1982 8:30 on NBC: SHIRT TALES

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Saturday mornings in 1982, over on NBC at 8:30 in the morning you could find the adventures of The SHIRT TALES, although if you're younger than me you *probably* remember this show from somewhere else and are getting ready to hit "Leave Comment" to let me know that I've made a terrible mistake.

HOLD THAT BUTTON, and read on...

Much like other perennial 80's favorites Strawberry Shortcake and The Care Bears, The Shirt Tales were created for the Hallmark Greeting Card Company (by Janet Elizabeth Manco) with no real story or reason other than to look cute on greeting cards. The Hanna-Barbera came along and gave them a storyline! Tyg Tiger (in orange), Pammy Panda (in pink), Digger Mole (in light blue), Rick Raccoon (in red), and Bogey Orangutan (in green) lived in a big hollow tree in Oak Tree Park (as Tigers, Pandas, Raccoons, Moles and Orangutans often do in the wild) and wore shirts which flashed various brightly lit messages reflecting their thoughts. They spent their time teasing the park ranger (Mr. Dinkle) and FIGHTING CRIME AS SOME SORT OF SUPER-SECRET AGENTS (as Tigers, Pandas, Raccoons, Moles and Orangutans often do in the wild). They zipped around the world in a vehicle known as the STSST (Shirt Tales Super-Sonic Transport) which was a car, jet, boat, submarine, and pretty much anything else they wanted/needed it to be.

The show ran for two seasons on NBC Saturday Mornings, 10 episodes in the first season and 13 in the second season. In the second season things changed *slightly* with the addition of "Kip" (a young Kangaroo) and an apparent power-struggle between Rick and Tyg. Rick was rarely seen in that second season, which i weird since he had been the apparent leader of the group in season 1. Weird.

Anywho, you *MAY* remember seeing this cartoon on CBS rather than NBC, and with good reason; in the Fall of 1984, NBC dropped Shirt Tales from their schedule and it was immediately snapped-up by CBS, who were looking for a last-minute filler to replace the low-rated "The Biskitts" cartoon at the last minute. CBS showed a mix of re-runs from both seasons of Shirt Tales.

Comments

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I coulda sworn the opening was more interesting than that, but apparently not!

-TG

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The second season opening is much better...

Although in comparison at the time, I remember really hating the second season intro.

[deepseasiren.livejournal.com]

You know this is one series I have to honestly say I don't remember anything about!

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

It was like air pudding... very non-obtrusive :)

[linger-awhile.livejournal.com]

I had plushes of these guys, all but Kip.....they had their names on their shirts.

UGH!

[bghsmith.livejournal.com]

The only thing amusing about this cartoon was how what they were thinking would appear on their shirts. That lost it's charm very early on.

Re: UGH!

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think the REAL story here is that there's a little park in the middle of the city tat has a LIVE TIGER, UNCAGED!!! And a PANDA! And a monkey and a kangaroo and a raccoon and A MOLE THE SAME SIZE AS THE TIGER!!!