RetroFan #14 Preview

May 2021 No. 14 $9.95

Who loves ya, baby?

TV TIE-IN TOYS NO KID WOULD WANT!

Star Trek

Holy Backstage Pass!

The Lean Years

The Man Behind the Mask

Behind the Scenes of Your Favorite TV Shows!

Saturday Morning Sasquatch!

Bigfoot on TV

Van Williams Ready to Rumble?

WWF WrestleFest Game Zoorama • The Saint in the Sixties • Scooby-Doo Super Collection & more!

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

Batman © DC Comics. Bigfoot and Wildboy © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. WWF WrestleFest © Technōs Japan Corp. Kojak © Universal Television. All Rights Reserved.

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The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

CONTENTS 33

Departments

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Retrotorial

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Retro Toys TV Tie-in Toys No Kid Would Want!

Retro Television The Saint in the Sixties

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Ernest Farino’s Retro Fantasmagoria On the Set… Television in the Sixties

Super Collector A real-life Shaggy’s Scooby-Doo collection

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Retro Games WWF WrestleFest

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Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Bigfoot on Television

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Too Much TV Quiz RetroFad Paper Dresses

Oddball World of Scott Shaw!

The world famous San Diego Zoo, Part Two

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Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum Star Trek: The Lean Years

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Issue #14 May 2021

Columns and Special Features Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon I Rode with the Green Hornet!

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RetroFanmail

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ReJECTED RetroFan fantasy cover

by Scott Saavedra

RetroFan™ #14, May 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.

Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office.

Batman © DC Comics. Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. Bigfoot and Wildboy © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. WWF WrestleFest © Technōs Japan Corp. Kojak © Universal Television. 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

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

e h t h t i w e d o R I

! t e n r o H Green

by Will Murray

During the nearly 30 years I wrote for the Starlog Group of magazines, I interviewed hundreds of celebrities, ranging from Sylvester Stallone to Keanu Reeves. Most of these assignments were relatively routine. But one stood out as having personal meaning to me.

Interviewing TV’s Green Hornet, Van Williams, was special. I was a huge fan of that 1966–1967 ABC-TV show. Over the course of my Sixties youth, I had several heroes, beginning with Superman and progressing to Captain America and probably culminating in the Green Hornet. I was a teenager by the time The Green Hornet aired, and the fact that the show took itself so seriously deeply impressed me.

Alas, it was a one-season wonder. But what a season! The Green Hornet was a crime drama Original painting (artist unknown) for the box art for with the cooler trappings of Hasbro’s The Green Hornet Paint By Number set. Courtesy the ridiculous Batman TV show, of Heritage. (INSET) Van Williams in his iconic role as the which I also watched faithfully, Green Hornet’s alter ego, crusading media mogul Britt of ten cringing as I did so.

Reid. The Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. TV version © 20th Century Television/

Let’s Roll, Van!

Greenway Productions.

When the opportunity to interview Williams came, it was by telephone. I called in at his workplace and he generously gave me about an hour of his time. We stayed in touch and he paid me of the high compliment of telling me I was one of the few who quoted him accurately.

Well, I taped the interview. That certainly helped.

I began by asking him how familiar he had been with the Green Hornet radio show that ran from 1936 to 1952.

“I was a big fan of it,” he admitted. “My family was a big fan of it.”

Yet when the part of crusading newspaper publisher Britt Reid was offered, surprisingly, Williams was at first reluctant.

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Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

“To be honest with you,” he confessed, “I really didn’t really want to do it. I had just done a pilot for Four Star. I really liked that role.” He was a submarine commander in Pursue and Destroy. But the pilot failed to sell and so the actor agreed to wear the midnight green overcoat and mask of the Green Hornet.

Having grown up on a Texas ranch, Williams found it ironic.

“For some reason,” he told me, “when I went to Warner Bros. under contract, with all those Westerns they had going over there, they put me in a modernday thing as a kid from Tulane University in a coat and tie!”

That was on Bourbon Street Beat. His character, Ken Madison, grew up and migrated over to Surfside 6 for two seasons.

Despite his initial reservations, Williams got into the dual role of newspaper publisher Britt Reid and his masked alias.

“It was a fun show in the stunts and the gadgets until we had done it long enough,” he said. “We did a great many run-throughs with Black Beauty [the Hornet’s sleek sedan] in the mountains of Malibu, and it gets quite hot here. I had to wear a suit and a muffler, and the overcoat, the hat, and the mask.

I would just jump in the car and do it, and get out and do the fight or whatever. I always insisted on doing all my own fights. Some days, I would lose ten to 12 pounds.”

Next to Bruce Lee as his combination manservant, chauffeur, and bodyguard Kato, the Hornet’s black limousine was the third star.

When I reminded Van that he had joked to TV Guide that it should have been called Black Ugly, he stated, “It really was when you first saw it. More than ugly, it was mean-looking. It was low-slung, dull black, and had those dark windows. It looked like a typical hood car, which was exactly what it was supposed to look like. We had a good number of problems with the car even though it was a tough old bird. We almost wrecked the thing so many times in chase sequences.”

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A Hornet’s Nest

One of the last half-hour TV adventure shows, The Green Hornet suffered due to the restrictions of its 30-minute time slot.

“We didn’t really have time to develop anything except a stern guy who was out to do good,” he lamented.

“There was no scope to it. Somehow, we would discover a new criminal element and there we would go. That wasn’t really the time to do Kato and I. Bruce was very adamant about not being shown as a manservant, but we had a hard time trying to come up with any scenes.

“It was my contention that Britt Reid as Britt Reid should have gotten more involved in those stories. All you ever saw of Britt Reid was in his den or his office, setting up the story.

He could have gotten into it, which would have allowed us to do certain things during the daytime. But they felt, ‘Ah, this is a kids' show. You don’t need any romance to sell it.’ I think we had a following more of adults than of kids. The kids liked Bruce, but the adults liked the show.”

There were also problems with the character’s owner, radio executive George Trendle, who also owned the Hornet’s ancestor, the Lone Ranger.

“Trendle didn’t like the show’s grim tone,” Van revealed. “Trendle complained about the lack of humor.

Instead of doing it like the radio show, he thought it would be have been better to have done it like Batman.

I didn’t agree with that. We tried to make The Green Hornet as truthful as you could be with a guy running around in a mask. I feel proud about that and I don’t care what anybody says.”

