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The Robonic Stooges was indeed on CBS; it was a segment of the live-action series "The Skatebirds" (1977). However, the Stooges was the most watched part of the show (airing twice each week), so in January of 1978, CBS gave them their own half hour, retitled "The Three Robonic Stooges," which would resurface on CBS two more times. It now airs as short features at the end of selected shows on the Boomerang channel.

The mindset is that because it's by Hanna-Barbera (animated at their Australian outlet), then by default it's a terrible show. For the sake of argument, I'll grant that it's not the best show, even by what's acceptable by Saturday morning standards. The atypical H-B animation, the half-baked situations, the dialogue, all the hallmarks to all that hold Hanna-Barbera as animation anathema. However, unlike other H-B shows at the time, "The Robonic Stooges" wasn't afraid to make references to its medium (the H-B studio appears in one episode) or even reference other comedy teams (the Marx Brothers in another).

We really didn't need another superhero cartoon in 1977; the cheese and camp of "Superfriends" was more than we needed or deserved. The Stooges could have very well been acceptable without the superhero take, but it was terrific in contrast to the other "Skatebirds" feature, the dreadful "Wonder Wheels."

"Concentration" was must-see TV to me when I was very, very young. It taught me how to count, how to identify objects and enhanced my recall and vocabulary. It was tons of fun to watch as well; Norm Blumenthal's puzzles were absolutely brilliant and oft times hilarious. It devastated me when NBC announced they were canceling it in 1973, but it was a sign of the times. It was getting beat by CBS' "The New Price Is Right" (conversely, the original "Price" was "Concentration's" lead-in from 1958 to 1963, and when "Price" moved to ABC, it would then run opposite "Concentration") and all the game shows were going comparatively high tech in visuals.

The original version of "the game of puzzles and prizes" is a true original and a true classic.

"Wacky Races" was created in response to the rather violent adventure/superhero cartoons of the previous two seasons, and even upon its premiere, it was blackballed by the watchdog group Action For Children's Television. They claimed that since it was bankrolled by game show producers Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley ("Hollywood Squares"), it was enticing children to place monetary wagers on the outcome of each of the show's 34 races. (Hogwash. I had the over/under on how many times Dick Dastardly's contraptions backfired on him.)

For all the atypical Hanna-Barbera use of repeat animation and low-budget movement, "Wacky Races" was still an unusual and entertaining cartoon which would beget such shows as "Bailey's Comets," "Laff-A-Lympics" and "Yogi's Space Race." A lot of the humor derived from Dastardly's machinations, although many of the other racers got to shine as well. In the Gold Key comics, Penelope Pitstop would eliminate Peter Perfect and Red Max by conveniently getting them to fight over her. That wasn't used in the show, although it should have. And it's dotted with great lines. When the narrator calls Dastardly "The Dracula of the drag strip," Dastardly counters "I resent that remark!" Narrator: "But do you deny it?" Dastardly: "No, I just resent it!" It's a comedy cartoon that doesn't forget it's a comedy cartoon, something that many cartoon shows of the 70s and 80s forgot.

And a bit of trivia, Dastardly did cross the finish line twice but was disqualified both times. The first time he extended the nose of the Mean Machine ahead of the others (yet in another episode, Rufus Ruffcut physically extended his neck to reach the finish line and the judges gave him the win--go figure). The second time, a chain reaction collision caused Dastardly and Muttley to get bounced into the Arkansas Chuggabug, which was in the lead. Dastardly also set a precedent the following year--being the first (and to anyone's knowledge, only) villain to get his own show, "Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines.