Forum > Blogs > Wolf Rock TV has been found!! (This probably doesn't mean anything to you, but it's cool)
Wolf Rock TV has been found!! (This probably doesn't mean anything to you, but it's cool)
Never seen this one before.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons and playing Atari during the commercials or shows I didn't like. Ah, the early 80s.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons and playing Atari during the commercials or shows I didn't like. Ah, the early 80s.
Yeah, I would have been more surprised if you had seen this. Like I said it was only on for a month or so before they pulled the plug on it. And apparently it was running against Dungeons and Dragons, which was a much better cartoon.
I think I remember watching one episode, but it definitely did not pull me in.
I think I remember watching one episode, but it definitely did not pull me in.
robio said:
I don't know all the details, but a recent discovery of some lost media was just made. Back in 1984 when MTV was the hottest thing in the world, a few Saturday morning cartoons tried to ride the music video wave. One of them was a show called Wolf Rock TV that featured the voice and likeness of noted DJ Wolfman Jack. The cartoon was unfortunately not terribly good and after only about four episodes it was pulled from ABC's Saturday morning lineup.
Over the years pretty much every cartoon that showed up on Saturday mornings has found its way either on to official DVD releases, reairings on Boomerang for other classic TV channels, or onto YouTube via some VHS recordings. Maybe not every episode has made it, and some of the quality is often questionable due to the age and transferring process from vhs, but almost everything's out there. But there has been one very notable exception, Wolfman Rock TV.
Due to a lot of licensing issues with all the popular music and videos that made their way onto the show, and official release seemed very unlikely. But there was also some questions if anyone even knew where those Master recordings were. Only six episodes were made, and as I said before, only four of them ever made it to tv. The only real evidence that the show existed were some ads, and a really bad audio recording of the intro.
Then yesterday out of nowhere someone released the first episode and put it up on youtube. The quality is outstanding, even if the animation is not, so one way or another it looks like somebody finally found one of the master recordings. Anyway, this is a really amazing day for anyone who's interested in Lost media or Saturday morning cartoons. Without exaggeration, for this little subniche, this is almost finding the holy grail. There's only one cartoon that's considered even more unlikely to be found, the cartoon called the Young astronauts, and that got pulled before it even aired due to concerns over kids being affected by the Challenger explosion.
Anyway, I can't really recommend anyone watch this for anything other than curiosity or, I don't know, 80s cultural education. It truly was a bad cartoon. But all the same I'm happy they finally found it again.
Thanks. It seems familiar, but I may be misremembering Wolfman Jack's participation in some other Saturday morning cartoon. I remember the time as a kid when I finally realized that just because a show was animated did not mean it had to be watched. It was either Meatballs and Spaghetti or Baggy Pants and the Nitwits. (Utter garbage). The Atlantic's review of Metballs and Spaghetti, "The show was not well received, with a Variety review saying, "No try at music here, or even much comedy either. It's without any socially redeeming value."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baggy_Pants_and_the_Nitwits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YGfFeq97M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatballs_%26_Spaghetti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClesJ55Y__U
Edited: Wed, 27 Sep 2023 22:07:05
Wolfman Jack didn't appear in any other cartoons that I recall, but he was the narrator for the Happy Days cartoon - Fonzie and the Happy Days Gang. That was always an interesting concept. Fonzie, Richie, and Ralph ran into a time traveling woman in a spaceship, and somehow broke the ship. So they were constantly being thrown into different eras. One time they went to the future, and Fonzie seduced a female robot. Anyway, I'm pretty sure once Wolfman realized how lucky he was to be a part of such a special program, he naturally wanted one of his own.
And I totally remember Meatballs and Spaghetti. I even remembered that the third guy in the band was named Clyde. I liked it back then, but a while ago I was tracking an episode of it down for a cartoon panel I was doing at a convention. That show was truly hot garbage.
And I totally remember Meatballs and Spaghetti. I even remembered that the third guy in the band was named Clyde. I liked it back then, but a while ago I was tracking an episode of it down for a cartoon panel I was doing at a convention. That show was truly hot garbage.
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I don't know all the details, but a recent discovery of some lost media was just made. Back in 1984 when MTV was the hottest thing in the world, a few Saturday morning cartoons tried to ride the music video wave. One of them was a show called Wolf Rock TV that featured the voice and likeness of noted DJ Wolfman Jack. The cartoon was unfortunately not terribly good and after only about four episodes it was pulled from ABC's Saturday morning lineup.
Over the years pretty much every cartoon that showed up on Saturday mornings has found its way either on to official DVD releases, reairings on Boomerang for other classic TV channels, or onto YouTube via some VHS recordings. Maybe not every episode has made it, and some of the quality is often questionable due to the age and transferring process from vhs, but almost everything's out there. But there has been one very notable exception, Wolfman Rock TV.
Due to a lot of licensing issues with all the popular music and videos that made their way onto the show, and official release seemed very unlikely. But there was also some questions if anyone even knew where those Master recordings were. Only six episodes were made, and as I said before, only four of them ever made it to tv. The only real evidence that the show existed were some ads, and a really bad audio recording of the intro.
Then yesterday out of nowhere someone released the first episode and put it up on youtube. The quality is outstanding, even if the animation is not, so one way or another it looks like somebody finally found one of the master recordings. Anyway, this is a really amazing day for anyone who's interested in Lost media or Saturday morning cartoons. Without exaggeration, for this little subniche, this is almost finding the holy grail. There's only one cartoon that's considered even more unlikely to be found, the cartoon called the Young astronauts, and that got pulled before it even aired due to concerns over kids being affected by the Challenger explosion.
Anyway, I can't really recommend anyone watch this for anything other than curiosity or, I don't know, 80s cultural education. It truly was a bad cartoon. But all the same I'm happy they finally found it again.