Secret Galaxy

EXTREME DINOSAURS was an animated series that began life as a spin off of the far more popular STREET SHARKS. During the dinosaur craze of the 90's and helping to launch BKN didn't help this short-lived show.

Back in the early 90's there was an animated show that bounced around TV called Pirates of Dark Water. Ambitious in its execution and cost, it attempted to tell a continuous story. But Pirates of Dark Water, like so many shows, just never caught on and didn't generate numbers enough to warrant the cost.

The Dukes of Hazzard is a tv series that ran from 1979 to 1985 and was, at one time, on of the biggest licenses out there with toys, apparel, snacks, games and more. It was also not without controversies, both back when the show first aired and much much later.

C.O.P.S. was a 1 season syndicated animated series based on a toyline called COPS n' Crooks and then sometimes also just known as COPS. Hasbro bet big, bringing in a lot of talent to work on what they saw as a possible successor to GI Joe. But that didn't really work out. But COPS still has it's place in history with a toyline revival happening recently.

For a very brief period of time in 1984 a cartoon called MIGHTY ORBOTS aired on Saturday mornings. It was a Japanese/US collaboration and ABC's gambit to cash in on the robot craze but nothing went to plan including low ratings and a lawsuit from THE GOBOTS. MIGHTY ORBOTS didn't stand a chance!

It was very brief. If you blinked, you missed the cartoon starring Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Bo Jackson as aspirational crime fighters called The PROSTARS. A full marketing blitz was planned as was an unorthodox network partner. But all of that fell through and we were left with a blink and you'll miss it season of PROSTARS

With Filmation's biggest success, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, drawing to a close they looked to the future and bet the company's future on BRAVESTARR, an original property they brought to MATTEL. But MATTEL had their own ideas for how BRAVESTARR should look and function and when it should release with a betrayal that may have doomed the whole line. This is the story of BRAVESTARR and the downfall of FILMATION.

After the success of Robotech, Harmony Gold tried again because, you know, why not? The grabbed the rights to Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Queen Millennia on the cheap and attempted to mash them together like they did with Robotech. Thus, Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years was born and... well...

In the early 1980's DIC, Filmation and others were all about to start a revolution, they just didn't know it yet. Inspector Gadget was an immensely popular show that debuted a few weeks before GI Joe and He-Man but hasn't really had the lasting impact the others did. But Inspector Gadget is still beloved by fans to this day...

PAC-MAN fever was everywhere and back in the early 80's that meant merchandising and, beyond that, it meant a cartoon. But how do you take a concept like PAC-MAN, the videogame, and turn it into PAC-MAN, the cartoon? And how do you do compete with the Saturday Morning juggernaut that was THE SMURFS?

All of our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles videos and their very long titles all in one place! 00:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11:31 Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles: The Movie 32:37 Coming Out of Their Shells Tour 44:05 TMNT - Secret of the Ooze 1:00:20 TMNT 3 1:17:57 The Next Mutation 1:33:11 Legend of the Super Mutants 1:44:51 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

SPIRAL ZONE was an animated series that lasted just 1 season in 1987, accompanied by a line of expensive (comparatively) action figures and vehicles. But SPIRAL ZONE took an extremely unlikely route to end up on US television, starting in Japan with virtually no story and even more expensive action figures and being recruited just after the robot craze to succeed BOTH the GOBOTS and GI JOE. SPIRAL ZONE was not up to the task.

SLIDERS the TV Series aired for 4 seasons across 2 networks and never had a moment of peace. Right out of the gate there was executive meddling, cast problems, ratings problems and a jump from one network to another. Despite all of that SLIDERS still has a very passionate fanbase that hopes one day for a proper conclusion to the story.

MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD from DIC is from an era before INSPECTOR GADGET and was first released in Japan. However, it's impact was really felt in FRANCE where MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD became, and continues to be, a huge hit. Hitting the US a few years later on NICKELODEON, it was part of a contentious battle to help raise some quick cash.

Many kids had a robot watch — a watch that transformed into a robot and back again. As it turns out, there’s a whole story behind how they started and where they came from, and, indirectly, it all connects back to G.I. Joe. This is the story of the robot watch. This is the story of KRONOFORM.

Robotech: The Movie was released (sort of) in 1986, an amalgamation of 2 other different things that were not related at all. In any way. Following in the tradition of Robotech, as it turned out. But it didn't start out that way. Robotech: The Movie started out as an idea to bring Robotech to the masses and to reward loyal fans. Oh well.

Megas XLR was NOT a 1 season wonder, lasting a total of 2 seasons but those seasons were short and legal issues have kept it from having the continuing legacy that some other properties of that era do. Megas XLR was still foundational in the building of Toonami though, if only they made it for Adult Swim, maybe it would've stood a better chance.

M.A.N.T.I.S. was the first black superhero show on TV but the journey from made-for-TV pilot movie written by the writer of Batman (1989) and produced by Sam Raimi to a weekly series disowned by its creators was a bumpy one, including allegations of racism against the Fox Network. Yikes.

Quantum Leap was an NBC TV series beginning in 1989 and frustrating its fans for the next 5 seasons. Between being yanked around the schedule to that WTF ending to a sequel series that didn't answer any questions to the mysterious actual ending.

Mortal Kombat is a fighting game released in arcades in 1992 that almost immediately garnered notice for the violence of it. But that was just the beginning, both of a global brand, and of the controversies and lawsuits surrounding Mortal Kombat.

Thundarr the Barbarian was, by some accounts, Ruby and Spears favorite show they worked on as is evidenced by the number of times they tried to save it. Riding the wave of Star Wars and predicting the popularity of Conan the Barbarian they couldn't keep Thundarr on the air long enough to be swept up in the pop culture wake of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Miami Vice was a show that exploded into pop culture, changing the way TV was made and the fashion of the 1980's, overseen by one of the most influential filmmakers of our time. But Miami Vice also had its share of detractors for glamourizing drugs and violence.

80's TV was a time of high concepts and cool vehicles. And we've covered a lot of them in the past. Oh and there were some aliens in there also. 00:00 Automan / 11:28 Street Hawk / 23:04 Manimal / 36:15 Misfits of Science / 50:36 Airwolf / 1:03:12 Knight Rider / 1:26:23 V / 1:48:30 Alf

A story that starts all the way back in World War II and was born out of Nixon's "War on Crime", McGruff: The Crime Dog was created not as a way to scare the citizens but to bring attention to some of the social troubles facing kids and adults alike. McGruff: The Crime Dog dealt with crime, sure, but also stranger danger, drugs and the dangers of counterfeit goods with his signature catch phrase "Take a Bite Out of Crime!"

Nintendo almost single-handedly rescued the video game industry in the United States in the mid 1980's. With that kind of power the entertainment industry took notice. Captain N: The Game Master was the result of everyone wanting to get a piece of the Nintendo pie and it seemed like a no-brainer to take a bunch of franchises and just squish them all together.

Right after Inspector Gadget, DIC was looking for its next American hit and settled on a cartoon starring Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats. But this wasn't the first cartoon about Heathcliff and Heathcliff wasn't the only popular orange cat out there, with Garfield blowing up the newstands.

In the 1980's time was running out for Cannon Films in more ways than one, both for the company, the rights to make a Captain America movie and the Golan Globus partnership. What followed was a series of false starts, script problems, director problems and budget problems all leading to the release of CAPTAIN AMERICA in 1990 or 1992, depending on where you lived. Barely noticed, it was immediately derided as one of the worst comic book movies ever and has held that reputation. But Albert Pyun, the director, had his own cut of the film that he wanted everyone to see... and now they can!