Have Yourself A Very Bananaman Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve and welcome back to Rotten Ink. Growing up I watched Nickelodeon at my Grandparents house as their cable provider had it while ours in Waynesville didn’t have it just yet and I can remember being glued to shows like “Danger Mouse”, “Count Duckula”, “Mr. Wizard’s World” and “You Can’t Do That On Television” and one that was also very popular that my brother and I would watch was “Bananaman” that was a silly superhero themed British cartoon series, and sadly as time has passed I find less and less people remember this amazing character here in America and that is why for this 10 Year Anniversary and Christmas Eve update I have chosen to talk about him! So grab some eggnog, get a plate of Christmas cookies as its time we chat about the one and only British superhero known as Bananaman!

Eric Wimp is a young schoolboy who was rocketed to Earth as a baby from the moon and when he eats bananas he turns into Bananaman an adult costumed hero who can fly, is invulnerable, can breath in space and has superhuman strength. Bananaman is a superhero who works alongside the police who call him on the banana phone in order to stop crime as well as stop super villains fro hurting his city. During his heroic deeds he also gets help from Crow his pet bird who helps out when our hero is in a tight situation and always brings back up bananas to give him more energy and strength. While Bananaman is a superhero he still is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and this sometimes leads him into danger and traps that of course he will escape from in the end. The character Bannaman was created by artist John Geering along with writers Steve Bright and Dave Donaldson who brought the comic strip to readers that ended up spawning into the cartoon series and made him one of U.K.’s most popular superheroes. And sadly for those wondering artist John Geering passes away in 1999 and the comic strip when not reprinting old adventures is drawn by Andy Janes. A true iconic character for those who grew up reading and watching his cartoon and I for one am glad to have been able to watch his show here in America thanks to Nickelodeon.

The show Bananaman started airing on October 3, 1983 and was on BBC and was 5 minute cartoons that was based on the comic strip and featured the voice of Graeme Garden as Bananaman and Tim Brooke-Taylor as Eric and was super popular with viewers who grew up loving this superhero that read his adventures in Nutty. The show would last for a total of 40 episodes for three seasons and the series ended in 1986. But even with no new episodes being made it ran heavily in reruns until around 1999. The episodes was written by Bernie Kay and directed and produced by Terry Ward. The show would go on to be released on DVD in the U.K. and those fans from America would have to import it like I did in order to watch again. A fun fact about this show is the British comedy troupe The Goodies are who voiced all the main cast of the cartoon like Bananaman, Crow and Eric! While Bananaman never hit the peak of popularity in America like it did in the U.K. for those who grew up watching it no matter what nation you know just how fun and silly this cartoon was.

Like all great Superheroes that have came before and after him Bananaman has his fair share of villains that try to bring him down and ruin the city. And to be honest I think he has a great rogues gallery and while not on par with the likes of Spider-Man, Batman and Dick Tracy when it comes to the baddies he still has some great ones like the following that are some of my favorites. General Blight is an evil Army General and is his arch nemesis and is always coming with a scheme including unleashing The Snow Man a freeze and heat caring Christmas style snowman. Doctor Gloom is another great one who is the mad scientist sidekick of General Blight who creates enemies for Bananaman including Appleman. And I also like Rhubarb Man a walking talking piece of Rhubarb who moves around like a human. Other villains include Skunk Woman, Desperate Dan, Bubble-Gum Bert, Clayman, Witchy Woman, Grannie Punk, The Weatherman, King Zorg, The Heavy Mob and Spaghetti Man to name a very few. Really if you get a chance to read any of Bananaman’s comics or watch his cartoons make sure to do so not only to enjoy his adventures but to also see his baddies in action.

Like all great cartoons Bananaman has had his fair share of very cool merchandise for fans to collect over the years with some being official and others being made by fans themselves to show their love for the character. So if you are a Bananaman fan like myself you can get such cool thinks as T-Shirts, Home Media, Stickers, Dolls, Toys, Buttons, Posters, Statues, Trading Cards, Halloween Costumes, Action Figures, Drinking Glass and so much more stuff with most being fan made stuff that is available here in America. So if you like Bananaman make sure to check Etsy and Ebay as I am sure you will find some cool stuff for your collection.

