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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 12:21 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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A recent mention of the "Laff-a-lympics" on the Hanna-Barbara thread sent me digging out some old DVDs. I recall loving this show as a child in the 1970s. For those who may not know, starting in 1976 there was a series of specials on ABC called "Battle of the Network Stars" that pitted TV personalities from the three big broadcast networks of the day against each other in competitive events. The 1977 "Scooby-s All-Star Laff-a-lympics" was obviously a spoof. The opening narration in each episode boasts of 45 stars. They were organized into three permanent teams:
The Scooby Doobies were co-captained by Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. The team's members were all 1970s Hanna-Barbara characters, such as Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
The Yogi Yahooeys consisted almost entirely of older H-B characters, such as Yogi Bear and Booboo and Huckleberry Hound. The odd "man" out was the Grape Ape, a 1970s character who was probably stuck in the Yogis because he was a cartoon animal like they all were. He seemed to feel quite at home with the others.
The Really Rottens were co-captained by Dread Baron and Mumbly. They were retreads of Dick Dastardly and Muttley from the old "Wacky Races," which I've never seen. Dread Baron was as cartoonishly villainous as a villain could possibly be. Mumbly was a very nasty-looking dog who, though he walked on two legs, had no conversation beyond a remarkably dirty-sounding snigger of a laugh whenever he was thinking about doing something underhanded. He also cartoon "cursed" under his breath whenever things didn't go his way. Just to make things more confusing, some of us kids could remember that a couple of years earlier Mumbly/Muttley had appeared as a good-guy (more or less) detective in his own show.
The rest of the Rottens all seem to have been created expressly for this series. They included the Great (in his own mind, at least) Fondoo and his ill-tempered Magic Rabbit, the Charles Addams-ish Creeply family, and the mean hillbilly Dalton clan.
Rounding out the cast were an off-screen narrator, as on old-school sports programs, and a pair of color-commentary on-screen hosts. These were early H-B characters Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf.
Each half-hour episode was divided into two segments, separated by other programming that included Scooby-Doo cartoons. Each segment took place in a different location, and had three (usually) separate events.
Got all that? Then let's move on to the episodes!
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 12:51 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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The first-ever televised segment of "Laff-A-Lympics" takes place in the Swiss Alps. The first event is a downhill skiing race. It immediately puts the viewer on notice that the contestants are going to take an...unconventional approach to their sports. Huckleberry Hound of the Yogis, who always did seem like a laid-back sort, goes downhill on an armchair mounted on runners. Scooby-Doo starts on conventional skis, but finishes riding what looks like the top of a fir tree. And the Rottens deploy a long, long set of five-man tandem skis, to give them more arms to pole along with. This is not considered cheating on their part. Their interference with their fellow contestants, caught on instant replay, is. They find themselves penalized points, not for the last time.
Then we have an ice skating event. Yogi Bear's routine, which consists mostly of him tumbling helplessly across the rink, elicits a seemingly sincere comment from the narrator about his "poise" (Well, he deserves some kind of compliment for maintaining a composed smile while blundering around in public like that). The segment finishes up with a four-man bobsled race, which the Rottens try to win by using a souped-up sled to blast through all the course's corners. The Yogis are ahead at the halftime.
The second segment takes us to Japan. First there's a (Western-style) wrestling match. The Yogis' almost Kong-sized Grape Ape seems invincible, until the Rottens demonstrate that he's ticklish. Then we have a tennis competition. Yogi Bear is introduced as a three-time Laff-A-Lympics gold medalist in tennis (Which is why I qualified this episode as the first televised Laff-A-Lympics meet. We're evidently meant to understand that this is far from their first rodeo, so to speak). We finish with a baseball event where Scooby-Doo's aptly-named, best-forgotten cousin, Scooby-Dum, demonstrates a remarkable aptitude for throwing physics-defying pitches. He can strike out an opponent with a single pitch! Either he's just that good, or (more likely) just doesn't know any better. Scooby-Dum wins the event, and with it cinches a gold-medal win for the Scooby Doobies in this first-ever televised edition of the Laff-A-Lympics.