The Green Hornet was produced by Batman’s William Dozier, who decided (TOP) Williams as Commander Russ that the Hornet and Kato should guest-star Enright in a screen capture from the 1966 on a Batman two-parter, which has since TV pilot, Pursue and Destroy. © ABC. (ABOVE) become notorious.

Van Williams as Ken Madison, opposite— “I felt very strange on that show,” Van make that up close and personal to—Diane allowed. “I didn’t want to do it because McBain, in a publicity still from TV’s I didn’t think it was going to work. And Surfside 6. © Warner Bros. Courtesy of Heritage. it didn’t. And Bruce! Oh, Bruce was just

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

the difference and he became a believer. Then, he had to learn it all over again.”

Despite its future cult status, The Green Hornet was a showstopper for the careers of its co-stars. Fortunately for Bruce Lee, he escaped Hollywood for Hong Kong, where he became a superstar, thanks to Kung Fu, which he popularized.

“I had no idea it was going to take off like it did,” Williams said, “because after the show went down the drain, Bruce had a big problem getting work. What he really didn’t want to do was that show he ended up doing, where he played a teacher to the blind guy on Longstreet. He was really depressed with his role. They didn’t give him anything to do. One of Bruce’s problems was that he had a very heavy Chinese accent and you couldn’t understand what he was saying half the time. He didn’t really study the craft as an actor, but he wasn’t bought as an actor.”

Hanging Up His Mask

Williams was equally fortunate in finding a new direction.

“It did definitely put a big damper on my career,” he admitted.

“And I was more or less decided in the middle of The Green Hornet that I was going to get out. I never liked the business, even though Green Hornet publicity still signed to Green Hornet co-creator (with Fran Striker) George Trendle by star Van Williams. Courtesy of Hake’s. TV Green Hornet © 20th Century Television/Greenway Productions.

livid. He didn’t get along with Burt Ward at all. Ward was always making cracks about Bruce being a waiter, and it got back to Bruce. He didn’t want to have a confrontation with Robin where he would be bested. As a matter of fact, Bruce almost walked off the show because he thought Robin was just a comic character and had no balls. Here, Bruce was the big kung-fu guy and he was going to be bested by this kid. It was just a mess. I don’t remember much about the show. I think they ended up making two stamps out of Kato and me.”

Van Williams and Green Hornet co-star Bruce Lee in costume (RIGHT) and, unmasked, in a publicity still (BELOW). © 20th Century Television/Greenway Productions.

Remembering Bruce Lee

Williams had vivid memories of his late co-star.

“I always knew Bruce had a hell of a talent with his Jeet Kune Do, which was what he called it back then. There was nothing, being an actor or anything, that had any importance besides that. He was always practicing. He used to drive everybody nuts around the set because he was constantly kicking. You would be watching the set and suddenly, you would feel a breath of air go by your ear. You would turn around and Bruce had kicked out and tickled your ear lobe. One time he did it, the guy turned and Bruce kicked him in the jaw and broke it!

“Bruce didn’t realize he was dealing with a two-dimensional medium and not a three-dimensional one. He always wanted to work everything in close. You could swing at three feet and as long as the reaction’s right, it looks real on film. Bruce hurt a lot of people. He didn’t mean to. He just got going and he couldn’t stop. He got to the point that we used every stuntman in town because Bruce hurt them. Finally we took the time to show him RETROFAN

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SCOTT SAAVEDRA'S SECRET SANCTUM

STAR TREK The Lean Years

Death is in the air. With a sudden jolt, the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise lurches in unison, first toward the port bow and then just as violently toward starboard. Captain Kirk intensely stares at the main viewscreen, moments earlier filled with stars but now roiling with static, offering no clues to their situation. A Red Alert sets off the familiar attention-getting klaxon. Kirk sharply queries his helmsman, “Mr. Sulu, report!”

“The controls, Captain, they’re not responding,” Sulu replies with usual efficiency.

The static grows louder and more frantic. Dr. McCoy, often on the bridge instead of the Sick Bay during times of danger, and Lt. Uhura exchange concerned glances. Lt. Leslie tugs at his red shirt, wondering, “Is today going to be the day?”

A call comes in from Engineering. The familiar brogue of Chief Engineer Scott is tense, “Captain, it dunna make any sense but we’re dead in the water!”

by Scott Saavedra

Kirk brings a clenched fist to his mouth. He turns toward the Science Station, where Mr. Spock is usually deep in his duties. He is not at his post. Ensign Chekov bolts from Navigation to take over the Science Station on Kirk’s orders. The situation demands answers.

“Captain, the sensors must be malfunctioning, we appear to be… nowhere,” the ensign reports with considerably more concern than the Vulcan First Officer could ever muster.

Kirk gives his com button a swift punch. “Spock! Report to bridge… Spock!”

No answer. Abruptly, the chaotic, jagged lights on the viewscreen and the overwhelming static noise stop. What remains is a single bright but fading dot of light in the middle of a dark screen. It blinks out.

“Spock, where are you?” Kirk half-whispers through clenched teeth.

Then everything goes black…

William Shatner as a distressed Captain Kirk (more or less­—it's complicated) in the final episode of the final season of Star Trek.

Digitally altered screen capture from "Turnabout Intruder." © CBS Studios, Inc.

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Scott Saavedra's secret sanctum

A Dropkick to the Gut

Star Trek, the first science fiction-adventure show with an adult sensibility, was off the air. This inventive hour-long program (in color!) about beings—human and otherwise—in space ended on June 3, 1969, just a fistful of weeks before the U.S. successfully put two astronauts on the Moon. Earthlings on the lunar surface?

That was something. A cancelled television series? It was just in the nature of things. That year saw the demise of a number of fondly remembered shows, Daktari, Gentle Ben, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and The Wild Wild West. Oh, and Happening ’68. That got the (groovy) axe, too.

Famously, Star Trek had been cancelled before, and its second season was to be its last. Fans of the show, organized by Betty JoAnne (Bjo, to one and all) Trimble and husband John, sent letters to relevant parties at NBC to ask/demand that they reverse the cancellation. The claimed number of letters sent vary from tens of thousands to about a million, but the key matter is that the effort, which also included picketing of the West Coast offices of NBC, worked. Star Trek returned for a third and, ultimately, final season. This time no amount of letter writing could save it.

Put a fork in that, it’s done, Jim. Still, Star Trek fans—the Trekkies and the Trekkers—decided they couldn’t let matters rest there.

(space) seeds of a future for Star Trek from nearly the moment the show began.

The Fans on the Edge of Forever

Star Trek fans were often creative and intellectually curious.

They wrote new stories and created art based on the series.

