Saturday Supercade (partially lost Ruby-Spears animated series; 1983-1985): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Supercade.jpg|thumb|354x354px]]
{{InfoboxLost
'''Saturday Supercade''' is an hour long cartoon series that
|title=<center>Saturday Supercade</center>
premiered on CBS on September 17, 1983. It is a compilation show of various cartoon shorts based off popular video games at the time. Because of all the various copyright issues involving each of the video games this show is based off of, the show has not reaired since CBS last aired it on August 24, 1985, with the exception of the Space Ace shorts which aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang on various occasions. The rest of the show became lost, and for a while, very little of the show became available on the internet.
|image=Supercade.jpg
|imagecaption=Title card.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
'''''Saturday Supercade''''' is an hour-long cartoon series that premiered on CBS on September 17th, 1983. It is a compilation show of various cartoon shorts based on popular video games at the time. Because of all the various copyright issues involving each of the video games this show is based on, the show has not reaired since CBS last aired it on August 24th, 1985, with the exception of the ''Space Ace'' shorts which aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang on various occasions. The rest of the show became lost, and for a while, very little of the show became available on the internet.


Many tape trading sites have been trading and selling two full episodes, and were the only two episodes fans had access to before we started seeing more of the show posted on the internet. One of the tapes were a full CBS Saturday Morning block from April 1984, and was uploaded on Myspleen and other torrent sites around 2005. The Saturday Supercade episode included Spaced-Out Frogs (Frogger), Gorilla My Dreams (Donkey Kong), Crazy Camp Creature (Q-bert), and The Teddy Bear Scare (Donkey Kong Jr.). It was, for a while, the only full episode of Saturday Supercade to be posted on the internet.
==Initial Findings==
Many tape trading sites have been trading and selling two full episodes, and were the only two episodes fans had access to before we started seeing more of the show posted on the internet. One of the tapes was a full CBS Saturday Morning block from April 1984 and was uploaded to Myspleen and other torrent sites around 2005. The ''Saturday Supercade'' episode included "Spaced-Out Frogs" (''Frogger''), "Gorilla My Dreams" (''Donkey Kong''), "Crazy Camp Creature" (''Q-bert''), and "The Teddy Bear Scare" (''Donkey Kong Jr.''). It was, for a while, the only full episode of ''Saturday Supercade'' to be posted on the internet.


Some viewers had access to the second tape. Unlike the first tape, this one doesn't contain the original commercials. It wasn't posted on the internet until much later. The cartoon episodes included were "Hyrdofoil & Seek" (''Frogger''), "Mississippi Madness" (''Donkey Kong''), "Masked Menace Mess" (''Pitfall''), and "Sheep Rustle Hustle" (''Donkey Kong Jr.''). The ending of the ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' episode was cut off as the tape transitioned into the ''Pac-Man'' cartoon. Also, the included ''Pitfall'' episode is still, to this day, the only ''Pitfall'' episode available.


Some viewers had access to the second tape. Unlike the first tape, this one doesn't contain the original commercials. It wasn't posted on the internet until much later. The cartoon episodes included were Hyrdofoil & Seek (Frogger), Mississippi Madness (Donkey Kong), Masked Menace Mess (Pitfall), and Sheep Rustle Hustle (Donkey Kong Jr). The ending of the Dkjr episode was cut off as the tape transitioned into the Pac-man cartoon. Also, the included Pitfall episode is still, to this day, the only Pitfall episode available.
==Redistribution==
Eventually, at sometime around 2008 or so, an eBay seller was selling 16mm film copies that contained episodes of ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Donkey Kong Jr.'', The film copies were purchased by a cartoon collector, and the films were transferred to a bootleg DVD, of which, it was being sold on sites like iOffer. It is unknown where the main source of the films came from, but it featured a different set of credits that weren't shown during its CBS run and were distributed by MCA TV... possibly an attempt at trying to show the cartoons in syndication. These films also remedied the missing ending to "Sheep Rustle Hustle". The ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' episodes were later posted on Youtube.


Around 2008, Crackle posted some Minisodes of most of the ''Q-bert'' episodes. This implies that Sony owns the rights to the ''Q-bert'' segments, which would make sense as Gottlieb, the developers of ''Q-bert'', is owned by Sony. They have shortened versions of the ''Q-bert'' cartoons and not the full episodes. There's still very little of the full versions on Youtube.


