jason of the star command

Check it out Popcereal kiddies! Another classic Saturday morning live action show has been released on DVD. Grab your sugar cereal bowls and comic books and gather around the tube -- it's time for Jason of the Star Command!!

JASON OF STAR COMMAND -- The Entire Series (BCI Ecplipse)

Working from within a secretive section of Space Academy, a daring soldier of fortune named Jason (Craig Littler) joins with his friends to combat the sinister forces that conspire to dominate the stars. Jason is aided on his missions by Commanders Carnavin (Star Trek’s James Doohan) and Stone (John Russell), computer expert Nicole (Susan Pratt), strong alien Samantha (Tamara Dobson), eccentric scientist Dr. E.J. Parsafoot (Charlie Dell), and two robots, Peepo and the portable W1K1. Together they face the evil machinations of Dragos — the self-proclaimed "Master of the Cosmos" — and his alien minions aboard the Dragonship.

JASON OF STAR COMMAND was a hit when it aired on Saturday mornings, beginning in 1978 on CBS. The most expensive children's show on television, the series utilized sets and props from its predecessor, SPACE ACADEMY (also released on DVD by BCI), and featured veterans of Star Trek among its cast, plus special effects personnel who had created the visuals of Star Wars! With its action-oriented serialized plots and a memorable space-age villain in Dragos, JASON OF STAR COMMAND was a hit for two seasons, and entertained audiences worldwide in syndication thereafter.

And some interesting trivia – featured guest star Rosanne Katon did a centerfold spread in Playboy Magazine just prior to the debut of this Saturday morning program. The show’s Producer Lou Scheimer was terrified that with one of its stars doing girlie mags, his kid show would be ruined. Oddly, CBS (who ran the program) didn’t seem to mind much.

Even odder is that the new king of ghoulishness Sid Haig, from Devil's Rejects and House of 1000 Corpses fame, was the regular bad guy Dragos. Geesh, with Playboy girls and serial killers running amok, Mr. Miller wonders if his Saturday mornings were really that wholesome afterall.

Check out what else was on the Saturday morning schedule, along with Jason:

collect your paycheck!

Mr. Miller here was not what you'd call a raving fan of Mr. Johnny Paycheck. Sure, "Take This Job and Shove It" was a perfectly pitched anthem for the pissed-off working man in the 1970s (I wasn't exactly a working man in those days, just an average teen washing dishes and stuff like that -- but the angst wasn't lost on me). And i couldn't help but appreciate the "outlaw" antics, his surly wit and overall drunken persona.

The thing is, I never felt the need to dig into his discography to have a listen at much more than what I'd already heard -- that was until after he blew off a free outdoor concert with BR549 because he was too shitfaced to crawl outa bed. Mr. Miller and his buddies all thought that he was worth a listen to after that stunt.

Here's Mr. Paycheck's first LP The Lovin' Machine (1966). It was the age of theNashville sound, and a jokester like Paycheck would seem an ill fit. But the rebel rouser had a proven background in Country music, having played back-up for other stars and penning a hit for George Jones. On this first album you'll hear the crass wit behind "Take This Job..." (even though that was written by David Allen Coe), but surprising is his turn as country crooner, trying to belt out the ballads in a George Jones drawl.

Here's a copy of The Lovin' Machine that's been tooling around online (I'd love to give credit to the original poster of it, but it's been around the bend a few times, and that info is unavailable).

Download it here!

welcome to space academy

To anyone who was a member of the Saturday Morning Cartoon generation, Filmation is surely a brand name that can flip a couple cans. Filmation founders Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott were responsible for the most recognizable cartoon and live action children’s hits like The Groovie Goolies, Isis, Fat Albert, He-Man, and Archie. Not only were these shows popular on weekend television, but many of the show’s characters crossed over to become celebrated Top 40 hit-makers.

Thank the Gods of TV that many of these funtime programs are resurfacing on DVD.

I have to admit that I was not a regular fan of Space Academy when it originally aired (Saturdays mornings from 1977 to 1979). Frankly, by the time this show came on I was starting High School and had other, more pressing, matters on my mind (girls just don’t dig a guy who sits at home watching cartoons). The fact that the show starred perennial 70s kid actress Pamelyn Ferdin didn’t make it any more appealing to me. You may remember her as Felix Unger’s whinny little daughter, or the whinny girl on Lassie, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Sealab 2020, or a thousand other TV shows and movies. Now, in nostalgic reflection, I kinda dig her – maybe that change of heart came about when she played a whinny victim in the first Toolbox Murders.

Other notable actors on Space Academy are Brian Tochi, who played the Asin dude in Revenge of the Nerds and the Police Academy flicks. And, of course, there was Jonathan Harris, who is best remembered as Dr. Smith from Lost in Space. For fans of the flamboyant and dastardly Dr. Smith, Harris’ turn as the more sedate Commander Isaac Gampu must have surely been a disappointment, for this role as the Academy leader lacked the twitchy charm of dubious doctor.

This Saturday morning treat was sort of like Star Trek for the junior set. The racially mixed teenaged cadets of the academy were culled from the most brilliant and talented of the young Earthlings of the 33rd Century. Under the tutelage of Commander Gampu and his robot Peepo (voiced by Lou Scheimer’s daughter Erika), telekinetic siblings Laura (Ferdin) and Chris (Ric Carrott) join forces with, Tee Gar (Tochi), a martial arts expert, Paul (Ty Henderson) the doubting Thomas of the group, and Loki (Eric Greene) a playful alien orphan who can turn invisible, to explore the Universe. And just as Kirk and his crew did, the youngsters constantly happen upon a planet or space ship where the inhabitants force the cadets to mull over some very complicated ethical and moral conundrums.