Did I mention that there's a cameo appearance here by Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble? It's not one of Fred's prouder moments.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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TS Garp
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 1:15 pm |
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Manchester City Fan
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That meddlin kid wrote: For those who may not know, starting in 1976 there was a series of specials on ABC called "Battle of the Network Stars" that pitted TV personalities from the three big broadcast networks of the day against each other in competitive events. The 1977 "Scooby-s All-Star Laff-a-lympics" was obviously a spoof. I thought it was to key off of the 1976 Winter and Summer Olympic games.
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Jason Michael
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 1:16 pm |
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TS Garp wrote: That meddlin kid wrote: For those who may not know, starting in 1976 there was a series of specials on ABC called "Battle of the Network Stars" that pitted TV personalities from the three big broadcast networks of the day against each other in competitive events. The 1977 "Scooby-s All-Star Laff-a-lympics" was obviously a spoof. I thought it was to key off of the 1976 Winter and Summer Olympic games. That is what I always thought.
_________________ “Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t nohow permanent.”
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 1:24 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Our next episode begins in Acapulco. With a cliff-diving event, naturally. Then we have an underwater swimming race, followed by a boat race. The Yogis put themselves at a disadvantage in the latter by relying on mice Pixie and Dixie to power their boat. The mice aren't happy about doing all the work, either! It's not a happy segment in general, as there are repeated protests of cheating. And not only lodged against the Really Rottens! The Scoobies' Dynomutt is called out for using his extendible robot legs during the diving competition. The judges--whom we actually see onscreen this time--give him a pass. The Rottens do not receive a pass for their far more egregious efforts to interfere with their fellow contestants.
Then, for something entirely different, we head to 1970s England. One has to wonder how in the world the authorities there gave permission for a competition that involves climbing the giant clock tower ("Big Ben") at Westminster. One supposes that the producers made the cash-strapped British authorities of the day an offer they couldn't refuse. Next, we have a fox hunt, which ends in an unexpected draw when the uncommonly aggressive fox trees all of the competing teams (The fox himself is awarded the full 25 points). Finally, there's a dismounted polo match, with roller skates substituting for horses (Did they plan it this way, or did the horses mutiny after seeing how the contestants abandoned their mounts when the fox turned on them?). Despite some embarrassing failures to complete goals early on (Dynomutt somehow thought they were playing fetch), the Scoobies win both the match and the gold.
There's another cameo appearance in this episode. Another 1970s character called Jabberjaw swims up (he's a cartoon shark) to serve as a referee in the water events at Acapulco. I wonder how many viewers today remember Jabberjaw? I'd just as soon I didn't....
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 1:33 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Jason Michael wrote: TS Garp wrote: That meddlin kid wrote: For those who may not know, starting in 1976 there was a series of specials on ABC called "Battle of the Network Stars" that pitted TV personalities from the three big broadcast networks of the day against each other in competitive events. The 1977 "Scooby-s All-Star Laff-a-lympics" was obviously a spoof. I thought it was to key off of the 1976 Winter and Summer Olympic games. That is what I always thought. I'm guessing that "Laff-A-Lympics" and the first "Battle of the Network Stars" were both taking off on the 1976 Olympics.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Li'l Jay
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 2:30 pm |
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It scorched
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I used to love watching Laff-A-Lympics. It was like watching Secret Wars with all my cartoon favorites.
_________________ Rom's kiss turned Rogue a hero.
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Beachy
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 2:34 pm |
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Mr. IMWANKO
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I saw a few episodes, but I had started working Monday-Saturday at the family grocery store by then, so my run of watching Saturday morning cartoons had come to an end. Possibly some were shown on Sundays, as it was another year or so before I also started working on Sunday mornings.
I did pick up a Marvel Comics first issue when they were doing Hanna-Barbera comics because I had enjoyed the Blue Falcon cartoon with Dyno-Mutt, so I was a little nostalgic to see the duo again.
_________________ Staging Areas Approach Area Area of a Triquetra Area of Effect Life Longing
Last edited by Beachy on Fri Feb 21, 2025 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Beachy
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 2:35 pm |
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Mr. IMWANKO
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2025 2:43 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Li'l Jay wrote: I used to love watching Laff-A-Lympics. It was like watching Secret Wars with all my cartoon favorites. You know...Secret Wars might have been inspired by Laff-A-Lympics....
