RetroFan #13 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

March 2021 No. 13 $9.95

There is nothing wrong with your television set…

ZONE OUT ON SCI-FI TV ANTHOLOGIES

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s coolest couple

D R A D D O G K MAR and MARTA KRI STEN

THE MULTITALENTED

Saturday Morning’s

BOB CRANE

DYNOMUTT

Wham-O’s fabulous

FRISBEE

Who Created Archie Andrews? • Partridge Family Trading Cards • Lava Lamps • & more!

82658 00430

FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury

The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

CONTENTS

Columns and Special Features

Departments

Retrotorial

Retro Travel Photo Gallery The Lost in Space Jupiter Experience

Retro Interview Lost in Space’s Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen Ernest Farino’s Retro Fantasmagoria Sixties’ Sci-Fi Anthology Series

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Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Dynomutt and Blue Falcon

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum Magazine Column Generic food

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon Who Created Archie Andrews?

Retro Radio Bob Crane, from Behind the Mic to Behind Enemy Lines on Hogan’s Heroes

Oddball World of Scott Shaw! The World Famous San Diego Zoo, Part One

RetroFan™ #13, March 2021. Published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $68 Economy US, $103 International, $27 Digital.

Issue #13 March 2021

RetroFad Lava Lamps

Retro Toys The Frisbee

Too Much TV Quiz

Celebrity Crushes

Super Collector Partridge Family Trading Cards

RetroFanmail

ReJECTED RetroFan fantasy cover by Scott Saavedra

Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen photos by Michael Eury. Dynomutt and Blue Falcon © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Bob Crane photo courtesy of Scott Crane; used with permission. Frisbee © Wham-O. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. ISSN 2576-7224

retro interview

MeeT MajOr DON WesT

Mark Goddard, October 2019. Photo by Michael Eury.

MarK GODDarD

from the captain because he didn’t want him to know that he wasn’t doing anything. That’s how it was. Irwin called all the shots and people weren’t scared of him, but they had a respect for him that if you don’t do it right, he won’t be pleased with you. You’d get that look. I didn’t want that, so I just stayed away from him. RF: What exactly was that “look”? Did he stare at you from under his glasses? MG: He’d just glare at you. You’d just know he meant business. He was a good producer. He knew what he was doing.

FA ST FAC TS Lost in Space

RetroFan: Let’s start with a question I normally would ask you at the end. What is it about Lost in Space, a show that you did 50 years ago, that commands all this attention? Mark Goddard: It’s all about nostalgia. It’s about people who were watching the show when they were nine, ten years old. They’d come home and Mom would tell them, “If you don’t eat your dinner, you’re not going to get to watch the show.” It was a good-feeling show and a show from the heart, whereas Star Trek was from the head—it was cerebral. People would get a feeling from our show. It was silly, it was inane, but it had some values to it. We showed the relationship between the father and the son that was homey and very good. The mother was respected, and so were her daughters... That’s why— it’s a family show.

have something to play off of. As they came into the show, they became more of the favorites of the writers or whoever because they were easy to write for. Jonathan Harris, Dr. Smith, he was a brilliant actor. He knew how to capture an audience and he knew what to do. In any scene with Jonathan Harris, he always had to have the last word to it. I might have a scene with Dr. Smith and if you look at the end, he would say, “Indeed.”

RF: That’s a good observation, but as you know, better than I, when Lost in Space started, it was darker in tone. Once the show shifted to color, the humor and emphasis on Dr. Smith evolved. MG: In black and white, it was about a family lost in space. It was about adventure, and the adventures they’d have being lost in space—with aliens or monsters, or whatever it might be. Then, they added Dr. Smith and the Robot to the show because they had to

RF: Tell me about Irwin Allen, who created the show. MG: I didn’t get to know him very well. Irwin and I had a relationship like… remember the movie, Mr. Roberts, with Jimmy Cagney and Jack Lemmon?

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RF: [chuckles] MG: That’s how it would end. He had a way of knowing that the camera ended on him. That’s a technique. I couldn’t do that. I’d be like, “Okay, let’s go… let’s do some more.” RF: Was Harris easy to work with? MG: He was great to work with. He and I got along great. Very well.

RF: Uh-huh. MG: Irwin Allen would be the Jimmy Cagney character and I’d be the Jack Lemmon character. Jack Lemmon’s character always wanted to stay away

` No. of seasons: Three ` No. of episodes: 83 (84, counting pilot) ` Original run: September 15, 1965– March 6, 1968 ` Primary cast: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Bob May (Robot), Dick Tufeld (voice of Robot) ` Network: CBS ` Creator/Producer: Irwin Allen

Spin-offs and remakes: ` The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: Lost in Space (airing September 8, 1973, a HannaBarbera-produced cartoon reimagining the series with a slightly altered cast with the exception of Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith and “Robon” the Robot) ` Lost in Space (1998 movie reboot, starring William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, and Matt LeBlanc, and featuring cameos by original LIS actors) ` Lost in Space (2018–present Netflix reboot, starring Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, and Parker Posey)

retro interview

RF: Definitely a visionary, not just your show, but Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants… MG: Yeah, yeah. He knew how to make explosions. He didn’t like actors. He liked explosions—that kind of stuff. I don’t think he was crazy about actors. Look at all the actors he had in The Poseidon Adventure—Gene Hackman and others. He didn’t use them—they were drowning half the time! [Michael laughs] The movie The Towering Inferno, with two of our finest actors, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Did he make them [act]? He was a visionary, but had a different kind of vision than someone like Stanley Kubrick would have.

Mark Goddard as Don West in an autographed publicity photo. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Heritage.

What he did—he was the master of disasters, but not that I respected it because I was an actor and I knew he wasn’t crazy about me. I don’t think he liked me, to tell you the truth. I did my work, I didn’t give him a hard time, never went in his office. He didn’t know I was around. He came on the set one time and I hid behind one of the phony rocks. He said, “Goddard, what are you doing there?” I said, “Eh.” I just didn’t want him to know I existed. I was happy to come to work, do Goddard’s earliest TV series were adapted into comic books by Dell. (TOP) Four Color #1142, from late 1959, starring Johnny Ringo. (BOTTOM) Four Color #1219 from early 1962, starring The Detectives (including a future Caped Crusader of Gotham City). © CBS.

my lines, go home to my wife and child, go the races with Guy Williams, and have a good time and play golf on the weekends with the likes of Tony Curtis and Buddy Hackett. I couldn’t put up with any negativity that would come from thinking Lost in Space was not the show that I wanted in life. RF: Goes to show you that everybody’s got a boss looking down his nose at you at one time or another. MG: I’m probably the only actor that will say this about him. She’ll [nods to Marta Kristen] say he was great. He just wasn’t my kind of guy. RF: He was the master of disaster and maybe favored explosions over actors, but had the good fortune to work RETROFAN

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retro interview

MeeT JuDy RoBiNsON

MK: I think because, as you said, there were so many things on the outside of our society in the Sixties going on—the Vietnam War…

MarTa KrisTeN Marta Kristen, October 2019. Photo by

RF: He was the saboteur that got the Robinson family lost in space to begin with…

Michael Eury.