They delved deep into the details of the show, ship, and crew.

This was done just for their own enjoyment or was shared, sometimes via fanzines (usually modest, self-published, low-circulation magazines). The first Star Trek fanzine was Spockanalia (Sept. 1967), edited by Devra Langsam and Sherna Comerford, and was enjoyed and endorsed by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself. Other fanzines followed, some from fan clubs devoted to particular characters (Kirk and Spock, mostly) and some to specific elements of the show like Captain Kirk’s imaginary (and comically complex) game Fizzbin in Fizzbin: History and Rules by Martin Joki (1976).

Elsewhere, Bjo Trimble and Dorothy Jones (a fan and linguist who filled notecards with show facts) created the Star Trek Concordance of People, Places and Things (published by John Trimble's Matham House Publications in 1969), an impressive effort given the primitive pre-warp culture of the time. Not

(LEFT) Cover to Spockanalia #2 (Apr. 1968). Spockanalia was the first of many Star Trek fanzines. (CENTER & RIGHT) Star Trek Concordance was an impressive undertaking that eventually led to a mainstrean edition published by Ballentine Books in 1976. Spockanalia © Devra Langsam and Sherna Comerford. Illustration by Kathy Bushman. Star Trek Concordance © Dorothy Jones & Matham House Publications.

From the perspective of the past’s future, we know that Star Trek—as a concept and franchise—is bigger and more vigorous than ever. But there was a time of uncertainty in the aftermath of the original series’ cancellation. The Lean Years, roughly a decade, would feel to some like travel through an unstable wormhole, a kiss from a Denebian slime devil, or, perhaps, just normal childhood, which is how I lived it. But for all of us it was a time without new live-action Star Trek on television, and that was unambiguously rotten.

Individual fans may not have been aware of it then, but as a group (or collective, if you will) they had been busy planting the 12

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only was it full of information about Star Trek’s fictional world, but it was generously illustrated by soon-to-be-noted artists like George Barr, Tim Kirk, Wendy Fletcher [Pini], and future scifi model maker Greg Jein. Sequels followed to include Season Three and Star Trek: The Animated Series. In 1976, Ballantine Books released a mainstream edition. Other fan and mainstream publications would continue to compile detailed information about every aspect of the show.

The most important fan effort was the first to get national publicity: the previously mentioned letter campaign to save Star Trek from cancellation. That endeavor, participated in by Trek fans

Scott Saavedra's secret sanctum

(BELOW) NASA’s official caption for the September 17, 1976 event: “The Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members. From left to right they are: Dr. James C. Fletcher (NASA Administrator), DeForest Kelley (Dr. “Bones” McCoy), George Takei (Mr. Sulu), James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (the indefatigable Mr. Spock), Gene Roddenberry (The Great Bird of the Galaxy), Democratic Congressman Don Fuqua, and Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).” NASA.

(LEFT) One of many Star Trek products that seemed badly thoughtout, a kid’s puzzle showing an unconscious (and shirtless) Captain Kirk in flames with Mr. Spock (minus his insignia) apparently losing his right hand in a magical whirlwind. Star Trek © CBS Studios, Inc. Courtesy of Heritage.

(RIGHT) Hamilton's Invaders fans will quickly recognize the helmet at right which was repurposed to become the Star Trek Astro-Helmet. While stylish, it was not Trek canon.

Star Trek © CBS Studios, Inc. Courtesy of Hake's.

RetroFan #1 for Andy Mangels’ extensive history of Star Trek: The Animated Series.]

Further attention was brought to the actors because of the characters they played following another Trimble-organized letter-writing campaign urging President Ford to name the first Space Shuttle Enterprise instead of Constitution. The main cast, minus Shatner, was on hand September 17, 1976 (which is Constitution Day) as Space Shuttle Enterprise was introduced to the public.

Another way for actors to try and shake off typecasting was to show off other skills. This involved singing. Shatner’s “songtalking” performance of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” in 1968 is likely the best known. Nimoy did three albums, with The Touch of Leonard Nimoy being the last during the show’s run in 1969.

Nichelle Nichols could actually sing and had performed with Duke Ellington. She had a few albums to her credit. And Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) wrote and sang a number of songs, including “Disco Trekkin.’”

A Piece of the Action

The model maker AMT released USS Enterprise and Klingon Battle Cruiser model kits while Star Trek was still being made. They were designed by Star Trek art director Matt Jefferies. Other kits eventually followed including scaled-down versions of the tricorder and communicator.

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There were Trek toys, but they had space sickness or something.

The disk-firing Star Trek Tracer Gun that shot off colorful plastic circles is probably the one of the earliest and probably recalled most by fans. There was a rifle version, too. Neither resembled anything seen on the show, though the rifle looked pretty futuristic. Remco’s bug-eyed Star Trek Astro Helmet (c. 1967) was a yellow re-release of the company’s gray Hamilton’s Invaders helmet of 1964. I know this because there is a picture of me as a child wearing the Hamilton’s Invaders helmet and a simple pair of white kid undies. That’s my complete outfit.

You will never see this photo. [Whew.—ed.]

1975’s Official Star Trek Space Fun Helmet with a large red flashing light on top is a beautiful thing, especially with a “Spock” sticker emblazoned across the front. It didn’t appear on the show, which is too bad since it could only have improved “Spock’s Brain” (Season 3, Episode 1—yes, they began the third season with this gem). Other equally wrong merchandise included an Astro Wrist Radio and the Kirk and Spock Official Star Trek Sky Diving Parachutist toy (1974).

The Mego Star Trek figures (1974–1976) were fine, but the playsets were wrong. The cardboard and plastic Mego Bridge playset not only had too many colors but short bar stools instead of chairs for the navigator and the helmsman who were, ironically, not part of the original Mego line-up. On a personal note, a Mego Mr. Spock figure travelled with me on business trips for a few years as a good-luck token until he lost his pants (a mystery to this day). Surprisingly, there will be more on this later.

There were, however, show-accurate items made by specialty companies. Replicas of the communicators, phasers, tricorders, insignias, and even Vulcan ears (in pro or slip-on styles) could be mail-ordered or found at conventions.

RETRO TELEVISION

IN THE SIXTIES

by Dan Hagen “I’ve never seen so much crap in all my life,” said NBC vice president of programming Mort Werner.

It was 1963, and Werner was reacting to a screening of the first episodes of the imported TV show The Saint. Although the actionadventure series became the second most popular show among British males, American TV networks weren’t interested.

Too British, they said. Too old-fashioned.