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:29 am |
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Biker Librarian
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Our next episode begins in the Sahara, with a dune buggy race. Competitors include the Scooby Doobies' Speed Buggy and Tinker, Yogi and Booboo, and, for the Rottens, the taciturn Mumbly teamed with the gushy Mrs. Creeply (Just the thought of being confined in a vehicle with that nasty-looking mutt gives one the willies...). Speed Buggy, who is, in fact, an anthropomorphic dune buggy, is in his element and would seem the odds-on favorite to win. But no, an instant replay photo-finish shows Yogi winning by a nose. Speedy was earlier shown suffering a bit from the heat, so the extreme conditions may have had him off his game.
The second event involves pumping water and filling a dry hole via bucket brigade. The Yogis' hard work and persistence gives them a good showing, despite Mumbly's efforts to sabotage them by emptying the well as they fill it. Babu the Genie gives the Scoobies an advantage by magically summoning an extremely localized thunderstorm to fill their well in record time. For once he actually manages to get something right! Babu evidently uses up all the locally available magical mojo, as when the (allegedly) Great Fondoo tries to do something similar on behalf of the Rottens, it miscarries in a most embarrassing manner. Fondoo must really have caught it from his teammates over that one.
Unusually, there is no third event for this segment. There are also only two events in the next segment, in which we head north to Scotland. The first event awards double points to the winner, due to the exceptionally challenging nature of the challenge. Competitors must try to locate and photograph the Loch Ness Monster. Nessie is often spoken of affectionately as a girl, but this version seems to be a guy. One has to feel sorry for the poor fellow--not only is his privacy invaded by a swarm of camera-wielding divers, on a day when the lake's water is unusually clear, his sensitive eyes are also obviously hurt by the repeated bright camera flashes. Although the Rottens' attempt to gain an advantage by deploying a secret submarine with additional observers fails, they still win when Daisy Mayhem Dalton proves the only competent photographer on any of the three teams. She also finds herself the awkward object of Nessie's affections. Daisy had mentioned earlier that the Rottens have an affinity for monsters. It appears that some monsters are, like some dogs, drawn to those whom they sense are drawn to them.
The final event is a three-legged race across the hills, in kilts (Because i's Scotland, don' ye ken!). The Yogis' unequal yoking of Yakky Doodle and Grape Ape, their tiniest and most gargantuan teammates, turns out to be brilliant strategy, as it lets Grape Ape lope along freely as his partner simply clings to his ankle. The Scoobies make the mistake of teaming Babu and Scooby-Dum, two of their least competent members. And they STILL win somehow! The Rottens end up in third overall after losing a lot of penalty points for cheating. The Scoobies end up winning the day's gold, with the Yogis once again in second place.
Does Babu the Genie not ring a bell? In the early 1970s, Hanna-Barbara did a cartoon adaptation of the 1960s "Jeannie" sitcom. The cartoon Jeannie was planned to be in the series, but the holders to the rights to the character wouldn't allow it. Babu, created for the cartoon, was available. I have vague, fifty-year-old memories of seeing the "Jeannie" cartoon. Haven't seen it since. Something tells me I'm not missing much.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Jason Michael
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:47 am |
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That meddlin kid wrote: Does Babu the Genie not ring a bell? In the early 1970s, Hanna-Barbara did a cartoon adaptation of the 1960s "Jeannie" sitcom. The cartoon Jeannie was planned to be in the series, but the holders to the rights to the character wouldn't allow it. Babu, created for the cartoon, was available. I have vague, fifty-year-old memories of seeing the "Jeannie" cartoon. Haven't seen it since. Something tells me I'm not missing much. This is incorrect. Jeannie was definitely in the series. Babu was a genie-in-training who accompanies her. There is no Tony Nelson, instead Jeannie is rescued on the beach by Corey Anders, a high school student voiced by Mark Hammill.
_________________ “Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t nohow permanent.”
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:48 am |
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Biker Librarian
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The competition moves to the U.S. with a segment in Florida. We begin with an air-boat race through the Everglades. Scooby-Dum, who was actually raised in a swamp himself, can't seem to grasp that it's a boat with a big propeller, not a helicopter. The Rottens deploy the latest in a series of over-powered, over-engineered competition vehicles. And Grape Ape, competing for the Yogis, answers the question of how an air boat can accommodate his weight and bulk by strapping TWO boats onto his feet and using them as a pair of self-propelled water skis.
