384 Laff-A-Lympics

First  viewed  :  April  1979

A  bittersweet  memory  this  one. This  isn't  quite  the  last  entry  from  kids  TV  but  I  think  it  is  the  last  cartoon  series  to  feature  until  The  Simpsons.  Laff-A-Lympics  had  been  on  before  but  I  first  saw  it  in  the  morning  schedule   during  the  Easter  Holidays  of  1979  on  the  recommendation  of  the  lad  next  door,  with  whom  an  irreconcilable  fall-out   was  just  a  few  short  months  away.

What  made  Laff-A-Lympics  such  an  unexpected  delight  was  that  it  drew  its  cast  from  all  the  Hanna-Barbera  cartoons  of  the  past  three  decades  though  there  were  omissions  for  complicated  legal  reasons. They  were  organised  into  three  teams ,  two  sporting  teams   headed  by Scooby  Doo  and  Yogi  Bear  respectively  and  a  team  of  villains  whose  ranks  had  to  be  swelled  by  some  original  characters.  Copyright  issues   meant  that  no  Wacky  Races  characters  could  feature  so  instead  the  chief  villains  were   Dread  Baron  and  cackling  sidekick  Mumbly  who  were  Dick  Dastardly  and  Muttley  in  all  but  name.

The  re-branding  was  an  irritation  but  not  enough  to  spoil  the  fun  of  seeing  all  your  favourite  characters  from  yesteryear  popping  up  again  for  little  cameos. This  was  the  first  TV  programme  I  enjoyed  for  nostalgic  reasons  which  is  perhaps  a  little  worrying  as  I  was  only  fourteen  at  the  time.

24  episodes  were  made  in  total.