So now that we have talked about Bananaman and things about him from his merchandise to his baddies I think we should now move to this Comic Capers graphic novel that features some comic book adventures of our hero Bananaman! I would like to thank a seller on Etsy for having this in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready lets go to Nuttytown and head to 29 Acacia Road and see if Bananaman is home and what adventures he has in store for us!

Comic Capers: Bananaman GN  **1/2
Released in 2000   Cover Price $0.00     Beano Books   # ? of ?

“Eurovillain Contest” Eric is bored at home and decides to make a cable satalite dish so he can watch better TV when he finds that Lord Zorg has a show that is about what Eurovillain can stop Bananaman, and this of course causes Eric to turn into his superhero alter ego and head to Europe were along the way Weatherman and The Mole try and slow him down, but he ends up finding his way to Europe and the contest starts! The first baddie that attacks is Goudaman and his giant cheese wheel and at first the holes in the cheese are a maze that Bananaman can not figure out that us until he gets the idea to have a bunch of mice to follow him who eat the giant cheese wheel and Goudaman is defeated. Next Garlicman and his foul smelling breath attacks, but Bananaman uses a giant book to smash him after a fake court trail! And so many Eurovillain’s try to bring down Bananaman including Spaghetti Man, Ivan The Terrible, Abzorba, Doctor Gloom, Ragnar The Hairy and The Weatherman and all of them fail and are defeated by Bananaman and worse the judges have given all the baddies the score of zero making it that no one is going to win, that is until Big Rita a mechanic is mad at the poor scoring and shows up at the station and roughs up the judges as well as King Zorg and this makes her the winner of the contest. The second store is “The Secret Of Willie Boggins” on Arcadia Street young Willie Boggins as a secret when he eats a boiled egg he turns into General Blight! And as Bananaman goes after him our hero has a streak of bad luck that even hits his secret identity Eric Wimp. And after General Blight robs a bank he buys a whole big jar of pickled eggs and eats them at once and grows into a giant, and after Bananaman tries to stop him and fails he goes and eats a ton of bananas and turns into a giant himself, but the fight ends when both have stomach aches and have to use the bathroom.

This graphic novel was a fun silly very kid friendly read and showcases the true goofy nature of the hero known as Bananaman as well as several of his foes that all make appearances in this comic including General Blight who gets his own story out of the two presented. The plots of both stories are simple and yet affective with the first being a villain contest TV Show that has baddies going after Bananaman and a panel rates the villains to award the winner. And the second story has General Blight on a crime spree and even grows giant size and this forces Bananaman to have to do the same in growing to end the fight. Bananaman in this graphic novel is super silly and while he saves the day each time he kind of falls backwards into doing so and while he acts as if he knows what he is doing its clear at times he does not. But because he is silly this makes him a very charming hero and reminds me of Captain Klutz another hero we have talked about here on Rotten Ink and you should give that update a read here. And I have to say this graphic novel really did spark my love for the Bananaman character again as he is just such an awesome superhero with such a great nature. Also the fact he his a kid in his alter ego reminds me of Captain Marvel or Shazam as he is called now. Really sad that Crow is not in this as it would have been cool to have seen him around and helping out when needed. While many of his villains appear many of them do not get a lot of time on panels as they are defeated fast and our hero moves onto the next, I will though say that King Zorg gets his time to shine as he is the host of the TV Show contest and gets to say a few cheesy jokes before he his beat up by Big Rita who ends up winning the show. General Blight is the graphic novels main villain and he is able to win a few rounds with Bananaman as he runs him over with his bicycle, is able to rob a bank, turn into a giant and beat our hero is a fight showing he is truly the arch-nemesis for Bananaman! I also like how their big giant fight has to end early as all the food they ate made them have to potty bad and because they are so big they have to use cooling towers at a power station to relive themselves…so silly. The cover for this graphic novel is great and showcases both Eric Wimp and Bananaman and is eye catching with the interior art being done by an artist I could not find the credits for, but whom ever of the comic strip artist who did it they did top notch stuff. Over all this Bananaman Graphic Novel is not for everyone as I think those who do not know the character will find it to British in humor and way to kid friendly, but for those fans like myself it’s a fun read that takes you back to your youth watching the cartoon (or even in some cases reading the comic strip) and enjoying his adventures. Checkout the artwork below to see the style used in this book.

Bananaman was a great way to spend this Christmas Eve as he is such a very underrated superhero character here in America as sadly besides that very small run on the early days of Nickelodeon and those who imported shows or got on the Grey Market truly remember him, while in England he really is a well loved hero and still has a following and fan base to this day. I really hope that you readers have a great Holiday season spent with your family, friends and pets with lots of great conversations and plenty of tasty food. I also want to thank you for spending apart of your Christmas Eve here at Rotten Ink and making this 10 Year Anniversary very special and I hope you enjoyed the updates over the decade of blogging and hope it brought back great memories of your youth. So with that eat a Christmas Cookie or three, watch a Bananaman cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you in 2023 for the best of 2022 Movie’s seen in the theater countdown.

Rotten Ink That’s Where You’ll Find Diver Dan!

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! Are you as shocked as I am that we are already in November 2022? This year has flown by and crazy to think Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away! The 10 Year Anniversary for this blog has been in full effect and we have looked at many classic things that I am sure brought back memories for many of you readers as well as maybe even acted as you first introduction to some of the update topics, and todays update is one that many of you might have grown up watching while others of you reading have no idea about and that is Diver Dan a very cool and yet also cheesy kids show from the 1960’s and when chosen topics for this year I just knew he had to be one of them. As I did not grow up watching Diver Dan but once I was introduced to the show I quickly became a fan and knew we had to go on a deep-sea dive adventure with him! So lets get our deep dive suits on and check our oxygen tanks as its time to enter the water and see what we can find.

Diver Dan was created by cartoonist J. Anthony Ferlaine in 1960 as a spin off of his comic strip “Fish Tales” and was the show was made by Brian Cartoons, and distributed by ITC Entertainment and was aired mostly on NBC stations during its original run. And each episode ran around seven minutes long and it would normally be paired with other cartoons like Felix The Cat and be apart of children shows that were hosted. The show would have 104 episodes and would last until 1970 given it a good ten year run. The under water scenes were shot through an aquarium with the fish on the showing being a mix of real ones as well as puppets that was mostly voiced by Allen Swift who also played the voices of the Narrator and the off screen character Captain Murphy. The lovely Suzanne Turner played the mermaid Miss Minerva. Diver Dan was very well loved by young viewers and would even have many years life after it ended thanks to reruns. And while Diver Dan was not for everyone as lots of kids wanted animated shows and not live action ones, it’s legacy of being a beloved 1960’s kids show is still strong and was one of the favorites shows of my Ex-Girlfriends dad who is the one that introduced me to the show. The show can be found originally on grey market VHS tapes and now can be found on DVD via Alpha Video as well as other budget labels and can also be watched on YouTube. I also have to point out that the shows theme is very cool and catchy, look it up and give it a listen and see what you think.

Diver Dan is a deep-sea diver who is studying fish and is a good guy and a hero to the aquatic life that makes up the waters he is in. A true good guy character who is likeable and noble and is truly that classic kid show standard of who you should grow up to be like. Diver Dan was played by actor Frank D Freda who was known for being a writer for the animated show “The Smokey Bear Show” as well was Ronald McDonald in some early McDonalds commercials. He was also a Broadway actor and was a sales person for HBO and Cellphones and is the first person to cell a car cell phone in New York. But back to Diver Dan who 100% is a true iconic character in the world of kid shows and has inspired many people over the decades to be a good person, to want to study bodies of water and fish and even helped fuel creative minds. On a side note I would love to see Diver Dan return to TV and do it as the next generation and the show could follow his Grandson who has followed in his grandfathers footsteps and is going on adventures in the same sea. Also if he was in public domain I would totally write a comic mini series based on Diver Dan for Sparkle Comics!

Ok lets take a moment to chat about Miss Minerva the blonde mermaid who was friends to the fishes and would keep her distant from Dan who she just would call The Diver. She as I said was played by actress Suzanne Turner who was a very good stage actress as she was featured in the play “Auntie Mame” and as for other TV or Movie roles she had no other as Diver Dan was he only work in that field. Miss Minerva had long blonde hair and would wear a crown and speak to the fish who would warn her of the dangers coming or tell what they have seen. She was a kind mermaid who would watch after her friends as well was the target sometimes of the fish of the ocean that are not so kind. After he work on Diver Dan not much else is known about Suzanne Turner as she seemed to drop off from acting, and during her time on the show she was the crush of many young viewers. And when trying to look up information on her it looks like she might have passed away, but sadly not much is out there about her after the show ended.

