Uncle Croc's Block

***Uncle Croc's Block*** is an hour-long live-action/animated television series. It was produced by Filmation, and broadcast on ABC in 1975–76.

## Overview

The show was a spoof of live kids' shows, with Charles Nelson Reilly playing the eponymous **Uncle Croc**, a crocodile that hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his rabbit sidekick, **Mr. Rabbit Ears**, and Jonathan Harris as **Basil Bitterbottom**, the show-within-a-show's frustrated director. A motorcycle-riding bird named **Koo Koo Knievel** (a parody of stuntman Evel Knievel) popped out of a clock to announce when it was "Star Time", and a celebrity "guest" would appear.

The series premiered at 10:30 am ET on September 6, 1975. *Uncle Croc's Block* was up against the second half of the popular *The Shazam!/Isis Hour* (another Filmation property) and *Far Out Space Nuts* on CBS. The show, which was fitted with an adult laugh track, was shortened to 30 minutes, then scrapped on February 14, 1976, after half a season on the air.

As a result of the show's poor performance, ABC president Fred Silverman severed all ties with Filmation and began commissioning its Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, with which he had a working relationship during his time at CBS. In an attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated *Groovie Goolies* episodes as a new segment, redubbed the *Super Fiends* (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera's *Super Friends*), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, *The Groovie Goolies and Friends*, and also resurfaced in the home video market in the 1980s.

## Star Time

Each episode contained a "Star Time" segment in which parodies of popular characters appeared, usually making denigrating remarks about the show and/or its staff, and demonstrating their abilities (or lack thereof). Guests included:

* **Captain Klangeroo** is a parody of Captain Kangaroo.
	+ **Mr. Mean Jeans** (played by Huntz Hall) is a parody of Mr. Greenjeans.
* **Sherlock Domes** (played by Carl Ballantine) is a parody of Sherlock Holmes.
	+ **Dr. Watkins** (played by Stanley Adams) is the sidekick of Sherlock Domes. He is a parody of Dr. Watson.
* **Witchie Goo Goo** (played by Phyllis Diller) is a witch whose prince-conjuring spell always summons a never-willing Basil to her. She is a parody of Witchiepoo from *H.R. Pufnstuf*.
* **Junie the Genie** (played by Alice Ghostley) is an allegedly teenaged genie. She is a parody of Jeannie from *I Dream of Jeannie* with a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
* **Billy Bratson** (played by Marvin Kaplan as Captain Marbles) says "Shazowie" to turn into the superhero Captain Marbles, in the same way Billy Batson transformed into Captain Marvel by saying "Shazam!".
* **Steve Exhaustion, The $6.95 Man** (played by Robert Ridgely) is a cyborg that always falls apart. He is a parody of Steve Austin, *The Six Million Dollar Man*.
* **Old Fogey Bear** is a manic-depressive bear. He is a parody of Yogi Bear.
* **Miss Invis** is a woman who falsely claims to be able to make herself invisible.

## Cartoon segments

The show also included the cartoon shorts:

* ***M\*U\*S\*H*** (short for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes): Sled dogs (voiced by Kenneth Mars and Robert Ridgely) work at a medical outpost in the frozen wasteland of Upper Saboonia. This cartoon is a lampoon of *M\*A\*S\*H*. In his 2012 autobiography, Lou Scheimer stated that he had written the segment to be intentionally unfunny, a concept that Scheimer found to be a better concept than ABC did: "you were supposed to laugh at it, not with it."
* ***Fraidy Cat***: Fraidy Cat (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) is haunted by the ghosts of eight of his nine lives (seven of each voiced by Lennie Weinrib. Life #6 is voiced by Lou Scheimer).
* ***Wacky and Packy***: A prehistoric caveman and his pet woolly mammoth (both voiced by Allan Melvin) end up trapped in modern times.