Uncle Croc's Block
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| Uncle Croc's Block | |
|---|---|
 Intertitle from Uncle Croc's Block. |
|
| Format | live-action series/animated cartoon |
| Starring | Charles Nelson Reilly as Uncle Croc |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 1:00 (per episode; later 0:30) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 6, 1975 – February 14, 1976 |
Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation Associates. The series parodied other children's series, and was meant to capitalize on NBC's Saturday Night Live, with Charles Nelson Reilly playing the disgruntled titular part, who hated his job as a children's show host (it has been said that Reilly himself was equally dissatisfied with the character).[who?] Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr. Rabbit Ears and Jonathan Harris as the show's director Basil Bitterbottom. Centered around skits were Uncle Croc and a wide variety of parodied characters such as Captain Klangeroo, Bogey Bear, and Steve Exhaustion, The $6.95 Man.
Between these live-action segments were three cartoon shorts: M-U-S-H (Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes), an obvious tongue-in-cheek canine lampoon of M*A*S*H; Fraidy Cat a cat down to his last (of 9, of course!) life; and Wacky and Packy, a prehistoric man and his pet pachyderm trapped in modern times.
[edit] Broadcast History
The series premiered @ 10:30 (Eastern), Saturday Morning, September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, Uncle Croc's Block was plastered in network competition with the second half of The Shazam!/Isis Hour (ironically another Filmation property) and Far Out Space Nuts on CBS. The series was cut in half for a 30-minute format, then scrapped on St. Valentine's Day, 1976 after half a season on the air; as a consequence, The ABC Television Network had all but severed ties with Filmation Associates. In an attempt to attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated Groovie Goolies episodes as a new segment, redubbed the Super Fiends (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera's Superfriends), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The popularity of the Goolies and its more striking style might well have helped the sagging ratings.[citation needed] The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, The Groovie Goolies and Friends, and would also resurface in the home video market in the 1980s.
