Uncle Croc's Block

Uncle Croc's Block
File:Uncle Croc's Block.jpg
Genre	Live Action/Animation
Starring	Charles Nelson Reilly Jonathan Harris Alfie Wise
Voices of	Kenneth Mars Allan Melvin Alan Oppenheimer Robert Ridgely Lennie Weinrib Bob Holt
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer Dick Rosenbloom
Running time	60 minutes, later 30 minutes
Production company(s)	Filmation
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Color
Original release	September 6, 1975 – February 14, 1976

Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation.

History

A spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson Reilly played the titular Uncle Croc, a crocodile who hated his job as the show's host and was implied to be at least somewhat inebriated throughout the series (he "hiccups" during the theme song, for example). Also featured were Alfie Wise as his rabbit sidekick Mr. Rabbit Ears and Jonathan Harris as Basil Bitterbottom, the show-within-a-show's frustrated director.

Star Time

Each episode contained a "Star Time" segment, in which parodies of popular characters would appear, usually making denigrating remarks about the show and/or its staff, and demonstrating their abilities (or lack thereof). Guests included:

• Captain Klangeroo - He is a parody of Captain Kangaroo.
  • Mr. Mean Jeans (played by Huntz Hall) - He is a parody of Mr. Greenjeans.
• Sherlock Domes (played by Carl Ballantine) - He is a parody of Sherlock Holmes.
  • Dr. Watkins (played by Stanley Adams) - The sidekick of Sherlock Domes. He is a parody of Dr. Watson.
• Witchie Goo Goo (played by Phyllis Diller) - A witch whose prince-conjuring spell always summons Basil to her.
• Junie the Genie (played by Alice Ghostley) - A teenage genie. She is a parody of Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie.
• Captain Marbles/Billy Bratson (played by Marvin Kaplan as Captain Marbles) - Billy Bratson says "Shazowy" in order to turn into the superhero Captain Marbles, in the same way Billy Batson would transform into Captain Marvel by saying “Shazam!”.
• Steve Exhaustion, The $6.95 Man (played by Robert Ridgely) - A cyborg that always fell apart. He is a parody of Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man.
• Old Fogey Bear - A manic-depressant bear. He is a parody of Yogi Bear.
• Miss Invis - A woman who falsely claimed to be able to make herself invisible.

Cartoon segments

The show also included the cartoon shorts:

• M*U*S*H (short for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes): Sled dogs (voiced by Kenneth Mars and Robert Ridgely) work at a medical outpost in the frozen wasteland of upper Saboonia. This cartoon is a lampoon of M*A*S*H.
• Fraidy Cat: Fraidy Cat (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) is haunted by the ghosts of 8 of his 9 lives (each voiced by Lennie Weinrib).
• Wacky and Packy: A prehistoric caveman and his pet woolly mammoth (both voiced by Allan Melvin) end up trapped in the modern times.

Broadcast history

The series premiered at 10:30 AM ET on September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, Uncle Croc's Block was up against the second half of hugely popular The Shazam!/Isis Hour (another Filmation property) and Far Out Space Nuts on CBS. The show, which was fitted with an adult laugh track, was shortened to 30 minutes, then scrapped on February 14, 1976 after half a season on the air.

As a result of the show's poor performance, ABC president Fred Silverman severed all ties with Filmation and began commissioning its Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, with whom Silverman had a working relationship during his time at CBS. In an attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated Groovie Goolies episodes as a new segment, redubbed the Super Fiends (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, The Groovie Goolies and Friends, and would also resurface in the home video market in the 1980s.

External links

• Retrojunk: Uncle Croc's Block
• Jim's Filmation page - Uncle Croc's Block
• Uncle Croc's Block at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Uncle Croc's Block: Nostalgia