Secret Galaxy

ENTERTECH was a fairly short-lived brand of water guns but also a division responsible form laser toy guns and paint ball guns. All this in a time where there were a number of incidents of police violence against people carrying these and other realistic toy guns. It was not a great time to be ENTERTECH, even with a RAMBO license.

From Quantum Leap to Mystery Science Theater 3000. From Red Dwarf to Knight Rider to ALF. How do the science fiction series of the 1980's rank? We asked the best people we knew, followers on Patreon and YouTube channel Members to tell us which ones were the best.

In the 1930's Disney acquired the rights to adapt the book "The Sword in the Stone" then spent the following 25 plus years trying to get it made.

The POG fad was so white hot and so brief we rarely see anything like it. It went from Hawaiian schoolyards to world domination to dead in less than 3 years. But where did it come from? How did it start? And what does fruit juice have to do with it?

Contrary to what anyone might think, Marvel vs. Capcom did NOT start with Marvel vs. Capcom. There were many games considered part of the franchise that came before it. And then the formula was applied to different combinations when Capcom lost the Marvel license (more than once).

Voyagers! on NBC faced an uphill battle from the get-go, scheduled opposite the top rated show on television as counter-programming. It's ratings were not great but it still looked like a 2nd season was going to happen until the World Series wrecked it all. Just a few short years later, a tragic accident would color VOYAGERS! legacy for the rest of time.

Power Rangers had already been on a few years and it seemed that kids were getting fatigued on it after a few seasons and 2 movies. Time to wrap it up! Not so fast said Power Rangers in Space that proved the franchise still had some life left in it.

ALIEN NATION started as a film, a thinly veiled allegory for the immigrant experience in the US, but eventually became a TV series on the fledgling FOX network. Leaning even harder into the politics of the time, ALIEN NATION: The Series cultivated a passionate fanbase just in time to get cancelled. Then uncancelled. Then cancelled again. Then uncancelled again. It was a whole thing.

The Smurfs took the merchandising world by storm and everyone wanted to get in on the action, including one of the people instrumental in getting the Smurfs on the air in the United States. When it wasn't enough, he created THE SNORKS and tried to organize a Snorks merchandise blitz similar to the Smurfs.

Friday the 13th started as a very popular series of slasher movies where Jason Voorhees stalked teenagers through the woods and somehow morphed into Friday the 13th: The Series in 1987, a show that had nothing to do with the series of films. But just like the Friday the 13th movies, Friday the 13th the series had it's own share of controversy and problems.

With Double Dare and all it's spin-offs proving there was a market for game shows aimed at kids, Nickelodeon created Legends of the Hidden Temple while also building and moving into Nickelodeon Studios. Good times that wouldn't last...

Who knew that the history of Stretch Armstrong would contain things like bribery and the theft of trade secrets along with a lawsuit between 2 of the biggest names in toys at the time? Well it does.

RED DWARF started in the late 80's in the UK and broadcast on BBC 2 but in the United States most people at that time were aware of RED DWARF because of PBS stations around the country. As with a lot of science fiction shows, RED DWARF has grown a loyal fan base over the years, so much so that at one point it was thought there could be an American version of RED DWARF. That didn't work out...

Before Smallville there was Superboy (1988), a show that ran in syndication for 4 seasons and 100 episodes featuring 2 different Superboys and 2 completely different Lex Luthors that was made by the same team that made the Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve.

The 1980's were marked with forgotten toy commercials disguised as cartoons and bizarre syndicated experiments almost lost to time, so we’re diving deep into the most obscure animated series of the 1980s. From cult favorites like Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors and Galaxy Rangers to strange relics like Rubik, the Amazing Cube and Turbo Teen, this iceberg explores the weirdest corners of 80s animation history.

In 1977 STAR WARS changed the pop culture landscape and everyone was scrambling to find the NEXT Star Wars, including Disney. They took the BLACK HOLE script, which had been in development for awhile, for a long while, and fast-tracked it. Disney would now have their own STAR WARS in THE BLACK HOLE.

Barnyard Commandos were the result of a very talented artist and extremely fortuitous timing. Despite a budget and a the buzz from Toy Fair, however, Barnyard Commandos failed to connect. Add on a partially lost animated series and a Barnyard Commandos Burger King promo.

The Adventures of the Gummi Bears came along at a weird time in Disney's history, after they tried to go more adult and after they were almost bought out. And it was a gamble, Disney had never attempted anything like The Adventures of the Gummi Bears before.

The Princess Bride started life as a 1973 novel written by William Goldman and was almost immediately tagged as a potential film. What should've been fairly straightforward, adapting The Princess Bride novel for the screen, instead was an arduous decade long process. And no one could've predicted what would happen after. Well, except for Barry Diller.

The Tick is a big blue superhero and comic book series created by a high school student in New England. The Tick has also had 3 different adaptations on TV including a cartoon that aired on FOX KIDS. While the TIC was kind of thought of as having the potential to be the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it didn't quite work out that way. And that's just fine.

On the way up to becoming the #1 network on TV, NBC thought they scored a surefire hit with Steven Spielberg, the hottest filmmaker on the planet. Instead, AMAZING STORIES turned into an ultra expensive failure, one of the biggest in the history of TV.

In the early 1889's a number of comic book artists broke from MARVEL to form their own company. One of them was ROB LIEFELD and his first title for the new company was called YOUNGBLOOD. There was promise of YOUNGBLOOD action figures and a cartoon but it was a property that instead descended into years of legal wrangling, lawsuits and rights issues. We did our best to sort it out until, suddenly, we didn't have to...

Garfield, the lazy orange cat, was extremely popular. After debuting in newspapers across the country Garfield became a phenomenon. It was only a matter of time before movies and TV came calling. What started as a series of specials on CBS in the early 80's eventual turned into GARFIELD & FRIENDS. Pairing Garfield with another comic US Acres was a good idea but US Acres now is barely a blip in history.

The 1980's were marked with forgotten toy commercials disguised as cartoons and bizarre syndicated experiments almost lost to time, so we’re diving deep into the most obscure animated series of the 1980s. This is the deepest depths of obscure 80's cartoons like Wolf Rock TV, Bionic Six, Mighty Orbots, Maxie's World, Lazer Tag Academy and more! How many of these do you actually remember?