"jeffbert" wrote:I could name a few from my childhood, but for those under 50, this would mean little. So, I will state that I hate it when the importers dumb-down any series. ASTRO BOY is just one of many, but to my knowledge, it is one of only a few that failed. I do not know if it would have done any better if it had not been chopped up, though the fact that only the 1st half was published on DVD in Korea suggests that it may have failed anyway.
In the 1960s, there were a bunch of live-action shows with goofy costumed characters. LAND OF THE LOST was 1 of them. I watched the 1st DVD in the set a year ago, & other than the nostalgia, it was just awful. I laughed a bit, but only by using the commentary track could I endure even 3 eps. I suppose this was based upon either Verne's or some other author's underground adventures, but when making it kiddie fare, it just became stupid.
Likewise, I watched the 1st DVD of GROOVIE GOOLIES, only because I wanted to hear some of its songs again. Tezuka may have originated the bank system, but this show used it to death. There was only about 2 minutes of unique animation in each show. Take the songs for instance, there were clips of the monsters playing their instruments that were used many times just during 1 song. Each song had about 20-25 seconds of actual lyrics, but these were repeated 4-5 times, making the songs last about 2 1/2 minutes each. During each song there was a unique but very short animated clip that had whatever theme the lyrics were about, but this clip was only about 5-6 seconds, and repeated frequently between the various clips of the musicians. Dracula, or 'Drac,' Wolf man, 'Wolfie,' 'Frankenstein's monster, 'Frankie,' & a mummy 'Bone-apart,' were the main characters, & the musicians, but there were a few others, a Vampire woman and 2 boys obviously modeled on Eddie Munster.
I just realized that this was obviously a spin off of SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH.
For a kids' cartoon, this had little if any plot. There were no adventures; rather, it consisted of a kids' version of LAUGH-IN, again reusing ad-nausium the clips. The characters just performed very short gags, and told jokes & riddles. It was pretty lame.
MONSTER SQUAD: Another live-action show with Dracula, Wolf man, & Frankenstein's monster as heroes who drive around in a custom van and have a secret base similar to Batman's cave.
I suppose there were a few that may have been worse, but these I remember.
How could you not see the epicness in SPONGEBOB! 