Then we have an actual water skiing event. Mumbly wipes out in such a spectacular manner it makes the viewer wince. His teammates attempt to win anyway by substituting a double to finish. Finally, we have a speedway race, in which the Rottens outdo themselves by essentially kidnapping one of their opponents and his car.
Then we head over to Hong Kong. Naturally we begin with a rickshaw race through the streets (And they did still exist there in the '70s, though they were being mostly replaced by pedicabs and such). Then we have a Ping-Pong match. Finally, there's a gymnastics competition. Highlights of the latter include Quickdraw McGraw being thrown by a rebellious gymnastics "horse," and Grape Ape demonstrating his weightlifting prowess by lifting the entire gym building.
The Rottens cheat so relentlessly that their cumulative point penalties end up reducing them to zero for the whole competition (It was in this episode that I first learned the word "zilch"). Mumbly is so upset when he gets the news that his cartoon cursing very nearly turns into the real thing. The Scoobies win yet again, and the Yogis come in second as always. Well, they say that when you're number two you try harder....
I remember always rooting for the Yogi Yahooeys to win when I saw "Laff-A-Lympics" as a child. They were the underdogs. Besides, I liked them. Apart from Shag and Scooby, the Scooby Doobies had a lot of characters for whom I felt no particular affection. Something about Yogi and the gang just made them more endearing.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:54 am |
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Biker Librarian
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Jason Michael wrote: That meddlin kid wrote: Does Babu the Genie not ring a bell? In the early 1970s, Hanna-Barbara did a cartoon adaptation of the 1960s "Jeannie" sitcom. The cartoon Jeannie was planned to be in the series, but the holders to the rights to the character wouldn't allow it. Babu, created for the cartoon, was available. I have vague, fifty-year-old memories of seeing the "Jeannie" cartoon. Haven't seen it since. Something tells me I'm not missing much. This is incorrect. Jeannie was definitely in the series. Babu was a genie-in-training who accompanies her. There is no Tony Nelson, instead Jeannie is rescued on the beach by Corey Anders, a high school student voiced by Mark Hammill. Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. The cartoon Jeannie was in her cartoon series, all right, but she was not in "Laff-A-Lympics" as originally planned. Her cartoon series sidekick Babu did make it into "Laff-A-Lympics." The cartoon Jeannie, and Babu, also appeared as guest stars in one of the early-1970s "Scooby-Doo Mystery Movies." That gave Scooby and and the gang an excuse to dive deeper into fantasy than usual. A rerun of that cartoon some years ago was the last glimpse I had of the cartoon Jeannie.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Jason Michael
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:55 am |
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Nominated IMWAN's "Wet Blanket" for 2021
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That meddlin kid wrote: Jason Michael wrote: That meddlin kid wrote: Does Babu the Genie not ring a bell? In the early 1970s, Hanna-Barbara did a cartoon adaptation of the 1960s "Jeannie" sitcom. The cartoon Jeannie was planned to be in the series, but the holders to the rights to the character wouldn't allow it. Babu, created for the cartoon, was available. I have vague, fifty-year-old memories of seeing the "Jeannie" cartoon. Haven't seen it since. Something tells me I'm not missing much. This is incorrect. Jeannie was definitely in the series. Babu was a genie-in-training who accompanies her. There is no Tony Nelson, instead Jeannie is rescued on the beach by Corey Anders, a high school student voiced by Mark Hammill. Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. The cartoon Jeannie was in her cartoon series, all right, but she was not in "Laff-A-Lympics" as originally planned. Her cartoon series sidekick Babu did make it into "Laff-A-Lympics." The cartoon Jeannie, and Babu, also appeared as guest stars in one of the early-1970s "Scooby-Doo Mystery Movies." That gave Scooby and and the gang a trip to dive further into fantasy than usual. A rerun of that cartoon some years ago was the last glimpse I had of the cartoon Jeannie. Ah, gotcha. 
