ProStars

ProStars
"ProStars, it's all about helping kids."
Genre	Animation
Created by	Andy Heyward Douglas Booth
Based on	an idea created by Douglas Booth
Developed by	Rob Humphrey Jim Peterson
Written by	Douglas Booth
Starring	Michael Jordan Bo Jackson Wayne Gretzky
Voices of	Dorian Harewood Dave Fennoy Townsend Coleman Diana Barrows Susan Silo
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Heyward
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 14 – December 7, 1991

ProStars is a Saturday morning cartoon show produced by DiC that aired on NBC from September 14 to December 7, 1991.

Originally intended to air on ESPN, the show centers on Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky fighting crime, helping children, and often protecting the environment as well. These three were chosen to represent the pinnacle of all four major American professional sports in the early 1990s. While Jordan and Gretzky are broadly associated with their respective sports, Jackson was included since he could represent both football and baseball and was a high-profile celebrity off the field as well. A reference to his "Bo Knows" Nike ad-campaign was worked into almost every episode.

The stars appear in live-action sequences before the show, in which they would tell kids about the upcoming episode, and often answer questions from kids at the conclusion. Normally this is done solely by Gretzky and Jackson—often in separate sound stages and edited to appear as if talking to each other. Jordan's filmed bits were almost always one line or two, and not part of the skits before the episode. Most of the live-action parts by the athletes dealt with things such as morality. In one episode they explained ghosts stating that even they get scared sometimes, and that fear is a normal human emotion. In an episode with robot athletes, they explained how such an idea will never come to reality, as it goes against the dedication men put into their sport. However, during the animated segments of ProStars, their animated counterparts were voiced by voice actors instead of their actual selves.

When the show first came out, the original theme song, "We Are ProStars", was an homage to the song "We Will Rock You", by the rock group, Queen (see links below). In later episodes, the song was slowed down, and the chorus was reduced to 'ProStars! Show staaaars! The lyrics also reference the "Bo Knows" ad campaign, including the line "Bo knows everything."