And that's that. This was part of one of the numerous Hanna-Barbara anthology series kicking around in the 70's and early 80's. I believe it was also one of their five attempts to recreate their runaway success with The Smurfs. On one hand, like Shirt Tales, the series does get better as it goes along, particularly later episodes that focus on unique characters or aspects of their world like "Jingle Pods" and "Cloud City." The goofy reggae-esque theme music grows on you, too. Some of the villains, including the Sand Witch of "Moncho's Gift" and red-eyed Horgg, can get pretty scary, too (and they're all generally more effective than Gargamel).,
Trouble is, divorced from the jungle setting, this is pretty cutesy stuff. The Monchichhis themselves are either bland (Moncho, Kyla) or annoying (Tootoo, Thumbkii) or both (Wizzar). They talk about the Monchichhis meaning happiness in the opening, then do almost nothing with the all-important Happy Works after the first few episodes. Despite the all-star cast that includes Peter Cullen as two of the Grumplins, Frank Nelson as Wizzar, and Robert Morse as Moncho, none of the characters are really all that distinguished or interesting. The animation is even less so, with stilted movement and poor continuity.
If you can get them past some mild cartoon violence and fairly scary villains, younger elementary school-age kids who will enjoy the Monchichhis' antics and those who remember when this show used to re-run frequently on USA in the 80's like me are probably the best audience for this nowadays.
Headed out after the cartoon ended. Since the schools are out for Yom Kippur, I had extra time today to focus on my library trip. Went across the street to pick up the bus to the Voorhees Library. No trouble going there, other than dodging some road work in Oaklyn. I got off around 11:30.
The Voorhees Library is one of the largest libraries in Camden County along with the Cherry Hill Library and the Bellmawr Library. I explored the vast children's area first, looking at fairy tale picture books and admiring the view of the stand of trees and water outside the wide windows and the cute wooden kitchen playset in the play area. It was pretty busy, though, so I didn't stick around. I peered at the adult fiction stacks briefly before heading upstairs.
The second floor is entirely given over to the adult non-fiction and to meeting rooms. I found a couple of really interesting books on musicals. I've been reading some version of the Stanley Green Broadway Musicals Year By Year series since I found one of the earlier editions at the Villas Library years ago. The one I read went up to 2010 (American Idiot and Million Dollar Quartet are the latest shows profiled), but I was more interested in less-discussed shows of the 1910's, 20's, and 30's that are almost never revived in their original forms today like Maytime, Sally, Tip Toes, and DuBarry Was a Lady. I also found The Movie Musical! by Jeanine Basinger, who wrote that wonderful book on silent stars in the late 90's and a book on demolished Broadway theaters.
By quarter after 1, I was dodging more adults looking for books upstairs. Time for lunch. I went across the street and past the Voorhees Town Center to Restaurant Row. Well, it's supposed to be Restaurant Row. There aren't that many restaurants left. There's an Indian restaurant, a fancy Brazilian steakhouse, a Chinese restaurant, and Crust n' Fire, a fancy pizza place. I originally wanted pizza, but they don't sell slices. As it turned out, their wraps may be even better. I had a Caprese chicken wrap - chicken with arugula, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette on a whole wheat wrap. Yum! The wrap was too thin to hold all of that, but it still tasted delicious. Their crispy "Jersey Shore" fries were even better. I washed it down with a Diet Pepsi.
Went to Boscov's next. Boscov's is the only store that's still open at the Voorhees Town Center. Some Voorhees government offices have reopened, but most of the other stores closed even before the Town Center's food court had a nasty fire in 2024. Luxury condos, a beauty school, and a couple of restaurants do not make a "Town Center." Boscov's wasn't much, either. They seem a bit smaller than the other Boscov's in Deptford. There wasn't much in their shoe department. I didn't see any sneakers I could use for running errands and headed out. It didn't help that it was really busy too, including families with children and strollers that blocked aisles.
I was going to take the bus home after that. I assumed the bus would pick up on the Voorhees Library side of the road, but...the 403 never came that way. There was some excitement while I was waiting. I couldn't see what happened - a sign and bushes blocked my view - but an older lady apparently had a nasty fall in the parking lot of the senior housing next to the library. On one hand, the poor older lady did not want to go. She kept yelling that she was fine, she didn't need help, she wanted to be left alone...even though if someone called cops and paramedics, she was obviously anything but fine! On the other hand, the police and paramedics were just trying to help an older lady and do their jobs. They did finally take her away on a stretcher.
