Monday, June 6, 2011

Shades Of Scorpius! Why Didn't I Think Of That Earlier?

I just realized right this very minute that I missed out on a golden opportunity . . . twice. I have two sons. Caleb, and Malcolm. Plenty of thought and care went into choosing the right names for them, and I'm happy to say that they're both thoroughly satisfied with the result. However. . . . I really missed out on a pretty good opportunity to name either of them Daedalus. What was I thinking? How frikkin' sweet would that have been? Have you met my son; DAEDALUS?!! Ugh! Boy the fun I coulda had!
Daedalus intent on wreckin' up Herc's day . . again!

I used to watch The Mighty Hercules every morning before school, along with Rocket Robin Hood, and of course let us never forget The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein. You had to get outta bed extra early in order to see these gems but it was so worth it. I have my official Frightenstein Fiend Club shirt and pin (thanks to Steve) and I wear them proudly. I wonder if I could get a Daedalus shirt? It wouldn't make up for missing out on naming my son but it sure would be a sweet conversation starter. 

Daedalus vs. Hercules. . who will win?!

I couldn't find clips of some of my more treasured memories from the show, like the episode where Newton falls asleep and dreams that a new centaur is hanging out with Herc. Of course the new guy is wayyyyy cooler than Newton and everyone likes him much better. His name is Notwen, and when he finally wakes up Herc & friends have a real good laugh at Newton's insecurities because of course everybody knows Notwen is just Newton spelled backwords. Ha ha ha. . . ha. . . . ha. Yeah. Herc kinda was a jerk. 

Rocket Robin Hood!

I never was much of a Robin Hood fan but anytime you strap a jet pack to a guy's back and stick the word 'rocket' in front of his name; you've created a recipe for awesomeness. The show itself was pretty horrible; and since you probably just watched a pretty pathetic clip of the intro you're likely wondering how much worse it could get. Trust me. It sucked. Tiny little vignettes were sandwiched in between the ridiculously short episodes, and they were always the same ones, recycled again and again. Somehow though. . . that damn jet pack made up for all the sins of having to watch Friar Tuck eat the same damn chicken leg every single episode. 

Of course my real reason for getting outta bed so early was always Frightenstein. This show was the very best  that tv had to offer to adolescent me. I adored everything about this show. Vincent Price, the Wolfman, Igor, Grammar Slammer Bammer, and of course the Professor single handedly gave me a love for all things science. It probably explains a lot to say that I was a loyal viewer  rabid fan (who am I kidding?), even though none of my friends watched this show. Not for any lack of proselytizing on my part about the wonders of this gem, I assure you.


Recent airings and dvd collections are sadly lacking the original skits of the Wolfman and Igor dancing in front of the psychedelic screen, licensing, music rights blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . . enjoy this youtube goodness while you can! And should you decide to procreate any time soon . . . consider Daedalus . . . no really. you might regret it later if you don't.

Man this show was the best!


6 comments:

Erikka said...

Yes yes YES!!! the Notwen episode was one of my faves too! I used to watch the Hercules/Rocket Robin Hood/ AstroBoy trio in the mornings before school on Global. Really.. all 3 sucked but were so cool!! lol

As for Hilarious House of Frightenstein.. I'm your friend.. I watched it. :P I watched it when I was little. It always made me think of summers in Nova Scotia, at my grandparents. I watched it on Saturday mornings there. They were playing it recently on one of the satalite channels but I think they stopped. :(

I think the next baby I have I'm naming The Hydra. ;)

Melissa said...

Yep Astroboy too! I mean hell. . he was a robot with rocket feet! I know you watched Frightenstein but sadly you & I didn't know each other back then lol. (Which is probably for the best, imagine the trouble we'd have caused lol) I was watching it on satellite before I moved but I really haven't seen it since.

See now you think you're being funny but if you do happen to have another baby I'm just gonna call it 'the hydra, the hydra'. Twice, ya gotta say it twice! ;P

Meandering Michael said...

BWA-ha-ha! This post had me laughing. I used to wake up and watch the coloured bars with their annoying whining sound until Hercules came on.

- Rocket Meandering Michael

Melissa said...

Isn't that just crazy? I used to wait and watch the test pattern too! With the volume turned down just enough so you could still hear that piercing tone but not wake the entire house. Back in the good old days when tv turned itself off for the night and started up again in the morning.

P.S. your cool quotient went wayyyy up with the addition of the word 'rocket' to your name. It's just that easy. ;)

timdog said...

Daedalus eh? We were thinking Sirius if it's a boy (which we both think it is). I'll make sure to recommended Daedalus though.

I just wanted to kick the centaur in Hercules in the face, even when i was little and not full of world rage. So now.... shudder. He makes me want to punch something cute and fluffy. Good thing my cat's a Persian... :)

Rocket Robin hood was indeed awesome, and yes, watching that fat man gnaw on that same leg over and over and over was surprisingly satisfying when young.

Melissa said...

Wait. . . . there was a time when you were not secretly seething with rage? LOL no. . . I'm kidding. I remember a much *less* jaded Tim. Definitely think he's still in there somewhere ;)

Daedalus may be a bit of a hard sell but if you have her considering Sirius it may be doable! Just make sure you give the little one a respectably awkward middle name to really round out the effect.