their heads
Diego Museum of Natural History and the huge Corythysaurus got bumps in the small enclosures.” When no one was around, I
skeleton dramatically imbedded in one of its walls. I even took a once climbed into the aforementioned snake pit, since none of
“natural history” lesson in the Museum’s basement as a little kid the reptiles were poisonous. Unfortunately, the experience failed
and helped stuff a taxidermy-preserved sea lion when I was in to prepare me for working in the entertainment and advertising
college.) industries. I was also unprepared to get severely scratched on my
Zoo admission was free to kids 12 and under, and San Diego forearm by one of the Children’s Zoo’s raccoons during a second
elementary school kids were treated to at least one field trip to grade class visit.
the Zoo every year. My fifth grade Zoo trip coincided with the
unexpected appearance of measles all over my face, arms, and My Dad the Zoo Cop
hands, so that visit was cut short. My mom picked me up and took My father, Garlin V. Shaw, was born in central Illinois in 1918, grew
me to see my pediatrician, Dr. Mena, whose office was located up as a farm kid who hoped to become a sign painter, enlisted
just three minutes away on Park Blvd. Then I went home to a in the U.S. Navy, went through boot camp in San Diego, and
darkened room and listened to the Colpix Quick Draw McGraw shipped out to Pearl Harbor just in time to have his ship capsized
record album over and over. (I wasn’t allowed to read, draw, by a Japanese torpedo in 1941. A fast-track “mustang” officer,

he survived a number of Pacific Theater battles during WWII, toward the assignment, nor the emperor. Dad once told me,
met my mother, got married, had a baby weirdo (me) in 1951, “Most of the Japanese sailors involved didn’t want to be killing
and moved us all to San Diego in 1954 to eventually retire from us any more than the U.S. sailors wanted to be killing them,
the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander and former commanding but war is war.” He never displayed any postwar trauma, other
officer of San Nicolas Island, the so-called “Island of the Blue than staring into the flames in our fireplace and chain-smoking
Dolphins.” cigarettes. Thanks to my dad, we always had free passes to
The day after his retirement from the Navy, he started his the Zoo to hand out to friends, teachers, relatives, and fellow
second career, one as a security guard at the world famous San cartoonists at the San Diego Comic-Con. My father retired from
Diego Zoo. He started out on the night shift, when the newbie the Zoo in 1981, but all of those cigarettes finally caught up with
zoo-cop faced down an automatic ice machine for three hours (he him in 1986.
only heard the rattling and assumed that someone had broken in)
and while taking a smoke break on a moonless night, felt the hot The Junior Zoological Society
breath of a black panther on his nape of his neck, caged but still One day, Dad mentioned to me that the San Diego Zoological
only inches away from him. Society was planning to start up a new educational club for young
Working his way up to the day shift, he once grabbed a thief animal enthusiasts. (In 1917, the Society faced financial challenges
going through the exit turnstile who was smuggling two golden in maintaining the growing animal collection. The San Diego Sun
marmosets out of the Zoo. Dad says he was tipped off by the guy’s had long been interested in establishing a zoo in Balboa Park, and
flinching and groaning as the tiny primates bit him downstairs. offered to use his newspaper to publicize the Zoo and campaign
The terrible smell of their feces was also a poo-clue! for funds. Its publisher ran an animal-related contest in the Sun
Since he was a smart man and good with people, “G. V.” (as in with a circus. He also arranged for the circus to charge children
he was nicknamed) soon rose to the position of the Zoo’s Chief a 50-cent admission fee that would include a membership to the
of Security. One of his more unique assignments was to write “Junior Zoological Society”; 12 cents would go to the circus, 38
instructions for his team of security guards in case of cataclysmic cents went to the Zoological Society. Within two months, the Zoo
emergencies that would affect the safety of the Zoo’s visitors and was out of trouble!)
staff. The scenarios he planned for included: a major earthquake, Anyway, I somehow wound up as the president of the San
the collapse of the Skyfari bucket ride, a terrorist attack, escaped Diego Junior Zoological Society, an institutional moniker
criminals hiding inside the Zoo, escaped animals trying to get out that made “the Legion of Substitute Heroes” sound cool by
of the Zoo, and atomic war, among about 15 more. comparison. Our mentor/chaperone/adviser was the head of the
Another memorable assignment was when he was asked to Education Department, Mr. Brereton. He was a friendly “absent-
oversee the necessary security measures when Japan’s Emperor minded professor” type who reminded me of Sterling Holloway.
Hirohito and Empress Nagako visited the world famous San He was interested in tarantulas, and even had a print shirt that
Diego Zoo on October 9, 1975. They were on a 15-day tour of was festooned with images of tarantulas, which I always envied.
America and visited the Scripps Institute of Oceanography the We broke up the group into specific groups animals that
same day. The Japanese leaders’ tour of America was initiated by we were particularly knowledgeable about. Then we would
U.S. President Gerald Ford. Their visit directly led to the Japan- volunteer as informal docents available to the public if they
United States Friendship Act of 1975. At no time did my father wanted to know more about any animal in the park. Surprisingly,
demonstrate the anger and resentment of my specialty wasn’t reptiles, although
many of his contemporary war veterans I often pestered the Zoo’s Curator of
Reptiles as well as the Zoo’s Assistant
Superintendent, a nice guy named
Charles Shaw (no relation; I already
had one relative at the Zoo), who
seemed to appreciate my mania for
paleontology. No, I went even weirder
and became our club’s expert on what
I referred to as the “Dr. Seuss animals,”
(FAR LEFT) Zoo benefactress Belle