And indeed, Leslie Charteris’ crimefighting criminal Simon Templar, the “Robin Hood of Modern Crime,” had by then been famous for more than 30 years, appearing in every popular medium—novels, movies, magazines, dramatic radio, comic books, and a newspaper comic strip.

So why not TV? American network executives had underestimated the Saint, and—as many an ungodly villain might attest—that’s always a mistake.

Simon Templar, the cosmopolitan thief played by Roger Moore, ended up stealing ratings from the networks that had rejected him.

“The Saint became one of the most successful dramas ever offered in American syndication,” noted Wesley Alan Britton in his book Spy Television. “The New York NBC affiliate found the show won in ratings against its competitors’ movies on Saturday nights, and similar success followed in Los Angeles and Chicago. Until the advent of independent cable stations, The Saint was

the only series aired coast-to-coast in syndication in primetime broadcasting.”

And so it came to pass that a few years later, NBC reversed itself. In 1967, the network began to air new episodes of The Saint, now in color, as part of its primetime line-up.

The move was just another of the Saint’s impossible feats. TV shows might go from a major network into syndication, but not from syndication onto a network.

In fact, the Saint’s career on American television paralleled that of another cool-cat British import, Danger Man, alias secret agent John Drake. Danger Man began in 1960 as a half-hour adventure series about a NATO counterintelligence agent played

by Patrick McGoohan, with CBS broadcasting some episodes in 1961 as a summer replacement for Steve McQueen’s bountyhunter Western Wanted: Dead or Alive. In 1964, the series was revived in an hourLeslie long format with John Drake now a British Charteris, intelligence agent, and those shows aired creator of on CBS under the title Secret Agent in 1965 The Saint. and 1966. The show’s American theme song, Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers, hit No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard chart.

In fact, Patrick McGoohan was one of the first actors considered to play the Saint on TV. And, of course, the moment was right for both Danger Man and The Saint. Cool British international men of mystery were at the forefront of the Sixties zeitgeist.

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Bond girls on The Saint: (ABOVE) Honor Blackman, fabled as Pussy Galore in 1964’s Goldfinger, as Pauline Stone, with Roger Moore, in “The Arrow of God” (The Saint Season One, Episode 7, original airdate November 11, 1962). (RIGHT) Shirley Eaton, Goldfinger’s Jill Masterson, as Reb Denning, with Moore, in “Invitation to Danger” (S6/Ep2, original airdate February 17, 1968). This was Eaton’s fourth Saint appearance throughout the show’s run, playing a different character each time. Both, courtesy of Ernest Farino.

but as always the case actors only care about their playing it. He was polite but not much interested.”

My Name is Moore, Roger Moore

The son of a London police constable, as a boy Roger Moore had been shipped off to live with strangers in West Sussex in order to dodge Nazi bombs. A talented artist, Moore became an animator and then an actor.

Addressing the audience directly in the opening sequences of The Saint, Moore displayed a sparkling charisma and striking good looks. Moore modestly understated the latter point, characteristically, by remarking on the advantage of his having “even features.”

The Saint needed an equally handsome signature sports car to drive, and Moore thought he’d buy a duplicate car for himself so the production company would have a spare. Naturally, he’d get a good deal, too.

So why not a Jaguar? That company wasn’t interested because they were flooded with back orders and didn’t need the publicity.

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Production manager Johnny Goodman went back to the car magazines, and showed Moore a photograph of a Volvo P1800.

Terrific-looking, Moore said.

So the white Volvo P1800 with the license plates “ST 1” became the famous car of the infamous Simon Templar.

The Saint’s vanity plates attracted the attention of a clueless bicycle police officer in the Thames village of Cookham, Buckinghamshire, during the filming of the 1962 pilot episode.

Moore was waiting for a signal to drive the Volvo around the corner for the cameras when the police officer asked him about the plates. The distracted actor absent-mindedly replied that yes, the plates were fake. As the officer started to write him a ticket, Moore saw the signal, jumped in the car, drove around the block and parked again next to the puzzled police officer, who hadn’t been told a TV crew was in town.

In addition to that car, Simon Templar needed an equally distinctive and stylish musical theme, and composer Edwin “Ted” Astley provided him a satisfyingly iconic one. When you mention the name “Simon Templar” to someone at random, they’re as likely as not to hum the opening bars of Astley’s Saint theme.

The series’ signature opening gag was so effective that it was imitated, equally effectively, in the opening to the Marlo Thomas sitcom That Girl (1966–1971).

“The teaser of every episode ended with an animated halo appearing over Moore’s head, accompanied by the opening of the Saint theme: a female voice with muted brass in a sevennote intro, answered first by guitar and drums, then by flute,” noted Burlingame. “Astley’s scores were the first hint that British television had become hip to the jazzier sounds of the [S]ixties (which had already made an impact on American TV).”

The Saint’s pre-credits monologue was producer Bob Baker’s idea. “The whole point is this is a fairy story for adults, so we wanted to have a totally different approach to an action-adventure show,” Baker recalled in an interview. “We decided to take the audience in—it’s a sort of tongue-in-cheek representation of the story that is to follow.”

Templar’s erudite asides to the audience in the pre-credits sequence were sometimes the best part of the show. The commentaries wandered far afield from crimefighting into such unlikely areas as sports (Templar’s enthusiasm for the Stanley Cup Playoffs), ornithology (Templar is disappointed to learn that

retro television

birdsong is territorial, not romantic), and dramatic criticism (“This play will open and close in one devastatingly dull evening, or my name isn’t Simon Templar”—cue halo).

Parisian bookstores, the practice of tipping, show jumping, and Incan sun worship were among other topics the Saint addressed when he broke the fourth wall to deliver an impromptu lecture.

Such stylishness was one of the things that set the Saint apart.

After all, you weren’t going to hear an American TV hero quote Oscar Wilde (about fox hunting being “the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable”).

This venerable Saint’s appeal extends even into the 21st Century.

“Simon Templar is a character very much unlike other crime fiction figures,” observed 27-year-old fan Michael Skasick. “He isn’t broody, he isn’t tortured, and he isn’t brutal. Like a laughing cavalier, he dives into sticky situations with a cheeky grin, only to emerge from it all with a snappy one-liner and his suit still spotless. The Saint is a reminder that fiction doesn’t have to be gritty and realistic, and still can be escapist fun!”

