Need Help Identifying a Cartoon?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I don't remember the name, or the names of the characters. All I remember are three guys, in color coded uniforms (yellow, green, and blue) who each had technology and weapons corresponding to their color: yellow was earth, green was water, blue was sky... I think?

Does that ring any bells for anyone? Am I crazy? :tlol:

[Leo656]

Sounds like The Centurions!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centurions_(TV_series)

And here I thought only I remembered.

[sdp]

It does sound like centurions, watched some of it in the 90s on CN reruns, what a horrible show. I'm sorry you had to re-remember such a show.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bJhlHdIwL._AC_SY445_.jpg

[ZariusTwo]

what a horrible show.

Enough of your wrong opinion. Centurions was awesome.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Sounds like The Centurions!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centurions_(TV_series)

And here I thought only I remembered.

It does sound like centurions, watched some of it in the 90s on CN reruns, what a horrible show. I'm sorry you had to re-remember such a show.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bJhlHdIwL._AC_SY445_.jpg

Holy $hit, that's it! Finally... this has been bugging me for about 20 years.

And... wow. That's some extremely dated stuff right there. :tlol:

When I explained my dilemma to the wife, she told me if I DID find it, it would probably suck. Dammit, she was right. :tlol:

[turtle1237]

There were better shows like Galaxy Rangers or He-man on Tv.

[ZariusTwo]

Dammit, she was right. :tlol:

She isn't. I still watch this show to this day. Still great. I'd watch it over s*ite like Steven Universe anyday

[Voltron]

This show kicked all the ass. I wish they'd make a new one.

[Leo656]

I had a little electronic toy pinball machine of The Centurions. I remember that more than the show, but I do remember liking the show.

Back then I pretty much watched everything, so a lot of it blurs together. Like SilverHawks. I remember watching it. I just don't remember much about it.

[ZariusTwo]

I had a little electronic toy pinball machine of The Centurions. I remember that more than the show, but I do remember liking the show.

Back then I pretty much watched everything, so a lot of it blurs together. Like SilverHawks. I remember watching it. I just don't remember much about it.

As a kid, I had a VHS of the first two episodes and I wore the sucker out throughout the 90s. Then Boomerange UK screened ten or so episodes on a loop in reruns around 2000/2001, I remember enjoying one so much I wound up taping it TWICE...on the SAME tape.:lol:

The plots were absurd, but you didn't care when the action was so good. A lot of premiere league comic book talent also worked on the show, the episode where they ripped off 'Alien' is worth tracking down

[Mayhem]

And yet no one has said "POWER EXTREME-TREME-TREME-TREME-TREME!!!" :lol:

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Man and machine!

POWER EXTREME.

Oof. Loved it as a kid, but this is one of those rare times when I allow myself a little nostalgia... only to have it backfire. :tlol:

At least I now know what it even was! $hit's been haunting me off and on for over 20 years...

[Leo656]

I'm rather the opposite, in that I knew I liked "The Centurions" as a kid but couldn't remember a damn thing about it other than "Guys in colored armor suits". :lol:

[turtle1237]

Some shows survive the test of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Se_cC4nvx8

And others look pretty cheesey.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIajdXHRmJ4

[ZariusTwo]

The show was produced by Ruby-Spears. One half of that partnership, legendary animator Joe Ruby, has died:(

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/joe-ruby-dies-dead-scooby-doo-1234750948/

[Leo656]

D'oh.

Ruby-Spears produced a short-lived Superman animated series which was quite good for its time. Sort of a forgotten gem among fans because it had a very brief run and thus was never syndicated nor released commercially until about 10 years ago.
o3Jaegvf3Dc

[turtle1237]

D'oh.

Ruby-Spears produced a short-lived Superman animated series which was quite good for its time. Sort of a forgotten gem among fans because it had a very brief run and thus was never syndicated nor released commercially until about 10 years ago.
o3Jaegvf3Dc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSZeYzQbZyE

Yeah Wonder Woman was showing a LOT of butt cheeks in that show lol.

