''Saturday Supercade'' is an American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on

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

. The show is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

series comprising four 11-minute segments based on different

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s, primarily those 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 release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978 led to a wave of shoo ...

. In the first season, these segments included '' Frogger'', ''

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

'', and '' Donkey Kong Jr.'', with the fourth segment rotating each week between ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in September 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is popu ...

'' and ''

Q*bert ''Q*bert'' () is a 1982 Action game, action video game developed and published by Gottlieb for Arcade video game, arcades. It is a Video game graphics, 2D action game with Puzzle video game, puzzle elements that uses Isometric video game gr ...

''. In the show's second season, the lineup of segments was revised to feature ''Q*bert'', ''Donkey Kong'', and new additions ''

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

'' and '' Space Ace''.

Segments

''Frogger''

Frogger (voiced by Bob Sarlatte) is an ace

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

of the swamp who works at ''The Swamp Gazette''. He and his friends Shellshock "Shelly"

Turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

(voiced by

Marvin Kaplan Marvin Wilbur Kaplan (January 24, 1927 – August 25, 2016) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter who was best known as Henry Beesmeyer in ''Alice'' (1978–1985). Early years Kaplan was born on January 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New Y ...

) and Fanny

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

(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 An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

Tex Toadwalker (voiced by Ted Field Sr.). As in the game, he often has an encounter with an

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

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

Episodes

''Donkey Kong''

(voiced by Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus. He is on the loose and

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

(voiced by

Peter Cullen Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''The Transformers (TV series), Transformers'' animated series, later returning to the role in ''Transformers'' media in 2007, sta ...

) and Pauline (voiced by Judy Strangis) 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 (1983)

=Season 2 (1984)

''Pitfall!''

Pitfall Harry (voiced by Robert Ridgely), his niece Rhonda (voiced by Noelle North), and their cowardly pet Quickclaw the

Mountain Lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(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

(voiced by Billy Bowles), his girlfriend Q*Tee (voiced by Robbie Lee), his brother Q*Bit (voiced by Dick Beals), and his friends Q*Ball (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

), 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). As with the

, 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

=Season 1 (1983)

=Season 2 (1984)

''Donkey Kong Junior''

Donkey Kong Jr. (voiced by

) is searching for his father

, who has run away from a circus where

is its ringmaster. He befriends a greaser nicknamed "Bones" (voiced by Bart Braverman) 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

''Kangaroo''

Joey

(voiced by David Mendenhall), his mother "K.O." Katy Kangaroo (voiced by Mea Martineau), and Sidney

Squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

(voiced by

) must stop the Monkeybiz Gang members Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Fred (all four voiced by

Pat Fraley Pat Fraley 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 television series and voiced Falcon in ...

and Frank Welker), four meddlesome

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

s who are known from making trouble at the local zoo run by the

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

Mr. Friendly (voiced by Arthur Burghardt). 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''

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) after being hit by the Infanto-Ray, he becomes clumsy and weak. With officer Kimberly (voiced by

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress, best known as the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on ''The Simpsons'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award f ...

), he works for Space Marshall Vaughn (voiced by Peter Renaday) to keep the peace in the universe. They fight the evil alien commander Borf (voiced by Arthur Burghardt) 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 (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

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

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

Episodes

Cast

* Soupy Sales — Donkey Kong * Dick Beals — Q*Bit * Billy Bowles — Q*bert * Bart Braverman — Bones * Arthur Burghardt — Borf, Mr. Friendly *

— Kimberly *

— Mario * Ted Field Sr. — Tex *

— Bingo *

— Shellshock "Shelly" Turtle, Sidney Squirrel * Robbie Lee — Q*Tee, Q*Val * Sparky Marcus — Dexter * Kenneth Mars — Quickclaw the Mountain Lion * Mea Martineau — "K.O." Katy Kangaroo * Julie McWhirter — Q*bertha, Q*Mom, Viper * David Mendenhall — Joey Kangaroo * Noelle North — Rhonda * Jim Piper — Space Ace * Peter Renaday — Space Marshall Vaughn, Legrin * Robert Ridgely — Pitfall Harry * Bob Sarlatte — Frogger * Judy Strangis — 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 * Alan Dinehart *

Walker Edmiston Walker Robert Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American actor and puppeteer. Early years Walker Edmiston was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 6, 1926, to William Sherman Edmiston (1894–1976) and Anna Edmiston ( ...

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 *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

* Linda Gary * Kelly Glen * Joe Higgins * Bob Holt * David Landsberg * Lucy Lee * Shawn Lieber *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

* Tysun McMullen * Shepard Menken * Nancy Merwan *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

* Tim Rooney *

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, ...

* Avery Schreiber * Hal Smith * Steve J. Spears * John Stephenson * Russi Taylor * Herb Vigran * Janet Waldo *

Alan Young Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British-born actor. Young is best known for portraying Wilbur Post in the television comedy '' Mister Ed'' (1961–1966) and voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over ...

* Cameron Young

Rebroadcast and home video

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

and

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

. The series has become considered partially lost 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 int ...

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 2024, no further information has been released. In November 2015,

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

released ''The Best of Q*Bert'' on DVD in Region 1. 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.'The Best Of' the Cartoons from the CBS 'Saturday Supercade'

References

External links

* *
''Saturday Supercade'' podcast
at The Retroist {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s 1980s American animated comedy television series 1980s American anthology television series 1980s American children's comedy television series 1983 American animated television series debuts 1984 American television series endings American children's animated anthology television series American children's animated comedy television series Animated series based on Mario Animated series based on video games American English-language television shows Frogger Pitfall (series) Q*bert Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series by Sony Pictures Television Works based on Activision video games Works based on Konami video games CBS animated television series