And just as Jonathan Harris traversed many a planet where the vegetation was always sparse and usually shoulder height, so to the young cadets journeyed. For me, this is the beauty of shows like this – the simplicity. Even though the show was decked out by the same special effects team from Star Wars (which premiered the same year as SA debuted), it still maintained a low-budget, staged personality – which, for my moneys worth, is what makes these make believe shows seem oddly more believable.

BCI Eclipse, for the past couple of years, has been releasing the Filmation catalog for all of us hungry PopCereal eaters. Look for Space Academy at their website, or your local video mall.

And while you're at it, check out these handy sites for more on SA.

70s Live Action Kid Vid

Welcome to Space Academy

Pamelyn Ferdin's Official Website

SPACE ACADEMY:
THE COMPLETE SERIES
COLLECTOR'S DVD SET
Released by BCI Eclipse / Ink & Paint
In Stores January 16, 2007.

SPACE ACADEMY: The Complete Series includes special features produced by Andy Mangels:

• Four discs, all 15 episodes

Bonus material includes:

* 35 minute Documentary, "Back to School with Space Academy"
* Audio Commentary tracks for two episodes
("Phantom Planet, "Countdown")
with Lou Scheimer - Executive Producer,
stars Ric Carrot, Brian Tochi, and Eric Greene,
and Special Effects Supervisor Chuck Comisky,
hosted by Andy Mangels
* Behind-the Scenes photo gallery
* Cast Reunion photo gallery with interview clips
* Memorabilia photo gallery with interview clips
* Promotional photo gallery
* Booklet with Episode Guide and Trivia
* All 15 Scripts (DVD-ROM)
* Series Bible (DVD-ROM)
* Easter Eggs
* Trailers - Ink & Paint Previews

a special christmas treat!

Merry Christmas to all those of the Saturday Morning Generation (and everyone else, no doubt)!

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For our final installment of Christmas offerings, Mr. Miller has wrapped up a real neat treat for all you PopCereal kids to go silly over.

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If there is one thing that you ever needed to know, or cared to know, about Mr. Miller, it's that he absolutely loves Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol." Ever since he can remember, the 1951 Alastair Sim version of the story was a regular event at the Mr. Miller household. The local PBS station would run the holiday movie twice a year, with the first airing on Christmas Eve, and the second on Christmas day afternoon.

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Another little secret about Mr. Miller is that he's also fond of filmstrips.

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What we have here for your final PopCereal Christmas present is a recording of a filmstrip version of the great Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, produced by the Listening Library, Inc, out of Greenwich, Connecticut. They've been providing schools and other organizations with filmstrips, audio books and other audio-visual goodies for decades now, and it's always a happy day when we find one of their gems.

So, for your listening and viewing pleasure, PopCereal presents the filmstrip version of Dickens A Christmas Carol (catalog #SFX5), which includes a pdf file of the accompanying guide booklet.



So, go download it and enjoy your holidays!!

rapidshare this download

or download at mediafire

Oh... and please be patient with the download. After all it's a double length filmstrip with audio read along, running nearly 40 minutes, so it'll take several minutes of your time to obtain it. We promise you -- it's weel worth the wait.

Have a merry!!
Mr. Miller

what a couple dummies!

For your Christmas cheer, Mr. Miller has found a fantastic little 45 record from a pair of knuckleheads called Kenny & Corky. We haven't been able to dig any background up on these guys, but we can vouch for they're hilariousness. Side one is the dummy duo singing that bad boy standard "Nutin' for Christmas." What's so fun about this rendition is that as the mischievous troublemakers recount their terrible antics, they do it with such glee, chuckling hysterically at their naughtiness.

On the flip side the pair of pals show their more tender side, singing that sweet little chestnut about "Suzy Snowflake."



Go download the record and sleeve covers and give 'em a listen:
Kenny & Corky 45 record download

capatain kangaroo vs. mitch miller!

Here's a weird one, kids... Mr. Miller here had recently posted a download to a Mitch Miller & the Sandpipers 45 record featuring two nifty little holiday songs "A Merry, Merry, Merry Merry Christmas" and "A Happy Little New Year."

Gosh almighty, when Mr. Miller was given this record, he nearly flipped his can! Never had he heard these sweet little melodies before

Until...
Check out this great download over at Check The Cool Wax. It seems that Captain Kangaroo does the same songs on the Mitch Miller 45 record... the EXACT same songs!

Mr. Miller first discovered this when he got a mix CD from a friend (the very same Christmas that he got the Mitch Miller record and put it on his own mix CD) with Captain Kangaroo doing his version of "Merry Merry Christmas." He thought it was odd that the Captain's song virtually matched Mitch Miller's version -- only the Captain did a tiny intro on his record.

Then after we got a comment in the ol' mailbag pointing out the similarities, we thought we'd better do some look-seeing around the Internets. What we found was that The Sandpipers and the Captain and Mitch Miller were well linked up, as you can see on this record sleeve art we found on esnarf.

Here... have a closer look.


Oddly, there's no mention of Bob Keeshan on any of the Mitch Miller & The Sandpiper records. Hmmmm... makes you wonder. I think Lumpy Brannum was behind the whole thing...

If anyone know more about this coincidink, please feel free to contact PopCereal. Mr. Miller here is just dying to hear all about it.

merry, merry, merry, merry, happy

Mr. Miller here may be a bit partial towards Mr. Mitch Miller, cuz, afterall, the man had a TV Special on the very night I was born!!


Download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?0mqdo4544th