1981 11:00 on CBS: BLACKSTAR

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

At 11 in the morning on CBS in 1981, you could find an... *interesting* little show that I can only assume was created by a committee of Time Traveling Marketing Executives at Filmation, BLACKSTAR.

Buck Rogers crash-lands on He-Man's planet (Eternia) and teams-up with characters from Thundarr and a small platoon of Smurfs so he can fight The Thundercats foe (Mum-Ra) for the other half of a magic sword, because there should always be a sword.

Or, in the words of the narration:

"John Blackstar, astronaut, is swept through a black hole, into an ancient alien universe. Trapped on the planet Sagar, Blackstar is rescued by the tiny Trobbit people. In turn, he joins their fight for freedom against the cruel Overlord, who rules by the might of the Powerstar. The Powerstar is split into the Powersword and the Starsword. And so with Starsword in hand, Blackstar, together with his allies, sets out to save the planet Sagar. This is his destiny".

In later years when I was watching this on VHS, every time the end of the narration came and he says "I am John Blackstar", I liked to follow it up with "...And I'm an alcoholic." HI, JOHN. "It's been one week since my last drink, the last time I saw a Trobbit, but I feel like I might lapse and..." and then the episode would start and it was all just hi drunken nightmare/fantasy, week after week.

Never had much use for this cartoon... sorry I don't know much more about it. It was on opposite two other shows that I liked a heck of a lot better, and it was on a channel that we didn't receive very well with our antenna :/

Although there were only 13 episodes produced (a single season), the reruns continued to air at 1:00 in 1982 and 1983.

Please leave your memories/opinions/thoughts in the comment below :)

Comments

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Wow, nice Snow White vibe with the Trobbits.

[hibiscusrose.livejournal.com]

Just what I was thinking; especially with them by the bier!

Also definitely called it on the He-Man feel; some of that must have been standard Filmation stock and style.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

There used to be a website (long gone now) that compard screen shot from both shows and had some pretty convincing evidence that at the very least the He-Man animator had been *tracing* elements of Blackstar is not out-and-out recycling stuff :)

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The Trobbits are often overlooked when people are compiling their lists of Scrappy-Doo characters :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

"When all else fails, rehash A Princess of Mars." Heck, it worked for James Cameron.

-TG

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

lol yeah! Like Colt 45, it works every time! Except for when they actually make a movie out of it :(

[helens-daughter.livejournal.com]

Had the CBS censors not been so ridiculous in their demands, it might have been a better cartoon.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The censors get a lot of (rightful) blame for how bad some cartoons were, but having come from a background in Marketing I can tell you that the censors were most likely just a decoy on which the Marketing folks shifted the blame to.

EXAMPLE: The note from the censors may say "The sword can never be seen striking or cutting another character, find a different, non-violent way to use it or take it out". MARKETING will get hold of that and tell the story guys "Censor say that the sword is completely out, sorry! But if we add in a few cuddly, merchandisable peace-loving characters we *might* get them to agree to let us at least KEEP the sword in some way... think you guys can come up with something?" And THAT'S how the Trobbits go from mysterious woodland tribe to wacky midget side-kicks. :)

[volare.livejournal.com]

I have ZERO memory of this one whatsoever. Maybe it didn't air up here in Boston or something, or I was just watching something else.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Most likely watching something else... it was up against Super Friends AND Space Stars. I really think it was the Trobbits that forced me away from this show...

[mspette.livejournal.com]

Never heard of this, but apparently this only made it to our television in 2000 and only to pay tv, so never had a chance. :)

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Awww, too bad... it's really worth checking out at the very least. Hooray for INTERNETS!!!

Every time I see thi cartoon I try to look past the flaw and see it for the *potential* :)