Mesozoic Mind - MesozoicMind.com
Four Vietnam veterans framed for a crime they didn’t commit work as soldiers of fortune, building improbable weapons out of whatever they find, usually with very few people getting hurt.
Hannibal: I love it when a plan comes together.
- Starring: George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz
- Fun fact: Mr. T’s B.A. Baracus refused to fly, so the team kept having to knock him out to get him on a plane.
An Alien Life Form from the planet Melmac crash-lands into the Tanner family’s garage in the suburbs, and moves in, with a big appetite for cats.
ALF: HA! I kill me!
- Created by: Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett
- Fun fact: ALF was a puppet operated by co-creator Paul Fusco, who also did the voice.
Alvin, Simon and Theodore try to balance rock-star fame with school and home life, with their long-suffering adoptive dad Dave Seville keeping them in line.
Dave: ALVINNN!
- Produced by: Bagdasarian Productions
- Fun fact: The Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor) joined the show in its first season.
A young boy named Sebastian and his giant Pyrenean mountain dog, Belle, travel across Europe searching for Sebastian’s mother.
- Studio: Nippon Animation (Japan, 1981)
- Fun fact: The anime was based on a French novel by Cécile Aubry, which had already been a 1960s French TV series.
Half-hour animated adaptations of popular children’s books, introduced by a host who encouraged kids to go read the original.
- Hosted by: Bob Keeshan, TV’s Captain Kangaroo
Teenager Kevin Keene gets pulled through his TV into Videoland, where he teams up with Nintendo heroes like Mega Man, Simon Belmont and Kid Icarus to fight Mother Brain.
- Studio: DIC Entertainment
- Fun fact: Mother Brain, the villain, came straight out of Nintendo’s Metroid.
Life with the Huxtable family of Brooklyn: obstetrician Cliff, lawyer Clair and their five kids.
- Fun fact: It was the #1 show in America for five straight seasons in the late ’80s.
California kids hatch a friendly, guitar-playing, skateboarding dinosaur from an egg found at the La Brea Tar Pits.
- Studio: World Events Productions
- Fun fact: Watch the opening on our Dinosaurs in Television page.
The heroic Valorians and evil Rulons battle on prehistoric Earth, riding dinosaurs strapped with armor and laser weapons.
- Studio: Marvel Productions (toys by Tyco)
- Fun fact: Watch the opening on our Dinosaurs in Television page.
A 16-year-old genius is already a licensed doctor, juggling hospital shifts with being a teenager. Every episode ends with him typing in his computer diary.
- Starring: Neil Patrick Harris
- Created by: Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley
Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world, goes treasure hunting around the globe with his grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.
- Studio: Walt Disney Television Animation
- Fun fact: Its success launched Disney’s whole afternoon cartoon lineup, the Disney Afternoon.
The lasagna-loving cat (and Odie and Jon) shared each episode with U.S. Acres, a farm full of animal characters from Jim Davis’s other comic strip.
Garfield: I hate Mondays.
- Voice of Garfield: Lorenzo Music
A clan of medieval bears rediscovers its ancient history, and the secret of Gummiberry Juice, which lets them bounce around like rubber balls.
- Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation
- Fun fact: It premiered on the same day as The Wuzzles in 1985; the two were Disney’s first big made-for-TV cartoons.
Prince Adam raises the Power Sword to become He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, and defends Castle Grayskull from Skeletor.
Prince Adam: By the power of Grayskull!
- Studio: Filmation (toys by Mattel)
- Fun fact: Each episode ended with a short moral lesson for viewers.
Matt Trakker leads the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, whose cars and trucks transform into combat vehicles, against the villains of V.E.N.O.M.
- Studio: DIC Entertainment (toys by Kenner)
Secret agent Angus MacGyver refuses to carry a gun, and instead escapes from every jam with a Swiss Army knife, duct tape and whatever’s lying around.
- Starring: Richard Dean Anderson
- Fun fact: The show made “MacGyver” a verb for improvising a fix out of everyday objects.
A very proper English butler takes a job with a chaotic suburban Pittsburgh family, and records his thoughts on them in his journal.
- Starring: Christopher Hewett
- Fun fact: The character first appeared in a 1947 novel, then in movies starring Clifton Webb.
Kermit the Frog tries to keep a vaudeville-style variety show running, with a celebrity guest every week and Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and the Great Gonzo causing trouble.
- Created by: Jim Henson
- Fun fact: The show was taped in England, at ATV’s studios near London.
Chicago’s Larry Appleton gets a surprise roommate when his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous arrives from the Mediterranean island of Mypos.
Balki: Don’t be ridiculous!
- Starring: Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker
- Fun fact: Balki and Larry celebrated good news with the Dance of Joy. The show also spun off Family Matters.
Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston keep catching ghosts after the hit movie, with Slimer now living at the firehouse.
- Studio: DIC Entertainment
- Fun fact: “Real” was added because another cartoon called Ghostbusters, from Filmation, came out at the same time.
Little blue creatures live in mushroom houses in the forest, led by Papa Smurf and always one step ahead of the wizard Gargamel and his cat, Azrael.
- Studio: Hanna-Barbera
- Created by: Peyo (Belgian comics)
Undersea creatures with snorkels on their heads live in the city of Snorkland.
- Studio: Hanna-Barbera
- Fun fact: Snorks used their snorkels to zoom through the water like jets.
Live-action segments with Mario and Luigi in their Brooklyn plumbing shop wrapped around cartoons based on the Nintendo games.
Mario: Do the Mario!
- Starring: Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells
- Studio: DIC Entertainment
Cat-like survivors of the planet Thundera land on Third Earth, where young Lion-O wields the Sword of Omens against the evil mummy Mumm-Ra.
Lion-O: Thunder, Thunder, ThunderCats, HO!
- Studio: Rankin/Bass
Heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons, robots from the planet Cybertron that disguise themselves as vehicles, continue their war on Earth.
Optimus Prime: Autobots, transform and roll out!
- Voice of Optimus Prime: Peter Cullen
- Fun fact: The story continued in the 1986 animated movie, which is on our Movies page.
Five pilots fly robot lions that combine into Voltron, Defender of the Universe, to fight the evil King Zarkon.
Keith: Form feet and legs! Form arms and body! And I’ll form the head!
- Studio: World Events Productions (also behind Denver)
- Fun fact: The U.S. show was adapted from the Japanese anime Beast King GoLion.
Retired football star George Papadapolis and his new wife Katherine take in Webster, the young son of George’s late teammate.
- Starring: Emmanuel Lewis, Alex Karras and Susan Clark
Grown-up Kevin Arnold narrates his memories of growing up in the suburbs in the late 1960s and early ’70s, with best friend Paul and first love Winnie.
- Starring: Fred Savage
- Fun fact: Fred Savage is the same kid from Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time, the video that featured “Mesozoic Mind.”
Creatures that are half one animal and half another, like Bumblelion and Hoppopotamus, live on the Isle of Wuz.
- Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation
- Fun fact: It premiered the same day as the Gummi Bears, but only lasted one season.