_________________ “Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t nohow permanent.”
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:09 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Our next episode takes us to France. The first event is a cross-country bicycle race. The Scooby Doobies tap the robotic Dynomutt, who rivals Babu and Scooby-Dum for sheer nit-wittery, as their cyclist. He transforms himself into a kind of cycle. If only he had a better idea of what he was actually supposed to be doing. At least Blue Falcon is able to talk a bit of sense into him via a radio link. Meanwhile, QuickDraw McGraw is embarrassingly forced to use training wheels--he's used to horses, after all--and the Rottens' Dinky Dalton is wearing a suspicious backpack as he rides....
All three teams try to bring their A-game for the Eiffel Tower climb. The Scoobies' Captain Caveman proves an agile climber, as befits a hairy prehistoric...hominid of some kind. The Rottens send in the Creeply family's air-breathing pet octopus, with his eight limbs for climbing and a set of magnetic grips. And the Yogis' Grape Ape makes all kinds of sense as a choice. He ought to be able to King-Kong his way right up the Eiffel Tower, right? Unfortunately he seems to have misunderstood his instructions, and pulls a stunt that's far-fetched even by "Laff-A-Lympics" standards. In the process he seemingly grows to the size of a large kaiju monster. One would certainly hope that he puts the Tower right afterward, off-screen, after leaving it much the worse for war. Even so, it would surely have created an international incident. Were I a French citizen, I think I'd still be angry at the very thought of it.
Then it's on to Australia. First we have a kangaroo-riding race. The Rottens' use of an aggressive-looking mechanical kangaroo is not considered cheating, as there's apparently no rule that specifies using a real animal. Mumbly's acceptance of covert help from two hidden teammates does get him busted, however. Then we have a boomerang-throwing event. The Yogis' Doggie Daddy embarrasses himself in front of son Augie by apparently failing to realize that he's not pitching horseshoes. The Rottens are busted again for using a radio-controlled electronic boomerang (They might have gotten away with it if they hadn't insisted on showing off...). And Blue Falcon takes the prize when he throws so hard and true his boomerang disappears over the horizon and still comes back to him. Pretty impressive for a Batman-type caped crusader who's not supposed to have any actual super powers. Once again, the day concludes with Scoobies first, Yogis second, and Rottens grudgingly accepting the bronze.
It's unfortunate that we don't get to see anything iconically Australian besides kangaroos and boomerangs. No Sydney Opera House, no Ayres Rock/Uluru, not other distinctive wildlife. Simon would be disappointed.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2025 12:04 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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We next start out in Greece, ancient home of sports competition as we know it. The pole-vaulting competition is marred by the Rottens' efforts to geek up their opponents. They succeed all too well with poor Scooby-Doo. The attempt to sabotage Yogi Bear backfires when he is catapulted over the bar at a spectacular altitude. Mumbly seems about to top that with his seemingly infinitely extendible pole, until he overdoes it and is swept away by a passing aircraft.
The Rottens then sabotage Shaggy's efforts as discus throwing. It's a bad, bad day for the Scooby gang! The Yogis then sabotage themselves by inexplicably choosing Yakky Doodle as their discobolus, even though he's so tiny he can scarcely lift his discus. He ends up sailing quite a way anyway, when Grape Ape sneezes in his direction. Which really seems like grounds for disqualification, even if it was an accident. That concludes the first segment. I'm now realizing that I must have remembered wrong in thinking that three events per segment was the norm--quite a few of them seem to have only two.
Now it's over to the Missouri Ozarks, described by the narrator as "the hillbilly capital of the world." I recall as a child being disappointed that it wasn't the Arkansas Ozarks (Where I was actually born, by the way--in a town named Ozark, even). The Arkansas Ozarks had a tourist attraction called Dogpatch U.S.A. in the 1970s that could fairly have been called "the hillbilly capital." With hindsight, I've come to realize that the Laff-A-Lympics' organizers probably didn't intend to slight Arkansas by going to Missouri. The decision was probably due to legal concerns. The Rottens' Dalton clan were evidently exiles from Dogpatch. They probably couldn't compete on the Arkansas side of the line for fear of outstanding warrants in our state. Missouri is welcome to them!
Anyway, the first Missouri event is a railroad handcar race. The Rottens try to route their opponents on a sideline with a huge boulder on the track. Grape Ape foils this by simply powering through the boulder, in the process turning the side route into a shortcut. Grape Ape would have won, had he not accidentally wrecked his cart in the home stretch by applying too much elbow grease. Meanwhile, the judges inform Blue Falcon on the Scooby team that he is at an unfair disadvantage, and allow him to compensate by unleashing Dynomutt's full might. With BF right there to guide him, Dynomutt wins handily.
