Concept:
Two men and a gorilla investigate ghostly occurrences, sending ghosts
back to the afterlife. These ghosts are always found in a castle
outside of town.
Total Episodes: 15
Original Air Dates: September
6, 1975 – December 13, 1975
Original Network:
CBS
Geek Factor:
9
Characters:
Jake Kong
(Forrest Tucker): Leader of the team, voice of reason (as much as any
of them are reasonable). He appears to be grumpy, but has a heart of
gold, and loves a good laugh.
Eddie Spencer
(Larry Storch): Zoot-suit wearing member of the team, often not
believing what Tracy's attempting. Doesn't take things seriously.
Tracy
(Bob Burns): Intelligent gorilla, quite likely the brains of the
operation! Seems to have some ability to warp reality when he draws.
Fond of hats.
Zero
(Voice of Lou Scheimer): Mentor of the Ghost Busters, alerting them
when a new ghost appears by leaving secret messages in objects at a
convenience store – which explode five seconds after the message
ends (and before Tracy can get rid of it).
Geek Guest-Stars:
Lennie Weinrib
played
the ghost of Harry Albert, a werewolf. Lennie guest starred in a
number of geeky shows, like The
Twilight Zone,
My Favorite
Martian,
and The Munsters
before
being cast as the voice of the title character, Seymour Spider, and
Ludicrus Lion on H.R.
Pufnstuf.
He also provided the voices for Roland and Rattfink in the Rattfink
cartoons, Sam Scurvy in the Doctor
Dolittle
animated series, various characters on Lidsville,
Moonrock on The
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show,
Stanley on The
Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan,
and lots and lots of other roles, especially on Filmation shows of
the era, where he voiced Commissioner Gordon, the Joker, the Penguin
and others on The
New Adventures of Batman.
Some may hate him forever for creating and performing the voice of
Scrappy-Doo, but he did a lot of other roles aside from that before
passing away in 2006.
Dodo
(aka Nora) Denney
played the ghost of a gypsy named Sophia. She had parts in shows like
My Favorite
Martian, I Spy, Bewitched, Get Smart, and
played Mrs. Teevee in Willie
Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Johnny Brown
played the ghost of The Fat Man, a gangster. He had been a regular on
Rowan &
Martin's Laugh-In, appeared
in episodes of Night
Gallery
and The Lost
Saucer, and later
voiced Splashdown on The
Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show.
Billy
Barty
played the ghost of The Rabbit, a gangster. His career began playing
Mickey Rooney's younger brother in a series of shorts, played a White
Pawn and the Baby in a 1933 version of Alice
in Wonderland,
a baby in Bride
of Frankenstein,
guested in shows like Circus
Boy, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Get Smart, Pufnstuf
(where he was Googy Gopher and Orville Pelican), he played Sparky the
Firefly in The
Bugaloos
and Sigmund Ooze in Sigmund
and the Sea Monsters.
Later, he was Hugo in an episode of The
Lost Saucer, Hugo
in Dr. Shrinker,
played Gwildor in the movie version of Masters
of the Universe,
a genie in The
Munsters Today,
and voiced Hips McManus in an episode of The
New Batman Adventures.
He died in 2000.
Bernie
Kopell played
the ghost of Dr. Frankenstein. He'd guested in three episodes of My
Favorite Martian,
an episode of The
Flying Nun,
but I'll always think of him as Siegfried on Get
Smart.
He also guested on Night
Gallery, multiple
episodes of Bewitched,
a Kolchak: The
Night Stalker,
and later was Alan-a-Dale in When
Things Were Rotten,
guested on The
Six Million Dollar Man,
and of course spent ten years playing Dr. Adam Bricker on The
Love Boat
(which I wouldn't mention except that I know if I didn't, someone
would in the comments).
Ted
Knight
played the ghost of Simon De Canterville, and of course he had a long
relationship with Filmation, although before that he'd been in an
episode of The
Twilight Zone
and an episode of The
Outer Limits.
He was the narrator and voiced Perry White in The
New Adventures of Superman,
narrator on Aquaman,
voiced characters on both Journey
to the Center of the Earth
and Fantastic
Voyage, voiced
Commissioner Gordon, the Narrator, and The Penguin on The
Batman/Superman Hour,
narrator and Ben Turner on Lassie's
Rescue Rangers,
provided two voices in an episode of the animated Star
Trek;
appeared in episodes of Get
Smart, The Invaders, and
The Wild Wild
West; and
was narrator and The Flash on Super
Friends.
Of course, he also played this character named Ted Baxter on some
obscure comedy show called Mary
Tyler Moore,
and played a cartoonist in the show Too
Close For Comfort.
Ted passed away in 1986, but his legacy lives on – when the Golden
Age Starman appeared in an episode of Batman:
The Brave and the Bold,
he was voiced as an imitation of Ted, because Starman's secret
identity was... Ted Knight!