RetroFan: I want to start with a question that I often end an interview with: Let’s talk about the legacy of Lost in Space. What is it, 50 years into this phenomenon, that has given it this longlasting mystique? Marta Kristen: I always tell people that I think the reason why it has lasted so long is because the center of the show is about family. It’s not an overt message—but it’s an underlying message. There’s a morality tale throughout the show and eventually what happens at the end of the show is the family wins and the family stays together and we’ve struggled together. That sounds very idealistic, because it’s a family adventure series about monsters and spaceships and meteors… but the basic premise and the basic theme of the show is the struggle we go through and we survive as a family. RF: I was a kid back then and largely remember watching the color episodes. But as an adult I’ve gone back and rewatched the show and am absolutely fascinated by the first season, in black and white. At that point, there was more a sense of menace, and as you’re aware, over time Lost in Space became lighter and campier and comedic, much like the tone of the mid-Sixties. Tell me about that evolution. 8

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RF: …civil rights protests… MK: …all kinds of social issues changing— it was an evolution in our society in so many different ways. I think the darkness of the first season changed because it went into color and became visually more like a cartoon and the flavor of the show changed. The black and white made a huge difference in visually how it was presented. I think they went hand-inhand in many ways. I think with Jonathan [Harris]—Dr. Smith—wanting to change his character and not be the villain.

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Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

MK: He was the saboteur… but Jonathan felt he would be eliminated in the show. He began to, in a way, manipulate the writing by doing his own writing and becoming the villain you love to hate— the coward. So that began to change and through that, the flavor of the show began to change as well in the second season, out of necessity because it became about the Robot and Bill [Mumy] and that threesome. It was funny and became lighter in tone. RF: To tie into your earlier comment, the original villain of the piece became sort of the dysfunctional family member. MK: Exactly, and we couldn’t get rid of him because he became beloved by so many people. He was a wonderful actor and a charming man in person. He knew how to present himself. He knew how to save his character. He ended up loving Dr. Smith as the character that he created. He said he was always doing [an impression of actress] Martita Hunt, “Ooohh, oooh.” [laughter] You could see that because he had worked with her on Broadway. RF: The colorful costuming is part of the appeal of the show. When you were filming the first season, were the costumes as colorful? MK: No. I was wearing a red top and navy blue, but yes, it was done for black and white. Later on, we became, as Mark [Goddard] said, “the Easter colors.” I liked the second year because I thought it was

retro interview

like a sunrise. I was in yellow and orange. It was quite beautiful. RF: The Easter colors. MK: And the third year was more like the Easter colors. I was in purples, or lavenders, soft yellows. RF: A missed tie-in: “Lost in Space Peeps.” MK: [laughter] That’s right! What happened? RF: When the show changed, was it more difficult? How did you, as an actress, adapt? MK: I never had a lot to do after the first year. RF: Yes, when the menacing tone went away and the show became lighter and more kid-oriented, your character was seen less… and even Don West, to a degree—he ended up being more of a foil to Dr. Smith. So some of the original cast dynamic changed. MK: I had been promised before I did the show that I would have a great deal to do, and Major West and I would have a relationship and it would go from there. We would probably get married and have Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson in a color publicity still on the Lost in Space set. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

children and it would have been quite lovely. I would have interesting issues dealing with having a relationship in space. It was a disappointment to me, frankly. Before I started doing this show, I had been the ingénue that you would call to do serious pieces. I was on the first twoparter [crossover] on television, and it went from Dr. Kildare to Eleventh Hour, with Tony Dow. I was very involved in theater, so I considered myself a serious actor. I had dreams of going to New York prior to coming to Los Angeles. My father was a professor of philosophy and my mother was a schoolteacher and they both took a sabbatical for a year to come to Los Angeles and for my father to write a book. My mother had family in Los Angeles. I had ambitions of continuing in theater and started a theater company eventually in Los Angeles, by the way. It was voted one of the top theater companies by NPR, “The Best Small Theater Company.” We did Pinter and O’Neill, all the wonderful playwrights—serious theater. So I was very disappointed that I didn’t have much to do. I accepted it in a way, but carried the disappointment with me. I would talk to Irwin Allen, the producer, about it. He’d say, “Yes, we’re going to have more for you to do. We already have it in the can.” It turns out in the fourth year I would have had more to do. There was talk about a lot of changes they were going to make and part of it—because people were writing in saying, “Why don’t Don RETROFAN

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ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

Misty Regions

Collage by Ernest Farino.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents a Way Out ride One Step Beyond The Twilight Zone to The Outer Limits—it’s a Thriller!

The Classic Sci-Fi, Horror, and Mystery TV Anthology Series of the Sixties by Ernest Farino “To a child caught in the middle of turmoil and conflict, a doll can become many things: friend, defender, guardian. Especially a doll like Talky Tina, who did talk, and did commit murder—in the misty regions of The Twilight Zone.” — Rod Serling (“Living Doll,” 1963) Shock Theater and Son of Shock, packages of classic Universal horror films released to television syndication in 1957–1958, launched the Silver Age of “all things monsters” in the late Fif ties to the mid-Sixties, including Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, the Aurora monster model kits, the Mars Attacks cards, and much more. Although Vampira was the original television horror host (1954–1955), the Shock packages also rejuvenated the television “horror host” including Zacherley, Ghoulardi, M. T. Graves, and Moona Lisa, all the way up to

today’s Svengoolie on MeTV. [Editor’s note: See RetroFan #2 and 6 for more on TV horror hosts.] Television networks saw green amidst the blood red and soon FCC chairman Newton N. Minow’s “vast wasteland” (TV) was crawling with all things that go bump in the night. In addition to the sitcoms The Addams Family, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, and Bewitched, a serious approach was taken with a spate of anthologies: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, One Step Beyond, and Way Out. There were a few others, such as The Veil and Great Ghost Tales, but these six series represented the most notable, popular, and enduring examples of mystery and imagination. By 1960, 30 Western series aired in primetime, including Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, and Bonanza. Time magazine reported on April 30, 1959 that “Last week eight of the top ten shows were horse operas.” Those were all great shows, but clearly it was time to shake things up in suburbia. To paraphrase Rod Serling, the monsters were due on Maple Street…

