Product Code Database
Groovie Goolies is an American animation television show that had its original run Saturday mornings on CBS between 1970 and 1972. It was rebroadcast the following season on Sunday mornings. Set at a decrepit castle, the show focused on its monstrous but good-natured and mostly friendly inhabitants. (2025). 9781538103739, Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538103739 Created by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was an original creation of the studio; its characters would cross over with Filmation's Archie Comics adaptations including Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Archie Show, as well as with the Looney Tunes cast.
In 1969, Fred Silverman, the Head of Children's Programming at CBS asked for a companion to Filmation's popular The Archie Show, so the company began developing a series for fellow Archie Comics character Sabrina Spellman, who had already appeared as a supporting character on the show. Silverman was also looking to exploit the overwhelming success of the network's new cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, so he optioned Scheimer's monster show, which went through a succession of titles before they settled on Groovie Goolies. Since both shows featured witches, the decision was made to package them together in an hour-long block. Interestingly, monsters had been common to the Archie's Mad House comics, Sabrina's actual origins.
Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies premiered in 1970, featuring two 15-minute segments of Sabrina, and a 30-minute block of Groovie Goolies, with the characters crossing over into both shows. During the inaugural season, it was the highest-rated children's program, receiving a 54% audience share. This incarnation featured a variation of the Goolie Get-Together theme song which announced, "It's time for the Goolies and Sabrina!"
In 1971, CBS split the two shows apart and paired reruns of Groovie Goolies with Tom and Jerry on Sunday mornings in an hour-long animation block, beginning on September 12. It was at this point that the more common Goolie Get-Together opening credits sequence was created, consisting of a montage of scenes from the song The Monster Trio. After a single season on Sundays, the show was canceled.
Despite the cancellation, CBS was not done with the Groovie Goolies yet. In 1972, they were bumped up to regulars on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, appearing in half of that season's episodes, which continued to be rerun until 1974. That same year, they also appeared on rival network ABC in a film entitled Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies (which was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie), teaming them with the Looney Tunes characters. This film also featured a brief, live-action sequence featuring some of the Goolies, including Frankie, Drac, Wolfie and Hauntleroy. ABC later rebroadcast the original series for one season in 1975, both on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The characters made their final original appearances in two episodes of NBC's 1977 series The New Archie and Sabrina Hour, and Frankie was featured in that show's closing credits.
In 1977, the show entered syndication as part of an anthology series entitled The Groovie Goolies and Friends, which featured over 104 half-hour episodes. The Groovie Goolies were packaged with several other Filmation series in shared rotation. The syndication format featured new opening credits and "bumpers" featuring the Goolies interacting with characters from the various shows, while the original end credits for each series was retained. The syndication package included The New Adventures of Waldo Kitty (minus the live-action sequences) (13 shows), Lassie's Rescue Rangers (17 shows), The New Adventures of Gilligan (24 shows), My Favorite Martians (16 shows), and former Uncle Croc's Block segments M.U.S.H. ( "Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes"), Fraidy Cat, and Wacky and Packy (combined into 18 shows).
In 1978, Filmation planned to produce a Groovie Goolies feature film, but it never came to fruition. In 1984, the company decided to resurrect the property, developing two separate shows. " Fright Camp" was set at a summer camp and would have starred the Junior Goolies, the children of the pre-established Groovie Goolies. A second prospective show was titled The Goolies and would have featured the characters as toddlers. Neither series ever got past the development stage. For their 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon, Filmation borrowed many elements from the show, most notably the Skelevator, and they reused designs and animation of Drac and Bella La Ghostly in the episode " The Girl Who Cried Vampire".
The cartoon aired with the United Kingdom version of Hanna-Barbera's Banana Splits in the early 1980s. The show was translated into many languages and was broadcast globally, garnering numerous video releases in Germany and various other countries, spawning tie-in albums in different languages, and the show was so popular in France that the characters were featured on a float in France's 1986 Carnaval de Cholet. The complete series was remastered and issued on DVD in the US in 2006. Since then, various episodes have surfaced on compilation DVDs, and discs have also been issued elsewhere around the globe. In May 2009, re-edited minisodes were released on the streaming site Crackle.
