Nostalgia time!

Anyone remember a multi-culti PBS series called "Vegetable Soup"? Taking a peek at Youtube, I find that that lots of people do! Which begs the question: is there anyone interested in reissuing the show on DVD? Because "Electric Company" has gotten the DVD treatment. And yes, there is a famous name or two attached to "Vegetable Soup": Bette Midler did the voice of Woody the Spoon. Not as iconic as Morgan Freeman's "Easy Reader," but still notable.

Also notable are the opening credits. Why didn't these cartoon characters get their own animated series to themselves? They're tons trippier (and more fun to watch) than that dull stoner Shaggy.



Update: Okay, it seems I'm not the only one who remembers this show. Nick Sagan shares his memories of being creeped out by the opening credits, the aforementioned Woody the Spoon, and the marionette segments. Sagan on the cartoon rock band:

This is not warm and fuzzy kids' animation. This is psychedelic, surrealist, Yellow Submarine-inspired, "hey kiddies, don't the freaky people, like, totally trip you out?" animation. Now imagine that you're six years old and watching these demonic squiggles kick out the jams while song lyrics are practically shrieked at you in some kind of weird, jazzy gospel blasphemy: "It taaaakes... AAALLLLL KIIIIINNNNDDDSS of VEGGGETTABBLLESSS!"

Jazzy gospel blasphemy? I don't remember the theme song being that bad. In fact, it seemed pretty groovy--even if weird freaky animated people were playing it. Then again, I have a weakness for cartoon rock bands (it's a 1970s nostalgia thing, you know). I can't help myself.

Leave it to Sagan to sum up many people's feelings regarding Vegetable Soup:

Vegetable Soup scared me silly when I saw it, and yet I couldn't turn away. Why did I keep watching it? And why do I remember it fondly today, nightmarishly weird though it was?


Via Sagan, here are the weirdest kiddie shows on the air today. Eesh. You call this weird? This is nothing. I remember...I remember...oh, here comes that nostalgia trip again...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tell us something we don't already know

The MTA is clueless. Man, if you need a place to vent or learn the full story behind mass transit horror stories, check out Gothamist. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact that the MTA was urging people not to take the subways and opt for a bus instead, only for buses to be (A) few and far between and (B) crowded as anything. They forgot to mention "(C) fucking slow." Don't the people at the MTA feel really stupid when they say shit like this? MTA CEO Lee Sander said, "We really are sorry about the inconvenience that New Yorkers had to deal with. In terms of how it happened, we had three inches of rain in an hour. The system is designed to handle 1.5 inches." This isn't quite as appalling as last year's 9-day Queens blackout--you know, the one where Con Ed lied about the number of places without power--but it still in
Read more

We're the ones we've been waiting for, and all that

Via Blue Wave News , Van Jones' speech at the Campus Progress National Conference, which rang true to this cautiously optimistic liberal. More from Mr. Jones, via HuffPo: We are trying to build a pro-democracy movement in a country that, at least for eight years, was run by [inaudible] authoritarians. And it is not going to be easy. But I tell you, the most important thing I can say is... We feed the fearmongers. We feed the politics of division, by giving it so much attention and letting it fill up the space in our mind. We have to feed the hope. This country is an extraordinary -- I get choked up -- this is an incredible, beautiful country... That little idiot box off in the corner trying to depress you and make you feel like this is a horrible country and everybody believes evil things about the president... it is just not true. Cut it off, just cut it off and walk down the street and talk to real people in this country. They are sophisticated. They are wise. They don't kno
Read more