As Bette Davis said in All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts—it’s going to be a bumpy night.” It’s almost impossible to discuss these sci-fi/horror/mystery anthology series without occasionally giving away something, so if that spoils things for you, avert your eyes… RETROFAN

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ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

“Good Evening”—Much has been written in books and magazines (and blogs and Facebook groups) about these series. Given space limitations, a magazine like RetroFan cannot expect cover them in depth. Thus, “for your consideration,” we offer a short overview of each series followed by a closer look at a favorite episode or two. Photos from other episodes captioned with scintillating trivia will hopefully round things out. Your mileage will vary—everyone has their favorites and odds are yours will be overlooked. But there you are…

The Twilight Zone Rod Serling (LEFT). The original opening narration claimed that “There is a sixth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.” When producer Bill Self asked what happened to the fifth dimension, Serling said, “I don’t know. Aren’t there five?” They could only think of four, so the narration was rewritten to what we’re familiar with: “There is a fifth dimension…”

Rod Serling: “Well, The Twilight Zone is in essence an imaginative itinerary of storytelling in which we utilize bases of fantasy, science fiction, the occult, extrasensory perception, anything that is imaginative, wild, or, as in the States we call it, ‘kooky.’” For months Serling argued that a mystery-suspense show could compete with all the medical and Western shows. The series was finally greenlit by CBS and premiered on October 2, 1959. The first narrator was The March of Time’s Westbrook Van Voorhis, but he sounded “a little too pompous.” Serling then wanted Orson Welles, but Welles asked for too much money. Despite skepticism that a “writer” could do the job, Serling stepped in, everybody loved his introduction, and he stayed on as the series host. Serling held to an exhaustive schedule. When his home office door was closed, that’s when he would dictate his scripts into a recorder. “I remember him on the Dictaphone,” recalled Serling’s daughter Jodi to SyFyWire in 2019, “and waving to us to go away, I’m busy right now. But he was always around for us as children. He was a great father.” Film director John Frankenheimer (The Train, Seven Days in May) first worked with Rod Serling in 1954 on a TV drama called A Knife in the Dark, for which Serling was paid $200 (about $1,900 today). 16

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Frankenheimer told Alex Simon of The Hollywood Interview, “We were very good friends. He was a terrific writer. I did a Playhouse 90 once where we were in really bad trouble with the script. So I went to see him and he asked a lot of questions. He’d never read the script, mind you, but in a matter of hours the new scene was ready and it worked beautifully. Rod was a genuinely good man and he died much too young.” The series describes “the twilight zone” as “the middle ground between light and shadow, and it lies between the pit of man’s fear and the summit of his knowledge.” In fact, Serling got the name from the term airline pilots use for the area when both the clouds and ground blend together causing them to lose their bearings. The iconic opening title sequences were produced by UPA (United Productions of America), famous for their Mister Magoo cartoon shorts and the animated features 1001 Arabian Nights and Gay Purr-ee. Herb Klynn and Stephen Bosustow were in charge and the animation team that consisted of Rudy Larriva (director/ animator), Sam Clayberger (layout/backgrounds), and Joe Messerli (title logo/overlays). At one point, programming head Jim Aubrey ordered that the cost per episode had to come down and mandated shooting on videotape instead of 35mm film. However, after six episodes it was determined that little was being saved, so the show went back to shooting on film. The Sixties video quality is marginal, which makes these six episodes hard to watch. The six episodes were shot consecutively but placed randomly throughout the broadcast schedule. Since today’s on-screen guides often list episode numbers, the six are listed here in the order of broadcast, not production: “The Lateness of the Hour” (Ep 8), “Night of the Meek” (Ep 11), “The Whole Truth” (Ep 14), “Twenty-Two” (Ep 17), “Static” (Ep 20), and “Long Distance Call” (Ep 22). The Twilight Zone spanned 156 episodes from 1959 to 1964 (TV “seasons” were much longer in those days), and there are many exceptional episodes. (Yes, there are some clunkers, but that’s inevitable, just based on the law of averages.) Standout episodes include “The After Hours” (with Forbidden Planet’s Anne Francis), “Perchance to Dream,” “The Midnight Sun,” “The Dummy,” “Twenty-Two,” and “It’s a Good Life” (with youngster Billy Mumy sending adults “off to the cornfield”). “Living Doll” starred future Kojak Telly Savalas. Tracy Stratford, as the little girl, would later voice Lucy Van Pelt in 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. The Talky Tina doll was voiced by June Foray (Rocky of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) and is the same voice used by Mattel for their actual Chatty Cathy doll.

ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

One of my personal favorites is “And When the Sky Was Opened,” in which three astronauts return from space only to disappear one by one. Even on the printed page, Richard Matheson’s original short story ends in a chilling fashion. “The Bewitchin’ Pool” aired June 19, 1964 as the series finale. I always liked this episode—perhaps as a kid I related to the idea of disappearing from the real work into a fantasyland. Due to problems with production sound most of the actors had to revoice their dialog for the exteriors. Unfortunately, Mary Badham (who previously starred in To Kill a Mockingbird opposite Gregory Peck) had returned home to Alabama and it was too costly to bring her back to L.A. Voice actress June Foray was once again called in, this time dubbing Badham’s lines for the exterior scenes.

Unfortunately, Foray’s voice work, while excellent as usual, is noticeably different than Badham’s own voice as heard in the interior scenes. Jodi Serling said that “‘Walking Distance’ was my father’s favorite episode. There were pieces of him in it, dealing with the loss of his father because he wasn’t able to be released from the Army in time before his father died. So it was a personal story for him, a lot about loneliness and loss. He evoked themes of prejudice and love and war, subjects that were all part of what he had dealt with for most of his life.” So now, a few photos to highlight some of the standout episodes…

(RIGHT) “Eye of the Beholder” director Douglas Heyes’ own sketch of the makeup for William Gordon (the doctor). © CBS.

Now, see what happens when you smoke cigarettes…? © CBS.

(ABOVE) “Two” takes place in a post-apocalyptic city and starred only Charles Bronson and future suburban house-witch Elizabeth Montgomery (RetroFan editor Michael Eury and this writer still carry a brightly burning torch for La Liz, so if you thought she might be skipped over here you’re sadly mistaken…). The episode was filmed on the backlot of Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, which was falling apart due to disuse, thus requiring very little set decoration. © CBS.

