In 1966, Grantray-Lawrence Animation produced a TV series made up of shorts revolving around various Marvel heroes--Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Namor The Sub-Mariner, and The Hulk. These stories were taken from the Silver Age comics.

And when I say "taken from," I mean literally. The "animation", and I use the term generously, was basically the original comic art with some animation--moving lips, the occasional (slightly) moving figure or a fully animated silhouette, on-screen sound effects.

These shorts reflected the slight cheesiness of Silver Age comics--characters describing their actions even as they played out onscreen, somewhat over-inflated dialogue, etc. In one shot, an old building had a sign on it helpfully labeling it "OLD BUILDING."

The other memorable thing about this series was the theme songs. Each character had their own theme song, which played at the beginning of each of their shorts.

"When Captain America throws his mighty shiiiieeeeld/All those who chose to oppose his shield must yiiiiieeeeld!"

"Tony Stark makes you feel/He's a cool exec with a heart of steel..."

"Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays/Turned into the Hulk/Ain't he unglamor-ays?" (Yes, they managed to squeeze a rhyme out of that.)

"Stronger than a whale, he can swim anywhere/He can breathe underwater and go flying through the air/The noble Sub-Mariner/Prince of the Deep/So beware, you deadly demons! (basso profundo voice) Lord Namor of Atlantis is the Prince of the Deeeep!"

"Across the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard/Where the booming heavens roar/You'll behold in breathless wonder/The god of thunder, Mighty Thor!"

These catchy theme songs stuck in people's heads...in fact, the first Iron Man movie featured the cartoon theme song, played when Tony's award is announced, and again when we see him in the casino.

Despite their cheesiness, these cartoons do have a lot to recommend them--the classic comic art, the fresh-from-Stan-Lee writing even if it is a little overblown, their place in Marvel comics history. Cheesy enough to laugh at, but charming enough to like--in short, a perfect subject for riffing.

(Grantray-Lawrence Animation would go on to make the 1967 Spider-Man series. The animation here was hardly Disney--it was still rather limited, but at least it wasn't just the comic panels with a few moving parts. Plus, G-L topped themselves by giving us the most memorable Marvel cartoon theme song of all.)

Trucks, a movie from 1997, it’s maximum overdrive’s basement dwelling stepchild. Even the radio controlled tonka trucks murders the mailman to get out of this movie. No real big name actors, but when a fire breaks out, every actor in the movie looks at the smoke and ask, what the **** is that? There’s even an inflatable axe wielding killer. How can you go wrong with redneck hating trucks? The TV seems to only come on when the reporter reminds everyone that there is no electricity and then fades back out to static.
1. Trucks that don’t really seem to like their redneck owners.
2. TV that reminds you that there is no power.
3. Actors that do not seem to know what causes smoke.
4. Gas pumps that work without power.
5. Finally, trucks that for some reason use their own mirrors to look at their surroundings.

Hi,
I’m a big fan of Bridget and Mary Jo, especially the Farm Family series. I recently completed the set by purchasing Farm Family in Autumn and became curious about what happened to the Markham kids (Heaven’s Gate cultists? DeLorean investors? Sec. of the Interior?) That’s when I stumbled upon this interesting tidbit! Hopefully this is new to you guys. P.S.- Mary Jo, you were right! Grandpa was a fraud!

Sincerely,
Patrick Sandberg

from
http://www.afana.org/2001chrono.htm

Tom Smith, who would later achieve his greatest critical success as the General Manager of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, was the creator of probably the most moving portrayal of American farm life in the classroom academic film genre, with his ‘Farm Family’ series of 1967-1968, comprising four films comparing the impact of seasonal changes upon the Red Markham farm and family of Whitewater, Wisconsin.  Each film chronicles daily and seasonal life of the family and farm, contrasting the seeming simplicity of daily chores with the impact of major events, such the birth of a calf, the harvesting of a crop, or the coming of the summer county fair.  With the exception of 'Summer', each film is narrated in first person by a different family member.  We think these are important films that are almost ethnographic in their approach to documenting the life and work of a rural family unit, and present them here consecutively, in a unique viewing context (we're not sure these films have ever been screened together, in one sitting).  The films are:
'Farm Family in Summer', the only film told in 3rd person narrative, offers a fascinating look at the rural county fair culture, from preparing exhibits to friendly country huckstering, to harness races, to carny rides. 'Farm Family in Autumn' is son Steve’s first-person story of going back to school, sneaking a taste of mom’s fresh-made jam, carving jack-o-lanterns, and the arrival of the tanker truck which collects the dairy farm’s output. 'Farm Family in Winter' is told by Grandpa, who wrestles the hard-starting, gas-powered "snow-buggy" into action, then fetches the vet, who is prevented from reaching the farm road due to adverse conditions, in order to doctor a sick calf. 'Farm Family in Spring', narrated by son Dale, describes a trip into town to buy feed in country store, and a LaGrange 4H club meeting in which the children discuss the progress of their respective projects. The affection that the filmmaker had for the family is apparent, and seems to be evident in the family’s approach to the filmmaker as well, who made four visits to the farm to make these films, and who remains in touch with Dale Markham. The easygoing attitude the family has toward the camera is largely responsible for the charm of this series, a fascinating and refreshing look at a subject that was all too often didactic in the hands of other filmmakers. 
Tom wrote to us in early June, reminiscing about the events surrounding the making of these films:

