Freakazoid! Creators: Bruce Timm & Paul Dini Studio: Warner Bros. | USA, 1995

Action-jazz underscore, we love to hear it!!!!

“Next Door” Cosmopolitan, April 1955 Illustration by Richard Stone

Animaniacs 30th anniversary

On this day 30 years ago, Animaniacs premiered on Fox Kids and became the 2nd most popular children’s show at the time (right behind Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). After a 65-episode season one and a 4-episode season two containing leftovers of one, Animaniacs moved to The WB Network in 1995 as the flagship for the network’s children’s block, Kids WB. Running for 3 more seasons, Animaniacs ended its run on November 14th, 1998 with 99 episodes in total. In 1999, Warner Bros. released a direct-to-video film called Wakko’s Wish which served as the series finale.

To this day, whenever people bring up greatest cartoons of all time Animaniacs is always near the top of the list for me. It has some of the best comedic timing ever put on television and has a great mixture of slapstick and clever adult jokes that’s on par with the classic Looney Tunes cartoons. Now is the show flawless? No, of course not. There have been some recurring jokes and gags throughout the series that have not aged well over time (there’s quite a few fatphobic jokes and the recurring Hello Nurse jokes). Also while the Warner Siblings, Slappy Squirrel, and Pinky and the Brain segments were S-tier most of the time, the show also had its fair share of what was basically just filler for the aforementioned segments (The Hip Hippos, Katie Ka-Boom, Mindy and Buttons, etc). The Rita and Runt segments fit right in between the S-tier and filler-tier for me personally because of the musical numbers sung phenomenally by Broadway actress Bernadette Peters.

So again even though it’s not flawless (nothing is really), Animaniacs continues to be one of my favorite shows that I revisit and quote often. This along with Batman the Animated Series are arguably the most influential animated kids shows of the 90s and it continues to be enjoyed by old fans and new fans alike.

Also check out @legion1979 ‘s blog if you want to see more in-depth analysis of episodes in the series and Wakko’s Wish. They wrote these reviews around a decade ago, but they’re still nice reads.

Very belated July 28 - Alice Levin beating Richard Stone because he doesn't believe women can be harrassed at work

Alice is the only reasonable person so far but I guess they don't believe her 😐

Richard Stone and Alice Levin?

And in the second novel we have a Richard Levine? Did he marry her, took her name like the girlboss he is but kept his e?

Or is this once again a case of "everyone in jurassic park has the same name because Crichton can't think of more"?

On Christmas Eve 1942, P.I. Richard Stone throws a little party in the office he once shared with his partner Jake Marley. Marley was murdered last year, and then his ghost appears and demands that Stone solves his murder...

Max Allan Collins explains on his site that the day before Thanksgiving 1992 he was both fired from the Dick Tracy strip and had his landmark historical P.I. series Nate Heller dropped by Bantam (Heller is still going strong those days, thank you very much). A few tough weeks ensued and on Christmas Eve 1992 he wrote A Wreath for Marley, a 50 pages mash-up of The Maltese Falcon and A Christmas Carol. Richard Stone has since appeared in two other holiday-themes short stories.

Collins turned A Wreath for Marley into a movie script entitled Blue Christmas, which he eventually directed himself on a micro budget.

Fans celebrate the casting of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura as a moment for actors of color, which they should be.

But I also wanted to spotlight the casting of these iconic guest starring characters, seen in episodes of TOS.

Percy Rodriguez was cast as flag officer Commodore Stone, who was Kirk's superior in the chain of command. Stone is one of the officers that presides over Kirk's court martial.

Booker Bradshaw was the original Dr. M'Benga, seen in two episodes of TOS. at the time, M'Benga was Starfleet's first and only medical specialist in Vulcan Physiology, having spent a year's residency on Vulcan.

One of the finest minds in computer technology in the 23rd century, and creator of the duotronic computer, Dr. Richard Daystrom, was played by William Marshall, whose work in Shakespeare, and his roles as Paul Robeson and Frederick Douglass, added to the gravitas of his portrayal.

A flag officer, a specialist in Vulcan medicine, and one of the finest minds in a field of technology, played by actors of color, during the turbulent 1960s.

Currently Playing

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch REDISCOVERIES FROM THE SARA LEVY COLLECTION

Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra

Gwyn Roberts Richard Stone Emlyn Ngai

Sonata da Chiesa No. 2 in A minor, Op. 7

Sonata da Camera No. 14 in D minor, Op. 3

Sonata Da Camera No. 21 in G minor, Op. 4

Ouverture Grosso in G Major

Love how music gets to take the lead here and aside from one line at the beginning doesn't have to compete with anything. It's so fun and brassy!!

Mighty Teen Titans Poster #2

Feel dat swaggar ✨

New Teen Titans 👇

Some 1964 candids