The day's events wrap up with a whitewater race on log rafts. The Yogis' Wally Gator, with a purely ornamental Cindy Bear along for the ride, makes a good showing until the Rottens load their raft with hungry cartoon termites. Then the Great (for a certain definition of "great") Fondoo scores an own-goal by casting a spell that accidentally wafts the termites from Wally and Cindy's raft to his own. A pretty typical performance.
For the sixth time in a row the competition finishes with the Scoobies in first place, the Yogis second, and the Rottens last. It's getting monotonous. No wonder I started rooting for the underdog Yogi team!
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2025 11:14 am |
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We begin in Italy with an event I can really get behind--a motor scooter race! It's a serious race too, 220 miles (I looked it up) from Rome to Pisa. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt ride a remarkably conventional-looking scooter. The Rottens make unconventional use of pungent foods to fuel their bike (Maybe it would improve the exhaust, maybe not). The Yogis' Jinx the Cat breaks with convention the most by powering his scooter with teammates Pixie and Dixie on a tiny treadmill. Who knew that a pair of mice could have that much giddy-up (At least if you keep them supplied with cheese)? In the home stretch, the Rottens pull one of their most dastardly schemes yet--they threaten to topple Pisa's famous Leaning Tower to force Blue Falcon and Dynomutt to interrupt their race to save it. They do, of course, but just see if the Italian authorities will ever allow the Laff-A-Lympics back on Italian soil after this!
Presumably they couldn't cancel the already-scheduled gondola race in Venice. The Rottens try to drain part of the canals to disrupt their opponents. Then the Great (Keep repeating that, buddy, and maybe you'll convince yourself at least) Fondoo hands the race to the competition with yet another magical own-goal.
Then we cross the Mediterranean, Alps, etc. to Kitty Hawk, South Carolina, where we have a trio of air-themed events in honor(?) of the Wright Brothers. First up is a hang-glider race. Yogi and BooBoo botch things completely for their team. Babu sinks the Scooby Doobies' chances by getting himself disqualified for levitating without an actual glider (Really, Babu?). So Daisy-Mayhem Dalton wins it for the Rottens, despite her gear literally backfiring on her.
The Rottens are disqualified in the skydiving event when they try to use a moving target to compensate for their entry's lack of accuracy. Grape Ape hits a spectacular, crater-producing bullseye when the Rottens switch his and teammate Yakky Doodle's chutes. Yakky finds himself wafted helplessly away when the winds catch his grossly oversized chute. So the Yogis try to make lemonade from that lemon...
...by declaring that Yakky Doodle is now their entry in the final event, the balloon race (A wind-blown parachute isn't really what you'd call a balloon...but at least he's going in the right direction). Incredibly, the Rottens let Fondoo represent them again, right after his Italian fiasco. Note, though, that he has apparently been warned, probably by his teammates, not to try any magic this time. He only uses mechanical gadgets, while pretending to speak an incantation in an effort to save face. Everybody is caught aloft in a storm, and it ends up being a very close finish.
At long last the ranking at the end of the episode is disrupted. This time it's Scoobies first, Rottens second, and...Yogis third?! Now they're more of an underdog team than ever! It's obvious that the Rottens weren't penalized sufficiently for cheating this time around. There's just no justice....
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2025 12:13 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Joined: | 26 Mar 2007 |
Posts: | 25165 |
Location: | On the highway, looking for adventure |
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Now we go to Egypt, for a camel race. The Great (false advertising at its most egregious) Fondoo has a camel that keeps giving him a raspberry (Camels in real life have quite the reputation for contrariness, and can do a lot worse than that if they don't like you). Fondoo's compulsory efforts to get an unfair advantage involve a funny contraption that doesn't look like it would actually help that much. It looks like he's still being discouraged from attempting any magic. But he ends up trying it anyway in the home stretch. Were the results not so painful-looking that they surely couldn't be intentional, one would almost suspect him of sabotaging his own team on purpose.