Jennings Benchley, cheek-to-beak
with a friend. Benchley became the
Zoo’s first female director. (TOP
LEFT) Belle and a tapir support
the war effort by entertaining the
troops, 1943. (BOTTOM LEFT) Belle
with ape friends Albert, Bonoba,
and Bata, 1949.

marsupials, such as kangaroos, koalas, and Underground Film Society. We hadn’t seen
my favorite, the platypus. I also met my first a single underground film, other than Don
wife while in this group. I was 14, she was 15, Glut’s impressive and hilarious amateur
so it never even got to handholding then. We movies he showed at Forrest J Ackerman’s
reconnected years later, and five years after “Ackermansion,” but since we were actually
that… we disconnected. (It was quite a divorce more of a comic book/sci-fi/monster movie
when you consider that I was also juggling it club, we mainly used the hip term not to get
with a lawsuit against Filmation Studios over a mocked or bullied. But we did attempt to
vampire duck. Really. My pal Andy Mangels— make our own unauthorized underground
also a regular here at RetroFan—can confirm it!) film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic
In February 1968, the Zoo was adding onto short story about time travel, dinosaurs, and
the gift shop near its exit, and had erected consequences, A Sound of Thunder (1952). Future
a plywood barrier around the worksite. It Dr. Charles R. Schroeder, Hugo Award recipient Greg Bear started
wouldn’t be up for long, so my father pulled director of the San Diego Zoo building the armature for the stop-motion star
some strings and before I had time to really from 1954–1972. of the movie, a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.
prepare for it, I was asked to paint a cartoon Meanwhile, I was cajoling my father for
mural on the barrier! I used black paint to draw three things we desperately needed to give
some goofy zoo animals on its vertical surface, a hard trick unless our film a touch of credibility: tropical khaki clothing, rifles with
you’re used to doing it. I wasn’t and the results were far from plugged barrels, and, by the way, access to the WFSDZ’s access
what I’d hoped for, but it briefly gave my cartooning some public roads which were forbidden to anyone but Zoo personnel. That
exposure. At the time, I was a senior attending San Diego’s Will was quite a bold demand, but of course, my dad really delivered
C. Crawford High School and drawing cartoons for The Pacer, the the goods. First, he called up some of his buddies at San Diego’s
school’s biweekly newspaper, which ran an article about my zoo- MCRD—a.k.a. Marine Corps Recruit Depot—and charmed them
mural with the headline, “Watch Out For This Artist – He May Be into allowing him to borrow some khaki shirts and plugged rifles.
Famous Some Day.” (Didn’t they realize that there are absolutely We wore tan shorts and a few of us had plastic pith helmets from
no famous cartoonists in America? We’re all obscure!) Disneyland, so the combination was quite convincing, at least if
no one noticed that we were 15-year-old boys.
Teenage Safari I still don’t know how my father was able to arrange this,
In my senior year at Crawford High, I was lucky to have a but on a busy Saturday morning, hundreds of Zoo attendees
number of fanboys (and one fangirl!) friends—many of were shocked to see what looked like a teenage safari and film
whom were integral to the creation of San Diego Comic- crew carrying rifles enter the WFSDZ’s front entrance and walk
Con—who were the core of the school club we founded, the across the Zoo grounds to one of the access roads on the south
side of the park. We got a lot of stares. We shot a lot of usable
footage, but like most kids, we had the passion and interest
but graduation was beckoning to many of us from around the
corner. We didn’t advance much further with the production
of our bottom-of-the-barrel-budget Bradbury blockbuster. By
the way, in addition to noted and prolific science fiction author
Greg Bear’s participation in the creation of San Diego Comic-
Con, Crawford High’s cartoonist/illustrator/fine artist/code
artist John Pound, physics professor/author Roger Freedman,
and poet/sommelier David Clark, were not only key committee
members, Jack Kirby turned (most) of us into deadly assassins
from Apokolips, the San Diego Five String Mob (plus one) in DC
Comics’ Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #144 and 145.
Before he drew DC Comics’ Wild Animal Park

Captain Carrot and His The San Diego Zoological Society became interested in
Amazing Zoo Crew, Retro- developing the Wild Animal Park in 1964, with Director Dr.
Fan’s own Scott Shaw! Charles Schroeder, a veterinary authority, was its primary
was part of the San Diego proponent. The idea of the park began as a supplementary
Zoo’s crew, where he breeding facility for the San Diego Zoo, which would allow
provided his mural, ample space for large animals. The animals would be exhibited
which was written up in a natural environment rather than in cages. In 1964, the park
in a 1968 edition of The was assessed financially and chose its most expensive option: a
Pacer. natural environment zoo development. The main purposes of
this zoo were to be species conservation and breeding of animals
for the San Diego Zoo and other zoos, as well as providing areas