“Roger Moore was a less lethal but still authentic Saint in 118 hour-long episodes made for the British independent television company ABC between 1962 and 1969,” noted William L. DeAndrea in his Encyclopedia Mysteriosa. “Moore had already appeared in a couple of American series, but it was The Saint that made him an international star and that led him to even greater fame as James Bond.”

Derek Adley, who with W. O. G. (Bill) Lofts wrote The Saint and Leslie Charteris, said he loved Moore in the role, adding that, “I now cannot ever think of the Saint’s opponent at Scotland Yard, Chief Inspector Teal, without remembering Ivor Dean.”

Sleepy-eyed and sardonic, droll and world-weary, Dean wasn’t the first actor in the series to play the Saint’s perpetual foil, but he became the definitive Claud Eustace Teal. Dean’s acerbic verbal

fencing with the mocking Moore added a running note of dry humor to the series.

Although fondly remembered, the TV series wasn’t everybody’s cup of English Breakfast tea at the time.

Charteris himself complained tirelessly about the series, but then rather contradictorily mined several episodes for Saint books published under his name—The Saint on TV (1968), The Saint Returns (1968), The Saint and the Fiction Makers (1968), The Saint Abroad (1969), and The Saint and the People Importers (1971), all written with Fleming Lee.

Recommended Viewing

Here are a few notable episodes of The Saint, with their original U.K. airdates: “The Golden Journey” (Dec. 6, 1962; based on Charteris’ original story from his 1953 book The Saint in Europe) Concerned that a friend is marrying a selfish, spoiled girl who will ruin his life, Simon secretly steals her money, jewels, and passport, manipulating her into backpacking 100 miles with him across the Spanish countryside to rejoin her fiancé.

By living rough and exposing Belinda Deane (Erica Rogers) to the virtues of ordinary peasants, little by little Simon helps the girl mature and awaken to a deeper appreciation of life.

Left unspoken, as they finally part, are the feelings Simon and Belinda may have developed for each other.

It’s an offbeat and even poignant story, one without a single ruthless criminal anywhere in sight.

“Marcia” (Oct. 24, 1963; based on Charteris’ story The Beauty Specialist in his 1937 book The Ace of Knaves) One of several Saint stories named after women, this episode stars Samantha Eggar and plays as a nod to the death of Marilyn Monroe the year before.

The Saint investigates the case of a hauntingly beautiful movie star who was driven to suicide.

“The Saint Plays with Fire” (Nov. 28, 1963, based on Charteris’ 1938 novel Prelude for War) When the Saint spots an English country mansion ablaze, he plunges in to save someone left inside—but can’t because the man has been locked into his room.

The murdered man turns out to be an investigative reporter who’d been about to expose a network of rich and

(LEFT) The Saint’s TV popularity led to Moore photo covers on reissues of Charteris Saint novels. © Leslie Charteris estate. (RIGHT) Moore on the cover of a 1970 television magazine.

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ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

In response to issue #7, RetroFan reader Thomas Guild wrote, “I just read the Dick Van Dyke Show article. I will need to watch the reruns. I would like to see more ‘behind the scenes’ articles on shows like Bewitched and The Addams Family (was the set really all pink)?”

So, just to show that we do read the mail (keep those cards and letters—and emails—coming in), here’s Part One of a collection of “behind-thescenes” (BTS) photos from some of your favorite TV shows from the Sixties. Part Two, in the next issue of RetroFan, will be a collection of similar photos from movies from the Sixties.

Some feel that photos of this nature “spoil the fun,” but, partly because of my own interest in filmmaking and later involvement professionally, I’ve always enjoyed that glimpse “behind the curtain” that conveys… well, How They Did It! So… Roll camera… mark it… annnnd… Action!

HOW THEY DID IT! Compiled and captioned by Ernest Farino

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retrofad

Every fall season the “Big Three” TV networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, would assemble their stars for groups photos, most often used in TV Guide’s “Fall Preview” issues.

Another CBS line-up. (LEFT TO RIGHT) Clint Eastwood (Rawhide), Paul Brinegar (Rawhide), Tina Louise (Gilligan’s Island), and from The Wild Wild West, Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. © CBS.

From CBS shows airing in 1964–1965: John McGiver (Many Happy Returns), Sterling Holloway (The Baileys of Balboa), Yvonne De Carlo (The Munsters), Paul Ford (The Baileys of Balboa), Fred Gwynne (The Munsters), Julie Newmar (My Living Doll), Cara Williams (The Cara Williams Show), and Tina Louise (Gilligan’s Island). © CBS Television.

From ABC: (LEFT TO RIGHT) Marlo Thomas (That Girl), Judy Carne (Love on a Rooftop), and Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched). © ABC.

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It’s all about the hats: Clint Eastwood (Rawhide), Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies), Danny Kaye (The Danny Kaye Show), and Fess Parker (Daniel Boone). © CBS.

© DC Comics/Warner Bros. Television.

retrofad

(LEFT) Adventures of Superman may be a Fifties classic, but it became a Sixties favorite due to its heavy syndication. Here’s George Reeves, the only “real” Superman to most Boomers, shielding Lois Lane (Noel Neill) from what must certainly be a dastardly bad guy lurking just off-camera.

(ABOVE) A high-angle view of the Clark Kent Office Set with Reeves, Neill, and Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen).

© NBCUniversal Television.

[Editor’s note: For more Adventures of Superman photos and trivia, see RetroFan #11.]

Jerry Mathers “as the Beaver” takes a few shots for his own scrapbook with what appears to be a Minolta Autocord TLR (twin lens reflex) with Tessar-type 4-element Rokkor f/3.5 lens. Pretty fancy for the Beav…!

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RETRO TOYS

TV Tie-in

TOYS

No Kid Would Want!

by Michael Eury

The merchandising of popular television shows has been get into trouble each episode, requiring a Lassie-like rescue from big business since the Fabulous Fifties, when Davy Crockett their aquatic pal). coonskin caps and Superman capes were the rage. Today there’s You could fill a bathtub with the Flipper merchandise that no shortage of kid-friendly TV tie-in toys featuring Disney, made a splash with the show. Amid the wonderful Gold Key comic Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network books, coloring books and paint sets, Big stars. An adult collectors market has also Little Book, and View-Master reels, this evolved, with expertly sculpted action monstrosity from the deep sea peeked figures available from cult favorite shows its ugly head onto shelves: Bandai’s 1968 (anyone got a Breaking Bad action figure Flipper Spouting Dolphin. A TV tie-in on their shelf?). toy that spews water? Sounds like fun.

