THE GROOVIE GOOLIES (1970)

THE GROOVIE GOOLIES (1970) – This 16-episode cartoon series seemed like an appropriate subject for Halloween Month. In previous years, Balladeer’s Blog reviewed the animated Mini-Munsters as well as the five Monster Cereals.

This monster cartoon series was like Laugh-In starring pastiches of traditional monsters. Characters included Drac the vampire, Frankie the Frankenstein Monster, Wolfie the werewolf, Bella la Ghostly, a vampire/ ghost femme fatale, and Hagatha the witch.

Other supporting characters at the castle called Horrible Hall were Mummy the mummy, plus Bone-Apart, the living skeleton in a Napoleon hat and epaulettes. Additional monsters and living pieces of furniture added to the cast and appeared intermittently.

The Groovie Goolies was from the same production company that did the various Archie cartoon shows over the years. Despite its low amount of episodes, the half-hour (with commercials) program lived on in reruns for decades.

In addition, the Groovie Goolies popped up in segments of their sister show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Sabrina was the Goolies’ cousin and she would appear in comedic misadventures that often featured Archie Andrews and his Riverdale High characters, too.

And, just as the Archie cartoons presented him and his friends as the pop band The Archies, the Groovie Goolies show presented the monsters as a pop band, apparently in hopes of matching The Archies’ success with bubblegum hits like Sugar, Sugar.     

The persnickety Drac, the surfer-beatnick Wolfie and the dim-witted Frankie were the main musical act but the series also featured guest bands like the Mummies and the Puppies, who were references to the Mamas and the Papas, right down to one member being named Mama Casket instead of Mama Cass.

Writing-wise, there was never one big story that ran from the beginning to the end of each Groovie Goolies episode.

Instead, there was often a main story that was interrupted by quick blackout sketches from the enormous supporting cast, with a sort-of resolution to the main tale thrown in somewhere along the way.

In 1974 the main Goolies appeared in a crossover cartoon with the Looney Tunes characters titled Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies. That bizarre team-up was aired as part of The Saturday Superstar Movie, an animated anthology series which had also presented the aforementioned Mini-Munsters.

The Groovie Goolies was never quite funny and the songs were far from memorable, but there is just something compellingly watchable about the show. It has a certain undefinable charm that makes for a fun time and it’s disappointing that all of the attempts at a feature film have fallen apart.  

FOR MORE FORGOTTEN TELEVISION CLICK HERE:   https://glitternight.com/category/forgotten-television/