Acme Hour for Saturday, August 18

[Mike]

Looks like Acme Hour went to the dogs tonight. If only they could have shown more Charlie Dog and less Curious Puppies...

"The Awful Orphan" (Charlie Dog, 1949/Jones)

"A Hound for Trouble" (Charlie Dog, 1951/Jones)

"Two Little Pups" (MGM, and I missed the date, Harman-Ising)

"Three Little Pups" (MGM, Droopy, 1953)

"A Mutt in a Rut" (Elmer, 1959/McKimson)

"A Waggily Tale" (1959/Freleng)

"Porky's Pooch" (Porky, 1940/Clampett) - - ugh! redrawn!

"The Curious Puppy" (1939/Jones)

"Dog Gone Modern" (1939/Jones)

"Snowtime for Comedy" (1941/Jones) - - the pun is better than the whole cartoon (and that ain't saying much)

"Prest-O Change-O" (1939/Jones)

"The Wayward Pups" (MGM, missed the date, Harman-Ising)

The show ended at 10:52, no time for extra cartoon in the 1 AM repeat (but I've read they don't do that anymore anyway).

Mike

[Thad Komorowski]

Didn't they JUST have a theme like this a few months ago?

-Thad:D

[Jack]

Yep, CN has been repeating their old themed ACME HOURS from a few months ago for about the past week. Same cartoons, same order, ect...

They must be running out of ideas, or getting lazy.


Jack:D

[Crazy Tom]

Let me help you on the dates of MGM cartoons...
Two Little Pups was made in 1936, while The Wayward Pups was made, I think, in mid-to-late 1937. MGM did not go to innovative storyboards for titles until 1936 (I think Little Cheeser was the first).

The ACME hour could have been worse...the screwballs could have shown The Pups' Christmas (1936) instead!

[Patrick McCart]

Well, it is the summer and CN is probably doing reruns.

We need a "Jive" Acme Hour!

[Matthew Hunter]

What I've always wanted to see was a ROAD RUNNER Acme Hour.
I mean, it is the ACME hour, right? They have enough cartoons to do a 2 hour and 1 hour, and then some. Why not do one devoted to the DePatie/Frelelng Road Runners? They generally fit 12 cartoons into the Saturday editions, so they can do all 11 Larrviva films and a bonus like "Rushing Roulette" or "The Wild Chase" or something like that. Or they could do a bunch of good ol' Chuck Jones "golden age" Road Runner.
-Matthew

[DR. BELCH]

I figure we could cobble together some of the strangest themes and send them on to Cartoon Network for their Acme Hour shows. Like: "Characters with Big Noses" (lots of Jimmy Durante caricatures and Popeye shorts with Goons)...or "Tip of the Freberg", all cartoons with Stan Freberg's voice (Jones' Bear family shorts, "Rabbit's Kin", and maybe a Goofy Gophers short).
To be fair, they should have a cat-themed AH, with shorts like Avery's "The Cat Who Hated People", a Clampett Tweety, and Jones' "The Hypochondri-Cat", and maybe sneak in a T&J with Mammy someplace.

[Jack]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind Acme Hours with really strange or hard to guess themes. Like maybe six cartoons that were released on the same date, but different years. Or an AH where all the cartoons have unusual closing cards, or cartoons with only one crew member linking them (not the director, though). Or an AH with the cartoons that don't have a director credit, like "The Big Snooze" or "Hollywood Daffy." I could think of a million themes that have nothing to do with the content of the cartoons...


Jack:D

[J Lee]

Why not do one devoted to the DePatie/Frelelng Road Runners? They generally fit 12 cartoons into the Saturday editions, so they can do all 11 Larrviva films and a bonus like "Rushing Roulette" or "The Wild Chase" or something like that.

IMHO If they took the best gags from all 11 Larrivas, they could edit it down into one halfway decent six-minute cartoon.

On the other hand, outside of the handcar gag and the fact that the Coyote uses Ajax glue (what was he thinking?), "Rushing Roulette" is a pretty good approximation of a Jones RR cartoon, given the budget restraints McKimson and D-FE were under.

[Matthew Hunter]

Dr. Belch said:

I figure we could cobble together some of the strangest themes and send them on to Cartoon Network for their Acme Hour shows.

Why not? If I remember correctly, we have done that before, and I think a couple themes that were pretty darn close showed up. In fact, I believe we originally submitted something like that for "ToonHeads", and that was before some strikingly familiar themes began appearing on Acme Hour. I remember them actually responding to someone who sent the ideas, and said they would give them to the programmers. Coincidence? Doubtful. It may have been luck last time, but we can find a way to send more ideas. The least we can do is try.

It really could be a good project if the whole board teamed up. And we don't even have to get paid for ideas or credited. I personally think that if we can get in contact with the right people, it would be an offer they can't refuse. Free program ideas for something they could care less about anyway! What a concept, someone who can improve their programming for FREE, and make it GOOD, and it takes no effort for them except an approval and playing some tapes. What harm could it do to send in some good, well crafted and well presented Acme Hour ideas?

Now, I'm NOT saying send in a bunch of lists filled with racist cartoons. No "censored eleven", no controversial stuff. A Speedy or good Tom and Jerry or two should be the limit, but only a couple, if any. And I'd go with more Speedy than Mammy...the black people thing is a really messy issue, the Mexican one is pretty much nonexistant. Think like a CN censor, but be more rational than they are. I'll give an example: "Mexicali Schmoes" is a little bit controversial. They wouldn't touch it. You know, the stupid "Where you get thees brains?" Mexican cats and the "Slowpoke, he pack a gun"....that stuff is what CN hates. We like it, they don't. Not yet anyway. But "Go Go Amigo"? "Pied Piper of Guadelupe"? not offensive. Extreme moderation is the key with that stuff, too. like, one per 2 weeks, something like that, make the rest tame but interesting, like "Pepe Le Pew" or "Popeye and Shorty." Be sure you've seen what you send, view the films or read true synopses before you add a film to an idea. Remember our only studio choices are WB, MGM, and Popeye, and some of us know more about specific areas...I know WB cold, but my Popeye skills are lacking.

First we need ideas, think of all the ideas we generate for fun all the time. With the permission and approval of you guys, I'll give this its own thread and make it "important", so it's always at the top of the board. First come the ideas, then I would be happy to read them over and give some comments, like "That might be a little weird" or "Too controversial", or "It'd be perfect if'______'" In other words, we can all come up with some ideas, and then I'll be a sort of editor, I'll proofread. I'm not trying to take over as some boss, I just figure I'd be good at that end, IMHO.:cool: .(Someone who has a better idea can always shove me under the rug, I'm easy.) We can all edit our own posts, that's the joy of this board, so that would be a great help.

As for who to contact, I still have the email of the guy who put together the Clampett show, (Barry Mills, I believe, I'll check)you can't get much better than that show. I'll see if I can get him, maybe he knows who to contact to give ideas to, or at least can give some idea how their programming department works. That'd be interesting to know anyway. And someone could always ask the god of all things old cartoons, Jerry Beck, if he's got inside connections as he's an invaluable cartoon knowledge resource.

What do you think, guys? I think somethin's cookin'. If we do this right, it may be something they've never encountered before. We're not some kid telling them what they'd like to see Cow do in the next episode, we're giving them ideas for compiling older cartoons, and we're the only people with the resources and knowledge to do that kind of thing.
-Matthew;)

[Jack]

Sure, that sounds like fun, we need to get in contact with someone at CN, since that one generic address, ToonNet@aol.com, is worthless.


Jack:p

[Matthew Hunter]

I'll see if I can do some snoopin' around....
-Matthew