I bet, if asked, most of you would answer "No" to the question, "Was there ever a cartoon parody of M*A*S*H starring anthropomorphic police dogs?"
And you'd be wrong!
Yes, if you can believe it, M*U*S*H debuted on ABC in 1975 and was about a group of police dogs, with characters named General Upheaval, Col. Flake, Coldlips, and Major Sideburns. It ran for 30 episodes, into 1976, giving it a longer run than AfterM*A*S*H!
One volume of M*U*S*H was released on video tape, and you can still find the opening credits on Youtube. If I still had a VCR, I'd buy a beat-up old copy of the show just to see what in the holy hell went on.
And you'd be wrong!
Yes, if you can believe it, M*U*S*H debuted on ABC in 1975 and was about a group of police dogs, with characters named General Upheaval, Col. Flake, Coldlips, and Major Sideburns. It ran for 30 episodes, into 1976, giving it a longer run than AfterM*A*S*H!
One volume of M*U*S*H was released on video tape, and you can still find the opening credits on Youtube. If I still had a VCR, I'd buy a beat-up old copy of the show just to see what in the holy hell went on.
Man, Rob - you really pulled one out of a hat! Well done, sir.
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange idea for a kid's cartoon. Too bad only the titles are available. Interesting that it aired on a network other than CBS.
M*U*S*H was part of a Filmation show called Uncle Croc's Block, which was a parody of local TV afternoon kid shows. Uncle Croc was played by Charles Nelson Reilly and he showed a variety of cartoons, M*U*S*H being one of them.
ReplyDeleteThe title stood for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes, a group of mounted dog policemen stationed at an outpost in the Arctic Circle. The characters mimicked their M*A*S*H counterparts with names like Bullseye, Trooper Joe, Cold Lips, Major Sideburns, and Colonel Flake.
Although Uncle Croc had his own quirky appeal, M*U*S*H was by far the best part of the show. Pretty sophisticated parody for a kid's show.
The You Tube clips I've seen of this seem... a little odd. Not bad Hanna-Barbera stuff (which it resembles: is Filmation HB?)
ReplyDeleteThis passed me by, but I wonder how many young fans decided to check out 'the real show' and ended up hooked?