The shows two main baddies was the fishes Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish who acted as stooges and help set up the dastardly plots the plans they had cooked up in their cave hideout by Teetering Rock. You see even in the deep ocean we have gangsters that want to cause harm to the people or should I say ocean dwellers. They are your typical kid show baddies as they have silly plans to just ruin peoples fun and to cause just annoyance to all around them. And to be honest the show really needed Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish to add that villain element to the show and they both are the spice needed to make the show more enjoyable.

Diver Dan like all good kids shows of the time had lots of amazing merchandise for fans to collect and own! Besides the comic books they made a board game, vinyl record, coloring book, fanzines and later episodes was released on DVD and before that on VHS with many of those being from the grey market. I think the odd thing about all this is that Diver Dan never got an action figure and I for one think he should have. And thinking about it Super7 should do a Diver Dan ReAction figure and Funko should do a Pop! of Diver Dan as well as Clutch Cargo. But if you are a fan of Diver Dan there is some cool stuff for you to collect and I myself besides the comics own the DVD sets from Alpha Video.

So now that we have chatted about Diver Dan and the characters that made up his show as well as the merchandise he spawned I think we should now move onto his comic adventures and see what Dell Comics has in store for him. I also want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready like I am lets go on a deep dive adventure with the one and only Diver Dan!

Diver Dan # 1   **1/2
Released in 1962      Cover Price .15      Dell Comics    # 1254 of 1354

Diver Dan is helping Miss Minerva and the fish to set up and have a Masquerade Ball, and as they all go to get ready Baron and Trigger as well as Rocky who is the nephew of Trigger go to the party and break everything down and destroy things as they have a plan to finally take down Diver Dan. When Minerva, Diver Dan and the fish return to find the party ruined they are sad as the ball seems like it will not be taking place, but our dastardly fish baddies show back up dressed up pretending to be party goers and acted shocked that the party has been attacked, and suggests a new location that they have a trap set at via a octopus. When Diver Dan and the party guests get there they set back up as Baron and Trigger even try to get Dan in trouble with his Captain when they snap a picture of Diver Dan and Minerva with the party lights behind them and deliver it above to the Captain who is mad as Dan is supposed to be looking for hidden treasure. But when Baron and Trigger’s plan goes wrong and the octopus gets trapped they decided to try and kidnap a young female fish and get ransom for her safe return, but that backfires when Rocky returns her to her friends and the baddies are chased off by Rocky’s angry mother. And the Ball happens and all are happy as Diver Dan wonders off to find the treasure.

This first issue of Diver Dan is really a kid friendly fun read that has Diver Dan in trouble with his boss as well as trying to help his fish friends to get a Masquerade Ball to happen after it was sabotaged. Diver Dan is a good spirited human who does what he can to bring joy to all his friends that live in the waters and is helping set up a party when he is being paid to find a treasure, and this fact also gets him in trouble with his boss and Dan still just continues to help his fish friends and even gets his boss on the boat to send down a camera! The one flaw of Diver Dan in this issue is that he is way to trusting as he does not see that Baron and Trigger are right in front of him luring them all to a trap and dismisses the concerns of fellow fish who alert him that they think the two are at the Ball! Baron and Trigger are such fishy little jerks as they get joy of breaking and ripping down the Ball decorations all because they want to lure everyone into a trap, and for what reason…cause they dislike Diver Dan and want to ruin his day. Sadly mermaid Miss Minerva really does not do much in this issue and that stinks, but the one thing they do show is that almost all the fish respect and love her. The story is as basic as can be and is very much kid friendly and the message is being mean, a trickster and bad never pays out and that good will always find a way and that friendship and community is important. And with a few odd elements like Dan and Minerva being around each other when in the show that was not the case for the most part, I do feel that it captures the mood and feeling of the show. The cover is great and features Diver Dan, Baron and Trigger and is eye catching for fans of the show, and the interior art is done by an Unknown Artist and is really good and has that classic Dell look but I think this is even slightly better art then the average Dell Comic. Over all I would say this is a super fun and silly Kid Comic read that does Diver Dan justice, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next issue.