All of the songs on the disc were written by Linda Martin and Sherry Gayden. "We Go So Good Together" and "Spend Some Time Together" are both original compositions that were never featured on the show. The only singles issued from the album were "First Annual Semi-Formal Combination Celebration Meet-the-Monster Population Party" and "Save Your Good Lovin' For Me". Discogs - Groovie Goolies releases
Monda reworked the lyrics of, and re-recorded, an additional song from the series, "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)", under the pseudonym Daddy Dewdrop in 1971. The tune was included on Dewdrop's self-titled album and a single was released which peaked at #5 on the Cash Box Top 100 singles chart, which landed him on a list of One-hit wonder at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Show structure
The show was structured very much like the then-popular show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, with several short segments of one-liner jokes and riddles. This was most shown by "Weird Windows Time", a take-off on Laugh-In's famous Joke Wall. Every so often, one of the Goolies had a special segment in which they instructed the audience about one thing or another, such as:
Episodes
The scripts for the shows are untitled; they are differentiated only by episode number. When the series was issued on DVD, episodes were saddled with the title of one of the two featured songs.
Special
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a one-off special that aired on The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Following the cancellation of the show, the Goolies went on to be prominently featured in eight episodes (16 shorts) during the 1972-73 season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The New Archie and Sabrina Hour
The Groovie Goolies made two final appearances in segments of The New Archie and Sabrina Hour.
Cast
Musical releases
American version
In late 1970 RCA Victor Records released the album Groovie Goolies (RCA LSP 4420). Discogs - Groovie Goolies album (1970) The cover is adorned with two photos of the album's producers/musicians as the live-action Wolfie (Jeffrey Thomas), Frankie (Ed Fournier), and Drac (Dick Monda), as well as a small image of the animated monster trio.
French version
In 1983, a tie-in album was issued in France by Magical Ring Records under the show's French title Les Croque Monstres. The only English-language song that was translated into French was the theme song, and a band performed the song to promote the album dressed as the show's characters. The record includes a strange assortment of monster-themed tunes and covers of hits by artists such as Taxxi ("Not Me Girl"), Sylvester ("Do Ya Wanna Funk"), and The Doobie Brothers ("Long Train Runnin'"). The album was reissued on CD in 2013 by Balthazar Music with a slightly different track order.
Czechoslovak version
In 1992, Bonton Records issued a pair of albums titled Bubušou 1 and 2. Combined, the two albums include renditions of all 33 of the songs featured on the show, with Czech lyrics adapted by Jiří Josek.
Bubušou 1
Bubušou 2
Home video
All of the Groovie Goolies' appearances have been issued on video in various regions around the world, with the exceptions of the live-action sequence in Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies and the syndicated Groovie Goolies and Friends show.
VHS
DVD
Groovie Goolies: The Saturday "Mourning" Collection US BCI/Eclipse October 24, 2006 All 16 episodes of Groovie Goolies presented uncut, restored and digitally remastered, but the original laugh track was removed from some episodes for this release. Additionally, the 13th and 16th episodes were presented in the reverse order of the accompanying scripts.
Special features include:
The Frightfully Funny Collection Volume 1 US BCI/Eclipse August 12, 2008 Includes the first 12 episodes of the show, as well as 14 episodes of Filmation's Ghostbusters.
Special Features:
The Frightfully Funny Collection Volume 2 US BCI/Eclipse October 21, 2008 Includes the final four episodes of Groovie Goolies, as well as all 12 segments of Fraidy Cat that were produced and more episodes of Filmation's Ghostbusters. Mis Queridos Monstruos Spain Savor Ediciones Emon September 23, 2009 Region 2 complete series release, which includes Spanish audio, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, and all of the special features from The Saturday "Mourning" Collection. Groovie Goolies US Universal Pictures Home Entertainment July 1, 2012 A best-of sampler featuring five episodes:
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Complete Animated Series US Classic Media July 1, 2012 Includes all 31 episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (a total of 62 shorts), including the 16 segments that feature the Groovie Goolies. The Archie and Sabrina Surprise Package Australia Universal Pictures June 1, 2016 DVD release of re-edited 30-minute versions of The New Archie and Sabrina Hour. Includes both of the Groovie Goolies' appearances. Groovie Goolies: The Complete Series Australia Unbranded July 6, 2016 All 16 episodes on two discs. Region 0 formatted to play worldwide.
External links
Categories: 1970s American Animated Comedy Television Series, 1970s American Children's Comedy Television Series, 1970s American Horror Comedy Television Series, 1970s American Musical Comedy Television Series, 1970 American Animated Television Series Debuts, 1971 American Television Series Endings, American Children's Animated Comedy Television Series, American Children's Animated Horror Television Series, American Children's Animated Musical Television Series, American Animated Television Spinoffs, Animated Musical Groups, American English-language Television Shows, Television Series By Filmation, Television Series By Universal Television, Animated Television Series About Vampires, Television Series About Werewolves, Frankenstein Television Series, Television Series Set In Castles, Rca Records Artists, Television Shows Directed By Hal Sutherland, Imps, Cbs Animated Television Series, Sabrina The Teenage Witch Television Series, Dracula Television Series
|
|