[Leo656]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSZeYzQbZyE

Yeah Wonder Woman was showing a LOT of butt cheeks in that show lol.

I'm not sure if that's spoken as a complaint but it damn well better not be. :lol:

I forget the story, but i think Gil Kane was actually a storyboard artist or a consultant or something on that show.

[turtle1237]

I'm not sure if that's spoken as a complaint but it damn well better not be. :lol:

No complaints from me, but there were scenes were will her cheeks were sticking out of her Star Spangle undies(I guess that's what they are??)

Almost look like a thong.

[Leo656]

That just means the show was ahead of the curve! The Wonder-Thong wouldn't be in-comics canon until around 1993! :lol: Points to Ruby-Spears for raising the bar.

Jokes aside, quaint as it is nowadays you can see it was a cut ahead of several other Saturday morning shows of its specific time (that being in the animation window post-Super Friends, and pre-Batman:TAS). Little things like how much movement there is in the animation. The entire reason it didn't get renewed was because between the license and the animation it was just too expensive to make it.

[turtle1237]

That just means the show was ahead of the curve! The Wonder-Thing wouldn't be in-comics canon until round 1993! :lol: Points to Ruby-Spears for raising the bar.

Jokes aside, quaint as it is nowadays you can see it was a cut ahead of several other Saturday morning shows of its specific time (that being in the animation window post-Super Friends, and pre-Batman:TAS). Little things like how much movement there is in the animation. The entire reason it didn't get renewed was because between the license and the animation it was just too expensive to make it.

Yeah I loved the show as a kid, and the cartoon was a cut ahead animation wise
over most cartoons. If you look at the 1970's Super Friends vs the 88 Superman show, you can see a major jump in animation. No longer were they just standing there like cardboards, but movement and action. It was great.

[Leo656]

Yeah, real pity it didn't get a better run, but them's the breaks. As it is, despite being a huge Superman fan I believe I only saw this twice at the most when it was new. I think it had a rather early time slot and that didn't help much, either.

Saturday morning cartoons that aired around 10am seemed to hit the mark most often; some kids like me were late-risers. I think Superman was on at like 8 or 9am, something like that. I always wanted to watch it but I always just missed it. I figured I'd just catch it in re-runs, but lo and behold, they never re-ran it.

At least they finally put it out on DVD, that was a huge deal for me.

[turtle1237]

Yeah, real pity it didn't get a better run, but them's the breaks. As it is, despite being a huge Superman fan I believe I only saw this twice at the most when it was new. I think it had a rather early time slot and that didn't help much, either.

Saturday morning cartoons that aired around 10am seemed to hit the mark most often; some kids like me were late-risers. I think Superman was on at like 8 or 9am, something like that. I always wanted to watch it but I always just missed it. I figured I'd just catch it in re-runs, but lo and behold, they never re-ran it.

At least they finally put it out on DVD, that was a huge deal for me.

I am more of a Batman fan, so I have my order of were I rank all Batman cartoons outside of Superhero teams ups of the Justice League(Ie no super Friends, No JL ete)

But just on Superman alone, his cartoons, from the 1940's Fleischer cartoons, to Superman of the 90's and up. Were do you rank this series as regards to the Superman legend? Over STAS? Under? I also think Fleischer had the best Superman cartoons, but that just me lol.

[Leo656]

That's a really tough question and I'd have to think on it. Like Superman TAS was altogether an objectively better show for multiple reasons, but on a personal level I prefer This Type of art style over That Type of art style. So it'd be a tough call.

Fleischer's animation was by far the slickest with the best combination of fluidity AND detail, whereas TAS went for being very fluid but very sparse on detail as was the rest of the Timm-Verse. Ruby-Spears is a bit stiff compared to the others but I feel credit has to be given for trying very, very hard to mimic the exact art style of the comics from that era, something no super-hero cartoon had ever managed before and wouldn't happen again until X-Men, I think.

