Groovie Goolies

I have never met anyone who remembers this show. Don't know if it was only show certain places, or if the people I meet just didn't watch it. Whatever the case, I so wish I could find copies of it. I still remember the skeleton playing the xylophone w/his bones and them chasing each other through the house and the way cool music! Frankie and Wolfie, oh, I just loved them all!!!!

I find myself sometimes singing some of the songs (Chickaboom) and actually picturing the silly characters. I wonder if it was a West Coast/Southwest thing. Living in Northern Texas and everyone looks at me like I'm a nut when I talk about the show.

Cartoon Network, hear my calls and find this wonderful show and put it on!!

The DVD is out! It's about time! Every show plus extras! This is the best Halloween gift ever! Here's a list of the extras from Amazon.com. Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Commentary by: Creators and experts (two episodes)Dolby Digital 2.0 16 episodes on three discs Sing-along: "Goolie Get Together" Candid story from producer Lou Scheimer about The Creation of Filmation Liner notes by TV writer/producer Shawn Sheridan DVD-ROM extras: Scripts and the original series bible for The Kookie Spookies A brand-new 45-minute "docu-comedy" featuring interviews with Alice Cooper, Forrest J. Ackerman, Ron Chaney, and more Music video with the punk band Groovie Ghoulies Image galleries Well what are you waiting for?!?! Go get it already!

This show will always be one of my favorites. The thing I liked about this show was that it mainly played like a kids version of Laugh-In, especially the "Weird Window Time" segment. The main thing that made this show great were the novelty tunes that Frankie, Wolfie and Drac played, especially the novelty classic "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes Love It). Too bad this show isn't shown in reruns anymore so that a lot of younger kids could be exposed to this cult classic.

I thought I was one of the few folks on this earth that remembered this cartoon show! I don't feel as daft anymore! I remember waking up in time to watch it on Saturday mornings, then it was moved to Sunday mornings. I wish they would bring these good shows back. Seems like todays shows lack the imagination that it took to create shows like this one. I realize that a lot of the original people that created the voices of a lot of these beloved characters have passed on, and will be greatly missed. I wished I could go back in time to record these shows for todays youths to see, and also to look at when I am sad and need to be reminded of a better time.

You remember the Grovie Goolies from the early 1970's don't you? They were a variation on Rowin and Martin's Laugh-In but with monster characters instead of a vast array of comedians. The show took place at Horrible Hall, a kind of hotel/boarding house for monsters. The three main characters were leader Drac, stupid but lovable Frankie, and hippie werewolf Wolfie. Other characters were witch Hagatha, the Mortica Addams-like Bella, Mummy, the two headed Dr. Jeckle and Hyde (with one head being Jeckle and the other Hyde), skeleton Boneapart, Ghoulahand (a giant hand), flesh eating plant Orvile, as well as three brats named Ratso, Batso,and Hauntleroy. Ratso and Batso were always causing trouble for the other residents and were always getting caught and punished, except for the times when the whiny tattletale Hauntelroy was involved and who got it instead.

Each episode had two songs sung by such bands as the Mummies and the Puppies (with Mummy Cass - get it? - playing bongos), The Rolling Headstones, and the main characters own band with Drac on keyboards, Wofie on guitars, and Frankie on drums and percussion. All the songs had a definite 60's bubblegum feel (still prevalent sounding today)with all the lyrics having to do with monsters. Some of the songs, such as Cling Clang, Darkness, and Chick-A-Boom (a song that actually made it into the Billboard Top 40 by one of the shows songwriters who went under the name Daddy Dewdrop!) are pretty catchy, while others such as 1,2,3 and Where Are You Going, Little Ghoul? are bland and inane sounding.

Still this show was a lot of fun to watch with the impressive voice talent behind the characters (Larry Storch as Drac, using the same voice he used for Phenneus J. Whoopee on those Tennesee Tuxedo cartoons, comedy pro Howard Morris as Frankie, Wolfie, and Mummy) and the never ending barrage of one-liners, silly jokes, and sight gags (all done to a laugh track and canned applause no less!)

The recent release on DVD by the company that obtained the rights from Filmation, Entertainment Rights (out of England), have done a fine job in bringing back all 16 episodes and digitally remastering each one. For any self-respecting member of Generation X who grew up watching this on Saturday mornings with a bowl of, well, whatever their favorite cereal was, will have a flood of great memories come back to them. This one is very much a must on your TV DVDs collection.