Consumers were less discerning back And judging from the smiles on the in the days of television rabbit ears and faces of soaked-to-the-skin Sandy and rotating rooftop antennas. We so loved Bud, having the time of their lives with our favorite characters from the tube, Flipper, on the photo package for this we didn’t care that our Fred Flintstone toy, any kid seeing this side of the box vinyl bank had green hair and green would point and proclaim, “I want!” toenails, or that our Fonzie transistor Until they turned around the box to radio looked more like Vic Damone than spy the actual toy itself. Even if your TV Henry Winkler. It never dawned on us set’s color needed adjusting, there’s no that the pistol-packing Caped Crusader way Flipper could have ever looked on the package of the Batman Escape like this, a red-and-white whale with Gun violated the basic anti-gun tenets concentric eyes and curly eyelashes. of the character, or that Collegeville’s This looked more like Walt Disney’s 1969 Halloween costume allowing Flipper than Ivan Tors’. Sorry, Flipper us to be “One of the Brady Bunch,” Spouting Dolphin, you’re all wet! with a red domino mask instead of a As I wrote in the “RetroFad” molded facemask of Greg or Marcia, column two issues ago, CB Radios put was so lame a laugh track couldn’t the pedal to the metal of the public salvage it. consciousness back in the Seventies And then there were these misfits, and early Eighties, the craze spawning these TV tie-in toys, marketed to kids… several TV series. One of them was Bandai’s Flipper Spouting Dolphin. Flipper © MGM. toys no kid would want.

Movin’ On, the adventures of two Courtesy of Hake’s.

Back in the mid-Sixties, who didn’t truckers who, not unlike the roaming love Flipper, that adorable bottlenose leads of television’s The Fugitive and dolphin that lived in a world full of wonder? A spin-off of a 1963 Route 66, became entangled in different people’s lives along movie (that was inspired by a story by Ricou Browning—best their journeys—one dramatic encounter per hour-long weekly known as the underwater stuntman in the Creature from the Black episode. All this, and a twangy Merle Haggard theme song, too.

Lagoon movies—and Jack Cowden), producer Ivan Tors’ Flipper, The CB fad affected all ages, and kids could play “Breaker, set in Florida, featured a widowed father (who happened to be a breaker!” with toy CB Radios sold with toy vehicles of the General marine game warden) and his two young sons (who happened to Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard and the Gran Torino from Starsky 48

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THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

Zoorama and Other

ODDBALL SECRETS of the World Famous San Diego Zoo!

Part Two

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 different—and even better!—from the San Diego Zoo I grew up with during the first two decades of my life.

Here’s a history of Balboa Park’s “world famous” San Diego Zoo, concluding the first part which ran last issue. And believe me, as someone who grew up in San Diego, everyone referred to (ABOVE) San Diego Zoo bus from the Seventies and the “You Belong in the Zoo” promotion. All photos accompanying this article are courtesy of Scott Shaw! and © San Diego Zoo, unless otherwise noted.

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!”)

Zoo Transit, Pinnipeds, and Joan Embery

The world famous San Diego Zoo’s tourist-packed tour buses— initiated in 1927—covered 75% of the zoo, excepting the Reptile House and its surrounding exhibits, the primates’ area, and the Children’s Zoo. The park’s tour bus drivers, who—like the pilots of Disneyland’s “Jungle Cruise” attraction—each had their own schtick, added to their mandatory educational spiel. During their circuitous path around the park, each bus would pass Roosevelt High School, separated only by a taller-than-a-giraffe chain-link fence. Their unique patter didn’t matter; they all had to say, as they’d drive by students playing basketball through the wire barrier, “And now, on your right side, is the enclosure of our most dangerous species—the American teenager.” The passengers and the pedestrians always laughed and clapped when the bus drivers would twirl a slice of Wonder Bread to Chester the grizzly bear after he’d show them his toes!

Speaking of transportation, zoos have to compete with theme parks, and since 1955 the world famous San Diego Zoo’s RETROFAN

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The Oddball World of Scott Shaw!

most formidable rival had been the world famous Disneyland in Anaheim. And since “The Magic Kingdom” had its “Skyway” bucket ride, it’s likely one of the reasons the Zoo decided to add their own. After all, both parks had very impressive exhibits, architecture, and vegetation that were all exciting to see from an aerial view. Both parks were also huge, so it was a great way to quickly transport visitors from one end to the other… and make a little money in the process.

Opened in 1969, an overhead gondola lift called the “Skyfari” was ready for the WFSDZ’s thrill-seeking public. It was built by the Von Roll tramway company of Bern, Switzerland. The original San Diego Zoo Skyfari was a Von Roll type 101. Now the sky ride, a different design, is known as “The Skyfari Aerial Tram.”

In 1936, the Zoo’s amphitheater was named the “Wegeforth Bowl” in honor of its creator, Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth. At the unveiling of a commemorative plaque dedicated to him, Wegeforth expressed gratitude but told the assembled officials that the money for the plaque would have been better spent to buy another animal for the Zoo. In 1948, the amphitheater’s stage became a pinniped (aquatic carnivores) playground, where seal trainer Captain Bennie Kirkbride and his slippery students entertained Zoo visitors for 35 years. Benny developed three completely different shows: a “dry act” with on-stage seals and sea lions, a diving act that took advantage of the bowl’s pool wrapped around the stage’s curved proscenium, and a jawdropping act with seals and sea lions riding on the backs of ponies!

Harry M. Wegeforth Elementary School opened in San Diego in 1957. The site was dedicated on February 9, 1959, with Mrs. Harry Wegeforth and family in attendance.

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Among the ways to travel about the Zoo: the bus (seen here in a 1959 postcard) and the Skyfari (c. 1969).

My father once took me inside of the animal hospital on the grounds of the Zoo. Based on what I’ve seen on The Zoo: San Diego, it looks nothing like it did in the Sixties and Seventies. The one element I’ve always remembered was an operating room constructed for the WFSDZ’s largest animals like elephants and giraffes. Like one of the fiendish traps that Batman and Robin often found themselves in, one of the walls of the room was on a track, so it was possible to anesthetize and operate on the bigger beasts while they were still standing up, supported by that sliding wall.

The city of San Diego owned the Zoo’s huge parking lot. My father was one of the guys behind the tropical “security towers” throughout it. He was also an animal lover, and during heat waves, he would patrol the parking lot to rescue pets that their doltish masters had locked in their cars. Sometimes I’d have to clean up the parking lot and its parameters, including the

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

Bigfoot and Wildboy

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 cross-legged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday Morning!

