''Saturday Supercade'' is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eithe ...

produced for Saturday mornings by

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 vet ...

. It ran for two seasons on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Premise

Each episode is composed of several shorter segments featuring video game characters from the

golden age of arcade video games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of '' Space Invaders'' in 1978 ...

. The segments included: * Frogger (from the ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous river ...

'' arcade game) * Donkey Kong with Mario and Pauline (from the '' Donkey Kong'' arcade game) * Donkey Kong Jr. (from the ''

Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade platform game that was released by Nintendo. It is the sequel to ''Donkey Kong'', but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor: Mario (previously named "Jumpman") is now the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. is trying t ...

'' 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. segments were replaced by shorts featuring: * Kangaroo with friends and the "Monkey Business Gang" (from the '' Kangaroo'' arcade game). * Space Ace with Space Ace/Dexter (depending on his form), Kimberly, and Borf (from the ''

Space Ace ''Space Ace'' is a LaserDisc video game produced by Bluth Group, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems (later renamed RDI Video Systems). It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the ''Dragon's Lair'' game, followed by ...

'' arcade game).

Segments

Frogger

(voiced by

Bob Sarlatte Bob Sarlatte is an American actor, comedian and sports announcer known for such films and television series as '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''EDtv'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman''. Sarlatte was also the on-field stadium announcer ...

) is an ace reporter of the swamp who works at ''The Swamp Gazette''. He and his friends Shellshock "Shelly" Turtle (voiced by Marvin Kaplan) and Fanny

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

(voiced by B.J. Ward) go out in search of crazy stories (sometimes about human behavior) to publish in the newspaper. Frogger also has to deal with his gruff boss and editor-in-chief Tex Toadwalker (voiced by Ted Field, Sr.). As in the game, he often has an encounter with an

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...

or gets flattened by a passing car. Unlike the game, Shelly revives Frogger using an ordinary air pump.

Episodes

# "The Ms. Fortune Story" (September 17, 1983) - # "Spaced Out Frogs" (September 24, 1983) - # "The Who Took Toadwalker Story" (October 1, 1983) - # "Hydrofoil and Go Seek" (October 8, 1983) - # "The Great Scuba Scoop" (October 15, 1983) - # "The Headline Hunters" (October 22, 1983) - # "The Legs Croaker Story" (October 29, 1983) - # "The Blackboard Bungle" (November 5, 1983) - # "Good Knight, Frogger" (November 12, 1983) - # "Fake Me Out at the Ballgame" (November 19, 1983) - # "I Remember Mummy" (November 26, 1983) - # "Here Today, Pawned Tomorrow" (December 3, 1983) - # "Hop-Along Frogger" (December 10, 1983) -

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (voiced by Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus. He is on the lam and Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Pauline (voiced by

Judy Strangis Judy Ann Strangis (born December 23, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in two ABC television series ''Room 222'' (1969–1974) and ''Electra Woman and Dyna Girl'' (1976–1977). __TOC__ Early years Strangis is a nat ...

) are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline and Mario has to save her. Plots typically centered on them encountering crime with the villains conning the slow-witted Donkey Kong into doing their work and Mario and Pauline exposing the truth. After Mario and Pauline reveal the truth to Donkey Kong, the three of them team up to stop the antagonists' plans followed by Donkey Kong evading Mario and Pauline again.

Episodes

=Season 1

=Season 2

Pitfall!

Pitfall Harry (voiced by Robert Ridgely), his niece Rhonda (voiced by Noelle North), and their cowardly pet Quickclaw the Mountain Lion (voiced by Kenneth Mars) explore jungles for hidden treasures, having many different adventures along the way. Quickclaw and Rhonda later appeared in '' Pitfall II: Lost Caverns'' and '' Super Pitfall''.

Episodes

Q*bert

In a 1950s-inspired world set in the town of Q*Berg, a teenage fur-covered creature named Q*bert (voiced by Billy Bowles), his girlfriend Q*Tee (voiced by Robbie Lee), his brother Q*Bit (voiced by

Dick Beals Richard Beals (March 16, 1927 – May 29, 2012) was an American actor, who performed many voices in his career, which spanned the period from the early 1950s into the 21st century. Beals voiced both male and female children. Perhaps his most reco ...

), and his friends Q*Ball (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

), Q*Val (voiced by Robbie Lee), and Q*Mongus (voiced by Frank Welker) must deal with the resident bullies Coily, Ugg and Wrongway (all three voiced by Frank Welker), and Coily's girlfriend Viper (voiced by

Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter, also known as Julie Dees and Julie McWhirter-Dees (born October 12, 1947), is a retired American voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Jeannie in the animated version of '' Jeannie'', Bubbles in ''Jabberjaw' ...

). As with the video game, the segment features "block-hopping" scenes, "swearing" bubbles, and occasional flying discs from the original game. New to the cartoon was Q*bert's use of "slippy-doos", a black ball projectile which he loaded and fired through his nose, producing an oil slick wherever the balls splattered. Slick and Sam (both voiced by Frank Welker) are also featured.

