Uncle Croc's Block
| Uncle Croc's Block | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Live Action/Animation |
| Starring |
Charles Nelson Reilly Jonathan Harris Alfie Wise |
| Voices of |
Kenneth Mars Allan Melvin Alan Oppenheimer Robert Ridgely Lennie Weinrib Bob Holt |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer Dick Rosenbloom |
| Running time | 60 minutes, later 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Filmation |
| Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | Color |
| Original release | September 6, 1975 – February 14, 1976 |
Uncle Croc's Block was an hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation.
As a spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson Reilly played the eponymous Uncle Croc, a crocodile that hated his job as the show's host and was implied to be at least somewhat inebriated throughout the series (he "hiccups" during the theme song, for example). 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.
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:
The show also included the cartoon shorts:
The series premiered at 10:30 am ET on September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, Uncle Croc's Block was up against the second half of hugely 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 whom Silverman 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.
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