You thought I was done covering the Power Rangers public service announcements? Oh, no. We’re about to dive into the rabbit hole again and look at three more awful PSAs that deserve our scorn. I just hope you learn something from these. God knows I can’t teach you. TV raised me just fine, and now it can raise you. You can tell everyone at school that your grandfather’s name is Magnavox. Read More
The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring, Part Two
When we last left the Bear Scouts, they had just discovered that local con-man Ralph Ripoff is organizing a rock rally for his employers, Moose Tobacco. This is bad news, because the scouts originally hoped that Ralph would help them organize a health rally that Beartown Hospital was planning. What’s worse is that both rallies are scheduled for the same weekend. At least they’ll both be held up by the third rally taking place that day, the 3rd Annual Mug-A-Thon. (I took my son last year. He was pretty familiar with it-that’s where I first got him.) Read More
The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring, Part One
From what I can tell, The Berenstain Bears and the Sinister Smoke Ring was part of some national effort to raise awareness about smoking. The idea that these books exist across the United States is bad enough, but you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that my young cousin had this book in her room. Are they still giving this out to students? I swear, it’ll be making the rounds even when we’re living in space and getting high on marijuana in a tube. Read More
Fox Kids Club’s “Totally Kids” Magazine
I loved watching the Fox Kids cartoon block while growing up. Their shows just seemed more exciting and memorable than anything the other channels offered. Plus, the block always felt larger than life. You could argue that Fox Kids was more successful than One Saturday Morning or whatever CBS had-after all, Fox did bring us Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, as well as animated shows from Warner Brothers that would eventually move to their own channel. Fox Kids respectfully used the air time previously occupied by these shows to air a cartoon about cockroaches. Read More