Picture this: you’re 8 years old, and the best day of your life is about to begin. It’s a hot Burbank day, and you’ve waited in line with your mom all morning because you’re going to attend a television show taping! And not just any taping, it’s the PAC-MAN SATURDAY MORNING PREVIEW. That’s right, the Golden God himself has put his chomp chomp chomp of approval on ABC’s Saturday morning lineup. Your Ocean Pacific shorts immediately pop their first pup tent.

It hits you: YOU are going to witness this sneak preview before anyone else in the world. There are no cell phone cameras. There are no security guys with night vision anti-piracy cameras, or nerds saying “meh” on message boards afterwards. You don’t even know what the word “meh” means yet, nor have you yet grown to hate the lukewarm, three letter, impressed-by-nothing phrase that will come to define every smug asshole with a keyboard and nothing interesting to contribute.

And…oh my god…it’s being filmed on the American Bandstand set, Studio B! Not because this show isn’t important enough to warrant it’s own special set, but because DICK CLARK is hosting and this is his house where he sleeps!

The first thing that happens is that Dick Clark tells the kid next to you to shut his goddamn yap before the show even starts. That’s cool, because that kid was going to be trouble anyway. You could tell. So what’s the first show we’re going to see, premiered for you and you alone? Omigod, the anticipation.

Well, it’s…”Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz.” Or “Laverne and Shirley with Special Guest Star The Fonz.” Or “Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/The Fonz Hour.” It’s one of those, as you’ll find out 20 years later nursing your nostalgia wounds on IMDB.com.  But that’s what they’re calling it, for real. Really? Ok, they’re starting small. But…Holy god with a title that complicated, it must be good. Why else would they drag these characters you’ve never heard of from beyond the sitcom grave?

And, what’s this? Fonz is in the studio! The man who invented jumping the shark is here! And there’s an irritating guy with him, voicing a dog called “Cool”! So THIS is how cartoons are voiced! So THIS is how careers are undone! So THIS is what the phrase “Sniff Out the Pork” sounds like coming out of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli’s mouth!

Ok, that was probably the worst thing you’ve ever seen, but you’ll clap because there’s GOT to be something better coming. Everyone else is laughing. Are you supposed to be laughing? We were promised Pac-Man, right? Dick Clark is now looking right at you. You’re not clapping hard enough. Oh man…he can tell…holy crap please don’t come over here…

These are cartoons…they’re supposed to make kids happy…this is the world premeire show…so how come when you watch this cartoon spectacle unfold, all you can think about is THIS?

And there’s an entire hour of the Dick Clark cartoon spectacular left? Oh momma momma…why didn’t you warn me!?!?

Stay tuned, because this week I’ll announce the winner of the Most Terrifying Childhood Cartoon contest. Feel free to scroll down to the post and keep those entries coming…Or even write them over 4 separate, novel-length posts, like friend of the site Friginator! Your posts are one of the main reasons I keep the site up, I love all you guys who hang out here. Some of you, like previous contest winner and all around good guy Jeff Sparkman, even sent me one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen: The ABC Pac-Man Preview. And just let me say, over the next 4-5 weeks, you guys are in for a special treat…kind of like that free ice cream you get after a brutal dentist appointment. There are a million things to observe in horror on this tape that make me a little sad to have a Pac-Man tattoo. Ok, a lot sad. Here’s a taste:

Yes, it’s going to be a good couple of weeks. Henry Winkler stops by to no one’s joy, Dick Clark berates some more kids in his patented dickish manner, kids feign enthusiasm for a Laverne and Shirley cartoon, Pac-Man’s legacy is defecated upon and shat out in pellet form…

All this, and I’ll even leave the eighties commercials on this VHS gem in tact.

Oh man…this clip is short, but it gets funnier and funnier the more you watch it. Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot get enough of this clip. The creepy, human-mouthed mothers are back from Captain Fathom, and this is an exchange between villains—the Nazi Dominatrix shows up to the International Villains Meeting on the High Seas (or whatever) and is, like, 10 minutes late. The old guy is obsessed—OBSESSED, I say—with punctuality, as you’ll remember. She thinks she’s doing her token Hindu pal a favor, but totally throws him under the bus by accident. The look on his face? Most priceless thing ever. This round to you, old man. 

[Sigh...If only YouTube would freeze on the last frame instead of whisking you to some other shit no one cares about...I'm really starting to hate the new YouTube.]

Ok, at this point I’d rather hear Clint Eastwood sing then see another Rocket Robin Hood clip. But this show keeps on giving. How could I let you down after all the build up? This is a longer clip than normal (wow! 2 whole minutes! Who will have the marathon nerve to watch the whole thing!)

But here’s your story so far:

1. Rocket Robin Hood has a plan that may or may not involve Little John bending over. YEE-AY AH! WHAT!?!?! [That's supposed to be Lil' Jon. Doesn't really translate in blog form.]

2. Rocket Robin Hood leaves his girlfriend to rot in a cell just to carry out some stupid prank and his dumb ass almost gets killed in the process.

3. Rocket Robin Hood, somehow, is surprised monsters live on Planet Lucifer.

Caught up? Good. Now all that’s left to see is the, ahem, “hilarious” shenanigans that ensue. SEE! The jerky animation! HEAR! The crowd make noises that will make your stomach gurgle with unrest! WATCH! Jokes as they fall flatter than Lindsay Lohan’s chest! GASP! At the countless continuity errors, wherein the ape-kid from The Others is in the man’s arms, and suddenly standing beside him!

And all this so they can just ESCAPE LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE 3 GODDAMNED DAYS AGO.

Eat me, Rocket Robin Hood.

Human Teeth: is there anything more horrible?* I don’t like my teeth. I don’t like a lot of other people’s teeth. People with good teeth? Suck it. I hate those people too. They’re painful, dirty, breakable little things and they most certainly don’t belong in cartoons (unless its Robert Smigel’s mouth coming out of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face on Conan). But here they are, in lieu of animated mouths, in the amazingly bad CAPTAIN FATHOM: RUSTLERS OF THE SEA RANGE. You can see the whole episode on the Worst Cartoons Ever DVD, for sale here! My birthday is Friday, and what better gift to me than to buy my fabulously cheap and entertaining collection of crud. But, for now, become witness to the horror that is Animated Molars and the boring, BORING conversation that whistles through them. Also, apparently they can’t afford real bird sound effects.

*Human Teeth inside a dog’s mouth, perhaps

And, of course, here’s Clutch Cargo…