Uncle Croc's Block
Encyclopedia
Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated
series on ABC
, produced by Filmation Associates.
played the titular Uncle Croc, who hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr. Rabbit Ears and Jonathan Harris
as Basil Bitterbottom, the show-within-a-show's frustrated director.
Each episode contained a "Star Time" segment, in which parodies of popular characters would appear, usually making denigrating remarks about the show and/or its staff, and demonstrating their abilities (or lack thereof). Guests included:
on September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, Uncle Croc's Block was up against the second half of hugely popular The Shazam!
/Isis Hour (another Filmation property) and Far Out Space Nuts
on CBS. The series was cut in half for a 30-minute format, then scrapped on February 14, 1976
after half a season on the air. As a result of the show's poor performance, ABC president Fred Silverman
severed all ties with Filmation and began commissioning its Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera
, with whom Silverman had a working relationship during his time at CBS
. In an attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated Groovie Goolies
episodes as a new segment, redubbed the Super Fiends (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera
's Super Friends
), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The popularity of the Goolies and its more striking style might well have helped the sagging ratings. The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, The Groovie Goolies and Friends, and would also resurface in the home video market in the 1980s.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
series on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, produced by Filmation Associates.
History
A spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
played the titular Uncle Croc, who hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr. Rabbit Ears and Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris was an American stage and film character actor. Two of his best-known roles were as the timid accountant Bradford Webster in the TV version of The Third Man, and the comic villain Dr. Zachary Smith, in the 1960s sci-fi television series, Lost in Space...
as Basil Bitterbottom, the show-within-a-show's frustrated director.
Each episode contained a "Star Time" segment, in which parodies of popular characters would appear, usually making denigrating remarks about the show and/or its staff, and demonstrating their abilities (or lack thereof). Guests included:
- Captain Klangeroo - A gentle mocking of rival kiddie show host Captain KangarooCaptain KangarooCaptain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
. - Mr. Mean Jeans (Huntz HallHuntz HallHenry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
) - A goof on Mr. Green Jeans from Captain KangarooCaptain KangarooCaptain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
. - Sherlock Domes (Carl BallantineCarl BallantineCarl Ballantine was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go...
) and Dr. Watkins (Stanley AdamsStanley Adams (actor)Stanley Adams was an American actor and screenwriter.-Career:Born in New York City, Adams had his first film role in 1952, when he played the bartender in the movie version of Death of a Salesman...
) - Witchie Goo Goo (Phyllis DillerPhyllis DillerPhyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
) - A send-up of H.R. PufnstufH.R. PufnstufH.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...
villainess Witchiepoo. - Junie the Genie (Alice GhostleyAlice GhostleyAlice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
) - A take-off of Jeannie from I Dream of JeannieI Dream of JeannieI Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
. - Captain Marbles (Marvin KaplanMarvin KaplanMarvin Kaplan is an American character actor and voice artist. Kaplan is probably best known for his recurring role on the sitcom Alice where he portrayed a phone company employee named Henry Beesmeyer who frequented Mel's diner. He was a part of the cast from 1977 to the series end in 1985...
) - Inept alter-ego of Billy Bratson, appearing when he intones "Shazowy!" A spoof of Captain MarvelCaptain Marvel (DC Comics)Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
. - Steve Exhaustion The $6.95 Man (Robert RidgelyRobert RidgelyRobert Ridgely was an American actor and vocal artist, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work.-Career:...
) - A parody of Steve AustinSteve AustinStephen, Steven, or Steve Austin may refer to:* Stone Cold Steve Austin , American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler* Steve Austin , Australian dog trainer* Stephen F...
, the title character of the then-popular TV series The Six Million Dollar ManThe Six Million Dollar ManThe Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
. - Bogey Bear - A manic-depressive character modeled on Yogi BearYogi BearYogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...
- Miss Invis - A woman who falsely claimed to be able to make herself invisible.
Cartoon Segments
The show also included the cartoon shorts:- M*U*S*H (short for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes): Sled dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s (voiced by Kenneth MarsKenneth MarsKenneth Mars was an American television, movie, and voice actor. He may be best-remembered for his roles in several Mel Brooks films: the insane Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in 1968's The Producers, and the relentless Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Fredrich Kemp in 1974's Young Frankenstein...
and Robert RidgelyRobert RidgelyRobert Ridgely was an American actor and vocal artist, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work.-Career:...
) work at a medical outpost in the frozen wasteland of upper Saboonia, in a lampoonParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of M*A*S*H.
- Fraidy CatFraidy Cat (TV series)Fraidy Cat is a 1975 comical children's cartoon show that originally appeared as a segment on Filmation's short-lived ABC series Uncle Croc's Block.-Plot:...
: Fraidy Cat (voiced by Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
) is haunted by the ghosts of 8 of his 9 lives (each voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
).
- Wacky and Packy: A prehistoric cavemanCavemanA caveman or troglodyte is a stock character based upon widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved...
and his pet woolly mammothWoolly mammothThe woolly mammoth , also called the tundra mammoth, is a species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia...
(both voiced by Allan MelvinAllan MelvinAllan Melvin was an American character actor who appeared in several television shows, including the roles of Corporal Henshaw on The Phil Silvers Show; Alice's boyfriend Sam the Butcher on The Brady Bunch; and Archie Bunker's friend Barney Hefner on All in the Family and Archie Bunker's...
) end up trapped in the modern timesPresent dayThe term "present day" is used to describe the approximate period of time that surrounds the present. Depending on the context, this period may be as narrow as referring to the immediate moment, or as broad as referring to the current year or decade...
.
Broadcast history
The series premiered at 10:30 AM ETEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
on September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, Uncle Croc's Block was up against the second half of hugely popular The Shazam!
Shazam! (TV series)
Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
/Isis Hour (another Filmation property) and Far Out Space Nuts
Far Out Space Nuts
Far Out Space Nuts is a Sid and Marty Krofft children's television series starring Bob Denver as Junior, a seemingly dim-witted but uniquely clever maintenance worker employed by NASA, and Chuck McCann as Barney, his grumpy, short-tempered co-worker. Patty Maloney played Honk, their furry friend...
on CBS. The series was cut in half for a 30-minute format, then scrapped on February 14, 1976
1976 in television
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
after half a season on the air. As a result of the show's poor performance, ABC president Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...
severed all ties with Filmation and began commissioning its Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
, with whom Silverman had a working relationship during his time at CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. In an attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...
episodes as a new segment, redubbed the Super Fiends (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The popularity of the Goolies and its more striking style might well have helped the sagging ratings. The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, The Groovie Goolies and Friends, and would also resurface in the home video market in the 1980s.