(LEFT) Architectural
drawing by Charles Faust
of the entrance to the Zoo’s
Wild Animal Park. (ABOVE)
Main entrance, 1960. (RIGHT) The entrance served as
the backdrop for this Sixties Union 76 magazine ad.
© Phillips 66. Co.
where zoo animals could be conditioned. Opening Day was on couldn’t agree on a name. My father was sitting next to Charles
May 10, 1972. Faust, the designer of most of the Zoo’s “modern” organic
The general layout of the park, designed by Charles Faust, enclosures in the early Sixties and those parts of the Wild Animal
included an African fishing village, an African fishing village, Park that weren’t designed by Mother Nature. When the wave of
large lagoon with a jungle plaza, an aviary at the entrance of the suggested names for the tram died down, there was a long pause.
park and approximately 50,000 plants for landscaping. The first Then Chuck Faust stood up and said with confidence, “I think it
two animals to arrive at the park were the nilgai (an antelope should be called ‘The WGASA Bush Line,’” and sat back down.
from the plains of North India), and the black-and-white striped Without hesitation, the rest of the all-white team—probably
Grant’s zebra (native to East Africa). Other animals to arrive at the relieved that Faust’s suggestion sounded really “African”—never
park include gemsboks, sable antelopes, greater kudus, white thought to ask what it meant, and approved it. And that’s how the
rhinoceros, Indian rhinoceros, the Indian rhinoceros, and ten WGASA Bush Line was supposedly named.
cheetahs. But as I said, my dad was sitting right next to Faust, who’d
On June 30, 2010, the “San Diego Zoo’s Board of Trustees” been doodling on one of those yellow legal pads. Barely after
voted to change the name of the park from the “Wild Animal the park’s designer had announced his choice for a name for the
Park” to the “San Diego Zoo Safari Park” to clarify what it offered. tram, my father looked down at the pad, and this is what he saw,
(The word “safari” is supposed to emphasize “the park’s spacious arranged in a column, with the first letter of each word circled:
enclosures of free-ranging animals”—as opposed to “the closer Who
quarters of the Zoo.” I encourage you to visit them both.) Gives
A
The Secret Meaning of ‘WGASA’ Sh*t,
The fabled WGASA Bush Line no longer exists. A few years ago, Anyway?
the San Diego Safari Park replaced it with an open-air shuttle The name “WGASA” then was submitted to a committee for
called the African Express. approval, remembered Chuck Bieler, a Zoo official at the time.
But in 1972, when the former supplemental breeding facility He too was aware of its true origin, but the others weren’t: “It
opened as the San Diego Wild Animal Park, the WGASA Bush was just a neat African-sounding name. They said, ‘That sounds
line—a silent, electric monorail tram—was the primary way great,’ without any knowledge of what it meant.” Bieler later
for visitors to view the park’s population of animals in an became the Zoo’s executive director and for decades, told people
environment remarkably similar to the African veldt in terms that the name actually stood for “World’s Greatest Animal Show
of vegetation, terrain, temperature, and size. The planning for Anywhere.” Yeah, riiight.
the park began in 1964, and since he was going to be the Chief In the Nineties, my family and I visited the SDWAP to be
of Security for both the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild among display of audio-animatronic dinosaur figures throughout
Animal Park, my father was part of the team assembled to plan its the park. It was during a brutal heat wave and I was pushing
transition from a private breeding experiment to a moneymaking a baby carriage loaded with baby accessories as well as my
public attraction. Incredibly progressive for a team of middle- son Kirby. Suddenly, we heard a blurting announcement that
aged white men, the park would reflect the lifestyles and cultures the visitors had five minutes to clear the place! We panicked; I
from various African countries. was much heavier then, and there was no way I was capable of
At one of their seemingly endless meetings, the topic of an pushing a loaded baby carriage over the hills and valleys between
electric tram was addressed. Everyone was all for it, but they us and the park’s exit. Fortunately, a utility vehicle was coming
our way, so I flagged it down and begged for a lift for my family so dipper” and I’d catch it in my gunny-sack trash basket. (A few
we wouldn’t get locked inside the loaded SDWAP. When the two years after I worked there, the WFSDZ switched from white bread
employees explained that was against the policies of the park, to a healthier option, “bear biscuits.”) Applause or groans would
I pleaded in desperation that we were part of the “Zoo family.” follow, depending on my iffy ability to perform my “trick.”
That got me nothing but icy stares, so I added, “Who gives a sh*t, Speaking of tricks, I kind of tricked my father from doing
anyway?” Their reaction? Grinning, they both said, “Get on!” We his job at the Zoo. On weekends, a few hippies would set up
reached the exit just in time. Thank you, WGASA! shop in front of its entrance, sitting on the cement on either
side of a blanket covered with new underground comix. And
The Quicker Picker-Upper every weekend, my father would roust them away, since it was
Surprisingly, before graduating Crawford High, I received a full illegal to do business on property owned by the Zoo. (The city
scholarship to Cal Western University on Point Loma in San Diego. owned the parking lot.) My friends and I were very excited about
Looking back, I think that the college was somehow desperate to underground comix and we considered them to be “the next step
have a cartoonist working for their weekly campus newspaper. in comic books.” It upset me that my own father was constantly
But since the summer of 1968 was still in front of me, I asked my busting the people that provided many of the comix that were
dad if the Zoo was hiring guys my age… which was only 16. You an influence on my not-yet-professional cartooning, so what
had to be 18 to handle cash, so my father pulled a few strings— th’ hell, I casually grilled my dad about his daily schedule, then,
Dad was an honest, naval version of Sgt. Bilko—and I was hired the next time I was working at the Zoo, I immediately shared
as a “Waste Control Technician,” an effusive title for a mere my information with them! After that, every time he policed the
groundkeeper, or as I referred to myself, a “trash picker-upper.” area in front of the Zoo, the dealers were nowhere to be seen. But
My job was to wander around a specified area of the Zoo, using a when my dad was elsewhere, not only did the underground comix
“grabber” metal trash-picker to stuff refuse into what looked like dealers, their blanket, and their merch mysteriously appear out
a tennis racquet with a gunny sack replacing the meshed strings. of nowhere, they actually gave me a small discount on the issues
Although I was dealing with garbage, it was a wonderful job. of Zap Comix, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, and Air Pirates that I
Other than my home, the WFSDZ was my favorite place in San paid for with money I earned at the Zoo. Wotta ironic deal, eh?
Diego. Despite the close scrutiny I received as the son of the Zoo’s
Another perk was that I was able to learn a lot about the Zoo’s Chief of Security, I was offered a slot in the early morning shift of
residents and operation from their zookeepers, and occasionally, “waste control technicians” from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. I eagerly
the curators. We weren’t buddies, but since I was obviously accepted.
interested in animals, they endured my pestering them with So, why would a teenage boy want a job that required waking
countless questions. A few keepers even took me inside the up at 5:00 a.m.? The lure was simple: No Zoo visitors. These were
“bedrooms” at the rear of each enclosure for its inhabitants the early hours when the animals were waking up and getting fed,
to avoid the public if they wanted privacy. I also learned just the grounds were being hosed down, and it was, by far, the most
how incredibly devoted the keepers were to their beasts, fully interesting, most exciting, and most beautiful time to be part of
aware that, depending on the creatures they were caring for, the action at the Zoo. (What else could overwhelm the revulsion of
they were risking their lives every day… and were fine with that cleaning public bathrooms on “the morning after”?) But I’ve gotta
unsettling fact. My contact with the public was minimal, except admit, the most fun I often had while working at the WFSDZ was
when I happened to be wearing my official WFSDZ khaki shirt, after hours with no tourists present, I was in a lightweight utility
which bore one of those embroidered “name labels”… which vehicle, zipping around the park among the animals as the sun
misspelled my name as “Shan,” not Shaw. Only on those days set. Ahhh, I felt like a new Ed “Big Daddy” Roth hot rod character,
would I be peppered with questions and comments by the “Zoo Fink,” even though I was driving under 35 miles an hour!
tourists, inevitably including a friendly reference to “Mr. Shan.” In 1932, the Zoo’s first veterinarian was hired—Dr. Charles
If I was working in the “Hoof and Horn Mesa” or “Bear Canyon,” Schroeder. He focused on treating and caring for animals using
bus drivers would wing slices of Wonder Bread at the “brown preventative procedures based on his scientific studies of disease
The Zoo comes to you! (LEFT)