Episodes

# "Disc Derby Fiasco" (October 1, 1983) - # "The Great Q-Tee Contest" (October 15, 1983) - # "Q-Bowl Rigamarole" (October 29, 1983) - # "Crazy Camp Creature" (November 12, 1983) - # "Thanksgiving for the Memories" (November 26, 1983) - # "Dog Day Dilemma" (December 10, 1983) - # "Take Me Out to the Q-Game" (September 8, 1984) - # "Noser, P.I." (September 15, 1984) - # "Hook, Line & Mermaid" (September 22, 1984) - # "Q-Historic Daze" (September 29, 1984) - # "Q-bert's Monster Mix-Up" (October 6, 1984) - # "Game Shoe Woe" (October 13, 1984) - # "The Wacky Q-Bot" (October 20, 1984) - # "Q-Beat It" (October 27, 1984) - # "Q-Urf's Up!" (November 3, 1984) - # "Little Green Nosers" (November 10, 1984) - # "Rebel Without a Q-Ause" (November 17, 1984) - # "Looking For Miss Q-Right" (November 24, 1984) - # "The Goofy Ghostgetters" (December 1, 1984) -

Donkey Kong Junior

(voiced by

) is sad to find that his father has run away from Mario and the circus. He befriends a greaser nicknamed "Bones" (voiced by

Bart Braverman Bartley Louis Braverman (born February 1, 1946, Los Angeles) is an American actor, best known as "Binzer" during the entire run of the ABC prime time series ''Vega$'' (1978–1981). Braverman has also guest starred on many television shows. Earl ...

) who has a motorcycle and offers to help Junior by finding his dad together. Donkey Kong Jr's catchphrase is "Monkey muscle!", which he tells to himself and Bones to inspire self-confidence. Bones often serves as the voice of reason when Donkey Kong Jr. bites off more than he can chew.

Episodes

# "Trucknapper Caper" (September 17, 1983) - # "Sheep Rustle Hustle" (September 24, 1983) - # "Rocky Mountain Monkey Business" (October 1, 1983) - # "Magnificent Seven-Year Olds" (October 8, 1983) - # "The Ventriloquist Caper" (October 15, 1983) - # "The Great Seal Steal" (October 22, 1983) - # "The Jungle Boy Ploy" (October 29, 1983) - # "Junior Meets Kid Dynamo" (November 5, 1983) - # "The Amazing Rollerskate Race" (November 12, 1983) - # "A Christmas Story" (November 19, 1983) - # "Gorilla Ghost" (November 26, 1983) - # "The Teddy Bear Scare" (December 3, 1983) - # "Double or Nothing" (December 10, 1983) -

Kangaroo

Joey Kangaroo (voiced by

David Mendenhall David Athen Mendenhall (born June 13, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Space Raiders'', '' Over the Top'', '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and '' They Still Call Me Bruce''. Early life and acting caree ...

), his mother "K.O." Katy Kangaroo (voiced by Mea Martineau), and Sidney Squirrel (voiced by Marvin Kaplan) must stop the Monkeybiz Gang members Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Fred (all four voiced by

Pat Fraley Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tel ...

and Frank Welker), four meddlesome monkeys who are known from making trouble at the local zoo run by the zookeeper Mr. Friendly (voiced by

Arthur Burghardt Arthur Burghardt (born August 29, 1947) is an American retired actor, best known for portraying Jack Scott on the soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In animation, he's known for lending his deep bass voice as Devastator in '' The Transformers'', D ...

). The Monkeybiz Gang would cause trouble by trying to escape from the zoo and Katy would have to help keep them in line.

Episodes

Space Ace

(voiced by Jim Piper) is the always smiling self-confident champion of the "Space Command", whereas when always "wimping out" to Dexter (voiced by

Sparky Marcus Sparky Marcus (born Marcus Issoglio; December 6, 1967) is an American former actor. Early life Marcus was born in Hollywood, California. Career Marcus was well known for playing the role of the precocious child but also worked extensively as a ...

) after being hit by the Infanto-Ray, he becomes clumsy and weak. With officer Kimberly (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), he works for Space Marshall Vaughn (voiced by

Peter Renaday Peter Renaday is an American actor. His career spans several films and television shows. His major roles include Master Splinter in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', as well as Abraham Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents, and Henry in Coun ...

