Demon Dogs

Although I finally have a job interview slated for next week, amidst my recent glut of free time I’ve found my daily clock expanding to later hours which have been typically occupied by watching reruns of “Thundarr the Barbarian” on Boomerang late nights.

It’s frankly too bad that only 21 “Thundarr” episodes--which were co-conceived by Steve Gerber, and Jack Kirby among others—ever aired on ABC Saturday mornings during the early 80s; they still hold up fairly well over time despite borrowing heavily from "Star Wars" and "Planet of The Apes."

However, for some reason I keep watching the same episodes when they keep re-airing over and over – almost as if I’m looking for some detail I missed in the previous six or seven viewings.

Nevertheless, there’s just something about watching Thundarr and his pals Ariel and Ookla jumping their steeds over a 2000 year-old Volkswagen that never gets old.

If there were horses in this shot, ten bucks says Thundarr would be yelling "Ride!"
He's like that, y'know.

A bit of “Thundarr” trivia: actor Bob Ridgely (who voiced Thundarr) died of cancer in 1997 shortly after production of “Boogie Nights,” in which he played his final role – that of “The Colonel”; also, Nellie Bellflower (who voiced Ariel) has since become a successful film producer on such flicks as “Finding Neverland” and “Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.” Finally, Canadian voice actor Henry Corden (Ookla) is perhaps best-known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed quit voicing the character in the 1970s; Mr. Corden was also good friends with Hollywood legends Buster Keaton and Bela Lugosi. He died in 2005.