Eventually, at sometime around 2008 or so, an Ebay seller was selling 16mm film copies that contained episodes of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. The film copies were purchased by a cartoon collector, and the films were transferred to a
Youtube did eventually start to get a little bit more of the show. Unfortunately, some users, such as mlsgrant, were uploading incomplete episodes leading the rest of the episode unavailable. The advent of Youtube, did, however, lead to Season 2 intros being posted for the first time. Clips from Kangaroo were posted, but we only got two incomplete episodes. There is still not a single full Kangaroo episode posted to this day. Even though there are some users that are holding full episodes in their archive, we're not likely going to see too much of the full show until we see it become commercially available.
bootleg DVD, of which, it was being sold on sites like iOffer. It is unknown where the main source of the films came from, but it featured a different set of credits that wasn't shown during it's CBS run, and were distributed by MCA TV... possibly an attempt at trying to show
the cartoons in syndication. These films also remedied the missing ending to Sheep Rustle Hustle. The DK and Dkjr episodes were later posted on Youtube.


[[File:1983 CBS Saturday Morning Preview Special (4 11) Donkey Kong Jr., Frogger, & Qbert|thumb|right|355 px|Featuring clips from unsurfaced episodes of Donkey Kong Jr. and Frogger]]
In 2010, Warner Archive announced that they might release ''Saturday Supercade'' on DVD, but nothing has come out of it since. Most likely, because of all the copyright issues with the individual video game characters. Not to mention Sony seems to own the rights to the ''Q-bert'' segments going by the Minisodes.
==Episodes==
===Frogger===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|The Ms. Fortune Story
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|2       
|Spaced Out Frogs
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|3
|The Who-Took-Toadwalker Story
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|4
|Hydrofoil & Seek
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|5
|The Great Scuba Scoop
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|6
|The Headline Hunters
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|7
|The Legs Croaker Story
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|8
|The Blackboard Bungle
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|9
|Good Knight Frogger
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|10
|Fake Me Out to the Ball Game
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|11
|I Remember Mummy
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|12
|Hare Today, Pawned Tomorrow
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|13
|Hop-Along Frogger
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|}
===Donkey Kong===
A decent amount of episodes are made available thanks to some 16mm film prints containing episodes of ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' These episodes were sold on a bootleg DVD shortly afterward.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Mississippi Madness
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|2       
|Gorilla Gangster
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|3
|Banana Bikers
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|4
|The Incredible Shrinking Ape
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|5
|Movie Mania
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|6
|Gorilla My Dreams
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|7
|Little Orphan Apey
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|8
|Circus Daze
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|9
|The Great Ape Escape
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|10
|Apey and the Snowbeast
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|11
|How Much is That Gorilla in the Window?
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|12
|Private Donkey Kong
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|13
|Get Along Little Apey
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|14
|Sir Donkey Kong
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|15
|The Pale Whale
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|16
|El Donkey Kong
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|17
|New Wave Ape
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|18
|Greenhouse Gorilla
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|19
|Hairy Parent
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|}
===Q-bert===
In 2008, Sony posted Minisodes of ''Q-bert'' online. Minisodes are shortened 5-minute versions of each episode. Unfortunately, Sony never uploaded or release any of the full versions of the ''Q-bert'' episodes. Because of this, most of the Minisodes are the only versions of the episodes available. Very little of the full episodes have surfaced online. A few incomplete complete copies of the full versions were actually uploaded online. Minisode/Incomplete indicates that both the Minisode version and an incomplete copy of the full episode has surfaced. On November 3rd, 2015 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a DVD set on Amazon as part of the Manufactured On Demand service. The episodes available on the DVD set are noted below. "Q*Beat It" and "Game Show Woe" are notably absent potentially due to copyright issues.


Around 2008, Crackle posted some Minisodes of most of the Q-bert episodes. This implies that Sony owns the rights to the Q-bert segments, which would make sense as Gottlieb, the developers of Q-bert, is owned by Sony. They were shortened versions of the Q-bert cartoons, and not the full episodes. There's still very little of the full versions on Youtube.
On December 31st, 2020, YouTube user [https://www.youtube.com/user/DangerousVHS2 DangerousVHS2] uploaded the full version of Q*Beat it from a CTV recording on YouTube, making it completely found once, & for all.