(LEFT) Donna Douglas as the unveiled “Janet,” personally autographed to this author several years ago. Douglas was most well known for playing the sexy but innocent “Ellie May” in The Beverly Hillbillies. © CBS. Maxine Stuart played “Janet” under the bandages, as she was a more experienced actress with a voice that was less feminine than Donna Douglas. Maxine Stuart said, “I loved doing the show. I thought it was beautifully written. And we got the shock factor that Rod was going for with the unveiling of Donna Douglas: ‘If that’s not beautiful, I don’t know what is!’ Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder!”

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RETRO TOYS

Magical Flight

What makes us grab that Frisbee and throw it back? by Douglas R. Kelly

For most of us, the Frisbee has always been around: flying across the backyard, across the parking lot, across the quad, across the golf course. In fact, when you think of the Frisbee, dollars to donuts that you picture it in flight rather than sitting on a table or in a gym bag. If it had a tongue (okay, and a brain and a central nervous system), that round piece of plastic would say, “Throw me, launch me, put me out there so I can see the world the way the birds see it.” It wasn’t always plastic. The earliest flying discs were made of metal, and they weren’t designed to be thrown through the air— they were designed to hold pie. Beginning in the late 19th Century, the Frisbie Pie Company, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, sold its products in metal tins measuring approximately nine and a half inches in diameter. According to most sources, it wasn’t long before workers at the bakery were chucking the empty pie tins back and forth on their breaks, along with students at Yale University, in nearby New Haven. (The Frisbie Pie Company also made cookies, which they sold in tins, the lids of which reportedly sailed back and forth along with the pie tins.)

(LEFT) A seven-year-old Dan Roddick prepares to make a leaping catch, circa 1955. Note his expression of pure joy. Jack Roddick. (INSET) This postcard from the Thirties shows the Hartford, Connecticut, location of the Frisbie Pie Co. (TOP) An original Frisbie pie tin, used by the Frisbie Pie Company and thrown around parking lots and college campuses in the first half of the 20th Century. All product photos shown herein are by and courtesy of Doug Kelly.

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ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

Dynomutt and Blue Falcon by Andy Mangels

Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning. Since 1989, I have been writing columns for magazines in the U.S. and foreign countries, all examining the intersection of comic books and Hollywood, whether animation or live-action. Andy Mangels Backstage, Andy Mangels’ Reel Marvel, Andy Mangels’ Hollywood Heroes, Andy Mangels Behind the Camera… three decades of reporting on animation and live-action—in addition to writing many books and producing around 40 DVD sets—and I’m still enthusiastic. In this RetroFan column, I will examine shows that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit crosslegged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday Morning! Since September 1969, one particular Great Dane ruled Saturday mornings, courtesy of the team at Hanna-Barbera Productions and CBS. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Movies had aired every week, with the ever-hungry Scooby and his human friends—Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley—in the Mystery Inc. van, foiling the plans of spooks, monsters, crooked real estate dealers, and others. But by 1976, CBS’s option on the show was at an end, and CBS executive Fred Silverman had moved to rival network, ABC. Silverman snapped up the series… with a caveat; he wanted Hanna-Barbera to add a new element to the series, a companion show to freshen it up. Super-heroes were all the rage with Super Friends, Shazam!, and The Secrets of Isis on Saturdays, reruns of Adventures of Superman and Batman in syndication, and The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and Wonder Woman on primetime. Silverman wanted super-heroes, Hanna-Barbera loved mysterysolving dogs… and thus was born the legendary Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder!

The Birth of a Robotic Dog

New Yorker Joseph Barbera and New Mexico’s William Hanna had worked together for over three decades by 1978. They met while working for legendary animator Rudolf Isling at his MGM animation department. Their first major collaboration was 1940’s Oscar-nominated theatrical short Puss Gets the Boot, a cat-andmouse story that would birth the Tom and Jerry characters. They produced hundreds of cartoons for MGM until the company closed in 1957, after which they founded their own studio. H-B Enterprises produced the first original animation for television in

1957—NBC’s The Ruff and Reddy Show—and in later years, under the name Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. since 1959, they would produce such hits as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, The Yogi Bear Show and The Adventures of Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and many more. Often the shows were for primetime viewing, but by the end of the Sixties, they and Filmation Associates were producing most of the material shown on Saturday mornings. Working side-by-side at Hanna-Barbera as sound editors were Joseph Ruby and Kenneth Spears, and in 1959, the pair began to write episodes of series together and develop shows. Their first big hit was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which they co-created, but they left shortly after all the new episodes for the series were completed, frustrated that they couldn’t move up on the ladder to the role of associate producers. After a period of time at DePatieFreleng Enterprises, Ruby and Spears began working for Fred Silverman at CBS—and then ABC—taking West Coast pitches for the New York-based executive. Silverman then asked them to help supervise the Saturday morning shows, especially the new Scooby-Doo series he had just nabbed for ABC. Because networks worked closely with studios on content at that time, RubySpears not only contributed to the series, they actually created its companion, working for both ABC and Hanna-Barbera. Speaking in a 2005 DVD interview, Fred Silverman said of the network switch for Scooby-Doo, “I said, ‘You know we really ought to take this and make it big and important, and do an hour. But let’s introduce second characters. It’s a great opportunity to create a new star. And basically, let’s take the same thinking that went into Scooby-Doo, where we kind of made fun of the horror genre, and do this with the super-heroes.’ The Dynomutt concept was basically kind of a put-on of Batman, you know, where you had a very, very stern Batman kind of character, and Dynomutt was the equivalent of Robin, but he was going to kind of be a goofball, where he could never get anything right, much to the consternation of his boss.” RETROFAN

March 2021

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning

Ruby and Spears started developing an idea called “Wonder Mutt” that was a dog from outer space that had contraptions and super-powers. Changing directions, they took the idea of a talking dog to its next level, altering it to add robotics and telescoping limbs to create the goofy Dynomutt; robots and bionic powers were looming large thanks to primetime television hits (and in fact, The Bionic Woman eventually got a Bionic Dog named Max). As suggested by Silverman, Ruby and Spears also “borrowed” heavily from the popular Batman series to create blue-caped, gadget-carrying, millionaire crimefighter Blue Falcon. Although no origin was ever given to Dynomutt or Blue Falcon, they existed in the same universe as the Scooby-Doo characters; in fact, the Scooby gang appeared as guest-stars in multiple episodes. Unlike the globetrotting teens, though, Blue Falcon was based in a big city known as… Big City. Blue Falcon was secretly a millionaire playboy art dealer named Radley Crown, a dashing man who lived in a deluxe penthouse apartment. Unlike Batman with his Robin “the Boy Wonder,” Crown had a supersophisticated robotic pooch known as Dynomutt, also known as Dog Wonder. The closest thing to an origin for Dynomutt is actually culled from Hanna-Barbera promotional sales sheets for the series. It states about the “Outrageous comedy about a screwed up robot dog and his caped crusader master” that: “Modern science invents a perfectly developed robot Doberman. Then someone in the lab crosses a wrong wire when assembling the dog’s computerized brain. The result—a robot dog with the mind of a mechanical nincompoop. Viewers never know what to expect from this nuts-and-bolts, electrically short-circuited canine detective. And neither does his partner, the famous Blue Falcon, who is almost reduced to tears when he realizes what he’s stuck with for a partner. But Falcon persists, and accepts his robot’s shortcomings, always allowing him back for another caper. “Dynomutt’s brain may malfunction, but his futuristic body remains true to its design. He can stretch his head and legs around corners and under doors. In a moment, he can instantaneously activate a helicopter blade from the top of his head and fly into the sky. When not engaged in zany escapades, Dynomutt works as a janitor in an art gallery run by Blue Falcon, who is disguised as an art dealer. But when trouble threatens, 36

