One Saturday Morning Pt. 2

Today, I  continue my look at One Saturday Morning as I take a look at the shows from One Saturday Morning. Now this will work differently then my other reviews as I'll just be giving a quick overview of these shows.  Now there are some shows that aired on Disney Channel at the same time and I won't be going over those and there are two shows that I'll be covering that I weren't produced by Disney but to my surprise they were. 

'90s Shows

Where to start. Why not with perhaps the most beloved of the One Saturday Morning shows? 

Recess

I could spend a great deal of time talking about this show. It is bar none one of the best from this block.   I could spend an entire article on this show alone. It was really fun and had a lot of great parodies and all of the characters were likable and the over the top premise and episodes were enough to draw me in such as portraying the pre-k students as barbaric tribe and the main cast were awesome. You had T.J.,  the leader,  Spinelli,  the tough girl,  Vince, the athlete,  Gretchen, the brainy one, Gus, the shy new guy and my personal favorite Mikey, the gentle giant that could sing like Robert Goulet because they actually got him to provide Mikey's singing voice.  Then there are the side characters such as King Bob, the king of the playground, Miss Finster,  the no nonsense teacher who along with Randal, were the enemies of the playground.    Lest we not forget Miss Grotke, the gang's teacher who can best be described as a hippie.  This show was a lot of fun and every episode was worth a watch.  There are too many to pick a favorite and let's not forget the  theatrical film and besides Doug's First Movie, it is the only One Saturday Morning cartoon to get a film.

One of the coolest things about this was the logo. It was the classic Disney logo but it has the Recess gang on it. 

Pepper Ann

Out of all of the shows on the One Saturday Morning block, this one seemed to be aimed towards the older crowd that watched One Saturday Morning.  Not to say I didn't like it but it did take me some time to warm up to this show.  I think that the best way to describe this show is as quirky.  It had an offbeat sense of humor to it but all of the characters were likable.  The main characters were Pepper Ann, and her two best friends, Nicky Little and Milo.   Pepper Ann was just a girl  trying find her place and do the right thing and would often get advice from her conscious, which came in the form of her reflection.  While Nicky was the school genius and Milo was an artist.   It was a fun show and one episode in particular that stands out for me is the Holiday episode, as Pepper Ann celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah and in the entire episode, she is comparing the two because she mistakenly overhears her parents talking about her grandmother having to choose a doctor and thinks that they meant she had to choose Christmas or Hanukkah.  She went the entire episode comparing the tow.  That was pretty deep.  Oh, I should also mention that Pepper Ann's parents were divorced and I think this is one of the few cartoons from this block that divorced parents.   I should also stat that she made a cameo appearance on my favorite cartoon ever, House of Mouse in the first episode and was the only One Saturday Morning character to do so.   

Disney's Doug

Okay,  now this is where things get a tad  interesting because as some of you may recall I said I wouldn't touch upon this show on here but when covering One Saturday Morning, it's unavoidable as it was part of the original lineup.  My personal feelings on the Disney incarnation of Doug,  I liked it. Is it as good as the Nick version? Yes, yes it is.  I've seen this version of Doug draw a lot of ire and hate from fans of this show.  Now yes, Doug did originate as a Nicktoon  but but the Disney version was a good continuation of where the Nick version left off.   Now I'll admit  there were a lot of changes made to the show but they were addressed in the first episode of the Disney version such as Honker Burger going bankrupt and the new hangout became Mr. Swirly's.

Of course, there was the film, which I'll agree that it shouldn't have been released to theaters but for what it was, it's not bad but it is a huge step down from the show.

In many ways,  the hatred that Disney's Doug receives reminds me of how people were angry when Disney got the rights to Power Rangers, something else that I never understood.   Again as I said, I like both version of this show and I wouldn't say one is better then the other. 

Jungle Cubs 

Now we come to our  first show based on a Disney film. Jungle Cubs follows the Muppet Babies formula of taking popular characters and showing them as children.   This was just another show to follow that format and it was fun but not very memorable.  

101 Dalmatians: The Series 

Now  while this series does use characters from the movies, there really is no connection as it is stateside and most of the characters speak with an American accent.  Also Spot is a chicken in this one.  It was okay and while not one of my favorite, it was a lot of fun.

Mickey Mouse Works 

Ah, this show.  I owe this show so much, if it weren't for this show, there probably wouldn't be  House of Mouse as a lot of the shorts shown on House of Mouse came from Mickey Mouse Works.  The shorts were good and  really, I was just excited to see new Mickey shorts on TV.   