These camels get a day trip
to appear in the 1958 Toyland
Parade in San Diego. (RIGHT)
A Sixties’ iteration of The San
Diego Zoo View-Master packet,
which was reissued throughout
different decades.

WGASA Bush line and
(INSET) its respective
patch. Scott Shaw!
reveals what the zoo
acronym actually means
in this column!
and illness. Schroeder’s writing on a wide variety of animal- tropical Brazilian hummingbirds, and 60 other species of tropical
related subjects and his treatment of the Zoo’s residents was birds.
highly praised. He became the Director of the Zoo in 1954 and was When I worked at the Zoo, it was the one place in the park
my father’s boss. He had a reputation as a tough little German where I could take a break and achieve total peace. Sitting inside
who would have been willing to do just about any job in the Zoo, that peaceful sanctuary, if a visitor was dressed appropriately,
if necessary. they could actually promote the possibility of new hummingbird
Dr. Schroeder was also considered to be “the Father of the hatchings. By wearing a loosely knit sweater and was sitting
San Diego Wild Animal Park.” He didn’t manage the place from quite still, it would attract the hummingbirds, who hover around,
behind a desk, and when I was working as a groundskeeper, I’d plucking thin fibers from their clothing, which the tiny birds
always say hello when I’d see him pop up all around the park at would in turn use to build their equally small nests.
any time of day. I think he might have remembered that I was the
kid who drew that ambitious but amateurish mural, because one NEXT ISSUE: Oddball World’s visit to the San Diego Zoo
day, my father brought home a gift to me from Dr. Schroeder! I concludes with Joan Embery and Johnny Carson, Albert the gorilla
unwrapped it to find a framed photo of the “Hodag,” a mythical and other zoo-stars, TV’s Zoorama, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds,
creature that supposedly roamed Wisconsin and its northern city, and more!
Rhinelander. A closer look at the Hodag, a dangerous-looking
critter, would reveal that the image of “the fiercest, strangest, Thanks to the “bitchen” San Diegan Joanne Marshall for jarring loose a
most frightening monster ever to set razor-sharp claws on the few zoo memories! Visit the Zoo’s website at zoo.sandiegozoo.org
earth” was actually patched-together photos of animals and farm
implements, a sort of prehistoric PhotoShop! Something tells me For 48 years (and counting), SCOTT SHAW!
that the good doctor knew just how nutty I really was. has written and drawn underground comix,
The WFSDZ’s Kenton C. Lint Hummingbird Aviary opened mainstream comic books, comic strips,
late in 1964. It was named after the Zoo’s Curator of Birds, often graphic novels, TV cartoons, toys, advertising,
seen on the nature television series Zoorama. Located between and video games. He has worked on such
Wegeforth Bowl and the Children’s Zoo, the round-topped aviary characters as Captain Carrot and his Amazing
was as diminutive as its residents: only 64 feet long, 24 feet wide, Zoo Crew (which he co-created with Roy
and 12 feet high. It housed a collection of 23 different species of Thomas), Sonic the Hedgehog, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the
Simpsons, the Futurama gang, the Muppet Babies, Garfield, the
Garbage Pail Kids, and yes, even Annoying Orange. His career has
SCOTT SHAW!’S ODDBALL COMICS NOT-SO-LIVE! garnered him four Emmy Awards, an Eisner Award, and a
is an 80-minute presentation of comics that make you Humanities Award. Scott is also known for his “Oddball Comics
wonder, “How the !?!#%&!?! did this ever get published?” Live!” visual presentation of “the craziest comic books ever
Scott’s been doing these shows at San Diego’s Comic- published” and for his regular participation in “Quick Draw!” with
Con International since the Seventies. Now you can Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. He was also one of the teenagers
finally see it for free on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ who co-created what is currently known as Comic-Con
DwyQ fsf0NO4 International: San Diego, America’s biggest annual fan event. He can
be reached at shawcartoons.com.
SUPER COLLECTOR
The Partridge Family