Youtube did eventually start to get a little bit more of the show. Unfortunately, some users, such as mlsgrant, were uploading incomplete episodes leading the rest of the episode unavailable. The advent of Youtube, did however, lead to Season 2 intros being posted for the first time. Clips from Kangaroo were posted, but we only got two incomplete episodes. There is still not a single full Kangaroo episode posted to this day. Even though there are some users that are holding full episodes in their archive, we're not likely going to see too much of the full show until we see it become commercially available.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Disc Derby Fiasco
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|2       
|The Great Q-Tee Contest
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|3
|Q*Bowl Rigamarole
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|4
|Crazy Camp Creature
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|5
|Thanksgiving for the Memories
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|6
|Dog Day Dilemma
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|7
|Take Me Out to the Q*Game 
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|8
|Noser P.I.
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|9
|Hook, Line, and Mermaid
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|10
|Q*Historic Days
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|11
|Q*bert's Monster Mix-Up
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|12
|Game Show Woe
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|13
|The Wacky Q*Bot
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|14
|Q*Beat It
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTTcfwj-HG4 <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]
|-
|15
|Q*Urf's Up
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|16
|Little Green Nosers
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|17
|Rebel Without a Q*Ause
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|18
|Looking For Miss Q*Right 
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|-
|19
|The Goofy Ghostgetters
|<span style="color:green;">'''On DVD'''</span>
|}
===Donkey Kong Jr.===
This is perhaps the most complete ''Saturday Supercade'' segment available thanks to the 16mm ''Donkey Kong'' prints.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Trucknapper Caper
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|2       
|Sheep Rustle Hustle
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|3
|Rocky Mountain Monkey Business
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|4
|Magnificent 7-Year-Olds
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|5
|The Ventriloquist Caper
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|6
|The Great Seal Steal
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|7
|The Jungle Boy Ploy
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|8
|Junior Meets Kid Dynamo
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|9
|Amazing Rollerskate Race
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|10
|A Christmas Story
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|11
|Gorilla Ghost
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|12
|Teddy Bear Scare
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|13
|Double or Nothing
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|}
===Pitfall===
Next, to Kangaroo, this is the rarest of all the ''Saturday Supercade'' segments due to its very short run.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Pitfall's Panda Puzzle
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|2      
|Amazon Jungle Bungle
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|3
|Raiders of the Lost Shark
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|4
|Tibetan Treasure Trouble 
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|5
|Masked Menace Mess
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|6
|The Sabretooth Goof
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|7
|The Pyramid Panic
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|}
===Space Ace===
This is the only ''Saturday Supercade'' segment to have all its episodes fully available. This is thanks to Boomerang showing reruns on occasion.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Cute Groots
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|2       
|Cosmic Camp Catastrophe
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|3
|Dangerous Decoy
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|4
|Moon Missile Madness
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|5
|Perilous Partner
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|6
|Frozen in Fear
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|7
|Age Ray Riot
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|8
|Wanted: Dexter!
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|9
|Phantom Shuttle
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|10
|Spoiled Sports
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|11
|Calamity Kimmie
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|12
|Three-Ring Rampage
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|13
|Infanto Fury
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|}
===Kangaroo===
Kangaroo is up there as another one of the rarest ''Saturday Supercade'' segments out there. Although a few incomplete episodes were uploaded online, only two full episodes have surfaced as of June 2015.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Episode Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status
|-
|1
|Trunkfull of Trouble
|<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
|-
|2       
|Zoo for Hire
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|3
|Bat's Incredible
|<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
|-
|4
|The White Squirrel of Dover
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|5
|The Birthday Party
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|6
|Having a Ball
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|7
|The Tail of the Cowardly Lion
|<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|-
|8
|It's Carnival Time
|<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
|-
|9
|Lost and Found
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|10
|Joey and the Beanstalk
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|11
|Zoo's Who
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|12
|The Egg and Us
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|-
|13
|The Runaway Panda
|<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|}
<ref>[https://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/R/Ruby-Spears_Productions/Saturday_Supercade/ Big Cartoon Database episode page for ''Saturday Supercade''.] Retrieved 22 Jan '21</ref>
==Updates==
On June 14th, 2015, Myspleen user TonyLoccsta uploaded a CBS broadcast torrent from January 19th, 1985, which contains a full ''Saturday Supercade'' episode. The Kangaroo episode contained in that broadcast ("The Tail of the Cowardly Lion") has been resurfaced for the first time.