They all excel at different things and I have my own personal criteria as well, so it wouldn't be as easy for me to figure out a ranking as it might be for someone else.

[ssjup81]

Sounds like The Centurions!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centurions_(TV_series)

And here I thought only I remembered.You beat me to it! I was thinking this as well. Darn my slowness lately. lol

That aside, I feel like the only person in the world who wasn't big on shows like Superman TAS. It was only so-so for me and I would watch sometimes, but not often. I was more into Batman TAS. I also liked the Fleischer Superman cartoons. Nice animation, but the Fleischers always had nicely animated stuff.

[sdp]

They look like the Visionaries, another awful 80s cartoon (https://miscrave.com/articles/visionaries/), mustaches make most heroes look like dorks, only a few can rock it.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/xo3Mai-iP5rT0P04AHKKJcF9ZZOrZd97a4n5tOP5XVNcQOWTQwLr03Mir ReVk3ge5ZtLAk4kyfCmtSAPGukkCKWy4ybtgkowuB3GtugXIra QE9Qd3lbGU_MX_A

[ZariusTwo]

They look like the Visionaries, another awful 80s cartoon

Visionaries wasn't awful either.

You beat me to it! I was thinking this as well. Darn my slowness lately. lol

That aside, I feel like the only person in the world who wasn't big on shows like Superman TAS. It was only so-so for me and I would watch sometimes, but not often. I was more into Batman TAS. I also liked the Fleischer Superman cartoons. Nice animation, but the Fleischers always had nicely animated stuff.

Superman TAS didn't do half as much with it's premise as it should have. It had interesting moments, great takes on characters like Lana, and it's Darksied is amazing...but very little of it clicked with me.

I loved Lois and Clark's dynamic, but Lois should have at least revealed she knew who Clark was at the end of the series finale before she got romantic with Supes.

My headcanon is Lois knew it was Clark after he jokingly confessed to it in one episode.

[Leo656]

The part you Deleted was relevant, even if it falls on deaf ears. :lol: Which it undoubtedly would in this place, but still, it bears stating.

But yeah, the "Things before my time which were made in an age where standards were different no longer have any intrinsic value simply because things have evolved since then" craze doesn't do anyone who jumps on it any favors. It doesn't make them look in any way sophisticated, rather it just makes them look joyless and unable to appreciate things for what they are.

...There definitely WERE some bad cartoons in the 80s, and even the better ones were heavily flawed, but the "Actually, ____ is unwatchable now" thing has already worn out its welcome. As you said, it's like two decades deep already. Those same people aren't gonna take it well If/When the next generation comes for Batman: TAS and the rest of their "sacred cows". It ain't gonna be pretty. :lol:

Anyone of any era can put on their "Looking Back With A Modern Lens" glasses and say the stuff that came before was all crap. And you're technically always "correct" because things do evolve. But it doesn't make you smart, hip, or cool to be That Guy. It just exposes you as a person who gets off on popping other peoples' balloons.
--------------

I really like Superman: TAS but it was obvious that it wasn't made with the same affection that the Batman show was. The Batman show got to "flex" a lot more and a lot of the Superman episodes are forgettable. Hardly any Lois/Clark relationship dynamic at all, she's literally just someone he works with and nothing more. It was kinda obvious to me even then that the creatives always only really had their hearts into doing Batman, and only did a Superman show because there was a certain demand and expectation for it, but it was almost like they were "forced" into it and thus never delivered their best effort.

He also wasn't always treated very well in the JL/JLU shows, either. It's very clear to me that the showrunners were always "Batman People" who simply weren't all that interested in Superman, but they included him in things because they "had to". The results speak for themselves. That entire "universe" is Batman-centric and the Superman material was never given half as much love on the development side. It wasn't a complete lack of care, goodness knows... but you can see a certain lack of enthusiasm compared to the Batman stuff they did.