They follow this up with a competitive pyramid climb. Yogi and Booboo disappear INTO the pyramid at one point. Snagglepuss helps the viewer track them using what must be a terrifyingly powerful X-ray camera. They continue the climb inside, using a device that the Rottens either discovered and took advantage of, or installed themselves at tremendous cost and effort. It's not clear which. Anyway, the Rottens' efforts end up for nought again, and this time it's not Fondoo's fault.
We then head north to Sherwood Forest, for a pair of medieval-themed events. Which do NOT include the Robin Hood-style archery contest the viewer might reasonably expect. Cartoon characters in the 1970s were forbidden to shoot anything. Given how Laff-A-Lympics events tended to turn out, it's probably just as well that they didn't mess around with arrows. We see them instead racing through the forest in suits of armor. The Rottens' usually good teamwork and coordination fails in a way that has them working very much at cross purposes. In other words, it's yet another own-goal.
The last contest involves rescuing a damsel in distress from a castle tower. The organizers make the mistake of having the "damsel" chosen by ballot, and the Rottens stuff the box to have their Daisy-Mayhem installed in the tower. Naturally she works to make teammate Dread Baron her rescuer. All of the would-be rescuers end up having bad luck, and have to revert to various Plan Bs. Blue Falcon and Dread Baron both eventually try to use rockets. The Yogis' Doggie Daddy attempts a low-tech workaround that involves nailing planks together to create a rickety impromptu bridge. I was really rooting for him...but no such luck.
For a second time the Scoobies win and the Yogis come in third. Eight episodes, and the Yogis haven't won once! They deserve better than this!
And that's the last of my DVD episodes. We're only a third of the way through the series. Now I want to watch the rest of them.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2025 12:42 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Joined: | 26 Mar 2007 |
Posts: | 25165 |
Location: | On the highway, looking for adventure |
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Some thoughts about "Laff-A-Lympics."
Classic Voices Perhaps the greatest attraction of "Laff-A-Lympics" for an old cartoon fan/fan of old cartoons is the cast. It's packed with voice-over greats like Daws Butler, Don Messick, John Stephenson, and Mel Blanc. These voice pros had all been at it for decades by this point, starting in radio or Golden Age theatrical animation shorts, and were still at the top of their game. This show is like a chance to catch up with a bunch of old friends.
Mention should also be made of Alan Reed, who makes a cameo as Fred Flintstone in the first episode. It was reportedly his final performance as the character he originated and voiced in so many cartoons. He died the following year. Which makes that minor cameo kind of poignant.
More Great Voices There were lots of other fine voices heard in "Laff-A-Lympics." The great Frank Welker played several characters, mostly Dynomutt (And, being Frank Welker, provided some sound effects as well). Scatman Crothers, who did lots of nice voice work, is barely heard as Hong Kong Phooey. Casey Kasem plays both Shaggy and the Rottens' Mr. Creeply. And let's not forget Gary Owens, whose one-of-a-kind voice used to be heard everywhere back in the day, as Blue Falcon (A role that really should have been made for Adam West, but Gary Owens did just fine with it). The lesser-known Bob Holt played characters like Grape Ape and Dinky Dalton.
The low number of female characters meant that women didn't get as much to do on this series--as they often didn't in the old days of American cartoons. Julie Bennett reprises her best-known role as Cindy Bear. But by far the most prominent woman on the show is Marilyn Schreffler, as Captain Caveman's "Teen Angel" Brenda, and Daisy-Mayhem Dalton. I never much liked either the character or the voice of this or any other of the Teen Angels. Fortunately we hear a whole lot more of Daisy-Mayhem. She's front-and-center in virtually every episode, bigger than life. Not at all the sort of person one would care to meet in real life, and the accent's not ideal, but definitely a force to be reckoned with. It's an impressive performance. Surely Marilyn Schreffler's colleagues could have matched it, if only they'd gotten the chance. It wouldn't be until there was a great demand for women in anime adaptations that a new generation of voice actresses could really show what they could do.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2025 1:18 pm |
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Biker Librarian
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Joined: | 26 Mar 2007 |
Posts: | 25165 |
Location: | On the highway, looking for adventure |
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A Shout-Out to John Stephenson John Stephenson was a longtime Hanna-Barbara voice talent who is often forgotten compared to others like Don Messick. Partly this is because he was a very private individual who didn't hang out at conventions and never granted an interview. Partly it's because, though he played lots of ordinary supporting characters, he was largely typecast as villains. Scooby-Doo and the gang opposed his characters many times. It was he who first uttered the immortal line "And I'd have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids and their dog."
