Saturday Morning Flashback, Part I

These days, one of the glorious aspects of DVD is its history of restoring TV childhood memories once thought gone forever.

In my case (and opinion), the Golden Age of Saturday Morning TV was circa the mid-70s, featuring a great blend of classic cartoons (Bugs Bunny) and live-action shows produced by Sid & Marty Krofft and Filmation.

Of these two classes of Saturday entertainment, I preferred the latter, my favorite live-action show being “Shazam” but many similar series abounded (“H.R. Pufnstuf,” “Sigmund & The Sea Monsters,” “The Kids From C.A.P.E.R”).

I also remember Joanna Cameron (AKA: Isis) being hot long before my little, pre-sexual mind understood the concept.

Uh, damn...

But I digress; if “Shazam” was at the top of my personal live-action list, “The Ghost Busters” was a close second.

Reuniting “F-Troop” stars Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker, “The Ghost Busters” focused on two goofballs, their gorilla pal Tracy (Bob Burns), and their mission to hunt down decidedly un-scary spirits (e.g. some guy in a costume) by “zapping” them into another dimension.

Naturally, as I was eight years old when “The Ghost Busters” aired on CBS, my other memories of the show are sketchy. But I do recall the same “scary castle” set being recycled on the show, no matter where the boys allegedly ended up going to hunt their supernatural quarry.

Nevertheless, as the full series (15 episodes) is being resurrected on DVD this month I’ll have plenty of time to fill in my memory gaps, and hopefully laugh in the process. But even if watching “The Ghost Busters” again after—Good God—32 years turns out to be less than wonderfully nostalgic, I still feel the return trip is worth it.