Like, even look at the intros for the Batman and Superman cartoons. By comparison, the Superman intro is good but merely "functional", whereas the Batman intro is iconic. They could've done something to that same level with Superman, they just didn't care to. That sets the tone for everything else. "This is Fine, but it falls a bit short of its potential because the people making it would rather be doing something else." You're never gonna get a GREAT result, that way.

It always, ALWAYS felt to me, that with both the solo show and Superman's inclusion in the Justice League cartoons, that all of his stuff was a bit more subdued on purpose so as to never, ever overshadow the Batman stuff. Not that it was "Half-assed", but... well like a wrestling promoter, "We'll let you get over, just not MORE over than the guy we like better than you." I mean it's all right there if you go back and look at it.

[ZariusTwo]

The part you Deleted was relevant, even if it falls on deaf ears. :lol: Which it undoubtedly would in this place, but still, it bears stating.

But yeah, the "Things before my time which were made in an age where standards were different no longer have any intrinsic value simply because things have evolved since then" craze doesn't do anyone who jumps on it any favors. It doesn't make them look in any way sophisticated, rather it just makes them look joyless and unable to appreciate things for what they are.

...There definitely WERE some bad cartoons in the 80s, and even the better ones were heavily flawed, but the "Actually, ____ is unwatchable now" thing has already worn out its welcome. As you said, it's like two decades deep already. Those same people aren't gonna take it well If/When the next generation comes for Batman: TAS and the rest of their "sacred cows". It ain't gonna be pretty. :lol:

I shouldn't have deleted that...guess I was kind of dreading the backlash, backbone sorely required;), glad you caught it and backed me all the same brother, cheers.

I did try to go after Batman: TAS once upon a time, but then I rewatched it and it really does continue to earn it's stripes...well, the first series anyway. The New Batman Adventures remains f*cking terrible and is just a mean-spirited follow-up with lazier animation, and the expansion of it's mythology in Batman Beyond only makes it a harder watch to this day knowing all the misery the characters will eventually go through.

Anyone of any era can put on their "Looking Back With A Modern Lens" glasses and say the stuff that came before was all crap. And you're technically always "correct" because things do evolve. But it doesn't make you smart, hip, or cool to be That Guy. It just exposes you as a person who gets off on popping other peoples' balloons.

Exactly. People seem to do it because they hear the usual arguments, sometimes by the creators, that the shows only had commercial value, that they were there to 'sell toys', so they rewatch it having absorbed that perspective and their criticism and cynicism takes over, they believe they had been 'duped' at a young age to spend their energy and resources to fuel 'the machine' , all things they choose to rebel against as they get older, what you call 'popping the baloon' I interpret as them being resentful of their childhood being 'manipulated' and they they want to 'wake people up'.

I know what it's like to unplug from the Matrix, did so in 2010, but my enjoyment of those cartoons remains consistent and gaining perspective on their true nature back then did nothing to further my own disconnect, I still had a childhood and it was a thoroughly pleasant one. I will not look back on that with any degree of regret over what I spent it on.

Like, even look at the intros for the Batman and Superman cartoons. By comparison, the Superman intro is good but merely "functional", whereas the Batman intro is iconic. They could've done something to that same level with Superman, they just didn't care to. That sets the tone for everything else. "This is Fine, but it falls a bit short of its potential because the people making it would rather be doing something else." You're never gonna get a GREAT result, that way.

The Justice Leauge intro has a bit of an iconic feel to it, not quite as much as Batman: TAS but still had scope...then they got a bit lazier with JL Unlimited (even if it had the best theme of the two) and inserted clips of the episodes in between all the shots of the heroes.

Supes in JL/JLU was almost invisible., he's dating Lois as Supes, but that is just an extended cameo from her and then there's nothing much else seen from his front. They were more interested in furthering Diana and Bruce's relationship, which we knew was a dead end anyway.

[Leo656]

Yeah, it's like when people try and "critique" MOTU with their "hot takes" about all the recycled animation like we were all too dumb to notice back then. :lol: We noticed just fine, it was part of the show's charm and we looked forward to seeing those bits. It was like a "signature" thing. People sometimes forget or dismiss that these shows were 100% aimed at children and children adore mindless repetition more than air. Thus why "cheap" shows like Filmation's output were so beloved back then. We knew exactly what we were going to get, and we liked it, and we looked forward to it. They weren't "conning" anyone and we weren't "too dumb or naive to notice".