Kathy
Garver
played Carla de Canterville, but to millions, she'll always be Cissy
Davis on Family
Affair. After
Ghost Busters,
she began working as voice talent, provided voices to The
All-New Super Friends Hour, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang,
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
(where she voiced Firestar), Chuck
Norris: Karate Commandos, and
more, while still making occasional onscreen appearances. In 1997,
she voiced Miss America for three episodes of Spider-Man
(1997). I'm not sure why they didn't try to get her to voice Firestar
when the character appeared in The
Super Hero Squad Show.
Len
Lesser
played Mr. “E.” His geek credits include episodes of The
Outer Limits, Honey West, The Munsters, The Wild Wild West, My
Favorite Martian, Mr. Terific, Get Smart, The Monkees
(two episodes there, when I get to “Monkees in a Ghost Town,”
remind me to talk about him more if I don't do so already, okay?),
The Second
Hundred Years, Land of the Giants,
and The Girl
With Something Extra.Later,
he appeared in episodes of Wonderbug,
The Amazing
Spider-Man
(1977), Airwolf,
and
other shows. If he still doesn't ring a bell, he was Uncle Leo on
Seinfield –
ah, now you place him, don't you?
Bill
Engeaser
played the ghost of the Frankenstein Monster. He'd previously played
a Wolfman in House
on Bare Mountain,
billed as “Abe Greyhound,” and would play Bigfoot in an episode
of Isis.
Philip
Bruns
played the ghost of Scroggs. He'd previously guested on The
Wild Wild West, and
would later be seen in episodes of The
Six Million Dollar Man,
Isis, The
Twilight Zone
(1985), Amazing
Stories, and
could be seen in the movies Return
of the Living Dead Part II
and Amazon Women
on the Moon.
He passed away in 2012.
Stanley
Adams
played the ghost of Capt. Aloysius Beane. He'd previously guested on
Captain
Midnight, The Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, My Mother the Car,
Honey West, T.H.E. Cat,
Batman
(he played Captain Courageous in “Batman Displays His
Knowledge”/”Catwoman Goes to College”), Star
Trek
(he was Cyrano Jones in the classic “The Trouble With Tribbles”,
and reprised that role in the animated episode “More Tribbles, More
Troubles”), Lost
in Space, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, and
Kolchak: The Night Stalker. He
died in 1977.
Tim
Herbert
played the ghost of the Phantom. He'd previously guested in episodes
of The Addams
Family, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman
(Whiskers in “When the Rat's Away, The Mice Will Play”/”A
Riddle a Day Keeps The Riddler Away”, plus in the unaired Batgirl
pilot, he played Killer Moth!), Get
Smart, Bewitched, and
later, Amazing
Stories.
Barbara Rhoades
played the ghost of Queen Forah. She had previously guested in
episodes of Bewitched,
Alias Smith & Jones, Mission: Impossible, Night Gallery, and
The Magician,
as well as appearing in a part in Scream,
Blacula, Scream.
She later guested on episodes of Kolchak:
The Night Stalker, Far Out Space Nuts, Six Million Dollar Man,
and Tabitha.
Richard
Balin
played the ghost of the Mummy and the Abominable Snowman (in
different episodes). He later guested on Ark
II, Misfits of Science, Starman, Sledge Hammer!, and
Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Ann
Morgan Guilbert
played the ghost of The Witch of Salem. She'll probably forever be
remembered as next-door-neighbor Millie Helper on The
Dick Van Dyke Show.
She also guested on I
Dream of Jeannie.
Huntz Hall
played the ghost of Gronk. He is, of course, best known for his role
in the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys films.
Leigh
Christian
played Salem. She had previously guested in Night
Gallery
and The Six
Million Dollar Man, and
could be seen in The
World's Greatest Athlete
and Beyond
Atlantis.
Marty Ingels
played the ghost of Billy the Kid. Best known for playing Arch
Fenster in I'm
Dickens, He's Fenster,
he also guested in episodes of The
Addams Family, Bewitched, and
voiced Autocat in Motormouse
and Autocat. Later,
he voiced Beegle Beagle on The
Great Grape Ape Show
and the title character on Pac-Man.
As
a bit of trivia, he married Shirley Jones, becoming stepfather to
Jones' sons, who included Shaun Cassidy.
Brooke
Tucker
played the ghost of Belle Starr. She's Forest Tucker's daughter,
which may be how she got the part! Severn
Darden
played the ghost of Dr. Jekyll. He'd previously been seen on episodes
of Car 54, Where
Are You?, Honey West, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees
(he was J.B. Goggins, Jr. in “Monkee Vs. Machine,” which I
already reviewed here), and many other roles – see that Monkees
entry for more details.