In 2010, Warner Archive announced that they might release Saturday Supercade on DVD, but nothing has come out of it since. Most likely, because of all the copyright issues with the individual video game characters. Not to mention Sony seems to own the rights to the Q-bert segments going by the Minisodes.
On October 3rd, 2015, YouTube user, NintendoWizard22 uploaded the full version of the ''Q-Bert'' episode, "Dog Day Dilemma".


Also, another user on the Wikia page apparently has a copy of the ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' short, "Trucknapper Caper".


== Episodes ==
On September 1st, 2017, YouTube user [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOXvfoAZZJhmDZw0boGkSYA Cabbusses's Retro Obscurities] uploaded a full broadcast torrent of the first-ever broadcast of ''Saturday Supercade'' that features many lost episodes. The episodes contained in this torrent are ''Frogger'' "The Ms. Fortune Story", ''Donkey Kong'' "Mississippi Madness" (in better quality), ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' "Trucknapper Caper", and ''Pitfall'' "Raiders of the Lost Shark".
Bold indicates the full episode is available. Italics means an incomplete copy has surfaced but not the full episode.


=== Frogger ===
==Videos==
# The Ms. Fortune Story
{{Video|perrow  =3
# '''Spaced Out Frogs'''
  |service1    =youtube
# The Who-Took-Toadwalker Story
  |id1          =8tjnIKCHnW0
# '''Hydrofoil & Seek'''
  |description1 =The opening/closing credits and theme for ''Saturday Supercade''.
# The Great Scuba Scoop 
  |service2    =youtube
# The Headline Hunters 
  |id2          =b45uOx99ke0
# The Legs Croaker Story 
  |description2 =The first ever broadcast of ''Saturday Supercade''.
# ''The Blackboard Bungle''
  |service3    =youtube
# Good Knight, Frogger 
  |id3          =q9oVUgBqZ6Q
# Fake Me Out to the Ball Game
  |description3 =A 1983 CBS Saturday morning preview featuring clips from unsurfaced episodes of ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' and ''Frogger''.
# I Remember Mummy 
}}
# '''Here Today, Pawned Tomorrow'''
==External Links==
# ''Hop-Along Frogger''
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Supercade Wikipedia page on ''Saturday Supercade''.] Retrieved 22 Jan '21
*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085008/ IMDb page on ''Saturday Supercade''.] Retrieved 22 Jan '21
*[https://www.mariowiki.com/Saturday_Supercade Super Mario Wiki page on ''Saturday Supercade''.] Retrieved 22 Jan '21


=== Donkey Kong ===
==References==
A decent amount of episodes are made available thanks to some 16mm film prints containing episodes of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. These episodes were sold on a bootleg DVD shortly afterwards.
{{reflist}}
# '''Mississippi Madness'''
# '''Gorilla Gangster '''
# '''Banana Bikers '''
# '''The Incredible Shrinking Ape'''
# '''Movie Mania'''
# '''Gorilla My Dreams'''
# Little Orphan Apey 
# '''Circus Daze'''
# '''The Great Ape Escape'''
# Apey and the Snowbeast 
# '''How Much is That Gorilla in the Window?'''
# Private Donkey Kong 
# '''Get Along Little Apey'''
# Sir Donkey Kong 
# The Pale Whale
# '''El Donkey Kong'''
# '''New Wave Ape'''
# '''Greenhouse Gorilla'''
# '''Hairy Parent'''


=== Q-bert ===
[[Category:Lost animation]]
In 2008, Sony posted Minisodes of Q-bert online. Unfortunately, very little of the full episodes surfaced online.
[[Category:Lost TV]]
 