'00s Shows

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command 

This show was so much fun.  It had a lot of great action and giving Buzz his own series was a great idea. Even if John Lasster has gone record saying that he doesn't care for it.   It's an okay show, even if Toy Story 2 made me want to see Woody's Roundup become a real show but this was good enough  and it had a lot of great action and fun new characters and the designs were great.  I mean sure,   Tim Allen only voiced Buzz for the pilot but Patrick Warburton was a good replacement.   

Teacher's Pet 

Now we come to a show that was okay.   Teacher's Pet while not bad isn't a show that I'd go back and watch again and again. I do like the crude look for the animation and the premise was funny, a dog that wanted to learn. Yet, I loved this show as a kid but looking back now, I don't know why.     

The Weekenders

This show was a lot of fun and in many ways reminded me of Saved By The Bell with how our main character Tino would freeze the episode to talk to the audience.   Your main characters were Tino, who is the average member of the group,  Lor, the tomboy and jock with a lot brothers. Tish, the smart one and finally Carver who in a lot of ways reminded me of Brock from Pokemon in that he would always try to hit on girls.    I probably relate most to Tino as we both share a phobia of clowns and there was an even an episode where his friends signed him up for clown school to help get over his fears.  I wouldn't do that. Perhaps my most remembered running joke throughout this show is that the kid's hangout,  a pizza parlor would always change themes and names every episode.   Check the Weekenders Wiki for a complete list.

House of Mouse

I know that I have talked about this show a great deal in the past but  it  did get it's start on One Saturday Morning and I love it. It's my favorite show. The whole premise was great and  this was such a fun idea having these classic Disney characters interact with each other the way they did on House of Mouse. 

Sabrina: The Animated Series

It doesn't surprise me that this show was made because during this time, Sabrina: The Teenage Witch was a huge hit but to try and call it a spin off of that is stretch.   The reason I say that is because that is what it was labelled as but the sitcom and the animated series have different contituites.   For example in the sitcom, Sabrina finds out she's a witch at 16 while in the animated series, she's 13 but they do keep the idea of her being a half-witch but she won't develop all of her powers until she turns 16  and borrows spells from aunts Hilda and Zelda who in this version are stuck in the bodies of 16 year olds.     Though the show also felt the need to add in an original character Uncle Quigley who felt unneeded.   In some ways, this is kind of like the Muppet Babies idea but instead of  toddler, you see these already popular characters as preteens.   I enjoyed it for what it was but the sitcom is vastly superior.   To be fair, however the sitcom and the animated series did share at least two of it's stars as Nick Bakay voices Salem in both versions and Melissa Joan Hart who is best known for playing Sabrina played Hilda and Zelda while her younger sister Emily Hart played Sabrina who played Sabrina's cousin, Amanda on the sitcom.  Again, not bad but it's too far different from the sitcom for me to consider it a true spin off.    I think if they hadn't tried to say that's what it was,  I wouldn't be so bothered by that.    If you've never seen this and enjoy the sitcom, you may like the animated series.   Now while this show did start on  One Saturday Morning, it was eventually moved to One Too!  Which I'll be getting to tomorrow but before I have to talk about something much more painful.

Mary-Kate and Ashley In Action!

Oh, this one hurts.   This is perhaps the worst cartoon to appear on One Saturday Morning.  Now granted, this show came along during it's final days but it was so dumb and it's hurts saying that because I had the biggest crush on these two as a kid.  The premise Mary-Kate and Ashley are spies.  That's it they are undercover spies.  WHY?!!   The animation and design is boring for this show.   It's bland and really the only memorable thing  about is nothing.  Seriously,  I can't remember anything good or bad about this show. It was just bland with typical stock villains  and something that I found odd is that while they had code names,  they sounded too similar to their real names. For example I believe Mary-Kate's was Mallory.  I only watched this show because I liked the Olsen Twins but after seeing this I gave up and I had hoped through my research that I would find out that it wasn't the Olsens  voicing their characters but sadly, I was wrong.   I know cartoons based on celebrities don't always work but they can. Take Jackie Chan: Adventures.  That is a cartoon based on a celebrity but they made it make sense with him. I could see Jackie Chan doing some of the stuff that was done in his cartoon in his films but I'm sorry I just can't buy the Olsen Twins as spies.   As much as they were part of  my childhood this was stupid.  Also,  could  you have a more lazy title? Mary-Kate and Ashley In Action! Really?! That's it.    Now  some of the other titles for the other shows may not be groundbreaking but they don't feel bland.  Just adding In Action feels  like the people behind this show didn't care which turn made me dislike this show.  Thankfully, though it only lasted one awful season but it was bad.  There is a reason I saved this one for last as I wanted to get the good out of the way, first.