Joe E. Ross played the
ghost of Mr. Hyde. If the name sounds familiar but you can't place
him, here's a clue: “Oooh! Oooh!” He could be seen as Msgt.
Rupert Ritzik on The
Phil Silvers Show,
Gunther J. Toody on Car
54, Where Are You?,
the caveman Gronk on It's
About Time, an en
episode of Batman. He
also appeared in the movies The
Love Bug and The
Boatniks. He voiced
Botch on Help! It's the
Hair Bear Bunch and
Sgt. Flint on Hong Kong
Phooey, and later, he
voiced Roll on C. B.
Bears and appeared in
an episode of The Lost
Saucer.
Howard Morris played the
ghost of the Red Baron. He was a regular on Your
Show of Shows, and
could also be seen in episodes of Thriller,
voiced the title character and other characters on Beetle
Bailey (1963), guested
on a Twilight Zone,
appeared as Mr. Elmer Kelp in the original The
Nutty Professor, was
Breezly Bruin on The
Peter Potamus Show,
did a variety of voices for The
Flintstones, Gopher in
the original Winnie the
Pooh shorts, the voice
of Atom Ant, Jughead and many others on The
Archie Show and the
spin-offs; Frankie, Orville Mummy and Wolfie in The
Groovie Goolies; the
voices for just about everyone on My
Favorite Martians,
several characters on Mission:
Magic!; the title
character and his fantasy counterparts on The
Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty... Yes,
the list does go on and on! In the 1980s, he voiced Bogel on The
13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, was
the Prankster on Superman
(1988)... he's definitely another of those actors that when I get to
some of the other shows, I'll provide more credits for, especially
when he's a main character actor!
Robert Easton played the
ghost of Sparks. He appeared in an episode of The
Adventures of Superman,
had a part in The Beast
From 20,000 Fathoms
and The Neanderthal
Man, played Sparks in
Voyage to the Bottom of
the Sea (1961), voiced
Lt. Sheridan on Stingray...
and also had
guest-starring roles on The
Munsters, Lost in Space, My Mother the Car, Get Smart, Alias Smith &
Jones, and Kolchak:
The Night Stalker. He
would later be seen in The
Giant Spider Invasion,
Pete's Dragon, guested
on The Bionic Woman,
played a Klingon judge in Star
Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,
and many other roles.
Jim Backus played the
ghost of Eric the Red. Of course, you know he was the voice of Mr.
Magoo, and played Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's
Island, but did you
know he also appeared in The
Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm,
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad
Mad World, or that he
guested in episodes of I
Spy and The
Wild Wild West, played
Mr. Dithers on Blondie
(1968-1969), guested on I
Dream of Jeannie, Nanny and the Professor, Alias Smith and Jones and
other roles before then, of course also reprising his role as Howell
for The New Adventures
of Gilligan? And
later, he guested on Kolchak:
The night Stalker, The New Zoo Revue (Yes,
really!), and Ark II?
Lisa Todd played the ghost
of Brunhilda. Given her measurements (40-24-38, according to the
IMDB), I can see why! She'd previously appeared in an episode of The
Wild Wild West, as
well as an episode of Kung
Fu, but she's probably
better known for playing Sunshine Cornsilk on Hee
Haw (yes, I can
mention it, there was a comic based on it, you know).
Ina Balin played the ghost
of Morgan Le Fay. She had earlier guested on episodes of Get
Smart, It Takes a Thief, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and
Alias Smith and Jones.
She later guested on The
Invisible Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, Battlestar Galactica,
and The New Adventures
of Wonder Woman. She
died in 1990.
Carl Ballantine played the
ghost of Merlin. Of course, he's known for his role on McHale's
Navy, as well as his
magician personal billed as “The Amazing Ballantine,” “The
Great Ballantine,” and “Ballantine: The World's Greatest
Magician.” He had a recurring role on Car
54, Where Are You?
Before that, guested on an episode of The
Monkees (it'll be a
while before I get to that one) and I
Dream of Jeannie. Later,
he guested on When
Things Were Rotten, Blacke's Magic, Night Court, and
other shows. He provided voices on a handful of episodes of Garfield
and Friends, as well
as an episode each of Freakazoid
and Spider-Man
(1996). He died in
2009.
Ronny Graham played Dr.
Centigrade. He
later got in with Mel Brooks, making appearances in History
of the World: Part 1, To Be or Not To Be, and
Robin Hood: Men in
Tights. But before
this, he'd written episodes of The
Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show,
The Brady Bunch Variety
Show (I'd imagine he
wishes that wasn't on his resume), and wrote Spaceballs
as well as episodes of the subsequent animated series.
Geek Pedigree:
Setting aside the
usual Lou Scheimer/Filmation stuff... Co-star Forrest Tucker
was in The Abominable
Snowman, The Crawling Eye
(Which was featured on Mystery
Science Theater 3000,
and reviewed here), and of course was a co-star of F
Troop
with his Ghost
Busters
co-star Larry Storch. Tucker later guested on Alias
Smith and Jones, Night Gallery, The Bionic Woman, and
revisited playing Jake Kong in an episode of the animated version of
Ghost Busters.