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they both dash to the Falcon’s lair, jump into the Falcon car, and speed off to the scene of delightful comedy and adventure.” Like Batman, the Dog-namic “Daring Duo” has their own kind of alert system. When alerted to a crime by the Falcon Flash, Crown and Dynomutt would switch to more super-heroic garb and head to the Falcon’s Lair (conveniently also in the penthouse), where they would be briefed on a giant TV screen by secret agent Focus One. Then, with crimes to be fought, and costumed evildoers to vanquish, they would dash off in the Falconcar (or other assorted Falcon vehicles) and engage in daring do… or attempt to, as Dynomutt often caused unintentional trouble. Through the stories, Blue Falcon would often refer to Dynomutt as “Dog Blunder,” and Dynomutt would nickname Blue Falcon “B.F.” Quoting the sales sheet again: “These endless gags, created through the magic of animation are sources for a continuing series of comical situations. Humor is the key ingredient, with suspenseful cliff-hanger scenes, where Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon stumble into exotic clever traps. But always, the duo makes equally clever, funny escapes.” In a 2005 DVD interview,

FA ST FAC TS The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour ` ` ` ` `

No. of seasons: One No. of episodes: 16 episodes Network: ABC Original run: September 11, 1976–September 3, 1977 Segment title: Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ` ` ` ` `

No. of seasons: One No. of episodes: Four two-part stories/eight parts Network: ABC Original run: September 10, 1977–March 11, 1978 Segment title: The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning

co-creator Joe Ruby said that “It’s just the counter-play of the two… he’s a hero, and you’ve got a moron for your sidekick. He was always getting messed up by his dog, it was mechanical, and [had] two left feet.” As noted, the Dynomutt stories had cliffhangers, as well as a blustery, knowing narrator who reminded viewers of the Batman show’s narrator. The first ten minutes’ segment of Dynomutt always ended with the pair of heroes caught in a trap from the villain of the week. The cliffhanging peril would, of course, be solved after a quick commercial break, often through a combination of Blue Falcon’s skills and Dynomutt’s bumblings. By episode’s end, all was well in Big City.

Dog Designs and Dyno Debuts

With the series plotted and scripts in the works from HannaBarbera’s usual suspects, work began on designing the look of the series. The job chiefly went to Alex Toth, a celebrated comic artist who had been working with Hanna-Barbera from 1966–1968, designing characters and vehicles, and drawing storyboards. Toth had designed the looks of Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Dino Boy and the Lost Valley, Herculoids, and others. In 1973, he had returned to Hanna-Barbera to adapt the famed DC Comics heroes for the Super Friends series. Aided by Steve Nakagawa, Toth turned out dozens of pages of beautifully moody designs for Dynomutt, many of them a bit more serious than the comedic show needed. He also designed a cowl and look for Crown/Birdman that has had fans asking for decades if he was some relation to Space Ghost; the resemblance was clear and distinct. Toth also devised the show’s mayor—reportedly the first African-American elected official on Saturday morning cartoons, the Mayor was also played by a black actor—as well as the looks of the show’s many villains: Mr. Hyde and Hyde Dog, Lowbrow, the Gimmick, the Worm, Fishface, Manyfaces, Superthug and Zorkon, Mr. Cool, the Queen Hornet, Beastwoman, and others. The villains even had their own supergroup in one episode: the Injustice League of America! Blue Falcon and Dynomutt’s arsenal was also designed mostly by Toth. The Falconcar originally had a giant “F” on its top, but that only appears in one episode and was eliminated; unlike the Batmobile, the Falconcar flew through the air! Other items for Blue Falcon included the Falconclaw, the Falconlift elevator, an Instant Delayed Action Falcon Balloon, a Falconbelt with Falcon communicator, Falcon Suctioncup Feet, the Falcon Instant Anti-Car Thief Ejection Seat, a Falcon Garbage Can, the Falcon Fan Snapper, and more. Dynomutt’s extra features included a Dyno-Parachute, Dyno-carving Knife, Dyno-Mallets, Dyno-Jets, Dyno Dum-Dums, a Dyno Power Pack, a Dyno Rocket Lever, a Dyno Car Wash, a Dyno Flotation Collar, the Dyno Bubble-Trap, the Dyno Enlarging Powerpack, a Dyno-Yo-Yo, Dyno-Antivacuum Vacuum, Dyno-Helium Sniffer, Dyno-Winch, Dyno Bad Guy Box, Dyno Paint Kit, and Dynomutt’s Dynocopter and Dynocycle! Holy Batman, that’s a lot of gadgets! The voice cast was full of Hanna-Barbera regulars, including the deep voice of Gary Owens—who had also voiced Space Ghost for the company—as Blue Falcon. In a 2005 DVD interview, Gary Owns said, “Dynomutt and Blue Falcon were really favorites of mine. I enjoyed them very, very much. You see the storyboards first, and you see what kind of character it is. He’s authoritative…

(ABOVE and BELOW) Model sheets for Dog Wonder and his feathered friend. Courtesy of Andy Mangels.© HBP.

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March 2021

SCOTT SAAVEDRA'S MAGAZINE COLUMN

ARTICLE Contents: Processed Words About Generic Label Food Weight: Light

by A Writer

This is an article about generic label food products written by a writer. It will contain all of the most basic facts and a minimum of colorful commentary of the type you would expect to find in a brand name article written by a brand name writer. It may not, however, use the Grade A Fancy words or sentence formulations that you have grown accustomed to in a Secret Sanctum column. This, however, benefits the consumer. A generic writer allows the publisher to save money on brand name writer perks (a lotto ticket in the pay envelope, back rubs, etc.). These savings are passed on in the form of more words at no increase of charge to you.