The only REAL disappointment for me in all of 1980s animation, is the unfortunate discovery that Lion-O is practically useless. :ohwell: He looks like such a bad-ass in that intro! But in the show itself he's a helpless putz who can't do anything without needing to be rescued every five minutes. Very upsetting. The show as a whole isn't AS good as people remember, I think, but I think it's still fine by the standards of its day. I just think HE sucks and that's a shame because he's still my favorite character on it. :lol: It's just... well, there's no getting around it, he's a chump. :trazz:

But yeah, the 80s stuff was mostly fine/par for the course. Obviously it's not gonna "hold up" compared to the razzle-dazzle CGI-infused "modern" things but that's not entirely fair anyway. It's like comparing stuff the Misfits recorded in their garage back in 1980 to the stuff they recorded in the 90s/2000s with Michale Graves or Jerry in charge which was done in a modern, "professional" studio; production quality shot way, way up over the years so obviously the newer stuff is more polished and easy to swallow. But are the songs "better"? Eh, that's a conversation. Same thing, different medium.

There's Good and Bad in every era and if you try and apply anything from the past to a modern standard it's gonna fall short. You simply need to grade on a curve. Even "Jaws" is "dated". You couldn't make that movie nowadays, you'd need to spend $100 million on a CGI shark and have all kinds of close-ups of people being eaten from inside the shark's mouth and sh*t and a kill scene every 6 minutes or they wouldn't even bother making it. It's also very "slow, talky and boring" by modern standards and I've definitely seen a bubbling of backlash against that movie in recent years from people who expect that a movie about a giant shark eating people HAS to be a thrill ride or there's no point in its existence.

But is "Sharknado" a better movie than "Jaws", just because "Jaws" is "dated", limited by the technology of its era, and "Sharknado" is shinier, glossier, and appeals to a modern sensibility about "what those kinds of movies should be?" C'mon. That's ridiculous.

You HAVE to grade on a curve. Not everything Old is Junk by default and not everything New is automatically Good.
-------------

Yeah, I never really liked New Batman Adventures. As for Beyond, simply never cared. I'm sure it's fine, it's just... to me, Bruce is Batman. Take him out of the suit and I'm really not very interested anymore at all. Same with a potential Superman series where it's Clark's son, or "He-Ro: Son of He-Man" centered upon Dare rather than Adam. Could be fine for what it is, but those aren't the versions of the characters I'm interested in, and selfishly I'd always rather have more of what I already like, so I'm not as invested. I don't necessarily need "new" things. I always feel like there's a lot of untapped potential in the "old" yet, so the spin-offs always feel like a waste of resources. But that's me. I don't expect anyone to necessarily agree.

I really liked JL/JLU for opening up the animated DC Universe as much as they did. But I admit I was always less enthused with how they treated my favorite character. I get it, "He's too powerful, we need to give everyone else stuff to do", but I'unno. The comics generally make it work. Kinda, sometimes. :lol: It's a tough nut to crack and the downside of being a Superman fan; you can't really see him in any kind of ensemble unless he's being made to look weak in order to put the other guys over, which in turn defeats the point of him even being there. :ohwell:

I confess, I wouldn't jump at the chance to be the writer to hack that problem. We can't all be Morrison or Jurgens, arguably the only two guys to ever pull that particular balancing act off with any kind of grace. And Jurgens (and by extension Superman) only had a short run with the League in that specific era, anyways. That was a shame. He had a good roster of characters and was great at juggling the dynamic, but then the Death of Superman storyline kind of derailed it all just as it was falling into place.

One of my all-time favorite versions of the JLA, though, brief as it was. The world needs more Superman/Guy Gardner detente. :lol: That was always so much fun to watch.