After all that, I gave up on waiting and went back into the library. This time, I checked out the adult fiction section downstairs. Their science fiction isn't much, but they have a wonderful mystery section! I saw all or most of the books in some of my favorite series and many individual historical thrillers. I didn't take anything out because I'm going on vacation and won't have the time to read them, but I will be coming back here later in the fall or winter.
I did finally catch the 4:03 bus home, on the right side this time. I should have been more careful and caught the earlier one. The bus stopped at every block to pick up workers on their way home from the stores and offices on the White Horse Pike. Between that and the traffic, a 15 minute trip turned into almost 40.
When I did get home, I finished The Train to Impossible Places by P.G Bell while The Price Is Right played before switching to Match Game '76 during dinner. I have no idea why Buzzr kept skipping ahead. The first episode introduced George Kennedy to the show. The next two featured Bob Barker and Patty Duke. The last featured Gary Burghoff and debuted elegant Susan Sullivan.
Finished the night with game shows on PBS and Public broadcasting. The US Public Broadcasting System was late to game shows. They didn't really have the money, and they seemed to be contrary to their mission to educate and entertain. It wasn't until 1978 that they finally jumped into the fray with We Interrupt This Week. It's too bad they didn't start sooner and that there isn't more of this show existing. This hilarious panel show spoofs current events, and despite only lasting three months in two runs, what little is currently available is hilarious.
Before that, most local stations had their own quiz bowls for high schools and colleges based on GE College Bowl. Some of them were so popular, they started in the 70's and continue to this day! One of those long-running quiz shows is Scholastic Scrimmage. High Schools from the Lehigh Valley area have been competing against each other on Pennsylvania PBS WPSU for 50 years. In fact, I have a recent episode from earlier this year.
One of the major events on PBS in 1982 was Top of the World. This British show featured Australian, American, and British competitors playing in England. The show played in all three countries via satellite. Despite it being a huge undertaking, and host Eamonn Andrews' promise that it would return, the show only lasted 4 months, and PBS never tried anything this ambitious with a game show ever again. Only the big finale exists today.
In fact, they wouldn't run another national game show until Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego in 1991. Greg Lee was the enthusiastic host as three "gumshoes" tried to figure out where Carmen's oddball assortment of criminals took this week's improbable landmark. Actually, "The Purloined Pooch" is, for once, something someone could reasonably steal. In the pilot episode, seemingly sweet Patty Larceny made off with a lapso apsu from the East African Kennel Club's big dog show. As the Chief (Lynne Thigpen) points out in the beginning, the scoring may have been different, but it's still the same game...and still gives us the same wonderful lessons in geography at a time when the map of the globe was changing daily.
World was such a smash hit, Thigpen went right into a follow-up in 1997. Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego, alas, only lasted a year. I think it's too bad. Learning about history is just as fun as learning about countries of the world, and the space theme is really fun and even scary. In the premiere, Jacqueline Hyde, who jumps rapidly between a sweet school girl and an insane criminal, stole P.T Barnum's famous "Greatest Show on Earth" slogan. This leads to questions on the history of advertising, from Barnum's ballyhoo in the 1870's to the debut of the Home Shopping Network in the 1980's.
This was far from the last time PBS did game shows for children. Design Squad was a two-year hit on PBS Kids Go! in the late 2000's. It's very similar to Destroy Build Destroy on Cartoon Network, only here, the kids don't destroy their design. It's something that has to help their fellow kids or a local business. In this case, they help kids who love their pool make a water pump that will allow their pool slide to be wet and slippery.
There were game shows for adults in the 90's, too. Think Twice from 1994 was PBS' first attempt at a quiz show since Top of the World. Two pairs answered questions, used their imaginations to create a story from words, and guessed a question from a list of answers ala Family Feud. Honestly, this was really fun, especially using worlds to make up a story, and I'm surprised it didn't last longer than 6 months.
This is PBS. Celebrate America's public broadcasting system with wacky criminals, tough-lady Chiefs, hopeful kid designers, and hilarious panelists!