The Article, Section One

Late-era Baby Boomers and a majority of the Generation X cohort in the mid-to-lower income segments of the U.S. population likely were aware of generic label food products in their childhood to late teen years. Generic label products were found in packaging that was simply white (or sometimes yellow) with minimal—if any—design flourishes. The name of the product (such as “Light Beer”) would be the most prominent element with required content information such as weight and ingredients added in much smaller type. Such products would often be found confined to a dedicated area of the store rather than next to their brandname counterparts. This helped shoppers be aware of items that otherwise did not receive advertising to create interest. In addition to canned and prepared foods, generic labels were found on consumables for the home, paper towels, bleach, beauty aids, and the like.

Jewel Markets has been credited as the first national supermarket chain to carry generic label products beginning in 1977. But the concept of unbranded consumer goods appears to have begun in France a year earlier at Carrefour, a hypermarket (a combination of supermarket and department store). Other grocery retailers followed due to consumer interest. Generic label products are not to be confused with store or off-brand labels which are designed to be appealing to consumers in the manner of better known national brands and can be of better quality. “[Generic label food products] experienced a period of popularity in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during a period of high price inflation.” This is a quote from the Wikipedia entry on the subject. That source is now exhausted. The Seventies were indeed a time of high inflation. The Gerald Ford administration attempted to help ease inflation in 1974 by encouraging more saving, less spending, and home vegetable gardens. This initiative was called “Whip Inflation Now,” or WIN. Several The WIN button promotional WIN button designs were was a fail. Wikimedia issued, and this is perhaps what is most Commons.. recalled of that effort as the buttons were widely mocked. In fairness, the RETROFAN

March 2021

Scott Saavedra's magazine column

An opened generic can of Mixed Nuts has survived the decades by being used to hold mixed nuts and bolts (this is true). Photo by the Writer.

WIN-emblazoned sweaters were even worse. Increasingly, families went from single-earner households to two-earner households just to pay for normative expenses. Finding ways to economize on basic needs was a priority for all but the most financially secure.

executive leadership, sales, marketing, product, support, operations, and corporate culture all align and mature in a compelling manner that is meaningful to anyone who encounters the collection of people…” [The Writer, annoyed by corporate-speak, takes a cof fee break.]

The Writer’s mother would purchase supermarket newsstand periodicals directed at America’s housewives (a group of persons whose main job was to have zero personal time), such as Woman’s Day and Family Circle. Such periodicals would regularly feature articles on ways to economize. Ever hopeful, the mother would closely read each set of recommendations and with sad regularity she would be annoyed by the suggestions. The mother was already doing most of them (“I was already making my own clothes!”) and the others simply would never apply. The frequent “eat out less” suggestion in particular was a source of her ire as if her family of nine regularly going out to eat was even a consideration.

Article, Section Two

In the beginning, as the generic label foods popped up around the country they were popular with consumers who had to find savings where they could. The minimal design and lack of branding did not in anyway convey an aspect of quality or exceptionalism. They looked basic and that was part of the reason they were cheaper than brand name items. To better appreciate the lack of branding it may help to understand exactly what branding is. The Mojo Media Lab describes branding as ”knowing and consistently living from a true identity, from a real story, so that 48

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March 2021

Personal Recollection #1

Okay. America in the 20th Century (the RetroYears) is a story of branded products and their impact on our lives. Ford, CocaCola, General Electric, McDonalds, IBM, Apple, and Starbucks were—and are—brands (businesses) producing brands (products) that made their reputations and fortunes. Brands can have meaning to consumers. Some want only Coca-Cola while others prefer Pepsi while others still— like the Writer’s father—was a Royal Crown man. Smith Brothers Cough Drops were one of the first products to sell in branded packaging. Their popular drops had previously been sold loose in glass jars but,

Scott Saavedra's magazine column

tired of losing sales to imitators, they began packaging them in 1872. Smith Brothers Cough Drops are still sold today. Branded products live or die by reputation. The brand owner is responsible for that reputation which must be nurtured for continued success. No such expectations are placed on the generic product since it is nothing beyond what it says on the package (“Pre-Creamed Shortening”). However, the upkeep and care of national brands cost incredible amounts of money. That cost is passed on to the consumer. In the case of generics little to no advertising was used to promote them. The packages were often grouped together in a kind of “value huddle” with plenty of signage indicating the savings to be had versus brand products. The minimalism of the early generics was certainly striking compared to a market’s usual stock, but what exactly constitutes generic design was not written in stone. A white package with black lettering was considered to be a “true generic” since it cannot be simplified. Yellow packaging with secondary identification such as Ralphs Supermarket’s old “Plain Wrap” brand was a semi-generic. And a private label or store brand designed to look like a generic was an imitation generic. You weren’t expecting this level of detail, were you? If you don’t believe that package design is important, think of all the stuff you wanted as a kid. The packaging (and advertising) was a huge part of why you had to have Mr. Bubble, Mr. Potato Head, or Cap’n Crunch. Would you really need, and I mean really need, the Aurora Frankenstein model without that wonderful James Bama artwork on the box? Economic pressures sent many families to search for ways to stretch their weakening dollar. But what markets discovered to their surprise was that the price of a generic was not a primary purchasing motivator. It was the fact that the consumer was getting a savings of 20% to 50% off national brands on nearly every generic purchase. What they wanted was value. Unfortunately, the means by which that value—an illusion, really—was created was what helped ultimately end the generic label foods as an appealing category. How generic manufacturers (sometimes a major brand producer, sometimes not) brought prices down was to cut costs by changing formulas, simplifying manufacturing, and by using cheaper grade of ingredients. In the case of generic beer, namebrand brewers were known to not use a specific formula but rather whatever was leftover from their main production. To

NO NAME OF THE NORTH

The still-active generic No Name brand in Canada is sort of a generic label living fossil, much like the oelacanth fish grizzled sea-farers pull up in their nets every few years. No Name, which first appeared in 1978, was inspired by the French generics from Carrefour hypermarkets and used similar yellow packaging rather than the plain white originally seen in the U.S. However, while U.S. generic foodstuffs were uneven in quality and manufacture, No Name worked to have the highest possible quality in each category to provide the best possible value (there’s that word again). The end result was that the generics of the Seventies and Eighties faded away while No Name, and this is crazy, for a time at least was, wait for it, one of Canada’s most popular brands. No Name has spruced up its packaging over the years and has even run advertising campaigns, a definite departure from generic protocol.

Packaging as generic as it gets. Two screen captures from a commercial.