Trading Cards
C’mon, Get Collecting
by Ernest Votto
September 25, 1970 saw the debut of The Partridge Family (TPF) recommend the first two albums The Partridge Family Album and
on the ABC television network. The weekly half-hour show The Partridge Family Up to Date), a Charlton comic-book series,
was quickly embraced by an American public looking for good, View-Master reels [two different sets, a rarity reserved for only
solid family entertainment. Inspired by a real pop music family, a handful of TV shows including Bonanza and Happy Days—
the Cowsills (“The Rain, the Park and Other Things”) [see issue #8’s ed.], paper dolls, a TPF toy bus (value as of this writing: $1000 NM),
cover feature—ed.], The Partridge Family, with its excellent mix posters, magazines, a Laurie doll (current value: $250 NM), PF
of comedy, music, and attractive stars, was just too much for TV fan club items, paperback mystery novels (I bought the one with
viewers to resist. Laurie on the cover when I was nine), coloring books, etc.
One of the reasons the show took off right away was the But the one item most treasured by PF fans and collectors is
amazing cast. They say that with the cast of the TPF there the set of Partridge Family cards! Call them bubble gum cards,
was someone for everyone, and I have to trading cards, or non-sport cards, this was the
agree. Oscar winner Shirley Jones (Elmer item that all PF fanatics wanted… and still
Gantry) was the ultimate TV mom (no want today.
offense, Mrs. Brady). David Cassidy (Keith) In 1971, during the height of Partridge
would become one of the biggest music Family, David Cassidy, and Susan Dey
stars of the Seventies because of his Partridge mania, trading-card giant Topps issued a
Family success. Seventeen-year-old Susan 55-card The Partridge Family series. Each
Dey (Laurie) was a very successful model pack offered eight cards plus one stick of
before becoming a Partridge and would bubble gum—a steal at ten cents. It was so
be nominated for a Best Supporting popular that Topps followed it with another
Actress Golden Globe (1973) for her excellent 55-card series.
work on the show. Danny Bonaduce as the Both series followed the same format,
scene-stealing ten-year-old Danny Partridge except the first series of cards had yellow
really helped to bring it home. Adorable borders on the front, while the second series
seven-year-old Suzanne Crough (Tracy) of cards featured blue borders.
was the family’s tambourine, triangle, and By the end of 1971, Topps issued a third
cowbell player. Chris Partridge was played and final series containing a whopping 88
by Jeremy Gelbwaks (Season One) and Brian cards. These are distinguished by their green
Forster (Seasons Two through Four). Let’s borders. Another important difference with
not forget Laugh-In graduate Dave Madden the third series is that the print run must
as our favorite manager, Reuben Kincaid. I have been smaller. The green border PF cards
Unopened pack of cards. The
was nine years old when the show debuted, are much harder to find than the other two
PF wax wrappers featured an
so my favorite character, of course, was the series and command much higher prices on
illustrated of TV’s family band.
gorgeous Laurie Partridge. the secondary market today. The yellow and
© Sony Pictures Television. Courtesy of
The show was very popular with young blue border series sell for about $1.00 per
Heritage.
people right out of the gate, so a ton of card or $100 per set in excellent condition.
Partridge Family merchandise was unleashed The green border series will run you at least
on the American public. Available for teens $2.00 per card and $200 per set in high grade.
and tweens to buy: hit songs (including “I Think I Love You” The green series is a good investment, as there are not a lot of
and “I Woke Up in Love This Morning”), hit albums (I highly them for sale on the secondary market.