Diver Dan # 2  ***
Released in 1962     Cover Price .15     Dell Comics     # 2 of 1

Carolos is leading a band of gypsy fish to find a new queen as his daughter the current one has been kidnapped and Baron and Trigger send them the way of Minerva and the gypsies have chosen her to be the new Queen, and without telling her this news they set up a show for the area to enjoy first, and with tea they knock out Minerva by acting as if they are reading her fortune and flee fast from the area. But not before Carlos also hypnotizes Baron into being a nicer fish to others after he and Trigger tried to rob his wagon. The fish go and get Diver Dan in order to save Minerva and he along the way runs into Baron who goes along to help. But before Minerva can be made Queen the old one shows up as she has escaped and her captor a fellow bands Prince who is after her as he wants to marry her! The gypsies would rather have Minerva as the Queen but after some arguments she is able to kind of get away and to Diver Dan. In the end Baron gets punched by accident when Carlos and the Prince get into a fight and this snaps him out of his trance, and as Diver Dan and Minerva get away the Queen and Prince ride off and Trigger is almost forced into marriage before Baron saves him.

This second issue of Diver Dan is one great read as it has a fun kid friendly story, the artwork is fantastic and I feel that it did a great job of capturing the feel of the show its based on. This one has a band of gypsy fish kidnapping Minerva to make her their Queen, only for Diver Dan and the unlikely ally of Baron coming to her rescue. This issue also is mostly about the mermaid Minerva as she is the target of the gypsy and is the one who has to try and tell them she does not want to be anyone’s Queen and that her home is were she is at in the ocean, I also like that even with her kidnappers she tries to be kind and not hurt their feelings as while they did something bad they are more misguided then evil. Baron and Trigger as well have bigger parts as the Baron is under the trance he turns into a good guy and forces his goofy henchman to go along with him. The Gypsies are cool characters who have Queens and Kings and will do sneaky things in order to honor their culture, but as I have stated I do not feel its to be mean. Diver Dan kind of takes a backseat in this issue as he does not come around until the end of the comic and even then he does very little and I like that as this gave other characters from the show a little time to shine and be the focus of a story that was really entertaining. I also have to say that the cover for this issue is great and features both Diver Dan and Minerva and is super eye catching for fans of the show. The interior art is done by Sal Trapani and is 100% fantastic and he captures the characters likeness so well. Over all a great series Diver Dan was and it’s a shame that the comic series only lasted two issues as it should have lasted way longer on the comic racks as well as on TV. Check out the artwork bellow as I think it showcases the work that went into this series.

Diver Dan is one of those classic 1960’s kids shows that I feel just never gets the respect in these modern times like it should as it was a simple concept that made oceans, fish and a deep sea diver cool! And sadly in 2022 I am sure many of you younger readers have never heard of Diver Dan and his show and I hope this update has at least sparked your interest in getting the Alpha Video or Digiview releases or even look them up on YouTube. That is one thing that I hope that Rotten Ink is able to do and that’s help keep vintage and old school stuff like this alive and not only bring joy to fans who remember but also I hope bring new fans into the topic. And with that said I would like to let you know that Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Celebration continues as we head back to the Rotten Ink Theater to chat about Silent Cinema and it will be 1921’s one time lost German classic “The Island Of Lost”! So until next time read a indie comic or three, watch a Diver Dan episode or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you soon and make sure to be ready to travel to an island filled with mystery and horror!

Horror Host Icon: Alistair Cookie

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! This update is going to be a fun one as it’s a “Horror Host Icon” update all about Alistair Cookie, the host of Monsterpiece Theater…now I need you all to relax and just have fun with this one as I am sure some of you are saying out loud “Alistair Cookie is not a Horror Host he is an educational kids show character.” You are not wrong in your thoughts, but hear me out: some of the segments he hosted had kid friendly horror themes, he himself is a monster and again just sit back and have fun with this one.  While he might not be a full fledged Horror Host, he is a Host of a parody themed movie show and much like Count Floyd was a gateway for young kids to discover the wonderful world of Horror Hosts. So grab some cookies and milk, and let’s talk tales with Alistair Cookie of Monsterpiece Theater who is coming to you from Sesame Street.