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March 2021

RETRO RADIO

Bob Crane Radio Legend by Carol M. Ford

From Behind the Mic to Behind Enemy Lines on Hogan’s Heroes

It’s six o’clock in the morning on March 9, 1962, in Los Angeles. Alarm clocks all over Southern California start ringing. Coffee pots begin to percolate, and bleary-eyed residents crawl out of bed to start the day. For those who tune in to KNX 1070 on their AM radio dial, they are greeted by the wild and outlandish morning show hosted by the future Colonel Robert E. Hogan. The man behind the microphone is none other than Bob Crane. Throughout the morning hours Monday through Friday, replays during the afternoon, and occasionally, special broadcasts on Saturday, Bob Crane would entertain his radio listeners. Before annoying Colonel Wilhelm Klink behind enemy lines at Stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, Bob was causing a ruckus in his listeners’ homes. The Bob Crane Show radio program was extremely popular with listeners and advertisers alike. Considered a radio genius by his broadcasting colleagues on both East and West Coasts, Bob did things in radio that had rarely, if ever, been done before. Dubbed the “King of the L.A. Airwaves” and often called the “shock jock” of his day, Bob Crane revolutionized radio for generations to come.

Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes (circa 1966). From the personal collection of Carol M. Ford. Hogan’s Heroes © Viacom.

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retro radio

Humble Beginnings

Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on Friday, July 13, 1928, to parents Alfred and Rosemary Crane. He had one older brother, Alfred Thomas, who went by Al, Jr., and who was born in 1926. Shortly after Bob was born, the Cranes moved to Stamford, Connecticut, about 30 miles south of Waterbury and situated on the banks of Long Island Sound across from Manhattan. Bob had a happy childhood and grew up in a Russian/Irish-Catholic home. When Bob was about ten years old, his parents took him and his brother to the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing, New York. There, on that fateful trip, Bob saw for the first time Gene Krupa in person—playing the drums. And oh, those drums! Bob was mesmerized from the start, and Krupa became one of Bob’s musician idols, along with Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, Arte Shaw, Cozy Cole, and many more. As a little boy standing in the Fair grounds and from that moment on, music and drums would be omnipresent in Bob’s life. He would dream of sitting in on drums with the name bands of the day. He could never have known that one day, those dreams would come true. Later on, as a Hollywood star, he got to know and befriend many of his musician idols, and in turn, to Bob’s delight, they were happy to let him play drums on occasion with their band. Growing up, Bob was a happy-go-lucky kid and quite popular in school. In junior high school, he organized neighborhood parades and community sports teams, and he taught his friends how to play drums. By the time he got to high school, Bob was

IN-DEPTH BIOGRAPHY

Since his untimely death on June 29, 1978, Bob Crane’s unofficial biography has become akin to a broken record. Like a skip in the acetate, his murder and the scandal that grew from it have been the repeated focus of attention, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Over time, the line between fact and fiction blurred, and his life story became distorted. All perspective on Bob Crane as a human being was lost, and he became nothing more than a two-dimensional cartoon character without depth, understanding, or definition. Now, nearly two hundred people who knew the Hogan’s 60

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Bob Crane on the air at his first radio station, WLEA, in Hornell, New York, 1950. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.

fronting a jazz band—The CraneCatino Jazz Band, which would play not only for high school assemblies, but also for events in Stamford and surrounding Connecticut towns. While in high school, he also played with the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra (but he was never a paid member; his participation was through a statewide program for high school music students to rejuvenate the orchestra during tough financial times). He had an army of school friends, and whether they traveled in his circle or not, everyone knew Bob Crane, Stamford High School’s “Drummer Boy.” World War II was raging around the globe when Bob was in high school, and his brother Al served in the United States Navy on the U.S.S. Bunker Hill in the Pacific Theater of War. On May 11, 1945, the Bunker Hill was attacked by two Kamikaze planes, and Al was badly injured. The war and his brother’s serious injuries would have a lasting effect on Bob throughout his life, and later on, it would play a major part in his decision to accept the role of Colonel Hogan. Bob Crane graduated from high school in 1946. He had aspirations of becoming a drummer with a Big Band, but by 1946, the Big Band era was coming to an end. He decided to turn his sights to radio, figuring it would allow him to stay close to the music he loved so much. As with drumming, he had been drawn to radio and the radio personalities who entertained him. As a kid, he used to put on mock/pretend radio shows in his room for Heroes star personally and better than most (family; friends as far back as elementary school; colleagues in radio, television, theater, and film) have spoken out on Bob Crane’s behalf, and in many instances, for the first time. Within the pages of this book, they share their memories and thoughts about a man whom they knew as an exceptional and talented musician, a genius in radio, a sharp-witted comedian, a gifted actor and director, a man driven to success, a doting and loving father, a loyal friend, and a kind and gentle spirit with a sunny personality, a man who, while not perfect, was vastly different from how he has been presented over the decades. Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography balances the scales and sets the record straight, providing a full and complete history of Bob Crane, clarifying who he really was, and just as importantly, who he was not. Learn more: www.vote4bobcrane.org Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AM Ink Publishing, and major book retailers worldwide.

retro radio

what I do with guests, ‘Let’s just stick a camera in the studio,’ but I’ve never wanted to do that. Art Linkletter and a lot of other good friends in broadcasting told me I was a fool not to branch out into the television emcee business and maybe become another Jack Paar or Johnny Carson. But I couldn’t see it. Once you become identified as a TV emcee, you’re dead as an actor, and actor is what I wanted to be more than anything else.” The moment Bob’s five-year KNX contract came up for renewal, he renegotiated. By this time, Bob was a KNX moneymaker and a radio celebrity, and CBS did not want to lose him. To keep their star radio personality happy, CBS lifted the no-acting clause and allowed him to professionally act. From 1961 on, Bob had a yearly contract review and renewal, and while still formal by CBS standards, it had become more of a gentleman’s agreement. After Bob signed one contract (dated June 6, 1963), KNX’s then-program director Harfield Weedin included a note to Bob that read, “You’ve made Mr. Sutton [KNX general manager] and me very happy men. Thanks again.—HW.” The acting door was now wide open, and Bob stepped through it. Immediately, Bob started receiving offers and accepting small roles in films and television series. These included Man-Trap (1961), Return to Peyton Place (1961), The Twilight Zone (1961), The Dick Van Dyke Show (December 1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (January 1963), and The Donna Reed Show (March 1963–December 1964). While on The Donna Reed Show, Bob continued to work full time at KNX. Donna Reed coached Bob in acting, and in 1964, at her suggestion, Bob took an acting course taught by American actress and acclaimed acting instructor Stella Adler. Bob Crane left The Donna Reed Show of his own accord in December 1964. There were no hard feelings. He did not leave because he wanted more money. He was not fired for allegedly hitting on Donna Reed or costar Ann McCray (he did not). The reason Bob gave was that he had become bored with the premise. He wanted to act, not play the husband/father/next door neighbor. Offers for a leading role came flooding in, including for Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and My Mother, the Car. Throughout this entire time, Bob continued his radio show at KNX and stayed active in community theatre. In addition, he performed a small part in the film The New Interns, released in theaters on June 1, 1964. Then he had a fateful meeting with producer Jerry Thorpe. A new situation comedy was in the works, and it was set during World War II behind enemy lines in a prisoner of war camp. Bob wasn’t so sure, but nonetheless, he decided to meet with coproducers Edward H. Feldman and Bernard Fein about thencalled Hogan’s Raiders. He liked the idea, so on December 22, 1964, he agreed to screen test with Werner Klemperer. Their screen 66