) to keep the peace in the universe. They fight the evil alien commander Borf (voiced by

) and keep him from invading Earth. Ace and Kim try to keep his 'wimping' situation secret and pretend that Dexter is Kim's little brother to Vaughn. Again, as with Donkey Kong, Ruby-Spears took artistic license; in the video game, Dexter had certain chances to revert to Ace, his full-grown self, whereas in the cartoon the Ace/Dexter phases seemed to happen on their own and often at inconvenient times for the hero. It was aired late night on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

in the late 1990s, and segments have been shown between programs on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

Episodes

# "Cute Groots" (September 8, 1984) - # "Cosmic Camp Catastrophe" (September 15, 1984) - # "Dangerous Decoy" (September 22, 1984) - # "Moon Missile Madness" (September 29, 1984) - # "Perilous Partners" (October 6, 1984) - # "Frozen in Fear" (October 13, 1984) - # "Age Ray Riot" (October 20, 1984) - # "Wanted: Dexter!" (October 27, 1984) - # "The Phantom Shuttle" (November 3, 1984) - # "Spoiled Sports" (November 10, 1984) - # "Calamity Kimmie" (November 17, 1984) - # "Three Ring Rampage" (November 24, 1984) - # "Infanto Fury" (December 1, 1984) -

Cast

* Soupy Sales - Donkey Kong *

- Q*Bit * Billy Bowles - Q*bert *

- Bones *

- Borf, Mr. Friendly * Nancy Cartwright - Kimberly * Peter Cullen - Mario * Ted Field, Sr. - Tex *

- Bingo * Marvin Kaplan - Shellshock "Shelly" Turtle, Sidney Squirrel * Robbie Lee - Q*Tee, Q*Val *

- Dexter * Kenneth Mars - Quickclaw the Mountain Lion * Mea Martineau - "K.O." Katy Kangaroo *

- Q*bertha, Q*Mom, Viper *

- Joey Kangaroo * Noelle North - Rhonda * Jim Piper - Space Ace *

- Space Marshall Vaughn, Legrin * Robert Ridgely - Pitfall Harry *

- Frogger *

- Pauline * B.J. Ward - Fanny Frog *

- Bango, Bongo, Donkey Kong Jr., Coily, Fred, Q*Ball, Q*Dad, Q*Mongus, Sam, Slick, Ugg, Wrongway

Additional voices

* Michael Bell *

Jack DeLeon Jack DeLeon (December 19, 1924 – October 16, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for portraying Marty Morrison from 1975 to 1982 on the television detective sitcom ''Barney Miller'', in a total of eight episodes. His character was p ...

* Alan Dinehart - Mac *

Walker Edmiston Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American radio, television and voice actor. Early years Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years. He later stud ...

Marshall Efron Marshall Efron (February 3, 1938 – September 30, 2019) was an American actor and humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television sho ...

* Al Fann * Teddy S. Field III *

Takayo Fischer Takayo Fischer (née Tsubouchi; born November 25, 1932) is an American stage, film and television actress, as well as voice-over actress. Personal life Fischer was born in Hardwick, California, the youngest of four daughters of ''Issei'' (Japane ...

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney ...

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

* Kelly Glen * Joe Higgins * Bob Holt *

David Landsberg David Landsberg (September 3, 1944 – August 5, 2018) was an American actor, writer, and producer. He was sometimes credited as Dave Landsburg. He both acted in and co-wrote several comedies throughout the 1980s. Early life David Landsberg was bo ...

* Lucy Lee * Shawn Lieber * Tress MacNeille * Tysun McMullen *

Shepard Menken Shepard Menken (November 2, 1921 – January 2, 1999) was an American film, television, voice, radio character actor. Early life Menken began his career at the age of 11, when he started appearing on children's radio programs. After high school, ...

* Nancy Merwan * Don Messick - Q*Dactyl (in "Q*Historic Days") *

Tim Rooney Timothy Hayes Yule (January 4, 1947 – September 23, 2006), better known as Tim Rooney, was an American actor. Rooney was the second son of actor and comedian Mickey Rooney. Later in his life, Rooney suffered from a rare muscle disease known as ...

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, Ka ...

Avery Schreiber Avery Lawrence Schreiber (April 9, 1935 – January 7, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. He was a veteran of stage, television, and movies who came to prominence in the 1960s in a comedy duo with Jack Burns. He acted in an array of roles ...

* Hal Smith * Steve J. Spears * John Stephenson *

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...

* Herb Vigran *

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' ...

Alan Young Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British, Canadian and American actor, comedian, radio host and television host, whom ''TV Guide'' called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". His notable roles includ ...

* Cameron Young

Rebroadcast and home video

The ''

'' segments from the show occasionally appeared as filler in between shows on

and Toonami. The series has become considered partially

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

in recent years due to a lack of rereleases and rebroadcast. In 2010,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...

announced via their Facebook page that ''Saturday Supercade'' would be released through their made-on-demand DVD program, but some segments may be cut due to rights issues. As of 2022, no further information has been released. In November 2015, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released ''The Best of Q*Bert'' on DVD in Region 1.'The Best Of' the Cartoons from the CBS 'Saturday Supercade'
The two-disc collection features 17 of the 19 episodes of the series. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively in the US via Amazon.com and their CreateSpace MOD program.

References

External links

* *
''Saturday Supercade'' podcast
at The Retroist {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s 1980s American animated television series 1980s American anthology television series 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings American children's animated anthology television series Animated series based on video games English-language television shows CBS original programming Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series by Sony Pictures Television