(OPPOSITE PAGE and BELOW) A montage of Partridge
Family trading cards from Topps: Series 1 (yellow
borders), Series 2 (blue), and Series 3 (green). (LEFT)
Opened pack wrapper. © Sony Pictures Television. Courtesy of
Heritage.
I prefer the first card series of the three. It has the best photos, of any vintage PF card is
and the yellow borders are the most attractive of the different hard to find, so don’t
colors used. hesitate if you see one for
PF fans, collectors, and investors are also very interested sale. Also, SGC (Serious
in wrappers, unopened packs, empty display boxes, Grading Culture)-graded
and unopened boxes. cards are also available in
Roughly 50 years have passed since these items were originally the collectors’ market.
made available to the public, so they are becoming harder to There are a number of different ways that fans can collect
find and more expensive. Good investments! In my opinion, the these vintage card treasures. You can do the obvious and put
wrapper artwork is bland, while the display boxes have an eye- entire sets together from scratch, or purchase complete sets.
catching photo of the cast. You could collect cards of your favorite cast members. You
All three series contain great photos, with David Cassidy being could collect only PSA-graded cards. You could collect cards
featured the most. Under each photo there is a fun caption: signed by the actors (I would recommend getting these cards
“GETTING IT ALL TOGETHER,” “BERRIES FOR BREAKFAST,” signed in person at nostalgia shows to be sure the signatures are
“LAURIE AT THE KEYBOARD,” “HAPPY TIMES!”—well, you get authentic). Some TPF actors turn up at pop culture conventions
the picture. The majority of the cards have puzzle backs (photo and collectible shows, although at this writing most such shows
segments that connect like a puzzle to form one larger photo), are postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
and some card dealers actually sell the completed individual You might be wondering how to go about obtaining vintage PF
puzzles on eBay, a cool collector’s item. Some of the puzzle backs cards. Well, I have some tips for you. First of all, check out flea
also contain an ad to “JOIN THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY FAN CLUB!” markets as well as garage and garage sales—you can find some
The rest of the cards have song lyric backs, branded as “The great deals if you luck out. Take a look at the classifieds in The
Partridge Family Song Hits.” The song lyrics are accurate and easy Wrapper magazine (www.thewrappermagazine.com), a
to see. They also list the writers for each song featured. periodical that since 1978 has supported the non-sports
PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)-graded cards card world. You will always find several ads with TPF
are very popular with PF collectors. eBay is a very good cards for sale at very fair prices. Of course, there
source to locate these coveted cards. Keith and is always that huge auction monster, eBay,
Laurie PSA cards clearly sell for more than where there are always many card
the other Partridges, for obvious dealers selling TPF cards.
reasons. A PSA-graded 9 (MINT)
of David Cassidy or Susan Dey is Well, I’ve told you everything
going to run you around $20 that you need to know about
per card. There are some real The Partridge Family cards. So,
steals of the other Partridges up c’mon, get collecting!
on eBay. A PSA-graded 10 (GEM MT)
Dedicated to the memory of David Cassidy,
Suzanne Crough Condray, and Dave Madden.
Finding an unopened box of TPF cards, like this Thanks for the happy times!
Series 2 box, is a collector’s dream. © Sony Pictures
Television. Courtesy of Heritage. ERNEST VOTTO is a freelance writer and a true Partridge
Family fan residing in Coney Island.
records, and other assorted cool, kitchsy items of yesteryear! In fact,
I was even named after Samantha from Bewitched!
Already, you can probably tell that I’ve been raised on all sorts of
outasite things like The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, MAD Magazine,
Elvis and Frank Sinatra, Holly-Hobbie, Snoopy, Sid and Marty Krofft, and a
whole bunch of Hanna-Barbara/Filmation/Rankin-Bass cartoons, among
I have thoroughly enjoyed RetroFan since #1. First correspondence. many, many other things. I know that if I were to list all the sitcoms I
The commercial spokesperson article in issue #9 left out two of my watch and the other groovy things I love, I would probably have run out
favorites, Rosie the waitress (Nancy Walker, Bounty) and Mrs. Olson of space by now!
(Virginia Christine, Folgers Coffee, “Good to the last drop”). Collecting super-cool antiques and collectibles is my favorite hobby.
Andy Mangels’ look at Saturday Preview Specials was excellent; I No matter if they’re authentic or reproduction versions, I love ’em all.
look forward to part two. It reminded me of a network special featuring I love records and late Sixties/early Seventies bubblegum music is my
the cast of Happy Days (or possibly Joanie Loves Chachi) that haunts my favorite! In fact, I learned all about your magazine from one of the
memory. It was a Fifties nostalgia special that included a tragic teen grooviest, most talented bands I have ever listened to—the Cowsills!
ballad in the style of “Leader of the Pack”: They are one of my most favorite music groups, and I just LOVED the
interview conducted by Mr. Rob Labbe [RetroFan #8]. It was extremely in-
Papparoni’s Pizzeria, depth, and it really gave an organized account of the Cowsills timeline.
Johnny drove the delivery van. I thought it was really funny that his sister was jealous of Susan and
Not too bright, but we all loved him, that Barry was her favorite. (I can relate to that!) I also thought that
He was the Papparoni’s Pizza man. the Popeye, coloring book, and Smiley Face articles were fascinating! I
would just love to see some articles about Rankin-Bass holiday specials,
I definitely remember Erin Moran and Scott Baio, and kind of and weird merchandise featuring characters from old sitcoms! Keep on
remember Marion Ross were all there, maybe Tom Bosley, too. Any idea keepin’ on, and stay groovy as always!
what special this was? SAMANTHA SIBAYAN
J. HOWARD BOYD
Samantha, you are one groovy chick! Good news: Rankin-Bass’ Rudolph
I don’t, but many one of our readers does. If anyone can identify this appeared last ish, H-B’s Dynomutt is in this issue, and R-B’s Mad
Happy Days pizza spoof, write me at euryman@gmail.com and I’ll share Monster Party is coming in issue #17!
the info here.
And here’s a retro Rosie/Bounty ad for you. Hopefully it’ll be a
quicker-picker-upper for the rest of your day.
As usual another great issue of RetroFan [#9]. I really liked the
long interview with William Daniels, as St. Elsewhere is one
of my top five TV shows ever. He will always be Dr. Craig. I
will now be on the lookout for his book.
Thanks for the ABC comic book coverage [America’s
Best TV Comics]. For years I wondered why Fantastic
Four #19 was never reprinted in Marvel Collector’s
Item Classics. Thank you also to Andy Mangels. I’ve
been a fan of his since back in the day when he was
in the fan press. He always makes whatever topic he
chooses interesting. I have to say, he is one BRAVE
SOUL to watch all those Saturday Morning Preview
shows. They sound awful. I remember seeing
only one: when Star Trek: The Animated Series was
previewed.
I loved the Cyclops article, because some of my old-
time favorites Amazing Colossal Man and its sequel, War
of the Colossal Beast, and many others. Is it possible that
any of these are on DVD? Maybe your correspondents
can let us know if any of these are available and where.
Some requests: Please do not go monthly! I love this
© Hasbro.
magazine but I can’t afford 12 a year. How about coverage

of how G.I Joe went from war toy to Adventure Team?
I know it happened, but I don’t know the mechanics of
how Hasbro did it. Can you also give us a history of the
Wham-O Giant Comic? Where did this get done? Why has none of it
© Proctor & Gamble.
been reprinted, or retooled? I’m sure it’s a cool story.