[[Category:Partially lost media]]
Underlined means a Minisode version was uploaded. Underline and italics means that both the Minisode version and an incomplete copy of the original surfaced online.
# '''Disc Derby Fiasco'''
# <u>The Great Q*Tee Contest</u>
# <u>Q*Bowl Rigamarole</u>
# '''Crazy Camp Creature'''
# <u>''Thanksgiving for the Memories''</u>
# <u>''Dog Day Dilemma''</u>
# Take Me Out to the Q*Game 
# <u>Noser P.I.</u>
# <u>Hook, Line, and Mermaid</u>
# <u>Q*Historic Days</u>
# <u>Q*bert's Monster Mix-Up</u>
# Game Shoe Woe 
# <u>The Wacky Q*Bot</u>
# ''Q*Beat It''
# <u>''Q*Urf's Up''</u>
# Little Green Noser
# Rebel Without a Q*Ause
# Looking For Miss Q*Right 
# The Goofy Ghostgetters 
 
=== Donkey Kong Jr. ===
This is perhaps the most complete Saturday Supercade segment available thanks to the 16mm Donkey Kong prints. Only four episodes remain missing.
# Trucknapper Caper 
# '''Sheep Rustle Hustle'''
# '''Rocky Mountain Monkey Business'''
# '''Magnificent 7-Year-Olds'''
# The Ventriloquist Caper 
# The Great Seal Steal
# The Jungle Boy Ploy
# '''Junior Meets Kid Dynamo'''
# '''Amazing Rollerskate Race'''
# '''A Christmas Story'''
# '''Gorilla Ghost'''
# '''Teddy Bear Scare'''
# '''Double or Nothing'''
 
=== Pitfall ===
Next to Kangaroo, this is the rarest of all the Saturday Supercade segments due to it's very short run.
# Pitfall's Panda Puzzle
# Amazon Jungle Bungle 
# Raiders of the Lost Shark 
# Tibetan Treasure Trouble 
# '''Masked Menace Mess'''
# The Sabretooth Goof 
# The Pyramid Panic 
 
=== Space Ace ===
This is the only Saturday Supercade segment to have all it's episodes fully available. This is thanks to Boomerang showing reruns on occasion.
# '''Cute Groots'''
# '''Cosmic Camp Catastrophe'''
# '''Dangerous Decoy'''
# '''Moon Missile Madness'''
# '''Perilous Partner'''
# '''Frozen in Fear'''
# '''Age Ray Riot'''
# '''Wanted: Dexter!'''
# '''Phantom Shuttle'''
# '''Spoiled Sports'''
# '''Calamity Kimmie'''
# '''Three-Ring Rampage'''
# '''Infanto Fury'''
 
=== Kangaroo ===
While there may be a full episode or two stashed in someone's collection of VHS tapes, there is still not a single complete episode posted online to this day.
# ''Trunkfull of Trouble''
# Zoo for Hire
# Bat's Incredible
# ''The White Squirrel of Dover''
# The Birthday Party
# Having a Ball 
# The Tail of the Cowardly Lion
# It's Carnival Time 
# Lost and Found
# Joey and the Beanstalk 
# Zoo's Who 
# The Egg and Us 
# The Runaway Panda 

Revision as of 19:42, 22 January 2021

Supercade.jpg

Title card.

Status: Partially Lost

Saturday Supercade is an hour-long cartoon series that premiered on CBS on September 17th, 1983. It is a compilation show of various cartoon shorts based on popular video games at the time. Because of all the various copyright issues involving each of the video games this show is based on, the show has not reaired since CBS last aired it on August 24th, 1985, with the exception of the Space Ace shorts which aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang on various occasions. The rest of the show became lost, and for a while, very little of the show became available on the internet.

Initial Findings

Many tape trading sites have been trading and selling two full episodes, and were the only two episodes fans had access to before we started seeing more of the show posted on the internet. One of the tapes was a full CBS Saturday Morning block from April 1984 and was uploaded to Myspleen and other torrent sites around 2005. The Saturday Supercade episode included "Spaced-Out Frogs" (Frogger), "Gorilla My Dreams" (Donkey Kong), "Crazy Camp Creature" (Q-bert), and "The Teddy Bear Scare" (Donkey Kong Jr.). It was, for a while, the only full episode of Saturday Supercade to be posted on the internet.

Some viewers had access to the second tape. Unlike the first tape, this one doesn't contain the original commercials. It wasn't posted on the internet until much later. The cartoon episodes included were "Hyrdofoil & Seek" (Frogger), "Mississippi Madness" (Donkey Kong), "Masked Menace Mess" (Pitfall), and "Sheep Rustle Hustle" (Donkey Kong Jr.). The ending of the Donkey Kong Jr. episode was cut off as the tape transitioned into the Pac-Man cartoon. Also, the included Pitfall episode is still, to this day, the only Pitfall episode available.