"The Farm Family films were planned as 2nd Editions. There had been a 'Farm Family...' series made in the 1940s in black and white. They were extremely didactic films guaranteed to put you to sleep as quickly as a stiff shot of pentothal. So I was asked to replace them with a new series in color. The first trick was to find a farm where I could film. Headquartered in Chicago, I set out to look in nearby Southern Wisconsin - a two hour drive from my home in Palatine, Illinois. I needed not only a good looking farm but one with kids in elementary school - the age of our target audience. It wasn't easy to find a combination of the two. I consulted with Farm Bureau Agents in several counties. I recall one farm we visited looked great from the outside. The Agent told me they had kids the right age. Then I met the farmer, a handsome, husky fellow - perfect type. We shook hands and it felt strange. Turned out he was missing two fingers on his right hand. I didn't want to have to explain the missing fingers in every film. I knew a lot of shots in the movies would be close-ups of the farmer's hands at work. So this farm was out.
"It took me weeks of looking. I drove past 100s farms of farms and visited more than 30. I ended up in Walworth county in southern Wisconsin, a country where I had lived for one year when I was a kid. As we drove up to the Markham dairy farm, it looked pretty good. I met farmer "Red" Markham and his wife. Red had all his digits, a good smile was a very tall and strong-looking fellow. His wife Eloise seemed to be all in one piece too. The kids were the perfect age but Red wasn't sure he trusted a city slicker like me promising to pay him some small fee to film his kids on his farm for a year. He had heard lots of sales pitches and figures this could be like one of those "free vacation" offers where they really only want to sell you a condo. We sat in his kitchen over coffee and I tried to persuade him but things weren't going well.
"To make a connection I mentioned that I lived in nearby Whitewater for one year when I was seven years old. That didn't make much of an impression on him. Then I added that my brother-in-law was from Whitewater too. Maybe he knew him - Bud Ardelt. Red put his cup down and broke into a smile. "Bud Ardelt is your brother-in-law?" Turned out that Red and Bud played for four years on the Whitewater football team together and in High School were buddies. He shook my hand - we had a deal. (Incidentally well-known historian Steven Ambrose was also on that same football team.)
"It was only my second year at EBEC and the four films were made while I continued to make other films on other subjects. I normally made about five or six, 12 to 18 minute films a year. We began filming with Fall. Then followed each season as it came along. Summer was the last. As you know from having seen the films, there was usually a thin plot running but what carried the show was showing the farming activities during that particular season. Fall was harvest, Winter not much happens but the kids have lots of fun in the snow and they cut their own Christmas tree. Spring is planting time and Summer there is the county fair. I don't recall why we didn't have a first person narration for the summer movie. No one in the films was an actor and to get someone to read a narration was very difficult. I had to do it line by line and often would not let them see the words but rather read it to them and have them repeat it...
"I've stayed in contact with the Markham family over the years. They have now retired from farming but the parents still live on the farm. The kids are all grown-up and most have kids of their own. None are farmers. As I mentioned "Red" was a big guy - over six foot- five inches tall. His sons grew to be taller than he. One of the boys seen in the film - Dale, went on to be a college football star and briefly played for a pro team. He is now in his 40s. I think he works for a seed company. Pam studied nursing but now is raising her own family. We get Christmas cards from them every year and ten or fifteen years ago I stopped at the farm, unannounced. They were just as friendly as they could be. We laughed and talked of the old days and funny things that happened during that year when I made the films.
"The film crew was normally about four or five people. I served as cameraman on a couple of the films but don't recall which ones. Arthur Bothham was the cameraman on the others including the "Fall" film. I second unit on all of them - running up to the farm to shoot one specific scene for a day with my Bolex and then returning home. There was no real "Grandpa" on the farm. The fellow who played "Grandpa" was actually our film's grip - Stanley Wallega. Stanley died about 15 years ago."

A 10-minute promotional VHS given out at supermarkets and the like. The Turtles shill with honor as they cross the country to LA in order to promote the LA Metro Blue Line, a rail system running from LA to Long Beach. In order to accomplish their goal, they must overcome the sinister Gridlock, a malefactor who wants to keep LA congested with traffic and smog.

Reasons this deserves a riffing:

-The Turtle costumes are pretty cheap-looking. They just look like giant versions of the original TMNT action figures and have no jaw articulation whatsoever. They make up for it by having the dubbed-in voices of Townsend Coleman, Barry Gordon, Rob Paulsen and Cam Clarke, the VAs from the original cartoon. They're polishing a ****, though, as the dialogue is as wooden and forced as any infomercial you could name.

-Gridlock makes a poor substitute for Shredder. Aside from looking like a children's theatre villain minus the subtlely and clear motivations, the "Gloomsday Device" he's using to erase all information about the Blue Line is obviously just the Geigameter from Ghostbusters II.

-If you were expecting any martial arts action, HA HA HA you should really know better. The closest you get is Donatello striking a few poses when he confronts Gridlock, followed by a half-assed chase scene set to classical music and the most anticlimactic ending since Monster A-Go-Go.

Watch it in full via the Ninja Pizza blog, which also has some information about the production provided by someone who worked on it.
http://www.ninjapizza.net/2009/02/video-flashback-operation-blue-line.html