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Bob drumming while in costume as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, c. 1967. Hogan’s Heroes fans should take note that the Liberty Aviation Museum (www.libertyaviationmuseum.org/) in Port Clinton, Ohio, is the official home of the Hogan’s Heroes props and costumes/uniforms display. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.

chemistry was instant, and they clicked. Bob was offered the role of Colonel Hogan. The pilot episode for Hogan’s Heroes began filming on January 7, 1965, and it wrapped on January 19, 1965. Remembering his older brother Al and other relatives and friends who had fought, were injured, and died in the war, Bob was sensitive to the feelings of veterans. He wanted their feedback, and in fact, he insisted upon it. While he loved the premise of Hogan’s Heroes, if veterans were going to be offended by it, then he wanted no part of it. The pilot episode (minus the laugh track) was sent to veterans’ groups across the country. After screening it, veterans relayed their approval, stating that without humor, they never would have made it through the war. Bob was sold. He accepted the role of the brash, ingenious American Army Air Force officer Colonel Robert E. Hogan. Bob continued to work at KNX for at least half of the first season of Hogan’s Heroes, and now, he was holding down two high-profile, full-time jobs. In June 1965, shortly after signing a new contract with KNX, he abruptly changed his mind. He had to choose between KNX and Hogan’s Heroes; he couldn’t do both

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

WGASA and Other

ODDBALL SECRETS of the

World Famous San Diego Zoo! Part One by Scott Shaw!

If you’ve been binge-watching Animal Planet’s The Zoo: San Diego as I have, I’m sure you’ve noticed the dedication, enthusiasm, and pride of SoCal’s world famous zoo’s employees. They’re not acting—that’s all genuine. Although I no longer know any current employees of the world famous San Diego Zoo, 50 years ago, I knew many Zoo staffers who were exactly like this new batch. I’ve had a lifelong relationship with the Zoo, including: I first visited the Zoo at the age of three; served as the first president of the San Diego Junior Zoological Society; displayed my artwork at the Zoo’s public nexus; worked there during college as a “waste control technician”; and had a father who was in a key position there. I loved the Zoo then and I love it now, even though it’s completely dif ferent—and even better!—from the San Diego Zoo I grew up with during the first two decades of my life. But first, here’s a history of Balboa Park’s “world famous” San Diego Zoo. And believe (RIGHT) San Diego Zoo founder Harry Wegeforth and lion cub pal. (FAR RIGHT) Wegeforth and Galapagos tortoises, 1928.

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me, growing up in San Diego, everyone referred to it as “world famous”—without the hyphen—because the world famous San Diego Zoo was the #1 tourist attraction in town. Promotional signage for the Zoo was ubiquitous, and every single one of ’em included the phrase “world famous.” So I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to get used to it. Blame San Diego for my “world famous” compulsion. In fact, to make things easier on you, I’ll only use its initials, WFSDZ, most of the time. (But the Zoo really is “world famous!”)

(OPPOSITE & ABOVE) Collection of mid-century San Diego Zoo postcards.

Zoo History

The world famous San Diego Zoo came into existence over a century ago, so it’s built up a lot of history. Here’s some essential background information. The San Diego Zoo is considered to be one of the finest zoos on the planet, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, it began in 1916, when San Diego physician Dr. Harry Wegeforth and his brother drove past Balboa Park (once known as “the gem of San Diego”) and heard the roar of a lion. Investigating, they found its source: a male lion from a small zoo exhibit at the 1915–1916 Panama-California Exposition. This got Dr. Wegeforth thinking about how San Diego needed its own zoo. After forming a team that founded the “Zoological Society of San Diego,” the doctor approached the Exposition and asked if he could have its no-longer-exhibited array of wolves, coyotes, bears, monkeys, lions, bison, elk, and deer. The Expo agreed, and that menagerie became the core residents of what was often referred to as “Wegeforth’s Folly.” Harry also adopted the hairy former mascot of a Navy ship, a young female brown bear named Caesar, who he drove to the Zoo in the passenger’s seat of his car. Although the public didn’t take him seriously, in 1921 Dr. Wegeforth talked the city of San Diego into granting him permanent land for his zoo in Balboa Park. When local San Diego philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps expressed interest, the doctor

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!

asked her for funding to build fences around its boundaries. (That’s when the Zoo began charging admission at the whopping amount of ten cents an adult.) She also financed the Scripps Flight Cage, at 96 feet high and 115 feet long, at the time the biggest aviary in the world. Receiving international attention in 1925, the WFSDZ added a number of marsupial animals from Australia, including two koalas. Things grew from there, and are continuing to grow every day. The Zoo still calls Balboa Park its home, which stretches 100 acres across the park. It contains more than 3,700 rare and RETROFAN #13 endangered animals representing 600withdifferent species. Exclusiveover interviews Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ The WFSDZ’s collection of exotic plantsa history is worth evenFrisbee, moreTwilight Zone BOB CRANE, of Wham-O’s other TV projects sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, than the critters. Known for itsand global and endangered oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL species breeding programs, the Zoo has a “sister,” the SanMURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. Diego Zoo Safari Park, in nearby Escondido. The San Diego (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 Zoological Society also operates the San Diego for (Digital Zoo Edition)Institute $4.99 Conservation Research, and the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy. https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_152&products_id=1564

My Zoo and welcome to It

But before we delve into the secrets, I want to make it clear that I’m mostly describing the WFSDZ I grew up in, from 1954 to 1979. And although I’ve checked my facts on Zoo history, I’m describing my own experiences from memory. In no way should I be construed as a representative for the San Diego Zoo. I’m just a proud San Diego boy with some cool and funny true stories for RetroFan readers. RETROFAN

March 2021