Super-heroes on television enjoyed a golden year in 1976–1977, but the following season saw a much more experimental slate of programming on Saturday mornings. Goofiness abounded with new series like Wacko, Baggy Pants and the Nitwits, and What’s New Mr. Magoo, while real-world trends led to The C.B. Bears and The Skatebirds, in addition to the Muhammad Ali series I Am the Greatest. Filmation had their live-action Space Academy and animated The Young Sentinels debut, capitalizing on the post-Star Wars sci-fi craze. And Sid and Marty Krofft introduced two new concepts to their anthology series The Krofft Supershow, including genie-based comedy Magic Mongo, and hairy forestenvironmentalist heroes Bigfoot and Wildboy. This latter series is remembered by hardcore fans today even without licensing or release, but its origins and story have never before been told in print…

The Myths of Bigfoot and Wildboy

Before we get to the creation of Bigfoot and Wildboy, let’s explore what elements led to their creation… both the “real” and the “reel” Bigfoot and Wildboy.

In the Seventies, one of the many crazes that gripped the nation alongside UFOs, ESP, MPD, and LSD (that would be Unidentified Flying Objects, Extra Sensory Perception, Multiple Personality Disorder, and Lysergic acid diethylamide) was the “cryptid” known either as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Cryptids are animals or creatures that are considered real by followers of the

Joseph Butcher (RIGHT) and Ray Young (LEFT) starred in Bigfoot and Wildboy! © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions.

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Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning

cryptozoology pseudoscientific subculture; the only proof or evidence for their existence is generally (LEFT) A frame anecdotal or blurry photos or film. Mainstream from the 1967 science considers such “evidence” insufficient, and Patterson-Gimlin thus considers them myth at best, and hoaxes at film shows what worst. Normal folk, however, love them! is thought to be a Bigfoot is a cryptid that has elements throughout female Bigfoot. history, though the North American versions sprang up mostly in the mid-1800s. Bigfoot is generally a 6–9-foot-tall humanoid creature that is covered in long hair. Bigfoots are said to be exceedingly strong.

Additionally, because of their large feet and great size, they leave behind tracks in the woods or mud or snow… tracks with big feet! He or she is similar to the Yeti or “Abominable Snowman,” though that white-furred creature is generally associated with the Himalayan regions in Tibet and elsewhere.

Thousands of people over the last 200 years have claimed to have seen Bigfoot loping through (RIGHT) Buddy Foster is the woods—and not large bears, which also have a feral child in "The Wolf five toes—but the creature has eluded capture or Boy,” a 1976 episode of The any kind of proof. The Pacific Northwest of North Six MIllion Dollar Man. America seems to be Bigfoot Central, with about 1/3 © Universal Television. of reported sightings. In October 1967, filmmakers Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin reportedly photographed a female Bigfoot walking at Bluff Creek near Orleans, California. The one-minute clip was utilized in film and television documentaries thereafter, including in a November 1974 CBS documentary copopular episode of The Six Million Dollar Man titled “The Wolf Boy” produced by the Smithsonian Institution! (aired in October 1975). Played by Buddy Foster, Wolf Boy was Although films utilized Bigfoot—including 1970’s Bigfoot young, physically fit, and had long shaggy hair… not unlike the vs. Bikers feature known simply as Bigfoot—a pair of films were later Wildboy! drive-in cinema hits: The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) and Return Although both Bigfoot and feral children were part of the to Boggy Creek (1977). Additionally, the hairy hominid occasionally cultural zeitgeist of the Seventies, it is undeniable that ABC’s popped up on television, with an appearance on Filmation’s The The Six Million Dollar Man is crucial to the creation of Bigfoot and Secrets of Isis in 1975 the most well known story until another hero Wildboy… took on the character. In the third season of ABC’s popular The Six The Kroffts and Ruby-Spears Million Dollar Man, cyborg secret agent Colonel Steve Austin faced the hirsute giant down in a two-part episode in February 1976. The The world of Saturday morning television was in its heyday in the mid-Seventies, and only a few companies ruled the roosts character was popular enough to have three more appearances, on the three networks: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Filmation including a stopover in ABC’s companion series The Bionic Woman.

Associates, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and Sid and Marty We’ll explore a bit more about that Bigfoot later in the article, but Krofft. Though Filmation had been dabbling with live-action first, let’s look at the concept of Wildboy… among its animated offerings, the Kroffts had almost singleFeral children were not a new concept by the 1970s, nor were handedly kept live-action on Saturday mornings since the Sixties, they mythological. Examples of human children who were first designing The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera in 1968, then isolated from other humans and “raised” by animals are extant throughout history. Popular culture is rife with the idea, including creating their hallucinatory (some would say hallucinogenic) monster-sized hit H. R. Pufnstuf (coming in RetroFan #16) in 1969. the stories of Tarzan in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books (beginning With the success of H. R. Pufnstuf, the Kroffts were picked to in 1912) and Mowgli in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894). do further Saturday morning development. They created the But in the Seventies, perhaps due to parents looking for reasons insect-themed musical series The Bugaloos for NBC (1970–1972), to explain why their long-haired children were so “out of control,” the anthropomorphic hat series Lidsville for CBS (1971–1973), the feral children were a staple in film, television, and books. humans-adopt-a-cute-sea-creature show Sigmund and the Sea ABC network was particularly invested in the feral concept, Monsters for NBC (1973-1975), the adventures of a family trapped as shown in 1977. They aired a telefilm called Lucan, about a boy in an alternate world full of dinosaurs and lizard-men Sleestaks raised by wolves, on May 22, 1977, which was popular enough known as the Land of the Lost for CBS (1974–1976), and androids to lead to an erratically airing series in September 1977. Played from the future trapped in the present in ABC’s The Lost Saucer

by Kevin Brophy, Lucan was young, physically fit, and had long (1975). shaggy hair. Lucan was perhaps inspired by a character on a 62

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RETRO GAMES

WWF WrestleFest How the rush of professional wrestling, the explosion of the arcade, and the innovations of a start-up company out of Japan ushered in the most legendary wrestling video game of all time!

by John “THE MEGO STRETCH HULK” Cimino © Technōs Japan Corp.