Larry
Storch,
aside from also being in F
Troop,
voiced Koko the Clown in the 1963 Out
of the Inkwell
cartoons, voiced Phineas J. Whoopee in Tennessee
Tuxedo and His Tales,
did voices for several 1960s Warner Brothers cartoons, especially the
Cool Cat series; Guest-starred on I
Dream of Jeannie
and Get Smart,
voiced
the Joker for The
Batman/Superman Hour,
provided voices on Sabrina
the Teenage Witch, The Brady Kids, Dracula
on The Groovie
Goolies,
the Joker again in The
New Scooby-Doo Movies,
guested on Kolchak:
The Night Stalker,
voiced Amos in Journey
Back to Oz,and
also returned to voice his animated counterpart in an episode of the
animated Ghost
Busters.
Bob
Burns
is primarily known for being an archivist of horror and sci-fi movie
memorabilia, but he had also played a Saucer Man in Invasion
of the Saucer Men,
played Kogar the Gorilla in Lemon
Grove Kids Meet the Monsters
and Superman Vs.
the Gorilla Gang,
as well as in Rat
Pfink a Boo Boo,
and then appeared in The
Further Adventures of Major Mars, Superbman: The Other Movie, Robot
Monster: The Special Edition, Invasion Earth: The Aliens are Here,
and many others. In the 2005 King
Kong,
he cameoed in one scene, and played a gorilla one more time in 2009's
Dark and Stormy
Night.
He also assisted Paul Blaisdell on It!
The Terror From Beyond Space, Invasion of the Saucer Men, and
It Conquered the
World,
and worked on special effects for Not
of This Earth, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Harry
and the Hendersons,
and The Lord of
the Rings
trilogy.
DVD Release: Complete
series on DVD (out of print)
Notes:
As with many of Filmation's other shows, my siblings and I watched
this show faithfully every single week, and could not understand why
it wasn't renewed! Of course, after the success of Ghostbusters
and that subsequent animated series, this was revived in animated
form.
Obviously, with a title like "Seasin's Greetinks," this is a Christmas-themed cartoon! Kind of unusual that they'd do that with the fifth entry, but there you go! As you might expect, when we iris out on Popeye singing his theme song, he's ice skating on a frozen pond, and not letting anything like a big snow drift get into his way. He gets out of the drift in front of a house, which has a lot of snow on it, but when he blows his pipe to finish his song, the wind he creates blows the snow off of the porch, and as he walks up to the door, we see this is Olive's house (guess after breaking that window, she got kicked out of her apartment after the last cartoon?). Popeye knocks on the door once, twice, then three times (without looking), and the third time, he knocks on Olive's head, as she'd opened the door! She gives Popeye a kick in the behind in exchange.
Meanwhile, Olive's got the hang of skating, and Popeye lets go of her... but once Olive notices Popeye isn't holding her any more, she starts to panic! Just before she passes by Bluto, Bluto lets his dog go, and uses his whip to grab hold of Olive, and he says, "Hello, baby! How about a little kiss?" Olive starts to fight him off as Popeye skates over. When Popeye arrives, Bluto says, "Merry Christmas!" and smacks him one on the jaw, leaving Popeye stunned.
But as Bluto skids away, he crashes into a convenient icebox someone left out, and the ice breaks up and flies into the air, landing as little cubes neatly in ice cube trays that pop out of the icebox, and then go back in! Bluto stands up and growls, "Oh, yeah?" Meanwhile, Popeye's leaping from ice floe to ice floe in pursuit of Olive, whose block of ice conveniently gets stuck on an outcropping of rock! She's slipping off of it, however, and when Popeye gets there, he slips right past her, and down to the bottom of the falls! He starts swimming back upstream ("Boy! This water's cold!") and up the waterfall (to a rousing rendition of "Yankee Doodle") and to the shore!
Olive stretches a leg out to him, and then pulls herself from one foot to the other, sliding upon her leg (as if both legs were one long piece of rope, running through Olive's middle) and to safety. Popeye goes to warm her up, but Bluto has rolled himself up a huge snowball on a cliff above them, and laughing, pushes it over... but he himself falls inside the snowball himself (like Bullwinkle was to do, years later).
Well, that final blow was certainly the most impressive use of the Transformation Punch yet, wasn't it? Still, I'm bothered that it's taken so long for the spinach-eating sequence to get the "pop" I'm used to... and it almost seemed like an afterthought here, like someone said, "Hey! When is Popeye going to eat his spinach?" We haven't yet gone to Olive Oyl's final voice, but Popeye and Bluto's voices are the way I expect them to sound.