Alistair Cookie is a blue monster that wears a smoking jacket, with early episodes even having a pipe that he would eat at the end of the show (this was done away with not to make smoking look cool to kids) and sits in a massive wingback chair in a study with a fireplace surrounded by books and photos of his friends from the past. He is a cool and calm host and loves cookies and milk as he showcases a short segment that is based on a book, fable or film and is done to teach the viewers a lesson of education as well are done in a silly nature to deliver a chuckle. And Alistair loves himself some cookies and will devour them and at time even gleefully talk about the cookies. Alistair not only during an episode would interact with the viewers at home but also those Muppets that appear in his sketches, and even at times Alistair himself will be in one of the spoof segments! Alistair Cookie started being the host for Monsterpiece Theater in 1978 that was a part of the classic educational series “Sesame Street” and was a take off of the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre and its host Alistair Cooke. Monsterpiece Theater lasted for around 36 episodes (within the main show) and came to an end in 1999 as part of the Sesame Street segment lineup. During its run, Monsterpiece Theater would spoof books, shows and movies like NYPD Blue, Chariots Of Fire, Dances With Wolves, Dr. No, Gone With The Wind, Hamlet, West Side Story and The 39 Steps to name a few. While Alistair Cookie and Monsterpiece Theater might not be on the air anymore with new episodes, kids of the time like myself loved the show and enjoyed every time it was apart of Sesame Street. And I should say that Monsterpiece Theater aired on PBS during its run, and for those of you who grew up in the late 70’s through the 90’s you know just how cool Alistair Cookie was and just how zany and crazy he was to eat cookies and share a tale with us all. I want to also say that the shows opening theme is great and has a regal sound with later seasons even having Alistair eating and talking about a cookie he is eating.

Cookie Monster is the Muppet behind Alistair Cookie and he is one of the biggest stars in the history of Sesame Street on TV. Cookie Monster is a Muppet who was created by Jim Henson and played by Frank Oz from 1969 to 2004 and David Rudman helped from 2001-2004 before taking over the role that he is still doing to this day. But Cookie Monster first appeared in TV Commercials for General Foods as he would steal and eat snack food along with fellow monsters and he was called Wheel-Stealer, but oddly enough his commercials never would be aired and the future Cookie Monster would not get his big break until 1967 when he would be used in a IBM training film and a few years later he would be called Arnold The Munching Monster and would be used in commercials for Munchos a potato chip from Frito-Lay. But then Cookie Monster took a role on Sesame Street starting in 1969 and his career was set and would lead to him being a featured cast member and one of the most loved Muppets of all time. He would go on to star in movies as well as shows like Saturday Night Live, Martha Stewart, All Things Considered and The Colbert Report and so many more. Cookie Monster who is called that cause he loves to eat cookies also later would tell kids that cookies are good but they should also eat veggies, but keep in mind he has not lost his love for cookies and is still appearing on the show to this day! And growing up indeed Cookie Monster was one of my favorite characters from Sesame Street and I had books, a patch and toys that featured him and one year my Birthday Cake had Cookie Monster on it. When you think of Icons of the Muppet world Cookie Monster has to be at the top of your list. And come on you know reading this Horror Host Icon update the song “C Is For Cookie” that he sang is going through your head. And on a side note Alistair Cookie was suggested to the Horror Host Hall Of Fame Board to be on a ballot and sadly did not get the vote to make it on in around 2021.

Like all good “Horror Hosts” Alistair Cookie has had a really cool doll made of him that was sold by PBS and come complete with his chair as well as smoking jacket. And this is one doll that I wish I would have known about as I would have 100% bought it. Now you can only find it via third party sellers on sites like Ebay and they are going for high prices. But fans of Alistair Cookie I wanted to make you aware that this doll was made and is out there for you to collect.

Monsterpiece Theater was a staple on Sesame Street for a few decades and Alistair Cookie was a Host that kids always enjoyed seeing on their TV Sets. And we are now at the part of this review were we will take a look at show and what I have here is a Best Of DVD set that I was able to get thanks to my brother and because there is so many of them I will be picking my favorite 8 episodes. And keep in mind the “movies” he showed was all part of the host segment and at times Alistair himself would be the star of the short he was hosting! So with that grab a cookie or two and pour yourself a very tall glass of milk as we are going to talk Monsterpieces with the one and only Alistair Cookie.