Despite what you think of professional wrestling today, there was a time when it was a pop-culture phenomenon and everybody was talking about it. It was so big that the whole industry came out of the doldrums of cult and became a bombastic super-soapopera carnival on steroids. Many middle-aged, cigar-chomping purists who first scoffed at such blasphemy would soon join in cheering these new larger-than-life modern-day gladiators bursting in neon colors once they got a taste of the excitement from the “Rock ’n’ Wrestling Connection.” And it wasn’t just the older folks—millions of children became obsessed. They couldn’t wait to watch “pro wrasslin’” on the tube after Saturday morning cartoons to see comic-book-like heroes come to life. This glorious period in time was the ten years from 1982 to 1992 (with 1987 being its peak year) that became known as “The Golden Age of Wrestling”… and it truly was.

On the back of Hulk Hogan, cable television and pay-perview promoter Vincent Kennedy McMahon built the WWF (which he bought from his father in 1982 and jump-started “The Golden Age of Wrestling” decade of dominance) into a financial behemoth. And to go along with Hogan’s incredible surge in popularity (dubbed “Hulkamania”) when he won the WWF World Championship from the Iron Sheik on January 23, 1984, in 1985 McMahon created the greatest yearly wrestling spectacle ever with WrestleMania. To keep up with the demand of their ever-growing fan base, the WWF took a new route in licensing the images of Hulk Hogan and other popular WWF superstars to product manufacturers. Their faces were now appearing everywhere in pop culture: television, cartoons, commercials, clothing, toys, books, magazines, posters, dolls, food products, costumes, movies, and music.

Nothing was off limits, especially for video Dedicated to the games that were experiencing a “Golden Age” of The Golden Age of Wrestling memory of Joseph their own.

During that decade, some of the most popular Michael Laurinaitis, While the arcade had been more of a novelty wrestlers were Hulk Hogan, “Nature Boy” Ric a.k.a. Road Warrior in years prior, it wasn’t until the release of the Flair, the Road Warriors: Hawk and Animal (a.k.a.

Animal (1960–2020).

Space Invaders console in 1978 that catapulted the Legion of Doom), Ultimate Warrior, “Rowdy” the entire industry to all new heights of Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, popularity.

From then on, children, teenagers, Sting, Sgt. Slaughter, Randy “Macho Man” and adults alike were hanging out at their local arcade, frequently Savage, and André the Giant. Besides them, there were so many spending their hard-earned money to capture the highest scores. other colorful and charismatic characters that became household New games/cabinets/consoles came on the scene and became names. And while there were many different regional federations so popular that even the characters in the games themselves that spawned these wrestlers and each had their own respected became part of the culture. Who today doesn’t know Pac-Man, world champion, it was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Donkey Kong, or Mario? that was the most popular of them all.

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REtRo GAMEs

Kunio-Kun in Japan), that they became more marketable overseas and had their sidescrolling “beat-’em-up” style of video-game play (nicknamed “belt stroller” style) the company started to become known for.

The very next year they honed that style with their biggest hit, the worldwide smash sensation Double Dragon. It quickly became licensed by other companies for various platforms and spawned multiple sequels.

When Technōs grew into a major power in 1987, they opened a subsidiary in Cupertino, California, called American Technōs Incorporated. With offices in both Japan and North America, they would release a wide variety of games for a host of different platforms all over the world.

IF YOUspoke ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, Their record for itself when Technōs CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER got together with the WWF to make THIS an ISSUE IN PRINT ORtheir DIGITAL arcade game based on wildlyFORMAT! popular wrestling product. Around this time, the WWF had already licensed video games © Technōs Japan Corp. to other companies for other platforms, but never for an arcade console. Technōs The rise of the arcade in the early Eighties coincided with the had achieved a ton of success with pro-wrestling arcade games rise of professional wrestling. How could it not? Both industries when they released Tag Team Wrestling and Mat Mania a few years boasted these larger-than-life, colorful characters that captivated prior, and the other games they currently had in the arcades the youth of the world and kept boys and girls coming back for kept that industry booming. Ultimately, the two companies more. In essence, professional wrestling and the arcade was a became a perfect “tag team” (sorry, I couldn’t help it), with match made in heaven! “So what’cha gonna do when Hulkamania Technōs going through the process of outlining the wrestlers’ and Galaga runs wild on you!?!” moves, introductions, and biographies, while the WWF offered Technōs Japan was founded in 1981, and legend tells us it was assistance and approval every step of the way. “And that’s why RETROFAN #14 started out of a single-room apartment, co-created by Kunio Taki they call me Mr. Perfect!” Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-the-scenes photos of many of your favorite Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished and Takashi Hanya (who left their respected jobs at Data East), interview with Green Hornet VAN WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning television, WOLFMAN JACK, The Saint, the and Taeko Hagiwara. True or not, this small start-up was destined WWF superstars lean years of Star Trek fandom, the Wrestlemania video game, for big things. They released their first video game, Minky Monkey, In 1989, Technōs released WWF was proTV tie-inSuperstars, toys no kid wouldand want,itand moreafun, fab features FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and in 1982, and in the next year they would debut the very first pro wrestling arcade game likefrom one never MICHAEL EURY. seen before. It was a single wrestling video game Tag Team Wrestling (or Big Pro Wrestling, as or two-player (simultaneous) game thatFULL-COLOR fully captured (84-page magazine)the $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 it was known in the East), produced by Data East. In 1985, they mannerisms of its six playable WWF superstars: Hulk Hogan, improved on that game dramatically with another pro-wrestling Ultimate Warrior, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Honky Tonk Man, Big video game called Mat Mania (known in Japan as Exciting Hour), Boss Man, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage. It also perfectly laid produced by Taito Corporation. Initially, Technōs had to have their out the basic premise of how a good pro-wrestling video game games published by other companies, as they did not have the should function. The player chooses their character as well as a economical resources to distribute their own product. But that tag-team partner; the goal is to take a tag team through the ranks would change as time went on. to face the tag-team champions the Mega Bucks (which included Japan also had a huge audience that loved professional “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and André the Giant). If wrestling (called “Puroresu”) and boasted successful, the player would then many regional federations of their own. be able to play through a second During the decade of “The Golden Age tier of matches, once again of Wrestling,” pro wrestling became ending in a match against the even more popular there as well. Due to Mega Bucks to beat the game. this rise in popularity, Technōs’ Tag Team The game itself features a Wrestling and Mat Mania arcade games grappling and attack system became cult hits for the company. And with the side-scrolling “beatwhen those games made their way to ’em-up” style that Technōs had the American arcade scene, they became perfected. From a grapple, a player can slam their opponent, even bigger. However, it wasn’t until 1986, throw them into the ropes, or when Technōs released their first major get them into a headlock from hit, Renegade (known as Nekketsu Kouha https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_152&products_id=1565

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