Redistribution

Eventually, at sometime around 2008 or so, an eBay seller was selling 16mm film copies that contained episodes of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., The film copies were purchased by a cartoon collector, and the films were transferred to a bootleg DVD, of which, it was being sold on sites like iOffer. It is unknown where the main source of the films came from, but it featured a different set of credits that weren't shown during its CBS run and were distributed by MCA TV... possibly an attempt at trying to show the cartoons in syndication. These films also remedied the missing ending to "Sheep Rustle Hustle". The Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. episodes were later posted on Youtube.

Around 2008, Crackle posted some Minisodes of most of the Q-bert episodes. This implies that Sony owns the rights to the Q-bert segments, which would make sense as Gottlieb, the developers of Q-bert, is owned by Sony. They have shortened versions of the Q-bert cartoons and not the full episodes. There's still very little of the full versions on Youtube.

Youtube did eventually start to get a little bit more of the show. Unfortunately, some users, such as mlsgrant, were uploading incomplete episodes leading the rest of the episode unavailable. The advent of Youtube, did, however, lead to Season 2 intros being posted for the first time. Clips from Kangaroo were posted, but we only got two incomplete episodes. There is still not a single full Kangaroo episode posted to this day. Even though there are some users that are holding full episodes in their archive, we're not likely going to see too much of the full show until we see it become commercially available.

In 2010, Warner Archive announced that they might release Saturday Supercade on DVD, but nothing has come out of it since. Most likely, because of all the copyright issues with the individual video game characters. Not to mention Sony seems to own the rights to the Q-bert segments going by the Minisodes.

Episodes

Frogger

# Episode Title Status
1 The Ms. Fortune Story Found
2 Spaced Out Frogs Found
3 The Who-Took-Toadwalker Story Lost
4 Hydrofoil & Seek Found
5 The Great Scuba Scoop Lost
6 The Headline Hunters Lost
7 The Legs Croaker Story Lost
8 The Blackboard Bungle Found
9 Good Knight Frogger Lost
10 Fake Me Out to the Ball Game Lost
11 I Remember Mummy Lost
12 Hare Today, Pawned Tomorrow Found
13 Hop-Along Frogger Found

Donkey Kong

A decent amount of episodes are made available thanks to some 16mm film prints containing episodes of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. These episodes were sold on a bootleg DVD shortly afterward.

# Episode Title Status
1 Mississippi Madness Found
2 Gorilla Gangster Found
3 Banana Bikers Found
4 The Incredible Shrinking Ape Found
5 Movie Mania Found
6 Gorilla My Dreams Found
7 Little Orphan Apey Found
8 Circus Daze Found
9 The Great Ape Escape Found
10 Apey and the Snowbeast Found
11 How Much is That Gorilla in the Window? Found
12 Private Donkey Kong Found
13 Get Along Little Apey Found
14 Sir Donkey Kong Found
15 The Pale Whale Found
16 El Donkey Kong Found
17 New Wave Ape Found
18 Greenhouse Gorilla Found
19 Hairy Parent Found

Q-bert

In 2008, Sony posted Minisodes of Q-bert online. Minisodes are shortened 5-minute versions of each episode. Unfortunately, Sony never uploaded or release any of the full versions of the Q-bert episodes. Because of this, most of the Minisodes are the only versions of the episodes available. Very little of the full episodes have surfaced online. A few incomplete complete copies of the full versions were actually uploaded online. Minisode/Incomplete indicates that both the Minisode version and an incomplete copy of the full episode has surfaced. On November 3rd, 2015 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a DVD set on Amazon as part of the Manufactured On Demand service. The episodes available on the DVD set are noted below. "Q*Beat It" and "Game Show Woe" are notably absent potentially due to copyright issues.

On December 31st, 2020, YouTube user DangerousVHS2 uploaded the full version of Q*Beat it from a CTV recording on YouTube, making it completely found once, & for all.