Best Of Monsterpiece Theater Vol. 1
Starring – Mel Gibson & Grover     Not Rated     1978-1999

Host: “Upstairs, Downstairs” Alistair is sitting in his wing backed chair with a pipe and welcomes viewers and the short has Grover going up and down stairs and getting winded doing so. Once back to Alistair he thanks us for watching and then eats the smoking pipe! “Gone With The Wind” Alistair starts the episode by welcoming us to the show and saying he is very happy to bring us his favorite film today…but then says that he has never seen it but heard it was good. The short has a mansion being hit by a windstorm and inside Kermit and a female Muppet watch as things are being blown around and are both confused to what to do to stop it, and while doing match they both end up being blown away by the wind. And when we join Alistair his library is also now being hit with wind and he ushers us out by thanking us for watching. “1 Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” Alistair with book in hand is sitting in his library and welcomes us to the show and builds up the show as being a showcase of the number 1’s historic flight over the cuckoo’s nest. The segment goes wrong at first as number 3 flies over a chicken coop, and four falls from the sky into a pig pin than finally number 1 fly over the nest. In the end Alistair is relieved that they finally showed the right segment and bids us farewell and relaxes back into his chair. “Twin Beaks” has Alistair himself going toe the strange town of Twin Beaks that is populated by birds and he is trying to figure out why the town is called that and even talks to the bird with a log to try and get the answer, and does notice that all the birds do have two beaks. Once back in the library Alistair takes a pie and eats it down and ushers us once more out of the show. “Lethal Weapon 3” once more Alistair welcomes us to the show and says tonight’s feature is packed with danger and the mega movie hit Lethal Weapon 3. We then join Mel Gibson and Danny Glover standing by a Danger sign and they are looking around when all of a sudden a giant # 3 falls from the sky. And in the end as Alistair ends the show a giant # 4 falls from the sky and lands on his chair. “Hamlet” the show starts with Alistair in his chair and the moon is out and he says tonight’s episode is very classy and is very proud to bring the viewers Hamlet! The segment then has a castle and Mel Gibson as Hamlet who is reading a book when Elmo enters the scene and watches as Hamlet goes through emotions reading the book and when asked how he can get a book Hamlet tells Elmo to go to the library. In the end Alistair eats a Danish pastry as well as the plate it was on. “Dances With Wolves” Alistair once more is happy to bring the viewers a blockbuster film that is filled with action and buffalos and ushers us into the short that is set at a ball that has farm animals dancing and a young female big has no one to dance with, so enter the wolf. And just because they are different they still have a great time dancing together. Alistair ends the episode shoving cookies into his mouth. “Dr. No” Alistair is once more in his chair and tells the viewers that the night’s episode stars the master spy James Bond! The segment takes place in a eye doctors office and James Bond needs Dr. No’s help in order to read. In the end Alistair eating cookies tells the viewers that next episode will be another James Bond adventure.

That was such a fun Horror Host Icon update that I know has many of you readers split on if he is a “Horror Host” or not, and believe me I have heard that same debate over even the likes of Count Floyd, The Crypt Keeper, Miko Macabre and the cast of Dinner & A Movie as many do not look at them as full fledge Horror Hosts. And I myself say that all mentioned are indeed Horror Hosts and while they are not your traditional style hosts they all have their own styles, fans and creative ways to be a Host. And in the case of Alistair Cookie I think he is a gateway Host for kids that will help them to discover other movie hosts, as lets be honest many of the parody segments are based on cult films and TV shows from Twin Peaks all the way to Hitchcock’s 39 Steps and even a Lethal Weapon 3 in between. Also to be honest I loved all the episodes on this disc and just picked some of the more fun and silly ones. So to wrap it up I want to thank Alistair Cookie for all his years on Monsterpiece Theater that has lead to so many great memories for me as well as thousands of others who grew up with his antics on select episodes of Sesame Street. For the next update we will be leaving Sesame Street as well as the world of Horror Hosting and will be heading to Jellystone Park to visit one of my all time favorite cartoon characters Yogi Bear! So until next time eat a cookie or three, enjoy a glass of milk or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next time as we go on the hunt for some picnic baskets.