STEVE ANDREWS
We’re staying bimonthly, don’t worry—monthly publication would

be beyond our editorial capability, and it’s also my belief that it would
be too much of a good thing. And we’ll spotlight G.I. Joe as soon as
possible. And his kung-fu grip, too.
I am a 16-year-old fan of all things groovy and retro. I think that

your magazine is just the most! I love all the interviews you’ve had with
awesome celebrities such as the Cowsills, Geri “Fake Jan” Reischl, and Out of all the articles in RetroFan #9, I was surprised my favorite was Ad
Kathy “Cissy Davis” Garver. Unlike a lot of kids my age, I would rather Men and Women. How funny we still remember them 50-some years
spend my time collecting and learning about all the toys, comics, later. Must’ve done something right to connect that way.

It’s not like a TV series character that, over time, has some depth “He likes it! Hey, Mikey!” pretty much every time I sat down to eat in the
to them. These folks, in contrast, were compulsive ciphers drawn to high school cafeteria. And to this day, thanks to Mason Reese, I have to
their chosen product. It wasn’t so much a sales pitch but an outright stop and think whether it’s “smorgasbord” or “borgasmord.”
obsession. The only variable was whom they would try to convince and The Benny Hill article was also interesting. I discovered him at an age
recruit to live life solely for that product? Perhaps it was that sheer manic when it was always fun to watch because you might catch a glimpse of
predictability that made them so charming? naked boobs. But I got to love the raucous comedy and especially the
I’d have to go with Mr. Whipple as the strangest and most endearing helter-skelter chase scene at the end, with that infectious sax tune.
of all the pitchmen. Not only did he fixate on toilet tissue, but would try Also of note this issue was the Captain Nice article. As a kid I couldn’t
to repress the same bizarre quality in others giving it such weird irony. figure out why they would have two such similar shows (I thought the
These days, if Mr. Whipple were still around, it would be, “Please don’t same thing about The Munsters and The Addams Family); I thought, “gee,
hoard the Charmin.” don’t the guys at one network ever talk to the guys at the other two?”
They used the same approach in many animated commercials where Kids have strange thoughts on how television works. And, again, only in
the key to happiness and self-fulfillment was the cartoon animal getting RetroFan can you find articles dedicated to obscure shows like this. You
his mitts on the beloved box of cereal. Viewers at home, by extension, can find books about the more enduring TV shows of the day, but stuff
didn’t want to pass up that Utopian bliss and grabbed up their own like this is fun to see. More, please!
boxes of Trix and Lucky Charms. Finally, the article on MANC just made me drool. Visiting this
I must’ve seen Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific when they were on. Yet, convention is one more thing to put on my bucket list.
honestly, I remember nothing about either show (besides them being A final suggestion. In elementary school, it was always a special day
short-lived). Not enough episodes for syndication. Maybe where Batman when we got our copy of Weekly Reader; in high school, it was the arrival
was novel, a year earlier, we could now take such nonsense for granted? of Scope Magazine. Any chance of doing an article on these two subjects?
Or in too large doses, across the dial, it was wearing thin? Scope particularly sticks in my mind because of a comic strip called
Loved the Saturday Morning Preview Specials. One sounded worse “Rebel.” I’d always wanted to learn a little more about that.
than the next, which cracked me up. Bad cartoons with live-action MICHAL JACOT
hosts contractually obligated or on their way down. What’s so funny?
Karmic payback! Most of the super-heroes I loved, circa 1966–1968,
were deemed “too violent,” leading to inoffensive or music-based Michal, I haven’t thought of Weekly Reader (a.k.a. My Weekly Reader),
replacements. After that, no need to awaken early on Saturdays. Still, “The Children’s Newspaper,” in eons! It and Scope (the school mag, not
funny to see Darth Vader with Jim Backus, Marty Allen, and Soupy Sales. the minty mouthwash) would make a fascinating article… and if ye ed
Random beyond belief! can find a knowledgeable writer to tackle it, you’ll find that subject in
Actually learned something with your ABC TV Comics article. The Mr. these pages one day.
Fantastic cover figure that seemed so Kirbyish, was, according to Scott In the meantime, enjoy this Weekly Reader flashback from
Shaw!, Trimpe/Verpoorten work. News to me. Bought that later, as a November 1960. Betcha it’ll make you want to reread our Major Matt
back issue. But was unhappy they put it out. I always wanted to read FF Mason article back in RetroFan #5!
#19 (Rama Tut) which was skipped over in Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics.
Here, only half the issue was printed. Looked, as a kid, and could never
find the back issue. Eventually, I did… by accident. At a barber shop,
sitting there, right up top, was an FF issue with a cover I’d never seen.
Sure enough: #19. But what are the odds of finding it, still intact, seven
years after release?
The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention article was fun and
informative but the photographs, with collectibles, were too small to see
anything.
However, there was one gem, in the text, that I found to be
wonderful news: Marta Kristen will be in RetroFan #13! Guess that’ll be
eight months after the comic shops reopen. Can’t wait!
JOE FRANK
Marta Kristen is no longer lost in space, Joe, as of this issue!

The biggest challenge RetroFan designer Scott Saavedra and I have
is making everything fit in each issue, as we, and our writers (myself
included), tend to pack two issues’ worth of trivia and treasures into
each issue’s article. Sometimes, some photos appear smaller than
I would’ve hoped, like with the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention
article, but at least you’ll never feel like we’re cheating you of content!
Another fine issue of RetroFan! I can’t believe you’re already up to nine

issues!
I enjoyed the interview with Reb Brown, who, like the character he
played, seems like an all-around good guy. I remember some comics
fans grousing that this wasn’t a faithful adaptation of the Star-Spangled
Avenger, but I was just happy to see some of my four-color heroes on TV.
And while those live-action comics-based programs from the Seventies
weren’t entirely true to their source, they opened the door for the
big-budget movies we all thrill to today. And, obviously, they are well
remembered by fans.
I loved your article on Ad Men and Women! Where else but RF would Tell your friends about us, and share your comments about this issue by
you find insights and information on Mr. Whipple and Josephine the writing me at euryman@gmail.com.
Plumber? Two more pitchmen of that time came to mind when I read MICHAEL EURY
this. The first one was Life Cereal’s Mikey. Since my name is Mike, I heard Editor-in-Chief