# Episode Title Status
1 Disc Derby Fiasco On DVD
2 The Great Q-Tee Contest On DVD
3 Q*Bowl Rigamarole On DVD
4 Crazy Camp Creature On DVD
5 Thanksgiving for the Memories On DVD
6 Dog Day Dilemma On DVD
7 Take Me Out to the Q*Game On DVD
8 Noser P.I. On DVD
9 Hook, Line, and Mermaid On DVD
10 Q*Historic Days On DVD
11 Q*bert's Monster Mix-Up On DVD
12 Game Show Woe Lost
13 The Wacky Q*Bot On DVD
14 Q*Beat It Found
15 Q*Urf's Up On DVD
16 Little Green Nosers On DVD
17 Rebel Without a Q*Ause On DVD
18 Looking For Miss Q*Right On DVD
19 The Goofy Ghostgetters On DVD

Donkey Kong Jr.

This is perhaps the most complete Saturday Supercade segment available thanks to the 16mm Donkey Kong prints.

# Episode Title Status
1 Trucknapper Caper Found
2 Sheep Rustle Hustle Found
3 Rocky Mountain Monkey Business Found
4 Magnificent 7-Year-Olds Found
5 The Ventriloquist Caper Found
6 The Great Seal Steal Found
7 The Jungle Boy Ploy Found
8 Junior Meets Kid Dynamo Found
9 Amazing Rollerskate Race Found
10 A Christmas Story Found
11 Gorilla Ghost Found
12 Teddy Bear Scare Found
13 Double or Nothing Found

Pitfall

Next, to Kangaroo, this is the rarest of all the Saturday Supercade segments due to its very short run.

# Episode Title Status
1 Pitfall's Panda Puzzle Lost
2 Amazon Jungle Bungle Lost
3 Raiders of the Lost Shark Found
4 Tibetan Treasure Trouble Lost
5 Masked Menace Mess Found
6 The Sabretooth Goof Lost
7 The Pyramid Panic Lost

Space Ace

This is the only Saturday Supercade segment to have all its episodes fully available. This is thanks to Boomerang showing reruns on occasion.

# Episode Title Status
1 Cute Groots Found
2 Cosmic Camp Catastrophe Found
3 Dangerous Decoy Found
4 Moon Missile Madness Found
5 Perilous Partner Found
6 Frozen in Fear Found
7 Age Ray Riot Found
8 Wanted: Dexter! Found
9 Phantom Shuttle Found
10 Spoiled Sports Found
11 Calamity Kimmie Found
12 Three-Ring Rampage Found
13 Infanto Fury Found

Kangaroo

Kangaroo is up there as another one of the rarest Saturday Supercade segments out there. Although a few incomplete episodes were uploaded online, only two full episodes have surfaced as of June 2015.

# Episode Title Status
1 Trunkfull of Trouble Partially Found
2 Zoo for Hire Lost
3 Bat's Incredible Partially Found
4 The White Squirrel of Dover Found
5 The Birthday Party Lost
6 Having a Ball Lost
7 The Tail of the Cowardly Lion Found
8 It's Carnival Time Partially Found
9 Lost and Found Lost
10 Joey and the Beanstalk Lost
11 Zoo's Who Lost
12 The Egg and Us Lost
13 The Runaway Panda Lost

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Updates

On June 14th, 2015, Myspleen user TonyLoccsta uploaded a CBS broadcast torrent from January 19th, 1985, which contains a full Saturday Supercade episode. The Kangaroo episode contained in that broadcast ("The Tail of the Cowardly Lion") has been resurfaced for the first time.

On October 3rd, 2015, YouTube user, NintendoWizard22 uploaded the full version of the Q-Bert episode, "Dog Day Dilemma".

Also, another user on the Wikia page apparently has a copy of the Donkey Kong Jr. short, "Trucknapper Caper".

On September 1st, 2017, YouTube user Cabbusses's Retro Obscurities uploaded a full broadcast torrent of the first-ever broadcast of Saturday Supercade that features many lost episodes. The episodes contained in this torrent are Frogger "The Ms. Fortune Story", Donkey Kong "Mississippi Madness" (in better quality), Donkey Kong Jr. "Trucknapper Caper", and Pitfall "Raiders of the Lost Shark".

Videos

The opening/closing credits and theme for Saturday Supercade.

The first ever broadcast of Saturday Supercade.

A 1983 CBS Saturday morning preview featuring clips from unsurfaced episodes of Donkey Kong Jr. and Frogger.

External Links

References