Comments on: Friday Night Out

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Of all the Hanna Barbera superhero ‘toons, Birdman was definitely always my favorite.

By: Ed Bosnar

Ed Bosnar — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:35:12 +0000

Now that I’ve actually found a little time to watch the linked “Birdman” videos, I have to say that I’m amazed at how hynotic they are, despite being silly and campy. (I was just a bit too young to actually watch Birdman on Saturday mornings, but in the mid-70s they were showing the Herculoids and the very, very similar Space Ghost). All this to say that I find it, what’s the word – refreshing, heart-warming, something else? – that in today’s hi-tech age of CGI and whatnot a little guy like Phenix still finds these cartoons awesome. Again, “fuck yeah!”
p.s. I only have really spotty memories of watching “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”, but I do recall those underwater hairy-seaweed-whatever giants in that picture you posted: they really freaked me out…

By: David Wynne

David Wynne — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:37:25 +0000

…I *really* enjoyed that. And now I need to find and purchase as much Birdman as possible.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:13:52 +0000

Ha! Nice piece ‘o writing.

By: danjack

danjack — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:11:28 +0000

i was a bit too young for the shows that you mention, but i can totally relate to the spirit of this article. This is why i still care about all this unreality stuff, the wonder it brings out in people, mostly boys.
And i’m angry at George Lucas for Jar-Jar, not Chewbacca, and this is totally rational.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:34:03 +0000

Pardon the all caps, but…

YOU ARE SUCH A GEEK!

By: Alvin

Alvin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:59:34 +0000

Well Done ! Hook them while they’re young, I loved Irwin Allen shows, I have a half dozen Land of The Giants waste paper baskets in the shop and everyone just marvels at them I’m surprised they have not sold, but I know one 10 year old kid named Jordan who’s saving up for one. later!

By: Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:11:09 +0000

Oh, and let’s not forget the efforts put by you and your wife to *HELP* people, in any ways you can.

Family Promise is mostly Julie’s thing, she’s on the board. I just caddy for her sometimes. But she helps with so many of my things at school and conventions and so on that it’s kind of nice to have something where she’s the star and I’m just “Mr. Julie” for once.

By: sijo

sijo — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:28:20 +0000

You know, there are two reasons why I love reading Hatcher’s columns: one, they’re so unpredictable, you never know what he’s going to be talking about next; two, they are SO uplifting. They make me smile and leave me feeling a little better about The World. (Unlike, say, Steven Grant’s Permanent Damage column, which I read for its comics facts and astute observations, but which always ends on such dreary notes. Seriously, somebody give that guy a hug.)

I agree completely with Greg: I saw this stuff as a kid (conveniently, there was an afternoon TV show for kids here in Puerto Rico at the time (La Hora de la Aventura”) that hosted nothing but Irwin Allen shows- that and the Animated Star trek) and I remember VttBotS fondly. Though my favorite was Lost in Space, especially the episodes centered on the robot. And of course, I saw the Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoons as a kid (when I discovered DC’s Hawkman, I thought he was a poor imitation of Bird-Man! ) Were they actually BANNED? I can’t believe it -or rather, I can, I know how reactionary people used to be about “cartoons”; still, it’s hard to imagine WHAT they could find reprehensible in THOSE series. Let me tell you, as a kid, while I loved Bugs Bunny and Disney etc, I STILL wanted to see cartoons with some action and more of a plot (even if now I realize how absurd they were.) Watching these shows made me feel like I had “grown up” a little (though my family did not agree. )

Thanks again for such an entertainment column, Greg. Oh, and let’s not forget the efforts put by you and your wife to *HELP* people, in any ways you can. God is probably watching you from Heaven and going, “Fuck, yeah.”

By: Cei-U!

Cei-U! — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:54:35 +0000

Naturally I love any column that mentions my name but it would’ve rocked just as hard without it. For just a minute there, I was six years old again and Irwin Allen (the Jack Schiff of TV, a reference I couldn’t make anywhere else and hope to be understood) was a god. Voyage. Lost in Space. Land of the Giants. Time Tunnel. I *lived* for those shows. I even drew my own LiS and Time Tunnel comics (which were probably better scripted than the actual programs). It took some guy named Roddenberry to dethrone King Irwin and that was definitely a good thing but when I’m channel surfing and one of his shows is on TVLand, the little kid in me still feels that heady “Fuck, YEAH!” moment. Great column, GH.

By: Dalarsco

Dalarsco — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:52:33 +0000

Exactly my feelings on the matter. I don’t have the time to reread or rewatch most of what I buy very often at all. I mostly amass piles of stuff to share it with friends. I almost never have my entire comic collection simply because I usually have something on loan to a friend.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:00:59 +0000

felt irrationally annoyed at George Lucas.

This made me laugh out loud.

By: Ed Bosnar

Ed Bosnar — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:35:23 +0000

I’ll second bad_trotsky’s sentiments, and just add my own “Fuck yeah!”

By: bad_trotsky

bad_trotsky — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:25:35 +0000

Great Story!