In "Laff-A-Lympics" he voices two villains with distinctively different accents, Dread Baron and Fondoo. He plays Doggie Daddy of the Yogi team. And we hear him in every episode as co-host Mildew Wolf. I did not know until many years later that the Wolf was actually recycled from a now-obscure cartoon featuring the voice of Paul Lynde. I could tell, though, that the character was inspired by Lynde's simpering, nervous persona. In just those four roles, John Stephenson showed a part of his versatility. And he kept at it well into the 2000s, longer than any other member of his generation of voice actors. He was an unsung great.
A Well-Made Series The 1970s were a bad decade for American animated cartoons. They were usually very poorly made. "Laff-A-Lympics" was a cut above average for its day in terms of animation. It wouldn't win any prizes of course--no '70s TV cartoon would. You could tell, though, that they put some care into it. There's certainly lots of movement and energy, what with all those characters running and jumping and flying and trying the climb the Eiffel Tower and all. There were even a lot of crowd scenes, both of teams cheering on their competitors and of assorted spectators on the scene. There are also some good backgrounds of the various exotic locations. The establishing shots of Japan come to mind in particular.
As for the writing...well, the gags are hit-and-miss. Overall it's the sort of humor and dialog and storytelling probably best appreciated by a viewer of about eight. If you were an eight-year-old when it came out, as I was, there was something great about it. It still brings smiles, and even the occasional laugh-out-loud, nearly half a century later. "Laff-A-Lympics" was aptly titled.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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That meddlin kid
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Post subject: The All-Star Laff-a-lympics Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2025 11:18 am |
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Biker Librarian
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Joined: | 26 Mar 2007 |
Posts: | 25165 |
Location: | On the highway, looking for adventure |
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The Rules of the Games The Laff-A-Lympics had a mysterious team of judges, almost never seen, who made the rules and awarded points and penalties. Their rules seem to have been awfully open and flexible much of the time. Which makes sense up to a point, given the...eclectic nature of both the events and the contestants. They still seem arbitrary at times. Sometimes they let contestants--and not only the Rottens--get away with all sorts of stuff, and sometimes they penalized contestants--and not only the Rottens. All too often contestants got away with stuff simply because nobody seems to have thought to make a rule against it. Witness the Rottens' bizarre mechanical entry in the kangaroo race, allowed because nobody seems to have thought to specify that teams had to race with a real one (They still got in trouble for covert aid to the kangaroo's official rider).
One notable blind spot in the rules involves magic. Neither Babu nor the Great (Just kidding there) Fondoo is ever called down for using magic (Babu got disqualified in the hang-gliding race for failing to even try to use an actual glider, not for using magic to levitate). This wide-open attitude on the part of the judges toward the use of magic would seem unfair to the Yogis, who had no magic users. Until, that is, one reflects on Babu's and Fondoo's performances. It's had to say that the Yogis were at any real disadvantage there.
How Did They Select Contestants? We're never told how teams selected the one to three contestants (About twice that many for the Rottens, when you count their covert assistants) who would represent them in each specific event. Did the judges pick them? Were they chosen by team captains? Were they volunteers? Did they use some kind of random drawing system?
At least some of the time there seems to have been an attempt to match contestants with events that would best use their skills. For example, the Yogis' Wally Gator is often sensibly chosen for contests involving water (One episode shows him maintaining an impressively energetic training regimen, especially for a reptile. He felt it necessary to keep in shape so as to avoid hunters who wanted to turn him into a set of luggage). At other times the choice of contestants makes no sense at all, as when the Yogis tried to power racing vehicles with a pair of mice on a treadmill.
Evidently the main rule in choosing contestants was what is sometimes called the Rule of Funny--the same principle that famously let Roger Rabbit slip out of handcuffs only at the point when doing so would get a laugh. Rule of Funny explains anomalies like the persistent teaming of the tremendous Grape Ape with the minute Yakky Doodle. Actually, it explains why Grape Ape was ever teamed with anybody.
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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