REJECTED!
Just keep telling yourself, "This isn't a real cover... this isn't real a real cover..."
by Scott Saavedra
RetroFan Transmitted Bi-Monthly WE CONTROL THE ARTICLE

ABOUT BOB CRANE.
I am not Bob!
YES YOU ARE.
Sit quietly and we...I said

SIT!... okay... we will control
all that you see and read. All
of it. You are about
to experience the
awe and mystery
which reaches from
the inner mind
to... the limits of...
RetroFan! WE HAVE OUR EYE ON YOU.
Maj. Don West and Judy Robinson get lost in each other's eyes. They are found days later by talking vegetables.
The short, tragic life of the square Frisbee with hardened edges. Dynomutt, Scooby-Doo, and Astro walk into a Hanna-BAR-bera...
We Control The Fonts You See & Hear!

RetroFan: 2021 Issues!
Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-the- Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remem- An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER,
MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, scenes photos of many of your favorite bered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview.
Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party,
Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of Wham- interview with Green Hornet VAN EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with
O’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of
sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie television, TV’s Zoorama and the San 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak
Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Diego Zoo, The Saint, the lean years of photos of Sixties movies, an interview with “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab
Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turned- JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly features! Featuring columns by FARINO,
MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want, bad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW,
and MICHAEL EURY! and more fun, fab features! more fun, fab features! of comic book art, and more! and MICHAEL EURY.
(Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Feb. 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2021
SUBSCRIPTION RATES ECONOMY US EXPEDITED US PREMIUM US INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL ONLY

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BACK IN PRINT IN 2021:
AMERICAN COMIC BOOK

CHRONICLES
The 1950s The 1990s
NEW PRINTING WITH MINOR TEXT KEITH DALLAS & JASON SACKS detail the
MARVEL COMICS REED CRANDALL CORRECTIONS, AND EVEN BETTER
BINDING AND DURABILITY!
decade X-MEN #1 sold 8.1 million copies,
IMAGE COMICS formed, Superman died,
IN THE 1970s ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS
(Softcover Edition) BILL SCHELLY tackles the Atomic Era of Batman broke his back, Neil Gaiman’s
(Expanded Edition) Marilyn Monroe and Elvis: EC’s TALES SANDMAN led to the VERTIGO line of
ROGER HILL’s history of Crandall’s life and adult comics, and gimmicky covers, skimpy
PIERRE COMTOIS’ sequel covers how STAN FROM THE CRYPT, MAD, CARL BARKS’
career, with never-seen photos and unpub- costumes, and mega-crossovers ruled!
LEE became publisher, JACK KIRBY left Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge, the
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Marvel, and ROY THOMAS rose as writer & FLASH in Showcase #4, return of Timely’s (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER)
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March 2021 No. 13 $9.

ZONE OUT ON SCI-FI TV

RETROFAN #11 RETROFAN #12

RETROFAN #6 RETROFAN #7 RETROFAN #8 RETROFAN #9 RETROFAN #10

RETROFAN #1 RETROFAN #2 RETROFAN #3 RETROFAN #4 RETROFAN #5

The Crazy Cool Culture 30

CONTENTS Issue #13 March 2021

Columns and Departments

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF While RetroFan is an escape from real-world problems like the

Mark Wolf pre-Hogan fame as a popular L.A. disc jockey, so this

of a multifaceted creative artist in Carol’s superb Star Holy Backstage Pass!

OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep

2 RETROFAN March 2021

Lost in Space © Space Productions.

RETROFAN March 2021 3

MeeT from the captain because he didn’t

DON October 2019. Photo

GODDarD producer. He knew what he was doing.

4 RETROFAN March 2021

RF: Definitely a visionary, not just your Mark Goddard as

RETROFAN March 2021 5

6 RETROFAN March 2021

RF: Well, thank you for your time!

RETROFAN March 2021 7

MeeT MK: I think because, as you said, there

RF: …civil rights protests…

KrisTeN huge difference in visually how it was

RetroFan: I want to start with a question

RF: I was a kid back then and largely

8 RETROFAN March 2021

MK: He was the saboteur… but Jonathan

© Space Productions. Courtesy of IMdB.

RF: To tie into your earlier comment, the

10 RETROFAN March 2021

Marta Kristen and the artist of the Judy

The Jupiter Experience is a traveling exhibit of Lost in Space

12 RETROFAN March 2021

RETROFAN March 2021 13

Collage by Ernest Farino.

RETROFAN March 2021 15

16 RETROFAN March 2021

(RIGHT) “Eye of the

Now, see what happens when you smoke

(ABOVE) “Two” takes

RETROFAN March 2021 17

(LEFT) Rod Serling visits

(ABOVE) Grant Keate applies the

Future Captain Kirk William Shatner delivers a riveting performance as he experiences a

(LEFT) Author Charles

18 RETROFAN March 2021

“The Invaders”’ Agnes Moorehead has no dialog and her

(LEFT) Rod Serling appeared on

RETROFAN March 2021 19

(LEFT) This photo, which also appeared in the September 8, 1964

The Outer Limits

20 RETROFAN March 2021

continues to haunt my imagination I don’t recall if I started off with

RETROFAN March 2021 21

At Project Unlimited in Hollywood, Gene

So now, a few photos highlighting other episodes…

(ABOVE) The Galaxy Being was cleverly

(RIGHT) Robert Culp and Arlene Martel

22 RETROFAN March 2021