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Ken Spears
Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-founded the television animation production company Ruby-Spears Productions. Biography Spears was born on March 12, 1922 in Los Angeles but was also raised in New York City. His mother, Edna (''née'' Graiver), died a month after he was born, while his father, Harry Spears, worked as a radio host and producer before joining a real estate business. Spears became a friend of the son of animation producer William Hanna while attending high school in California. As an adult, shortly after leaving the United States Navy, Hanna hired Spears as a sound editor for Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1959. He met Joe Ruby, also ex-Navy, in the editing department of the studio, and the two men began a writing partnership. Spears and Ruby wrote gags and scrip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world's most populous megacities. Los Angeles is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With a population of roughly 3.9 million residents within the city limits , Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, being the home of the Hollywood film industry, and its sprawling metropolitan area. The city of Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into the San Fernando Valley, with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to it's east. It covers about , and is the county seat of Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the United States with an estim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Dane
The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the world along with its relative, the Irish Wolfhound. History Origins In the middle of the 16th century, the nobility in many countries of Europe imported strong, long-legged dogs from England, which were descended from crossbreeds between English Mastiffs and Irish Wolfhounds. They were dog hybrids in different sizes and phenotypes with no formal breed.Ludwig Beckmann (1895)''Geschichte und Beschreibung der Rassen des Hundes'' Volume 1, p. 6 (in German) These dogs were called ''Englische Docke'' or ''Englische Tocke'' – later written and spelled: ''Dogge'' – or ''Englischer Hund'' in Germany. The name simply meant "English dog". Since then, the English word "dog" has come to be associated with a molossoid dog in Germany and France. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mister T (TV Series)
''Mister T'' is an American animated series that aired on NBC on Saturday morning from 1983 to 1985, featuring the popular actor Mr. T. A total of 30 episodes were produced during all three seasons, with the thirteen episodes for Season 1, eleven for Season 2, and six episodes for the third and final season. The series was produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises. Reruns were later seen on the USA Cartoon Express in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and more recently as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night programming block and sibling network, Boomerang that airs classic cartoons from the Hanna-Barbera, pre-1991 Ruby-Spears, Turner and classic Warner animated libraries. This is also Phil LaMarr's first role. Plot The cartoon stars Mr. T as a coach to a gymnastics team (with a specific emphasis on members Jeff, Woody, Robin, and Kim), travelling the world while becoming involved in and solving various mysteries similar to the Scooby-Doo franchise. At the beginning of each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Supercade
''Saturday Supercade'' is an American animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS. Premise Each episode is composed of several shorter segments featuring video game characters from the golden age of arcade video games. The segments included: * Frogger (from the ''Frogger'' arcade game) * Donkey Kong with Mario and Pauline (from the ''Donkey Kong'' arcade game) * Donkey Kong Jr. (from the '' Donkey Kong Jr.'' arcade game) * Q*bert with Coily, Ugg, Wrongway, Slick and Sam (from the ''Q*bert'' arcade game) * Pitfall Harry with his pet mountain lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda (unlike the others which are arcade games, this segment is from the home console game ''Pitfall!''). The cartoon was simply called "Pitfall!". Pitfall! and Q*bert rotated weekly while the other three were weekly. During the second season, Q*bert (now weekly) and Donkey Kong remained while the Frogger, Pitfall! and Donkey Kong Jr. segm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thundarr The Barbarian
''Thundarr the Barbarian'' is an American Saturday morning animated series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran for two seasons on ABC from October 4, 1980, to October 31, 1981, and was rerun on NBC in 1983. Plot ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' is set in a future (c. 3994) post-apocalyptic wasteland of Earth divided into kingdoms and territories, the majority of which are ruled by wizards, and whose ruins typically feature recognizable geographical features from the United States, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Denver, Atlanta, Boston, San Antonio and its Alamo, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Cape Canaveral, and the Grand Canyon. Other episodes with recognizable settings are set outside the United States, and include Mexico and London, UK. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken in two pieces. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Plastic Man Comedy-Adventure Hour
Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the first superheroes to incorporate humor into mainstream action storytelling. This character has been published in several solo series and has interacted with other characters such as Batman and many others in the mainstream DC Universe as a member of the Justice League. He has additionally appeared in several television and video game adaptations, including a short-lived television show of his own named ''The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show''. Publication history Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in ''Police Comics'' #1 (August 1941). One of Quality Comics' signature characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books, Plastic Man can stretch his body into any imaginable form, for example a ball or a car, etc. His adventures were known for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fangface
''Fangface'' is a 30-minute Saturday morning cartoon produced by Ruby-Spears Productions for ABC that aired from September 9, 1978, to September 8, 1980. The executive producers were Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and this was their first cartoon they made after they left Hanna-Barbera. Overview Similar in format to ''Scooby-Doo'' (also created by Ruby and Spears) with elements of the Tasmanian Devil and ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'', ''Fangface'' features four teenagers — buff and handsome leader Biff; his brainy and beautiful girlfriend Kim; short, stocky and pugnacious Puggsy; and tall, skinny simpleton Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth, who transforms into a werewolf upon seeing a full moon and back into a human whenever he sees the sun. Puggsy and Fangs are based on Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall of the '' Bowery Boys'' films. Cast * Frank Welker as Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth/Fangface * Susan Blu as Kim * Bart Braverman as Pugsy * Jerry Dexter as Biff Additional * Lewis Bailey * Ted Cassid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruby-Spears Productions
Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by veteran writers and ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. History Ruby and Spears started out as sound editors at Hanna-Barbera and later branched out into story-writing for such programs as ''Space Ghost'' and ''The Herculoids''. In 1969, they were assigned the task of developing a mystery-based cartoon series for Saturday mornings, the result of which was ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!''. They left Hanna-Barbera shortly after because "they were having a hard time moving up" and wanted to be "associate producers". They were also writers and producers for DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, particularly for ''The Barkleys'' and ''The Houndcats''.Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012).''Program 276'' (Legendary animation producers JOE ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filmways
Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production company of CBS’ “rural comedies” of the 1960s, including ''Mister Ed'', ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', ''Petticoat Junction'', and ''Green Acres'', as well as the comedy-drama ''The Trials of O'Brien'', the western ''Dundee and the Culhane'', the adventure show ''Bearcats!'', the police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', and ''The Addams Family''. Notable films the company produced include ''The Sandpiper'', ''The Cincinnati Kid'', ''The Fearless Vampire Killers'', ''Ice Station Zebra'', ''Summer Lovers'', '' The Burning'', ''King'', Brian De Palma's '' Dressed to Kill'' and ''Blow Out'', and ''Death Wish II''. Filmways acquired famous companies throughout the years, such as Heatter-Quigley Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions and American Inter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, are in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. It is the fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the American Big Three television networks. The network is sometimes referred to as the Alphabet Network, as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Houndcats
''The Houndcats'' is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes were produced. Plot Loosely based on the CBS adventure series '' Mission: Impossible'' and the short-lived 1971 series ''Bearcats!'', it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name, as they go on spy missions in 1914 America. Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving their orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other device, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of ''Mission: Impossible''. However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion. Members * The "Houndcats" were led by cool and confident cat Stutz. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Barkleys
''The Barkleys'' is an American animated television series that aired in Autumn of 1972 on NBC and was produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. Premise The cartoon – inspired by the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' – featured an anthropomorphic dog family consisting of Arnie, a bus driver (voiced by Henry Corden) and his wife Agnes (voiced by Joan Gerber). They had two teenagers, Terry and Roger (voiced by Julie McWhirter and Steve Lewis respectively) and one younger child, Chester (voiced by Gene Andrusco). The theme song's lyrics ended with the advice "Just remember Arnie Barkley's bark is worse than his bite." Doug Goodwin's theme song used part of "(Be It Ever So Humble) There's No Place Like Home". Airings The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972. NBC continued to air reruns until September 1, 1973. Only 13 episodes were produced. The series resurfaced in 2016, airing Saturday mornings on the Retro TV network. It is currently streaming d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
